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The result of India’s match against Pakistan at the Kotla maybe inconsequential in the context of the series, but the match is critical for India’s struggling openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to revive selectors’ faith in them ahead of the upcoming series against England.The national selection panel is set to be convened at the end of the match for selecting the squad for the five-match ODI series against England, which begins in Rajkot on January 11. And with both Sehwag and Gambhir repeatedly failing to make sizeable contributions in the shorter format, don’t be surprised if one of them – if not both – faces the axe at least for the initial phase of the England ODIs.Since his epic 219 against West Indies in December 2011, Sehwag has had a forgettable run with the bat in the 50-over format. He has been able to score just 248 runs in 11 innings since the record knock in Indore. His solitary fifty during this period came during the series in Sri Lanka last July-August. As a result, time is running out for the veteran player.”The only way he can save himself is by coming up with a big knock tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be difficult for him to be a part of the squad thereafter,” a source close to the selection panel said.It is also uncertain if the selectors will announce the squad for all five ODIs or a part of the series. With the team in dire straits, it won’t be surprising if Sunday will see the squad for the first two or three ODIs being named.What is almost certain though is the entry of Cheteshwar Pujara into the one-day fold. The Saurashtra batsman has more than established himself as a Test No. 3. But with his ability to find gaps at will, Pujara is set to be included in the one-day squad for the first time. It remains to be seen if he replaces either of the established openers or Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma, who yet again failed to translate his form in domestic cricket on to the international stage.

Shane Watson’s gradual slide down the order is set to continue with Ricky Ponting’s replacement expected to take over the No.3 position. Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur said that while the full selection panel had not yet discussed who would take Ponting’s place for the Hobart Test against Sri Lanka starting in ten days, he and the captain Michael Clarke had a potential replacement in mind who would be best suited to first drop.That would mean Clarke could stay at No.5 and Michael Hussey at No.6, but Watson would need to drift down to No.4 to accommodate the new man. Watson is Australia’s vice-captain and a key man in their plans to regain the Ashes next year, but his role in the side is evolving and having spent two and a half years as an opener, he moved to No.3 after his season-ending injury last summer allowed Ed Cowan and David Warner to become the Test openers.”We haven’t even discussed it yet [as a full selection panel], so I’m obviously putting a personal opinion. Without wanting to name names, it will probably be a guy who will come in and bat three and possibly a move for Watto at four,” Arthur said of Ponting’s replacement. “It just looks right and gives us a bit of stability.”Michael and I, once we see who that guy is – and we’ve got in our minds who we think the guy is, but we still need to discuss that as a selection panel – and then sit down in Hobart next Monday when we arrive there and we’ll make a decision on what our preferred batting order is going to be.”Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja are the leading candidates for a recall to the Test side, although it is not out of the question that Rob Quiney could be given another opportunity after failing in the first two Tests against South Africa. Whoever is included, they will need to provide Australia with a stability that the recent No.3s have not. The only century scored at first drop by an Australian since Ponting moved down the order was Shaun Marsh’s debut ton in Sri Lanka last year.Since the end of the 2009-10 summer, Australia have used five men at No.3 – Ponting, Watson, Marsh, Khawaja and Quiney – for a combined average of 26.38. Since Cowan and Warner came together as an opening pair on the Boxing Day last year, the Nos. 4 to 6 have provided Australia with nearly twice as many runs as the top three – a tally of 2861 from the middle order compared to 1483 from the top order.”Cowan and Warner showed us glimpses this series,” Arthur said. “I thought they were good in patches, but we need a lot more consistency, especially from our top four because we know at five and six we’ve got the best batsman in the world going into this Test match [Clarke] and Mr Cricket in Huss. We know that we’re really well covered at five and six. We just need one, two, three and four to be giving us a really good platform and that’s something we’ll have a look at.”When you’re looking at Cowan, you’re looking at Warner, you’re looking at whoever comes in again and then Watto, there’s no massive amount of Test caps there when you take Watto aside. You’ve got to give those guys time to grow and be a little bit more consistent. They’ve shown us they’ve got the goods, we’ve just got to be patient with them.”Australia must swiftly move on to their next challenge, a three-Test series against Sri Lanka, and then they face a tour of India ahead of back-to-back Ashes campaigns. Despite the top-order struggles and injuries to key fast bowlers, Arthur is happy with Australia’s progress as they approach what will be one of the most important years of Test cricket in the side’s recent history.”If I look over the past year and I go back to the Test match we had in Hobart where we lost to New Zealand, that was a time for real reflection and a time for change and I think as a Test unit we can take a lot of pride from what we’ve done over the last year and I certainly think we were in a far better place now than we were this time last year,” Arthur said. “We’ve just got to keep building. We’ve got a big series now against Sri Lanka and we’ve got to keep building through that.”We’ve got a real tough series in India and that is followed by obviously what is the ultimate and that’s the Ashes. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got a settled unit, very clear on what their roles are come those big Tests that lie ahead of us. But I’m still really happy we’re going in the right direction.”

The long-delayed Cricket Kenya elections are now on course to be held by the end of the year after the removal of the last obstacle posed by the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association, which had delayed them taking place over the summer.The NPCA submitted its list of candidates for the CK board last week, ending months of wrangling over the validity of internal elections. Disgraced former CK CEO Tom Tikolo had won a court order earlier in the year preventing NCPA delegates from representing the association in elections which had originally been due to take place in February.Tikolo’s action prevented most of the country’s largest body, NCPA, from participating in the elections. He was then elected the NPCA Chairman last August even though he had been forced to stand down as CK chief executive at the end of 2009 after failing to account for board funds received by him.An unexpected outcome of the NPCA meeting was that Jackie Janmohamed was picked to stand for the post of CK chairman which is vacant after Samir Inamdar decided not to seek re-election. Janmohamed was a legal advisor for the old Kenyan Cricket Association which was removed from office in 2005.”We as Nairobi have decided that we want Janmohamed to take over the chairmanship at CK,” Tikolo said. “We don’t know who Coast and Rift Valley will put up so we expect a big battle. What we are working on is for CK and NPCA work together: I can assure you that we have sorted out all the problems we had since the year started.”

Rory Hamilton-Brown looks set to leave Surrey, with Somerset leading the list of counties hoping to attract him.He remains under contract at The Oval, but has been given permission to talk to other counties after the club and the individual decided that a fresh start may be best for all parties.A Surrey statement on Thursday evening said: “Surrey CCC can confirm they have received statements of interest from a number of counties with regards to the future of batsman Rory Hamilton-Brown.”Chris Adams, the Surrey team director, added: “Having had discussions with Rory, we have both agreed that he should be allowed permission to speak to other clubs so he can assess and consider the options for his future.”Hamilton-Brown, 25, relinquished the Surrey captaincy in August following a prolonged spell of compassionate leave as a result of the death of his close friend and team-mate Tom Maynard, who died in June in an incident on the railway near Wimbledon Park tube station.Hamilton-Brown was also released mid-contract by Surrey in 2007 in order to allow him to move to Sussex. He returned to The Oval in 2010 when director of cricket, Chris Adams, appointed him as Surrey’s youngest captain in more than a century.While progress was not always smooth, Surrey won the CB40 competition and Championship promotion in 2011 and, with a squad boasting several highly talented young players, looked set for a period of sustained success. Then came the tragic incident in June that claimed the life of Maynard – a young batsman in whom club and country had high hopes – since which Hamilton-Brown has struggled to come to terms with his grief.It is hoped that a fresh start at a calm, stable club, situated in a relatively tranquil town away from the distractions of London may help him rebuild his career and fulfil his undoubted potential.

George Bailey, Australia’s Twenty20 captain, has said he expects the 15 men picked for the Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the UAE to be the same 15 who will carry Australia’s hopes in the ICC World Twenty20 next month. Australia must name their final squad for the World T20 by Saturday and although a provisional 30-man group included surprise choices such as Dirk Nannes and Ben Laughlin, there are unlikely to be any wild-cards in the final squad.That should mean a three-man spin attack including Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty, and the uncapped Glenn Maxwell, while other exciting T20 performers such as Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Finch are likely to miss out. The 15 men who will take on Pakistan have been in Darwin over the past week for a training camp and Bailey said he was pleased with the mix the selectors had brought together ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka.”Yeah I’d hope [it will be the same squad], all things being equal. Hopefully that group of guys performs and stays fit and I think that’s the 15 that will be best suited for us to go as far as we can in that tournament,” Bailey told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve got all bases covered. If we want to go in with a spin-laden team we can, or with all-rounders, or we’ve got some genuine pace.”I think we’ve got absolutely everything covered for whatever conditions are thrown up in Sri Lanka. Also a lot of the games are played on the same venues, so we’re expecting towards the back end of the tournament perhaps some tired wickets.”That could mean plenty of work for the spinners and accurate seamers such as Clint McKay, although first Australia must get through their group matches against West Indies and Ireland. By the end of the group stage, Bailey will not even have played ten Twenty20 internationals, having been thrust into the captaincy from outside the squad in January.Since then, he has led his country to two wins and two losses from four games: two matches at home against India in February, and two in the West Indies in March. Until they convened in Darwin, his men have not been together for more than four months, with some having played in Australia’s one-day tour of England, others having enjoyed stints in county cricket, and others having spent the winter at home.The three T20s against Pakistan in the UAE early next month will therefore be priceless preparation for Bailey’s side, especially given that last time they played, in the West Indies, the T20 squad was augmented by ODI players due to the distance from Australia and the infeasibility of flying T20 specialists around the world for two games.”The back end of that Dubai tour will be really good,” Bailey said. “It will be the first time we’ve been able to get that squad together for an extended period. Even just the time in Sri Lanka for the warm-up games I think will be really important just to actually start to get a feel for our specific roles and just having the group together continuously. I think that’s been our biggest challenge as a cricket team, Twenty20 wise, has been just finding out about being a team rather than just a group of guys thrown together.”Gelling as a unit will be critical if Australia are to go one better than in the 2010 World T20, when they reached the final but lost to England. Despite that effort Australia are ninth in the ICC’s T20 rankings, with only Ireland and Zimbabwe below them, but Bailey reads little into the rankings and believes the World T20 will be wide open for almost any side to win.”I reckon there’s about nine teams that at this stage could put their hands up and say they can win the tournament,” Bailey said. “We firmly believe we’re one of those. Playing in the subcontinent means all the subcontinent teams will be pretty dangerous. England and South Africa have got great depth and consistency in their teams and the way they play at the moment they’ll be dangerous.”First and foremost our biggest worry is West Indies, who are in our group. They have a team that is absolutely made for T20, great balance of pace, good spin bowlers and some of the best hitters in the world. It’s going to be really tough and it’s going to be very much about gelling our team and getting our heads around the fact that if we can put our best cricket together for two weeks, something very special could be at the other end.”

ScorecardWeather continued to be a dampener in Intercontinental Cup matches being played in Europe this month, with only 37.1 overs being bowled on the first day of the game between Netherlands and UAE in Deventer, Netherlands. Offspinner Mohammad Tauqir picked up two top-order wickets in the later stages of the day to bring UAE back level in the game, after Netherlands were put in to bat and got off to a steady start.The highlight of the day was opener Wesley Barresi’s second first-class half-century, which was laced with nine boundaries. After Netherlands lost Steven de Bruin with only 20 runs on the board, Barresi and captain Michael Swart, who scored 33, combined in a 64-run partnership that denied UAE the chance to take full advantage of the conditions. However, soon after reaching his fifty, Barresi was out to the bowling of Tauqir. Ten overs and 21 runs later, Swart fell to give Tauqir his second wicket and UAE a bit of a grip on the game.

David Saker, the England bowling coach, has said England’s bowling attack is “as good as” the great Australian attack that dominated world cricket for more than a decade.Saker, the 46-year-old Australian, was appointed to the England role in April 2010. Before that, however, he had played with and against some of Australia’s finest cricketers as a fast bowler with Victoria and Tasmania. He was also assistant coach of the Victoria side that lifted two Sheffield Shield titles and of the Delhi Daredevils side that played in the 2009 Champions League. He is, therefore, well placed to offer informed views on the subject.”We should be saying our group is as good as them,” Saker said. “You can compare them. The Australians were stand-out bowlers, a great group for a long time and they also had a world-class spinner. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in tandem were amazing, but I have seen some spells from Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann that have been just as good or better at times. It’s important we don’t forget the ability of Swanny when he comes in around the three quicks. That’s really important.”McGrath was the stand-out in that group but they had Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel, too: they were all fantastic bowlers. It’s a bit like when Jimmy and Swann bowl together – it is not unlike McGrath and Warne at times. There is so much pressure on the batsmen.Craig McDermott’s departure from Australia’s bowling coach role has created a vacancy back in Saker’s home country, but there appears little chance of him being persuaded to leave the England job such is his admiration for their talent.”In Sri Lanka, there were a couple of times, especially late on day four in the second Test, those two reminded me so much of McGrath and Warne. They put so much pressure on the Sri Lanka batting group and the wickets fell. They also have the back-up of some really good quicks as well, which is nice to have.”That ‘back-up’ may have an opportunity in the next Test. With England having secured a series-clinching victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge, England are considering resting James Anderson and, perhaps, Stuart Broad, and allowing Steven Finn and Graeme Onions an opportunity to adapt to Test cricket. While Saker understands that Anderson and Broad will be keen to play in Birmingham, he believes that England’s strength in depth is such that even if they missed the Test, the quality of the attack would hardly be diminished.”There’s no doubt that the likes of Anderson and Broad will want to play as it gives them more chance of taking Test wickets. But if they have a Test off here and there, in my opinion, it probably gives them the chance to play longer. Those wickets can be picked up later because their careers will be longer. So there are two ways of looking at it.”We have a lot of hard cricket ahead, Tests and one-dayers, and we need to make a decision for the good of English cricket. All our bowlers at Trent Bridge normally play in all three forms of the game so we have to be mindful of trying to give them a rest. But we also have to be mindful that nobody really wants to give up their place, which is fair enough, they are very proud of playing for their country. We have to assess that closely.

Two great attacks?

England

James Anderson: 267 Test wickets at 30.05

Stuart Broad: 161 at 30.42

Tim Bresnan: 52 at 25.46

Graeme Swann: 188 at 28.12

Australia

Glenn McGrath: 563 at 21.64

Brett Lee: 310 at 30.81

Jason Gillespie: 259 at 26.13

Shane Warne: 708 at 25.41

“If Finn and Onions were to play, I don’t think we would lose too much. That’s the beauty of it. Obviously, you would lose your top two bowlers, but the quality of the guys coming in is high. They will step up and do a great job. We showed that in Australia when we lost Broad and then Finn lost his spot. A lot of people were very dubious about whether we had the cover but we did. That proved the group of six or seven bowlers can all do a job if they get the opportunity.Steven Finn has made no secret of his frustration at not being able to force his way back into the line-up and Saker appreciates that waiting on the sidelines can be tough when a bowler feels in good form.”I’m sure Finn is very frustrated,” he said. “The selectors pick the best team to try to win a game but I’m sure Finn will get his chance. He is still young. He is very exciting and his one-day form over the last 12-18 months has been outstanding. He will have a lot of cricket ahead of him. In an ideal world, we would love to get him in. But we have three fast bowlers doing a really good job.”Saker has been particularly impressed with the bowlers’ ability to adapt to conditions as required. England were anticipating being able to utilise green wickets and conventional swing in the Test series against West Indies. Instead, however, they have been confronted with two slow, low wickets and conditions that have offered little assistance.”The wickets have probably been flatter than we are used to in England,” he said. “In that sense, it was really good that we took 20 wickets in each match. At times, it was really difficult because the batsmen dug in – particularly Chanderpaul and Samuels. We found it hard to dismiss them. I was really proud of the way the bowlers kept slogging away and got the breakthroughs. The reverse swing late on day three at Trent Bridge helped us out a bit as well. And the DRS helps as well with the lbws. The boys were outstanding. We applied a lot of pressure.”This group is very skilful. What they do really well is assess conditions quickly. They will see if it is swinging and, if so, they will stick to our original plans. If it is not doing that, they will come up with some other plan. They are very good at talking out in the middle. Stuart and Jimmy are very good at that and they pass on that message to the rest of the group. To be able to bowl conventional swing and they say ‘this is not going to work’ and then switch to reverse and attack in different ways – that is a huge weapon to have.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The spinners put the skids on the scoring-rate•AFP

On another sweltering day, there was another demonstration of how quickly Twenty20 games can turn. With four overs to go, Chennai Super Kings had nine wickets remaining and needed 31 runs – a one-sided game then by Twenty20 standards.A double-strike from Kevon Cooper in the 17th over made the Chennai dressing room a little anxious, but with MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo in the middle, things were still under control.Amit Singh leaked runs in the next over, and when he bowled a legstump freebie with the fine leg up, the game again seemed over.There were no more boundaries in the game, however, and after Cooper bowled another tight over, Karnataka allrounder Stuart bowled yorker after yorker to bring it down to two off the final delivery. Yet again, though, Dhoni showed his ice-cool temperament, whipping the last ball to deep backward square leg and haring through for the second, easily beating a poor throw from Cooper.In Rajasthan Royals’ previous match, little-known Dishant Yagnik, playing his first game of the season had come out on top against the world’s best bowler, Dale Steyn. This time, the unheralded Binny, also playing his first game of the season, nearly pulled it off against the world’s best finisher. Binny who hadn’t batted in the game and was trusted with only one over before the climactic one, produced one of the best final overs of the season, but was left distraught and on his knees, to be consoled by his captain and state-mate Rahul Dravid.There were many similarities in the two innings.Nuwan Kulasekara had earlier produced an outstanding final over, and given away just eight in two death overs to limit Royals to a moderate score. Kulasekara’s tactic was to generally bowl full and wide, which the batsmen found hard to slog.Before Kulasekara, Chennai’s spinners had put the skids on the scoring after Royals openers, Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid, had made a bright start. Royals had raced to 32 off four overs before R Ashwin intervened. He had Rahane chipping to mid-off and gave away only four in his first two overs. Then left-arm spinners Shadab Jakati and Ravindra Jadeja gave little away in the middle of the innings.For the Royals also, it was their spinner who choked the runs after a decent start from Super Kings. Brad Hogg made his international debut nearly 16 years ago, but few – if any – batsmen are able to pick his wrong ‘un even now. That variation accounted for S Badrinath, and the guessing game Hogg forced the batsmen to play gave him figures of 4-0-18-1.Royals’ batting had revolved around Owais Shah, a player who is having his first successful season in the IPL. He reached his third half-century of the tournament, but it lacked the fluency and big-hitting of his previous two efforts. Shah’s constant shuffling around in the crease, though, brought him reward in the 15th over, as Jadeja fluffed his lines trying to double-guess the batsmen. Two wides for four, and a six over extra cover gave Royals 22 off the over. When Ashok Menaria, Shah’s partner for much of the innings, launched Bravo for a six and a four in the 17th, the big onslaught finally seemed on. Kulasekara, though, scuttled Royals’ hopes of crossing 150.The cornerstone of Super Kings’ batting was also a half-century from one of their players enjoying his first fruitful IPL season. Faf du Plessis got his third fifty in four matches and moved to within 18 runs of getting the orange cap from Rahane. When he and the IPL’s highest run-getter, Suresh Raina, were in the middle, the chase seemed straightforward and the vocal crowd incessantly chanting “CSK, CSK” would hardly have expected the tension-filled finale.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMahela Jayawardene’s 30th Test hundred was a vital innings for his side•Getty Images

A masterful century from Mahela Jayawardene helped Sri Lanka fight back against England on the first day of the first Test in Galle. Jayawardene, unbeaten on 168 at stumps, batted for all but two overs of a hot and humid day to ensure his side were not completely overwhelmed. None of his colleagues made more than 27 and between them, they contributed just 111.Both sides will reflect on a day of missed opportunities. While England – with the notable exception of Monty Panesar – were impressive in the field, Sri Lanka may well come to rue that a series of batsmen played a part in their own downfall. Two of them were run out, one was caught at cover as he attempted a slog-sweep that reeked of inexperience and at least one more was drawn into driving at a delivery he would have been better served leaving well alone. England applied the pressure expertly, but Sri Lanka proved more brittle than expected.England, meanwhile, will regret four missed chances off Jayawardene – the two from Panesar almost comical – and a failure to finish off the innings much earlier. At 191 for 7, a total of 300 should have proved beyond Sri Lanka. Such profligacy could come back to haunt England.If it does, it will be largely thanks to Jayawardene. Only seven men have scored more than his 30 Test centuries, but he would have been frustrated at his colleagues’ failure to take advantage of winning the toss. It should have proved invaluable: on a pitch that is already offering a surprising amount of assistance for the spinners and is expected to deteriorate further.Jayawardene deserved better. With his patience, his shot selection, his concentration and his technique, he provided the perfect example for his team-mates to follow. Three times he came down the wicket to thump sixes over long-on – once off James Anderson and twice off Graeme Swann – though generally he contented himself with waiting for the poor ball and putting it away with clinical precision.England did allow him four moments of fortune, however. When he had 64, Anderson was unable to cling on to a desperately tough chance at first slip off the bowling of Swann (Sri Lanka would have been 138 for 6 had it been taken) before, on 90, Anderson missed a much more straightforward chance off his own bowling.Then came two moments of vintage Panesar. Jayawardene, on 147, pulled directly to him at backward square and Panesar parried the ball for four. Worse was to follow. Panesar dropped a much simpler chance at mid-on off Stuart Broad when the batsman had 152. It provided a reminder of why Panesar, for all his skill as a bowler, has spent so much of his career on the outskirts of the international team.At first it appeared Sri Lanka might be blown away as they lost three wickets in the first four overs. Lahiru Thirimanne became Anderson’s 250th Test wicket in the bowler’s 67th Test – he is just the sixth England bowler to reach the milestone – as he prodded at one angled across him, before Kumar Sangakkara suffered the third first-ball dismissal of his Test career after he was drawn into a loose drive. Broad then took the edge of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s bat with a beauty that bounced and left him off the seam.Thilan Samaraweera was run out backing up after the bowler, Anderson, managed to lay a hand on a fierce return drive from Mahela Jayawardene only to see the ball deflect on to the stumps at the bowler’s end. It was, some might say, an unfortunate end to a promising innings, though Samaraweera was backing up unnecessarily far.Dinesh Chandimal, meanwhile, presented Samit Patel – preferred to Ravi Bopara (whose side strain would have prohibited him from bowling) or Tim Bresnan – with a maiden Test wicket as he miscued an ugly slog-sweep to cover and miscued to cover. It was the shot of a young man who had almost forgotten the art of batting for long periods of time; not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that he has not batted in first-class cricket since the first week of January.Then Suraj Randiv, looking quite comfortable and with a role to fulfil in supporting his captain, was run out by a direct hit from Andrew Strauss. It was a marvellous bit of work from England’s captain, who threw from about point, but it was another piece of sloppy cricket from a Sri Lankan side that has barely had time to draw breath after tours to South Africa, Australia and then Bangladesh. Not that Randiv, perhaps guilty of over enthusiasm, could use that excuse: he has been playing first-class cricket in Sri Lanka.With Herath, too, departing to an unnecessary sweep, only Prasanna Jayawardene could consider himself blameless. He fell victim to a wicked reverse-swinging inducker from Anderson.There were concerns that England would miss a third quick, but the polished performance of their frontline bowlers – and the fragility of the Sri Lankan batting – suggested the selectors’ gamble had been vindicated.Anderson, in particular, was excellent. Gaining conventional swing with the new ball and reverse swing with the old, he scarcely bowled a loose ball throughout and, when he took the wicket of Prasanna Jayawardene, he drew level with Brian Statham on 252 Test wickets. Only four England bowlers – Ian Botham, Bob Willis, Fred Trueman and Derek Underwood – have more.Patel could also reflect with pleasure on his first day of Test cricket. While both frontline spinners went wicketless, Patel struck twice. He is not the biggest turner of the ball, but he bowls straight with just enough variation to keep the batsmen honest.Perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was the lingering issue of his ankle injury, but Broad appeared to struggle as the day progressed and England will be uncomfortable with the speed that runs were leaked after they claimed the second new ball. While the pitch is far from a minefield, it is highly unlikely to grow any easier and England – fresh from their travails against Pakistan’s spinners in the UAE – may struggle to shake the worry that they have squandered their best chance to take a firm grip on the series.

ScorecardHaving already lost the series, India Women won the final Twenty20 in St Kitts to finish the five-match contest with a 2-3 scoreline. Chasing 116 for victory, India achieved the target with six wickets in hand and a ball to spare.India slipped after a steady start to their innings, going from 31 for 0 to 33 for 3. Amita Sharma scored a steady 24 at the top of the order, but it was Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur who ensured victory. Raj scored an unbeaten 37 off 31 balls, while Kaur’s 36 came off only 22 deliveries. They added an unbeaten 57 runs for the fifth wicket and won the game in 19.5 overs. West Indies used eight bowlers and Shanel Daley had best figures -1 for 15 in four overs.India’s bowlers had managed to restrict West Indies to 115 for 4 after Anjum Chopra chose to field. Subha Laxmi dismissed both openers cheaply and West Indies were struggling for momentum until Stacy-Ann King scored 37 of 23 balls. Archana Das bowled an economical spell, conceding only 14 in four overs, though she didn’t take a wicket.