Uncapped Hemalatha called up for England ODIs

Uncapped 23-year-old Tamil Nadu allrounder Dayalan Hemalatha has been called up to the India women squad to face England women in a three-match ODI series at home. Middle-order batsman Devika Vaidya, who last played for India in May last year, was recalled to the squad of 15. Jhulan Goswami, who missed India's last ODI assignment - a three-match series against Australia due to a heel injury - reclaimed her place, and left-arm spinners Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Ekta Bisht also recovered from their injuries to return to the squad.

India women squad
ODIs: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Dayalan Hemalatha, Veda Krishnamurthy, Devika Vaidya, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Sushma Verma (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad

IN: Dayalan Hemalatha, Devika Vaidya, Jhulan Goswami

OUT: Punam Raut, Mona Meshram, Sukanya Parida

Bisht had injured her left index finger during a caught-and-bowled attempt in the third ODI against Australia and was replaced by Gayakwad for the ongoing tri-series. But later Gayakwad injured herself in a training session in Mumbai last week and was ruled out of the series too, to be replaced by Radha Yadav.

These returns meant there was no room for Punam Raut, Mona Meshram and Sukanya Parida, who were all in the ODI squad to face Australia in Vadodara.

Hemalatha, who bowls offspin and bats right-handed, played four matches for India A recently - two T20s against England before the ongoing tri-series and two one-dayers against Australia in early March.

ADVERTISEMENT

Vaidya, a 20-year old from Maharashtra, was part of the title-winning Indian team in the World Cup Qualifier that took place early last year in Sri Lanka. She struck 111 runs in four innings - that included a match-winning 89 in the tournament opener against the hosts - and took five wickets in six matches.

Among the exclusions, Raut once again found herself out of favour after being dropped for the final ODI against Australia. After making scores of 37 and 27 in the first two matches, Raut's place was taken by Jemimah Rodrigues, the 17-year old batsman, who is fast becoming a sensation. Meshram, who also last played in the same Australia series, has been plagued by inconsistency since impressing at the World Cup Qualifier.

The selectors also made a slew of changes to the 14-member A squad that will face off against England in a warm-up game in Nagpur. Deepti Sharma will lead the team, taking over from Meghna Singh, who captained them for the T20 warm-ups against England.



The England ODIs will present an opportunity for India to resurrect what has been a middling home season. Though they had a hugely successful tour of South Africa, where they clinched both the T20 and one-day series, India are now on a six-match losing streak at home. After being whitewashed in the ODI series by Australia, they have now lost all their matches in the ongoing T20 tri-series so far, that leaves them without a spot in the final.

The first ODI of the week-long series takes place on April 6 and all the matches will be played in Nagpur.

India A squad: Deepti Sharma (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Devika Vaidya, Dayalan Hemalatha, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil, Mona Meshram, Sukanya Parida, Kavita Patil, Shanti Kumari, Tanushree Sarkar, Nuzhat Parween (wk), Radha Yadav, TP Kanwar

Scorchers regain top spot with Klinger's 83

Perth Scorchers 4 for 170 (Klinger 83, Turner 45, Sams 2-25) beat Sydney Sixers 4 for 167 (Silk 45, Willey 2-30) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Michael Klinger's composure ensured Perth Scorchers broke fresh ground with the highest successful chase in their history, to consign the Sydney Sixers to a fourth consecutive defeat and vault over Adelaide Strikers to the top of the Big Bash League table. The hosts had appeared to be in considerable trouble when they staggered to 2 for 35 after the Powerplay following the Sixers' total of 167, but Klinger refused to panic, and took the Scorchers home with help from Ashton Turner and a cameo from the debutant Tim David.

The Sixers made a decent fist of their innings after being sent in, as the makeshift opener Peter Nevill, Jordan Silk and Sam Billings were particularly effective. But there was grim news for Steve O'Keefe when he suffered a suspected serious leg injury in the field, robbing the captain Johan Botha of one of his most economical options. The Sixers are now on the brink of an early elimination from the tournament.


Michael Klinger flicks into the leg side Getty Images
Accidental opener

Daniel Hughes has accompanied Jason Roy to the middle in both the Sixers' matches so far, but a muscle strain in the warm-ups meant that the left-hander was ruled out and replaced at the top by Peter Nevill. Not a noted power hitter, Nevill instead likes to use the pace on the ball, and another swift WACA surface gave him his chance.

Helpful, too, was Jhye Richardson, who offered up some generous width early in his spell, including one no ball that Nevill cut cleanly to the backward point boundary. The subsequent free hit was fuller and sliced through the same region to the boundary. Altogether, Nevill would get five fours in an innings that covered not only for Hughes but also for Roy's exit to a contentious lbw decision - the ball appeared to have pitched outside leg stump before rapping his front leg.

Even contributions

The Scorchers pride themselves on possessing a mean bowling and fielding unit, one that is very capable of taking wickets through economy, but also through penetration. This night, however, the Sixers were able to gain a foothold in the match by establishing partnerships throughout their innings. Once Nic Maddinson followed Nevill back to the pavilion for another handy score, Silk and Billings were able to pull together a stand of 56 in 39 deliveries, before Silk and Ben Dwarshuis hustled 30 more off the final 13 balls of the innings.

A curious subplot of the Scorchers' approach was the captain Adam Voges' choice to bowl himself alongside James Muirhead to split the duties of the hosts' fifth bowler. Muirhead has been on a rocky journey since representing Australia in 2014, and started this season in the St Kilda second-grade team in Melbourne Premier cricket. Muirhead, however, bowled well in his two overs at the WACA Ground but a hamstring strain forced Voges to bowl the remaining two. The Sixers captain conceded 23 off those 12 balls, but Muirhead can expect a full four-over stint next time out.

Injury upsets Sixers

To say O'Keefe has an benighted record with injury would be to understate his misfortune over the years, never more so than the hamstring strain he suffered midway through the Kandy Test against Sri Lanka in 2016 when he had looked like Australia's most dangerous bowler. He had bowled three tidy overs for 20 runs in Perth when he slipped at short fine leg, felt a "crack" and immediately sought treatment in the dressing rooms, never to return. A fracture is suspected.

The injury gave the Sixers captain Botha a difficult choice in terms of finding the extra over, and his choice of a like-for-like option in the shape of Maddinson's occasional left-arm spinners was to be punished for 14 runs by Turner and Klinger. Botha himself elected to only bowl one over for the night, as Klinger steadily carried the game away from the visitors.

Klinger comes through


It had been a matter of serious doubt whether Klinger would play any part at all for the Scorchers this season after finding out that his wife, Cindy, had been diagnosed with cancer. But he has so far been available for all fixtures and demonstrated a rare level of composure and skill to guide the Scorchers' chase of a larger total than what they have commonly needed to.

Starting steadily, Klinger rolled into gear with a pair of boundaries through the off side from the bowling of Dwarshuis in the fourth over of the chase, but did not panic as the Scorchers managed only a modest 2 for 35 from the Powerplay. Showcasing the skills built over nearly 20 years in first-class ranks, he scored freely around the ground, and with a hat-trick of boundaries from Sean Abbott in the 18th over, Klinger appeared to have settled the matter.

Though Klinger was to be dismissed in the penultimate over - when trying to hoist Daniel Sams into the crowd beyond wide long-on - Klinger was able to watch as Voges and the debutant David eked out the winning runs - none more vital than David's straight six from Sams' final delivery when 15 runs were still required from seven. When Abbott started the final over with five wides, the Scorchers were all but home, and the Sixers all but out of contention. Voges then finished it off with a top-edged six over Nevill to move back to first.