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Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will declare open the ICC Champions Trophy Sri Lanka 2002 in a vibrant and colourful opening ceremony at 1:30 p.m. (0730 GMT) on Thursday, 12th September at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.The opening, which is scheduled prior to the first match of the tournament where hosts Sri Lanka take on Pakistan, will feature a multi-faceted display of Sri Lankan culture, with colourfully clad elephants, more than a thousand dancers, two hundred drummers, and one hundred flag-bearers.The theme song for the tournament will be sung by the popular Sri Lankan band "Wildfire."Mr. Malcom Gray, President of the International Cricket Council, will hand over the trophy to the Prime Minister, who will then officially declare the tournament open.Media contacts:
Mark Harrison
Media Manager
ICC Champions Trophy Sri Lanka 2002
(94) 77-730337

Niresh Eliatamby
Media Manager
Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka
(94) 77-418848

The race for the Norwich Union title is hotting up after the defeat of leaders Worcestershire Royals. It means they now lead by just four points from Warwickshire Bears who have played a game more, and their conquerors at New Road, Glamorgan Dragons, who have played a game less.Dominic Ostler scored an unbeaten 103 to help Warwickshire Bears record a seven-wicket win over Leicestershire Foxes at Edgbaston. Earlier Iain Sutcliffe had fallen narrowly short of a well-deserved century as he put on 107 for the third wicket with Michael Bevan (32). The stand came to an end when Sutcliffe was caught short attempting a tricky run, but Phil DeFreitas (44*) batted until the end as his side made 250 for seven five off their 45 overs. Warwickshire got off to a miserable start in reply. Nick Knight was dismissed early by DeFreitas (two for 36) who then claimed his second wicket when Ian Bell edged to wicket-keeper Neil Burns. Ostler and Jamie Traughton (66) then ploughed into the bowling as they put on 139 to reach their revised target of 203. The home side finished on 206 for three to move into second place in Division One, trailing Worcestershire by four points.Glamorgan Dragons recorded an unlikely win after rain brought an early end to their clash with Worcestershire Royals. The Welsh side were 108 for three when play was interrupted. Earlier Australian Shane Lee, making his debut for the home side, top scored with 41 on a bowler-friendly pitch. Stephen Peters (29) and Ben Smith (25) were the other main contributors as their side made 202 for nine. Adrian Dale (three for 32) was the main wicket taker. Robert Croft (15) again began brightly in reply but was bowled by Australian-born Matthew Mason (two for 27). Mason took his second wicket when Michael Powell (4) was caught by Lee. Matthew Maynard (32*) and Steve James (41*) led the recovery but then the heavens opened with Glamorgan requiring 95 for victory. When play was called off after persistent rain the Duckworth/Lewis method denied Royals their eighth Norwich Union win, as Glamorgan were crowned victors by seven wickets.In Division Two, 22-year-old opener William Jefferson scored an unbeaten 111 as Essex Eagles’ batsmen were unable to overcome Middlesex Crusaders’ bowling at Lord’s. Abdur Razzaq (two for 51) and Chad Keegan (two 42) both made early breakthroughs as Essex collapsed to 131 for seven. Essex were 194 for eight when the rain came down. After the interruption, the home side needed 74 off ten overs for victory. Then came pure nail-biting cricket. Ashley Cowan (two for nine) bowled Razzaq for four. Graham Napier took three wickets in his first over to remove dangerman Shah (25), Aaron Laraman (11) and Simon Cook (0). Jamie Middlebrook (two for five) then dismissed Ed Joyce (8) with his first delivery and bowled Jamie Dalrymple (16) with his fourth. Andrew Strauss (5) had his stump uprooted by Cowan in the final over as did Sven Koenig (0) who was run out. Paul Weekes (5*) hit the winning boundary with a ball to spare.Darren Cousins (three for 36) and Graeme Swann (two for 14) helped Northamptonshire Steelbacks dismiss Hampshire Hawks for 133 at the County Ground as they recorded a ten-wicket win under the Duckworth/Lewis method in yet another rain-affected match. Earlier wicket-keeper Nic Pothas (34*) and John Crawley (33) had been the main run-makers as the visitors put on a poor batting display. Rain intervened with the home side on 54 without loss, well ahead of their required 37 for victory. The Steelbacks lie in second place after their second win in two days and their third in succession.

SYDNEY, July 19 AAP – Steve and Mark Waugh are almost certain to be watching next year’s cricket World Cup from the sidelines after the national selectors sent a clear message to the unwanted pair today.The 37-year-old twins, dropped from the national side earlier this year, couldn’t count themselves among Australia’s top 28 one-day players after failing to make it into the Australia A one-day side to play seven one-dayers against South Africa A in September.The 14-man national side is the same as that which took on Pakistan in three one-dayers last month with the addition of Queensland spin bowler Nathan Hauritz.The 14-man A team is not an experiment with youth – it has its share of experienced players, including Justin Langer, Greg Blewett, Ian Harvey, Andrew Symonds and Simon Katich, who doesn’t even have an Australian Cricket Board contract.The fact the brothers weren’t included is a clear pointer to their future in limited overs cricket.Adam Gilchrist, vice-captain to Waugh in the Test side and deputy to Ricky Ponting in the one-day side, was surprised the twins weren’t in one of the teams.”It is a bit odd,” Gilchrist said.”Obviously … the Waughs could easily slot into any team and still do well.”Langer, who played his last one-dayer for Australia five years ago, will captain the A side.He refused to discount Steve Waugh’s chances of a recall to the national side but figured it unlikely.”There is no doubt he has got the ability to, (it is) whether the opportunity comes up for him to,” Langer said.”Having spoken to him recently, he still has the desire to do it and, if any person could do it against all the odds that are probably stacked against him to do it and make a return, he could.”Both Waughs are still counted among the world’s top-20 one-day players with the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers ratings having them at equal 19th.National selection chairman Trevor Hohns said he was “very, very comfortable” with the two sides, including an A side which included newcomers in 21-year-old NSW all-rounder Michael Clarke and Tasmanian pace bowler Damien Wright.”There’s a couple of guys there I suppose who are a bit of a look and see proposition – we are experimenting a little bit,” Hohns said in a statement.”These matches against South Africa A provide players with valuable experience at the international level and importantly, for those players who may eventually be selected for the World Cup, the familiarity of playing in South Africa.”Steve Waugh, through his manager Robert Joske, said he’d wanted to go on the tour.”I was more than willing to go on the tour if selected but that is not the case,” said Waugh, who will travel to India next week as part of his deal with sponsor MRF.Joske described Waugh as “stoic and strong”.Mark Waugh’s manager, Leo Karis, said he was “not overly surprised” the long-serving batsman had been left out of the A team.He said his client hadn’t given up hope of forcing his way back into World Cup calculations with strong performances in the domestic one-day competition.The national side will play Pakistan and possibly Kenya in a one-day series in Nairobi – pending a security report – from August 27 to September 7.Australia will then travel to Sri Lanka for the ICC Champions Trophy from September 12-29, where it’s drawn in the same group as New Zealand and Bangladesh.Four group winners advance to the knockout semifinals.ACB chief executive James Sutherland said Australia’s participation in the Kenyan tournament would be confirmed once the regular security and operational checks had been done.The tournament was originally to have taken place in Pakistan, and was to have involved New Zealand.But security concerns ruled out Pakistan as a venue and New Zealand said it wouldn’t play in Kenya because it had promised its players a full break in July and August.Kenya was likely to take New Zealand’s place in the triangular tournament.”The ACB has informed the Pakistan Cricket Board that the Australian team is available for the Kenyan one-day international series,” Sutherland said in a statement.”But participation is subject to our satisfaction that player security measures are in place and cricket facilities are adequate.”We need to go through some formalities before we confirm our participation.”Australia and Pakistan have to yet to sort out a venue for a scheduled three-Test tour of Pakistan in October.Bangladesh looms as a possible host after Pakistan was ruled off-limits due to on-going security concerns.Cricket in Pakistan has been badly hit in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States and the resulting war on terror in Afghanistan, as well as tension with neighbouring India.The two Australian teams named today were:Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Watson.Australia A: Justin Langer, (capt), Simon Katich (vice-capt), Greg Blewett, Nathan Bracken, Ryan Campbell, Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Ian Harvey, Mark Higgs, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Brad Williams, Damien Wright.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed that the board had decided to hold the Ranji Trophy in two phases, split by the IPL. The first phase, in February-March, will have all league matches, while the knockout games will be held in June.Earlier, the tournament was scheduled to start on January 13 but had to be postponed indefinitely because of rising Covid-19 cases in the country.”The board has decided to conduct the Ranji Trophy this season in two phases. In the first phase, we plan to complete all matches of the league stage while the knockouts will be held in June,” Shah said on Friday. “My team is working closely to mitigate any kind of health risk caused by the pandemic, while at the same time ensuring a highly competitive red-ball cricket contest. The Ranji Trophy is our most prestigious domestic competition, which has been providing Indian cricket with an enviable talent pool every year. It is absolutely important that we take all necessary steps to safeguard the interest of this premier event.”Related

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In a letter to state associations, Shah further said that “the decks have been cleared” and the BCCI was all set to conduct the Ranji Trophy. Shah also said that recovery rates from the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic were encouraging, but the BCCI would continue to have biosecure bubbles for the tournament to mitigate any risks.”Ever since the decision on postponement was made, the board was working on several models to ensure that the tournament takes place as soon as the environment is safe and conducive,” Shah wrote. “We will continue to have biosecure bubbles to mitigate any potential risk. The board is committed to providing a healthy and secure environment and seeks your support in ensuring a safe tournament for all our key stakeholders.”He also said that the grouping, structure and venues for the Ranji Trophy would be conveyed soon to state associations.Shah’s confirmation comes a day after BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had indicated that the board intended to hold the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 in two phases.With the BCCI planning to start the IPL from March 27, it is practically impossible to hold the Ranji Trophy in one go, but after requests from many state units, the brass had held a meeting to discuss the way forward.”We are exploring the possibility of staging Ranji Trophy, cases were going up when it was postponed, now they seem to be coming down,” Dhumal told PTI after the meeting. “The operations team is working on whether we can do the league stage next month and complete the rest of the tournament later [post IPL].”The operations team will work out the logistics and factor in the weather, venue availability as well as availability of players. We are very keen to organise the tournament and that is why we are exploring all possibilities to stage it without compromising players’ safety.”The meeting was also attended by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and Shah.

Our cricket will be spineless without Ranji Trophy – Shastri

Meanwhile, former India coach Ravi Shastri came out strongly in support of holding the Ranji Trophy, saying it formed the backbone of Indian cricket, which would be left spineless if the competition did not take place. The pandemic played spoilsport last season as the BCCI only held the two men’s white-ball tournaments – Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.The BCCI paid 50% of the earlier match fees as compensation to all first-class cricketers who have endured financial losses.If it is not held this year, it will severely affect the BCCI’s pathways cricket like India A team, which is primarily selected on the basis of Ranji Trophy performance.

Stuart Broad has said he will not take “any spur-of-the-moment calls” on his future as an England player after a “very disappointing” tour to Australia which has seen him selected in only one of the first three Tests.Broad was the world’s leading wicket-taker in Tests in 2020 but took 12 wickets at 39.50 in 2021. He played in only seven out of England’s 15 Tests last year due to a combination of rest and rotation, a calf injury and selection decisions, and was left out for the first and third Ashes Tests on seamer-friendly pitches.Related

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David Warner, whom Broad dismissed seven times in the 2019 Ashes series, said after the MCG Test that it was “a great result that he’s not playing” and the decision to leave Broad out of the first Test at the Gabba came in for criticism from Alastair Cook, who said selecting him should have been a “no-brainer”.Broad turns 36 in June and has already lined up a second career as a broadcaster and commentator with Sky Sports, and with Ollie Robinson – a similar style of bowler – impressing since his debut earlier this year, his future in the Test team has been called into question.”As a wobble-seam bowler, I feel as though I missed out on two of the best wobble-seam pitches in Australia,” Broad wrote in his column. “Only playing once has made this a very disappointing trip, one that has not met my personal expectations.”The biggest frustration is losing the Ashes, being 3-0 down and feeling like I’ve not really done anything. Not being able, as an experienced player, to influence a series while it’s live is tough.”Has it affected my hunger to play Test cricket? No. Looking at things pragmatically, I would argue that I won’t get a better chance to take wickets than at Brisbane and Melbourne. But I must be ready for my next opportunity, whether that be in Sydney, Hobart or beyond.”There is a long time between now and the tour of the Caribbean in March and I have never been one to make emotional decisions. So I’m not going to make any spur-of-the-moment calls on my future. I feel fit, I’ve come back from the calf injury feeling strong and I’m taking wickets in the nets. That’s all I can do given the lack of tour games and the tight schedule.”Broad also admitted that “the energy and the mood in the camp is low” heading into the final two Tests after Australia retained the urn within 12 days’ play, and said that England were approaching “the end of our mental tether with Covid”.”There are no excuses for England’s performances on this Ashes tour, he wrote, “but there are reasons why things have turned out as they have.”Unfortunately our displays have reflected our preparation. Imagine Tiger Woods rocking up at the Masters having not played for four months, spending time in a biosecure bubble and then seeing his entire practice rained off. He hasn’t played a single round of golf, yet he’s still expecting to win. Would you bet on him in those circumstances? No, you wouldn’t.”The reality is we turned up undercooked while Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland and Jhye Richardson were playing state cricket. Yes, like us, Australia had players at the T20 World Cup until mid-November. But was it a level playing field? Not really.”This tour has taken its toll on all of us. Without sounding like [I’m] making excuses, we may be at the end of our mental tether with Covid. We are the only team that has played solid international cricket throughout the pandemic and our multi-format guys had already done 50 days in a bubble before they turned up here.”We spent day two of the Boxing Day Test match testing for Covid and having guys moving out of their hotel rooms, away from their families, so they were no longer classed as close contacts. When you are faffing about with external stuff like that, it drags your focus away from where it needs to be.”

He isn’t sure what the future holds in store for him but former South Africa captain AB de Villiers is confident that he will have a role to play in the national team and his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore’s future set-up.One of contemporary cricket’s greatest batters, de Villiers had retired from all forms of the game in November last year.”I still believe that I have a role to play in SA cricket and also over there in the IPL with the Royal Challengers Bangalore,” he was quoted as saying by .Besides a staggering 20,014 international runs across formats under his belt, de Villiers also holds the record for the fastest fifty, century and 150 in ODIs. He also played 157 matches for Royal Challengers and scored 4522 runs.”I have no idea what will come next but I will take it one day at a time and see,” he said.de Villiers, 37, said he has been “looking after and mentoring some youngsters with potential and ability for the last few years.””No one knows about it and hopefully I can look back one day in the future knowing that I have made a big difference in the lives of a few players.”That is my focus for now and I don’t know if it’s going to be professional or on a casual basis, but we will see where we go with that.”de Villiers, who had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018, opened up about the personal challenges that he faced in the last couple of years with the Covid-19 pandemic also taking a toll.”Having to go to the IPL twice last year where we had to deal with a lot of travelling restrictions, Covid-19 testing, missed and cancelled flights, and having to organise school for the kids was very challenging,” he said.”I decided over the past few years that I am not going to travel without my kids anymore and the split IPL really made it very complicated. Probably the biggest challenge was to stay sane, motivated and keeping the energy.”I also picked up Covid-19 at some stage and I was really sick for 10 to 12 days and luckily I got through it. Those were the challenges and there were basic stresses of life with the pandemic floating around.”The IPL was suspended in May 2020 after multiple Covid cases were detected inside the bio-bubble in India. It was completed later in the year after being shifted to the UAE.”By a long way, the travelling arrangements and the IPL have been the biggest challenge this year (2021) and finding that energy to still want to be the best in the world was difficult,” de Villiers said.He said the game has “always been about enjoyment” for him.”And the minute where I felt the difficulty of travelling and being there at the IPL for two-and-half to three months a year, specifically with this one that was spilt into two, bubbles and this and that made things very complicated with regards to cricket and the enjoyment thereof.”I found myself on the park where scoring runs and doing well for the team didn’t really match with everything that goes with it any more and that’s where the balance started leading towards hanging my gloves up.He only moved on when he knew that enjoyment was gone.”I have never been the guy who is going to push every single bit of energy of my ability and my cricketing skill, I have always played for the enjoyment of the game. And the minute that sort of started going down, I knew it was time for me to move on.”

It was a “dream to play more international cricket” that made the newly-retired Luke Ronchi switch allegiances from Australia to New Zealand back in 2012.Steady performances since his first-class debut for Western Australia in 2002-03 – and an untimely injury to Brad Haddin – shoehorned Ronchi into Australia’s tour of the Caribbean in 2008. He showed promise with a 22-ball fifty in only his second ODI innings but then his numbers dipped. Eventually, he found himself out of favour.Ronchi returned to his country of birth – New Zealand – in a bid to restart his career. A first-class century on debut for Wellington in March 2012 might well have assured him to keep at it. “In the end, it wasn’t really a hard decision,” he told ESPNcricinfo last year. “I wanted to play international cricket and I wanted to play more. It wasn’t like I had retired or wasn’t playing or dropped and wasn’t getting picked. The thought of not trying in New Zealand would’ve been a lot harder for me.”Everyone was right behind me, even players from Western Australia and coaching staff. That was a nice feeling. You get a bit worried about what might happen, but everyone was fully behind me.”In 2014, Ronchi made his ODI and T20I debut for New Zealand. He fell for ducks in both those games but was persisted with until he smashed 170 not out off 99 balls against Sri Lanka. That innings remains the highest score by batsman at No. 7.Ronchi played his first Test in May 2015. Coming in with his side trailing England 0-1 in a two-match series, he struck 88 and 31 at Headingley, to help spearhead a memorable victory. “It was something I always dreamed of and wanted to do well in,” he said. “Leading up to the match, I thought I shouldn’t go in nervous, because if you go in nervous and muck it up, that might be the only time you ever get to play. So I sort of went out there, just being relaxed, and, just free off whatever happens. To get the win in the end was pretty cool. It was pretty cool to be one from one (win-match ratio).”As for career highlights, Ronchi said “you can’t get past the World Cup.” New Zealand, fuelled by passionate home support, earned their first ever final after beating South Africa in the semis – a game that went down in history as an ODI classic.”To be involved in semi-finals, to get into the finals, even thought that wasn’t our best game of the tournament… For the New Zealand team to get into a World Cup final and play in front of 90-odd thousand people, the whole six-eight weeks was a fantastic time to be playing cricket.”Having been on both sides of the Trans-Tasman production line, Ronchi, in 2016, believed “Australia has got a little more depth and more money to put into development and facilities.”But having said that New Zealand cricket has been doing fantastically well at the moment in all three forms,” he added. “So, depth doesn’t always make a big difference but if you want to stay consistent – like how Australia have – you need to have the depth to keep pushing guys and making guys perform and getting better. I think New Zealand’s getting there. We still have a little way to go, but we’re doing pretty well at the moment.”

Rishabh Pant’s unfettered approach to ball-striking has constantly been likened to that of fellow Delhi resident Virender Sehwag. On Thursday night, Pant’s breathless, yet artful decimation of Gujarat Lions with a 43-ball 97, including nine sixes, moved Sehwag to hail his “special ability” on Twitter.Had Sehwag watched Pant’s media interactions following Delhi Daredevils’ chase of 209 with 15 balls to spare, he would likely have smiled at how the 19-year-old channelled his inner Sehwag with straight-faced one-liners.The most revealing insight into Pant’s batting philosophy was provided by Sanju Samson, who made 61 off 31 balls, during their post-match interview with Daredevils mentor Rahul Dravid on . During the course of their 143-run partnership off 63 balls for the second wicket, Samson had struck two sixes in an over and was looking to play safe. Pant, however, didn’t approve of the tactic.”I started the innings really well. After hitting two sixes [in an over], I thought about taking a single,” Samson told Dravid.”He [Pant] came to me and told me: (brother, don’t think too much, just keep hittting)’. I think that really helped me to go on. I really enjoyed batting with him.”Pant walked the talk. Two balls after Karun Nair was dismissed, he whacked Basil Thampi over cover for six. He similarly avenged Samson’s departure by smacking Ravindra Jadeja’s next two deliveries for six and four. He blitzed his way to a half-century off 27 balls and his next 44 came off 16 deliveries.”I will see the ball – if the ball is there to hit, I will hit it,” Pant said of his mind-set. “I was not thinking I will get out or something like that. If the ball is bad, you have to punish it. That’s what I am doing.”‘If I would have got three runs, I would have finished the match. If I would have finished the match, I would have got three runs’•Getty Images

When Dravid asked Pant which bowlers he and Samson targeted, the answer was a variation of the see-ball, hit-ball theme. “We were not thinking about the next ball,” Pant said. “Like I told you, sir, if we get a bad ball … we planned everything like that. I told Sanju [to keep hitting the balls that were there to be hit] – [he] was planning a few things at the start – but when he started getting in the middle, he told me ‘I will go for everything.'”Even when Pant was three short of his hundred, he didn’t hold back. An attempted slog into the leg side off Thampi only resulted in a thick outside edge to the keeper. Pant had to drag himself back to the dugout, but he later said he wasn’t thinking about the hundred.”I was just thinking about chasing down the total as quickly as I can,” he said. For good measure, he topped it off with a philosophical nugget right out of the Sehwag school. “If I would have got three runs, I would have finished the match. If I would have finished the match, I would have got three runs.”It was an attitude that gladdened Dravid. “What was impressive for me was Rishabh – batting on 97 and not thinking about his 100 at that stage and still going for his shots,” he said. “[He was] not worrying about the 100 and [was] looking to get the team home. Incredible innings from the two boys and truly well-deserved.”Dravid, however, raised the bar for Pant and Samson. “I am a hard taskmaster [and] I hope that you guys will next time finish the job and stay not out.”

Mitchell Marsh, Callum Ferguson, Nic Maddinson, Hilton Cartwright, Mitchell Marsh … Marcus Stoinis? The man who may become the latest in a string of Test No. 6s for Australia since the start of the summer has arrived in India, and is confident that he will be able to adapt quickly to the conditions if called on to make his debut in Ranchi this week.Stoinis was flown to India to replace Marsh, who was sent home after Australia’s loss in Bengaluru with a shoulder problem that had also caused him troubled during the home summer. Should Australia’s selectors opt for an allrounder at No.6, the seam-bowling Stoinis and the offspinning Glenn Maxwell are the two likely candidates. Usman Khawaja as a specialist batsman is a third possibility.The call-up of Stoinis raised a few eyebrows in Australian cricket, given his poor batting form this Sheffield Shield season, during which he has made 197 runs at 17.90 without a half-century. It is hardly the kind of form expected of a Test No.6, but national selector Trevor Hohns made it clear Stoinis had been picked due to his performances on a 2015 Australia A tour of India, as well as because he was the strongest bowling option among allrounders.Perhaps the selectors also noted that when they last picked Stoinis, for the Chappell-Hadlee Series tour of New Zealand earlier this year, he was able to step up despite a lean patch that featured only one half-century from his past 29 innings across all formats. Stoinis flew to Auckland and smashed an unbeaten 146 in his first match of the series.”New Zealand was a breakout for me,” Stoinis told reporters in Ranchi on Tuesday. “Waiting 18 months for another international game after my first one was really pleasing personally. And then I still know [I’ve had] a good three or four years of Shield cricket where I’ve been in the top four or five run scorers. So the confidence is there and that’s cricket, it can change so quickly.”It is true that despite Stoinis’ lack of Shield runs this summer, he has been a consistent performer in the long format for Victoria in the past few years. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Stoinis has been second only to Peter Handscomb on Victoria’s Shield run list – during a period in which the state has won two out of two Shield titles and has also reached the final of this year’s tournament.During that same period, Stoinis was part of the Australia A squad that played two first-class matches in Chennai in 2015, and he impressed the selectors in the first of those games with a first-innings 77. He also picked up three wickets at 31.00 during the series, including the wickets of current India Test players Cheteshwar Pujara and Karun Nair.”Coming here for the Aussie A, it actually did suit my bowling,” Stoinis said. “A couple staying low, a couple grabbing off the wicket, off-cutters. You’ve just got to hit the wicket hard here and see if anything happens off the wicket there.”It remains to be seen whether Stoinis will become Australia’s 451st Test cricketer in Ranchi, or whether the selectors will lean towards either Maxwell or Khawaja. Either way, it will mean a fifth change of Australia’s Test No.6 since the start of the home summer.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRahmat Shah hit 10 fours and a six in his unbeaten 108•Associated Press

Twice in this series, Rahmat Shah failed to kick on after scoring a half-century. In the decider, he scored in triple-figures, for the second time in ODIs, to help Afghanistan recover from an early wobble and convert a potentially tricky 230 chase into a cruise. He steered them towards the target in Samiullah Shenwari’s company and then sealed a seven-wicket win with a six that helped them clinch a 3-2 series win to go along with the T20 clean sweep in Greater Noida, their adopted home ground.While Rahmat came up with the blockbuster knock, Shenwari’s unbeaten 62 was also important. The fourth-wicket pair added 133, helping them recover from 98 for 3 and overcoming pressure Ireland’s slow bowlers built in the aftermath of Asghar Stanikzai’s wicket for 39 in the 25th over. They eventually won with eight balls to spare and completed their second bilateral series win in three attempts against Ireland. The five-match ODI series in July 2016 in Ireland ended 2-2.Ireland, who won their first toss of the series, elected to bat and were driven by the experienced pair of Ed Joyce (42) and Paul Stirling (51), who added 69 for the first wicket. William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien also got off to starts and put Ireland in a position from where 275 looked a possibility. But the absence of the big-hitting Kevin O’Brien, out due to a hamstring niggle, perhaps hurt them in the end overs.The inability of the lower middle order to bring out the big hits on a slow wicket resulted in a flurry of wickets, the bulk of which were taken by Rashid Khan. The legspinner finished with 4 for 29 to top the wicket-takers’ list with 16 as Ireland lost their last seven wickets for 59 runs to be bowled out for 229 in the penultimate over.Left-arm quick Fareed Ahmad, playing his first game of the series, picked up three wickets, while Dawlat Zadran, who kept the pressure up early on in cloudy conditions, finished with two scalps including a ripper of a yorker that sent back the experienced Gary Wilson in the 39th over to delay their slog.Afghanistan lost the big-hitting Mohammad Shahzad in the fifth over when he was snuffed out courtesy a sensational catch at cover by Porterfield. Three overs later, Najeeb Tarakai, who faced 18 deliveries for 5, let pressure get to him as he skewed a catch to long-on to leave Afghanistan wobbling at 25 for 2.Stanikzai, the captain, held down the fort briefly before falling to George Dockrell’s left-arm spin. With the asking rate escalating and pressure building, Afghanistan needed a rescue act and they had one with Rahmat and Shenwari scoring together at a run rate of over 5.5 per over.