The third season of the WBBL broke plenty of run-scoring records, with shots clearing the boundary more frequently than ever before, but work still remains before the tournament realises its full potential

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins08-Feb-2018It has to be said: the three finals to wrap up WBBL03 were collectively a damp squib. Each game involved one batting side falling to pieces, though at least the Sydney Sixers and the Perth Scorchers made the first innings of their respective semi-finals a spectacle. The games were also a great demonstration of the power of bowling pressure.As we highlighted last week, the atmosphere wasn’t helped by the final being played at a neutral venue, and far too early in the day, to accommodate a reality TV show after the men’s final.There is work to do. Once again, players left the tournament early for international duty. An exclusivity window akin to the IPL has been discussed at Cricket Australia, but talk needs to become actions.None of this detracts from the quality on the field, from the opening weekend in North Sydney when enormous tallies broke every imaginable record. Scoring rates ebbed back as the season went on, but it remained the highest-scoring tournament of its kind. Seven players passed 400 runs, while Ellyse Perry and Elyse Villani passed 500.Or look at the six-hitting: 111 in the first WBBL, 162 in the second, 206 this season. Sophie Devine won the first two seasons with 10 and 13, but even lifting her game this season to 17, she was equalled by Lizelle Lee and comfortably surpassed by Ashleigh Gardner’s 21.Or take another metric: of players who had a bat, the first season saw 43 of them hit at least one six, while 69 of them didn’t. The second season, 48 hit a six and 59 didn’t. This season, 51 hit a six and 56 didn’t. More players are coming to grips with the level and the format.At the bowling crease, veteran seamers Katherine Brunt and Sarah Aley topped the charts with 23 victims apiece, reinforcing that age is no barrier in the shortest form of the game. That the England attack-leader conceded fewer than five runs an over was magnificent.Spin was as effective third time around for the WBBL. South African leggie Dane van Niekerk claimed 20 wickets before leaving the Sixers for international duty, while Amanda Wellington (Adelaide Strikers), Molly Strano (Melbourne Renegades), Stafanie Taylor (Sydney Thunder), Emma King (Melbourne Stars), and Samantha Bates (Thunder) all won matches.Sydney SixersOnce again the standard-bearer from start to end, a brief mid-season stumble was put aside to claim back-to-back pennants. Perry was the rock at the top, allowing Alyssa Healy (421 runs) and Gardner (347 including the fastest century in WBBL history) to attack around her. Erin Burns made a seamless move from Hobart Hurricanes in the middle order, while van Niekerk and compatriot seamer Marizanne Kapp (12 wickets at an absurd and league-leading 4.72 runs an over) were the league’s best imports.Aley ploughed on as ever, saving her best for the business end. That was when Sarah Coyte returned to cricket after having retired. Another good news story was Ireland seamer Kim Garth, the only regular pick in the league to have started as an ICC rookie.Perth ScorchersThey recruited big, but fell at the final hurdle again, and in truth were lucky to get that far after an underwhelming home and away campaign. A home semi-final despite finishing third was a massive four-leaf clover. Heavily reliant on leaders Villani and Nicole Bolton at the top of the list and Brunt with the ball, all three stepped up to deliver but too often lacked support.A lasting riddle of this league is why Natalie Sciver can’t find runs the way she has for England in the last couple of years. Heather Graham embodies the team, good enough to win a match with bat or ball, but not enough to bank on. Next season they add Meg Lanning to the the top of their list, but some next-tier players must emerge.Sydney ThunderA funny old season, where the Thunder at times topped the league but never looked more a threat than their Sydney rivals. They were dealt an awful hand in having to play their semi-final in Perth despite finishing second – the hardest road trip in the country. The winning captain from the first WBBL, Alex Blackwell struggled with the bat after finding herself out of national T20 calculations during the Ashes.Her replacement in that team, Rachael Haynes, punished the bowling in a way she hasn’t done before, finishing top five for tournament runs at a great clip. Naomi Stalenberg played some attacking knocks, Nicola Carey had an outstanding all-round campaign, and Samantha Bates was a revelation with her left-arm spin. Stafanie Taylor was down on her usual output, used as a floater in the batting order, and Rachel Priest would have wanted a better first season with the club. Near enough for long enough, but a twist of luck away.Melbourne Stars captain Kristen Beams leads the team out ahead of the start of play•Getty ImagesAdelaide StrikersSo close. The tenacity of this side cannot be questioned, consistently finding a way to defend small totals with a frugal bowling line-up led by Australian swing star Megan Schutt, who at times seemed to be operating the ball by remote control. Amanda Wellington’s massive leggies were always a threat, while Devine was perhaps more influential with ball than bat this season, though we noted her six-hitting exploits above.Suzie Bates was the steady batting presence with her 434 season runs, England’s 50-over opener Tammy Beaumont started to find her way in the format, and Tahlia McGrath was handy with bat and ball. But no one from the Strikers scored at a rate that would frighten a bowling team, and, as Sixers keeper Healy observed on the on-ground commentary mic, the top order panicked in their semi-final collapse.Brisbane HeatTime and again this column was convinced the Heat were hot enough to back up their finals appearance from last season with another. But in reality, any side that comes to rely on one player as much as this team comes unstuck in the end. Beth Mooney was that player, keeping wicket and opening the batting to smash 465 runs at a strike rate of 143.51, the fastest in the league among specialists.Her opening partner Kirby Short was solid but not as influential as previous seasons. One-time West Indies star Deandra Dottin was a faded force. An all-rounder on the fringes of the national team, Delissa Kimmince did her part across the disciplines, but the more established Jess Jonassen has never quite brought the same level to Big Bash as she does in green and gold.South African opener Laura Wolvaardt was a bust in eight appearances, the teenager accustomed to more time in the 50-over form. Up to eight players were required to share the load when bowling, such was the impotence of the attack. Another team with thinking to do.Melbourne RenegadesInconsistency is Red Melbourne’s hallmark, and it got them in the end, after looking finals-bound for much of the season. Recruiters got them a dream batting line-up on paper – the flowering Sophie Molineux teaming up with Sri Lanka’s brutal Chamari Atapattu and the class of former Australia star Jess Cameron (aka Duffin) at the top, with skipper Amy Satterthwaite calling the shots from the middle.Winning a couple of close ones looked like turning an important corner. But the Renegades contrived to lose to the Stars and the Hurricanes, the worst teams of the year, and fell out of the four by the final weekend. It was especially disappointing for the young band on the fringes of Australian selection: Maitlan Brown (15 wickets), Molly Strano (14 wickets) and Molineux (318 runs and 6 wickets) are yet to experience Big Bash finals.Melbourne StarsFor a club that relied entirely on Meg Lanning, there’s not much left when you lose Meg Lanning. A few administrators probably wept in their cars when Australia’s skipper signed for the Scorchers, though she busted her shoulder and wouldn’t have played this tournament anyway. Sciver followed Lanning, though she had always been more promise than delivery to the Stars.But what did they have left? Lizelle Lee was a good pick-up, clobbering 17 sixes in her 349 runs before she had to leave for South African duty. There was the strange recruitment of Georgia Elwiss, a player England used in the recent Ashes as a Test specialist. Annabel Sutherland, daughter of the CA boss, grabbed nine wickets in seven games at 5.48 per over, that rate leaving her fourth in the league for frugality. Not bad when you’re still in high school. Kristen Beams tried hard as skipper but lost the knack of taking wickets. Erin Osborne was a good recruit with a solid all-round season. But there was rarely a sense of threat from the Stars, who didn’t compete for much of the season.Hobart HurricanesIt started badly. Before the season was underway, current England captain Heather Knight became a coach thanks to a busted foot, Satterthwaite swapped purple for red, and key all-rounder Burns followed the glitz of the Sixers and flourished. This exodus was from a club that has never had a current Australian team member don its shirt.The Grapes had punched above their weight in seasons one and two, but finally hit the canvas. Aside from wicketkeeper Georgia Redmayne, who battled hard all season, local players couldn’t reach the standard. Some nominally good imports – West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, England’s Lauren Winfield and India’s Veda Krishnamurthy – barely fired a shot. The Hurricanes need an intervention, and CA has to help get the relatives around the kitchen table. If not, next season could be no better.

Big picture: India vs NZ is a battle of titans

It finally feels like a World Cup year, doesn’t it? In an age of content saturation – organisers trying to horn in as many big events as possible and writers doing much the same to make you care about their own work – something pure happened on Wednesday night in Hyderabad. A game that needed no bigging up. A game that stood on its own. A game that will not soon be forgotten…And already, it’s time to top it, which is exactly why it feels amazing. Because this series – for all the spin put into it – was going to be just another notch in the bilateral cricket calendar. Instead, it’s become something that actually matters. it’s become something fun. There’s a buzz. There’s an expectation. There’s a thrill. As if we haven’t seen anything yet because imagine even half of what happened two days ago happening at the World Cup.Shubman Gill was so good. Like eerie good. Like, there’s over the top and then there’s this. A 23-year-old scoring a double-century in the 49th over of an ODI while single-handedly propping up the rest of his team – and we haven’t even mentioned the opposition. Somewhere in Nakatomi Plaza, John McClane is rolled up in a ball crying because he’s not the gold standard in doing the impossible anymore. Kids half his age are pulling his shtick.

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But John, listen. It’s okay. It happens. This sport that you’ve probably never even heard of does this kinda thing all the time. Like, just about an hour later, with New Zealand at 131 for 6 in a chase of 350, this guy called Michael Bracewell was about to shatter everything we thought was sacred. The coming of age of a golden boy of Indian cricket almost always includes the humbling of the opposition. Sunil Gavaskar took down Garry Sobers. Sachin Tendulkar took down Adbul Qadir. Virat Kohli took down Lasith Malinga. Gill took down Lockie Ferguson. After that, he was supposed to ride all the way off into the sunset but he was made to wait. He was made to sweat.So here we are, still feeling the tremors of that game, and an excitement for what’s to come. Because India vs New Zealand is a battle of titans and equals.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWLW

In the spotlight: Hardik Pandya and Glenn Phillips

Once upon a time, Hardik Pandya would walk into a cricket field and start hitting boundaries. He’d come to press conferences, stop just short of Marlon Samuelsing it, and say with a perfectly straight face that “I could hit a six anytime I wanted to.” Now, five years later, a father and a future leader, some of that fire has been tempered. Two of his four slowest ODI innings (min 30 balls faced) have come in the last week. Both on tough pitches and in winning causes. India will hope their point of difference allrounder is adding to his game, and not necessarily compromising it because the Hardik of old used to put fear in the opposition – which is awesome enough – but he’d also one-up it by feeding off that fear until nothing seemed beyond his reach.Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell are two big hitters in the New Zealand side•Associated Press

We’ve all noticed there’s a bit of Steven Smith about Glenn Phillips, right? In his stance. In his backlift. In the way he refuses a run. There’s a chance that he’s copied one of the most un-outable batters of our times just to maximise the one thing he has that Smith doesn’t. Pure, beautiful power. The guy claims to do 800 press-ups a day in order to sustain the thing sets him apart. Six-hitting. West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have all seen just how destructive he can be – even from dire situations. At some point in this series, India could to see it too.

Team news: Will India try Malik? Is Sodhi back to fitness?

The middle overs didn’t go India’s way with the ball in Hyderabad. Would that tempt them to bring in Umran Malik? The upside is his pace. The downside is their batting depth takes a big hit if he comes in for Shardul Thakur.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ishan Kishan (wk), 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajIsh Sodhi, currently out with an ankle injury, is tracking well according to New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi. A call on his inclusion will be made later.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ish Sodhi/Henry Shipley, 10 Doug Bracewell, 11 Lockie Ferguson

Pitch and conditions: Raipur’s first ever ODI

A sellout crowd of over 50,000 is expected in Raipur to mark the occasion of its first ever ODI. The city is also in the running to host Women’s IPL matches in March. Seems good things happen to not just to people who wait but stadiums as well. No one’s really sure how the pitch will behave, although Mitchell Santner suspects it has more bounce than Hyderabad. Dew will once again play a role on a day where the temperature will go up to 31C in the afternoon and then down to 21C in the evening. No rain is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Bracewell has an ODI strike rate of 122.22. With a minimum of 10 innings played, only three others, from Full Member countries, can say they score their runs quicker. Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone.
• It’s basic. But it bears saying. India have a batting line-up that now includes not one, not two, but three ODI double-centurions. What the actual…

Extended squad named for three-match series as big names head for India

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2023

Chad Bowes and Ben Lister are the two uncapped players in New Zealand’s extended squad for this month’s ODI series against Sri Lanka, with a host of regulars missing due to a clash with the IPL.Lister, who plays for Auckland Aces, enters the 50-over set-up after making his T20I debut in India last month, while Bowes could make his international debut after top-scoring for Canterbury across white-ball formats this season, with 373 List A runs at 46.63 to date, and a further 359 at 39.89 in T20s.The squad will be led by Tom Latham, but will be lacking a number of senior players, including Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Devon Conway – all of whom are playing in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka – as well as the left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Phillips will be available for the first ODI at Eden Park on March 25, but will fly to India thereafter. Lister will then link up with the squad ahead of the second ODI in Christchurch, alongside Mark Chapman and Henry Nicholls.”It’s always exciting as a coach to have new players in the environment and to have players putting their hands up to be selected again in a particular format,” Gary Stead, New Zealand’s head coach, said.”Chad has been impressive for a number of seasons at the top of the order for Canterbury as well as being an excellent fielder.”We are set to play 16 white-ball matches between now and the start of May so there will be a number of chances for players to test themselves in familiar and unfamiliar conditions.”The series will also mark a return to the white-ball set-up for Will Young and Tom Blundell, who has been one of New Zealand’s stand-out players in Test cricket in the past 12 months, but has not played a limited-overs international since the tour of Bangladesh in September 2021.”Tom Blundell, in particular, is someone who we’ve been hugely impressed by in international cricket over the past 18 months as a leader in the Test team and then domestically with the Wellington Firebirds,” Stead said. “It’s an exciting opportunity for Tom ahead of a big year of white-ball cricket.”ODI Squad to face Sri Lanka Tom Latham (capt), Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Chad Bowes, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Ben Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Will Young

Harry Kane and Georgia Stanway led a painful rendition of 'Sweet Caroline' at Bayern Munich's joint title celebrations in Germany.

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Kane and Stanway both Bundesliga winnersCelebrated together in MunichLed ear-splitting 'Sweet Caroline' singalongFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

After both wrapping up their respective Bundesliga titles, England pair Kane and Stanway joined together alongside their team-mates to celebrate both titles together in Munich. As part of the festivities, the duo were dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing and led the huge crowd in a rendition of 'Sweet Caroline'.

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Kane has made it no secret that winning his first piece of silverware at 31 is a massive relief. Therefore, it is no surprise to see him milking the moment, posting on social media almost every day since confirming his status as a champion for the first time.

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WHAT NEXT FOR KANE?

Winning the Bundesliga title will only fuel Kane's hunger to collect more medals. He will be keen to rest up and refuel ahead of the 2025-26 season, with a particular eye on the Champions League title, something he came so close to winning with Tottenham.

Los Blancos beat Mallorca on Wednesday night to delay Barcelona's title celebrations by another day thanks to Jacobo Ramon's late goal.

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• Madrid scraped win against Mallorca
• Barcelona can claim title on Thursday
• Ancelotti says his side can't give up

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  A late goal from 20-year-old defender Ramon helped Madrid claim a dramatic 2-1 victory over Mallorca on Wednesday night to keep the La Liga title race alive for another day. Their Clasico defeat at the weekend saw Los Blancos drop seven points behind Barcelona but they reduced that gap to four in midweek before their rivals play on Thursday night.

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  Barcelona can reassert their seven-point lead and claim the title by beating Espanyol, but Ancelotti insisted his players cannot afford to give up on silverware no matter how unlikely their rivals are to fall off from their position of strength.

• WHAT ANCELOTTI SAID

  Speaking after the game, Ancelotti said: "La Liga is over? Anything can happen in football. We didn't want to give them La Liga today. They have to play tomorrow. If they win we will congratulate them, if they don't we will see what happens. If we had played like this in all the games we would have had a better season."

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  While Madrid were able to claim the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup, they were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal and were beaten by Barcelona in the finals of both the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana.

By the end, they laid claim to the record of joint-lowest total successfully defended in a PSL match in Pakistan.

Alan Gardner02-Mar-2023Defending champions Lahore Qalandars staged a magnificent recovery from 50 for 7 to win by 17 runs at Gaddafi Stadium and keep Quetta Gladiators rooted to the bottom of the PSL table. Sikandar Raza was their hero with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 71 from 34 balls, before the Qalandars attack recovered from a poor start to comprehensively throttle the chase, led by Haris Rauf’s 3 for 22. By the end, they laid claim to the record of joint-lowest total (148) successfully defended in a PSL match in Pakistan.Qalandars were in deep trouble after being inserted, but were given something to bowl at by Raza’s first PSL half-century. The Zimbabwe allrounder struck eight fours and three sixes in a stunning counterattack, putting on an eighth-wicket stand worth 69 off 6.3 overs with Rashid Khan and helping to set Gladiators a target of 149 despite being bowled out early.Gladiators were seemingly cruising as they reached 53 for 1, with Yasir Khan falling to Rauf from the last ball of the powerplay. Will Smeed had struck six crisp fours in 32 off 25 balls to help get his side ahead of the asking rate, but after he fell lbw to Rashid in the seventh over, Gladiators began a slow-motion collapse that saw them add 11 runs in five overs while losing three wickets.It got worse for Gladiators when Martin Guptill launched David Wiese down the throat of deep midwicket, with the required rate crossing 10 per over. Odean Smith and Mohammad Nawaz were dismissed by Rauf as the home side took control, conceding just five boundaries in the second half of the innings and ensuring the victory was all but secure with an over to spare.For the first quarter of the match, it seemed nailed on that the Lahore fans would go home disappointed. Qalandars lost a wicket in the opening over of their innings, Umaid Asif marking his Gladiators debut with a direct hit that caught Fakhar Zaman short; Umaid’s night then got better when he struck with his third ball, taking a simple return catch after Mirza Baig top-edged a pull. Naveen-ul-Haq struck twice in as many overs as Qalandars limped to 29 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.Qalandars’ attempts to disrupt the flow involved sending the captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, out at No. 6 – he had never previously batted higher than No. 8 in a T20. It was a partial (and relative) success, as he outscored the rest of the top six with 16 off 16, before running himself out looking for a non-existent single in the ninth over. With Abdullah Shafique and Wiese falling to Nawaz either side of Shaheen’s dismissal, Qalandars were seven down at halfway.But Raza hit his sixth ball, from Nawaz, for six, added another in the next over from Umaid, hit Naveen for three fours in five balls and took a brace of boundaries off Naseem Shah as the recovery partnership swelled past 50. Even with Raza’s efforts, Qalandars were unable to bat their full 20 overs – but it turned out the league leaders had more than enough for a fifth win in six.

Toole takes seven wickets to bowl Auckland out for 103 in tall chase; Central Districts clinch title with more number of games won than Canterbury

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2023

Raymond Toole’s career-best performance of 7 for 57 inspired Central Districts to the Plunket Shield title triumph on Tuesday with a dominating 188-run win over Auckland in Nelson. Central Districts finished level on 101 points with Canterbury after eight matches and the winner was decided by the number of games won. Central Districts had five victories while Canterbury collected four.This was Central Districts’ 12th Shield title and first since the 2018-19 season.On a dramatic final day – when the rest of the teams had finished their Shield games before this match – a draw wouldn’t have been enough for Central Districts to get hold of the trophy as that or a loss would have crowned Canterbury the champions.