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A day after Bangladesh’s incredible win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, the domestic first-class final, too, culminated in a longer-version spectacle in Dhaka. Central Zone lifted their third BCL title, beating favourites South Zone by four wickets in a tense final day.With his second hundred in the match, veteran Shuvagata Hom took Central Zone to the winning 218-run target after the side slipped to 68 for 6. Shuvagata, who was unbeaten on 114 in the fourth innings, added 153 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket with Jaker Ali, who struck the winning runs, making 41 in 124 balls.It was the perfect finish to a seesaw game. Batting first, South Zone got off to a superb start when openers Anamul Haque and Pinak Ghosh put on 137. Both struck fifties before Zakir Hasan and Farhad Reza added 119 for the sixth wicket.Mohammad Mithun struck his maiden first-class double ton in the BCL final•Walton

Left-hander Zakir made an unbeaten 107 off 161 balls, his eleventh first-class century. Farhad struck a quick-fire 67-ball 71 with three sixes and nine fours. Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad took 5 for 101.Central Zone’s reply got off to a terrible start when Farhad’s four-wicket burst sunk them to 16 for 4 in the eighth over. But there was an incredible turnaround too. Shuvagata and Mohammad Mithun added 283 runs for the fifth wicket. Mithun struck his maiden double-hundred. He struck 27 fours and three sixes in his 306-ball 206. Shuvagata made 116.Jaker also struck 53, adding 75 for the sixth wicket with Mithun. Farhad didn’t take any more wickets after his initial four strikes, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi also took four wickets.Central Zone took advantage of the 51-run lead, reducing South Zone to 119 for 7 on the fourth afternoon. Rishad Ahmed, from No. 9, though, then struck ten fours and four sixes but he missed out on a maiden first-class hundred when he fell on 99.But his knock kept South Zone in the game. He notched up partnerships of 44 for the eighth wicket, 61 for the ninth wicket and another 44 for the tenth wicket.Central Zone slipped to 26 for 3 in the final hour of the fourth day, and had an even worse fifth morning when they lost Soumya Sarkar, Taibur Rahman and Salman Hossain.But Shuvagata and Jaker changed the course of the final with their big partnership, without taking too many risks as they had enough time through the rest of the day.

Ebadot Hossain, whose 6 for 46 led Bangladesh to a famous eight-wicket win against New Zealand, said that he has had to work on his patience after a tough start to his Test career.”In the last two years, I have been working with (bowling coach) Ottis Gibson,” Ebadot said. “Conditions are always flat at home. We are still learning how to bowl and reverse in away conditions. I am trying to hit the top of the stumps. I needed to be a little patient for success to come.”Ebadot took all the big wickets in the Test, including that of Ross Taylor, on the fifth morning to send Bangladesh on their way to a historic victory, and hoped the success would serve as a benchmark for future generations of Bangladesh’s cricketers who will travel to New Zealand.”I would like to give thanks to Allah for the Test win. Our brothers and teams didn’t get win in the last 21 years in New Zealand. We set a goal this time. We raised our hand. We said, ‘we have to beat New Zealand in their own soil’,” he said. “Now that we have defeated the Test champions, our next generation has to beat New Zealand.”Ebadot has had an interesting past, and his experience as a Bangladesh Air Force employee has helped him work out a Sheldon Cottrell-like salute celebration, which was on ample display during the game.”I am a soldier of Bangladesh Air Force so I know how to do the salute,” he said. “It was a long story, from volleyball to cricket. I am enjoying cricket, representing Bangladesh and Bangladesh Air Force.”

Blistering half-centuries from Harmanpreet Kaur, Eve Jones and Jemimah Rodrigues have helped Melbourne Renegades produce a club record score to defeat Brisbane Heat in the WBBL at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.Jones and Rodrigues put on a century opening stand before Harmanpreet smashed 65 from just 32 balls, including six sixes, to help the Renegades post the second-highest score in WBBL history and the highest by the Renegades. Heat had a red-hot crack in the chase but fell 16 runs short with Ellie Falconer claiming 4 for 29. The match total of 399 runs was the highest aggregate in WBBL history.Jones and Rodrigues fell one run short of a Renegades’ partnership record with their 101-run stand in just 9.4 overs. The pair struck 19 boundaries between them with Rodrigues racing to 52 from 31 balls before she was trapped lbw by Jess Jonassen. Jones anchored the innings before falling in the 17th over for 62 from 46 balls.The platform was set for Harmanpreet’s hurricane finish to the innings. The India T20I captain launched six sixes and four fours to lift the Renegades total beyond 200. No Heat bowler was spared with Jonassen the only one to concede less than nine runs per over.Falconer took the key wicket of Georgia Redmayne early in the chase. Georgia Voll made 40 from 28 balls and Laura Kimmince smashed 42 from 21 but was run out, failing to ground her bat when Josie Dooley produced a direct hit from a relay throw. Falconer and Harmanpreet closed the game out, taking key wickets at the death. Harmanpreet’s allround display earned her Player-of-the-Match honours for the third time in seven matches.Meg Lanning made a 45-ball 82•Getty Images

Meg Lanning made a dazzling 82 to help Melbourne Stars to a comfortable 37-run win over Adelaide Strikers in a rain-affected clash in the WBBL at Karen Rolton Oval.Rain delayed the start with the game reduced to 14-overs-a-side. Lanning stamped her class on the match-thumping 82 from just 45 balls. She struck nine fours and three sixes to push the Stars to a very impressive total of 4 for 126. Lanning got good support from Elyse Villani in a 63-run opening partnership. Dane van Niekerk picked up 2 for 15 for the Strikers.The Strikers were never in the hunt in the chase, losing wickets at regular intervals. Only four Strikers batters reached double figures. Tess Flintoff took the key scalps of Tahlia McGrath and van Niekerk while Linsey Smith removed Laura Wolvaardt to break the back of the Strikers’ top order. Rhys McKenna took two wickets in an over as the Strikers middle order crumbled.Nicola Carey was superb in the closing stages•Getty Images

Nicola Carey held her nerve at the death as Hobart Hurricanes gave themselves a tournament lifeline by securing a two-run win over Perth Scorchers who started the final over needing seven.Carey bowl the 17th and 20th overs for a combined cost of just eight runs and also claimed two wickets as Scorchers botched a chase that was well within their reach, despite the early losses of Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine, at 2 for 71 in the 11th over needing 67 from 54 balls. The key wicket was that Chamari Athapaththu who fell for 33 off 31 deliveries to Belinda Vakarewa who had started the innings with a maiden before being taken 14 in the space of four deliveries by Devine.Just when a batter was threatening to see them home they fell. Heather Graham was lbw to Carey and Marizanne Kapp skied a return catch to Molly Strano.Rachel Priest had dominated Hurricanes innings with a half-century that included three sixes but the rest of the batting struggled after a promising powerplay. From 1 for 90 in the 14th over they could only manage another 47 runs. The spin pair of Lilly Mills and Alana King again combined effectively to take 4 for 47 from their eight overs. Mills removed Richa Ghosh and Mignon du Preez in the space of four balls.

South Australia captain Travis Head became just the third player – and first Australian – to score two double-centuries in List A cricket after hammering 230 to set up a comfortable win over Queensland at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.Head joined India’s Rohit Sharma, who has scored three in ODI cricket, and Englishman Ali Brown, who has the highest score in List A cricket, as the only men to have managed multiple double-centuries, with Head adding to the 202 he scored against Western Australia in the Marsh Cup in 2015.Head made 230 from 127 balls – the sixth-highest List A score – with 28 fours and eight sixes to help set up South Australia’s total of 8 for 391 from 48 overs, with two overs lost to rain. Queensland were set 397 for victory under DLS and chase fell well short with Brendan Doggett taking 4 for 75 on South Australia debut against his old side, while Lloyd Pope bagged career-best List A figures of 4 for 78, tripling his career wicket tally. Pope took the key wicket of Sam Heazlett with a brilliant wrong ‘un after the left-hander kept the Bulls chase alive with a blistering 93 from 59 balls.Head’s innings was the second-highest score in Marsh Cup history behind D’Arcy Short’s 257, as well as the fastest List A double-hundred (off 114 balls). The team total was South Australia’s second-highest in competition history.Head last played ODI cricket for Australia in 2018 when he was dropped after three single-figure scores in a series against South Africa. Since then in 21 List A innings, he has made 1136 runs at an average of 63.11 and a phenomenal strike-rate of 121.75, with three centuries and six half-centuries. His love affair with Karen Rolton Oval continues as well, averaging 95 in 11 innings there across Marsh Cup and Sheffield Shield cricket including three scores in excess of 163.He entered with the score at 1 for 22 in the fourth over following the loss of Alex Carey. Head began his assault on the Queensland bowlers immediately and never relented. He raced to his century off just 65 balls, bringing it up with a six over square leg. His second hundred took 49 balls with the only thing to halt his progress being a short burst of rain that cost the Redbacks two overs.Head scored all around the ground but was particularly savage on anything short, clubbing sixes over square leg and point. He was fearless with his footwork to the spinners smashing them repeatedly down the ground. He finally holed out at long on in the 47th over.He got great support from Jake Weatherald who made 97 in their 244-run stand. Weatherald missed out on his century when he was caught off a leading edge at mid on from the bowling of Gurinder Sandhu. The right-armer took 4 for 73 on his Queensland debut having played previously for New South Wales and Tasmania.Queensland made an excellent start to the chase racing to 2 for 132 in the 17th over thanks to Heazlett’s electrifying innings. But unlike Head, he was unable to keep it going, running wildly down the track to Pope only to be deceived which left him stumped by a mile.Matt Renshaw and Michael Neser made half-centuries, Neser’s coming off 25 balls batting at No. 8, but Doggett and Pope kept taking wickets at regular intervals to leave the Bulls well short.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:20

Agarkar: India did everything right in Indore

Between January 2013 and the start of this series, India-Australia ODIs had produced an average first-innings score of 321. The first two ODIs bucked that high-scoring trend, with India defending 281 and then 252, but a belter of a pitch in Indore seemed set to catalyse a return to the old order. Coming back from a calf injury, Aaron Finch scored his eighth ODI hundred and put on 154 for the second wicket with Steven Smith to project visions of 350 into Australia’s minds.But thanks to their wristspinners, and then their two expert death bowlers, India kept them to 293 for 6, taking five wickets and only conceding 77 in the last 14 overs. Australia didn’t get a sniff thereafter, as seventies of varying moods and tempos from Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order and Hardik Pandya at No. 4 led India to a series-clinching victory by five wickets, with 13 balls remaining. It was their ninth ODI win in a row, equalling their best ever sequence.

Happy I got to bat for so long – Pandya

On his bowling…
I was just trying to bowl fast offcutters. And it actually nipped, it actually gripped the pitch and moved. I got to know that when I bowled a slower ball earlier. The wicket was too dry and I had to do something different. Can’t just bowl seam up and get whacked. So I just assessed the conditions pretty well and that’s why eventually I got the wicket.
Did he feel pressure after Kohli fell?
I don’t think so. I was batting on 40 or something and the equation was also a run-a-ball so it was time to play and take the game deep, and then obviously the boundary balls will always be there because the runs were not much. We had Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] in the back end, we bat pretty deep so it was just a matter of spending time on the pitch, taking singles and we all knew that if we keep doing the right things, taking singles, we would eventually win.
Batting at No. 4…
It does not make any difference where I bat. Rather than seeing this as a challenge, I see this as an opportunity to do something nice for the team. When I was told I was going to go out to bat next, I was happy. This is the first time I’ve played so many balls, so it was great.
On bowling with Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah…
We keep talking to each other and discussing what the wicket is doing, and what kind of deliveries we should be bowling. They are outstanding – they bowl equally well at the start and at the death. It’s amazing to have guys like that. It gives me confidence to go all out and express myself.

Rohit gave the chase its early fillip with an innings of gasp-inducing strokeplay. There were four sixes in his 62-ball 71, three of them off the quicks: a full one from Nathan Coulter-Nile lofted flat and straight, a bouncer from Pat Cummins hooked into the roof of the stands behind square leg, and a short ball from Kane Richardson – a reaction to seeing the batsman jump out of his crease – muscled in the same direction and out of the stadium. With his partner in such form, Rahane simply slotted into his slipstream, giving him as much of the strike as he could, and helping himself whenever the bowlers dropped short or angled down the leg side. The two added 139 in 130 balls.Both openers fell in the space of 12 balls, and it was Pandya, rather than the incumbent Manish Pandey, who walked in at No. 4. India needed 147 from 159 balls at that point, which called for stickability rather than the ball-striking Pandya is known for. And so he proceeded to play an innings befitting the situation. He gave Ashton Agar early warning of the lengths he wasn’t supposed to bowl, hitting the first balls of successive overs from the left-arm spinner over the long-on boundary, but otherwise simply looked to turn the strike over and build a partnership with Virat Kohli. He showed plenty of poise against the seamers, showing a full face to anything threatening the stumps, and it was Kohli, eventually, who got out playing a big shot at the end of a third-wicket stand of 56.That wicket was immediately followed by that of Kedar Jadhav, who top-edged a slash off the fourth ball he faced. With India needing 88 off 88 at that point, Australia had the smallest of openings, but Pandya and Pandey closed the door with a fifth-wicket stand of 78 off 63 balls. In the end, 294 was simply not a challenging-enough target, and both captains suggested at the post-match presentation that this was a 330-340 pitch.Hardik Pandya made his second fifty of the series•BCCI

Australia were looking at a score in that region when they were 206 for 1 after 36 overs. At that point, Kuldeep Yadav had seemed the unlikeliest bowler to turn the match around. Finch had just hit his third six off the left-arm wristspinner, a miscued loft that might have been caught at long-off on a bigger ground. Apart from that one shot, Finch had picked Kuldeep’s variations better than pretty much any Australian batsman in this series, and looked utterly in control against him. Kuldeep’s figures at that point read 7-0-55-0.And yet – perhaps reckoning that his part-timers were unlikely to do any better on this surface – Kohli persisted with Kuldeep, and he struck in his next over, Finch picking out deep midwicket with a slog-sweep.India suddenly looked transformed. Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah kept Glenn Maxwell in check with their changes of pace, and then Yuzvendra Chahal, returning to the attack in the 41st over, dangled his legbreaks wide of off stump, inviting the batsmen to reach out and hit him against the turn. The 3.1 overs following Finch’s dismissal only produced 12 runs, and Smith, jumping out to the returning Kuldeep in the 42nd over, failed to reach the pitch of a wrong’un and holed out to long-off.Maxwell followed next ball, leaving his crease too early and giving Chahal the opportunity to slip another wide legbreak past his edge. Dhoni completed his 100th ODI stumping for India, and Chahal had dismissed Maxwell for the third time in three innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bumrah took over thereafter, and Australia only scored 38 off their last six overs.Having won the toss for the first time in the series, Smith opted to bat, and his openers were steady rather than spectacular against some controlled new-ball bowling from Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah. They recognised there was little margin for error on this pitch, and strove hard not to give the batsmen width. Both bowled largely back of a length to Finch, denying him his favourite shots through the V.The openers saw out that period, and Warner was just beginning to look dangerous, having hit Chahal for a straight six, when Pandya bowled him with an offcutter than slid past his outside edge. Pandya did an important job through the middle overs with his cutters, cross-seam deliveries and quicker bouncers, and showed Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah the way to bowl when they eventually returned to close out the innings.The two wristspinners, however, were able to exert far less control on Finch and Smith. Having bided his time against the new ball, Finch now took full toll whenever the spinners landed in his arc. In all, he would hit five sixes, all of them down the ground. He also preyed on the spinners’ anxiety to not pitch it too full, and rocked back on a couple of occasions to muscle pulls off balls that were only slightly short.At the other end, Smith worked the ball cleverly into leg-side gaps, the pick of his shots a pick-up flick against the turn off Chahal, made possible by his dancing footwork down the track. Two-thirds of the way into Australia’s innings, the second-wicket pair looked unstoppable. It only took one little opening, however, for India to expose their batting frailties once more.

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:54