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Abahani Limited romped to their sixth consecutive win in the Dhaka Premier League after crushing Mohammedan Sporting Club by 112 runs.Mashrafe Mortaza and Mehidy Hasan took three wickets each as Mohammedan, who won their last three league matches, were bowled out for 147 runs in 30.4 overs in chase of 260. Earlier, Nasir Hossain (67) and Anamul Haque (63) made match-winning half-centuries.Mohammad Sharif’s six-wicket haul, which included a hat-trick, helped fire Legends of Rupganj to a five-wicket win over Gazi Group Cricketers.Batting first, Gazi Group were bowled out for 190 in 32.4 overs after the match was reduced to 33-overs per side due to a delayed start owing to a wet outfield. Sharif removed Imrul Kayes and India international Manoj Tiwary in his first spell.Off the second ball of his second spell, Mahedi Hasan fell for five before Sharif nipped out Rajibul Islam, Nadif Chowdhury and Ruhel Ahmed off consecutive balls in the following over. It was Sharif’s first six-wicket haul and second hat-trick in List-A cricket.Parvez Rasool and Tushar Imran rescued Rupganj’s chase by adding 102 runs for the fifth wicket after they had slipped to 86 for four in the 15th over. Rasool remained unbeaten on 61 off 57 balls with five fours and two sixes.A century by Fazle Mahmud and Farhad Reza’s four-wicket haul helped Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to a 56-run win over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in Fatullah.Batting first, Doleshwar were propelled to 293 for 6 on the back of Mahmud’s unbeaten 120. He added 82 runs for the second wicket with Liton Das and another 71 runs for the fourth wicket with Zohaib Khan.Nurul Hasan later struck an 86-ball century too but Dhanmondi Club were bowled out for 237 runs in 45 overs. Nurul, who earned a call-up to Bangladesh’s T20 squad on the same day, struck seven fours and a six. He added 99 runs for the seventh wicket with Elias Sunny. Farhad took four for 56 while Arafat Sunny took two wickets.

Big Picture

We all know how Durban ended up but for the second Test in Port Elizabeth, much will depend upon the local conditions. For example, what are the acoustics like on the stairwell at St George’s Park? Does the layout allow for quick u-turns? And what are the precise locations of the security cameras? Every venue is different, and in order to be ready and adaptable, Australia would do well to familiarise themselves with the conditions before the Test.Okay, enough of that. Steven Smith has ruled a line under the stairwell saga, but then again, lines ruled by Australia can tend to have unpredictable shape-shifting qualities. The fact is, there is only one thing to be thankful for in regards to the David Warner-Quinton de Kock issue: that the break between the Durban and Port Elizabeth Tests is only three days. Imagine if this had happened at the end of the Port Elizabeth Test, with an eight-day break before Cape Town. Imagine a full week of this. At least now we can all quickly focus again on the on-field action. Hopefully.Australia lead the series 1-0, and have the chance to take an unbeatable advantage in Port Elizabeth. No member of their side scored a century at Kinsgmead but four of the top six managed fifties, and with the ball Mitchell Starc especially was in serious form. South Africa’s batting had higher highs – Aiden Markram’s 143 was a magnificent effort in a fourth-innings chase, and de Kock bounced brilliantly back to form after lean run – but they were also far less consistent. Still, a 118-run win for Australia might have reflected the difference in the sides in Durban, but there were enough signs from South Africa that the balance of power could change at any time.

Form guide

South Africa LLWWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Australia WWDWW

In the spotlight

How can it be anyone but this pair?Whatever Quinton de Kock said in that stairwell, he can be assured of hearing plenty of words coming his way when he bats at St George’s Park. But the uncomfortable fact for Australia is that de Kock found some much-needed touch in Durban, after 15 consecutive sub-50 scores in Tests. His 83 might not have been enough to pull off a miracle win for South Africa, but had Markram stayed with him at the crease, who could say what would have happened?Perhaps the most fascinating outcome of the stairwell saga is that David Warner now finds himself one demerit point away from a suspension. That means that he will need to be on his best behaviour for the remainder of the series, which could be a challenge if any further provocation comes his way. Warner was nicknamed “The Reverend” when he became Australia’s vice-captain and tried to tone down his behaviour, but perhaps a monastic vow of silence would be wise while those demerit points hang over his head.

Team news

South Africa are still debating between keeping Theunis de Bruyn or bringing back Temba Bavuma, who is batting pain free but is still working on getting full power back into his grip. South Africa are also weighing up their bowling combinations, but could only consider bringing Lungi Ngidi into the XI if they drop one of the existing quicks.South Africa (possible): 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Faf du Plessis (capt), 6 Theunis de Bruyn, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Morne Morkel.Australia have confirmed that they will make no changes from the side that won in Durban.Australia: 1 Cameron Bancroft, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is expected to be somewhat slow and low, and a drying wind on match eve might dry it out a touch more. Spin and reverse swing are likely to play their roles. No rain is forecast for the match.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have played only one Test in Port Elizabeth in the past 20 years – and lost it, in 2014
• Morne Morkel is three wickets away from the milestone of 300 in Tests
• Should Steven Smith fail to score a century in Port Elizabeth, it will make a stretch of three consecutive Tests in which he has not made a hundred – last time that happened, it was against South Africa in Australia in 2016

Quotes

“We just want to get back to playing good cricket and make sure we play them on skill and get the emotion out of it.”
“It’s a big game for us, and we need to make sure that cricket does the talking. We’ve spoken behind closed doors about the lessons learned and try to improve them. We need to make sure we get back into the series and make it one-all.”

The BCCI and the PCB’s dispute over two unplayed bilateral series moved a step forward after the ICC constituted a three-person dispute panel four months after Pakistan decided to take the legal route in pursuit of its resolution. The hearings will take place in Dubai from October 1-3 and the decision of the panel will be final.”The International Cricket Council today confirmed that the Hon Michael Beloff QC will chair the Dispute Panel in the matter of proceedings between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India,” the ICC said in a statement. “The other two members of the panel, which has been established under the Terms of Reference of the ICC Disputes Resolution Committee, are Mr Jan Paulsson and Hon Dr Annabelle Bennett AO, SC. The hearing will take place in Dubai from 1-3 October and, as per Article 10.4 of the Terms of Reference of the ICC Disputes Resolution Committee, the decision of the Dispute Panel shall be non-appealable and shall remain the full and final decision in relation to the matter and binding on all parties.”The PCB claims up to $70million worth lost revenue from failure of the BCCI to play two series – in November 2014 and December 2015 – which were agreed by the boards in April 2014. Both series were officially slotted into the ICC’s Future Tour Programme (FTP) with Pakistan as host. However, amid a deteriorating political situation, the BCCI refused to honour that agreement.The PCB, saying they had no option left, sent a notice of dispute to the ICC. Under the watch of the ICC, both boards met on a number of occasions to try and reach a resolution in good faith, to no avail.In a final motion, a three-person dispute panel headed by Beloff with Paulsson (Pakistan representation) and Bennett (Indian representation) will have a three-day hearing at the ICC headquarters in Dubai. Beloff, incidentally, was head of the ICC tribunal which banned Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif for spot-fixing in 2011. The proceedings are likely to be conducted in private.”Unless the parties agree to settle their dispute in the meantime, the Dispute Panel shall decide the outcome of the case following deliberation in private,” read the terms of reference. “They shall endeavour to reach a unanimous decision, but a majority decision shall suffice. No member of the Dispute Panel may abstain from voting on the outcome of any dispute, but any member may record a dissenting opinion which may be attached to the majority decision with the permission of the Chairperson of the Dispute Panel. “The bone of contention is the original agreement between the two sides in 2014, which is expected to be a central pillar in the PCB’s arguments. It had agreed on both sides playing six series between December 2015 and November-December 2022, and also an effort to play a short limited-overs series in Pakistan (or a neutral venue) in November 2014. But amid tense relations between the two governments, any chance of a resumption in bilateral ties had always looked distant. And that has been the BCCI’s core claim all along – that it does not have government permission to play Pakistan.India and Pakistan have not played a full series since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which India blamed on militants based in Pakistan. Pakistan visited India for a short limited-overs series in December 2012, but that did not do enough to thaw the frosty relationship.

Big Picture

On an overcast Tuesday afternoon just over two weeks ago in Malahide, Pakistan found themselves three wickets down for 14, still needing 146 more to prevent Ireland becoming the first team since 1877 to win their maiden Test match. With a worrying recent history of fourth-innings implosions, Pakistan looked set for a defeat so ignoble it would define their time on British shores this tour, and highlight the malaise of their Test team since, indeed, the last time they were in the UK just under two years ago.Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam carried them through that ordeal, and since then, the post-mortems of sharp declines in Test fortunes are suddenly the opposition’s problems. The series against England began with two Test teams that had, with varying degrees of rapidity, gone from being the best in the world to distinctly mediocre. Pakistan’s – as you would expect – was a more expeditious, less explicable downturn, albeit one hastened by the retirement of two of their greatest batsmen, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, while England’s arguably has reasons stretching back for a decade: from cricket no longer being on free-to-air TV, to the marginalisation of the County Championship, to their well-documented struggles in replacing Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann, not to mention Kevin Pietersen and Andy Flower.But the manner of England’s decimation at Lord’s – their fifth defeat in 12 Tests at that holiest of grounds, where previously they had not lost since 2005 – may be the jolt the home side need to assess how far they’ve fallen. In last week’s Test, England were out-thought by a team that isn’t exactly renowned for its meticulous planning, out-fielded by an outfit that has never been a torch-bearer in that regard, and out-batted by a group whose susceptibility to the moving ball is well-documented. After all that, it was hardly a surprise that Pakistan out-bowled them, too. The dismissiveness, almost derisive, with which Sarfraz Ahmed’s young team put England away seems to have set alarm bells ringing at the ECB, with an urgency that wasn’t in evidence even in the wake of a 4-0 drubbing in the Ashes earlier this year.As a result, Pakistan find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being the steady clinical team from which no drama is expected, while England have faced all manner of uncertainty over the past few days. The only blot on a perfect Test at Lord’s for Pakistan was the loss of Babar to a wrist fracture, while Joe Root’s men have been left to contend with changes in strategy and personnel if they are to avoid a first home series loss to Pakistan in 22 years.

Form guide

England LDLLD
Pakistan WWLLWKeaton Jennings and Joe Root warm up ahead of the second Test•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Dawid Malan managed to escape some of the more excoriating criticism in the wake of the first Test, but he will doubtless be aware of the pressure on his shoulders. Since making his debut against South Africa last July, he has shown flashes of the brilliant talent – most notably in Perth – that got him into the England team in the first place. But the cold hard facts are these: Malan averages 29 with the bat and hasn’t added to the solitary (albeit classy) century that he made at the WACA. Since then, his form has actually fallen away. He has added just 177 runs at 19.7 to his career tally, and has never quite looked an assured presence at the crease – particularly when the likes of Trent Boult and Mohammad Amir have pinned him there with a full left-arm length. He will be acutely aware of the intensifying scrutiny on his place.It’s hard to single out a Pakistan player in the spotlight; there wasn’t one you could accuse of having a poor Test match without coming off as incredibly churlish. But if you must, you could say that Shadab Khan has had better Tests with the ball. He bowled six wicketless overs that went for 34 in the first innings – albeit in seam-friendly conditions. But his bowling in the second innings, especially when England got a couple of partnerships going, arguably failed to put them under the sort of pressure that Shadab’s wizardry is capable of. He was a shade guilty of failing to exploit the rough his seamers had created. The two wickets he did get had an element of fortune to them, too, with the delivery to Stoneman keeping exceptionally low, and the wicket of Stokes off a long hop more down to the Englishman’s shocking shot selection. Shadab can – and will – only get better, so England have one more thing to be wary of.

Team news

As if England didn’t have plenty to ponder already, Ben Stokes is a serious doubt with a hamstring injury, with a late decision expected before the toss. Teenage prodigy Sam Curran has been brought in as cover. Chris Woakes’s chances of starting in Stokes’ absence look good, particularly given his all-round credentials, and though Dom Bess had an indifferent debut, it is unlikely that England will risk starting the Test without a specialist spinner. As for the batting department, Stoneman has been left out, with Jennings returning to partner Alastair Cook at the top of the order.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Keaton Jennings, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 6 Ben Stokes/Chris Woakes, 7 Jos Buttler, 8 Mark Wood, 9 Dom Bess, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James AndersonIt is much more straightforward for Pakistan. With Babar Azam out of the side, Usman Salahuddin is set to make his debut at Leeds tomorrow. No other changes are expected.Pakistan 1 Azhar Ali, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Usman Salahuddin, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Mohammad Abbas

Pitch and conditions

The Headingley pitch is usually helpful to seam bowlers, though it does tend to go flat when the sun makes an appearance. The surface for tomorrow looks like one that will abet run-scoring, and deter England from fielding an all-pace attack. Cloudy weather is expected, especially over the weekend, so how well each side bowls could be crucial to the outcome.

Stats and Trivia

• England have lost six and drawn two of their last eight Test matches. The last time they won was against West Indies at Lord’s in September 2017.
• While England’s last home-series defeat to Pakistan came in 1996, failure to beat Pakistan at Headingley would mean Pakistan haven’t lost any of their last four Test series against England. The most recent one – in 2016 – was drawn 2-2, while Pakistan won the previous two in the UAE by margins of 2-0 and 3-0.

Quotes

“It was very clear where we needed to improve from last week. We’ve had some good preparation, the guys have really worked hard and now it’s just doing it, going out and proving a point, putting a really strong performance in as a group and showing some pride in the badge.'”
“We have to forget Lord’s and move on to this now. If we want to move ahead as a team we have to forget our wins. We did well, we enjoyed it for two days, but now we’re here.”

ScorecardThe international class of Mohammad Abbas was too much for Derbyshire despite a rousing innings from Matt Critchley as Leicestershire celebrated a six-wicket victory on day three of the floodlit Division Two match at Derby.The Pakistan pace bowler took 6 for 54, including the wicket of Critchley who was last to go for 86 from 124 balls as Derbyshire were bowled out for 184.That left Leicestershire with a modest target of 133 and 58 from Colin Ackermann backed up by 48 from skipper Paul Horton sealed a 21 point win with more than 23 overs to spare.Horton said of the Foxes’ third win in five: “We’re really happy to get over the line. We’ve played a lot of solid first-class cricket this season and the two games we lost we should have won so to come back after dominating but sadly losing a fixture and step up a day later was a great effort.”Leicestershire’s two defeats in this sequence were astonishing. They enforced the follow-on against Durham at Chester-le-Street and lost – then chose not to enforce it again against Middlesex at Grace Road and lost that one too.Derbyshire had gone into another hot day nine runs behind and they lost skipper Billy Godleman to the third delivery as Abbas swung one in to shatter his stumps.Alex Hughes was badly missed by Lewis Hill off Ben Raine but the wicketkeeper made amends by taking a diving catch to remove him when he drove at a wide ball from Abbas who then saw Mark Cosgrove put down Daryn Smit at second slip in the same over.Smit survived for another 10 overs before he got an inside edge off Raine into his stumps and after Critchley completed a deserved 50 from 71 balls, Hardus Viljoen swung Callum Parkinson to long-on with Derbyshire only 79 ahead.Tony Palladino demonstrated the application Derbyshire required by batting for 10 overs until Raine bowled him off an inside edge but Critchley made sure they would have something to defend by driving consecutive balls from Raine for a four and a six.Abbas bowled Olivier with a full-length ball and Critchley’s excellent innings ended when he miscued a pull trying to keep the strike and lobbed a catch to mid-on.That left Leicestershire with 53 overs to chase down the runs but they lost Sam Evans in the second over when he edged Viljoen to second slip with three on the board.Another couple of wickets then would have set nerves jangling in the visiting dressing room but Horton again batted soundly while Ackermann unleashed some powerful drives to cut the target to 46 at tea.Ackermann was caught behind driving at Duanne Olivier, Cosgrove edged a cut at Viljoen and although Horton was lbw with four needed, he had done enough to seal a third win in four matches.

ScorecardTalk to any professional cricketer, past and present, and they will tell you that it is a horrible game to master. It plays devilish tricks on the mind, and even worse ones on the body. In a few fleeting moments you may enter the fabled “zone” but beware, for Mother Cricket is waiting to bite you on the arse at any, or indeed every moment.It is the cruelty of cricket that so attracts its supporters. The fine balance between bat and ball. That sense of jeopardy that accompanies every delivery in the very best of matches; a jeopardy that has led some, famously, to chew through their umbrellas or even drop down dead.While Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate, in his first game back since a two-game suspension, were compiling a fifth-wicket record partnership for Essex against Somerset of 294, cricket, however, looked the easiest game in the world, at least for the batsmen. It was a stupendous feat of concentration on another blistering day by two men with decades of experience between them.There were some elegant strokes, plenty of immaculate defence and, towards the end, when the imperative was to speed towards a declaration target, some genuinely spectacular hitting, but it was impossible to escape the impression that it was all too easy.Runs, certainly for the first two hours today, weren’t so much scored as extracted from Somerset’s bowlers; a tithe to be paid if they wanted to share the same pitch. Dominic Bess, who finished yesterday’s play covered in more grit, dust and grime than a Victorian child chimney sweep, struggled manfully on a pitch that offered him nothing.Again he kept the Essex duo in check until ten Doeschate shifted gears late in the first session, driving the increasingly battered ball with perfect precision along the ground through the covers like a European Central Bank mandarin scything through the more hopeful parts of a Greek finance minister’s budget with a pink marker pen. Bess’ reward for 49 overs of earnest, and committed toil was figures of 2 for 132.Jamie Overton, playing his first championship match of the season after injury, tried a different approach. Banging the ball in halfway down the wicket he generated decent pace, but the ball was soft, the pitch was docile and the batsmen, in particular ten Doeschate, adapted with ease. Overton’s 22 overs yielded 110 runs, but at least it broke the monotony. Instead of a modest tithe, the batsmen were now extracting Super Tax.Nearly four hours into the day, Bopara slogged at Trego and paid with his middle stump. His 118 was, astoundingly for a man who is the seventh highest run scorer in all cricket worldwide over the last decade, only his second championship century since July 2, 2014. There was time for ten Doeschate (173*) to go past his highest championship score before he declared10 overs before tea on a mere 515 for 5.Somerset were able to negotiate the short session to tea easily. All too easily. And then the game burst into life. Neil Wagner, who gave the full pitched swinging ball two or three attempts, promptly and with commendable devotion, explored the middle of the pitch, much as Overton had earlier, but at greater pace and at a nastier angle.The last eight overs of his marathon ten over spell consisted almost entirely of short balls. A couple, suddenly, shot along the ground. Most of them reared to chest and throat height. Davies glanced one to Wheater behind the stumps to depart for 41. Byrom and Bartlett channelling their inner Andrew Hilditch, pulled and hooked at pretty much every ball. They even middle the occasional one. It was baffling. Westley was stationed at back-stop for the top edged hook. You could hear Geoffrey Boycott mithering at their failure to sway and duck, and he may have had a point. It was ludicrous stuff, but, after hours of somnolent dominance by the bat, it was marvellous fun.And then it stopped again. Wagner couldn’t bowl all day. Sam Cook and Jamie Porter adopted a more orthodox approach. Byrom and Bartlett settled back into the rhythms of this match and the day dawdled to its close with the lights finally taking effect, Somerset comfortably enough placed on 140 for 2.

24.1 – Root c Rahul b Pandya 16 (86 for 4)

Pandya to Root, OUT, has that carried to second slip? KL Rahul has certainly celebrated like it has. Hard to think the soft signal will be anything other than out, given that. Yes, soft signal is out…it is a legal delivery…oh this will be close! There is possibility of there being a bounce and he can only possibly have fingertips under it…third umpire rules he has fingertips under it! Joe Root cannot believe it. Neither can the crowd. By the rules, that is the correct decision – there wasn’t conclusive evidence to overturn an out decision. But it wouldn’t have been overturned if it was given not out in the first place. It’s that soft signal debate lurking again. That was short of a length and straightening in the corridor as Root defended inside the line. Pandya bowled from wide of the crease. Root never looked convinced, not even before the replay was taken. He was marking his guard as the review happened.

30.1 – Bairstow c Rahul b Pandya 15 (110 for 6)

Pandya to Bairstow, OUT, What a ball, Hardik Pandya! What a spell, Hardik Pandya! Perfectly-pitched ball, full, angling in towards middle and off, makes Bairstow play, the late seam movement squares him up, and finds the outside edge. This is held comfortably by Rahul at second slip. From 54 for 0, England have fallen to 110 for 6

30.6 – Woakes c Pant b Pandya 8 (118 for 7)

Pandya to Woakes, OUT, Pant takes a step to the leg side, then stretches out his right glove, the ball just about sticks in his webbing even as it keeps swerving away from his reach. Umpire Erasmus raises his finger and gives Woakes out caught behind. Woakes challenges the on-field out decision. Bouncer aimed at the arm-pit, cramps the batsman for room. Woakes still dares to hook, he only tickles it off the bat to Pant

32.1 – Rashid c Pant b Pandya 5 (128 for 8)

Pandya to Rashid, OUT, Four wickets for Pandya, five catches for Pant. Pant dives to his right and snaffles this edge. Shastri and Bangar are up on their feet, applauding their boys. Full, angling in just a shade outside off, and nibbling away, Rashid has a defensive push at it and nicks it behind to the debutant. England’s procession continues…

32.5 – Broad lbw b Pandya 0 (128 for 9)

Pandya to Broad, OUT, Pandya bags his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He holds the red ball aloft and celebrates. Broad thinks about a review but decides against it. Plumb. This is full and straight, swings in, 142ks, Broad falls over a leg-side flick and is pinned in front of middle. This is some spell from Pandya. Five wickets inside five oversGraphic: Hardik Pandya’s maiden Test five-for took all of 29 balls•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

ScorecardA seventh wicket stand of 110 in 25 overs between Ben Brown and Chris Jordan rescued the day for promotion-chasing Sussex against Leicestershire at Hove.Until then Sussex had not made the most of a strong position with a number of batsmen getting out when well set against a depleted but spirited Leicestershire attack.Sussex had made a positive start after winning the toss. Their new-look opening partnership of Phil Salt and Tom Haines put on 79 for the first wicket at virtually four an over.After a disappointing defeat on a difficult pitch at Lord’s, third-placed Sussex picked an unchanged side, but pushed regular opener Luke Wells down to No 3.

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Salt scored a typically expeditious 44 from 60 balls, with eight fours, before he was well caught and bowled by Ben Mike, low down to his right. Mike is making his first-class debut and impressed with his action and pace bowling downhill from the Cromwell Road end. He finished with 3 for 57. Dieter Klein is playing his fourth championship match of the season but is still waiting for his first wicket.Leicestershire, whose own promotion bid has fallen away after defeats by Kent and Gloucestershire, were fielding a weakened attack without the injured Gavin Griffiths and Zak Chappell.Haines reached his fifty when he guided Mohammad Abbas to the third man boundary for his tenth and final four. On 56 he was caught in the same area as he attempted a square drive. Sussex were 126 for 2 in the 37th over.Wells looked as if he had been batting at No 3 all his life. He went down the pitch to drive spinner Callum Parkinson back over his head for a flat six. But Leicestershire hit back at 140 when Harry Finch was lbw to Raine for four.Wells reached his fifty from 96 balls, with four fours and a six. But he was fourth out at 188 when he pushed forward to Neil Dexter and was caught behind.Luke Wright, with some forceful drives, looked keen to make up for his pair in his last outing – a failure that, oddly, caused one disgruntled Sussex member to lambast him on social media for eating an egg and bacon bap on the Lord’s balcony before start of play.There were four fours in Wright’s pugnacious 27 but then he was bowled attempting to pull a ball that kept low. When David Wiese was well caught in the gully for a second ball duck Sussex were 204 for 6 and had not made the most of their early advantage.But then captain Brown (60) and Jordan (52 not out) came together to provide the most resolute batting of the innings. Brown has been his side’s most dependable batsman this season, although he had to survive a prolonged appeal for a slip catch by Mark Cosgrove after reaching his half-century.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIncisive bowling from Chris Woakes and a rapid spell from Olly Stone uprooted four Sri Lanka wickets in the first nine overs – their collective new-ball effort outdoing Lasith Malinga’s heroics at the death, and bringing about a 31-run for England win via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. Malinga had taken 4 for 19 in his final five overs, completing his first five-wicket haul in over four years, as England were restricted to 278 for 9 despite having seemed destined for a total in excess of 300.But although the hosts’ bowlers had performed creditably, keeping England in check for the majority of their innings, Sri Lanka’s top order failed for the third consecutive time, slumping to 31 for 4 then 74 for 5, effectively surrendering the match in those early overs. Dhananjaya de Silva and Thisara Perera forged an unbeaten 66-run partnership for the sixth wicket, but could not make up enough ground before rain cut Sri Lanka’s chase short at the end of the 29th over. Their score at the time was 140. With five wickets down, they would have needed 172 to win.Woakes, who had missed the home ODIs in the English summer through injury, delivered a tight and constricting first spell, eliciting a series of false shots from Sri Lanka’s top order batsmen, three of which resulted in wickets. Upul Tharanga was the first to depart, edging a ball angled across him in the first over. New captain Dinesh Chandimal was the second of Woakes’ wickets, under-edging into his stumps as he attempted to punch the delivery through the covers. Dasun Shanaka, batting unusually high at No. 5, then touched a seaming ball behind after facing a harried 18 deliveries. With Stone also having had Niroshan Dickwella caught off the glove with a vicious bouncer at the other end, Sri Lanka were reeling, and the middle order were left with a monumental task to get back in the game.De Silva and Thisara gave the recovery a shot, as both played aggressively against England’s spinners, and negotiated the fast bowlers much better than the men batting higher up in the order had done. The rain, though, snuffed out what little hope Sri Lanka had, giving England a 1-0 lead in the series with three ODIs to play.Lasith Malinga rolled back the years•Getty Images

That England got as many as they did was largely the work of senior batsmen Eoin Morgan and Joe Root, who hit 92 off 91 balls and 71 off 83 respectively – the pair batting together in a 68-run third-wicket stand. Where Root had been assured from the outset, striking crisp boundaries off the fifth and eighth deliveries that came his way, Morgan’s first 30 balls at the crease were a little more frazzled.He was flummoxed by a Lakshan Sandakan googly in his first few minutes, the ball turning sharply back at him to strike him on the pad. More plays-and-misses and miscued strokes were to follow, but eventually his innings hit a rhythm. The sweeps and reverse sweeps began to be played with more conviction, and to profitable effect. His fifty – the 40th of his career – was completed off his 57th delivery, and he accelerated upon reaching the milestone, hitting 34 off his next 23 balls.Malinga’s haul featured all the vintage dismissals. He took Morgan’s wicket in the 42nd over – the batsman chipping a tame catch back to him after failing to pick up the slower ball. Next delivery, he bowled Moeen Ali with a slower yorker, the ball diving beneath Moeen’s shot. He got the balls at either end to reverse swing as well – perhaps the only one-day bowler in the world who can still get the ball to behave this way consistently. He breached speeds of 140kph at various points through the innings, and pointed to the name on his back when he took the fifth wicket with a fast, tailing yorker that Liam Dawson was not equipped to resist.His overall figures were 5 for 44. Having been dropped from the side for over a year, he has now taken 10 wickets in four games since his return.

Hamish Rutherford punches down the ground•Getty Images

The lower-order trio of Parthiv Patel, Vijay Shankar and K Gowtham propelled India A to 467 for 8 on the second day of their first unofficial Test against New Zealand A, after which the hosts put on a solid batting show to finish on 176 for 1. Opener Hamish Rutherford crunched his 13th first-class hundred following India A’s declaration post lunch. In the afternoon, the India A bowlers toiled for 55 overs to prise out a solitary wicket. With two more days of play remaining, New Zealand A trail by 291.Parthiv, batting on 79 overnight, fell six short of a 27th first-class ton after edging Blair Tickner’s medium pace to the keeper. But Shankar and Gowtham added 89 in a ninth-wicket stand that took them past 450 before India A captain Ajinkya Rahane declared in the 123rd over. Tickner’s dismissal of Gowtham on 47 was his fourth wicket; he finished with figures of 4 for 80.It took India A almost 38 overs to earn their first wicket as New Zealand A’s opening pair of Rutherford and Will Young added 121. Fast bowlers Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj went wicketless, as did Shankar off his medium pace. The only India A wicket-taker was Gowtham, whose offspin dismissed the captain Young one short of a 28th first-class half-century. But Rutherford pushed on, reaching his ton in 155 deliveries, and by stumps, New Zealand A ensured they lost no further wicket. Rutherford’s innings featured 16 fours and a six.