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Match Facts

February 19, 2017
Start time 2.00pm local (0100GMT)Ross Taylor, the focus of much attention in recent times, returns for the one-day series•Getty Images

Big Picture

New Zealand have seen off the No. 1 ODI side in the world this season. Now they get to try to do it all over again. Overturning Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee series knocked off their crown, with South Africa, who are one win away from equalling their best run in ODIs, taking top billing after their 5-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka. This is certainly a series between two in-form one-day sides.South Africa laid down a marker in the T20 on Friday night at Eden Park. While neither side will dwell too much on a one-off match, there was far less for New Zealand to take from it (just Trent Boult’s bowling) than for South Africa whose top order batted with intent, then the pace bowlers hustled New Zealand’s top order before Imran Tahir added the finishing sparkle.For both sides the countdown continues to the Champions Trophy. Their next one-day cricket will come on English and Irish shores in the weeks leading into the tournament, so this series offers the last realistic chance for any significant tinkering or discussion over positions. The two teams are fairly settled in ODI cricket, with perhaps a couple of pace-bowling slots up for grabs in each.It is a quick turnaround into the opening ODI; South Africa won’t mind that after a dominant performance in Auckland while New Zealand will probably feel it’s not a bad thing either to be able to get straight back on the horse.

Form guide

New Zealand WWWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WWWWW

In the spotlight

Ross Taylor remains the topic of much discussion in New Zealand after his absence from the T20 side. Mike Hesson, the coach and a selector, said he did not think Taylor could have made much of a difference in the T20 because there hadn’t been a platform set in the chase, but there is a certainly a groundswell of opinion that it seems odd that one of the country’s finest batsman is on the outer. But he’s back for Hamilton and brings fine form with him after a series-clinching century against Australia. The eyesight is tip-top now, too, after surgery last year which has helped his catching.Kagiso Rabada was rested for the T20 and South Africa managed very well without him. It’s a slightly daunting prospect for New Zealand that he’ll add further strength to the pace attack. He consistently discomforted the Sri Lankans in the previous series and is one away from 50 ODI wickets. In the absence of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in one-day cricket he has quickly become South Africa’s senior white-ball paceman.

Team news

New Zealand have a very different-looking top-order for ODIs with far more experience. Dean Brownlie covers for Martin Guptill’s absence, as he did with success against Australia, while Taylor, Neil Broom and possibly James Neesham will stock the middle order. There will need to be a decision over whether Matt Henry or Lockie Ferguson is the third frontline quick.New Zealand (probable) 1 Dean Brownlie, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 James Neesham, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent BoultDavid Miller’s finger injury, sustained against Sri Lanka, is not healing as well as had been hoped and he remains doubtful. Rabada can be expected to return to the pace line-up.South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardein, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Andile Phehulkwayo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

The pitch will be the same one used for the Australia ODI, which was off-centre and probably works against legspinner Ish Sodhi being part of the New Zealand side because of the shorter boundary. There is a forecast for showers, some heavy, during the early part of the afternoon. The same heavy rain which hit Auckland earlier this week went through Hamilton and how Seddon Park has coped with the deluge could be important.

Stats and trivia

• If South Africa win in Hamilton it will equal their best winning streak in ODIs which stands at 12 set in 2005. It is the second-best overall; Australia are well ahead at the top with 21
• Ross Taylor needs 51 runs to reach 6000 in ODIs. He would be the fourth New Zealand batsman to reach the milestone after Brendon McCullum, Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming
• South Africa’s likely XI – presuming Miller is unfit – has 72 ODI hundreds. New Zealand’s has 28 with 16 of those from Taylor

Quotes

“It hasn’t told us a lot of what we don’t know. They’ve got really aggressive new-ball bowlers, they swing the ball from a length rather than floating it up there. From a batting point of view, from one to seven there are match-winners in there.”
“It’s definitely a build-up towards the Champions Trophy. The conditions are pretty similar – the ball moves around a bit when it’s new and you have to extend your partnerships when you get in, so it’s quite similar to the UK.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:37

Ugra: India’s top six are clear about their responsibilities

Another series. Another double-hundred for Virat Kohli. The opposition buried under a mountain of runs. The theme first unfolded in Antigua in July 2016, then in Indore and Mumbai. On Friday in Hyderabad against a listless Bangladesh attack, Kohli became the first batsman to hit double-hundreds in four consecutive Test series. By the time they declared at 687 for 6, India had become the first side to rack up 600-plus scores in three-consecutive innings.India’s day became sweeter when Umesh Yadav dismissed Soumya Sarkar for 15 with a 142kph ripper. Sarkar was unperturbed by the outswinger, but was done in by a full ball, which snaked in off the seam. He attempted a limp drive and Wriddhiman Saha threw himself to his right to collect the ball. India challenged the on-field not-out decision with UltraEdge picking up a thin deflection off the toe end. Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque hung on to take Bangladesh to 41 for 1 in 14 overs at stumps.A double-hundred in Tests might be the fantasy of several batsmen, but this innings from Kohli seemed inevitable. He arrived 30 minutes before tea on the first day and completed the landmark at the start of the third over after lunch on the second, swishing left-arm spinner Taijul Islam over cover, the first time he played a lofted shot off a spinner.Probably Kohli’s only nervous moment came on 180 when he was beaten by a sharp offbreak from Mehedi Hasan Miraz and was declared lbw by umpire Joel Wilson. Kohli reviewed the decision, with ball-tracking showing it was turning too much and heading past the leg stump.Soon after making a double-century, Kohli was pinged on the pad by a low-arm slider from Taijul and was given out by umpire Marais Erasmus, at the start of the 126th over. Kohli opted not to review this time; ball-tracking detected the impact was marginally outside off.On either side of Kohli’s exit, Ajinkya Rahane, who was picked over Karun Nair and returning from a finger injury, and Saha, returning from a thigh injury, waltzed to fifty and hundred respectively.Kohli and Rahane had set the tone for the day by extending their overnight 122-run partnership to 222. They scored 70 runs in the first hour as India scored 121 in the morning session.Kohli toyed with the field and with Taskin Ahmed, who did not help Bangladesh by frequently erring short in a spell that read 5-0-38-1. Kohli lashed Taskin over the top to the left of deep point, and cut the next ball along the ground and to the right of the same man. When Taskin went shorter outside off, Kohli ramped him over the slip cordon. Mushfiqur Rahim followed the ball and posted a third man, only for Kohli to beat him to his right with a sliced four.Wriddhiman Saha reached his second Test century with a six•AFP

Along the way, Kohli snatched the record for most Test runs in a home season from his former colleague Virender Sehwag. Rahane played some sparkling shots of his own, but for most part he just did his thing – bunting the ball into the gaps – before he spooned a catch to short cover, where Mehedi dived to his left and came out with the ball in one hand.If Bangladesh thought the wicket, which came after nearly 300 balls, was an opening, they were wrong. It was another false dawn. The ball suddenly started to turn sharply, and Taijul drew Saha a long way out of the crease, but Mushfiqur reprieved him. He had so much time that he missed the stumping opportunity twice. By the time he swiped the bails off on the third attempt, Saha was safe.Saha relied on deft flicks and a variety of cuts, and went onto hit a fifty off 86 balls. R Ashwin looked set for a fifty of his own until he nicked Mehedi to first slip for 34.Saha wasn’t done yet. He was also deft in using his feet against spin, and one such trip down the track saw him stylishly loft Taijul over his head for a six and raise a second Test hundred off 153 balls.That wasn’t the only hundred of the day. Bangladesh’s front-line bowlers – Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Taskin, Mehedi, Taijul and Shakib Al Hasan – all conceded more than 100 runs.Ravindra Jadeja did not miss out on the fun either. India hinted at a declaration when he launched Taijul into the second tier beyond long-on and followed it with a violent slog-sweep over midwicket in Taijul’s next over. In between, Jadeja was dropped by Tamim, running in from long-off, on 40. He cashed in and recorded the sixth fifty-plus score of the Indian innings. He celebrated the landmark with a signature Rajputana sword dance. How Bangladesh would have wished they had something to celebrate.

Khulna Division crushed Dhaka Metropolis by 398 runs in their final match, at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, to successfully defend the National Cricket League Tier-1 title. Khulna finished on 58 points, which gave them an unassailable lead over second-placed Dhaka Division, who can only go up to 54 points even if they beat Barisal Division in Sylhet.It was Khulna’s fifth title win, which helped them equal Rajshahi Division, who haven’t won the trophy since 2011-12. After Dhaka were set 509 to win, Khulna bowled them out for 110 with Al-Amin Hossain taking 6 for 41.Abdur Razzak, the veteran left-arm spinner and Khulna captain, was delighted with the triumph. “Winning a first-class tournament is always pleasing,” Razzak told ESPNcricinfo. “We worked hard this season. Tushar [Imran] and [Anamul Haque] Bijoy batted really well throughout the six games. We also wanted to dominate the tournament, and I am happy that we won the last game by such a big margin.”Khulna had started off poorly. After being invited to bat, they were bowled out for 207 with Dolar Mahmud taking a five-wicket haul in his first match of the season. Anamul Haque top-scored with 62.But Khulna’s bowlers fought back, with Al-Amin, Ashiquzzaman and Abdur Razzak taking three wickets each, to skittle Dhaka out for 122 in just 36 overs.Anamul came good again in the second innings, and along with Tushar Imran, took Khulna to 423 for 5 before they declared with an overall lead of 509. Tushar’s 138 off 169 balls, which came with the help of 14 fours and three sixes, was his third century of the season and 20th in his career. Anamul’s 153-ball 122, with 12 fours and five sixes, was his second ton of the season.With 184 runs in the match, Anamul was adjudged joint player-of-the-match, alongside Al-Amin who took nine wickets in the match.

Pakistan were left to rue two missed opportunities on the first day against Australia at the Gabba. They let Steven Smith off on 53 and 97 and he went to stumps unbeaten on 110It was very much Australia’s day after Smith won the toss – his first win in seven Tests – chose to bat and finished on 3 for 288. But Smith was fortunate to survive on 53 when he played back to the part-timer Azhar Ali and edged behind, only to be put down by Sarfraz Ahmed. Pakistan’s catching has let them down in recent series and missing a key chance so early in this campaign was hardly the start they wanted.”It would have been a wonderful wicket for us, Steve Smith we all know is a very good batsman and he was quite well set,” Azhar Ali said at the press conference. “It could have changed, a little bit, the course of the game but these things happen and you just have to go on and look forward. He batted brilliantly today.”Sarfraz did pouch an edge off Smith later in the day, but Pakistan failed to hear any noise and did not appeal. Smith was on 97 at the time, when he followed an excellent delivery from Mohammad Amir that swung away. Television replays revealed a small HotSpot mark on Smith’s outside edge, and a noise on Snicko.”Obviously we got information from outside that that had happened,” Azhar said. “No one really noticed anything, not even a sniff. None of our guys went up slightly, even. It was just one of those situations where no one realised what had happened.”Sometimes it does happen. It has happened in the past also, that we don’t get any noise or anything, any idea of having an edge. I think it’s just a bit of luck for the batsman.”

In March this year, India women’s World Twenty20 campaign went up in smoke after their defeat to eventual winners West Indies women in a must-win clash. A team that was building up to challenge other contenders like Australia and England perhaps wilted under the pressure of expectation and playing on the biggest stage at home.

Squads

India women: Mithali Raj (capt), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Thirush Kamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smriti Mandhana, Mona Meshram, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Sushma Verma (wk)
West Indies women: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Anisa Mohammed, Merissa Aguilleira, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shaquana Quintyne, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smartt

Yet, the team management drew solace from the fact that the young side would only learn from the experience. Mithali Raj, the captain, said “such situations” will only make the side tougher, when asked if it was stage fright.The problem, though, has been that “such situations” haven’t come about as often as Raj and Co would have liked. The BCCI’s promise of “more cricket” to have them match-ready for the World Cup may have raised hopes, but it has not quite translated into action.The team has not played an international fixture in nine months, and is preparing for a three-match ODI series at home against West Indies on the back of a month-long camp, a hastily-arranged Challenger series and the domestic one-day competition, where a majority of the first set of group matches were washed out. The rest were played on damp wickets, where Railways, with the presence of more than half the Indian squad, defended their title. It was largely a one-sided affair.It is against this backdrop that the side will prepare for the ODI series against West Indies, which starts in Vijayawada on November 10. The matches will count towards the ICC Women’s Championship that aims to identify four direct qualifiers for the World Cup, to be played in England next year. As things stand, Australia are the only side assured of direct entry, while England and West Indies are each one win away from securing their berths. That leaves three teams – New Zealand, South Africa and India – potentially fighting for one slot.But with India’s fixtures against Pakistan under a cloud – they could potentially lose six points – because of political tensions, the matches against West Indies could effectively be their last. Even a 3-0 whitewash may not be enough to finish in the top four, which means they are all but certain to head into the World Cup qualifiers in Sri Lanka in February.”In a way, it is good that we get to play the qualifiers, because we get more game time before the World Cup,” Raj said. “We will also get to play those four teams which we might be facing in the World Cup. It will be good, I think, given what the situation is. Ideally, it would have been nice to qualify directly, but we will look at this as an opportunity to play more matches.”The West Indies series will be important to narrow in on combinations for the World Cup. Allrounder Mona Meshram, legspinner Devika Vaidya and left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht have been recalled, while uncapped seamer Sukanya Parida has also earned a call-up. Meshram last played for India in April 2013, Vaidya has played only one T20I for India in November, 2014, and is uncapped in ODIs. Bisht had missed the home ODIs against Sri Lanka earlier this year.With Raj hinting at the 2017 World Cup being her last, the team management and selectors have identified Harmanpreet Kaur as a potential leader, at least for the shortest format to begin with. But, with the focus firmly on ODIs, as was the case with T20Is last season, Purnima Rau, the coach, underlined the importance of making every opportunity count.In that sense, this will be a test for Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet, who are both set to play in the Women’s Big Bash League later in the season, to carry the team’s batting and ease the burden on Raj. There’s also an opportunity for Veda Krishnamurthy to showcase consistency. The bowling department, led by Jhulan Goswami, is spin-heavy. Only time will tell if that’s a conscious decision, though, considering it is West Indies’ weakness.That the series has been scheduled at a venue that the teams described as “spin friendly” may prove to be a blessing in disguise, considering the World Cup qualifiers in Colombo will be played in similar conditions. A solid show against West Indies could possibly be a giant leap in India’s quest to qualify for the World Cup. A setback, however, could be yet another classic case of ‘two steps forward and four steps back’.

Cricket Ireland has suffered another blow in its attempts to find a manager for their national academy after Toby Radford left after little more than a month in the role.Radford’s departure follows Chris Adams’ u-turn over the job after he was initially handed the position only to change his mind two days later for family reasons. Radford’s decision to leave is also down to his personal circumstances.Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said: “We are naturally very disappointed to be losing Toby so quickly. Fortunately it is a quieter period of the year where most players are resting after the season.”Clearly our experience in the few months of recruitment for this position has been a challenge, particularly in relocating. We shall look at the position again and have an in-depth review of our human resources around the Shapoorji Pallonji Academy in order to get to the right outcome.”Radford said: “It has been a very difficult decision for me to make. For family reasons, I feel I have no alternative but to move back to the UK to be with them. In my short time in this role with Cricket Ireland I have been very grateful for the positive attitudes, warm welcome and generosity of all the staff and players.”I have written a new Academy template and Programme for next year’s Cricket Ireland Shapoorji Pallonji Academy intake, and would have dearly loved to be here to implement it. I wish Cricket Ireland every success with its continued drive for attaining ICC Full Member and Test Match status.”

Hanif Mohammad, the original “Little Master” who played the longest innings in Test cricket, has died at the age of 81. He had been undergoing treatment for respiratory complications from his lung cancer in Karachi’s Aga Khan hospital. Late on August 8, he was shifted to the ICU and placed on a ventilator. Hanif was diagnosed with the cancer in 2013, for which he received treatment in London.Hanif played 55 Tests, including Pakistan’s first. Imtiaz Ahmed, 88, and Waqar Hasan, 83, are the only two survivors from that team. Hanif was renowned for his immaculate defensive technique. He scored 3915 runs at an average of 43.98. His best was an epic 337 as Pakistan saved the Barbados Test in 1958 while following on. It was the longest first-class innings then. At 970 minutes, it is still the longest Test innings.Hanif also held the record for the highest first-class score, 499 which he made for Karachi against Bahawalpur in 1959. The record stood for 35 years before Brian Lara surpassed the record by scoring 501 for Warwickshire against Durham.Hanif was born in Junagadh in the Indian state of Gujarat. He and his four brothers moved to Pakistan after partition; four of the five brothers played Tests while Raees, the fifth, was a 12th man once. At least one of the Mohammad brothers played in Pakistan’s first 101 Tests. Hanif’s son Shoaib played 45 Tests and grandson Shehzar 30 first-class matches. In 2010, a Cricinfo jury chose Hanif as the opener alongside Saeed Anwar in the all-time Pakistan Test XI.After retiring as an international cricketer, Hanif co-founded the magazine in 1972, which he edited for two decades. He also served as the manager of the formidable Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) team, which won the domestic one-day tournament, Wills Cup, three years in a row in the 1980s.ICC’s chief executive David Richardson paid tribute to Hanif, pointing to the impact that his triple-century against West Indies had. “It’s sad to hear of Hanif’s death and I’d like to extend my condolences and those of everyone here at the ICC to Hanif’s family, which counts so many cricketers in its number,” Richardson said in a press statement. “Hanif took batting to great heights and many batsmen drew inspiration from him.”His contribution to the game has been enormous and one can only imagine the kind of impact his batting had on others over the years. Hanif’s triple-century against the West Indies was a legendary innings and unsurprisingly he was one of the original inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.”

ScorecardPaul Stirling’s century eased Middlesex to victory•Getty Images

Paul Stirling and Eoin Morgan both scored attractive hundreds as Middlesex eased to a comfortable six-wicket victory against Kent in the Royal London One-day Cup at Lord’s.Stirling hit 112 and Morgan 103 not out as Middlesex chased down Kent’s 50-over total of 238 for 7 with 5.1 overs to spare, but also central to the home side’s success was the brilliant bowling of new-ball pair Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh.Finn, a fearsome prospect particularly in an intimidating opening spell, finished with 2 for 31 from his ten overs while Murtagh even bowled a maiden, his third, in the 46th over of Kent’s innings on his way to figures of 2 for 28.Irishmen Stirling and Morgan put on 214 in 39 overs for the third wicket after Ryan Higgins edged Matt Coles’s first ball to first slip in the second over and Middlesex were reduced to 16 for 2 when Nick Gubbins was caught behind off Mitch Claydon in the fifth over.When Stirling eventually fell, chipping Joe Denly’s leg spin to short extra cover, only nine more runs were needed for victory. Morgan saw Middlesex home at 239 for 4, despite the further loss of George Bailey to Coles. Both Stirling and Morgan struck a six and 13 fours.Both teams came into this South Group tie with two wins from four matches but, for such an important game in the eight-fixture group stage, both also had to do without two players chosen in the England Lions squad for their Tri-Series against the Pakistan and Sri Lanka A teams.Kent’s total, though below-par, was almost entirely due to a fighting third-wicket stand of 135 in 26 overs between Sean Dickson, whose 99 from 126 balls was a career-best in what was only the 24-year-old’s sixth List A appearance, and the veteran Darren Stevens, who scored 61 off 70 balls.Finn deserved more than just the scalp of Kent captain Sam Northeast in a blistering new ball spell of 6-2-13-1. Running in hard from the Pavilion End, he beat Dickson several times early on and almost had him caught at midwicket from a miscued clip off his pads.Northeast, on 2 and trying to work a fast, rising ball to leg, succeeded only in lobbing it back at Finn, who moved to his right and leapt high in his follow-through to take the return catch.Murtagh was also a handful in his own impressive and probing opening spell of 8-2-26-1, and the seamer had Denly lbw for 4 in the third over of Kent’s innings. At 12 for 2, when Finn sent back Northeast, it looked as if Kent – with the England Lions pair of Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Billings missing from their top order – were in big trouble.It was a moot point, and one not lost on Kent supporters, whether Bell-Drummond and Billings, despite his magnificent 175 for the Lions against Pakistan A at Canterbury, would have learned more as prospective senior England batsmen had they instead been up against the fiery Finn and the wily Murtagh. Certainly, Kent could have done with Billings’ capacity for explosive run-making in a match central to both teams’ ambitions of earning quarter-final qualification.Middlesex followers, meanwhile, were wondering about the absence from their attack of Toby Roland-Jones, with the in-form fast bowler left out of the Lions team, led by Dawid Malan, chosen to face Pakistan A.Somehow, Dickson and Stevens managed to see off Finn and Murtagh and, against the change bowlers, they began to build their fine partnership. An extraordinary upper-cut six off a suffering James Fuller by Stevens, with a vertical bat, helped to change the momentum of the innings.Stevens also drove Ollie Rayner’s off spin straight for six while Dickson played some quality strokes including a classical off drive for four against left-arm seamer James Franklin and a reverse-slapped boundary against Rayner.When Stevens slog-swept Rayner straight into deep square leg’s hands in the 32nd over, the 40-year-old all-rounder slumped down on his bat in disappointment and Finn’s return, to bowl the 36th and 38th overs, brought Middlesex right back into the game.Dickson, having edged Finn through a vacant first slip to go to 99, chopped the next ball into his stumps and only Alex Blake, with 23, and Callum Jackson, who hit Fuller over long on for six in a 24-ball unbeaten 28, made much impression after that.

Sophie Ecclestone, the uncapped Lancashire left-arm spinner, has been named in England Women’s 15-member squad for the three-match T20 series at home against Pakistan. Her Lancashire team-mate, Kate Cross, however, was left out. Kent left-arm seamer Natasha Farrant, who was not picked for World T20 as well as the ODI series against Pakistan, replaced the injured Anya Shrubsole.Ecclestone and Farrant are the two changes to the squad that swept Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series. Ecclestone, only 17, is the second left-arm spinner in the squad behind Alexandra Hartley, who made her international debut against Pakistan in the third ODI in Taunton. She is yet to play a T20 international.

England Women’s squad for Pakistan T20s

Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Natasha Farrant, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alexandra Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones (wk), Laura Marsh, Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt

“The T20 series brings a new set of challenges and further opportunities for the players, and I’m really pleased to call-up Sophie Ecclestone for the first time, and to welcome Tash Farrant back into the dressing room,” Mark Robinson, the head coach, said.”Sophie brings youth, vitality and another left-arm spin option alongside Alex Hartley into the squad. We have two world-class offspinners in Danielle Hazell and Laura Marsh, but we also need to be aware of the talent that we have underneath, and making sure that we are developing the likes of Alex and Sophie, by having them in the group and giving them international match-day experience.”Robinson said that it was a “real shame” that seamer Beth Langston missed on of selection again, because of injury. “She worked tremendously hard during the winter and had a great tour to Sri Lanka with the England Women’s Academy, but unfortunately hasn’t been able to get involved so far this summer because of her ankle,” he said.Robinson also said that Cross was still in the side’s plans, despite being overlooked for the Pakistan T20 series. “Kate Cross has been left out of this squad to face Pakistan, but we do see her as a Twenty20 bowler moving forwards,” he said. “There is no reason why she can’t be an outstanding bowler across all formats of the game, and we feel that there’s a window now where we can do some focused technical work with her away from match situations to help get her ready to perform at her best in the Kia Super League next month.”The T20 series begins with the first match at the Brightside Ground in Bristol on Sunday.