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Graeme Hick, that great enigma of English cricket, has struck again. This time, it was not with a sparkling century for Worcestershire to remind the selectors of his prodigious talent. Batting fluently at Taunton, Hick mowed a drive which broke Marcus Tresothick’s thumb, probably ruling the England star out for the rest of the season.This is a massive blow for England’s immediate future. Trescothick, bundled into international cricket thanks to injuries in 1999, has never looked back. It was not so long ago that Somerset were trying to turn him into an all-rounder, but the left-hander is now one of the game’s hottest properties.In the scheme of things, Trescothick will probably be back in the side for the Ashes, and continue his excellent career. Four missed Test matches won’t be vital and, when Nasser Hussain eventually retires, he looks favourite to become the next England captain.This summer however, Trescothick’s broken thumb rather throws the cat amongst the pigeons. While Hick was still batting at Taunton, it appeared that Trescothick would only miss the first Test. By the time Jamie Cox and Peter Bowler got to the crease for Somerset, it was clear that the injury was much more serious.Where now then, for Hussain’s men? If Trescothick was out for only one game,Mark Butcher could move up the order, and John Crawley to number three. Withsuch a prolonged absence, and given that Butcher has achieved so much at three, the selectors may look at fresh faces.Top of the list must be Sussex’s Richard Montgomerie and Kent’s David Fulton. Both had dream seasons in 2001 and, though such summers are not easily repeated, they remain in good form. Both are good, solid county players. Given that a Trescothick recovery ensures an almost automatic recall, it may be better to give seasoned pros a chance.If England look to youth, and this is probably unlikely, Ian Bell stands out. This unflustered, technically correct right-hander is going to play Test cricket. But his inclusion in this situation would however move Butcher up the order, which is best avoided.An alternative selection could conceivably see Robert Key thrust into the side. The 23-year-old Academy graduate is highly thought of, hits the ball hard and could be risked to replicate Trescothick’s role. Doubts will be raised about whether Key is ready for international cricket. There is only one way to find out.The most probable outcome is the recall of John Crawley or Mark Ramprakash. Such a move would attract criticism, though Crawley is in good form and Ramprakash is scoring double-hundreds for fun and hitting centuries for breakfast. Neither would be the bravest selection, but either Crawley or Ramprakash is the most sensible.Some critics will wonder what Trescothick was doing playing for Somerset. Those who suggest that England players should only play for England must realise that cricketers need cricket, cricket needs fans, and fans need entertainment. England players provide this, and a one-day game in mid-season should hardly be a high-risk exercise.Freak accidents happen, and of three broken bones in the England set-up this summer, both James Kirtley and Jamie Foster suffered their injuries in the nets. If England cricketers are to be banned from playing for their counties, we might as well ban training.

Roger Miller struck his first league century for ten years as Andover beat Burridge by four wickets to maintain their lead at the top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League.He hit an undefeated 118 as Andover overhauled a Burridge total of 214-5 with eight balls of their 50-over match remaining.Miller couldn’t even recall his last Southern League century, except confirming "it was a long time ago." It was indeed – June 13 1992 : exactly 100 for Old Tauntonians against Longparish at the old Richard Taunton College ground in Southampton !Miller’s 118 not out at Burridge – an innings which contained 14 boundaries – carried Andover to their fourth win in five limited-over matches."We needed 40 off the last four overs and, with a few lusty cracks from Richard Taylor and Dean Woodhouse at the other end, got there with a bit of time to spare," Miller explained.The Andover captain spent all but three balls of the match on the field after coming to the crease with Andoverrocking after two early blows by Nick Creal and Paul Belverstone.But, supported by Ian Langdown (23) and several minor middle-order contributions, he turned the match, being particularly severe on Moeen Cheema, whose 4.4 overs cost 41 runs.Cheema made his mark for Burridge, hitting 73 in a promising start with Ian Williamson (38), which South African off-spinner Gareth Tate (3-30) interrupted.Paul Ancell (44 not out) and Chris Mepham (24 not out) took Burridge on to 214-5 – but it was not enough to spare the Whiteley club from a third defeat in four games.Luke Sears, who led Hampshire YCs to the ECB Under-19 County Championship several years ago, was the hero of Havant’s four-wicket win over Calmore Sports.Havant bowled Calmore out for 100, but crashed to 37-5 against James Hibberd (2-14) and Christof Bothma (2-37) before Sears launched his rescue mission.Almost single-handedly Sears, with an unbeaten 48, turned the tide for Havant, who had lost four wickets for only 11 runs on a difficult surface.South African Mackie Hobson celebrated his Hampshire Board call up for the forthcoming ECB 38-County Championship match against Surrey with a splendid 4-15 spell for Havant.The former Northerns and Natal medium-paceman ripped out three of Calmore’s top five, including top scorer Clive Surry (20), and then removed Stuart Bailey (19), who was trying to initiate a recovery.Bevis Moynhan (2-22) did his bit as Havant maintained the pressure on leaders Andover.Champions BAT Sports, who had lost two of their previous three games, bounced back with a 114-run mauling of lowly Portsmouth at St Helen’s, Southsea.BAT dictated the game from the off, with Richard Kenway (65) and Damian Shirazi (27) providing a 75-run platform for the middle-order.Warren Swan (3-31) created inroads, but Adam Hayes (25), Michael Watson (20) and Dave Banks added useful runs to lift BAT to 196-7.Openers James Moon and Lee Savident were the only Portsmouth players to make double figures as Raj Maru’s side, minus the influential Matt Keech, fell apart.They were bundled out for 82, with Kirk Stewart (4-18), more accurate with an older ball, ripping through after Shirazi (2-35) had dismissed both openers.Liphook & Ripsley continue to prop up the table after Russell Rowe’s powerful 90 set up a storming nine-wicket win for South Wilts at Ripsley Park.Liphook’s fragile batting crumbled again, with only South African Alistair Gray (20) making a fist of it against dual left-arm pacemen James Tomlinson (3-21) and Shaun Adam (2-12).They tumbled from 76-4 to 127 all out, with Rob Wade taking 3-13 with his military medium seamers.Rowe, last season’s leading Premier League run getters, wasted no time in launching South Wilts’ victory bid.He ruthlessly laid into the Liphook bowling, cracking a blistering 90 out of the first 114, leaving opening partner Paul Draper (27 not out) to complete the formalities.

An incisive spell of bowling from Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood has brought Surrey back into contention on the second day of their top-of-the-table match with Lancashire at The Oval. Mahmood took all Lancashire’s second-innings wickets as they reached 124 for five, a lead of 228, before bad light forced an early close. Earlier Alex Tudor (61) and James Ormond (35*) put on 52 for the last wicket to take Surrey to 216 all out – rather better than they might have expected when they were 92 for seven yesterday evening.The game at Taunton between champions Yorkshire and last year’s runners-up, Somerset, is also heading for an intriguing finish. In their second innings Yorkshire closed on 280 for 9, a lead of 261, thanks mainly to Craig White (61) and Michael Lumb (62). This after Ian Blackwell was dismissed for 114 this morning as Somerset were eventually bowled out for 232.Kent will be hard pressed to avoid defeat at the Rose Bowl after Hampshire forced them to follow on, dismissing them for just 118 in reply to the home side’s 345. Dimitri Mascarenhas took four for 49 as Hampshire ran through the Kent batting, Andrew Symonds top-scoring with 39. Despite an unbeaten half-century from Ed Smith, Kent are struggling in their second innings as well, closing on 148 for four, still 171 behind.Darren Stevens (125) piled on the agony for Warwickshire’s bowlers at Grace Road as Leicestershire, 292 for four overnight, finished on 523. Michael Bevan reached 146 and in reply Warwickshire were 36 for three at the close of a truncated day, with Leicestershire’s two veterans Philip DeFreitas and Devon Malcolm taking a wicket apiece.In Division Two, Northants have a mountain to climb at Derby, after the pre-season outsiders took huge strides towards making it three wins out of three. After Derbyshire completed a total of 538, there was a spectacular collapse by the visitors. Dominic Cork (four for 29) and Kevin Dean (three for 28) were again the destroyers, as Northants were reduced at one point to 25 for seven. Six batsmen failed to trouble the scorers, who were probably more bothered by the pace of the dismissals. Graeme Swann (44) and Carl Greenidge (46) eventually took Northants to 131 all out. Although they have done rather better following on, at 100 for no wicket they are still adrift by 307 runs.An all-round contribution from Greg Smith helped Nottinghamshire consolidate their grip at Trent Bridge against Essex. Smith made an unbeaten 35 to take Notts to 213 all out, a lead of 83, and then took five wickets as Essex ended the day on 215 for seven, just 132 runs ahead. Paul Grayson was Essex’s top scorer with 89.A draw looks likely at New Road after Worcestershire failed to capitalise on an excellent start to their innings. They bowled Glamorgan out for 286 this morning, and Anurag Singh (81) and Stephen Peters (71) then put together an opening stand of 156. However once they were parted wickets fell at regular intervals. Darren Thomas took five for 77 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 298. Glamorgan closed on 38 without loss, a lead of 26.

The 2024-25 Indian domestic season is set for an overhaul with the BCCI keen on staging the Ranji Trophy across two phases to minimize weather-related disruptions, particularly in northern India. As per the proposal that will be reviewed by the BCCI’s apex council, the Ranji season could begin in late September or early October.The first five rounds of matches will be followed by the senior men’s white-ball tournaments – the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50 overs). The remainder of the Ranji season, which will include three rounds of group fixtures and the knockouts, will be staged immediately afterwards.Related

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In 2023-24, the Ranji Trophy began in early January, with several matches during the first half of the competition severely affected by bad weather. Disruptions due to fog also caused logistical nightmares for a number of teams, leading a number of captains and coaches to voice their concerns publicly.The board has also proposed increasing the gap between matches from three days to four, especially during the first-class tournaments. A number of players, Shardul Thakur most notably, had spoken of the need for bigger breaks between matches to facilitate better recovery and preparation for players keeping in mind the length of the competition.Mumbai, for example, played 10 first-class matches in under 10 weeks during their run to the 2023-24 Ranji title. “If boys keep playing like this for two more seasons, there will be a lot of injuries across the country,” Shardul had said. “Next year, they [the BCCI] have to re-look at it and give more breaks. When I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the day, [a] good seven to eight years back, the first three games used to have a three-day break, and then it was a four-day break, and knockouts were played with five-day breaks.”There has also been a lot of conjecture around the BCCI looking to further increase the match fees of domestic players, as a follow-up to its increase of match fees for contracted Test cricketers.However, ESPNcricinfo understands there are no immediate plans in the pipeline, even though discussions around the possibility of central contracts at the state level are ongoing. In March, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) agreed to incentivise its senior men’s team with a 100% pay raise from the 2024-25 season.

A masterclass of a bowling performance saw Trinbago Knight Riders rout Jamaica Tawallahs for 92, inflicting a 75-run defeat in the process. American fast bowler Ali Khan ran the show, removing the first three while conceding just two runs in his first two overs and finishing with figures of 4 for 6, before the spinners suffocated Tallawahs and effectively put an end to the chase before it could truly begin.Knight Riders had put on an above-par 167 for 4 despite struggling with the bat for much of their own innings, before Tim Seifert and Kieron Pollard added 49 in the final two overs to give them momentum they would never relinquish.Batting first, Knight Riders started cautiously, content to go along at a run a ball in the powerplay without losing a wicket. However, as the innings wore on, it became clear runs off the spinners were hard to come by, with Imad Wasim and Veersammy Paul allowing just 33 in their combined eight overs. They also removed Colin Munro and Leonardo Julien, while Carlos Brathwaite took care of an off-colour Lendl Simmons at the top.The innings looked like it was stalling before Seifert came out to partner Pollard. Smashing 24 off just eight balls, Seifert helped Pollard change gear too, setting up a chase that suddenly looked extremely stiff.Tallawahs never really got going, mainly due to an explosive two over spell from Ali Khan at the top. He might have been bowling in a Test match, so conventional was his line, but it kept on producing the same result. Kennar Lewis, Haider Ali and Shamarh Brooks all nicked off to length balls shaping away, and as the asking rate began to rise, the batters crumbled under stifling discipline from the spinners. Sunil Narine, held back until the tenth over, took two wickets for 11 in his four, including that of Andre Russell towards the death, which effectively killed the game off.Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre played their part at the top, complimenting Ali Khan by keeping things tight at the other end, while Tallawahs’ belief of chasing the total down diminished rapidly. In the end, both innings illustrated the importance of tight spin bowling, but Knight Riders’ ability to keep their powder dry by having wickets at the end to play with, and an explosive final two overs with the bat, had made all the difference.

Charlie Dean and Maia Bouchier have been ruled out of England’s opening T20I against New Zealand after being identified as possible contacts of a COVID-19 case.The pair, who both earned maiden international call-ups for the series, are expected to join up with the England squad ahead of the second T20I at Hove in a week’s time, pending test results.”In order to evaluate the situation and undergo further testing they will miss the first Vitality IT20 against New Zealand,” the ECB said.Emma Lamb has been drafted into the England squad ahead of the first match, at Chelmsford on Wednesday.Batting allrounder Lamb scored an unbeaten 111 off 61 balls opening for Thunder in the Charlotte Edwards Cup against Sunrisers in July, when she also took 3 for 16. She then played all seven of Manchester Originals’ completed matches in the Hundred, with notable scores of 32, 39 and 46 and claiming all three of her wickets for the tournament against Birmingham Phoenix, again taking 3 for 16.Related

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The as-yet uncapped Lamb was named in a 24-strong England training squad last June as players resumed individual programmes at various venues around the country after the first wave of the Covid pandemic.Lamb’s inclusion means that England have again resisted the temptation to pick 17-year-old allrounder Alice Capsey despite her impressive efforts for Oval Invincibles during their late charge to the Hundred title.Bouchier scored 92 runs in seven innings for Southern Brave during the Hundred at an average of 30.66 and with a strike rate of 143.75. Allrounder Dean, who played for London Spirit in the Hundred, claimed a wicket and scored 22 as part of an England A team which beat New Zealand by four wickets in a 50-over warm-up match.Taunton will host the last of the three England-New Zealand T20Is on September 9, with five ODI matches to follow as both sides ramp up their preparations for the World Cup, starting in New Zealand in March, where England are defending champions.

Gujarat Lions might rethink their strategy of playing four overseas batsmen after a nine-wicket thrashing by Sunrisers Hyderabad condemned them to their second defeat in two matches. Coach Brad Hodge has hinted at a change in tactic, admitting that the team management had been tempted to beef up the bowling with either James Faulkner or Andrew Tye in place of one of the overseas batsmen ahead of the Sunrisers game.In the absence of the injured Dwayne Bravo, Lions’ overseas contingent has comprised Jason Roy, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith. While the batting unit clicked in the first game to post 183 against Kolkata Knight Riders, it came unstuck against Sunrisers’ disciplined bowling and wilted to 135 for 7 in 20 overs. On both occasions, the team has been let down by the bowling department: Lions have taken only one wicket in two games.”I think we need to analyse a few areas of our game,” Hodge said after the match. “I think we need to improve and understand that, ‘look your last year was a great season and it is going to take some hard work and effort to repeat that.'”Yeah, we were tempted [to play either Faulkner or Tye], yes. I guess it is one of those 50-50 calls where either you can make that change, or back those guys again to be successful. Unfortunately it didn’t work. And we’ll look at that combination again. I guess the good thing is that we are still searching for answers and it is only early in the tournament. So it’s good we really have the opportunity to knuckle down, have a look at the particular areas and I am sure that selection criteria [of picking an overseas bowler] will come into play.”It was legspinner Rashid Khan who set the Lions back irreversibly. He struck in his first over to trap McCullum in front, and went on to have Finch and Raina lbw as well in each of his next two overs. Hodge said Rashid was identified as a threat before the game, but that the Lions batsmen had actually read him well.”We clearly didn’t post a big enough total,” he said. “We lost three quick wickets to Rashid. That pushed us on the back foot, and we were never going to be able to post a big enough total. I think they read him, they just said they didn’t play him that well. He’s a good bowler and we identified that before the game that he was going to be a threat. We just lost three consecutive wickets back to back and all pretty good players too.Brad Hodge on Tejas Baroka: “I think he’s got good skills, good control and I think when you see the game on the line, he’ll be a real tough proposition for few teams.”•BCCI

“Whenever that happens in T20… I thought we did a pretty good job to post a total which might’ve been challenging. I thought Dwayne Smith played well at the end. Dinesh Karthik put on a good performance. Reality is, with that batting line-up, 130 is probably not good enough.”In this tournament, we’ve plenty of time to regroup. You’re going to lose matches – that’s part of the IPL, that’s part of any cricket theme…Yeah, but it will be nice for us to start getting some wins on the board.”Hodge also rued the absence of injured left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who he reckoned was irreplaceable. Raina had earlier indicated that Jadeja was expected to return for Lions’ next game against Rising Pune Supergiant on April 14.”Without Jadeja, it’s probably hurt us a little bit there. He’s a player you can’t actually replace,” Hodge said. “He bats, bowls and fields and these guys are getting opportunity for that reason. Hopefully we get Jaddu back in, it might make a difference.”Lions had fielded two IPL debutants in legspinner Tejas Baroka and seamer Basil Thampi on Sunday. Hodge was particularly impressed with Baroka, 21, who played his first representative game. After being clubbed by David Warner for boundaries off his first two deliveries, Baroka came back well to finish his over with four consecutive dot balls. Hodge saw his bowling as a takeaway from the game.”This is his first game. What we saw was some real courage, coming on in the fourth [fifth] over and bowling to David Warner in the Powerplay as a young legspinner was pretty challenging, I’d have thought,” Hodge said. “I reckon he did a good job. There’s a couple of things we picked up… I think he’s got good skills, good control and I think when you see the game on the line, he’ll be a real tough proposition for few teams. He’s got a good wrong ‘un. I don’t think he really bowled a bad ball today. There’s a good upside to him I think.”

Scorecard
File photo – Peter Fulton and Andrew Ellis played key roles in Canterbury’s triumph•Getty Images

Peter Fulton surged to the fastest century in New Zealand List A cricket as Canterbury ended an 11-year wait for one-day silverware with a 28-run victory in the Ford Trophy final at Rangiora.After steady drizzle throughout the morning, the match was reduced to a minimum 20 overs per side. If a game had not been possible – and when rain returned midway through the chase, it appeared a chance – Wellington would have won the trophy by virtue of finishing top in the group stages.Initially they were well in the chase as Hamish Marshall sped to a 20-ball half-century, but legspinner Todd Astle took two wickets in an over and despite continued strong hitting down the order, it was too tough an ask.

Andrew Ellis on claiming the title

“It’s been a long time between drinks and it’s been tough. Hopefully some of these new guys will start imprinting new memories. I didn’t think we’d play at all, so all credit to the groundstaff. The physio asked me yesterday who would get runs and I said it would be Fults. It was meant to be. Wellington put us under pressure, they are a fantastic team, but credit to our young players.”

Instead it could be remembered as Fulton’s day. The former New Zealand batsman turned what was an innings struggling to gather speed – both personally and team-wise – into a surge to 199 for 3.Fulton’s 50-ball century beat the precious domestic List A record of 52 balls held by Brendon McCullum from the 2007-08 one-day final. He initially nudged to 13 off 20 deliveries, then reached fifty off 34 balls before hurtling to his century from just another 16 deliveries. That included taking 24 off five balls of an Anurag Verma over which involved three sixes in a row.Fulton added 117 for the third wicket with Henry Nicholls – the batsman who has recently lost his place in the New Zealand ODI side, who played a sensible supporting role with 31 off 25 balls.Michael Papps found mid-on early in the chase, but Marshall and Tom Blundell, showing all the skills that earned him a New Zealand call-up, scorched through the early overs as Wellington cantered along at more than 12 an over. However, spin has played a key role in Canterbury’s campaign and it did so again.Offspinner Tim Johnston had Blundell caught behind from a cut and after the captain Andrew Ellis had removed Scott Borthwick to an under-edged pull, the leg-spin of Astle snared Marshall and Matt Taylor in four balls.Wellington did not go down without a fight, as Luke Woodcock and Jeetan Patel swung hard, but Ellis showed all his experience and Kyle Jamieson produced an impressive array of slower balls. Eleven years ago, when Canterbury last won a one-day trophy, Ellis was 12th man. In 2017 he finished with four wickets and was able to hold the trophy aloft as captain.

There’s a secret behind Faf du Plessis’ success in snatching balls one-handed out of the sky to send batsmen on their way and after his second one against Sri Lanka, he was willing to share it.”Someone once told me that if you fear getting hit on the finger or if you fear what happens when you fall, that’s when you are going to get hurt because you go into it 50-50. But if you go into balls-to-the-wall, if I can say that, then you are going to be okay,” du Plessis said in Durban, where he enabled South Africa to pick up their first wicket by running to his left from cover, leaping in the air and pulling off a one-handed catch in effortless fashion.Du Plessis had put in a similarly stunning effort in the slips to dismiss Angelo Matthews in the Test at the Wanderers. The Sri Lanka captain flashed hard at a ball that looked destined to clear the cordon but du Plessis timed his leap perfectly and his right hand did the rest. He rated the Test catch a little higher, because of the force with which the ball was hit.”The Test one will be hard to beat. The ball was traveling very quickly and it was a lot higher than this one was today,” du Plessis said. “Today, my legs were just too tired, I couldn’t jump up off the ground so I had to save it with my hand. It will take a lot to beat that catch I took at Wanderers.”In the ODI, which South Africa won by 121 runs, du Plessis’ time in the field came after he spent two hours and 44 minutes in the middle, crafting a Man-of-the-Match worthy century and sharing in a 117-run stand with David Miller. Du Plessis’ innings included 53 singles, six twos and two threes, which meant a lot of running between the wickets in high humidity.He expected to feel the effects of his exertion in the lead-up to the third ODI on Saturday but does not anticipate having to miss it. “I feel when you get older your body gets more sore after a game after you’ve done it so the next two days will be a write off for me and then we’ll come back for the next game and I will do it again.”‘Two brilliant catches that you very seldom see get taken and then an outstanding run out, real Jonty-style. That killed us’ – Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford on South Africa’s fielding•AFP

Du Plessis is not the only one who can pull off those kinds of moves in this South African team. “We are very lucky. If you look at the guys in the ring – they are all brilliant fielders. There’s not any fielder there that’s a bowler. It’s all quality fielders, who field at point or cover for the different franchises,” he said. “We’ve got the right personnel and with that you can obviously make sure you train hard and then you can change games with them. New Zealand have been a great example of that for many years and we are right up with them now.”The Durban match provided ample proof of that statement. AB de Villiers took a catch running backwards to dismiss Upul Tharanga and a direct hit from JP Duminy at backward point did Asela Gunaratne. Sri Lanka’s coach Graham Ford had to concede that apart from being out-batted and out-bowled, his side were also out-fielded.”I am not too sure there’s any other side in world cricket that can field as brilliantly as they do. If there is, hopefully we don’t have to play against them. Their fielding is electric,” Ford said. “They have got some amazing athletes in that fielding group. South Africa are very lucky that Jonty Rhodes set such a great example years ago. These kids, when they were young, all they wanted to be was be like Jonty. So from a very young age, really worked on their fielding and enjoyed their fielding and it shows. They must have saved plenty of runs and then two brilliant catches that you very seldom see get taken and then an outstanding run out, real Jonty-style. That killed us.”More so, because Sri Lanka put down what could have been a match-defining catch. South Africa were 118 for 4 and du Plessis on 63 when he edged left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan to slip but Dhananjaya de Silva could not hold on. They also grassed two more chances. Hashim Amla was dropped on 6 by the bowler Suranga Lakmal, although he barely had any time to react and and David Miller, the other centurion, was reprieved on 67, when a very thick edge eluded Dinesh Chandimal standing up to the stumps.Overall, Ford was not too unhappy with what he saw from his players. “It was one of the best ground fielding performances I have seen some Sri Lanka for quite a while. The commitment, the energy, the effort in the field, in fairly tough conditions was amazing,” he said. “We so easily could have had a different day. We had a chance to have them 120 for 5 with two bowling all-rounders to come after that. The game could have been very different if we’d managed to take that chance.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details23:20

Sourav Ganguly and Jonathan Trott discuss India’s emphatic victory over England in the Mumbai Test

With a victory over England by an innings and 36 runs, India have secured their fifth consecutive series and regained the Anthony De Mello trophy. R Ashwin picked up his second five-for of the match, and the 24th of his career, to make sure the formalities were complete by the first half hour on the fifth day. He took his first wicket when the visitors were 180 for 4. They were all out for 195. It was only the third time in Test history that a team had made 400 in the first innings and then lost by an innings.The end was very quick and very messy. Jonny Bairstow was sent packing in the second over and Chris Woakes in the fourth. Their dismissals provided a simple little summary of the difference in skill between the sides in subcontinent conditions.Ashwin flicked a carrom ball on middle and leg with the intention of making Bairstow play across the line and the batsman obliged. Bairstow failed to pick the variation, was squared up when the ball turned the wrong way, and sharply, and was plumb lbw. Woakes, in the next Ashwin over, went for a loose cover drive, but the ball dipped on him and stormed through the gate to hit the stumps. Reading the ball out of the hand is key to playing on turning tracks, as is avoiding strokes that have a high degree of risk, like hitting against the break.Adil Rashid gave an example of the other thing batsmen weren’t supposed to do: throw their wicket away. He lobbed a catch to deep midwicket off Ashwin’s third over. James Anderson came out and was promptly pulled into some polite conversation by the close-in fielders after his criticism of their captain. He popped a catch to midwicket to give Ashwin his sixth wicket and the best match figures by a spinner at Wankhede stadium – 12 for 167.With the win in Mumbai, India were unbeaten for 17 matches in a row – equalling their longest such streak in Test cricket.