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Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mehedi Hasan Rana bowled effectively in the slog overs to take Fortune Barishal to the BPL final. They beat Comilla Victorians by ten runs, leaving them to face Chattogram Challengers in the second Qualifier on Wednesday.Comilla required 22 off the last two overs and Rana, the left-arm quick, made it a more difficult task for them by conceding just four runs off the penultimate over while picking up the wicket of Faf du Plessis.Mujeeb then bowled superbly, removing Mahidul Islam Ankon and Sunil Narine in the final over in which he gave up just seven runs. In contrast to the high-scoring Eliminator earlier in the day, the first Qualifier was more of an attritional battle. Both batting line-ups suffered collapses, but Barishal’s bowlers eventually saved the day for their team.Big hit(s)
When Moeen Ali struck three sixes in his first 14 balls during Comilla’s pursuit of 144, they would have expected a smooth chase. However, after being hit for a huge six off the previous ball, Dwayne Bravo came back and removed Moeen for 22 off 15 balls.Shafiqul Islam had earlier taken two wickets, triggering a top-order collapse while Rana took 2 for 15 in his three overs. He fronted up to bowl the 11th, 17th, and 19th overs for Barishal. Mujeeb helped seal victory with his 2 for 33. Earlier, Barishal had got a rollicking start from Munim Shahriar, who struck four sixes – all through the arc midwicket and long-on – and two fours through the covers. He set the tone for Barishal by taking 16 runs from the first over of the match, bowled by Nahidul Islam. His slap-pull, against Mustafizur Rahman, though was Shahriar’s best shot of the day.Chris Gayle was more sedate at the other end, but Barishal still raced to 57 for 0 in the powerplay.Big miss
Barishal missed a big performance from Shakib, who had won the player-of-the-match award in each of Barishal’s last five games before Monday. After managing just 1 with the bat, Shakib went wicketless for the first time in this BPL season. Shakib’s dismissal sparked a batting collapse as Barishal went from a promising 84 for 1 to 143 for 8. Despite Shakib having a rare off-day, Barishal made a great comeback with the ball.

Ashley Giles has been sacked as England men’s director of cricket amid the fallout from the team’s dismal Ashes campaign in Australia.Andrew Strauss has agreed to step into the role on an interim basis and will put in place arrangements for England’s three-Test tour of West Indies, which gets underway on February 24 with the first Test in Antigua on March 8, while the search begins for a full-time replacement.The changes follow an ECB board meeting on Tuesday to discuss an end-of-tour report penned by Giles and head coach Chris Silverwood into England’s 4-0 Ashes defeat and presented to Strauss. England’s campaign was beset by questions over players’ fitness levels and reports of a drinking culture within the touring group.As the changes were announced on Wednesday evening, Tom Harrison, the ECB Chief Executive Officer, said: “I’m extremely grateful to Ashley for his commitment and contribution to England men’s cricket over the last three years… He’s highly respected throughout the game and has made a huge contribution to the ECB and England Men’s cricket. Off the back of a disappointing men’s Ashes this winter we must ensure we put in place the conditions across our game to enable our Test team to succeed.”Related

• Tom Harrison: Ashes defeat a 'brilliant opportunity' for England to 'reset' importance of red-ball cricket

• Gary Kirsten declares interest in becoming England's Test coach

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• Cricket Australia can't kick the Justin Langer can any further down the road

Strauss has experience of the role, having been Giles’ predecessor as England director of cricket for three years from 2015-18 before leaving to care for his two children in the wake of the tragic death of his wife, Ruth. He takes over from his current position overseeing the ECB’s cricket committee.Giles said that the past couple of years, which have included the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting bio-secure touring bubbles, had been “incredibly challenging”.”Despite these challenges, over the past three years, we have become 50-over World Champions, the top ranked T20I side in the world, we remain the fourth-ranked Test team and our Under-19s have just reached the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years,” Giles said. “I wish all our players and staff great success for the future. I’m now looking forward to spending some time with my family before looking at the next challenge.”Silverwood’s job is also under scrutiny in the wake of England’s Ashes failure, although no mention was made of his position as the ECB announced Giles’ departure. Giles appointed Silverwood as head coach in 2019 before giving him control of selection last summer following the removal of Ed Smith as national selector.Alec Stewart has emerged as a potential caretaker-coach for the Caribbean tour, should Silverwood follow Giles out the door.Stewart retired in 2003 with a then-England record of 133 Test caps after a career epitomised by his no-nonsense professional standards which, given the disciplinary issues raised at the end of the Ashes series, could prove a vital factor if he joins the England set-up – even on a short-term basis – ahead of the ECB’s proposed “reset” this year.While no direct approach has yet been made, the Daily Mail reports that Stewart, currently director of cricket at Surrey, has shown an interest in stepping into the breach when the Test squad departs later this month.The alternative may be to promote one of England’s current assistant coaches in the short term. Paul Collingwood is the likelier candidate, given that Graham Thorpe is also expected to lose his job following the Ashes debacle. Thorpe’s fate may have been sealed by a bizarre incident at the end of the fifth Test in Hobart, when police had to be called to break up an early-morning drinking session, reportedly after Thorpe had lit a cigar indoors.Stewart was in the running to succeed Trevor Bayliss as England’s head coach in 2019, but withdrew from the process for family reasons. Other names in the frame for the long-term role include Gary Kirsten, who threw his hat into the ring in December, and maybe even Australia’s current head coach, Justin Langer, whose own future in that role may be decided this week.The circumstances for the ECB could hardly be less conducive to long-term decision-making, however, given that the board is currently without a chairman following the resignation of Ian Watmore last year. Harrison, the CEO, is also under intense pressure, given the mounting anger about the Ashes performance, and following an unconvincing appearance in Parliament last month, when the sport’s response to the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal came under renewed scrutiny.

Two years into international cricket, 17-year-old Shafali Verma is fully aware of the need to improve constantly and her immediate focus is on tweaking her short-ball game against fast bowlers.Having made her India debut as a 15-year-old, Shafali has come a long way over the past 24 months and alongside Smriti Mandhana, forms one of the most explosive opening pairings in women’s cricket. However, on tours of England and Australia this year, Shafali was peppered with short balls and she didn’t look particularly comfortable against them. So, to get better against the rising ball, Shafali is now facing 200-250 balls from Under-25 men’s players, who can clock 125-130 kmph, at Shri Ram Narain Cricket Academy in Gurugram, under the watchful eyes of her coach Ashwani Kumar.”It feels good that I have been able to complete two years in international cricket but there is a long way to go. I know the areas of my game I need to get better at and one of them is playing the short ball,” Shafali told PTI after being named a Hyundai brand ambassador. “The coaches have also told me to play as per the ball and I will continue to do that. I will never change my game.”During the England and Australia series, Shafali was seen backing away to the short balls and the approach fetched her mixed returns. The coaches at the academy are making her play the short ball on cemented, astroturf and normal wickets. And, besides negotiating higher speeds from the men, Shafali is also facing throwdowns.Related

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“I won’t back away that much going forward. You will see me shuffling around the crease a lot more and play as per the merit of the ball,” Shafali, who is also working on her fitness, said.Her coach Kumar feels Shafali will only get better with time and experience. “We must not forget that she is still 17. Her dream Test debut shows that she has got the required technique to succeed at the highest level.”In the shorter formats, where there is scoreboard pressure, you need to be really quick with your thinking and that is where she needs to improve a bit. As she goes along playing for India, you will see her only getting better.”Mandhana targets better consistency for World Cup success
Mandhana, who was named a Hyundai ambassador alongside Shafali, Jemimah Rodrigues and Taniya Bhatia, said she wants to add more consistency to her batting going into the Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand in March.”Post [the] Covid [-enforced break from cricket], it was hard to get the rhythm back as I was playing international cricket after one and a half years,” Mandhana told PTI. “It took a while to get into the groove but the last two series [England and Australia] have been decent but surely there is scope for improvement.”I am really happy with the way I have been timing the ball… [But] as a batter you have to be selfish to be more consistent and that’s something I want to work on, closing games on a regular basis especially the tight finishes.”It is something which we all know that we need to work on as that is going to help us in the World Cup.”India has lost ODI series to South Africa, England and Australia since March, but Mandhana feels the team has got the best possible preparation for the World Cup. India will also play New Zealand before the World Cup.”The last one year has been really important for us and especially playing in England and Australia. We are also playing New Zealand, so playing the top three-four teams in a space of seven-eight months, that is the best preparation for World Cup. We have learnt a lot in the last two series.””The Australia series was a good one though results didn’t go our way. Almost all the matches were decided in the last over and those were matches we could have won or lost. We were able to score 250 plus in two out of three games. Will take take all the positives from that. I also learnt a lot in Australia.”

In the injury-enforced absence of Kane Williamson, Tom Latham will stand in as New Zealand’s captain for the forthcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh, which begins with the first match in Mount Maunganui on New Year’s Day.After Williamson was sidelined from the Mumbai Test earlier this month with a long-standing elbow injury, head coach Gary Stead indicated that he could be out of action for a sustained period although he is unlikely to undergo surgery.Williamson’s elbow problem had flared up in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in the UAE, where he cut short his stints at the nets to manage the injury, and troubled him in India as well.New Zealand Test squad for the Bangladesh series•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“It’s obviously disappointing not to have Kane available for this series but, as we noted in India, he is undergoing a sustained period of rest followed by rehabilitation, strengthening and gradual batting loading,” Stead said. “We have every confidence in Tom leading the side – he’s done an excellent job in the past when called upon.”Devon Conway, who had been ruled out of the T20 World Cup final against Australia in the UAE and the subsequent India tour with a bizarre self-inflicted hand injury, returned to the squad. However, there was no place for Ajaz Patel, who made history by bagging all ten wickets in the first innings of the Mumbai Test.Wellington allrounder Rachin Ravindra, who made a strong first impression in India, was the only spin-bowling option in the 13-man squad.”You do feel for Ajaz after his record-breaking display in India,” Stead said. “However, we’ve always applied a horses-for-courses selection policy and believe the players selected best fit the way we want to take on Bangladesh here at home.”Trent Boult, who had opted out of the India tour because of bubble fatigue, was also back in the side as New Zealand ponder unleashing their four-pronged pace pack on Bangladesh. The left-arm seamer had recently returned to action in the 20-over Super Smash competition where he came away with 0 for 19 in four overs for Northern Brave against Auckland Aces in Hamilton.Neil Wagner, who hasn’t played competitive cricket since the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final in June earlier this year, will get an early look at the Bangladeshis, having also been named in the New Zealand XI for the two-day tour match from December 28 at the Bay Oval’s No.2 ground.”I love getting the red ball in my hand and this match presents a perfect opportunity to get some miles in the legs ahead of what should be a hard-fought Test series against Bangladesh,” Wagner said.Conway is the other notable name in the New Zealand XI for the tour game but his place in the XI will be subject to full recovery from injury.”I’m really looking forward to getting back into some competitive cricket and hopefully I’m passed fit to play,” Conway said. “I’ve just started batting again and testing out my hand so I’m hopeful of making my return for the New Zealand XI. There’s nothing like a match situation to really test it out and help build some confidence.”Ross Taylor, who had a horror tour of India, managing a mere 20 runs across four innings, retained his place in the Test squad. He is three Tests away from surpassing Daniel Vettori as New Zealand’s most capped player in the format.Colin de Grandhomme, who had also opted out of the India tour, was omitted from this squad altogether, with Daryl Mitchell getting the nod after a breakout winter across formats.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAssociated Press

In a year in which Sri Lanka have continued to sink further into the depths of ODI ineptitude, they surely hit rock bottom today. In a performance that put an exclamation mark on their run of 12 straight ODI losses, they illustrated why they have struggled so badly in the format.They couldn’t bat, dismissed for 103 in 26 overs. They couldn’t bowl all that well, taking only one wicket as Pakistan cruised home with over 30 overs to spare. It is another whitewash for Sri Lanka, the third they have suffered this year alone. South Africa and India were the othertormentors.The prospect of a damning defeat was writ large over the contest after the very first over, in which Usman Khan took the first two wickets of astaggering opening spell. He had come to prominence with a scintillating performance in a domestic T20 final in 2013, but after today, thatdomestic admiration can turn to international acclaim. It tends to happen once you complete a five-for in 3.3 overs.Maybe there’s a peculiar curse Sharjah has cast on Sri Lanka – they’ve been bowled out below 100 four times at this ground. It could have been five; they were 85 for 9 at one point, before Dushmantha Chameera and VishwaFernando put together an 18-run partnership and rescued their side from that ignominy.For the third straight game, Upul Tharanga won the toss and chose to bat. But Sri Lanka’s luck has remained confined to the toss this tour. One over into the innings, it was clear that wasn’t going to change today.The dismissals themselves were something to behold; it was Pakistani fast bowling at its most exhilarating. Sadeera Samarawickmara failed to adjust to the moving ball and inside-edged onto his middle stump. Dinesh Chandimal was utterly helpless against one that swung away, edging to Sarfraz Ahmed.In Usman’s second over, Tharanga – just like the previous game – was unable to prevent one from sneaking in between his bat and pad. Niroshan Dickwella fell lbw to another prodigious inswinger. Siriwardana tamely scooped to cover point, and in under 7 overs Sri Lanka were 20 for 5.Thoroughly dispirited and broken all series, Sri Lanka had dug themselves into a hole in the first half hour of the game, and were already reduced to respectability restoration. Then Thirimanne edged Hasan Ali to the wicketkeeper and Seekkuge Prasanna ran himself out in a horribly amateur way, failing to ground his bat in a bid to avoid a throw in his direction. Pakistan didn’t need that sort of charity, but it was welcome.Thisara Perera struck a few boundaries en route to 25, the top score for his side. But in an innings where wickets were the currency of choice, that sort of resistance was merely pennies on the dollar. Hasan and Shadab Khan cleaned up the tail, and Pakistan were left with 104 to get to sweep the series.There was no drama to be had, with Sri Lanka coming out looking like a boxer for whom the knockout punch would be a blissful release. The second innings was a case of two teams going through the motions. But while Fakhar Zaman fell short of a half-century, reasons for joy were in short supply for the visitors. Pakistan looked almost embarrassed to complete the whitewash, so wide was the chasm between the two sides.However, the major discomfort all belongs to the visitors, who will be left pondering how on earth to salvage some pride in the upcoming T20series.

1:06

County Championship round-up: Warwickshire secure first win

In a remarkable end to a dramatic match, Warwickshire skittled Middlesex for 136 at Lord’s to claim their first win of the season in the Specsavers County Championship’s Division One by a thumping 190-run margin.Chris Woakes, completing a successful comeback from a two-month injury lay-off, took 3 for 38 as he and Keith Barker, who snapped up the first three wickets to fall and finished with 3 for 21, left the Middlesex second innings in ruins.And all this, on a humiliating day for the champions, after Barker and Chris Wright had earlier taken their unlikely ninth-wicket partnership to 97 as Warwickshire, who resumed on 293 for 8, reached 361 in their own second innings to set Middlesex 327 to win on a pitch which had seemingly flattened out following the opening-day carnage of 20 wickets.

Gubbins’ England hopes hit by injury

Nick Gubbins’ hopes of an England call-up appear to be over after suffering a hamstring injury during Middlesex’s defeat at Lord’s.
While Gubbins has not enjoyed the best of seasons – he has scored just one Championship century and is averaging 24.91 – he has a reputation as one of the best players of fast bowling on the circuit and is thought to have the game to flourish on the pitches anticipated in Australia.
With Keaton Jennings enduring a grim series against South Africa and Haseeb Hameed struggling for form, Gubbins had been mentioned as a potential replacement in recent days. He played for England Lions over the winter and only just missed out on selection when Jennings was called-up during the India series.
With England’s squad for the first Investec Test against West Indies scheduled to be named on Friday, it seems Gubbins is unlikely to be considered for a call-up. George Dobell

Middlesex, it is true, were hampered by injuries to openers Nick Gubbins and Sam Robson – Gubbins was forced to come in at No 8 after tearing a hamstring in the field – but the way both their batting and bowling fell away in this game will be of great concern to them.Warwickshire, meanwhile, though they may well remain bottom of Division One when this round of matches is done, are now only 31 points behind Middlesex – who began this game in fifth place – with five matches remaining for both counties in this summer’s campaign.Barker ended up on 62 not out from 109 balls, with eight fours, after resuming on 30 and his stand with Wright, who made an 83-ball 41 before being caught behind off Steven Finn, flourished in a morning session in which the Middlesex bowlers huffed and puffed to little effect.Leg spinner Nathan Sowter then earned himself a maiden first-class wicket by bowling last man Ryan Sidebottom for 1, but by then the damage done was not just to Middlesex’s morale. Gubbins, in attempting to take a sprawling catch off a top-edged Barker hook as he ran in from long leg, hurt himself so badly that he had to be helped from the field by Middlesex’s medical staff.Gubbins was unable to open, meaning Nick Compton was promoted to partner Robson, who used Sowter as a runner as he made 19 despite a leg injury before being first out.Middlesex were 20 without loss at lunch but that proved only to be the calm before the storm. The headlong collapse began at the start of the second over after the interval with Robson pinned leg-before by Barker who then, later in the same over, had Stevie Eskinazi taken at second slip for 2.Left-armer Barker struck again in his next over, this time going around the wicket to surprise Compton with a nasty lifter that he touched to keeper Tim Ambrose to go for 3.And 28 for 3 became 28 for 4 when Woakes nipped one off the seam to have John Simpson leg-before for 4. Ryan Higgins, after one extra cover driven four, was also leg-before to Woakes for 5 in the England all-rounder’s next over, and the same bowler soon breached James Franklin’s defences to bowl the Middlesex captain for 1.From 45 for 6 there were a few defiant blows from Sowter, who had been joined by Gubbins and runner on Franklin’s dismissal, before his 37 ended when he turned the first ball of Sidebottom’s second over straight into the hands of short leg.Middlesex’s tail was cleaned up by off spinner Jeetan Patel and right-arm seamer Sidebottom, who added 2 for 41 to his first innings’ 4 for 29 and completed a memorable championship debut by winning an leg-before appeal against Gubbins on 15 to finish the match. Patel had Tom Helm taken at first slip for 15 and bowled Tim Murtagh for 0 to give himself figures of 2 for 19.A last wicket frolic by No 11 Finn and the injured Gubbins, who added a quickfire 48 with Finn playing some superb shots in his unbeaten 31, provided scant consolation for Middlesex, who for much of the first two days were clear favourites to win this game.For Warwickshire, bowled out for just 126 at the start of the match, this was a significant victory – especially as they had lost five of their previous eight games. Bowling out Middlesex for 161 on a helter-skelter opening day kept them in the contest, and then a gritty second innings batting effort on day two took the sting out of Middlesex’s seam attack.When day three dawned, however, with their lead a seemingly middling 258 on an easing pitch, they could not have dreamed of winning so decisively or so quickly. It is a result which could yet have ramifications for the ultimate destiny of both sides this season.

The BBL and WBBL seasons will expand by a week next summer, with the tournament finals scheduled for February 4. The expansion means that the semi-finals and final for both competitions will be played in the first week of the school year, outside the school-holiday period that has been such a successful window for the T20 tournament.The semi-finals are locked in for February 1 and 2, a Thursday and Friday, with the deciders to be played on the Sunday. Cricket Australia had announced in January that eight additional BBL matches would be fixtured for next season, though at the time the BBL chief, Anthony Everard, said CA believed they “could fit the extra games within the existing window if we wanted to”.The increase means one extra home game per BBL team, with the intention of taking matches to new markets. Launceston will host a WBBL and BBL double-header on December 30, when the Hobart Hurricanes play the Sydney Thunder, while other new venues are yet to be announced.”Both the BBL and WBBL are firm family favourites during the summer school holidays, and with even more matches we hope fans will continue to vote with their feet, support their club, and help us surpass last year’s attendance, which exceeded 1 million for the second consecutive season,” Everard said.”The eight additional BBL matches for this season have been scheduled to complement the existing regular season fixture, take the BBL and WBBL to more locations, and encourage more people to give cricket a go.”The opportunity to take matches to markets such as Launceston is particularly exciting as it represents the growing popularity of the Big Bash nationwide, and we are hopeful of extending the BBL’s footprint even further this season in partnership with the Thunder, Strikers and Renegades, who remain in discussions to take matches to new markets.”

ScorecardChelmsford is the birthplace of the artist Grayson Perry and was also the town where the 16th century magician, John Dee, was educated. It is therefore well-used to astonishing transformations. However, whether credulous or sceptical, residents will have seen little to compare with the latter stages of this match, when Simon Harmer engraved his name in folk memory of Essex cricket-lovers on one the greatest day’s sport seen on this ground.In November 2015 Harmer was playing for South Africa in a Test match at Nagpur. Since then he has seen his stock fall in his home country and in the winter he committed himself to a career as a county cricketer with Essex.Last week he took 14 wickets against Warwickshire and on this wonderful last day against the champions he collected a career-best 9 for 95 finishing the match with figures of 14-172. By doing so he sent a thousand or so hardy souls at the County Ground into floodlit ecstasy, for they had seen their side complete their third victory in succession and this with a maximum of eight balls remaining in the game.When they descend from their rare euphoria, Essex supporters may realise that their team is now 29 points clear at the top of the Division One table. What they will also understand is that they have witnessed a victory the unlikelihood of which made it all the more worthy of celebration.With six overs left to be bowled Essex still needed four wickets and doubts began to creep in among spectators, even if the hesitancy of the later Middlesex batsmen encouraged hope among Ryan ten Doeschate’s players. That belief was fuelled by the fact that the pink Duke’s ball was retaining its bounce more than the red variety, a fact which the 6ft 2ins Harmer had been able to exploit throughout the match. And the problems of the Middlesex batsmen were increased by Harmer’s ability to use the footholes left by Mohammed Amir and Paul Walter. For all that time was running out, one never felt that Dawid Malan’s batsmen were comfortable. Certainly they never looked like clearing the 296-run deficit established by Essex’s dynamic batting on the third day of this game.In the 108th over of the innings Ryan Higgins played inside what looked like an arm ball and was caught at slip by Alastair Cook, for whom this match was the pleasantest of temporary farewells before the Test series. Three balls later Ollie Rayner collected a pair when he was leg before on the front foot. Harmer had now taken all eight wickets to fall in the innings but his chances of taking all ten disappeared three overs later when Dan Lawrence trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw for a single although there was a case the ball pitched outside leg. Nobody minded, least of all Harmer who brushed away Lawrence apologies in the joy of shared achievement. Three balls of Harmer’s subsequent over passed and it seemed clear that Lawrence or possibly Amir would be bowling the last over of the game.Simon Harmer wheels away with his Essex team-mates after his match-sealing wicket•Getty Images

That over was never delivered. Perhaps scared of commitment, Steven Finn plunged forward but played no shot to Harmer’s third last ball of the game. An appeal followed that could be heard in either of the Baddows. There was a raised finger from David Millns. Harmer began the first Essex bowler since Mark Ilott in 1995 to take nine wickets in an innings and ten Doeschate’s men are hot favourites for the title now. This will be Harmer’s match but so was last week’s.”It’s not going to get too much better than this,” said Harmer. “You just need to ride the wave – they don’t come around that often. We will enjoy tonight and have a few beers. It’s an incredible win for the club. It puts us in phenomenal position going into the last six games of the season. We’ve done a lot of hard work, a lot of hard graft and been on top of our game. We’ve come out on top in the last 10 minutes of the day today. These are the moments you play cricket for. It makes all the hard graft worth it.”And yet it takes two teams to make a contest as noble as this one and in the joy of Harmer’s achievement, even the Essex supporters spared applause for Nick Compton, whose innings of 120 looked likely to frustrate Essex. And the Middlesex opener’s tale shares a very rough parallel with that of Harmer.Just over a year ago Compton’s name was blazoned in headlines. He was an England batsman. Yet within a few weeks some who had advocated his selection were vehement that he should never have been picked in the first place. No one, of course, has mentioned his name in connection with the England side for next week’s Test at Lord’s. Yet as we watched Compton make his century and bat in vain to save the game it was plain that he still retains the skill to play this game at a high level and the temperament to defy opponents in full cry.Harmer v Compton. Given a couple of different turns on the wheels of fortune and circumstance, it was a battle which might have been seen in next week’s Test match. And on the evidence of this quite wonderful last day at Chelmsford it would not have disgraced the stage at St John’s Wood.Compton arrived at New Writtle Street having scored 81 championship runs in four innings; injury and indifferent form have kept him out of the Middlesex team. Those factors by themselves were enough to make his effort at Chelmsford admirable. Yet the virtues of his batting were magnified by the intensity of the contest and the fact that his principal adversary, Harmer, is in the form of his life.So much was proved in the first half hour of play when Harmer dismissed Nick Gubbins, Stevie Eskinazi and Dawid Malan in five overs from the River End, reducing Middlesex to 51 for 3 and encouraging the hopes of home supporters that they were about to see ten Doeschate’s team achieve a facile innings victory and their fifth Division One triumph of the season.Yet this early clatter was misleading; instead of offering a strong clue to the narrative of the day, it merely set up the terrific duel of Thursday’s cricket: Both our principals had considerable help, of course. The main assistance to Harmer probably came from Dan Lawrence, whose high action gave his off-spinners every chance to bounce uncomfortably.Nick Compton dug in to defy the home attack•Getty Images

Compton was assisted deep into the heart of the day and beyond by Paul Stirling, who batted with commendable coolness and against his attacking instincts to make 55 in 202 minutes. While Compton and Stirling were adding 153 in 55 overs the five points for a draw were plainly secure. Then, five minutes before tea, Stirling, who had been dropped three times, was safely caught by Ravi Bopara at backward short leg. John Simpson resisted for 50 minutes but was beaten by Harmer’s turn and taken by Cook. Then Compton having faced 303 balls, 59 more than in his entire season before this innings, was leg before playing no shot to Harmer. The door was open and the Essex cricketers plunged through it. “Harmer’s a proper bowler,” said Essex’s Keith Fletcher, who faced a few and has seen countless more. No one anywhere in Essex doubts that judgement this glorious June evening.

Match facts

June 5, 2017
Start time 19:30 local (23:30 GMT)

Big picture

West Indies are likely to give uncapped fast bowler Ronsford Beaton a run in the final T20I•AFP

A series like this one can often be an underwhelming exercise for reigning T20I world champions, West Indies. Every time they take the field, nothing less than a crushing victory may seem satisfactory on their part. Furthermore, one can be sure that should they be defeated in even one game during the three-match series, it is the loss that would be remembered by fans and pundits alike. Hence, to their credit, West Indies have done just about as well as they could to ensure Afghanistan have been given no cause for excitement, and that the tourists have been comprehensively defeated in both T20Is. One might even be tempted to go so far as to suggest the hosts have demonstrated a degree of maturity and professionalism in both their outings so far – sentiments that don’t necessarily scream West Indies.For Afghanistan, this was always going to be a historic tour, with the feel-good factor unlikely to have ceased despite the results they have incurred so far in the field of play. Even so, they must be disappointed with how they’ve gone about their business in the last two games, never even coming close to worrying West Indies, let alone pulling off an upset. There is little doubt the Afghanistan bowling attack has struggled for breakthroughs that would put pressure on the opposition batsmen: they have taken only seven West Indies wickets in two T20Is, with both the Zadrans – Dawlat and Shapoor – having been grossly expensive. Add to that the tourists’ batting displays on both instances that bordered more on the Affiliate/Associate brand of cricket than the Associate/Full Member one. However, what has frustrated Afghanistan till now may also give them hope: these two performances aren’t holistically representative of this side, and one would expect they’re due a better one in a contest where the pressure will be off.

Form guide

West Indies WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan LLWWW

In the spotlight

Kesrick Williams has so far been the best player this series, and encouragingly for West Indies, this appears to be indicative of a wider trend. Ever since making his debut against Pakistan last September, the fast bowler from St Vincent and the Grenadines (a Caribbean island not as famous for especially fertile cricketing talent as the rest) has been performing with impressive consistency. With 11 wickets from seven innings at an economy rate of 5.23, Williams combines nippy pace with intelligent variations, including an excellent yorker – all of which makes him an attractive T20 talent. Afghanistan would be wary of Williams, who bowled 22 dots in the 39 bowls he sent down in the last two games, scalping five wickets for only 30 runs.The two stalwarts of Afghanistan cricket, Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Stanikzai, will have lived for this series, and must have thought it would come long after they had retired. However, the unprecedented speed at which the Afghanistan cricket team has developed means the duo – currently aged 32 and 29 respectively – are still not too far from their peak. As such, they must be disappointed with themselves for not having taken more responsibility in the last two T20Is as fellow batsmen struggled, with neither managing to reach doubles figures. Their desire to leave a mark on this series – for who knows when they’ll be touring the West Indies next? – will be as intense as ever. If one of them can get going, St Kitts might feel a lot more like Afghanistan than anyone would ever have thought possible.

Team news

West Indies head coach Stuart Law has said the team is likely to give the uncapped Guyana fast bowler Ronsford Beaton a run in the final T20I, and that he would “continue to give Rovman Powell a go”, considering the 23-year old allrounder hasn’t featured in many games despite travelling with the team for most of their fixtures.West Indies (probable) 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Chadwick Walton (wk), 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Jason Mohammed, 6 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Rovman Powell, 9 Samuel Badree/Ronsford Beaton, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Kesrick WilliamsAfghanistan made several changes to their playing combination between the two games, but have failed to achieve any notable improvement in performance. More players are likely to be shuffled around, with competition for some spots being particularly fierce.Afghanistan (probable) 1 Gulbadin Naib, 2 Usman Ghani, 3 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 4 Samiullah Shenwari, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Karim Janat, 7 Afzar Zazai (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Amir Hamza, 10 Shapoor Zadran, 11 Naveen-ul-Haq

Pitch and conditions

The Warner Park pitch has been slightly more conducive to fast bowlers this series than many would have expected. With Jerome Taylor and Williams doing well for the hosts, another pace-friendly surface should not surprise.Rain, which played its part during the previous match, is not expected to be a factor this time around.

Stats and trivia

• Only five Afghanistan batsmen reached double figures in the the last two T20Is combined, with Gulbadin Naib being the only one to do so on both occasions. In contrast, only one West Indies batsman – Lendl Simmons – has been dismissed for a single-digit score so far this series.
• Sunil Narine has scored 145 runs in 19 T20I innings. In the 16 matches he played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL this season, he amassed 224, which also included the joint-fastest fifty – off only 15 balls – in the tournament’s history.

ScorecardNot so long ago, Mark Stoneman said he hated London and could never imagine living there. But, on this evidence, he seems to be settling in rather well.Stoneman, on his Championship debut for Surrey having made the painful decision to leave Durham, made a chanceless century to punish Ian Bell’s decision to bowl first (the toss was uncontested) and give his side a formidable platform in this game. He looked every inch a prospective England batsman.He may soon fall in love with London, too. Certainly on days like this – with the trees in bloom and a decent-sized crowd enjoying a perfect early-summer day – there is much to admire about the city, though it may be the benevolent nature of the pitch that consummates his relationship with his new club.Afterwards Bell admitted he had erred in his toss decision – “it was definitely a bat-first wicket,” he said, “isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?” – and Warwickshire might reflect that, in the first session, with the pitch damp, their bowlers failed to utilise any help that might have been available.But to focus on their shortcomings – and they were not awful by any means – would be to deny Stoneman credit for an almost flawless innings. Against one of the best spinners and left-arm swing bowlers in the county game, he demonstrated excellent judgement outside off stump, admirable patience (he had faced 16 balls before he hit a boundary) and a pleasing ability to be able to put away even half a bad ball. His treatment of the short ball, in particular, was merciless – 102 of his runs came from boundaries.”He didn’t give us a sniff,” Bell said. “We’re really impressed by him.”There may be mixed feelings about this innings in Durham, though. While the majority of those involved with the club – players, supporters et al – will celebrate Stoneman’s success, they will rue the fact that their financial plight led to his departure. As he put it: “Because of the financial situation at Durham, my contract was allowed to run into its final year. I decided to move to Surrey to further my career.”Few could blame him. A professional sporting life is not long and some desire for security and, yes, better remuneration is natural.He will have to replicate this innings a few times if he is to become a serious contender for the Test side. His career average – 32.99 before this game – is modest and there are several younger men (notably Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed) ahead of him in the fight for a place. But he has long been respected as one of the best openers in the county game by his fellow pros and can claim mitigation for that average with the demanding quality of the surfaces that he played on in Durham until the start of 2016.He also made a century in his final innings for Durham, meaning that he has scored two Championship centuries in succession. He is the first England-qualified player to make a century on Championship debut for Surrey since Mark Rampakash in 2001. Aaron Finch (2016), Kumar Sangakkara (2015) and Ricky Ponting (2013) are the three most recent men to do so for Surrey.Stoneman was given fine support in a first-wicket stand of 154 by Rory Burns. While Burns will be disappointed not to make a century that appeared to be his for the taking – something of a recurring theme in his career – he will be encouraged by the manner in which he saw off the new ball and took the attack to Warwickshire’s bowlers.”They never let us settle,” Jim Troughton, Warwickshire’s first-team coach said afterwards. “We probably got the toss decision wrong and there were too many boundary balls, but Surrey batted very well. We’ve known Stoneman was quality player for a few years and he showed everyone that today.”Warwickshire could also have regretted dropping Scott Borthwick, another recruit from Durham, on 4 (Barker was unable to cling on to a top-edged pull off Chris Wright) but he soon fell after flirting outside off stump.It might have been worse for them, though. At lunch, with Surrey 133 without loss after 31 overs and Jonathan Trott already employed as a bowler, it looked as if they were in deep trouble. But they dragged the run-rate back through the rest of the day and didn’t let the batsmen capitalise in the final session. However, Sangakkara remains – he played some drives so sweet he must have been tempted to light a cigarette as he watched them scurry to the boundary – and, with no heavy roller available for this game, the pitch may become more difficult for the side batting last.Earlier, Surrey included Jade Dernbach – his first Championship appearance since 2015 – ahead of Stuart Meaker and Gareth Batty, the captain, ahead of Zafar Ansari. Nor could they be blamed for doing so. While Ansari was deemed good enough to represent England only a few months ago, the decision to play T20 cricket in a block and cut the schedule has pushed the Championship ever further into the margins of the season. The counties will have played eight of their 14 Championship games before the end of June. There is no mystery in England’s continuing weakness in producing and playing spin bowling.