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ScorecardBabar Hayat hit six fours and four sixes in his 68-ball 78•AFP

An aggressive half-century from Babar Hayat set Hong Kong up for a 39-run Duckworth-Lewis win in a rain-affected match against Kenya in Nairobi. The win moved Hong Kong up to 11 points from eight games, leaving them a point adrift of joint table-toppers Papua New Guinea and Netherlands.Rain delayed the start of play and forced the match to be reduced to 31 overs a side. Sent in to bat, Hong Kong lost Kinchit Shah with only two runs on the board, before Hayat joined the opener Christopher Carter in a 119-run second-wicket partnership. Both then fell in the space of eight balls, to the left-arm seamer Lucas Oluoch: Hayat for 78 off 68 balls (6×4, 4×6) and Carter for 41 off 63 (4×4, 1×6). Hong Kong lost Anshuman Rath soon after as well, and were 148 for 4 in 25.1 overs when rain came down again.That interruption caused the match to be shortened further, with Kenya set a revised target of 173 in 25 overs. They made an excellent start, courtesy a 79-run opening stand between Irfan Karim and Alex Obanda, but fell away thereafter, losing all ten wickets for the addition of only 54 runs. Left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed, offspinner Ehsan Khan and medium-pacer Tanveer Ahmed picked up three wickets each.

Australia women legspinner Kristen Beams has been ruled out of the remainder of the home ODIs against South Africa due to a finger injury. She had fractured her right little finger during the third match on Wednesday in Sydney and parted with the squad on Friday.While the Australia squad headed to Coffs Harbour for the last two ODIs of the series, which they lead 3-0, Beams returned to Melbourne after undergoing surgery. Beams had bowled six overs for 35 runs and one wicket on the day.”You never want to see one of your team-mates get injured,” seamer Rene Farrell said before training at Coffs International Stadium on Saturday. “We’ve all been there and we’ve all had finger injuries before. Hopefully she’ll be right around the middle of the WBBL season. I know she’ll come back stronger, she’s a tough character.”Beams had broken her finger after bowling four overs on Wednesday and received medical treatment near the boundary line before returning to bowl another two and dismissed centurion Lizelle Lee in her final over.”Her finger was still dislocated and she bowled her last two overs for us,” Australia opener Nicole Bolton said. “That shows the strength of character of someone like Beamsy, who we heavily rely on with the ball, and for her to come out and do that for us was just incredible.”Beams had a terrific tour of Sri Lanka in September, across four ODIs and the lone T20I. She was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series, which Australia whitewashed, with 13 scalps at a stunning average of 5.92 and took two four-fors. In the T20I, her figures of 3 for 11 from four overs restricted the hosts to 59 for 8. She had bettered her career-best figures in both formats on the tour.She is also Australia’s leading wicket-taker (18) in ODIs this year, behind South Africa legspinner Suné Luus (30), England’s Katherine Brunt (21) and Luus’ team-mate Ayabonga Khaka (21).

Fourteen years ago, Robin Uthappa, a teenage batsman who came with the reputation of being Karnataka’s batting future, replaced J Arunkumar in the state side before the start of the domestic season. Arunkumar, a senior player and part of Ranji Trophy-winning sides in 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99, was aggrieved and turned professional, playing for Assam and Goa before retiring in 2008. Four years later, when he took on a coaching role with Karnataka, Arunkumar found himself in the same position as the selectors were in 2002-03, having to take the “brave call” of dropping seniors.This decision, Arunkumar believes, has led to the renaissance of Karnataka cricket, taking them from an ‘almost there’ side to back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. It is a process he is prepared to stick to as Karnataka look to reclaim the title they lost in 2015-16. They have begun promisingly this season, with a win and a draw from two matches.”It was tough, but [there were] very conscious decisions to replace senior players like KB Pawan, Ganesh Satish and a few others,” Arunkumar, who is now head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “That call was a must then because the team management was mindful of the bigger picture. By that I mean, by 26-27 if a cricketer wasn’t playing for India A at least, chances of the national cap were remote. We didn’t want a situation where a player is just happy playing state cricket and then going away. It was a bold decision we took when asked to present a roadmap for the state team, one that has worked wonderfully so far.”Arunkumar said the decision to part with senior players put tremendous pressure on the youngsters, with some of them scrutinised on a match-by-match basis. When Arunkumar took over as batting coach before the 2012-13 season, KL Rahul was not a regular in the side. Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Gopal had not made their first-class debuts. Manish Pandey was far from national reckoning and Uthappa was struggling with form and fitness after being left out of the India team.Rahul, for example, made his first-class debut in 2010, but was dropped after three matches. It took him two more years to re-establish himself. Nair, too, failed in his first two matches. “There was pressure not to give more chances, but as coach, you have to go by instinct, and I went with my heart,” Arunkumar said. “Even someone like Karun Nair did well in only his third game.”A lot of times I have seen, and I say it from experience, that some players are slow starters. As a coach you have to give them the confidence. You need to be transparent and straightforward, you can’t be manipulative and get away; you will be sorted otherwise. We were in fact extremely lucky to have a core group in such quick time that the two championship wins brought many of them in national focus.”The national focus brought with it new challenges. The price Karnataka have paid for being so successful over the past couple of seasons is that they have lost players to the national or India A teams at various stages. While it is a matter of pride, Arunkumar said the challenge lay in handling fame and remaining grounded.”Luckily we’re in a good position where those who have played for India realise the need to not take things lightly when they return,” Arunkumar said. “That is the challenge for us as coaches to bring out the best in them. There is an inclination to not give 100% sometimes, but we have given everybody ownership and authority to take their decisions, else coaches will be made to look like prison wardens. That’s what we were taught in 1995-96 when we won the Ranji Trophy.”In 2015-16, Karnataka suffered from the after-effects of another aspect of national-team ambitions. Senior players Uthappa and CM Gautam had a “small misunderstanding” over their roles in the side because of the split wicket-keeping policy that stemmed from Uthappa’s desire to press his case as a keeper-batsman for India, a role he had fulfilled with Kolkata Knight Riders.”CM probably missed out on an IPL contract because of that, but all that is in the past now,” Arunkumar insisted. “CM lost a bit of credibility because no one saw him as a wicketkeeper, but he did it for the team. Robin himself realised it was affecting team chemistry. So this season we decided to let specialists handle their own jobs.”With the team set to remain on the road for the next three months, Arunkumar believes bonding between the players will be vital when wins are elusive. “They’re all mostly friends even outside the cricket ground,” he said. “They plan bike rides, movies, treks and outings during the off season. We all regularly meet for dinners during the season too. We’re even allowed to have a couple of beers from time to time to celebrate victories. As a coach, you can’t be imposing and set team rules and curfews. The boys understand where to draw the line, so it’s fine.”

A helicopter that had just dropped off Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and his wife Umme Ahmed Shishir in Cox’s Bazar crashed during its return journey to Dhaka. Shakib said he was shocked to learn about the accident in which one person was killed and four injured.The helicopter dropped Shakib and Shishir at around 9.30am at the Royal Tulip Sea Resort, some 27km south of Cox’s Bazar town. They were going to shoot a commercial.On its return flight around an hour later, the chopper crashed near Inani beach, some 1.5km north of where Shakib and Shishir had landed.The deceased was identified as Shah Alam, a resident of Dhaka, and the injured were undergoing treatment at the local health complex. Wing Commander (retd) Shafiqul Islam, the pilot, was among the injured.”I am fine, but feel rather shocked at the news of the chopper crash,” Shakib said to newspapers. “But I can’t really tell you anything about the crash. I was at shooting at the time.”

MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain, will lead the 14-member squad for the two T20Is against West Indies in Florida on August 27 and 28. Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah are the only members in the squad who are not who are not in the West Indies for the ongoing Test series.The squad for the USA matches includes nine members of India’s 2016 World T20 team. Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra and Manish Pandey have missed out.

Changes from World T20 squad

In: KL Rahul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Stuart Binny
Out Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Manish Pandey
Full squad for WI T20s: MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Stuart Binny

While Pandya and Pandey are with the India A team in Australia, Raina, Yuvraj and Harbhajan will feature in the upcoming Duleep Trophy that will be played with the pink ball, and under lights starting from August 23 in Greater Noida.Yuvraj and Raina have been named captains of the India Red and India Green teams in the Duleep Trophy respectively. Negi does not feature in the squads for the Duleep Trophy either, while Nehra is recovering from a knee surgery following the conclusion of the IPL in May.KL Rahul, who made his T20I debut in Zimbabwe in June and has been in good form in the ongoing Test series against West Indies, has been retained, while Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny have been recalled to the squad. Binny last played a T20I in Zimbabwe in 2015, while Mishra has not featured in the format since April 2014.Meanwhile, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha will return after the fourth and final West Indies Test in Port of Spain, which is scheduled to end on August 22. Vijay, Pujara and Thakur are likely to be available for the second round of the Duleep Trophy.

by two wickets.
ScorecardPaul Collingwood’s Durham loved a return to cricket’s roots•Getty Images

This game ended with small eruptions of blue and yellow joy in front of the pavilion and on the railway side of Trafalgar Road. They were accompanied a larger and more boisterous outburst of triumph from Durham’s players in the dugout as Chris Rushworth cover-drove a Kyle Jarvis half-volley to the boundary, thus placing a seal on Durham’s two-wicket victory.But, no, the occasion in its proper sense did not end there. For Paul Collingwood and his players later threw their bags on the coach that had arrived to take them home and told the driver they were staying in Southport. They played cricket with some of Southport and Birkdale most junior players on the outfield and one just wished that Colin Graves, the chairman of the ECB, had been there to see it. Look, one could have said, this is what can happen when you take four-day cricket back to its roots. Now, would you like a pint, Colin?Having been invited to Southport the Durham players did not overstay their welcome. They won the match, had a few drinks and regaled the Southport and Birkdale members with “Blaydon Races”, many, many verses of it, and then “American Pie” and “I’m Gonna Be”.On a golden evening when players made common cause with those who watched them, photographs were taken amid the rich choruses. It made a wonderful tuneful conclusion to the sweetest of weeks. Then the Durham players asked if they could come back to Southport next year.Suddenly summer is in full sail and she has a following wind.Of course the eagerness of Durham’s players to return may be something to do with the fact of their victory. Yet Lancashire’s players were also deeply appreciative of everything that this outground experience had offered them and they will certainly return for the county has a three-year staging agreement at Trafalgar Road.All spectators can hope is that the match is as stuffed with delights as the 2016 game managed to be. The final day began with the visitors needing 247 to win and when Collingwood’s side were 170 for 2, it looked that this might be a match to deviate from the pattern of damp-palmed tension which had characterised games between these sides.Even when Jack Burnham was leg before to a full length ball from Simon Kerrigan, few reckoned the match was about to be blown off course. After all, Burnham had made 52 and he had looked increasingly comfortable as he lifted both Steven Croft and Kerrigan for sixes.Lancashire did not look like taking wickets. “Bang, bang, bang,” said the players on the ground as they encouraged each other. But it did not happen. Then Keaton Jennings, after cutting and pulling his way to 82 off 140 balls in this season when even warm-ups are welcome preludes to success, skied a pull off Tom Smith. The wicketkeeper, Tom Moores, tottered under it, shielded his eyes and clung on. In Smith’s next over Michael Richardson perished down the leg side. 175 for 5. Ho hum.Enter Durham’s captain to warm and respectful applause.For all his 40 years, his 68 Tests and his trademark jig-and-squat as he goes out to bat Paul Collingwood still marches to the wicket with the air of a no-nonsense PE teacher on the way to sort out trouble in the playground. You know the sort, the type who announces himself with: “I don’t care who started it but I know who’s going to finish it.”For nigh on two decades Collingwood has been playing this sort of role in Durham cricket, ending collapses, calming mayhem. But not on this occasion. For he was pinned on the back foot by Smith having made only 4, and when the same bowler had Paul Coughlin quite brilliantly caught by Moores diving to his right, Durham were 195 for 7, still 52 short of victory. This glorious match was back in the hazard.Moores’s third catch was his best but in its way hardly better than that mighty skier which he could hardly see but still pouched to remove Jennings. For his part, Smith was in the middle of an eight-over spell in which he took four wickets for 12 runs and would finish with five for 25.But it was another 19-year-old in this game filled with promising young cricketers who then share in the stand which all but decided the match. Until he took a couple of wickets on the third afternoon, Adam Hickey had enjoyed – or not enjoyed – a quiet first-class debut, Now, he walked out to join Ben Stokes, who had already deposited Simon Kerrigan over the railway line and into Dover Road.As Hickey later explained, the two batsmen calmed things down before tea before going on the attack when the players returned. In truth, by this stage, with Durham on 197 for 7, the spectators needed the tea break as much as the players. On the resumption Stokes hit two more sixes over deep midwicket off Kerrigan and Hickey lifted Kyle Jarvis onto the roof of the pavilion with a much mightier blow.Steven Croft rotated his bowlers but the game was gone. Or was it? Suddenly Hickey called Stokes for a quick single and the England all-rounder was run out for 36 at the bowler’s end. Four runs needed. Rushworth dealt with business and another county match at Trafalgar Road was over.And all this drama followed an morning session which was as tense as was expected. Lancashire savoured the first success as early as the sixth ball of the day when Mark Stoneman played across the line to one from Jarvis which pitched middle and leg only to hold its line and take him on the pad. Durham responded by taking 26 off Nathan Buck’s four overs, forcing Croft to call Smith into the attack.Another good fourth-day crowd was held by the cricket and the ground grew in stillness broken only by the action in the middle. The houses on Harrod Drive became such as might be painted by Hopper, the trees as by Pissarro at Osny or Pontoise.Necessity, though, benefited Lancashire as Smith squared up Scott Borthwick, whose previous three innings against Lancashire had been 134, 103 not out and 64. The left-hander was caught in the gully by Alviro Petersen for 28 so that more or less qualified as under-achievement.Failures of any sort have been thin on the ground this extraordinary week. And the thing is that while Southport and Birkdale may be very special, it is not unique. There are many clubs who would welcome first-class counties and all they are looking for is the chance to put on a show.Outground cricket is enjoyed by spectators and appreciated by players. Amid the entirely understandable desire to maximise the revenue from other formats, someone should think a little more about taking the game back to the people who are its lifeblood.

Michael Carberry, the Hampshire and former England batsman, has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour after having felt unwell in recent days.Carberry was left out of Hampshire’s County Championship match against Warwickshire this week and Dale Benkenstein, the Hampshire coach, said it was so that he could undergo tests.A Hampshire statement on Thursday evening said: “Following recent reports about his health and now that he has spoken fully to his family, friends and team-mates, Hampshire can confirm that after a brief period of feeling unwell, a specialist has determined that Michael Carberry has a tumour that is cancerous. Further tests will be undertaken before the relevant treatment commences.”He is grateful for the messages of support that he has received and hopes that he can focus on his treatment whilst the privacy of those close to him is respected.”After Hampshire’s T20 Blast against Glamorgan, Giles White, the director of cricket, said: “It is terrible news, we are in shock. Our thoughts are with Carbs and his family at the moment. He found out a couple of days ago. It has been a tough couple of days for him the past few days and hopefully he gets through this. We will stand by him all the way through to help him and support him in any way we can.”Six years ago, Carberry suffered potentially life-threatening blood clots in one of his lungs. He has to take medication to control the condition, which emerged after he had suffered attacks of breathlessness while fielding and batting. He was diagnosed in November 2010 and did not play again until July of the following year.Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, said: “Michael has been part of the Hampshire Cricket family for 10 years and on behalf of everyone at and associated with the club, I would like to send him and his family our very best wishes at this very difficult time. ‘Carbs’ has taken on and beaten serious illness before and we will be doing all we can to make sure he does the same again this time.”

South Africa captain AB de Villiers has mounted a strong defence of coach Russell Domingo in the aftermath of the team’s exit from the Caribbean triangular series. De Villiers said the players, not the coach should be blamed for the team’s failure to reach the final after losing three of six round-robin matches, including Friday’s must-win against West Indies.”He’s played a big role in all of our careers in the last four or five years. I’ve felt he’s done a fantastic job. It’s sad to see him under pressure. It’s definitely not the coaching staff. The coaching staff, there’s no doubt in my mind they’re the best in the world,” de Villiers said. “Unfortunately as players we let them down in this series. We had ample opportunity in a few games to knuckle down. We should have walked the first game we played. So it comes down to the players. The preparation was perfect. All the coaching staff did their jobs. It is sad to see Russell under pressure. It shouldn’t be that way. There are a few players who should be under pressure.”De Villiers admitted his own performance in the tournament was “just not good enough”. In six games, de Villiers scored 121 runs at an average of 24.20, his worst average since an ODI series against India in 2010-11. “I got in four out of five times and didn’t convert. That’s the first thing I will teach any youngster: convert your scores, make them big ones especially once you get to 20 or 30. There’s no reason for me to get out after that because I’m in and seeing the ball well. Four out of five times I didn’t do that,” he said.De Villiers’ decision to take Kagiso Rabada, who had taken three wickets in his first three overs, out of the attack early in the West Indies innings came under scrutiny in the post-match conference. “KG (Rabada) is a fit man, so maybe one more over. I thought we had four world-class seam bowlers in the attack, enough guys who can ask questions,” he explained. After KG’s spell I did try pretty much everything we had. Perhaps I could have bowled him for a few more overs. But you’ve also got to think of the rest of the game and not bowl your best bowler out in the first spell.”De Villiers identified the batting as a reason for their elimination from the tri-series. JP Duminy scored 92 runs with a highest of 41 and has not scored an ODI fifty in his last 11 innings, dating back to July last year. Quinton de Kock scored one fifty and averaged 29.80. Only Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis, who scored 241 and 139 runs respectively, propped up the batting in what de Villiers called a case of “too many individuals who didn’t step up.”South Africa acquitted themselves better with the ball. Imran Tahir is leading the tournament’s bowling charts but when he went wicket-less, as he did on Friday, the bowling group struggled.With two all-rounders, two seamers and a specialist spinner in their XI, South Africa also made the mistake of having a batting line-up which was too short. The lopsided balance meant they could not string together enough complete performances despite what de Villiers described as rigorous preparation after two months off.”Not enough of us put our hands up in this series. That’s what it comes down to,” he said. “Our preparation was really good. Our coaches have been unbelievable. Russell Domingo put us through our paces like never before. So we put the hours in. We had really intense fielding sessions, batting sessions, bowling sessions. Unfortunately the batting kept collapsing and there were not enough partnerships. There were too many individuals who didn’t step up.”Domingo has not made a public comment yet but may have to on the team’s return home. De Villiers will not make the trip as he stays on to play in the CPL.Although CSA called off the independent review into the national teams’ performances because they could not agree terms with the panel, Domingo’s position was expected to come under scrutiny during that process. He has 10 months left on his contract, which expires at the end of April 2017. If he is to be replaced it is likely to happen sooner than that, perhaps even now.South Africa have a month off before two Tests against New Zealand, ODIs against Ireland and Australia at home and a three-Test tour to Australia, a series which will define the 2016-17 summer. Given the importance of the series against Australia and the subsequent preparations for the Champions Trophy, a new coach will likely be installed before those matches, which means Domingo’s days could have ended on Friday night in Barbados.

Sophie Molineux is on track to be fit for the ODI World Cup after being included in Australia’s 15-player squad for the tournament in India and Sri Lanka while legspinner Georgia Wareham has recovered from the injury which forced her to leave the Hundred early.The duo are a key part of Australia’s spin attack which will be a vital component at the World Cup as they look to defend the title won in New Zealand in 2022. Molineux, the left-arm spinner, has been out of action since late last year when she underwent knee surgery. However, she has not quite been given the full green light and may miss the ODI series against India ahead of the tournament.”Sophie Molineux is progressing well in her return from a knee injury, and we anticipate she’ll be available for the World Cup,” Australia physio Kate Beerworth said. “Georgia Wareham also back to full training following her adductor injury during the Hundred.”Australia’s squad, which will be led by Alyssa Healy, does not hold any surprises with Grace Harris taking the final batting spot while Georgia Voll is included after her breakout first year in international cricket.Harris has only played two ODIs since 2016 – and didn’t bat in either match – but the selectors see her as adding depth to the middle-order and also value her experience.”She’s a different player for us,” Shawn Flegler, the national selector, said. “In the role that she might play in ODI cricket, I think it would be more down the bottom and middle order. The way she bats, the experience she’s got in India, that’s probably why she got selected.”She’s a little bit different to some other middle order batters. She can take a game away in a few overs. If she gets that opportunity, I think she could be really good.”Healy recently returned from the foot injury she sustained during last year’s Ashes and flayed 137 not out off 85 balls against India A last month. The hope is that she will be able to keep wicket throughout the tournament.”She knows her body well,” Flegler said. “Like all players, they need to recover well after games. The schedule is pretty tight. But I think our particular schedule, we’ve got breaks in between each game as well. There’s lots of travel involved…it’s a long tournament. So it’s not just Alyssa who’ll be looking after herself. It’ll be the whole squad.”Voll is one of five players – alongside Molineux, Wareham, Phoebe Litchfield and Kim Garth – to be included in their first 50-over World Cup squad.One of the challenges in preparing for the tournament has been some grounds have never hosted women’s cricket while Australia have not played at the R Premadasa in Colombo, where they will face Sri Lanka and Pakistan, since 2016. They have used the men’s set-up to help gather data with coach Shelley Nitschke having spoken with Tom Body, the men’s team analyst.”It’s a little bit of an unknown,” Flegler said. “There’s some grounds that no women’s cricket’s been played at, so even just the data analysis of that has been based on the men’s cricket.”But we’re comfortable with the squad that we’ve got that we can cover, whether it’s a spinning wicket or if they’re flat wickets or if there’s a little bit of pace. All the games are starting at three o’clock, so day and night games. There’s maybe a bit of monsoon weather still hanging around in some places as well.So we’ve just got to be adaptable.”Australia’s squad will be supplemented with the uncapped duo of Nicole Faltum and Charli Knott for the three-match ODI series before the pair return home for the start of the WNCL season.”A World Cup in India is one of cricket’s biggest assignments, but we believe this group is up for the challenge,” Flegler said. “The valuable experience the squad has gained from several subcontinent tours in recent years, as well as exposure through the Women’s Premier League will be beneficial in tackling the unique demands of Indian conditions.”The extended nature of an ODI World Cup can be a challenge, and we believe this group has the depth and versatility to meet those demands.”Australia begin their tournament against New Zealand in Indore on October 1.

Australia squad for Women’s ODI World Cup

Alyssa Healy (capt), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Grace Harris, Surrey’s matchwinner in the Women’s Vitality Blast final, was proud of her team’s aggressive approach to their five-wicket victory at the Kia Oval on Sunday, but admitted to mixed feelings about getting the better of her sister, Laura, who finished on the losing side for Warwickshire Bears.Grace Harris, the Australia international, top-scored with a typically hard-hitting 63 not out, as Surrey lived up to their favourites tag by cruising to a victory target of 154 with 20 balls to spare. She struck seven fours and two sixes in her 33-ball knock, and found key partners in Sophia Dunkley (23 from 13) and Kira Chathli, whose 16 not out from nine balls included the winning boundary off Issy Wong.That target, however, could have been significantly higher had her sister completed the job that she had threatened during the Bears innings. Laura Harris’ riotous knock of 25 from 11 balls included three fours and two sixes, and it took an exceptionally cool catch from Phoebe Franklin at deep midwicket to dislodge her at the start of the 14th over.”I was a little bit nervous,” Grace told the ECB Reporters Network. “I was thinking at long-off, ‘just hit it down someone else’s throat!’ You want her to do well and it’s not like I would have hashed the job, but if I’d caught it, I would have been a little bit disappointed.”I’m happy she got out when she did because it could have been a 180-chase if she’d hung on.”Surrey’s task looked stiff enough, however, when they lost their third wicket for 42 at the start of the seventh over, with Amu Surenkumar and Hannah Baker settling into a threatening rhythm. Grace, however, struck her third ball for four straight back over Baker’s head to set the tempo for the rest of the chase.”I probably get more nervous on the side-lines than I do out in the middle,” she said. “When I am in the centre, I’m like, ‘this is good fun! How good is it to get a chance to bat!’ Sitting on the side-lines, I say to our group, ‘alright introverts, you are going to have to leave, because I’ve got to chat or I’m going to find this day tough!’Related

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“Sometimes it is harder to chase 140 than 160,” she added, “because you think if you just knock it around, you’ll just get the runs, whereas with 160 you have to go to pick up a boundary an over. Teams can get too complacent with 140.”She cited the 2023 Women’s Big Bash final as an example. “I’ve been involved in a team which has done that before, chasing 120 in a final with [Brisbane] Heat and we lost to Adelaide Strikers because we just knocked it about and didn’t really take the game on.”So it was fantastic to make sure we stayed with that run-chase. Fair play to the girls on what was a very good squad effort.”Harris added that the credit also belonged to Surrey’s bowlers for the manner in which they restricted the Bears after choosing to field first. Franklin was front and centre of their efforts, and not simply with her crucial catch. Her figures of 2 for 16 included wickets in her second and third overs and a well-completed run-out of Georgia Davis in her fourth.”I think Phoebe has genuinely been our player of the season,” Harris said. “Each game she’s either taken a crucial wicket or hit 20 off 10 at the back end and given us a bit of momentum in lower-scoring games. In any other team she would bat a lot higher and get a lot more opportunity than what she does, but when given the opportunity, she is definitely a player that’s taken it.”She has done so well in this T20 tournament and I have been rather impressed with her skill set. It’s not just the fact she can hit a line and a length, it is the fact she can bowl slower balls as well or come up with a yorker when required. Then at the back end with the bat she fully owns her scoring shots.”For the Bears, the final proved a bridge too far after an impressive win over The Blaze in the semi-final. However, for Wong – who was the player of that match with figures of 4 for 14 and a hard-hitting half-century – there was pleasure to be had in the progress of a young team, and in her own performances in the course of what is turning into a resurgent summer.”I’m really proud of our girls,” Wong said. “We knew it was going to be tough to play two games of cricket against the two best sides in the country and win them both. We have such a young squad. I’m in the oldies when we play football at 23, so we have got so much learning we have taken from this season.”Wong’s displays on Finals Day came after a successful return to the England set-up this year. After some high-profile hiccups in recent seasons, including a torrid spell with Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred, she was happy to have rediscovered her love of the game once again.”Outwardly it hasn’t always been like that,” she said. “The last couple of years have been pretty challenging, but it has been nice to come back to what is my best personality for playing cricket. That comes from being in a good place with my skills and tactically as well I feel I’m in a really good place. It’s the best job in the world, isn’t it?”