Women’s Cricket World Cup: England v Pakistan live Cricket RSBL

Pakistan have chosen to bowl. England suffered a loss to India in their opening game of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 while Pakistan failed to get over South Africa in a tense match. Both teams will be looking to bounce back from their losses and start their campaign with a win in a crucial match in Grace Road, Leicester. Get full cricket score of England vs Pakistan, ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 game here.

SQUADS

England: Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Beth Langston, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Nat Sciver, Sarah Taylor, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt.

Pakistan: Sana Mir (capt), Ayesha Zafar, Bibi Nahida, Marina Iqbal, Bismah Maroof, Javeria Khan, Syeda Nain Fatima Abidi, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Kainat Imtiaz, Asmavia Iqbal Khokhar, Diana Baig, Waheeda Akhtar, Nashra Sandhu, Ghulam Fatima, Sadia Yousuf

BCCI seeks clarity from RSBL over outstation players

The BCCI has sought clarity from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) over the participation of outstation players, including Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan, in the upcoming season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League starting July 22.

The board's letter to the TNCA on Friday (June 16) came after 88 players, including international and IPL players like Sanju Samson, Manoj Tiwary, Yuzvendra Chahal, Pawan Negi, Piyush Chawla and Ashok Dinda registered for the TNPL draft to be held in Chennai on June 23.

The bone of contention is if the registered players conform with the rules and regulations of the board. A TNCA official said all the players registered for the draft, including those from other states, were registered with TNCA's league teams. "It was the outstation players playing in the TNCA league who requested us to include them in the TNPL," the official told ESPNcricinfo.

A TNPL official said the board referred to a decision made in a working committee meeting last year that said that "only players registered with the TNCA" should take part in the tournament. The TNCA is likely to respond to the BCCI's letter in the next "two or three days."

"While having these outstation players participate in the league, are they within the ambit of the TNCA for the period of time they are participating in the league - that's the question the BCCI is asking," he said.

The issue of involving outstation players in the TNPL had come up during the inaugural edition of the tournament last year too. While the BCCI didn't allow outstation players to be involved then, the TNPL is confident of having a stronger case this time around.

The TNCA was also not perturbed by the possibility of the draft being postponed. "Even if there is a delay [because of the communication with the BCCI], we can always have it at a later date," the TNCA official said.

Livingstone, Crane in England T20 squad RSBL

England have named five uncapped players in their 16-man squad for three T20s against South Africa at the end of June. Liam Livingstone and Mason Crane have won first call-ups, while Dawid Malan, Tom Curran and Craig Overton are also included ahead of potential debuts.

Joe Root is among several white-ball regulars rested for the T20 series, meaning he can play Championship cricket for Yorkshire ahead of his first Test as England captain in July. Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Jake Ball and Ben Stokes have also been released to their counties, while Tymal Mills is missing through injury.

Mark Wood will only be available for the first match of the South Africa series, with his workload likely to be managed by England after a starring role in their run to the Champions Trophy semi-finals. For the final two matches, his place will be taken by Somerset's Craig Overton - who was previously called into the ODI squad in 2015, alongside his twin Jamie, but did not play. Jonny Bairstow is included for the first two matches before returning to Yorkshire.

The inaugural round of day-night Championship matches on June 26-29 will see the involvement of Root, Moeen, Rashid, Ball, Stokes, Wood and Bairstow, as well as former England captain Alastair Cook and fast bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who is expected to have recovered from a groin injury.

Livingstone had been tipped for inclusion in England's one-day squad at the start of the summer and has been in impressive form for Lancashire and the Lions. "I found out yesterday and it's obviously a very nice moment for me and I'm really looking forward to next week," he said.

"I've really enjoyed my time with the Lions whenever I've been involved. You're given a lot of freedom and a free role to play. It's a great environment to be involved in and especially with the way I play my cricket, it's very exciting ... I've always tried to not change how I am or the way I play so I'll just go in and try to do what I've done for Lancashire.

"From the very first day of hitting a cricket ball, it's what you want to do and it's what you work hard to achieve. A lot of hard work has gone into it, so if I was to make my debut it would be a very special moment for me and my family."

Crane, the Hampshire legspinner, made headlines when selected as an overseas player for New South Wales during the winter and was among the leading wicket-takers in the group stage of the Royal London Cup with 14 at 27.42. Malan, 29, is a former captain of Middlesex's T20 side and was a non-playing member of the squad for the one-off T20 against Sri Lanka last year, while Surrey seamer Curran won his maiden England call-up to the ODI squad on the tour of the Caribbean in March.

"The T20 series against South Africa presents us with an opportunity to incorporate several players who have come through the talent pathway into the senior group," James Whitaker, England's national selector, said. "The squad has an exciting blend of youth and experience and we are looking forward to a competitive series against strong opposition.

"With five uncapped players selected, there is undoubted talent coming through the system and we are excited to see some of these players showcase their skills at the highest level.

"Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tom Curran and Craig Overton have impressed for the England Lions over the past 12 months and have transferred their skills across all formats, in particular with their respective counties.

"Young legspinner Mason Crane is another player with great promise and he has made great strides with Hampshire this season and has added to his experience with stints in the North-South Series earlier in the season, where he took crucial wickets and even earned selection for New South Wales in Australia's premier domestic competition the Sheffield Shield."

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow (first two matches of series), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton (last two matches of series), Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy, David Willey, Mark Wood (first match of series)

RSBL ED Players offer flexibility on revenue share

Australia's players are willing to compromise on a major financial sticking point that lies at the heart of their ongoing pay dispute with Cricket Australia (CA). As the board's nine directors met in Brisbane on Thursday, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) opened up a potential path for more productive talks, by indicating they are open to a redefinition - and reduction - of the revenue they are entitled to share in.

That led to a reciprocal response from CA, who have expressed their own willingness to be "flexible". In a negotiation period that began last November and has been the most divisive and bitter in 20 years, this may be a significant step forward ahead of the June 30 deadline by which the parties must find agreement.

CA has repeatedly claimed that the ACA is seeking a share of all revenue in the game for professional players, including from such areas as sponsorships of grassroots competitions and junior registrations. The claim was made explicit in a briefing note distributed to media last week, which said:

"A proportion of revenue from the sponsorship of grassroots cricket programs has to be distributed to elite player payments. Under the ACA's new proposal, a guaranteed 22.5% of all CA and the states and associations revenue means the players would receive 22.5 cents of every dollar spent by parents on a junior registration fee."

However, the ACA have now confirmed that the players' flexibility over the next pay agreement extends to being "open to a discussion of what is in and what is out of shared revenue streams." The position was conveyed in a letter to the CA chairman David Peever last month.

A narrower definition of agreed revenue may be the first building block of a deal between the parties. It would remove the impending risk of a major industrial relations battle, in a year when Australia are scheduled to play a home Ashes series after tours of South Africa, Bangladesh and India.

"The players have always had and still do have flexibility," the ACA president Greg Dyer said, striking a far less confrontational tone. "There is room to move to modernise this partnership. The ACA can discuss new models of revenue sharing, and how we can collectively manage risk."

A CA spokesman said the board was also prepared to be flexible. "CA believes there is still time to conclude an MoU by 30 June and reiterates its preparedness to be flexible in negotiations," he said. "CA urges the ACA to spend more time at the negotiating table and less time writing press releases in order to begin making progress towards a resolution."

Less than a month remains before the expiry of the current MoU, with CA threatening that all players out of contract will be unemployed should the ACA not agree to discuss its current pay offer. A key plank of the offer is the replacement of revenue sharing with fixed wages for players, with only international players entitled to any of the game's "blue sky" above that, while state player contract levels are effectively frozen over the next five years.

CA's tactics have included efforts to put space between the ACA and the players, including the team performance manager Pat Howard's attempts to deal directly with all contracted players by email. Howard recently offered multi-year deals to the top five CA-contracted players - Steven Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins - under the board's new terms, an approach that was quickly rebuffed.

The allrounder Moises Henriques, who is also part of the ACA executive, said the association was working closely with the players, and that they were willing to be flexible in the interests of reaching an agreement with CA.

"We're a part of the decision-making process, in strategy and how we play it ... and the ACA are just a representative agent of the players," he said. "Really, the decisions get made by the players and the ACA acts on their behalf.

"It's not like we [the ACA] are going to do anything the players don't want to do. Coming to an agreement would be the best way forward. What we've got to worry about is that agreement being made as quickly as possible. Maybe CA may have to give a little bit, we may have to give a little bit, who knows. But the players know we need to get to an agreement. Guys want to play international cricket, guys want to play state cricket. The players want it sorted and I am sure CA do as well."

RSBL Mumbai clinch third IPL title in last-ball finish

This was, barring a WWE-style rebirth, Rising Pune Supergiant's last ever IPL game. They made sure it went the distance, all the way to the last ball, despite keeping Mumbai Indians down to the lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.

Somehow, Pune managed to drag a chase of 130 to the last ball.

The first ever IPL final had come down to the last ball too. Then, nine years ago, Sohail Tanvir pulled L Balaji for a single to win it for Rajasthan Royals.

Now, Mitchell Johnson bowled to Daniel Christian with Pune needing four to win. Bowling from around the wicket, Johnson went full and straight. Christian whipped it away to the left of deep square leg. J Suchith, the substitute fielder, fumbled at the boundary, allowing a second run. That wouldn't do for Pune. They needed four to win, and three to tie.

The batsmen chased a desperate third with Suchith's throw almost already in Parthiv Patel's gloves. Once Parthiv collected it safely, only one result was possible. Mumbai Indians, playing their fourth final, wrapped up their third title, winning by one run.

Krunal Pandya was Mumbai's hero with the bat, his 38-ball 47 dragging them from 79 for 7 to an eventual 129 for 8, a total that would enable their bowlers to scrap all the way. Then, helped along by Pune's ODI-style top-order approach, those scrapping bowlers managed to make the required rate creep steadily upwards - with five overs to go, Pune were only two down but needed 47 from 30.

Given Mumbai's death bowling, this was definitely not over. Jasprit Bumrah took out MS Dhoni in the 17th over. Then Lasith Malinga and Bumrah again ensured Pune would only get two boundaries across the 18th and 19th. That left Steven Smith, batting on 51, and Manoj Tiwary 11 to get from the last over.

Despite taking a boundary off his first ball, they couldn't quite do it against Johnson.

Mumbai bat, Mumbai falter

Six of the nine previous IPL finals had been won by the team batting first. Perhaps that and how it was difficult to chase in Hyderabad was why Rohit Sharma went against his team's record this season of eight wins in 11 games while chasing. That too when they only had a 3-2 record while batting first.

Perhaps it had something to do with Mumbai's record against Pune: they had met three times this season, and Pune had won all three times, twice while batting first.

It seemed, right through Mumbai's innings, that they had some mental scars from all those defeats to Pune. A first-ball leave from Lendl Simmons set the tone for a cautious start on a slower-than-usual Hyderabad surface, with only seven coming off the first two overs, against Jaydev Unadkat's back-of-a-length cutters and Washington Sundar's flat, stump-to-stump offspin.

Then Unadkat dismissed both openers in the third over - a short ball cramping Parthiv Patel's attempt to pull, a slower ball clipping Simmons' leading edge and popping back for a diving return catch.

Mumbai never really recovered from there, despite Rohit Sharma smacking Lockie Ferguson for four fours in the sixth over. Adam Zampa removed Rohit and Kieron Pollard in the 11th over, and Mumbai were 65 for 5.

Krunal gives Mumbai a chance

Christian trapped Hardik Pandya lbw in the 14th, playing across the line, and Karn Sharma was run out in the next over, in most comical manner. Dropped by Christian diving to his left at slip, he ran out of his crease in a panic anyway. It seemed to sum up Mumbai's state of mind.

Krunal, though, seemed to be achieving some clarity of thought. For now, he was simply thinking of extending the innings as far as he could. It took until the 19th over for him to hit his first six, straight back over Unadkat's head. Then he swiped and slogged Christian for a four and a six in the last over, off which Pune scored 14. Still, their total was 14 short of the previous-lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.

That had come in 2009, when Deccan Chargers defended 143.

Rahane, Smith keep Mumbai in the game

No team had defended a total of 129 or below since the 2013 season. Mumbai, though, had the bowling to do it. Pune, meanwhile, adopted a keep-wickets-in-hand approach. With Rahul Tripathi lbw in the third over to Bumrah, Smith joined Ajinkya Rahane at the crease. Rahane could have fallen for 14, foxed by a Malinga slower ball, but Krunal failed to hold on to a fairly straightforward chance at short cover.

By the time he holed out to long-on in the 12th over, he had made 44 of 38, batting as he would in the longer forms of the game. Smith, playing in the same manner, was batting on 18 off 25 at that point. Given the slowness of the surface and the difficulty new batsmen would face in getting going straightaway, this seemed a questionable approach.

As it happened, Dhoni struggled initially, scoring only four off his first nine balls. With Karn Sharma and Krunal getting the ball to grip, and Malinga varying his pace, Pune batted out three boundary-free overs. With 30 balls remaining, they now needed 47.

End-overs experts squeeze out Pune

A half-controlled square-cut from Dhoni sped between backward point and short third man, and two balls later Smith reverse-swiped Krunal for six. Fourteen came off that over, and Rising Pune seemed to be back on track.

Bumrah and Malinga, though, still had three overs to bowl. Bumrah got Dhoni caught behind, denying him width for the cut, and closed out that over, the 17th, with two lbw appeals against Manoj Tiwary, the batsman unable to read his changes of pace and angle, coupled with a hint of reverse.

Smith managed to flick Malinga for four in the 18th, in between a string of unhittable yorkers, and launched Bumrah over long-off in the 19th, off the one ball in the over that was pitched short of the blockhole. When Tiwary shuffled across and whipped the first ball of the 20th over to the vacant square-leg boundary - Johnson had just lost an argument with Rohit to station a fielder there - the equation came down to 7 off 5.

Surely, that would do it. Johnson, though, hadn't had his say yet. Looking to hit him over extra-cover, Tiwary was undone by the slower ball, only managing to drag it round to long-on. Then Smith, having crossed over, timed an inside-out slice perfectly, but straight to sweeper cover.

With three balls left, Pune needed seven, with two new batsmen at the crease. Washington Sundar brought Christian on strike off the fourth ball, failing to make contact with a wide-ish yorker but managing to scamper a bye. Then Christian, slogging at another full slower one, was dropped by Hardik running forward from deep midwicket - he sprinted a second, and Pune needed four from the last ball.

The last ball of Rising Pune Supergiant's two years in the IPL. It wouldn't be the last ball they wanted.

RSBL Simi Singh earns Ireland call-up as McBrine dropped

Ireland have included uncapped allrounder Simi Singh in their squad for the triangular series involving Bangladesh and New Zealand.

He replaces offspinner Andy McBrine as the only change from the squad that was involved in the two one-day internationals against England.

Singh, 30, has been rewarded for impressive domestic and Ireland A form at the start of the season. He scored two half-centuries, including a 97, and took seven wickets for Ireland A on their recent tour of England and followed that with an unbeaten 70 for Leinster Lightning in the Inter-Provincial Limited-Over Cup.

"I've been impressed by his quality with both bat and ball," Ireland coach John Bracewell said. "He is an intelligent cricketer who can adapt to all situations depending on the match situation. He strikes the ball very cleanly, has good technique, and scores all round the wicket.

"His bowling is strong with subtle variations, mixing up his pace and he extracts good turn and bounce from the pitch."

Singh gained Ireland citizenship last month and spoke of the "honour" of being given the chance to represent the country.

"I'm absolutely delighted with my call up and looking forward to the matches," he said. "I came to Ireland as a teenager with a hope of wearing the green jersey one day and feel fortunate to have that honour now. I appreciate the support of my family and friends and also my club YMCA. This wonderful opportunity wouldn't have been possible without them.

"There's no doubt that I've been helped by strong performances for Leinster Lightning this past few seasons, and this campaign has started well with runs and wickets for Ireland Wolves. I'm so proud and grateful to get this opportunity - it'll be a great honour if I make my debut during this series."
Bracewell assured McBrine, who has played 22 ODIs, that he remained part of Ireland's plans for the future but felt he would benefit from domestic and Ireland A action.


"Andy is still very much in the selectors' minds, but we felt that it would be beneficial for him to play for the Wolves this week in the warm-up games against the Bangladesh and New Zealand XIs. He's a strong character and hopefully he'll respond positively with good displays this week."

Non-wide in Mumbai's final over stirs Rohit's emotions RSBL

Mumbai Indians needed 17 runs off the last over against Rising Pune Supergiant to complete their seventh straight win in IPL 2017, but their pursuit received a jolt on the first ball as Hardik Pandya holed out to deep extra cover. Their captain Rohit Sharma, though, had piloted Mumbai's chase up to that point and was intent on seeing things through. With one almighty swing at Jaydev Unadkat's slower ball, he brought the equation down to 11 off four balls.

Unadkat's next delivery was going to be another slower one, but having seen Rohit shuffle across the stumps, he pushed it wide. Rohit, on the other hand, realised that the ball was veering away from the guideline for wide deliveries, and left it alone. However, when umpire S Ravi didn't call it a wide, Rohit shrugged in disbelief, and remonstrated with Ravi even as the square-leg umpire A Nand Kishore intervened. With 11 needed off three balls now, Rohit miscued a slog and was caught-and-bowled for a 39-ball 58, and eventually Mumbai went down by three runs.

In the post-match media interaction, Harbhajan Singh and Ajinkya Rahane, representing Mumbai and Rising Pune respectively, had contrasting views on the legality of the contentious delivery. Neither player, however, felt Rohit's animated conversation with the umpire was a serious transgression.

"I think it was the right call," Rahane said. "Because, as a batsman when you move [across the stumps], that area outside [the off stump] goes to the bowler. Rohit's behaviour at that point was natural. As a captain, as a player, when the game is so close, it comes automatically; nobody does it deliberately. I don't think there was anything wrong with his behaviour, but the umpire's call was right too, for us.

"It happens on the field and remains on the field. In this format, in close games, this will happen in the future as well. You should respect the umpire's decision as well as whatever Rohit did that was completely natural."

Harbhajan also said Rohit was only checking with the umpire what the rule was. "He didn't shout at the umpire or ask why it wasn't given a wide," he said. "He just wanted to know where he should stand for the wide to be called and he was told that the amount he moves is the amount of margin the bowler gets."

While Harbhajan felt the ball was fairly wide off the guideline, he said the umpire's decision had to be respected. "I don't really know if it was actually a wide ball or not," he said. "I feel if both the legs of the batsmen move across the stumps, then the bowler should get the [benefit of the] margin. But, if you see, only one leg of the batsman went across, so I feel it should have been a wide. But, in the end, whatever is the umpire's decision we have to move on with it."

Harbhajan, though, didn't agree with the suggestion that the argument over the wide had led to a loss of momentum for Mumbai.

"I don't think momentum was lost, because Rohit was hitting the ball nicely, but [it was] unfortunate that he ended up hitting the [next] ball straight up in the air," he said. "Cricket is a game where anything is possible. Just before that he hit a big six and a similar sort of ball went up and he got out. At that point all you need to do as a batsman was see the ball and hit the ball, and Rohit was batting on 50-odd."

While Harbhajan admitted that the penultimate over, where Ben Stokes conceded only seven runs, was crucial, Rahane revealed the thinking behind giving Unadkat the ball in the last over. He said Unadkat was preferred to Shardul Thakur because of his relatively slower pace.

"I think after the 19th over when [Steven] Smith, Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] and I were discussing, we talked about bowling Shardul or Jaydev," Rahane said. "But we opted to bowl Jaydev because Shardul has quite a bit of pace, and we wanted to take the pace off and not give the batsmen any in the last over.

"JD's pace comparatively is slower than Shardul and his slower ball could be more effective as the wicket was slow. We didn't want to give them any pace because Rohit was already set. One side [of the ground] was very short, so that was the plan for the last over."

The dismissals of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya were also a result of smart thinking and understanding of angles. Rising Pune had three fielders in the V for Pollard - a long-off almost right behind the bowler in addition to a conventional long-off and long-on - and as many fielders on the bigger off-side boundary for Pandya.

"We knew Pollard doesn't play the lap sweep, so we wanted to keep two fielders straight - one right on the sightscreen and one slightly wider," Rahane said. "That worked for us. For Hardik, he likes to play over covers and the boundaries were bigger too, so that's why we brought square leg in and had three fielders on the line on the offside."