Bangladesh left to rue follow-up failure after early bravado

When Mashrafe Mortaza unleashed his big surprise, giving  Liton Dashis fourth opening partner of the Asia Cup in Mehidy Hasan, the most intriguing nugget doing the rounds on the internet and otherwise, was - Mehidy has never opened the batting in international or first-class cricket across formats before.

Mortaza's top-order concerns were legitimate. In the five matches leading up to the final, Bangladesh's best opening stand was 16 runs, and begged for a change. The move also came as a cushion for the top-order that was cut short by a batsman to accommodate left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam.

Jadhav reappearance sets up Asia Cup classic

It was less than 15 minutes for calendars to flip over to Saturday in Dubai, when Bangladesh's leadership group was in a fix. Soumya Sarkar - of the final over in Nidahas Trophy heartburn fame - was considered to defend six runs, before Mashrafe Mortaza summoned off-break bowler Mahmadullah instead, who came with glowing last-over reputation from the Bangladesh Premier League. A hamstrung Kedar Jadhav was in the middle of a complete deja vu from a few months ago when he was in the yellows of CSK, trying to get his team over the line in their IPL opener.

The bowl-shaped colosseum in Dubai had hit fever pitch, and was buzzing from the stands. There were moments for both sets of fans to leave midway and enjoy a better Friday night elsewhere, but most stayed back just in case.

In anticipation of an early glory hit, and the fact that Kuldeep Yadav was on strike, Mortaza sent his men to hug the boundary like at deep backward square leg, deep square leg, short fine leg, long on and long off. Two tossed up full balls outside off was offered on a platter as bait, but neither batsmen bit into it. Kuldeep drove straight, and Jadhav clipped it behind square to knock off two runs from the target. 'Six singles to win it' was too logical a victory route with a No. 9 batsman in the middle. All the pressure was inevitably going to prick the caution bubble.

India beat Bangladesh to clinch Asia Cup in last-ball finish

Although it wasn't a third India-Pakistan Asia Cup meeting within a 10-day period, Bangladesh's spirited entry into the  summit clash promised a gun fight of a final. Mortaza's side brought out the right weapons to the battle, not the metaphorical knife, and struck telling blows. But they ran out of ammunition in the end with the bat, and despite a superb show with the ball, suffered their third loss in the final of a multi-national tournament against India in as many attempts.

Led by Liton Das's 117-ball 121 in his 120-run opening partnership with Mehidy Hasan, Bangladesh appeared to race away to an imposing total. However, India did well to pull things back after the first 20 overs, conceding only 106 runs in the next 28.3 overs while picking up all ten wickets as Bangladesh, who had emptied their clips even before the half-way stage of their innings, brought a collapse upon themselves. Bangladesh did a terrific job in their bid to defend 222, taking it until the final delivery before India prevailed in the battle of nerves to secure the title for the seventh time in 14 editions.

Cold shoulder to warm-ups?

In the aftermath of India's Test series defeat in England, head coach Ravi Shastri revealed that the team had already requested for a couple of warm-up games ahead of the arduous tour of Australia later this year. There's little argument that the change in stance is a direct result of India's back-to-back series defeats overseas (South Africa earlier this year).

On both those tours, India hit the straps fully only by their third Test, when they recorded their only wins. While India had called off the only two-day practice game entirely in South Africa, they trimmed their originally planned four-day game against Essex into a three-day affair. There have been mixed reports as well, some claiming that the management wasn't happy with the conditions on offer, while others clarifying that the management thought it'd be wise to go through high-intensity simulated sessions instead of playing in conditions that wouldn't help prepare better.

How important are these practice games really? And how importantly are they treated in reality? These are not questions that are asked only of India but a lot of other teams have been caught napping on these grounds too. Largely, because the volume of cricket isn't the same anymore. Gone are those days when an overseas tour bordered on being a three-month affair, starting with as many as two three-day games and another similar game spaced out between the third and the fourth Test. That not only helped teams arrive and get a hang of the alien conditions better, but also allowed its benched players to gain some important match-time when the second round of practice games returned in the middle of the series.

Mohammed, McLean double Windies' lead

Yet another South African batting collapse meant West Indies  doubled their lead in the five-match T20I series, winning the second game by a whopping nine-wicket margin at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad on Friday (September 28). Hayley Matthews and Anisa Mohammed were the destroyers in chief for the hosts, restricting South Africa to a 101/8 before a 72-run partnership between Natasha McLean and skipper Stafanie Taylor helped Windies overhaul the target with more than four overs to spare.

Put in to bat, South Africa lost both their destructive batters at top - Lizelle Lee and Sune Luss - for nought as Matthews struck twice in the fourth over. It was through little partnerships Dane van Niekerk formed with her deputy, Chloe Tryon and former captain Mignon du Preez that South Africa started to resurrect their innings but runs weren't flowing easily. South Africa had only managed 95 off 19 overs but had their skipper well-set for a final-over flourish. Mohammed, however, had different plans. She dismissed van Niekerk off the second ball of the over, and a boundary later, became the only West Indies' women cricketer, and ninth overall, to register a T20I hat-trick. Her victims included Marizanne Kapp, Saarah Smith and Masabata Klaas, as South Africa could only just manage to post a triple-figure total.

Matthews also chipped in with a 21-ball 17, laced with three boundaries, in a 30-run opening stand in Windies' reply. However, it was McLean who held the chase together with career-best 42 not out, that included two sixes and as many fours. She forged a 72-run partnership with her skipper Taylor, who played the aggressor, making a quick 35 in 30 deliveries. En route, Taylor also became the second-highest run-scorer in Women's T20I cricket when she reached 15.

Saqib Mahmood replaces injured Tongue in Lions squad

Saqib Mahmood, the 21-year-old Lancashire pacer, has replaced Josh Tongue in the England Lions squad to play Pakistan 'A' in UAE after the Worcestershire fast bowler was ruled out of the four-day game due to a stress fracture of the left foot.

Tongue, who was picked only for the one-off four-day fixture against Pakistan 'A', sustained the injury during Day 2 of Worcestershire's County game against Yorkshire in Worcester last week. As a result of the injury, he didn't bowl in the second essay and subsequently, underwent an MRI scan to asses the extent of the damage.

Tongue has been troubled by foot injuries in the recent past. In June this year, he was diagnosed with a "stress response in a metatarsal in his left foot". However, he recovered from the injury and ended the County season with 40 scalps at an average of just over 25.

Mahmood, his replacement, is an exciting prospect and has touched speeds in the range of 92mph. In 2015, he was named England Development Programme Cricketer of the Year.

With World Cup in sight, Steyn admits "fighting for a spot"

"It's so bloody long ago I can't even remember it." That's  Dale Steyn talking about the last ODI he played. "What I do remember is that we won five-nil. And it's a team game. And that's all that matters," he adds.

Injuries have sidelined Steyn, now 35, ever since South Africa beat Australia five-nil at home in October 2016. Now back to fitness, he returns to a side that's learnt to live without him. Kagiso Rabada and Lungisani Ngidi - both young, fiery and at the helm of South Africa's pace regeneration - are the new incumbents. But with the team management looking for the right mix of bowlers before the 2019 World Cup, the competition for spots has sure lit up.

"It's good to have challenges," Steyn says in the build-up to the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe on Thursday (September 27). "I think Lungi and KG would also appreciate the fact that I'm coming back into the side because they would also know that their positions are under threat. We all are. You can only take a handful of these fast bowlers to the World Cup and we're all fighting for a spot."