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Rashid Khan will re-join Lahore Qalandars for the remainder of this year’s Pakistan Super League, which is due to resume in Abu Dhabi in the first week of June.Khan played the first two games of the Qalandars’ season in February before leaving the competition to fulfil his international commitments with Afghanistan against Zimbabwe, and was initially expected to be unavailable for the rescheduled second half of the season due to his contract with Sussex in the T20 Blast.”I am excited to be back with PSL and Lahore Qalandars,” Khan said in a Qalandars media release. “I had couple of good games with them earlier and the team went off to a good start, I am hopeful to help them continue with the momentum.”Khan is based in the UAE, where the rest of the tournament will now be played, and said that restrictions on travel to the UK had affected his availability for the Blast. “I am really looking forward to joining up with my teammates at Sussex upon completion of the PSL,” he said in a Sussex release. “Whilst the travel restrictions in place have been a big factor in delaying my arrival, it is fortunate I am still able to play some high-level cricket before heading to Hove later in June.”Sussex said in a club statement that he will travel to the UK directly after the conclusion of the PSL, or whenever the Qalandars are eliminated. They have also registered David Wiese and Travis Head as overseas players, who are expected to fill their two available slots in the playing XI before Khan’s arrival.The Qalandars had initially signed Shakib Al-Hasan in Khan’s place in the first of two replacement drafts last month. Shakib has now pulled out of the competition.

“Fearless” was once again the buzzword for Kusal Perera on the eve of the first T20I against England, as the Sri Lanka captain once more leaned on the mantra that he had put forth for his side upon taking over the limited-overs reins earlier this year.”We need to be able to play fearlessly,” Perera said during a virtual pre-match media briefing. “This is not something that’s going to change overnight, but if we keep playing with the same attitude, day by day, the results will eventually come.”Perera had first spoken of playing “fearless cricket” ahead of Sri Lanka’s recent tour of Bangladesh, a plan that in the end wound up being more notional than anything else as Sri Lanka’s batters floundered in all but the last game of the ODI series.Related

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That match and victory, incidentally, had come once the series had been lost, and the pressure to perform lifted. For Perera and the Sri Lanka coaching staff, getting the players to showcase their skills more consistently and, crucially, when it matters, has been the most pressing task in recent weeks.”We’ve had a lot of discussions with the coaches on how we can translate what we do in practice to competitive matches. The problem for us so far has been that in practice we perform really well, but during a match we’re unable to produce the same performances. Each player is different. So we’re trying to see how to get each individual to a point where they can take their performances from practice out into a competitive fixture.”This inability to perform consistently on the biggest stage has led to one of Sri Lanka cricket’s leanest periods in their history; dating back to the start of 2019, Sri Lanka have won just over 30% of their limited-overs games. And while in England – the top-ranked T20I side and reigning ODI world champions – Sri Lanka’s young side faces its toughest test to date, Perera is hopeful that the relative lack of expectation placed on the visitors will help free his side of the mental hang-ups that may have been holding them back.”In the situation we’re in at the moment, it’s like we have nothing to lose – we can only really gain from this series,” Perera said. “Whereas with England they have more to lose, there is always that additional pressure on them.”Under head coach Mickey Arthur, Sri Lanka’s limited-overs side has seen one of its most drastic overhauls in recent memory, with several senior players discarded in favour of younger alternatives. This has resulted in a fair bit of inexperience in the side, but on the flip side a lot of eagerness to impress fringe players.Perera is hopeful that a string of games against one of the top limited-overs sides in the world will help solidify the players’ trust and belief in the process Arthur and his coaching staff have put in place.”When we play against accomplished teams like this, a lot of our players are going to try and bring their A game. Because it’s only when you perform well against the best teams that your confidence in your ability increases.”At the moment our team is actually quite confident – but not over-confident – and we have the belief that we can make an impact here and turn things around. Our aim is to do the right things and play a good game. We believe that we can play well against this England team, and know that the results will come if we just keep doing the right things.”That said, Perera is acutely aware that Sri Lanka will need to be at the top of their game if they are to get anything out of this series.”We need to do what we know without fear. It’s of course easier said that done. We know that of the 11 players, not everyone can bring their A game every match, but whenever a player is able to reach that level, they need to be able to see the game through to the finish.”Sri Lanka will play three T20Is on June 23, 24 and 26, while the three ODIs will take place on June 29, July 1 and 4.

George Hill has already had one brush with stardom, not that many will have cottoned on. He was an England sub fielder who carried out a replacement bat for Ben Stokes before he won the Ashes Test at Headingley in 2019 in one of the most inspirational innings in history. Many decades from now, if he has any sense of a good story, he will regale his grandchildren with talk of how he gently pushed the cricketing Excalibur towards Stokes and muttered: “Use this, chosen one.”Two years on, as Yorkshire are undermined by injuries and England calls, the opportunity has come for Hill, a former England Under-19, to build his own career. His latest chance has come not just a little sooner than he might have anticipated, but in a way he might not have imagined.For the first time in senior cricket, Hill was charged with opening the batting. Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Will Fraine were injured; Dawid Malan absent for personal reasons. What’s more, there was no sense that his own bat had magical powers.Related

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But in only his fourth first-class game, and in a match where victory could be crucial for both these sides in gaining a top-two place, he responded with a career-best 71, averting disaster with pretty much 50% of the runs off the bat, as Northants rolled Yorkshire for 158.And, more to the point, he did it on July 4. In the USA that might mean an Independence Day BBQ, but in county cricket this summer it was the day when batting was confidently expected to descend into madness – the day on which county batters briefly revisit Championship cricket after a month of solid T20.On Friday night, Hill had made a minor T20 breakthrough that probably resonated more with him than anybody else. During a match-winning stand in the Roses match at Headingley, in which he played a secondary role to Harry Brook, he struck Lancashire’s high-class quick, Saqib Mahmood, over long-on for six and banged the bat on the ground as if to say: “I can do this.”On Sunday morning, the mental switch from T20 to four-day had to be clicked, even more so on a day in which no other Yorkshire batter made more than 22. On a slow, used pitch, offering a little seam and turn, 158 was not a totally disastrous score, but Northants moved to 61 for 2 by the close in a manner that suggested it was considerably under par. Thanks to Hill, Yorkshire remain in touch.Hill did have a moment of fortune when he was dropped at second slip by Gareth Berg, off Wayne Parnell, when 31. But he generally displayed an unflustered air and adapted to the opener’s role as if it was made for him. He stands fairly still at the crease – no huge trigger movement back onto off stump that is so on trend.”It’s a bit of a relief to be honest,” he said. “I’ve played a couple of games in the past and didn’t really feel like I did a huge amount, so it’s nice to contribute to the team. I thought, ‘I haven’t got a huge amount to lose’. I haven’t really opened before, so I thought I would go out there, give it my all and dig in.”Tom Taylor celebrates with his team-mates•Getty Images

It will be interesting to discover whether it becomes a more long-term switch. It looked like a proper approach from a proper opener. A proper knock. What was proper once, of course, is not necessarily proper now. When Kohler-Cadmore, arguably more suited to the middle order, returns, Yorkshire will need to have a proper think.Hill’s first boundary – a calm pull of Tom Taylor – set the mood for his innings. The were deft moments, such as when he guided Berg’s medium pace to the third man boundary, and brief nod to the expressive side of his game that T20 has encouraged when he skipped down the pitch to strike the left-arm spinner, Simon Kerrigan, for a straight six. Rob Keogh’s offspin snared him, lbw, pushing forward, immediately after tea.Yorkshire, second in Group Three, led Northants, a place behind, by 12 points at start of play, and with two sides qualifying for the top division in the final stages, and only two games remaining, this match could hardly be more vital. Yorkshire held off Northants by one run in early May and once again they are proving themselves redoubtable opponents.Such is the importance of the fixture that Yorkshire have signed Sam Northeast, who has left Hampshire, on a short-term loan. It would be a shame if Northeast’s county career dwindled away, at 31, amid the recognition that England will never come calling. His chance to appeal to new suitors, though, did not begin well when he made 3 from 19 balls before Tom Taylor had him caught at the wicket, belatedly trying to leave.Not that others had much to boast about. Adam Lyth had fallen early, Ben Sanderson having him caught behind. Rain forced an early lunch before Yorkshire suffered self-inflicted wounds against the let-arm spin of Kerrigan, Gary Ballance failing with a slog sweep and Brook, the leading T20 run-maker in the country, falling off that pedestal when he flogged the same bowler to mid-on.Dom Bess did get a decent ball from Berg which bounced a bit, and it may be Bess’ offspin that is most likely to salvage a difficult position. At the close though, it was the Northants stand-in skipper, Ricardo Vasconcelos, 32 not out and possessor of a deserved county cap, who was much the happier.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has consolidated his position as the No. 1-ranked batter and Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie has made a gain of 14 spots to move to No. 36 after the latest week of ODI fixtures in England and Ireland. Fabian Allen, meanwhile, entered the top ten among T20I bowlers after an impressive run against Australia at home, where West Indies are 3-0 ahead in the five-match series.Azam’s career-best 158 in the final ODI against England at Edgbaston on Tuesday, which earned him eight rating points, kept him 16 clear of Virat Kohli, who is at second place.

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Following England’s series sweep, there were two major movers low down in the tables. James Vince, who hit 102 – his first century for England across formats – rushed up 85 spots to No. 113 among batters, while Saqib Mahmood, who picked up nine wickets in the three games, gained 89 places to be 63rd among bowlers.Ireland’s historic maiden ODI win over South Africa in their second fixture, after the first game was washed out, also led to some of their players making progress. Balbirnie’s 65 and 102 in the two games gave him a career-high 584 points as he gained 14 places to be ranked No. 36, while William Porterfield (up five spots to 74th) and Harry Tector (up 37 to 90th) among the batters, and Craig Young (up four to 78th) and Josh Little (up 22 to 86th) among bowlers moved up.T20Is: West Indians make big gains
It wasn’t just Allen, who rose 16 positions, but there were a number of West Indians who made big strides up the tables as their team won the third T20I against Australia.Related

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Of the bowlers, Obed McCoy, who has five wickets from two matches – including 4 for 26 in the first T20I – has jumped 15 spots to No. 38. while Sheldon Cottrell and Dwayne Bravo, with two wickets apiece so far, have risen by two places to 22nd and seven places to 37th, respectively.Meanwhile, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer and Lendl Simmons – all among the top five run-getters in the series at the moment – had their own gains too. While Gayle and Russell were tied at No. 103 after rising 22 and 38 ranks, respectively, Hetmyer has raced up to No. 62 by climbing 37 places and Simmons moved to No. 64 after gaining six spots.Tests: Mahmudullah finishes at No. 44
Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 220 runs in their one-off Test in Harare, and Mahmudullah, who announced midway into the match that it would be his last in the format, gained 19 spots to get to 44th place after his 150* in the first innings. Liton Das, who scored 95 in that innings, rose 15 places to get to No. 55.The bowling star for Bangladesh was Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who finished with a match haul of 9 for 148. He gained six places to get to No. 24.And though Zimbabwe lost the game, captain Brendan Taylor’s 81 and 92 pushed him seven spots up to No. 28, while Blessing Muzarabani’s 4 for 94 in the first innings took him up to No. 45 among bowlers, a gain of six spots.

Bangladesh Under-19 will play five one-dayers and a four-day game against Afghanistan Under-19 later this month in Sylhet. It will be the first Afghanistan team to play international cricket in any form since the Taliban takeover of their country, and also the first bit of action for Bangladesh’s U-19 cricketers since the team won the World Cup in February 2020.The BCB released the final itinerary for the series on Friday, which has the visiting side spending 24 days in Bangladesh, after arriving in the country on Saturday. The Afghanistan team will be in room quarantine for three days before two days of practice ahead of the first one-dayer on September 10. The final one-dayer will be played on September 19 before the teams change into their whites for the four-day game starting September 22.No team that comes under the aegis of the Afghanistan Cricket Board has been seen in action since the Taliban took over in the war-ravaged country, and though the senior men’s team did have an ODI series scheduled against Pakistan in Sri Lanka, it had to be pushed back indefinitely because of logistical challenges.Afghanistan have announced a squad of 19 players for the tour, but the announcement of the Bangladesh line-up is awaited.Bangladesh are the defending U-19 world champions, having won the country’s first ICC trophy in February 2020 under Akbar Ali’s leadership in South Africa. However, the team has played no cricket since because of the Covid-19 pandemic.This will be their first series as the build-up to the next edition of the World Cup – scheduled to be played in the Caribbean next year – begins.

Rajasthan Royals were in sight of a tall total when they were 100 for 1 in 11 overs, on the back of Evin Lewis’ breakneck half-century. However, his dismissal triggered a terminal collapse as Royals lost 8 for 49 – and their heads – to be restricted to under 150 on a fresh Dubai track. Royal Challengers Bangalore then hunted down the target with ease to consolidate their position in the top half of the points table, with seven wins in 11 matches.Royals, on the other hand, subsided to their seventh defeat in 11 games. Despite the loss on Wednesday, Royals could still qualify for the playoffs if they win their remaining three games.They might have still harboured hopes of a comeback when Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli fell either side of the powerplay, but KS Bharat and Glenn Maxwell forged a 69-run partnership to dash all of that. Royal Challengers ultimately sealed victory with seven wickets and 17 balls to spare, also giving their net run-rate a leg-up.Heavin’ Lewis
With Royals having two left-handers at the top, Kohli matched them up with Maxwell’s offspin. Maxwell had won a similar match-up against Krunal Pandya at the same venue on Monday, but this time Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal immediately dumped him out of the attack by taking 13 off his first over. Lewis then cranked up to top gear, lining up debutant George Garton for two sixes and a four. In the next over, he heaved a slower ball from Harshal Patel over mid-on to rush Royals past fifty within five overs.The Royal Challengers Bangalore players congratulate Shahbaz Ahmed•BCCI

Jaiswal rode in Lewis’ slipstream, making 31 off 22 balls in a 77-run opening partnership before Dan Christian had him scooping a catch to extra-cover. Even that didn’t slow down Lewis as he heaved his way to a 31-ball half-century – his first in the IPL and his fifth fifty-plus score since the start of CPL 2021.The cataclysmic collapse
It was Garton who began the collapse in the 12th over when he bowled a 106.3kph slower ball into the pitch. It kicked up from back of a length and drew a top edge from Lewis, with Bharat snagging the catch. Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed then took over, messing with Royals’ middle order.

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Chahal had Mahipal Lomror stumped with a wrong’un before having Liam Livingstone hole out to long-on with his trademark wide, loopy legbreak. Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia tried to target Shahbaz, Royal Challengers’ seventh bowling option, but both picked out the boundary riders in the 14th over. Patel, who had earlier taken a pasting from Lewis, tricked the lower order with his assortment of slower balls.Bharat and Maxwell step up
With the ball sliding onto the bat nicely in the early exchanges, Kohli and Padikkal held nothing back, hitting four fours each in a powerplay that produced 54 runs. Mustafizur Rahman then shook up the Royal Challengers briefly with his skillful change-ups. After he bowled Padikkal in the sixth over of the chase, Riyan Parag effected a direct hit in the seventh to leave Royal Challengers at 58 for 2.Bharat then combined with Maxwell to settle the chase. He slog-swept Chris Morris for six, pumped Lomror down the ground for four, and even reverse-swept Rahul Tewatia for four, which had Kohli up on his feet and cheering wildly from the dugout. As for Maxwell, he laid into Morris, smashing 24 off nine balls from him. Bharat holed out for 44, but Maxwell glided to his fifty and wrapped up the chase along with AB de Villiers.

Talks about a potential tour of Pakistan by the Sri Lankan women’s team later this month have hit a stumbling block following a change in management at the PCB. As a result, the series will not be taking place in October but both boards are working to find a window for it before the 2022 ODI World Cup.Earlier this week, the SLC had seemed confident of the tour going ahead, with three ODIs and a practice game all but rubber-stamped. It would have been Sri Lanka’s first taste of international cricket since the T20 World Cup in February-March last year.Related

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However, PCB sources said they were finding it tough to arrange the matches on such short notice given the administrative changes the board is currently undergoing. It is also understood that some of the Pakistan players were unavailable for an assignment in October.SLC, for their part, are hopeful of the tour going ahead sometime before the World Cup, which is scheduled for March-April next year.”These were ongoing discussions, but with the change in management, it seems that they’re finding it difficult to find a window for us,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “We’re hopeful of doing it before the World Cup. If everything goes well, we will see if we can fit in before then.”The next scheduled assignment for both teams is the ODI World Cup global qualifier starting November 21 in Zimbabwe.

Papua New Guinea threatened a late heist courtesy the big-hitting Norman Vanua after stumbling to 35 for 5 in a 166 chase, but Scotland’s experience and excellent work up until then helped them prevail for their second win of the T20 World Cup, and PNG’s second loss.Scotland now top Group B, but in minimising the margin of defeat, PNG may have ensured they will have to wait till the end of their final game to see if they can progress to the Super 12s or not. In case there is a three-way on two wins each, or on one win each, it will come down to net run-rate.For PNG, this was a massive improvement from their ten-wicket pounding against Oman. In Vanua and Chad Soper, who had an excellent game with bat and ball, they had two heroic performances that nearly helped them achieve the impossible. In the end, they fell 17 short, having to rue their top order meltdown. When Josh Davey, the fast bowler, picked up the final wicket, to finish with 4 for 18, the relief in the Scotland camp was palpable.PNG’s early strikes
George Munsey looked to premeditate and picked off two boundaries courtesy slog sweeps off legspinner Charles Amini, but fell soon after as he top-edged a heave to square leg in the fourth over. It came on the back of left-arm seamer Kabua Morea giving PNG their first World Cup wicket. Beaten on the outside edge on Sunday, Kyle Coetzer was deceived by a slower delivery that nipped back in to beat his inside edge this time. Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross, in his 50th T20I, then needed to rebuild as Soper’s accuracy and late movement kept them honest.Berrington and Cross rescue act
Having struggled early on to gauge the pace of the pitch, Berrington, who had scored five runs in ten balls, broke the shackles by launching legspinner Lega Siaka for a big six down the ground. It proved to be the trigger for him to get going. His quick footwork to fully go back or get right to the pitch helped negotiate the spinners. And Cross’ tactful strike rotation ensured Scotland didn’t get stuck. He launched the half-century stand off just 44 balls by muscling a slog sweep into the stands, Amini coming in for special treatment. His four wicketless overs would eventually cost 41.Josh Davey struck at key moments•ICC via Getty

The acceleration
Scotland smashed three fours and three sixes between overs ten and 13, picking 42 off those in all, to signal a significant shift in momentum. Cross was a beneficiary of some friendly long-hops that he put away over the ropes, and PNG’s sloppy outfielding also contributed to the run-bleeding. Ironically, it was a long hop that had Cross pulling one to the lone man on the leg side at deep midwicket for a 36-ball 45 in the 15th over. It brought an end to the 92-run third-wicket stand, Scotland’s highest for any wicket in T20Is. An excellent final over from Nosaina Pokana, where he executed his yorkers well, and tight bowling from Soper that included the wickets of Calum MacLeod and Berrington in the space of three balls, denied Scotland a final kick after they looked set for 180-plus at one stage. Morea picked up three wickets in his final over with the batters looking for the big hits, finishing with 4 for 31.PNG’s sorry collapse
PNG came out swinging, lost shape, and lost wickets. The openers fell inside four overs, Assad Vala sparkled briefly before hitting to mid-off, Amini was brilliantly run-out by Michael Leask’s rocket throw from the deep as he wandered out for a second, and Berrington plucked a one-handed stunner at backward point. PNG were 35 for 5 inside the powerplay.Vanua, Doriga’s fightback
Faced with a steep ask, Vanua struck a few meaty blows to keep PNG’s interest fluttering. His takedown of Brad Wheal in an 18-run over brought the equation down to 62 off the last five overs. His mantra was simple: clear front leg, keep stable base, and swing like a golfer. As the runs suddenly cascaded, Kiplin Doriga found his hitting range against legspinner Chris Greaves as the 16th over went for 16. Suddenly, the pressure was on Scotland as the pair raised a half-century stand off just 25 balls. Then, the Mark Watt-Matt Cross combine dealt a massive blow to remove a charging Doriga, Cross collecting a full and wide half-volley way outside off to effect a smart stumping. It deflated PNG, who eventually went out with their heads held high.

According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, Wanindu Hasaranga was the MVP of the T20 World Cup. In the Super 12s, the Sri Lankan took ten wickets and conceded at just 5.84 an over.At the Abu Dhabi T10, he is once again the most valuable player and an instrumental part of Deccan Gladiators’ rise to the top of the leaderboard, as the tournament reaches its business end. Time and again, he has bamboozled the opposition with the ball in hand.Hasaranga is the only man with a bowling average that is in single figures. He has 18 wickets thus far at 8.61 and the lowest economy rate at 8.15. Unsurprisingly, he is also the only bowler that has bowled a maiden in the competition. No one else really comes close.On a day where two batters lit up the Zayed Cricket Ground with their ferocious hitting, Hasaranga ensured that this is a format where the bowlers can also shine with a five-wicket haul that destroyed the Bangla Tigers.To pull off a five-wicket haul in any match is an achievement. To do it in two overs is quite frankly ridiculous.In his first over, he dismissed Karim Janat before bowling Johnson Charles with a googly the very next delivery. Isuru Udana survived the hat-trick ball.Hasaranga’s second over was pure magic. Benny Howell attempted a reverse sweep but he found Tymal Mills at backward point. The following ball, James Faulkner played across the line, missing the ball entirely and was bowled.Vishnu Sukumaran came out to face Hasaranga’s fifth hat-trick ball of the tournament. He didn’t last long either. Another three dot balls followed, before Sukumaran pulled one straight to the fielder.Hasaranga had a five-for and the best figures in T10 history. Perhaps, even more impressively, he had a maiden in a T10 game. A triple-wicket maiden to be precise.”I’m very impressed with Hasaranga,” said his Deccan Gladiators coach and one of the greatest spinners of all time, Mushtaq Ahmed. “I’ve been talking with him about how to do his variations. He’s got a good wrong-un, but he has to develop his leggies more. People are waiting for his wrong-un, but he’s bowling more leg breaks and flippers and also he’s developed his off spin against the left-hander.”He’s learning the trade, using the crease, taking the pace off the ball, all the little things we’ve been discussing. He is very open-minded and a really good listener,”That he didn’t get his fifth player of the match award of the competition was due to the explosive Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who played the innings of the tournament so far.Kohler-Cadmore agonisingly fell four short of what would have been the first ever century of the Abu Dhabi T10. In 2019, Chris Lynn ended unbeaten with 91* off deliveries and no one had reached the nineties since. Kohler-Cadmore’s brutal 96 off 39 will take some beating.The 27-year-old went out to bat knowing that another low score could have meant trouble for his position, going into the play-offs. Aside from an unbeaten half-century against the Delhi Bulls earlier in the tournament, his next highest score was 12. He had managed just 46 runs in his last six innings, including a golden duck last time out.After hitting a couple of boundaries off both Mohammad Amir and Luke Wood in the powerplay, Kohler-Cadmore needed a slice off luck when he was dropped on 24 off Faulkner, but he made his good fortune count. With Andre Russell at the other end, Kohler-Cadmore took centre stage with 12 fours and five sixes, before driving a full-toss in the last over to a diving Will Jacks at mid off.Kohler-Cadmore said post-match that he decided to use one grip on his bat, as opposed the two that he had previously been using, and perhaps that was all he needed.”I could have easily been left out today, but it gives you confidence knowing that they back you,” said Kohler-Cadmore. “Getting dropped changed the innings for me – I think today was just my day, with that little bit of luck going my way,, like when I hit it in the air, it’d just go over the fielder.”The Yorkshire batter now has a slice of T10 history, but it was a bittersweet moment falling just short of becoming the first ever centurion.”Obviously, it’s a shame when you get that close to not get it (the hundred), but if you’d have asked me at the start of the game ‘would you take 96’, I’d have said, ‘100%’, I’d take that and I’d have bitten your hand off for it,” said Kohler-Cadmore.Such a stunning knock made Hasaranga’s spell look even more mesmerising. After Kohler-Cadmore made 96 himself, the Tigers were bowled out for just 78.For Hasaranga, Kohler-Cadmore and the Gladiators, that next game will be a straight shoot-out on Friday for a place in the final against either Team Abu Dhabi or Delhi Bulls.In the later game, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, just a few days after turning 20, hit the fastest 50 of the tournament. Gurbaz’s blistering knock took just 14 deliveries, including five fours and six sixes as the Delhi Bulls hammered the Chennai Braves. They raced to a target of 81 in 25 deliveries and ended an abysmal campaign for the Braves.

The BBL shapes as an ideal T20 World Cup audition for Sydney Thunder express paceman Saqib Mahmood, who is also one injury away from a recall to England’s Test squad.Mahmood was a contentious omission from the visitors’ Ashes plans. He was part of the England Lions side that faced Australia A last week, and will now make his BBL debut in Sunday night’s Gabba clash with Brisbane Heat.Mahmood, part of England’s Test squad earlier this year, looms as an obvious addition should anything happen to one of their frontline Ashes quicks.”I’ve got a good base, got my loads up in Brisbane. It’s just about keeping those loads going for the rest of the BBL,” he told AAP. “A lot of the skills I’m practising, I’d probably have to put into use if called up. But I’m purely thinking about the Big Bash at the moment.”That same sentiment applies to next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. However, a productive BBL stint will boost Mahmood’s chances of adding to an international career that has featured seven ODIs and nine T20s.One of 15 Englishmen taking part in the BBL, Mahmood also acutely aware of his country’s white-ball depth.”In world sport, it’s potentially the hardest side to break into,” he said. “But if you play in that side, it shows your game is in a very good place and you take confidence from that. If I perform for the Thunder, it’ll hold me in good stead if I were to come back with the World Cup squad.”The fast bowler jumped at the chance to link up with Thunder mentor Trevor Bayliss, who started England’s white-ball revolution and signed off soon after their successful 2019 ODI World Cup.”Being around this environment, and around Trevor, will improve me as a cricketer,” Mahmood said. “I’ve always wanted to play cricket in Australia … you obviously get a lot more pace and bounce compared to back home.”Mahmood admitted he needed a crash course from Bayliss and team-mates when it came to one BBL innovation.”I’m still coming to terms with the power surge a little bit,” he said. “For some reason I thought it was double runs, I don’t know why. But I’m excited by it. When there’s new rules … I’m someone who likes to make the most of it.”I like to bowl in those situations [with fielding restrictions]. There’s every chance I’ll bowl in the power surge, so I’d better get used to it.”