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She’s had an impact in both the World Cup matches she has played so far and, for a brief while over the last week, was the No. 1 T20I bowler in the world

Firdose Moonda08-Oct-2024Sadia Iqbal gave Pakistan reason to believe.After they struggled to a score of 105 for 8 in the highest-profile game they will play at this T20 World Cup, against India, she removed Smriti Mandhana in the fifth over of the chase and created an opening for her team. Importantly, she also built on a plan to starve Mandhana of runs by keeping it full and on the stumps, which created a string of nine dot balls to India’s experienced opener, before offering her some width and inviting her to drive. Mandhana only managed to send the ball to Tuba Hassan at point and Pakistan had the advantage.”I know my spells are very crucial for the team,” Iqbal told ESPNcricinfo in Dubai. “That’s why I am very focused on my bowling and getting my role right.”Related

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Over the last two years, Iqbal’s job has been to take the new ball and it’s one she has embraced. The 29-year-old left-arm spinner has opened the bowling in all the T20Is she has played and reaped some outstanding results. With 28 wickets in 17 matches in 2024, Iqbal is the leading wicket-taker among bowlers at the World Cup this year and also has the most wickets by a Pakistan player in any calendar year. For a short period of time between the match against India on Sunday and England’s win over South Africa on Monday night, she topped the ICC bowling rankings and became only the second Pakistan player to achieve such a status.The other, Sana Mir, who was the No. 1 ODI bowler in 2018-19, is currently at the tournament as a commentator and has been spending time with Iqbal and offering advice. “I’ve learnt so much from her,” Iqbal said. “Before the match, I talked to her about the conditions and what to expect and she told me everything.”Pakistan have played at both tournament venues already and adjusted fairly well to the differences with the ball.In Sharjah, they restricted Sri Lanka to 85 for 9 in pursuit of a target of 117 – Iqbal took 3 for 17. On a surface, which was devoid of pace, she did not follow the lead of the Bangladesh bowlers, from earlier that day, sending down deliveries as slowly as 50kph, but stuck to what she knew. “I don’t usually bowl slow, I stick to my pace,” she said. “But I follow the idea of situational bowling and try to see what the batters are doing and react to that.”

“The big change is mindset, because every player is playing attacking cricket. It’s the approach, it’s our mindset, working with different coaches, and learning through more experiences”Sadia Iqbal

What Iqbal did in Sharjah was to ask the Sri Lanka middle and lower order to go after her, knowing she would be difficult to get away. She had Anushka Sanjeewani caught at deep midwicket trying to flick a full ball to the boundary; Nilakshika Silva caught at short fine-leg playing the sweep; and trapped Sugandika Kumari lbw attempting the same type of shot.In Dubai, where run-scoring is slightly easier, she started off with a clear plan to keep it tight, before offering some width and changing her lengths later on, as India’s urgency for runs grew.That willingness to encourage the batters to take her on and back herself to succeed comes from an overall team approach that has changed since the last T20 World Cup, Iqbal explained. “The big change is mindset, because every player is playing attacking cricket. It’s the approach, it’s our mindset, working with different coaches, and learning through more experiences.”Pakistan’s more proactive approach suits Iqbal’s style as someone who has always relished a contest. A multi-sport player, who was involved in handball and hockey, Iqbal came to cricket “late”, as a 22-year-old. At the time, she had just graduated with a Bachelor of Science Honours in sports science. She made her debut for Pakistan two years later and has properly established herself in the side only over the last couple of years. On the evidence of her success in that time, Iqbal is on an upward trajectory and may well continue to give Pakistan more reasons to believe in the future.

Fast bowler Kwena Maphaka, who was named in South Africa’s second-string squad to play a T20I in Namibia on October 11 and their white-ball sides to tour Pakistan later this month, is being assessed for an injury he sustained while playing a domestic match.Maphaka, 19, was in action for his provincial side, the Lions, in a four-day match against Western Province at Newlands last week. He bowled 5.5 overs in the first innings but had to leave the field with hamstring discomfort. He was taken for a scan which revealed no major damage and returned to take the new ball in the second innings. His 3 for 26 in 10 overs led the Lions’ charge to victory by an innings and 134 runs. He will now have a precautionary MRI to confirm his fitness ahead of a busy season.Maphaka is expected to be a part of South Africa’s international engagements over the next two-and-a-half months, which include tours of Pakistan and India, though there has been conversation about ensuring he has more time in the domestic game, particularly the four-day competition. To date, he has only played six first-class matches, which includes two Tests. He has also played three ODIs and 13 T20Is for South Africa and was signed by Durban’s Super Giants for the fourth season of the SA20.South Africa are due to play Namibia in a one-off T20I on Saturday to inaugurate the new stadium in Windhoek. The match takes place the day before the Test side begins the World Test Championship title defence in Pakistan, which has ruled several frontline players including captain Aiden Markram, out of the trip across the border. South Africa will be captained by Donovan Ferreira, who will lead Quinton de Kock in his international comeback. De Kock reversed his ODI retirement and made himself available for international cricket last month.

Chasing 152, Hurricanes were bowled out for 114 to register a second successive loss

AAP26-Nov-2025South African Marizanne Kapp has again showed how big a loss she will be to the Melbourne Stars once she leaves the WBBL for international duties. Kapp starred in the field as the Stars easily beat Hobart Hurricanes by 37 runs on Thursday at Junction Oval.Their third-straight win left the Stars second on the ladder ahead of Saturday’s massive home derby against the third-placed Melbourne Renegades.While teammate Amy Jones was Player of the Match, Kapp bowled Lizelle Lee with the first delivery of the Hurricanes innings. She removed fellow opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge in the third over and took an outstanding catch to remove No.4 Nicola Carey.But Saturday’s match will be the last for Kapp before she returns to the South African team.”Obviously Kappy is going to be a massive loss – it seems like she’s playing her best cricket, now that she’s leaving us, which is a bit frustrating,” teammate Kim Garth said. “But I feel like we do have the depth to cover it.”Garth added they were worried about what damage Lee could do.”I was pretty relieved – she was hitting them pretty well,” Garth said. “We did a lot of planning for her and when Kappy comes in and knocks her over first ball, it’s quite nice.”After starting the season with five-straight wins, Hurricanes have lost their last two and are in danger of ceding top spot to either Melbourne team.Renegades will host Perth on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s clash against the Stars, who are only one point behind Hurricanes.After Hurricanes won the toss on Wednesday at Junction Oval, Jones and Danielle Gibson gave momentum to Stars’ stalled innings and the home side reached 151 for 6 from their 20 overs. Hurricanes were bundled out for 114 with 22 deliveries left.Jones top-scored with 59 from 40 balls, featuring six fours and a six. Jones and Gibson came together at 91 for 4 in the 14th over – not yet a crisis, but Hurricanes would have felt they had the momentum.Instead, Gibson belted 39 from 27 deliveries, with five fours and a six, as they put on a quickfire 44 for the fifth wicket. Carey took 2-29 from her four overs.After Hurricanes slumped to 59 for 6, captain Elyse Villani and Hayley Silver-Holmes gave them a glimmer of hope with their 40-run stand for the seventh wicket.Then Sophie Day bowled Silver-Holmes for 18 from 14 deliveries and Sutherland bowled Villani for 38 off 21 balls to kill off the late rally.Kapp took 2 for 29 from her four overs, while Sutherland also snared two and Day cleaned up the tail on the way to 4 for 17 from three overs.

The PCB confirmed that renewal offers, as well as new franchise fees, were sent to “all compliant PSL franchises”

Danyal Rasool14-Nov-2025Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen has not received an offer from the PSL to renew his ownership of the franchise. The PCB confirmed that renewal offers, as well as new franchise fees, were sent to “all compliant PSL franchises”. A Sultans representative confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that they were not one of the franchises to receive such an offer.ESPNcricinfo has spoken to some franchises who confirmed they were sent renewal offers following a meeting between the PSL management and the owners, including Tareen, on Thursday. It is believed each of the other five franchises has been given the chance to extend their ownership, with the renewal valid for a further ten years. The Sultans representatives were invited to attend meetings concerning the scheduling and operations of the upcoming PSL, though Sultans believe they were not invited to meetings concerning financial discussions.A PSL representative declined to comment when asked if Sultans’ ownership did not receive a renewal offer owing to potential non-compliance.Related

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The long-running dispute between the PSL and Tareen spilled over into the open when Tareen publicly criticised the league in the build-up to its 10th edition for what he alleged was a lack of transparency and communication from the management. The criticism ramped up in the months that followed, and earlier this year, the PSL threatened to blacklist him unless he made a public apology.Following that threat going public, Tareen issued a taunting video apology to the management, in which he sarcastically apologised for “wanting to make the PSL better”. He ended the video by ripping up a copy of the notice the PCB had sent him.It appears evident that public “apology” is not regarded as such by the PCB. With all franchise rights up for renewal before the next season of the PSL, each franchise had the right of first refusal on renewing ownership. But the PCB had made clear to Tareen this only applied to franchises who were “compliant”, a standard they felt Tareen had fallen short of with his public critiques.According to a couple of franchises, they now have 10 days to respond to the renewal offers. All of them will have to consider paying increased annual franchise fees, at a minimum 25% more than what they pay now. Likely, with increased valuations, it will be 25% of the new value (whichever, ultimately, is higher).This year will also see the addition of two teams to the PSL. The PCB’s statement released a list of cities potential owners could name their new teams after. Hyderabad, Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, Faisalabad, Gilgit, and Rawalpindi are the new potential cities, from which two will be chosen.The new, eight-team PSL is scheduled to take place in April and May next year.

It’s been a longer wait than most for Sri Lanka between their first and second games this World Cup. Since playing the tournament opener on September 30, a wash-out against Australia means their match against England on Saturday comes after a near two-week gap. So unsurprisingly, they are a side that’s itching to get back out in the middle.Against England though they’ll be up against a side they’ve beaten just once in WODIs in 18 attempts. But for coach Rumesh Ratnayake, dwelling on such records makes little sense.”The last meeting will be tomorrow,” said Ratnayake on the eve of the game. “So those are the things which we will encourage them with just before the match. But in our preparation we talk of the present, and we talk of the present team and where they are and what we can do.”What our strengths will be against them, and where we are going to bowl – if it is bowling – at a particular batter at what stage. So we have broken it into three stages, that’s just an example. And even in our batting, I think what we want most is patience and discipline.””That’s what we lacked maybe against India, not deliberate, but it needs more focus so that it could be established.”Coming into this game, Sri Lanka have had a fair bit of time to ponder on that defeat to India. Having had the hosts reeling on 124 for 6, they let the game slip. But even so, a chase of a target a shade under 250 should not have been beyond them.After that game skipper Chamari Athapaththu had not held back in her assessment of her side’s shortcomings, calling on her batters to shoulder more responsibility going forward. And in the build-up to this game, plans surrounding their batting have featured heavily.Related

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“In our batting, the girls are really up to it and wanting to do well,” Ratnayake said. “That’s a huge plus because they know it’s a big stage. Sometimes we need to bring it down and say it’s just another match. But they are excited about this big stage. To capitalise on that, to maximise on that, they need to have runs on the scoreboard. They are aware of that. They are also aware that somebody, at least one or two, should bat till the end.”One of the more prevalent themes across this tournament, particularly for matches played in Colombo, has been a tendency for batting to get easier as the innings has gone on. This has left a lopsided run-scoring burden on lower order batters towards the end of an innings. For Sri Lanka, who lack any real batting prowess beyond the top seven, Ratnayake feels they will need at least one batter to take it deep to ensure they effectively exploit conditions at the tail-end of the innings.”We actually spoke about this in detail, about how those coming lower down the order – even below number seven – need to score more. Our main responsibility, is that top seven needs to score the most runs. We’re addressing it differently, because even in the last game no one scored even 50 – not that 50 would have been enough.”We’ve spoken about how you need to bat deep – at least one of the top six needs to hang around. It’s because none of those batters hung around that we were unable to chase down India’s score.”What we have learned from the spinning wickets is about those who have scored runs. Like [Beth] Mooney. Her batting discipline, her focus, and the ability to do what was needed in those situations. So we need to learn from that.”The extra preparation time leading up to this game has also allowed the Sri Lankans to extensively analyse this England side, weaning through their strengths and weaknesses and how exactly to make use of any advantages they might have over such an experienced outfit.”England is a very experienced side, even though they don’t have left-handers they are quite well equipped, so we understand their strengths, we know what they’re strong at and we’ve seen them do it all so to speak, and we believe that we are ready to sort of counter-attack that and do the best we can in the best way we could.”With our coaches, we scrutinised every batter of the English team – not just their top seven, we analysed their top nine. But the time for observing is over, now we need to take ownership of the situation, and go out there and perform.”

The competition is heating up in the top half of the points table

S Rajesh01-May-2025 • Updated on 05-May-20251:37

Chawla: Bethell’s batting reflects RCB’s own good form

RCB are back on top of the points table with the win against CSK. But with the other top teams notching up wins as well, it’s still possible for five teams to finish on 18 points. That means to be absolutely sure of qualification, RCB need two more wins. However, if other results go their way, they can qualify even with 16 points, without depending on NRR.RCB will also be happy with two home wins in a row, given that they have two more games to go at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. One obvious area of improvement is with the toss: they have lost five in a row in Bengaluru, and they will be hoping for better luck with the coin in their last two home games.1:30

Is Prabhsimran finally living up to his promise?

Punjab Kings
PBKS’ win against Lucknow Super Giants took them to second place with 15 points, consolidating their place in the top four with three games to go. While 17 points may not be enough to guarantee qualification without other results going their way, two more wins will take them into the playoffs. If they lose all their three remaining games, PBKS will be heavily reliant on other results to avoid elimination.3:31

‘Gill is conventional and measured, but not conservative’

Gujarat TitansFourteen points with four games to go and a net run rate second only to that of Mumbai Indians – GT have everything going in their favour to not only qualify, but also look for a top-two finish. To make things even better, two of their three remaining games are at home – where they already have a 4-1 win-loss record – against cellar-dwellers CSK and another team struggling for momentum, LSG.1:43

Chopra: No apparent weaknesses in this MI side

Mumbai Indians
With six wins in a row, the latest being a 100-run thumping that eliminated RR, MI are on course to finish in the top four, and possibly even the top two. Not only do they have momentum on their side, they also have the best NRR among all teams. MI could be among five teams with 18 or more, which is where their net run rate could help them provided they stay ahead on that parameter. They also have two home games in hand, which could be crucial given that they have won four out of five at home so far, the most by any team.3:53

DC’s bowling a concern at Kotla?

Delhi Capitals

The win against RR has kept KKR in contention for a top-four finish. With 11 points from 11 games, however, the maximum they can finish on is 17. It’s possible for five teams to finish on 18 or more points, which means a spot in the playoffs isn’t guaranteed even if KKR win their remaining three games. As with PBKS, 15 points will give KKR a chance, but 13 will eliminate them.2:48

Kumble: Pant needs to get rid of the confusion in his head

Lucknow Super Giants
With their third successive defeat – against PBKS on Sunday – LSG are in seventh place; their chances of finishing in the top four are slim and dependent on other results. Even if they win their remaining three matches – two of which are against teams in the top four – LSG can only get to 16 points, while RCB have already got that many. Their net run rate is also the worst among the seven teams that remain in contention for the playoffs.

Portugal had a "day to forget" on Thursday as their unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying came to a surprising end at the hands of Ireland, coach Roberto Martinez says. The defeat, which saw Cristiano Ronaldo earn the first red card of his international career, leaves them needing a win to seal automatic qualification in their final game of the round.

• Portugal go down 2-0 in Ireland

  Portugal endured a rare collapse at the worst possible moment at the Aviva Stadium. Troy Parrott struck twice, first in the 17th minute and again just before the interval, punishing a disjointed defensive setup and a side lacking fluency in possession. Portugal dominated territory but produced little to trouble Gavin Bazunu, repeatedly running into Ireland’s disciplined low block.

  In the post-match interview, Martinez admitted his side began poorly and missed familiar combinations due to key absences.

  “We started the game very badly; Pedro Neto , Nuno Mendes, and Bruno Fernandes were missing , players with whom we already have established patterns,” he explained. “We allowed Ireland to score from a set piece, and when the team was improving, within a poor performance, we conceded. We lacked clarity on the ball, precision. Ireland plays in a safe way, and if we conceded a goal, we knew we would have many problems. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and everything that could go right for Ireland, went right.”

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  Ronaldo red card causes trouble for Portugal

  Just as Portugal appeared to be settling into the second half, Ronaldo’s confrontation with Dara O’Shea escalated into a VAR-upgraded red card, the first of his 226-cap international career. The dismissal left Portugal with 10 men and extinguished any hope of a response. 

  "In the second half, we tried everything; Cristiano's sending off made the game more difficult. I saw a lot of courage in the team, but this is a day to forget," Martinez said.

• Injury absences cost Portugal's winning chances

  Beyond Ronaldo, another major void was exposed in Dublin: the absence of Nuno Mendes. The PSG full-back, whom Martinez recently described as “the best in the world”, was sorely missed.

  In his earlier press assessment, the coach had said: “There’s no other left-back who can defend one-on-one, make overlapping runs, and play inside or outside with the ball. He’s a complete player… he’s a decisive player for his club and for me.”

  With no natural left-back available, Martinez turned to Diogo Dalot and Joao Cancelo, yet neither were able to recreate Mendes’ mix of defensive certainty and forward thrust. After the defeat, Martinez refused to place blame on individuals: “This isn't a day to talk about individual players; it was a collective performance. These are two players who have been doing this for many years, they can play on both wings. The idea was to utilise the connection between Dalot and Felix; they are players who know our concepts, our system, and British football very well.”

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  Portugal’s decisive final match and what must change

  Portugal now approach their final qualifier knowing the mathematics are brutally simple: beat Armenia at home and they qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup. Anything else risks slipping into the playoffs which is an outcome Martinez is determined to avoid.

  Even in the wake of defeat, he urged perspective. “It would be good to go another 43 games without losing. What’s not normal is having 42 games without defeat… Now, if we win at home, we’re in the World Cup.”

  For that to happen, Portugal must repair several structural issues exposed in Dublin. They need a stronger start, having conceded early in consecutive matches. Defensive organisation on set pieces must tighten, something Martinez acknowledged himself:

  “It’s true that we conceded goals from corners in the last two games.”

  They must also rediscover fluidity in attack, where the absence of Mendes and Neto has robbed them of balance and unpredictability. The leadership group – Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias – must take charge in Ronaldo’s absence, ensuring emotional stability as much as tactical improvement. 

  “We still have one more game to qualify and for that we need to win,” the coach said.

Champions post second-highest score in women’s Hundred thanks to Harris and Griffith knocks

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2025Grace Harris powered London Spirit to victory on the opening day of the Hundred, smashing 89 from just 42 balls to give the defending champions the perfect start in front of 15,640 fans at Lord’s.Harris, preferred by Spirit to Meg Lanning in the draft this winter, won the battle of the two world-class Australian batters, but Lanning could scarcely have done more in reply – making 85 off 51 balls to take Oval Invincibles close in their chase.Until Lanning was dismissed, the South London team were very much in the game but it was to be Harris and Spirit’s day. The big-hitting Aussie was ably supported by Cordelia Griffith in her side’s total of 176 for , Griffith contributing a 29-ball 50 to help Spirit to the second-highest score in the history of the women’s competition.England’s Ryana Macdonald-Gay was possibly the pick of the away team’s bowlers, but there was cheer for Tash Farrant who took her first wicket in the Hundred for 1450 days following injury.For Invincibles, no one player was able to support Lanning in the same way Griffith had backed up Harris, with cameos from Alice Capsey and Marizanne Kapp providing hope but ultimately not doing enough to overhaul such an imposing total.For Spirit, without last year’s winning captain Heather Knight, the 17-run win and the bragging rights over their London rivals signals the perfect start to their trophy defence.Meerkat Match Hero, Harris, said: “You always want a win on the board, especially in a format like this when it’s so fast. And it’s great to come up against our cross-town rivals and get the wood on them, too.”Pretty early on [it was clear it was a good wicket]. There was some good comms from the openers back to the bench and they said it wasn’t doing much; bit of swing in the air but outside of that it was playing nicely. With that role in the middle you’ve just got to capitalise on however many balls you’re going to face and we might have pinched a few singles there and it was good for us.”I’m pretty easy [as to where she bats in the order]. I’d love to open because you get to bat for the longest but I don’t really care where I end up and it’s pretty good to cash in at the end so I’ll take it.”

For a while, India’s performance in the World Cup opener matched the mood in a city in mourning, till Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma decided to do something about it

S Sudarshanan01-Oct-20253:06

Review: Deepti channelled her best version

A lot can happen after a pause.On Tuesday afternoon, the silence at the ACA Stadium was deafening.An overcast afternoon that began with a glowing, heartfelt, musical tribute to singer Zubeen Garg, who died 11 days ago, turned the mood among the record 22,843 that kept the mood at the venue sombre. And after the game started, India’s World Cup dream received a jolt: Smriti Mandhana played out a maiden over and soon fell in the fourth over. Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol, both playing an ODI World Cup for the first time, didn’t rattle away and India faced 61 dots in the first 15 overs. Flashbacks of another India home World Cup game against Sri Lanka.The first pause came courtesy an hour-long drizzle.Related

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It shortened the game to 48 overs a side (another short halt later reduced it to 47) and gave Rawal and Deol the chance to change gears.India were 120 for 2 after 25, setting a decent platform. Then Inoka Ranaweera struck thrice in five balls to leave India at 121 for 5; Richa Ghosh fell in the next over to leave them at 124 for 6.That brought Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur, the latter on 50-over World Cup debut, together. It was all rather shaky for India.Then came another pause – a short and expected one, the drinks interval.India 129 for 6 in 29 overs, Deepti on 13 off 10, Amanjot 0 off 5. Something had to happen.

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Amanjot is good at one-liners. There is this other thing that she is equally good, if not better, at – fighting her way out of adverse situations.She was sidelined for a year with a stress injury and only returned to action ahead of WPL 2025. In the injured Pooja Vastrakar’s absence, Amanjot was able to carry the allrounder’s mantle for Mumbai Indians and continued in the same vein on the tour of England.Five T20Is and an ODI later, she was missing again.She had a few niggles and, in consultation with the coaches, rested herself to be fresh for the World Cup. Her first game upon return tested her. And brought out the best in her.Amanjot Kaur celebrates after scoring a counter-attacking half-century•ICC/Getty ImagesDespite the tricky situation India were in, Amanjot chose to attack and took on Sri Lanka’s best bowler of the evening, Ranaweera, hitting her for fours in each of the next two overs. In no time, she had raced to her maiden ODI half-century in just 45 balls.Sri Lanka dropped her thrice and she made them pay.Later, Amanjot was one of only two seamers India played and she trapped Vishmi Gunaratne lbw. It was a great game for her – her rocket throws pinging wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh’s gloves just added to the fun.

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Deepti’s first challenge was to see off Ranaweera’s hat-trick ball. Despite being one of India’s most valuable players across formats, her batting approach in such tricky situations has been in the spotlight. On Tuesday, she did not get bogged down under pressure. A quick single here, a sprint for a couple there, she kept the strike rotating and transferred pressure back on Sri Lanka.For most of her innings, Deepti batted at a strike rate in excess of 100. She used the sweep to telling effect – each of her three fours came with that shot; she scored 20 off 11 with the sweep. In ODIs since 2024, 42% of Deepti’s runs (158 out of 369) have been with the sweep. That is the best among batters with at least 200 runs against spin in this period (where ball-by-ball data is available).Together, Deepti and Amanjot added 103 runs for the seventh wicket, and put India in the position they needed to be in.ESPNcricinfo LtdDeepti’s evening was not done. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu, her team-mate at UP Warriorz, hit two sixes and two fours in Deepti’s first two overs, which went for 23. In a stiff chase of 271, Sri Lanka needed Athapaththu to get a significant score. But Deepti won the duel, darting one through Athapaththu to all but douse Sri Lanka’s challenge. Her three wickets took her to second among India’s leading wicket-takers in ODIs in the process.

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“It is said that a wounded lion takes a step back only to take a big leap forward…” Amanjot said, paused and laughed, speaking at the post-match press conference. “You people will make me famous just for my one-liners!”With Amanjot, what you see is what you get. Her confidence often rubs off on others and covers up for her lack of experience, too. Her partnership with Deepti was the perfect fire-and-ice combo to combat and wriggle out of Sri Lanka’s stranglehold. It was just the second century partnership for the seventh wicket or lower in ODI World Cups.”Ultimately, you want a good score to defend,” Amanjot said. “We can’t play dots just because we are six down. I knew that Deepti was with me and we had to stitch a big partnership. I had to stay in the middle. The pitch was sticky, the ball was holding in the surface and there was turn on offer. The longer the two of us batted, we knew we could take India to a decent total and we did that.”With Deepti Sharma, the sweep is always just around the corner•Getty ImagesThis is what Amanjot was preparing for. And she did not want to turn up for the World Cup undercooked. “I did not have an injury but I felt my body needed a little rest,” she said. “We did a few scans and I discussed with the coaches that I did not feel well while bowling. I did not want to play for India at 80-90%. I should be either at 100% or not play; I don’t like such half-measures.”I should be able to stop runs, and push with the bat and ball and contribute as an allrounder. Otherwise anyone can play in my place.”The pause in her career helped Amanjot return not only fit and fresh but also with greater clarity.”It was the first game of the World Cup and looking at the hype and crowd, there were jitters,” she said. “All that is normal, the more you play the more you get used to it. I played six [five] dot balls at the start. The Aman before rehab would have tried to hit the seventh ball in the air. But rehab has taught me patience and gratefulness – whatever you get is enough, you don’t need more. God made me do as much as was necessary today and I did that.”That’s what can happen after a pause.

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo was left fuming after Brighton's controversial late equaliser cost the Hammers crucial two points in the Premier League on Sunday. Georginio Rutter restored parity late in the match after Jarrod Bowen had handed West Ham the lead in the 73rd minute. Rutter had accidentally handled the ball before finding the back of the net.

• Rutter cancelled out Bowen's second half goal

  West Ham had collected eight points from their last five Premier League matches, which included just one defeat at the hands of Liverpool. The three points on Sunday would have helped them climb up in the league and exit the relegation zone, as Nottingham Forest had earlier lost 3-0 to Everton. 

  The Hammers were on track to claim all three points from their fixture against Brighton as Jarrod Bowen had handed them the lead in the 73rd minute after receiving a pass from Callum Wilson. However, a controversial last-gasp goal from Rutter helped the Seagulls snatch a point away from West Ham. 

  In the build-up to Rutter's goal, Charalampos Kostoulas received a long ball in the West Ham box before attempting an audacious overhead-kick, which popped up off Rutter's thigh and on to his arm before he fired past Alphonse Areola in goal. 

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  West Ham boss left fuming

  Hammers boss Nuno was furious after the match as he felt that Brighton's goal should not have stood, as he told Sky Sports post-match: "It was a handball, wasn't it, and a high foot. No need to speak with the referee. I think it was the main factor. It's clear. I saw it, everybody saw it. VAR saw it, everybody saw it. I think both situations should be checked. It's hard to take, man, it's really hard to take, especially after the hard work of the boys, the support of our fans that makes us feel like we were in London. Then comes one situation, so many people see it, it's hard to take." 

• Explained: Why Rutter's goal stood against West Ham

  The International Football Association Board (IFAB) had announced changes to the handball law in July 2021. That new law worked in favour of Brighton's Rutter, as accidental handball leading to a team-mate scoring a goal or having a goalscoring opportunity was no longer considered an offence.  

  The lawmakers have stated clearly that not every contact between a player's hand or arm and the ball is an offence. Regarding the issue of a hand or arm making a player's body "unnaturally bigger", it was confirmed that referees should continue to use their judgment to determine the validity of the hand or arm's position relative to the player's movement in that specific situation. 

  The Premier League Match Centre also confirmed why the goal stood: "The referee's call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Rutter's arm was in a natural position and he did not deliberately handle the ball, and the contact with the arm was not immediately prior to him scoring."

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  Was Kostoulas' over-head kick a foul?

  Nuno further argued that if not for the handball, at least Kostoulas' foul, while taking the overhead-kick, should have been deemed a foul, as he added: "If Dinos [Mavropanos] was stood on the ground, maybe. But there's contact on his head, isn't there?" 

  At first, on Television, it seemed that Kostoulas's kick had caught Konstantinos Mavropanos on his head; however, the VAR check confirmed there was no proper connection and the referee felt that it was not dangerous enough for a foul to be awarded. 

  West Ham next face an in-form Aston Villa side in a difficult Premier League fixture at home on December 14.