Former England and Yorkshire batter leaves the game after successful return to native country

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2023Gary Ballance, the former Yorkshire and England cricketer who recently relaunched his career with his native Zimbabwe, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect.Ballance, 33, made four centuries in 23 Test appearances for England between 2014 and 2017, a record that compared favourably with many other players to have debuted in a similar period.However, he was heavily implicated in Azeem Rafiq’s explosive testimony during the DCMS parliamentary hearings in Westminster last November, after his use of the racial slur “P**i” had been deemed to be “banter” in the initial report into allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire.His career within English cricket ended amid the controversy, and after several months of open-ended leave on mental health grounds, Yorkshire released him from his contract at the end of the 2022 season, shortly after he was charged by the Cricket Discipline Commission alongside six other Yorkshire cricketers, including Michael Vaughan (who was subsequently cleared) and Matthew Hoggard.His move back to Zimbabwe – whom he had represented at Under-19 level prior to his England call-up – had been a bid for a fresh start, and it was initially a successful one too. He signed a two-year contract with ZC in December and played a total of eight international matches between January and March, including a one-off Test against West Indies in Bulawayo in which he scored a memorable 137 not out.The feat made him only the second Test cricketer to score centuries for two different nations, after Kepler Wessels, the former Australia batter and South Africa captain. However, after signing off with an unbeaten 64 to seal last month’s ODI series against the Netherlands, Ballance has now decided to call time on his relaunched career.”After much thought, I have decided to retire from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect,” he said in a statement.”I had hoped my move to Zimbabwe would provide me with a new-found happiness for the game and I will always be thankful to Zimbabwe Cricket for providing me with an opportunity to return to international cricket and welcoming me into their team.”However, I have reached the stage where I no longer have the desire to dedicate myself to the rigours of professional sport and this would do Zimbabwe Cricket and the game itself a disservice, should I carry on. I wish them every success going forward.”I have been fortunate to have some incredibly memorable moments in cricket, winning County Championships with Yorkshire and gaining the ultimate honour of representing England and Zimbabwe. I want to thank all of my clubs, coaches, support staff, teammates and supporters for their guidance and encouragement over my career, it has been a privilege.”It is now time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life. I will be making no further comments on my decision at this time.”He retires with a total of 1653 runs at 40.31 from his 24 Tests, and 12031 first-class runs at 47.74 all told, including 42 centuries and a further eight in List A cricket.

Allrounder eclipses previous best by 69 runs as Surrey run out comfortable winners

David Hopps26-May-2023Sean Abbott’s first thought about a glorious night he could never have envisaged was that he is no Andrew Symonds with the bat. That made his intervention at the Kia Oval all the more remarkable. He now shares with Symonds the joint-fastest T20 hundred ever made in England and the fourth fastest in T20 history after his 34-ball romp for Surrey in front of 17,000 spectators. He is no mean cricketer, but he just kept smiling at the absurdity of it all.Kent had been pleasantly stunned by Symonds’ hundred in their colours that night in Maidstone back in 2004 as the potential of T20 began to dawn. This time they were the fall guys, their control of Surrey’s top-order abruptly surrendered to one of those nights when a recognised lower-order batter simply discovers a power within themselves that has never previously been witnessed.Nigh-on two decades have followed since Symonds’ revelation of T20’s potential. Then the game invited scepticism and suspicion even in the country that had been daring and forward-thinking enough to present it to the world. As Abbott underlined once more, it has since become a game where anything is possible.”I don’t think people should be thinking about me and ‘Roy’ in the same breath,” Abbott said, moments after his unbeaten 110 from 41 balls with four fours and 11 sixes (all but one between long on and deep square) became just the latest tale of the unexpected. “But it was a lot of fun. Batting records could not be further from my radar. I was just grateful to find the middle of the bat.”He found it so often on his debut T20 appearance at Kia Oval that he now stands only four balls adrift of Chris Gayle’s all-time record. He achieved the feat in the penultimate over with a muscular, short-arm shovel down the ground against his fellow Australian, the veteran seamer Michael Hogan. This from a seam bowler whose average in T20 was 10.91, who had never made more than 41 in 76 previous innings in this format, and who made only 51 runs as an afterthought in Sydney Sixers’ 2022-23 Big Bash campaign.Nobody doubts that he can bat – he has made good runs for Surrey in the Championship this season and has a first-class average of 22 – but this was only the second hundred of his professional career. Inspiration fell upon him. If his maiden half-century brought professional satisfaction, the realisation that he might actually make a hundred became a bit of a lark.It was Kent Day, the Feast of St Augustine, which celebrates the patron saint of Kent and first Archbishop of Canterbury. But this time the chomping was left to Abbott, whose saintly qualities are not even known in Windsor, New South Wales. He came in with Surrey 64 for 4 in 8.2 tentative overs. Sam Curran had just departed to a bit of catching practice at mid-off and the pitch cried out for somebody who would just give it a slug.Thanks to Surrey’s uncommon reliance on a bowler-heavy side, Abbott had that opportunity. He said later that he just didn’t want to use up too many balls. With six overs remaining, Surrey were 118 for 5, Abbott on 28 from 17, and there was talk of how 170 would surpass Kia Oval’s par score. But Surrey added 105 in the last five overs. First Kent’s bowling fell apart then their fielding followed. They began like the side that finished top of South Group in 2021 and finished like the side that ended up bottom a year later.Abbott first took a liking to the left-arm spin of George Linde – too short, six; too full, another six. He might have holed out during that over on 47, but Joey Evison, who had watched those two balls sail many miles over his head, could not make ground at long-off to the mishit.Kane Richardson, another Australian in the firing line, then went for 30 (6-4-6-4-4-6) on the 18th over. Richardson opted for wide yorkers, but never nailed them, and Abbott, by now discovering his full repertoire, mixed delicate steers and extra-cover drives with lean-back heaves into a warm South London sky.When one of those heaves malfunctioned against Evison, Linde, who had a bad night, leaned forward to fumble a sitter. With the century achieved against Hogan, there was time for laughter, too, in the crowd as Richardson and Jack Leaning combined to pat-a-cake another blow into the boundary boards. It was all a far cry from the impressive way Kent had started, exemplified by a brilliant run out of Tom Curran by Jordan Cox at mid off.It was good to see Sam Curran back in Surrey’s side, batting at three and captain, too, so soon after an IPL season in which he had been charged with living up to a record £1.85m price tag. “A season of many ups and downs, lots to learn from and come back stronger,” he had tweeted. He can relax into a tournament where IPL price tags are rarely a staple of crowd conversation.Another of Surrey’s IPL contingent, Jason Roy, was again absent with a minor calf injury, quite a coincidence after a fraught and highly-publicised week in which he abandoned his England incremental contract to sign for the MLC’s inaugural tournament in the United States. The suggestion remains that he will see out Surrey’s Blast season, and will miss the start of the MLC tournment if they reach the final stages, but cricket is in flux, Roy is one of the players at the centre of it, and nothing can be assumed to be set in stone.In the meantime, Surrey’s medical team will see rather more of him than Surrey supporters which is a common state of affairs that county cricket is finding increasingly hard to live with.It was hard therefore not to recall the words of Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket – and seemingly a contender to replace the late Mystic Meg – who remarked a week or so earlier about top English players attached to counties: “They go away and play elsewhere and when they come back they want time in the indoor school with the best coaches just to get ready to go off and play in another franchise competition. ‘Oh and by the way I’ve got a little calf injury so can I get treated by the physio, the doctor, the medical staff and can I get rehab as well?’ “Sunil Narine stood in as opener during Surrey’s victory against Middlesex at Lord’s 24 hours earlier – a match when Abbott was not one of the eight batters who reached the crease. This time Surrey promoted Laurie Evans and opted for make-do-and-mend with Abbott at No. 6. It all went rather well.When Symonds made that format-defining hundred, Kent’s coach, Matt Walker, had watched with wonder from the non-striker’s end. This time he was about 100 metres away and could be forgiven if he did not find things quite as uplifting.Kent made a spirited start with the bat as Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tawande Muyeye repeatedly peppered the boundary to reach 75 in the powerplay. Both reached half-centuries – Muyeye’s first – but after Sunil Narine had Bell-Drummond caught in the deep, Kent crumbled. The last over was left to Abbott, the game won, his face full of smiles, but no wicket to add the final touch to his evening.

The BCB is expected to make the announcement this week, with Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz also in the running

Mohammad Isam08-Aug-2023The BCB will unveil Bangladesh’s new ODI captain later this week after the board president Nazmul Hassan has spoken to the candidates. Shakib Al Hasan is reportedly the first choice though Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are also contenders.The board couldn’t finalise a name during the emergency meeting on Monday because it wanted to take the candidates’ views also into consideration. The squad for the Asia cup has to be announced by August 12, which leaves the BCB only three more days to reach a decision. Shakib is presently in Colombo; Litton has only just returned to Bangladesh after playing the Global T20 Canada; and Mehidy is in Dhaka.Hassan had said in a recent briefing that appointing Shakib as the ODI captain would be an “easy decision”, but ESPNcricinfo understands it isn’t as straightforward. Shakib is already Bangladesh’s Test and T20I captain, and it is not known whether he wants the leadership in all formats.Related

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• Tamim Iqbal reverses retirement decision

“After our emergency meeting today, the board has entrusted the president to discuss the matter with the captaincy candidates by August 12,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. “The president will hear about who will lead in which format, and whether that player agrees with it or not. We want to hear it from the candidates what they feel about captaining the red and white-ball teams.”We want to appoint a captain for the Asia Cup. We have to submit the team for this tournament by August 12. We have time till September 5, which is the deadline for World Cup squad declaration, to talk about the World Cup captain. We need to hear what the new captain will say. We will announce the team in the next couple of days. We will announce the captain too.”Bangladesh are likely to name a 22-member preliminary squad for the World Cup by August 12, which will include all the players going to the Asia Cup, which begins on August 30.The ODI captaincy remains vacant because Tamim Iqbal resigned on August 3, following his withdrawal from the Asia Cup owing to a back injury. He hopes to be fit in time for the ODI series against New Zealand that begins on September 21 and the ODI World Cup that follows.His resignation came less than a month after he reversed his emotional decision to retire from international cricket. He had retired on July 6 but the following afternoon, Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina requested him to change his decision and he agreed. It was thought at the time that Hassan’s comments to a local media outlet, in which he questioned Tamim’s professionalism and fitness, had triggered him into retiring hastily.

In-form Paige Scholfield adds half-century in hosts’ 107-run win over table-toppers

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2023Alice Davidson-Richards celebrated her latest England call-up with a century as South-East Stars thrashed table toppers The Blaze by 107 runs at Beckenham to boost their prospects of a place in the end-of-season playoffs.The 29-year-old Kent batter, who will link up with England tomorrow in place of the ill Lauren Bell, struck 101 with a six and 11 fours in an innings of 128 balls.Davidson-Richards shared a stand of 119 for the fifth wicket with in-form Paige Scholfield as the hosts posted a daunting 278, Grace Ballinger returning 4 for 54 and Lucy Higham 2 for 32 for the visitors.Blaze, who dropped Davidson-Richards twice and Scholfield once in an uncharacteristically sloppy display in the field were no better bat in hand, Kirstie Gordon top scoring with 40 in an underwhelming reply of 171. Alexa Stonehouse’s opening spell of 1 for 4 put them on the back foot before Dani Gregory’s 3 for 32 cleaned up the tail.Ballinger ensured an explosive start to the encounter, trapping Jemima Spence lbw for a golden duck with her third delivery and when Kira Chathli inside edged one into her middle stump two balls later Stars were 1 for 2.Skipper Bryony Smith retaliated with a trio of boundaries off Cassidy McCarthy and Davidson-Richards caught the mood to cream one from Ballinger through the covers. Successive fours by Davidson-Richards off spinner Kirstie Gordon raised the 50 partnership in 42 balls, but Ballinger concluded her initial spell by removing Smith for 34.Davidson-Richards drilled the game’s first six over bowler Gordon’s head, before being given a life on 32, the spinner failing to hold on to a tough caught and bowled. She would make the most of the reprieve, her seventh four carrying her to 50 in 61 balls.Scholfield was also given an early reprieve, Ella Claridge shelling a routine catch at midwicket and the South African-born all-rounder’s response was to unfurl a series of cover drives as she sped to 50 from 55 balls.The pair raised the 100-stand and were sitting pretty at 180 for 4 at the second drinks interval. Scholfield departed soon afterwards and while Davidson-Richards reached her century, she was stumped almost immediately. However, a huge six from Stonehouse and a polished 33 from Bethan Miles meant stars had 278 to defend.Lizelle Lee soon showed her power, pulling one from Ryana Macdonald-Gay for six, but the bowler gained revenge when the former South African opener drilled a fuller ball straight to Scholfield at cover.Stonehouse was bowling superbly from the other end, yet ironically her worst ball got a wicket, Georgie Boyce tickling one down leg-side through to Chathli and when Macdonald-Gay flattened Teresa Graves’s off-stump with the first ball of the next over The Blaze were 41 for 3.As the clouds rolled in and the rate required rose, the expected onslaught from a team who’d won seven out of eight completed games never materialised. Miles, inspired by her batting cameo bowled Michaela Kirk for a painstaking seven and Munro was caught short in her bid to scamper back for two by Chloe Hill’s throw.Claridge chewed up 50 balls for 33 before falling lbw to Smith’s first delivery and only Gordon’s late resistance gave the score a more respectable look.

Fernando’s namesake and national team-mate Vishwa joins Durham

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2023Asitha Fernando, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, has signed to play for Nottinghamshire in the final three rounds of the County Championship.Fernando, 26, has taken 35 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 28.97 and is set for his first spell in county cricket, bolstering Notts seam-bowling options for the last few weeks of the season.”Asitha has already shown his talent on the international stage, and we believe he has the skillset needed to be successful in English conditions,” Notts head coach, Peter Moores, said. “We’re excited to have him with us, and he will add much needed depth to our bowling resources until the end of the season.”We’ve had some misfortune with injuries and we’re still in the situation of not having our full complement of seamers available. This has meant greater workloads for a smaller number of bowlers, and Asitha can help ease that pressure over the course of our run-in.”The whole group recognises the importance of these last three games and the need for everyone to step up, so we can finish the season strongly. Having had a bye in the first round of games, we’ve had an extended build up to prepare ourselves for the challenge ahead, which we’re all looking forward to.”His namesake and national team-mate, Vishwa Fernando, has signed for Durham as they look to wrap up the Division Two title, with Matt Potts and Brydon Carse on England ODI duty during the final weeks of the season.”I am really looking forward to joining Durham,” Fernando said. “I very much excited to play in the County Championship in England. I look forward to seeing everyone soon.”Marcus North, Durham’s director of cricket, said: “He is a vastly experienced player who has succeeded in Test and first-class cricket and we look forward to seeing what he can bring to Durham in September.”Elsewhere, Hampshire seamer Scott Currie has joined Leicestershire on loan for their last three games, as the Midlands club continue a surprise push for promotion from Division Two.

It means she will again be working alongside former England coach Lisa Keightley

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2023England captain Heather Knight will lead Sydney Thunder in this year’s WBBL, taking over from the retired Rachael Haynes.Thunder finished bottom last season but had a strong draft last month where they secured South Africa allrounder Marizanne Kapp and England quick Lauren Bell alongside Knight.Related

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It means that Knight will link back up in a leadership capacity with former England coach Lisa Keightley who took over in charge of Thunder to replace Trevor Griffin after the 2022-23 campaign brought just one win in 14 matches.Knight was previously part of the Thunder side which won the title in 2020-21 when she was their leading run-scorer with 446 at 40.54 and a strike-rate of 124.92.”We’re thrilled to have Heather captain Thunder this summer. She’s an incredibly experienced leader and the perfect fit to take us into this new era at the club.” Keightley said. “She’s one of the most gutsy and determined individuals I’ve worked with and I’m excited to see the effect she’ll have on the group.”Her positive energy will be a great asset to an already strong side with the other international signings and domestic players we have lined up.”Thunder start their WBBL campaign with a local derby against Sydney Sixers at North Sydney Oval on October 22

“Every opportunity we get to play together is vital now to try and find our mojo again,” says England coach ahead of Sunday’s India game

Matt Roller27-Oct-20232:53

Have England failed to plan well for this World Cup?

Matthew Mott accepts that his position as England’s white-ball coach will come under pressure with his side on the brink of an early World Cup exit, but said he is “fully determined” that he and captain Jos Buttler can turn things around in the future.Mott was appointed on a four-year contract in May 2022 and Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, made clear to him that he would be judged on results at World Cups rather than bilateral series, where England have routinely rested first-choice players.He oversaw their success at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, sealing England’s legacy as world champions in both white-ball formats. But after four defeats in their first five group games in India this month, England’s semi-final hopes are merely theoretical and Mott’s role will be scrutinised.Related

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“Jos and I are incredibly aligned and united,” Mott said after England’s latest defeat, an eight-wicket thrashing by Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. “Rob Key has been an amazing support to us [but] when you lose tournaments like this, everyone’s under scrutiny; everyone’s place will be questioned.”I’m fully determined that we can turn this around. I’ve got great faith in Jos: he’s hurting now and he’ll be feeling like there’s a lot on him. I certainly feel like I could have done things a lot better. But I’ve been in the job 18 months: we’ve won a World Cup and lost a World Cup. I think I’ve shown the capability that I can coach this team.”Buttler said on Thursday night that he retains “a lot of confidence and belief in myself as a leader” despite England’s results, but conceded that his future lies in the hands of the ECB. “If you’re asking if I should still be captaining the team, that’s a question for the guys above me,” he said.Mott is used to coaching at World Cups with high expectations after seven years with Australia’s women. Under his leadership, they won one 50-over World Cup and two T20 World Cups – though were also shocked by West Indies in the 2016 T20 final, and India in the 2017 50-over semi-finals.”I think, having experiences from the past where I’ve had tournaments like this, I’ve shown an ability to be able to turn things around,” Mott said. “So that’ll have to happen pretty quickly. But yeah, what will be, will be.”Matthew Mott•Getty Images

England travelled to Lucknow on Friday ahead of their next fixture against India on Sunday, for which they are massive underdogs. “[They] are probably raging favourites at the moment,” Mott said. “That’s an opportunity to restore some pride and confidence in the group, and every opportunity we get to play together is vital now to try and find our mojo again.”After picking a side comprising 11 players aged 30 or over for the first time in their ODI history against Sri Lanka, England will consider making changes again on Sunday. All four of the squad members who did not feature on Thursday – Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse and Sam Curran – are aged between 24 and 28.Mott did not commit to using young players for the rest of the World Cup, despite widespread expectations that England will overhaul their ODI set-up after this tournament. They still have four group matches to play, with fixtures against Australia, Netherlands and Pakistan after Sunday’s clash with India.”We’ll just try and keep picking our best side for the conditions – as we’ve tried to do all the way throughout,” Mott said. “What we need to get our heads around is restoring pride… that is our first priority at the moment: to make sure we come out and give India a good scrap, and hopefully perform a lot better than we have.”Brook was left out in favour of Liam Livingstone against Sri Lanka, but is England’s third-highest run-scorer of the tournament and one of only four batters to reach 50 in an innings. Asked specifically about his omission, Mott said: “Harry Brook is going to be a world-class player in all three formats.”We picked what we thought was the best balance for this and certainly after losing those wickets, the deeper batting line-up gave us a chance. We thought we could keep throwing punches through the back-end but it wasn’t to be today. Harry will have an amazing white-ball future: he’s a special player.”

Dean Elgar will lead the side in his absence, while Zubayr Hamza has been added to the squad

Firdose Moonda28-Dec-2023Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the New Year’s Test against India, after suffering a hamstring strain that kept him out of most of the Boxing Day match. Dean Elgar, fresh off a match-winning 185 in Centurion, will lead South Africa in what will be his final Test. Meanwhile, Zubayr Hamza has been added to the squad.Bavuma hurt himself on the first morning of the match, in the 20th over, when he chased a ball towards long-off and got to it as it stopped before the boundary. He left the field immediately and was sent for a scan, which revealed a strain, but not a tear, and Cricket South Africa said he would be monitored daily to determine his further participation in the match.He was seen briefly at the morning warm-ups, but not at all after that and over the next two days, there was no communication from team management, particularly on whether Bavuma would bat. Since it was an internal injury, he could bat only after he had served the time he was off for, or after the fall of the fifth wicket, whichever was earlier. But repeated questions to the changeroom went unanswered and speculation over the severity of his injury grew.Related

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South Africa’s Test coach Shukri Conrad confirmed Bavuma was “not in a great physical state” but that the situation was “fluid” and the team did not want to make any public comments before they knew if Bavuma would be needed to bat. Ultimately, Conrad decided not to risk Bavuma because he deemed South Africa’s lead comfortable enough, at 163.”Temba is not in a great physical state,” Conrad said afterwards. “He was ready to bat at every turn, and we kept monitoring it. When we reached where we reached, not because we felt that was enough, we felt that if we sent him out then there was a potential risk that he could aggravate the risk even further. We were constantly giving ourselves maximum time so we could give out the right information. If we lost wickets early, he would have walked on. With 150 runs ahead, I felt it wasn’t necessary to risk Temba.”Bavuma will be assessed to determine his availability for his next assignment, with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the SA20. He will not play in South Africa’s two-Test series against New Zealand early next year because of his SA20 commitments.This was Bavuma’s first outing since South Africa’s semi-final at the ODI World Cup against Australia on November 16, where he was carrying a right hamstring strain. Bavuma picked up that injury while fielding in their final group match against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad on November 10 but did not leave the field at any stage and batted for 49 minutes as South Africa successfully chased down 245. He did not have a scan in India but progressed with a rehabilitation program at training and was cleared to play the semi-final, even though he conceded that he was not 100% fit. South Africa lost that match by three wickets.Bavuma was rested from South Africa’s next assignment of three T20Is and three ODIs against India, which started on December 10, and was due to play a four-day first-class match between December 14 and 17 to prepare for the Test series. He missed the practice game because of a family bereavement. On the eve of the Test, Bavuma declared himself “mentally as fresh as ever” and he was a strong presence in the field for the first 90 minutes of play.In his absence, Elgar took over the leadership duties and will do so again next week when he signs off from South African cricket. Conrad put to bed conversations that his relationship with Elgar had turned sour after Elgar was removed as captain when Conrad took over and has since decided to retire. “If there was this frosty relationship, then he wouldn’t have captained [now],” Conrad said.

Shoriful Islam took the first hat-trick of his T20 career, as new franchise Durdanto Dhaka started with a win

Mohammad Isam24-Jan-2024Comilla Victorians rounded it up with a thrilling four-wicket win against Fortune Barishal in Mirpur. The match finished only off the penultimate delivery, though Imrul Kayes had led the chase with 52 from 41 balls before Matthew Forde smashed Khaled Ahmed for a four and six in the final over.Meanwhile, Khulna Tigers turned out to be the table-toppers due to a better net run rate over Chattogram Challengers, who have played a game more than Khulna. In their second match of the season, Khulna hunted down 188 in a convincing chase against Barishal.Related

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They had eight wickets and two overs to spare when Shai Hope hit the winning boundary. Hope, who played a cameo of an unbeaten 25 from 10 balls, combined brilliantly with Evin Lewis and Anamul Haque in Khulna’s big win. While Anamul got a composed 63 not out off 44 deliveries, Lewis thrashed 53 from only 22, with 50 of those runs coming in boundaries.Durdanto Dhaka, this season’s only new franchise, started by beating defending champions Comilla in the tournament opener. For Durdanto, Player of the Match Shoriful Islam took the first hat-trick of his T20 career, after which Mohammad Naim hit 52 off 40 balls.On the second day of the season, Barishal’s successful chase of 135 against Rangpur Riders had gone into the final over the match. That included a mini-battle of its own. Bangladesh seniors Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal faced off for the first time since Shakib called Tamim “childish” last September. But all the anticipation only resulted in a dud battle. Tamim managed just five runs from the first seven balls he faced from Shakib, who was dismissed for 2 earlier in the day.Mushfiqur Rahim got over a hundred runs in the first week•BPL

But Rangpur hit back just days later when they reduced Sylhet Strikers to 39 for 5. Sylhet recovered through Benny Howell and Ben Cutting to post 120, and even avenged it with the ball by having Rangpur at 39 for 6. But Babar Azam, reportedly the most expensive signing in this season’s BPL, got Rangpur home with a half-century, and an undefeated stand of 88 with Azmatullah Omarzai. That left Sylhet as the only winless side in the competition so far.

Batter of the week

While both Mushfiqur Rahim and Kayes got over a hundred runs in the first week, Anamul Haque’s unbeaten 63 against Barishal stood out as the best innings from the first eight games. Anamul is often talked about as a lost talent, but he has consistently scored runs in the BPL and the domestic competitions. His half-century came right after Lewis had lit up the powerplay, even as he played a steady hand in the successful chase of 188, which was completed by Hope slamming three consecutive boundaries.

Bowler of the week

Nahidul Islam has often been a match-winner in the BPL. He took four wickets for Khulna against Chattogram, before bowling another tight spell against Barishal by conceding just 23 runs in four overs.Against Chattogram, Nahidul took the first three wickets, including those of Avishka Fernando and Tanzid Hasan, and came back to pick his fourth when he removed Najibullah Zadran. Nahidul has remained economical, with his economy rate at just 4.38 after bowling eight overs across two matches.