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ScorecardStiaan van Zyl ensured Sussex set a big target•Associated Press

Sussex are favourites to claim their third win in their last four Specsavers County Championship games after an unbeaten 166 by Stiaan van Zyl left Leicestershire reeling at Arundel.The South African was well supported by Luke Wright and Ben Brown, who both made half-centuries, before a violent cameo by Jofra Archer, who smashed 42 off 14 balls, took Sussex to 443 for 6 declared, leaving Leicestershire needing 425 to win their first game of the season. Their openers Arun Harinath and Paul Horton got through ten overs before stumps to close on 36-0, needing 389 for victory on the final day.Van Zyl had come to the wicket when Sussex’s advantage was only 64 after Luke Wells (43) was lbw to Matt Pillans. Harry Finch, trapped in his crease by Clint McKay, went for 18 with only four more runs added and Sussex 87 for 4, but Leicestershire’s day went downhill from there.Van Zyl gave one chance on 35 which should have been taken, but Richard Jones dropped an easy catch at cover off Will Fazakerley’s first ball and the 29-year-old, who played 12 Tests before joining Sussex on a three-year Kolpak deal in the winter, made them pay.He did the hard yards in assessing the vagaries of a pitch offering some erratic bounce and then began to drive confidently through the off side, collecting the majority of his 24 boundaries between cover and mid-off.His stand of 135 in 40 overs with Wright, who hit eight fours in his 110-ball 60, put Sussex in the driving seat and there was no loss of momentum when Wright hooked to deep square leg.Skipper Brown was at his busy and effective best, turning ones into twos and employing some effective back-foot shots against a tiring attack. There was some rough for Leicestershire’s three spinners to work with but none made much of an impression as Brown and van Zyl added 146 in 28 overs to build a strong position.Van Zyl passed his previous best for Sussex – 147 against Durham in May – and although Brown was pinned in front by a shooter from Richard Jones after scoring 67 in 80 balls with eight boundaries there was no end to the suffering for Leicestershire’s foot-sore attack, who have failed to bowl a side out twice in the Championship this season.Archer thrashed off-spinner Rob Sayer for three sixes in an over before hoisting Fazakerley over long leg. He also struck three boundaries in a violent cameo before Sussex pulled out with van Zyl on 166 from 252 balls with 24 fours. Batting for over five hours in the energy-sapping heat was as impressive a statistic.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEllyse Perry was at the forefront of another Australian victory•ICC/Getty Images

Prior to Saturday’s match, South Africa had never won against Australia in 13 completed ODIs. The closest they had come was in November 2016, when they managed a tie one of the five games of the series. Another had yielded a loss off the penultimate ball. That South Africa were able to bring some of that grit into their last league fixture this World Cup was largely down to legspinner Sune Luus’ fifth five-wicket haul that restricted Australia to 269, and 18-year old Laura Wolvaardt’s solid 71 that they could not capitalise on. South Africa fell 59 runs short in Taunton, allowing the defending champions to turn their attention to a semi-final clash with India on July 20.Ellyse Perry was chiefly responsible for things turning out the way they did as she combined a 58-ball 59 with figures of 2 for 47. She ran Trisha Chetty out for 37 with a sharp throw from deep midwicket, and then removed Luus and Ayabonga Khaka off successive deliveries in the 39th over to clear Australia’s path to victory.Australia’s spinners – Jess Jonassen, Asheligh Gardner and Kristen Beams – had done most of the damage, returning combined figures of 3 for 99 off 30 overs. While left-armer Jonassen took out opener Lizelle Lee in the sixth over of the chase, before adding van Niekerk to her tally of 2 for 40, Gardner and Kristen Beams ensured pressure was kept up from the other end as well.In the absence of Meg Lanning, sidelined for a second time in the tournament with a shoulder injury, stand-in captain Rachael Haynes compounded South Africa’s dismissing Mignon du Preez with her first ball in over four years. Haynes, who had last brandished her left-arm medium pace in the 2013 World Cup, also against the same opponents, dealt the more telling blow to South Africa’s innings in her next over, toppling Wolvaardt on 71. The teenaged opener backed up two half-centuries and two not-outs from five preceding games with a knock full of substance, but she just couldn’t do it alone.That South Africa were able to bring up 100 in under 22 overs was, in part, due to Australia’s sloppy fielding inside the circle. While Perry let an innocuous Wolvaardt drive, off Schutt, roll for four in the third over, Schutt dropped Chetty on 1 off Perry in the eighth, before Haynes joined in the comedy with a dive right over the ball at mid-off. Wolvaardt’s departure, however, robbed the innings of the fluency and worse, triggered a collapse as South Africa lost five wickets for 17 runs. It was only Shabnim Ismail’s 26 off 41 balls that yanked the total from 165 for 8 to 201.Australia could have enjoyed a larger margin of victory if they had been able to capitalise on a 114-run opening stand. But neither of Beth Mooney nor Nicole Bolton could press on to convert their half-centuries beyond 53 and 79 respectively. And even Perry, who struck a fifth-successive fifty – a record in World Cup cricket – was sent back just as she seemed set to dominate. Considering little was going South Africa’s way initially – by the 21st over, Dane van Niekerk had brought on a seventh bowler – Australia’s batsmen would have wanted to make a stronger statement.There was a mitigating factor though – the legspin of Luus. She got rid of Bolton and Elyse Villani in successive deliveries, and then denied Australia the firepower they needed in the slog overs by dismissing Perry in the 40th. She made sure South Africa were feeling good going into the mid-innings break. They just couldn’t hold on to the feeling long enough.

Sarah Taylor has declared that she is “back, and ready to face the World Cup and the scrutiny that professional sport brings,” after taking a year-long break from the game to combat an anxiety condition.Taylor, who is widely recognised as one of the most naturally talented female cricketers of her generation, took an indefinite break from cricket in the aftermath of last year’s World T20 in India. However, she was last week included in England’s 15-strong squad for the Women’s World Cup, which gets underway in just under a month’s time.Her inclusion followed a successful reintegration into the England set-up during a recent training camp in the UAE, where she took the field in a practice match against Ireland, scoring 26 not out in the second of three warm-up wins.”It’s been a tough 12 months and lots has been learned in that time,” Taylor said in an interview arranged by the ECB. “In terms of where I am with my cricket, I’m incredibly comfortable to be back playing and the girls have been absolutely brilliant. It’s just nice to be back around them and the fact that the World Cup is at home as well makes it extra special. To be back in time for the World Cup has been a hard journey but very worth it so far.”Prior to her diagnosis, Taylor’s condition was so acute at times that she found herself running off the field of play to be sick, while she also struggled with day-to-day issues such as taking public transport. A course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helped her to overcome many of the most debilitating traits of her illness, although she does accept that the pressures and scrutiny of a home World Cup campaign will bring a whole new challenge.”I don’t think we can shy away from the fact that in a World Cup there will be pressure,” she said. “Through what I’ve dealt with over the last 12 months I feel like I’m probably mentally strong enough to deal with those pressures. All I want to do is help someone else get through it, so I don’t think I’m any different to anyone else.”To be honest, when I took that break I didn’t look too far ahead. I couldn’t. I was always told to not look too far in the future, to take it day by day and as it comes. Literally getting out of bed was the highlight of a day and then accept that doing something brilliant might mean walking outside, that was a tick in the box.Sarah Taylor has been absent from England duty for the past year•Stephen Pond/Getty Images

“To look towards the World Cup never even got into my head, it was never something I was striving for at the time, then all of a sudden I found myself wanting to train again and, like I said before, it actually benefitted my day-to-day learnings and my anxiety through that. Next thing I knew I was on a plane going to Abu Dhabi and that was a very last-minute decision.Looking ahead to the World Cup itself, Taylor Is in no doubt about the team’s overall aim for the tournament. “Ultimately you want to win the tournament, don’t you?” she said. “But for me it’s literally just a case of day-by-day assessing where I am – anxiety-wise, cricket-wise, everything in my head. If not, what can we do to help me get through a training session, a game, everything like that.”My success, from a very personal point of view, is obviously to perform and be consistent in my performances but flip that to the mental side of things and it’s about getting through the tour unscathed. I’m realistic that there probably will be some bumps but, actually, if I get through it I should look back and be completely proud of myself for doing it. I’m proud that I’ve even put myself out there to do it. I want to win as much as the next person – and I’m hoping that there’ll be success with my own mental health and we can see a trophy at the same time.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez put on a century stand to set up victory•AFP

A commanding performance to secure a vice-like grip on eighth place doesn’t sound like an especially formidable achievement, but it was a much-needed boost off the back of a troubling few months for Pakistan cricket. A 113-run partnership between veterans Shoaib Malik – who reached his ninth ODI century with the six to seal victory – and Mohammad Hafeez enabled Pakistan to canter to a six-wicket win and clinch the three-match series 2-1.Pakistan’s chase of 234 got off to an eventful start, with a first-ball wicket, a nasty collision between Ahmed Shehzad and Babar Azam, a dropped catch at mid-on and a brilliant grab by wicketkeeper Shai Hope all crammed into a lively first six overs. Babar edged Shannon Gabriel into his stumps less than three overs later, and the upshot from a frenetic opening Powerplay was Pakistan had lost three wickets for 45 and, for the umpteenth time, were looking wobbly.The one positive Pakistan could glean from the situation was that Hafeez and Malik were at the crease together, and with 430 ODIs between them, they represented vast experience, if nothing else. It showed, too, with the pair ensuring they made survival their main priority for the next hour or so amid some testing spin bowling by Devendra Bishoo and Ashley Nurse, and they slowly began to turn the game in Pakistan’s favour.By the time Hafeez holed out to deep square leg, the visitors needed less than 100 to win. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed then joined Malik at the crease, the pair picking off the poor deliveries with consummate ease in a stroll towards their target. Towards the end, Malik was playing with such ease that he gave himself the chance of a century, which he completed in style with a straight six off Jason Holder. It might not always have been smooth sailing, but in the end, it was unquestionably clinical.West Indies will rue a failure to take proper advantage of the review system for the second game running. When Hafeez was on 39, Nurse, arguably the most consistent performer for his side all series, spun one sharply back into him, the ball striking the top of his front pad. Hawk-Eye showed it would have been given out on review, but Holder decided against going to the third umpire. It was one among a series of errors West Indies committed in the field – dropped catches playing a starring role once again – and by the time Hafeez was finally dismissed, the telling blows had long since been struck.West Indies had managed to scrap to 233 despite being squeezed for runs during much of the first half of their innings. Having slipped to 68 for 3 with a run rate well under four, Hope and Jason Mohammed combined for a 101-run partnership – the first three-figure partnership for West Indies this year – to set their team on course for what was at least a competitive total.The heart of West Indies’ innings was stifled by a sustained spell of pressure from Pakistan’s spinners, a spell that, in hindsight proved decisive. Imad Wasim was the pick of the bowlers, bolstering his credentials as a genuine ODI allrounder following on from his impressive batting performance in the previous match. He was the major reason for West Indies’ sluggishness during the middle overs, consistently bowling on a good line and getting the ball to spin away from the right-handers. Hafeez provided him able support, and their combined bowling figures of 17-1-45-1 aptly told the story of the middle overs.But even when their run rate slipped to as low as 3.34 runs per over, West Indies had one metric in their favour: seven wickets in hand. Inch by inch, Mohammed and Hope began to climb their way back into the contest, Mohammed launching Hasan Ali for sixes in consecutive overs and setting his team up for the final push.However, just as the hosts looked like they were eyeing 250, Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan took over from Shadab Khan, who had an indifferent day with the ball – despite picking up the wickets of Hope and Jonathan Carter – conceding 57 runs in his eight overs. The quality of Pakistan’s quicks shone through with a splendid bowling performance during the death overs, the two left-armers regularly landing yorkers with surgical precision that the batsmen struggled to get underneath. Only 29 runs came off the last five overs as the momentum West Indies had threatened to build up was punctured severely. Runs in short supply was a familiar theme for the hosts all evening, culminating in a result they – and their fans – have become all too familiar with of late.

Sri Lanka did not take the likelihood of rain into account when they chose the timing of their declaration, Upul Tharanga has said.Rain had washed out almost all of the third session on day three, and would wipe out 12 overs on day four as well, with more afternoon showers forecast on day five. Though Sri Lanka had batted aggressively to take their lead past 400, they let their innings continue after tea. This left Bangladesh with 27 scheduled overs to face in the day – though fading light permitted only 15.”Our planning is not based on weather predictions,” Tharanga said. “We can’t look too much into weather. It could rain tomorrow as well. Our plan was to give them 125 overs. If you take this wicket, this doesn’t have as much turn as other Galle wickets. We did lose about 12 overs to rain.”Tharanga was still confident, however, that the three spinners Sri Lanka had picked could take advantage of a day five Galle pitch. It hasn’t offered the same kind of help as it has been known to over the years, but things could already be changing.”We have 98 overs and the first hour is going to be crucial,” Tharanga said. “In that first hour if we can take two wickets, we can turn the game in our favour. There wasn’t that much for spinners, but we saw towards our latter part of the innings, that it did start to turn a little. Hopefully that will carry on tomorrow.”Sri Lanka set Bangladesh 457 to win – the highest successful chase in Galle is 99 for 3 – with Tharanga making a vital contribution. His 115 off 171 balls was his first century at home, the others coming in Bogra and Harare. The innings helped shore up his place in the team, and may also lead to his getting a longer run in the opening position, where Sri Lanka have recently had problems. Tharanga has also had success as Sri Lanka’s ODI opener in the last few months, after a brief stint in the lower middle order.”In the last two series I batted in the middle order, but here before the series, I was asked whether I liked to open and I didn’t have any issues in saying yes. Wherever I play I want to do a job for the team. It’s up to the management and selectors to decide where they want me. They have used me as an opener since the South Africa tour. If the management is happy, I’m happy as well.”

Scorecard
Aniket Choudhary took 4 for 26 on the first day•AFP

The sight of Imrul Kayes studiously watching his batting footage in the first session suggested the sort of day Bangladesh had at the Gymkhana ground on their first day of cricket on their first bilateral tour to India. Kayes was the first wicket to fall against India A, when he picked out the only fielder in the deep – Hardik Pandya at long leg.It was a carbon copy of his dismissal on the first day of the Wellington Test last month, when he picked out Trent Boult, who was the only man in the outfield, in the same region. Bangladesh’s concerns about the inconsistency of their batsmen hasn’t abated, with only four days to go for the one-off Test.The day belonged to India A’s left-arm quick, Aniket Choudhary who generated extra pace and bounce using his height to claim four wickets. Mushfiqur Rahim, who was ruled out of the Christchurch Test because of a thumb injury, marked his return with a half-century. Top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar also struck a fifty while Sabbir Rahman and Liton Das, who has not played international cricket since 2015, made cameos before Bangladeshis declared on 224 for 8 with more than 60 minutes remaining in the first day. In reply, India A, led by Priyank Panchal’s unbeaten 40, reached 91 for 1 before stumps. Abhinav Mukund was the only Indian to fall, caught at first slip off seamer Subashis Roy.It wasn’t the kind of tune-up Bangladesh were looking for, ahead of the Test. After opting to bat on the sluggish pitch, they lost wickets at regular intervals. Five overs after the fall of Kayes, Choudhary bowled Tamim Iqbal 13 and then surprised Mominul Haque with extra bounce. Choudhary later returned to test Mushfiqur with extra bounce and had him edging to Rishabh Pant. He then trapped Mehedi Hasan Miraz for a first-ball duck.Mushfiqur, though, looked comfortable on his comeback from injury, striking eight fours and a six during his 106-ball 58. Sarkar, meanwhile, played some attractive drives in the arc between covers and mid-off during his 52 off 73 balls, including nine fours and a six. But Tamim, Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman didn’t convert starts, after briefly looking comfortable, as the India A bowlers preyed on their patience, or the lack of it.

Nasir Jamshed, the former Pakistan opener, and one other man have been arrested* in the UK in relation to the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The National Crime Agency (NCA) released a statement on Tuesday saying that it was “working closely” with PCB and ICC anti-corruption units and that both men had received bail.The NCA statement said: “Two men in their thirties have been arrested by National Crime Agency officers in connection with bribery offences as part of an ongoing investigation into international cricket match spot-fixing.”The men were arrested on Monday 13 February and have been released on bail until April 2017 pending further enquiries.”As part of the ongoing investigation we are working closely with the Pakistan Cricket Board and International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption units. The Pakistan Cricket Board has launched its own investigation which has resulted in the suspension of three players.”Jamshed was arrested on the same day that he was provisionally suspended by the PCB, the third player to face that fate after the allegations first emerged. Pakistan openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were provisionally suspended from the PSL last week over alleged breaches of the anti-corruption code. Three other players were questioned by anti-corruption officers in relation to the investigation: Mohammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar and Shahzaib Hasan. None was suspended and they were cleared to continue playing at the PSL.The next step for the PCB is to issue show cause notices to the suspended players and initiate a disciplinary inquiry into the breaches of the code. Any inquiry, in the shape of an independent tribunal, is likely to be headed by a retired High Court or Supreme Court judge.”We had a lot of evidence on which we based our decision,” Najam Sethi, the PSL chairman, said on his talk show on , before the announcement of the arrests. “We know what we are doing. We have all evidence. We had this for a while, we had information – we cannot talk about stuff right now but a charge sheet will be given to players soon.”We had definite information, and not just us, we were collecting it. We knew it was happening, we had identified a few players and then at final stages we knew the ICC had some information as well and when we compared it the information was the same, then we decided to act on this.”Sethi said the PCB investigation into alleged corruption had begun before the PSL’s second season began.”You will know in 3-4 days what the plans were, what they were going to do, we have these players’ phones in which there is more information. Who they were in touch with, what they talked about, their text messages, WhatsApp messages.”We had an idea this was happening. We had also infiltrated into Pakistani bookies and we had some information from there as well before we got here. The league was huge last year and we knew it would attract bookies. We were waiting for it and we knew some players outside the PSL would be involved in it.”We suspended Nasir Jamshed as well, about whom we know what role he played. We nipped it in the bud.”*18.15 GMT – This story was updated with new information

The IPL 2017 player auction is likely to take place in the third week of February following a delay from the originally proposed date of February 4. Although the BCCI has not issued a final date yet, franchises understand it would be anywhere between February 20 and 25. Last November the IPL Governing Council decided to schedule the IPL 2017 tournament between April 5 and May 21.At that time, the player auction was slotted in tentatively for February 4 but that was ruled out as soon as the Supreme Court of India dismantled the BCCI house at the start of the year by removing its president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke and imposing various restrictions on the remaining eligible office bearers at the board. Although the BCCI management under its chief executive officer Rahul Johri was ready to stick to the timelines drawn last November, the court’s delay in appointing the committee of administrators put the IPL decisions on the backburner.However, with a four-member committee of administrators taking charge on Monday, the IPL is back on the priority list. The committee of administrators met with the BCCI management team to discuss the immediate decisions that need to be taken concerning IPL.”The Committee of Administrators (COA) met the concerned BCCI officials today to take stock of the urgent and important matters mainly concerning the successful conduct of IPL 2017,” a BCCI media release said. “The committee of administrators assured the franchises that it was overseeing the preparations for IPL and the ‘operational timelines’ will be sent out shortly.”On their part, the franchises have remained patient throughout the delay. Officials at several franchises said the main reason behind their confidence was the court had always made sure that cricket was never affected, both domestic and international. Also, the delay in the auction, one franchise chief executive officer said, would be an advantage because teams could scout for domestic talent in the ongoing Inter-State T20 tournament which finishes on February 18.If there is one thing the franchises are keen to get their hands on is the player roster – the final pool of players that will enter the auction. Normally the franchises get the roster two weeks ahead of the auction.”If we get the roster we can start making a shortlist of players we are after as then we come to know their availability which is always a big determining factor on which players teams pick,” one franchise CEO told ESPNcricinfo.This will be the last year of IPL before teams overhaul their rosters for the 2018 season. All existing player contracts will expire after IPL 2017 and it is expected most players will go under the hammer at the mega auction ahead of the 2018 season. There has been no decision yet on the player retention rules though.The current cycle of broadcasting rights, currently held by Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI), will expire after IPL 2017. Last September, the BCCI had announced that the next cycle of IPL rights would be sold via an open tender process. Eighteen companies including Facebook and Twitter bought the invitation to tender doucment for television and digital rights. The bids were meant to be opened on October 24, but the Lodha Committee deferred the process until the BCCI complied with the court order of July 18 last year.

ScorecardLuke Ronchi struck seven fours and four sixes in his 39-ball 79•Getty Images

Half-centuries from Michael Papps and Luke Ronchi helped Wellington record their first win of the 2016-17 Super Smash at the Basin Reserve. Having posted 173 for 5 after electing to bat, they bowled Auckland out for 140 with four balls left.Brent Arnel and Anurag Verma, the seamers, picked up three wickets apiece to consign Auckland to their first loss of the season. They were still placed No. 1 in the six-team table, two points ahead of second-placed Central Districts.Wellington were reduced to 14 for 3 in the fourth over when Grant Elliott was dismissed. The loss of wickets hardly seemed to affect Papps and Ronchi, who added 115 for the fourth wicket in just 11 overs to drive the innings forward. Matt Taylor’s unbeaten 20, consisting of two fours and a six, helped finish off the innings on a high.Auckland lost wickets in clusters – they first lost Rob Nichol and Jeet Raval in the space of eight deliveries. Then, Mark Chapman and Colin de Grandhome were dismissed in the space of three balls. Then the triple-strike of Colin Munro, who top scored with 38, SM Solia and Tarun Nethula in the 17th over nearly completed a batting collapse.Jeetan Patel, the offspinner, hammered the final nail when he sent back Donovan Grobbelaar for 26 to complete the 33-run win.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Shahid took another three-wicket haul as Dhaka Dynamites climbed to first place•BCB

Defending champions Comilla Victorians will go into the Chittagong leg of the BPL – beginning on November 17 – as the only team without a win, after they lost their fourth consecutive game. This time, the Dhaka Dynamites defeated them by 33 runs.This was Dhaka’s third win in four games, and most of their success has come on the back of strong starts by their openers – a combination of the legendary Kumar Sangakkara and the young Mehedi Maruf. This was true once again, as Maruf’s 60 set up Dhaka’s formidable 194 for 5 before their spinners dominated the Comilla batsmenIt was his second fifty in the BPL, and came off 31 balls, starting with a scythe over point off Mashrafe Mortaza in the third over. Sangakkara struck two fours and a six in his 12-ball 20, before falling in the fourth over.But Maruf’s aggression was unabated. He found boundaries quite regularly and then lofted Nabil Samad for two massive sixes over midwicket, with one of them landing in the grandstand. He added 84 runs for the second wicket with Nasir, who chipped in with 43 off 35 balls with five fours.Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan – who finished with 3 for 28 in his four overs – removed Ravi Bopara and Maruf in the 16th over, but that didn’t stop Dhaka captain Shakib Al Hasan from blazing 36 runs in 16 deliveries with Dwayne Bravo for the fifth wicket. Shakib struck two sixes in his 13-ball 24.Comilla’s chase began with intent – Imrul Kayes hit three fours in his 11-ball 19. But they ended up losing three wickets in consecutive overs, after Kayes was removed in the fourth. In the very next over, his new opening partner Jashimuddin was caught at deep square leg for ten, and Ahmed Shehzad – playing his first game – struck two consecutive sixes before getting stumped off the last ball of the sixth.They played two more overs before repeating the pattern. Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Ryan ten Doeschate, Rashid Khan and Al-Amin were all dismissed in the space of three overs, to leave Comilla reeling at 74 for 7 at the end of the 11th over. Medium-pacer Mohammad Shahid accounted for the last two wickets in that collapse, in his first over.Mashrafe provided entertainment towards the end, including slamming Shakib for four sixes in the penultimate over. But it was never going to be enough for Comilla.