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West Indies’ chances of finding a way past a New Zealand side on this tour have been as slim as England bowlers’ prospects of finding a way past the middle of Steven Smith’s bat across the Tasman Sea. After being outplayed and out-thought in the two-Test series, West Indies unravelled against New Zealand XI in the tour match on Saturday: from 180 for 1 they rapidly subsided to 288 all out. The bowlers then copped punishment from Test specialist Jeet Raval – who isn’t needed by Auckland in the ongoing Super Smash T20.To compound their woes, they have lost Marlon Samuels (hand injury), Alzarri Joseph (back strain), and Sunil Ambris (fractured forearm). West Indies, however, will be enthused by the return of their captain Jason Holder, who had been suspended for the Hamilton Test because of an over-rate offence, and Chris Gayle, who reminded everyone that he is still the Universe Boss with a record-breaking 18 sixes during his 69-ball 146 not out in the Bangladesh Premier League final.But can they alone turn around the fortunes of the ODI side? In addition to not qualifying for the Champions Trophy earlier this year, West Indies were swept 3-0 at home by England and later lost 4-0 in the return series with rain washing out one match. In between, they lost series to Pakistan and India – and nearly to Afghanistan at home. Limited-overs success in New Zealand could be a shot in the arm before the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe next year.New Zealand have no such troubles: they nearly stole a bilateral series win in India with their impeccable planning. And it has seeped into their series with the management resting senior players – captain Kane Williamson and bowling spearhead Tim Southee – for the second and third ODIs of the series ahead of the busy home season. Colin de Grandhomme has withdrawn himself from all three ODIs because of bereavement, but the hosts still have enough depth to keep West Indies down.

Form guide

New Zealand: LLWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies: LLLLL

In the spotlight

From pondering about becoming a T20 gun for hire, Colin Munro has fit into New Zealand’s top order in both ODIs and T20s. He isn’t just about brawn; he showed brain while negotiating the slower cutters in India. With the ball likely to come onto the bat nicely at Cobham Oval, Munro might not have to worry about the change-ups and revert to solely carting the ball.Chris Gayle. Who else? He showed sparks of brilliance in England with 173 runs in four innings and then fired like only he can in the BPL eliminator and the title clash. West Indies will be hoping he can extend his hot streak in New Zealand.

Team news

A hamstring injury has ruled Martin Guptill out of the series, and the left-arm spin-bowling allrounder George Worker will open in his place. Doug Bracewell will replace de Grandhomme while legspinner Todd Astle is set to make his ODI debut in place of Mitchell Santner, who has been sidelined from the first match because of a shoulder niggle. New Zealand might have to choose between Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson for the out-and-out fast bowler’s slot.New Zealand (probable) 1 George Worker, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Doug Bracewell, 8 Todd Astle, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Adam Milne/Lockie FergusonKyle Hope, who had been dropped for the Test series, made his case for a spot in the ODI team by top-scoring with 94 in the tour match, although at the top of the order. He is likely to occupy a middle-order spot along with his younger brother Shai. On the bowling front, the visitors might have to pick between Nikita Miller, who hasn’t played ODIs since the 2015 World Cup, and Ashley Nurse.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Kyle Hope, 4 Shai Hope(wk), 5 Jason Mohammed, 6 Shimron Hetmyer 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Nikita Miller/Ashley Nurse, 10 Kesrick Williams, 11 Shannon Gabriel

Pitch and conditions

“It [The pitch] has a bit of grass, should be a good batting track, it won’t change much during the game,” Holder said on the eve of the game. “The standard in world cricket now is 300-plus – we’ve got to be looking at that.”

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have lost just two of their last 10 bilateral ODI series at home. Their previous loss was at the hands of South Africa earlier this year.
• Holder needs 37 runs to complete the double of 1000 runs and 50 wickets in ODI cricket. He will become the 10th West Indian to the landmark.

Quotes

“The challenge with someone like Chris [Gayle] is when he’s going he puts the bowler under a lot of pressure – and that’s his biggest asset, I suppose. Perhaps, in the past we’ve had some success, hopefully we can do that again. It’s making those adjustments when someone gets in and you have to go to Plan B, you have to then execute the plans as best you can.”
“I think it started primarily from Brendon McCullum’s captaincy. He was very aggressive and it really filtered down into the group. Kane [Williamson] is probably a bit different in terms of his leadership but the New Zealand team is normally quite an aggressive team, especially upfront with both bat and ball.”
GMT 1328 The New Zealand line-up erroneously included Martin Guptill, who is out injured. This has been corrected

When the Nagpur Test began, an unfamiliar sight greeted followers of Indian cricket. As Ishant Sharma began running up to bowl the first ball, Cheteshwar Pujara stood at first slip. Pujara’s last stint in the slips came in 2012-13; since then he’s usually fielded in the outfield to the fast bowlers and at short leg or silly point to the spinners.Pujara marked his return to the slips with an excellent catch to send back Sadeera Samarawickrama, diving forward and to his left to complete a low grab. On Sunday he hinted that he is likely to continue at first slip when India go to South Africa in January to begin a long sequence of away tours.”Most probably,” he said, at the end of the third day’s play. “Going forward I think, especially in overseas conditions, all the batsmen should be ready to field in the slips, where we’ll have at least three slips and a gully throughout the day. So we are trying to have all the batsmen who can field at the slips whenever needed.”We’ll take a call about my slip fielding once we reach there, but most likely I might be there at first slip. I’ve been doing close-in fielding for the Indian team for quite some time. For spinners I’ve been fielding at gully. Slip fielding is something I’ve done in the past even for Saurashtra. I enjoy fielding at slips, so going forward, if I’m fielding at first slip I’ll definitely enjoy and try and take many catches.”Another difference in Pujara’s game, right through this series, has been his eagerness to push for quick singles. Troubled by knee injuries early in his career, Pujara has never been the quickest runner, but during the course of his 143 in Nagpur – and also his half-century in the first Test in Kolkata – he has been noticeably keen on pinching quick singles for himself and his partners, and there were plenty of twos and threes as well, particularly during his partnership of 183 with Virat Kohli, one of the fleetest athletes in the team.”See, since last one-and-a-half, two years, I’ve been working on my fitness,” Pujara said. “Luckily there haven’t been any injuries, and injuries are something I’ve gone through and that is in the past. Now I’m fully fit and that is the reason I’m able to take all the quick singles and even doubles.”Even my recoveries are much better now, because of my fitness. When it comes to batting I don’t think there’s anything I’ve changed, but fitness has helped me a lot, and when it comes to recovery and playing Test cricket, especially, if you want to be there on the field for all five days, you need to have a lot of stamina and your fitness has to be on the top.”Pujara spent 362 balls at the crease in Nagpur; on a pitch that he felt was “on the slower side”, he scored his runs at a strike-rate of just under 40. He felt the pitch, on day three, had begun to show signs of wear, and that Sri Lanka would be in for a difficult time in their second innings.”Kolkata was a different wicket altogether, where there was a lot of assistance for the fast bowlers, especially in the first innings. Coming back to this wicket, I think it was difficult to score runs, because this wicket was on the slower side, so it wasn’t very easy to get boundaries. So we had to rotate the strike, and in between, whenever we got some opportunities, we tried to play some shots.”But overall I think it was a tough pitch where, as a batsman, you might not get out, but at the same time it was difficult to score runs. I think, going forward in this game, the ball has started turning, so we’re hoping that on day four our spinners will come into play, and at the same time there’s variable bounce for the fast bowlers, so Ishant and Umesh [Yadav] also will come into play.”Cheteshwar Pujara walks off to a standing ovation•BCCI

Despite the slowness of the pitch, Virat Kohli still managed to score 213 at a strike rate of close to 80. Pujara put this down to his form and confidence.”He’s the kind of player who performs well in all the formats of the game, and the way he started off – if there was any other batsman, I don’t think someone else could have started the same way. I think it’s his confidence and the way he’s batting recently in the last 2-3 years. The way he was timing the ball – if there was any other batsman it was a bit difficult to score with such a strike rate.”Pujara will head to South Africa with runs behind him, but perhaps not a whole lot of preparation in South African conditions. With India playing six limited-overs games against Sri Lanka after this, they will arrive in South Africa with only enough time for one two-day warm-up game before the first Test. Pujara, who is not part of India’s limited-overs squads, hoped the Test specialists would be able to land in South Africa early.”See, as far as practice games are concerned, I’m not someone who should be commenting,” he said. “It also depends on the schedule, and the way BCCI plans its tours. But going there little bit early – maybe say about a week or 10 days early – and then practising on those pitches is important.”But at the same time it also depends on the way the Indian team is playing in other formats. So if there are some matches scheduled before we either go to South Africa or England, then you can’t help it. As an individual you need to be prepared, and even if we are in India, we need to try and replicate the wickets which might be there in South Africa or England, and try and practise here.”If Saurashtra qualify for the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, Pujara could get some match practice before heading to South Africa, but having been there twice before with the Test team, he felt he had gleaned enough knowledge of the conditions.”I’ve been there in 2010 and again in 2013, so that experience will definitely help me,” he said. “Apart from that, as soon as this Test series gets over – it also depends on whether Saurashtra qualifies for the Ranji quarterfinals – but at the same time I think we’ll have enough time – especially the players who are part of the Test team – because the first Test starts on [January 5].”Before that there is plenty of time to prepare. Personally, county experience and playing in South Africa in the past will definitely help me, because I have improved my technique, especially playing in overseas conditions. Overall I’m very confident with the kind of form I’m going through.”Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, has been going through a lean patch of late, particularly in home conditions, and on Sunday was out for 2, slicing Dilruwan Perera to point. Pujara said there was no reason to worry about Rahane’s form.”I think Ajinkya Rahane is someone who is a class player,” he said. “This is the time where he’s not scoring some runs, but he’s someone who will be back in form very soon. His work ethics are remarkable, and I’m very sure that, going forward, he’s just one innings away, where the moment he gets a big score, he will be back in form and he’ll be quite a useful player for the Indian team.”

On Monday, with three days to go for the start of the Test series against Sri Lanka, Ajinkya Rahane walked into the spinners’ net at Eden Gardens and began reverse-sweeping roughly every fourth ball. Every time Kuldeep Yadav floated one a little wide of off stump, down Rahane would go, lithely, onto his back knee to reverse-slap him square or reverse-paddle him fine.He didn’t always connect, and when he did he didn’t always connect cleanly, but this was a clear, concerted effort to practise the shot.”It’s important to improve your game day by day,” Rahane said on Tuesday. “When you’re practising in the nets, it is important to evolve and I am just practising. I just want to improve. I always think that if I improve one shot in the nets session, I’ll be better off during the game – if the opportunity comes in the game, I am 100% confident of playing a particular shot.”I am just practising – reverse-sweep, sweep, paddle sweep. Just an option.”The reverse-sweep isn’t a shot Rahane is known to play all that much, but neither was the orthodox sweep, until a few months ago, when he used it with great effect to disrupt Nathan Lyon’s line in a match-turning second-innings partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara in Bengaluru.Asked if he was comfortable enough with the reverse-sweep to bring it out against Sri Lanka, Rahane said it was a question of feeling confident about it in the middle.”I am comfortable,” he said. “For me, it is important to give my 100% in the nets. If I am comfortable and confident in the game, I’ll play that shot.”Ever since Rangana Herath bowled Sri Lanka to a come-from-behind win in Galle two years ago, India have looked to blunt his threat by going after him at every opportunity, more often than not by using their feet to him. It has worked: since that Galle Test, Herath has averaged 53.61 against India, taking 13 wickets in four Tests and giving away 3.58 runs per over. Rahane might just throw in the odd reverse-sweep to further India’s aggressive approach against him.

There’s a scene in the film, The Hunger, where the character played by David Bowie ages several decades in a few minutes.It would be an exaggeration to suggest Joe Root must know exactly how Bowie’s character felt – his downfall was related to a vampire lifestyle, after all, and they frown on that sort of thing in Yorkshire – but you get the picture. The demands of captaining the England Test side are substantial and there have been times during the summer when they have shown on Root’s face and in his demeanour.Defeat at Trent Bridge appeared to hit especially hard. “Why’s Joe Root’s granddad taking a press conference?” one journalist whispered as a man who looked a bit like Root shuffled in and tried to explain the loss. Let nobody doubt how much he cares.He looks much brighter today. Rejuvenated by some time off with his family and the series victory over South Africa he is back in Sheffield and, in between thrashing paint-covered cricket balls on to canvas to advertise life insurance – no, I didn’t get it, either – he is reflecting on his first few weeks in the job and looking ahead to England’s first day-night Test and the Ashes.He admits the demands of captaincy have surprised him a little. Not so much the on-field aspects – at which he has excelled – but the off-field requirements.Today is a good example. He is obliged to give a series of interviews which probe his views on a variety of subjects. He’s asked about his thoughts on top-order batting (it’s hard), playing Oasis songs on the guitar (it’s easy), being rested from the limited-overs matches against West Indies (it’s possible), religion (he’s in favour), Sheffield United (he likes them), his method of transporting a guitar on flights (he listens with rapt attention as a journalist tells him the secret is not to use a case) and day-night cricket (it’s worth a try but the fielding side had better strike with that new ball because it goes soft fast).Then he’s asked to do it all again in front of different cameras. Then he does it wearing a different coloured shirt. It is relentless and it is exhausting.”Maybe I was slightly naïve to the time and energy that would go into captaincy,” Root admits now. “I knew there would be a lot more demand upon my time and energy. And I quite enjoy the different responsibilities that come with it.”But I suppose there is slightly more than I expected. I’ve never been a great sleeper and I do find myself thinking about cricket even more than before.”When it comes to batting it’s been fine. I generally don’t think too much other than about watching the ball and playing the situation. In practice it’s about making sure I get all the preparation I need to be ready to score runs.Joe Root fulfils another sponsorship obligation•Getty Images

“Coming off the field and having a young family it’s very easy to distract yourself. It’s such a nice thing to be able to go back to. You just don’t think about cricket when you’re back there. It’s the times when you’re on your own and you don’t have that where it’s slightly trickier.”No period was more tricky than the aftermath of that Trent Bridge defeat. While South Africa played beautifully in Nottingham, Root was hugely disappointed by the naïve manner his side responded to the challenge of the moving ball and a fine attack. In the first major test of his leadership, he made it clear that better, tougher cricket was expected from his team. The way they responded bodes well for him.”It was important we sat down after that game and were honest about where we were as a team,” Root says. “It wasn’t a good enough performance by everyone involved and we needed to make sure we adapted better and quicker to the situation. We did that excellently in the next two games.”I don’t think I’ll ever be a man for Churchillian speeches or making everyone emotional through my words, but I feel like I can hold my own in terms of getting my message across in the group.”He knows, too, that one of the most significant test looms just ahead. Whether it’s right or wrong, England players – and captains, in particular – are still judged disproportionately by their success in Ashes series.Root admits he was shocked by the hostility of the Australian crowds in the 2013-14 series. Despite having spent a season playing Grade cricket for Prospect CC in Adelaide (“I enjoyed it, but I’d have loved to score more runs”) and expecting some “banter” on the field, he found it extended off the pitch.While he feels it’s crucial to see the humour in such exchanges, he also believes it is important to warn new players as to what to expect. One particular chant, which rhymed “Trott” with “vagina rot” was especially memorable.”I was slightly surprised,” he says. “I thought they might give us a bit of banter but it was a bit more than that.”A lot of the side that went in 2013-14 was similar to the one which won there in 2010-11. They all said it was an amazing tour and they had a great time. It was tough cricket but brilliant.”My experience was different. It was very hostile. It was aggressive on and off the field. Especially off the field, in fact. The crowd give you a hard time and the guys are fully aware that’s the case.”At Brisbane a beach ball came on the field and they wanted me to throw it back. Someone said something a bit rude so I chucked it to the steward, who popped it. For the rest of that day they carried on about it. There were some not very nice words. It wasn’t very family friendly.”There was a few chants from the crowd that were quite personal at times. Quite offensive. The thing to remember, even if it doesn’t seem it at the time, is it’s generally in good spirit and they’re just trying to create an atmosphere for their side.”But if you respond well to it you have the opportunity to win them over. So I think it’s important to warn players over what to expect. You don’t want to go out there and it just hit you like a train. You want to make sure you’re fully aware of what’s coming your way.”I think that’s probably what made it so enjoyable for the guys who went there and won. You do get a hard time but when you win it’s that bit more enjoyable. Our challenge is to experience that, not let it faze us and hopefully come back with that little urn.”Joe Root is an Ambassador for health and life insurer Vitality, inspiring healthy and active lifestyles

At some point during India’s last Test of this series, the selectors are likely to meet to announce the squad for the Sri Lanka ODIs. There has been talk that a few of the big stars might rest given India sent pretty much a full-strength squad to the West Indies, too. However, Virat Kohli is showing no signs he wants to rest.

The Contenders

• Openers: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma;

• Openers-cum-middle-order batsmen: KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane;

• No. 3: Virat Kohli;

• Middle order: MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, outside chance for Suresh Raina and Shreyas Iyer;

• Allrounder: Hardik Pandya;

• Spinners: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, outside chance for Axar Patel and Krunal Pandya;

• Fast bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, outside chance for Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur

“My participation? Who said I am not playing?” a bemused Kohli responded, when asked about his participation in the ODIs. “I don’t know where this came from… if you don’t want me to play, then tell me… I have no problems in playing.”The chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad, has been travelling with the team during the Tests. He will hand over the touring selector’s duties to one of his colleagues after the Tests. The BCCI secretary, Amitabh Chaudhary, too, is expected to be in Sri Lanka for an Asian Cricket Council meeting. So the convenor of the selection meeting and two selectors are likely to be in attendance in Sri Lanka with the third perhaps joining in through teleconferencing from India.Kohli said he already had plans in mind for the ODIs. “We are going to sit down on selection soon and we certainly have plans in mind and combinations that we want to speak about,” Kohli said. “So as captain I am definitely in the thick of things and know what to speak to the committee about.”The big question in the ODI selection continues to be the future of the two veterans, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, now that KL Rahul is fit and playing Tests in Sri Lanka and Manish Pandey has returned to competitive cricket in style in the triangular A-team series in South Africa. If both the veterans continue to hold their places, youngster Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik might have to make way for Rahul and Pandey. Another way to accommodate Rahul will be to leave out Ajinya Rahane, who plays the similar dual role of opening and middle-order back-up.Suresh Raina has also been at the NCA, proving his fitness. If the selectors look to give both veterans and youngsters a run, one or two of the established stars might have to rest. Kohli injured his shoulder during the long home season of 13 Tests, and came back midway during the IPL only to continue playing practically non-stop since then. There is a long home season and a South Africa tour lined up soon after India go back from Sri Lanka.The ODI selection will also reveal a lot about how Kohli and the selectors foresee the role of spinners in the side. Kuldeep Yadav impressed the India captain a lot in the West Indies, which shows India have woken up to the need of a genuine wristspinner given the flat pitches in ODIs. Kohli was glowing in praise for Kuldeep, who appears set for his second Test in Pallekele.”A guy like Kuldeep, when you hand him the ball he is willing to bowl in any situation, willing to bowl with attacking fields, willing to throw the ball up towards the batsmen, he believes in his own ability and believes in deceiving the batsmen with the skill that he has so,” Kohli said. “I think that’s his biggest quality. A chinaman bowler is always something, which is an x-factor in a team. I would say his confidence is his USP.”Where does that leave the two spinners ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in Tests? Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, like many other fingerspinners, have had mixed fortunes in limited-overs cricket for a while. It is a tricky situation India find themselves in. Ashwin was left out of the XI in the West Indies just when he looked like he was getting into some kind of rhythm. Jadeja replaced him. If Kuldeep keeps doing well and if India retain the combination of only two spinners in the 15, which they took to the Champions Trophy in England, at some point they might have to choose between Ashwin and Jadeja.India find themselves with many choices but are yet some way off the ideal combination in ODIs. Take a look at the sidebar. Even if those with an outside chance are to be left out, there are 19 fit players out of which four have to be eliminated. It will be three batsmen and one spinner in all likelihood. Not just the selections now on, the communication with those left out will be just as crucial.

AB de Villiers hopes to use the three T20s against England to thoroughly banish memories of the Champions Trophy exit and the resultant analysis of his leadership and lack of runs. De Villiers will captain a fairly inexperienced squad, which includes nine players from the failed Champions Trophy campaign but is without several seniors who are being rested before the Test, and he hopes they can use the matches to find a rhythm South Africa have lacked on this tour.”It was a tough few days after the Champions Trophy, to go through that phase of reflecting and to hear some of the criticism. It’s never easy but I have always been the kind of guy to see the positive in that and see opportunity to improve. These three matches give me that opportunity as a player and as a captain for the team,” de Villiers said. “I don’t feel like I need to prove anyone wrong or prove something to someone. I just want to go play. I feel like a youngster starting my career again. I am really full of energy and love playing. I just want to score some runs again and captain the team to a few good wins.”With a total of 20 runs from his three innings in the Champions Trophy, on the back of a quiet IPL, it’s fair to say de Villiers had a lean run but he insisted he is in good touch and simply a victim of poor luck. “I feel like I am playing very well. I had a couple of bad dismissals in those two games. The first game I tried to take it on a bit. The second game I don’t know how the ball went up in the air like that. The third game I felt like I was going to get 200 off 5 balls so I got run out. There’s nothing wrong with my form. The results are not showing.”Neither are they showing for South Africa. They arrived in England on a high following a successful 2016-17 season, in which they won eight trophies including three fifty-over series and sat at No.1 on the ODI rankings but are empty-handed. They lost their three-match ODI series to England and crashed out of the Champions Trophy in the first round, adding to a trove of major tournament misery.This time, de Villiers is taking a different approach to his reaction. Instead of dwelling on the disappointment, he is determined to get over it as quickly as possible.”I am past that stage of really harping on it for a very long time. The difficult part is the criticism all around, just hearing the negative stuff all the time but I am past nagging about losing games of cricket because that happens. It’s happened quite a few times,” de Villiers said. “I am not going to look into that too much. I am ready to move on. I know I am still a good player, I know the team can still achieve amazing things and it’s important for me not to think about what happened in the past. I am not going to spend too much energy thinking about the last 10 or 12 tournaments I have played in.”But he is still devoting time to thinking about the one tournament he does want to play in: the 2019 World Cup. In an effort to remain fit and focused, de Villiers has opted out of Test cricket for the rest of the year – and he has hinted it may be longer than that – which has earned the ire of some former players. Both Ashwell Prince and Herschelle Gibbs commented that players should not be allowed to dictate their availability to the national board but de Villiers claims that is not what he is doing.”It’s never been about managing my workload. It’s more about prioritising certain things that I still want to achieve. I’ve never been picking and choosing my games,” he said. “It’s making sure I am in the best form for that 2019 World Cup. That’s the goal. I have to regroup with CSA when I get back home. The new season will be starting and I have to see how I fit in and move forward from there.”De Villiers will be part of the new Global T20 League, as the marquee player for the Pretoria franchise. The competition will run across November and December, preceding a yet-to-be-confirmed series against India that will feature four Tests. It was initially de Villiers’ aim to play in those Tests but it remains to be seen if he does, especially as his own recent statements are more aligned with shorter formats, 50-over particularly.Despite South Africa’s premature end to the Champions Trophy, with the World Cup to be played in the same place, de Villiers believes they were taught lessons they could help them in future. “We learnt a lot of things. Pakistan surprised all of us. The way they controlled the middle overs, especially with the ball in hand. From the mental point of view, it shows that any team can come out on top on the day,” he said. “We made a few notes – mental notes which we will use coming back in 2019. I hope I will be part of that. That’s the plan.”

Abahani Limited landed an important blow in their title defense after they crushed Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club by seven wickets. With Gazi Group Cricketers’ match against Prime Bank Cricket Club halted due to rain, Abahani are now the tournament’s sole leaders with just two matches left.At the BKSP-3 ground in Savar, Doleshwar were restricted to 189-9 in 50 overs with seamer Abu Jayed picking up three wickets while Mohammad Saifuddin and Manan Sharma collected two wickets each. Marshall Ayub top scored for Doleshwar, making 57 off 83 balls but with just a single boundary. In fact there were only six fours and two sixes in the whole innings.Later, Saif Hassan and Shadman Islam added 132 runs for the second wicket to steer Abahani’s chase. Saif made 80 off 97 balls with nine fours and two sixes while Shadman struck four boundaries and a six in his 78-ball 65.Mohammedan Sporting Club outplayed Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to complete a five-wicket win at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar.Batting first, Dhanmondi Club were cleaned up in 45 overs for 197, courtesy regular dismissals from Taijul Islam, Subashis Roy and Sajedul Islam. Dhanmondi’s only notable contributor was Ziaur Rahman who slammed his third List-A century, that included nine sixes and six fours. He however found little support from the other batsmen except Elias Sunny with whom Ziaur added 77 runs for the sixth wicket. Ziaur finally fell in the 39th over, having made 103 off 85 balls.Mohammedan then got off to a superb start when their openers Shamsur Rahman and Shykat Ali added 86 runs in just 13 overs. They lost four further wickets but completed the chase in 30.2 overs with Bipul Sharma slamming four sixes and two fours in his 19-ball 38.Meanwhile, the match between Gazi Group Cricketers and Prime Bank Cricket Club has now been shifted to Tuesday after rain spoilt the originally scheduled match day at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. The rain was due to the effects of Cyclone Mora that has developed over Bay of Bengal.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:21