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MS Dhoni has said the limited shelf life as an international cricketer is his greatest driving force to keep playing at the highest level, and that maintaining peak fitness is his top priority towards achieving that end.There has been speculation around Dhoni’s future for quite some time, and it is likely to continue considering India’s limited-overs calendar is fairly thin following the Zimbabwe series – they aren’t scheduled to play a limited-overs series until October-November when New Zealand tour the country. Dhoni, who will turn 35 next month, has answered questions about his future in different tones, ranging from humour to indignation, but ahead of India’s departure to Zimbabwe for a short series featuring three ODIs and three T20 internationals, he zeroed in on what he felt needed to be done to keep playing at the highest level.”It’s only a brief period where you can actually represent your country and that’s the biggest motivation for me,” Dhoni said at the team’s pre-departure media session in Mumbai. “More than what you’ve achieved in your career, the fact that you are representing your country [motivates you]. And to achieve that, I have to keep myself fit. I am 35 right now, and I know the day I’m not able to run as fast as I’m running right now, I know the guns where they are coming from. Form will keep going up and down. You can’t control that, but fitness is very important. At this point of time, my only concern is fitness, but so far it has been good.”Quite a few people think wicket-keeping and batting is considerable load on the body. But often I tell them, right from Under-16, once you start playing [multiple] days cricket… other players don’t have a defined work[load]. A fast bowler may bowl 12, 13 or 17 overs. A wicketkeeper will maximum keep 90 overs in a day. So your workload doesn’t vary.”Former India team director Ravi Shastri had recently suggested that Virat Kohli be appointed captain in all three formats. Given India play mostly Tests, starting from June – 17 scheduled matches until March – Shastri had said “the gaps” in play would be hard on Dhoni. “He can still contribute massively as a player,” Shastri had said. “I think the time has come for to allow him to enjoy himself and enjoy the game.”When Shastri’s observations were presented to Dhoni in a two-part question, he responded diplomatically and swiftly veered towards the other question on the Zimbabwe series. “It’s not like I am not enjoying the game,” Dhoni said. “But it’s a decision that BCCI will take. It’s not up to me to decide that.”While Dhoni felt it was premature to look ahead to the 50-over World Cup in 2019, he said series such as the one in Zimbabwe would be ideal preparation for the Champions Trophy in England next year. “The fact is that we won’t be playing a lot of ODI cricket. After this we play against New Zealand and maybe another five to seven ODIs more,” he said. “We play a lot of Test cricket this season. So I feel every game that we get will be very crucial. We will try to see what is the best thing for the squad overall. Zimbabwe is challenging because it’s one venue where the toss is vital. There are not many places in the world where you play day games, so you have to accordingly adapt.”Dhoni, however, admitted it would be a different experience to lead a side that doesn’t feature most of the regular players, and that he would have to size up things quickly. “You keep playing with almost the same group of players, so you almost know the roles and responsibilities and what each player’s strengths are,” he said.”There will be quite a few players in this bilateral series with whom I’ll be playing for the first time. So I have to quickly assess their strengths and, at the same time, according to the team composition what is the best possible manner in which each individual can be utilised.”When it comes to the talent part, the squad looks good. All of them have been rewarded for their [performances in] domestic cricket. It will be exciting to see them on the field. Most of them are very good fielders, so that will be good.”Dhoni said the bowling department had better exposure to international cricket than the batsmen, and the challenge was to find the right batting slots for players in the squad. “I feel they [the bowlers] are much improved as of now,” he said. “[Jasprit] Bumrah has improved in whatever games he has got. He’s had a good IPL. Barinder [Sran] got a fair amount of exposure in the IPL and we saw him improve from the first game till the last. When it comes to spinners, [Yuzvendra] Chahal and Axar [Patel] have been veterans in the limited-overs setup.”Batting… we have to see what is the slot available for a particular individual. Where you get to play in your domestic scene is very different [to where you bat] when you play for the national side. That is a good thing because you can show your adaptability. If the team needs you to bat at a particular position, how you adapt and show what you can actually do and contribute to the team’s win.”

Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad is being sent to Sri Lanka for further treatment on his shoulder strain, and is “unlikely” to play a further role on the tour of England.The injury had continued to prevent Prasad from bowling in the nets, nine days after he sustained it during a tour match. The exact nature of the injury is unknown, as tests have so far have proved inconclusive.”After yesterday’s fitness test, the management took a decision that he would be sent back for further treatment,” team manager Charith Senanayake said. “It’s the prevailing injury. He was to do another test today, but yesterday we tested him at training and he still couldn’t bowl.”Prasad is certainly out of the first two Tests. Though there is an eight-day gap between the second and third Tests, Senanayake said it was “unlikely” Prasad would return.Sri Lanka now have only four specialist seamers on tour, and may consider naming a replacement. Right-arm seamer Kasun Rajitha and left-armer Vishwa Fernando appear the lead contenders, as both had been named in the larger training squad ahead of the tour.Prasad’s absence is a significant one for Sri Lanka. He had been the team’s pace spearhead through 2015, claiming 41 wickets at an average of 24.95 in the year. If he does not play the third Test at Lord’s, the England tour will be the second he has missed on the trot, having also been ruled out of the year-end tour to New Zealand with a back injury.

ScorecardRichard Levi was at his muscular best in Northamptonshire’s chase•Getty Images

A brutal half-century from opener Richard Levi, made off just 20 balls, helped last year’s beaten finalists Northants Steelbacks make a winning start to their 2016 T20 Blast campaign against local rivals Leicestershire Foxes.Even then, Leicestershire took the game to the final over, before Steelbacks’ overseas player Seekkuge Prasanna lifted the first ball he faced high over backward square for six to complete victory.Playing for the first time under the new permanent lights now installed at Grace Road, Leicestershire were put in by the visitors, and their innings began in some style, openers Mark Cosgrove and Mark Pettini taking 62 from the six-over Powerplay.Cosgrove’s dismissal for 27, lbw to Azharullah, resulted in a marked loss of momentum, exacerbated by the introduction of Prasanna. Although there was no real turn for the legspinner, the Leicestershire batsmen found him hard to get away, and Prasanna also picked up a wicket, Kevin O’Brien trying to hit him over long-off and giving Josh Cobb a comfortable catch.With Prasanna conceding only seven runs from his first two overs, Pettini tried to force the pace at the other end, and was given leg before after missing an attempted slog-sweep at the left-arm spin of Graeme White.Niall O’Brien chopped a Rory Kleinveldt slower ball onto his middle stump, and had Richard Levi not dropped an Umar Akmal skier off the bowling of Azharullah, Leicestershire’s innings might have petered out.As it was, however, Akmal, a surprise omission from his country’s training camp in preparation for their forthcoming tour of England, began to connect cleanly. Together with Tom Wells, he picked up 23 runs from the final over, going to his 50 off the last ball, to ensure the Foxes set a reasonably challenging total.It looked considerably less challenging after Levi’s fine innings, and the opener received effective support from fellow opener Adam Rossington as Northants raced to 87 for 1 from just seven overs. Although Levi then steered a ben Raine full toss straight to extra cover, Ben Duckett batted sensibly, hitting 37 not out on either side of a rain delay that reduced the visitors’ target to 164 from 18 overs.”We weren’t at our sharpest, but their start set up the game for them and Levi played sensationally,” said Leicestershire’s director of elite performance Andrew McDonald.

Jacob Duffy’s maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket gave New Zealand the upper hand on the second day of the first Test against West Indies in Christchurch. Matt Henry also chipped in with a three-for as West Indies folded for 167 in response to New Zealand’s first-innings total of 231. This despite New Zealand dropping four catches, three of those off Henry, and giving away 28 extras. For West Indies, Shai Hope and Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored half-centuries but only two others reached double-digits. At stumps, New Zealand were 32 for no loss in their second innings, extending their lead to 96.In the morning, West Indies needed only three balls to take the last New Zealand wicket, Zak Foulkes edging Jayden Seales down the leg side. But they themselves lost an early wicket as Foulkes struck with the first ball of the second over. Bowling around the wicket, he induced an outside edge from John Campbell, and Will Young took the catch diving to his left at third slip.However, a few overs later, Young dropped a much easier chance when Henry got Alick Athanaze to edge one. Henry wasn’t to be denied for long, though. In his next over, he got the ball to jag back in from around the wicket to make a mess of Athanaze’s stumps. All this while, the scoreboard moved at a snail’s pace. After 12 overs, West Indies were 10 for 2.Shai Hope batted in sunglasses because of an eye infection, and scored a half-century•AFP/Getty Images

Hope and Chanderpaul, though, hung around without worrying about the scoring rate. The first boundary of West Indies’ innings came in the 23rd over when Hope, batting in sunglasses because of an eye infection, drove Duffy through the covers. In the next over, he drove Nathan Smith through mid-on for another boundary.Chanderpaul, meanwhile, enjoyed his luck. He was dropped twice, on 5 and 24, both times by Devon Conway at leg slip, first off the bowling of Smith and then Henry.Hope brought up his fifty after lunch. With Chanderpaul also looking comfortable, New Zealand were forced to change their plan. Duffy went short against Hope and had him hopping around. Once a short leg was deployed, Hope’s problems increased. Eventually, he ended up gloving a short ball from around the wicket to Tom Latham, who was keeping in place of Tom Blundell. Blundell had hurt his hamstring while batting on the first day and didn’t take the field in the morning.New Zealand dropped four catches – here, Devon Conway reacts after giving Tagenarine Chanderpaul a reprieve•Getty Images

Once Duffy broke the 90-run stand, Henry returned to pick up two in one over. Bowling awayswingers just around off stump, he had Roston Chase and Justin Greaves caught behind for ducks, leaving West Indies on 106 for 5.It didn’t affect Chanderpaul, though. He carried on in his unhurried manner and brought up his half-century. He and Tevin Imlach added 34 for the sixth wicket, a stand that was broken when Conway finally held on to a catch. Chanderpaul pulled Foulkes aerially towards square leg, where Conway flung himself to his left, went with both hands, and landed with the ball in his left.Henry forced Kemar Roach’s outside edge soon after. The ball was going straight to first slip but Michael Bracewell dived across from second and spilled it.Soon, it became dark enough that only spinners were allowed to bowl. But after a short rain break, the sky brightened up again. When play resumed, Duffy did not take long to mop up the remaining four wickets. With the first ball after resumption, he had Imlach caught down the leg side. The batter reviewed the on-field decision only for replays to show he had gloved the bouncer. Johann Layne was caught and bowled in the same over. Duffy then went full and bowled Seales and Ojay Shields to complete his five-for.

Sussex 189 for 6 (Coles 62, Alsop 55, Shaw 2-25) beat Gloucestershire 185 for 5 (Short 66, Bancroft 45, Charlesworth 44*, Crocombe 3-32) by four wicketsDanny Lamb held his nerve to hit 16 runs off five balls and carry Sussex Sharks to a dramatic last-ball four-wicket win over Gloucestershire in a thrilling Vitality Blast encounter on the opening day of the Towergate Cheltenham Festival.Chasing a victory target of 186, Sharks required 15 runs off the final over, bowled by David Payne. Lamb clubbed three boundaries, including one off the final ball, to stun a large festival audience into silence and end Gloucestershire’s defence of the title they lifted last year.James Coles hit 62 from 40 balls and Tom Alsop 55 from 33, these two staging a superb fourth-wicket alliance of 106 in 9.2 overs to set-up a remarkable win and keep alive Sharks’ chances of making the quarter-finals.D’Arcy Short top-scored with a 45-ball 66, struck seven fours and three sixes and dominated a stand of 81 in 8.5 overs with fellow Australian Cameron Bancroft, who contributed 45, while Ben Charlesworth blazed 44 not out at the death as Gloucestershire posted 185 for 5. Henry Crocombe claimed 3 for 32 and Nathan McAndrew 1 for 21 from four tight overs to keep Sharks in the hunt.Gloucestershire skipper Jack Taylor’s decision to bat first was vindicated by Miles Hammond and Short, who staged an enterprising opening stand of 26 in three overs. Cheltenham-born Hammond twice clipped Ollie Robinson off his legs for four and then put Tymal Mills over the rope at deep midwicket to energize a sell-out crowd of 5000.There were mixed fortunes for Robinson, who had Hammond held at backward point for 18, only to then blot his copybook by dropping Short at mid-off on 8 off the bowling of McAndrew. Short rubbed salt in the wound, twice driving the former England bowler down the ground and then cutting him for another four as the powerplay yielded 51 runs. Bancroft proved adept at rotating the strike as the second wicket pair posted 50 in 33 balls. Feeding off the pace of Mills, Short pulled him backward of square for an imposing six before going to his fourth half century in five innings via 37 deliveries.Handily-placed on 86 for 1 at halfway, Gloucestershire kicked on, Short twice lifting Coles over midwicket for six as the score entered three figures in the 11th. Introduced at the College Lawn End, Crocombe broke the partnership, persuading Short to hole out on the square-leg boundary with the score 107 for 2.Relief proved only temporary for the Sussex seamers, Charlesworth putting a short ball from Crocombe over square and out of the ground before lifting Lamb into the crowd at long-on to propel Gloucestershire to 134 for 2 after 15 overs. Crocombe stuck to his task and produced a quicker delivery to bowl Bancroft for 45 and terminate an innings that had occupied 33 balls and included five fours. That was the cue for Charlesworth to launch a late offensive, the left-hander producing a fusillade of boundaries to finish unbeaten on 44 from 24 balls with three fours and three sixes as Gloucestershire attained a competitive total.Sharks required a decent start and openers George Thomas and Daniel Hughes obliged, adding 29 in 4.2 overs. But Gloucestershire hit back, Josh Shaw comprehensively bowling Thomas for a 17-ball 22 and Ajeet Singh Dale having Tom Clark brilliantly held by Hammond at long-off as the visitors reached the end of the powerplay on 44 for 2.When Marchant de Lange produced a startling yorker and clean bowled key man Hughes for 17 in the ninth, Sussex were 57 for 3 and under pressure. Much depended on Coles and Alsop, who advanced the score to 67 for 3 after 10 overs, at which point the visitors required a further 93 at 12 an over.Alsop served notice of his intentions by straight hitting Singh Dale for six and then guiding a wide delivery to the third man boundary as the 11th over yielded 17 runs, while Coles opened his shoulders to equally good effect as the boundary count began to climb and the fourth-wicket partnership realised 50 from 26 balls.Coles received a let-off on 35, Short putting down a sharp chance at long-off, much to the chagrin of the returning Payne. The right-hander took advantage to go to 50 from 34 balls, while Alsop hit Singh Dale over the long-on boundary as the 16th over haemorrhaged 16 runs to keep Sharks in the hunt.Coles then hoisted de Lange over cow corner for six and then plundered an off-driven four to bring up the 150, leaving Sharks to score 34 off the final three overs. Gloucestershire needed a breakthrough and Charlesworth provided it, having Coles held by Ollie Price at long-off, leaving the visitors to score 23 off 12 balls.Alsop raised 50 from 31 balls and was then brilliantly caught by Short at deep square as Shaw struck a crucial blow in the penultimate over. Needing to score 15 off the final over, bowled by the experienced Payne, Sussex suffered another setback when John Simpson was run out by Hammond. But Lamb clipped Payne for four to fine leg and then hit him through the covers for another boundary to leave Sharks needing one off the last ball. Lamb drove it for four to break Gloucestershire hearts.

Glenn Maxwell smashed an unbeaten 49-ball 106 to set up Washington Freedom’s comfortable 113-run win over Los Angeles Knight Riders. His innings from No. 6 helped Freedom post 208 for 5, after which their bowlers skittled LAKR for only 95.With a second win in three outings, Freedom are third on the MLC 2025 points table. LAKR are fifth with three defeats in three games, with only net run rate keeping them away from last spot.Maxwell walked in at 68 for 4 after Freedom opted to bat and pumped 13 sixes and two fours to score his eighth T20 century. It gave momentum to the Freedom innings with Mark Chapman (17 off 21) and Obus Pienaar (14* off 15) playing second-fiddle to the seventh T20 century in the tournament’s short history. Freedom scored 124 in the final ten on the back of Maxwell’s six-hitting.Freedom opener Mitchell Owen, who scored an 11-ball 32, produced a three-wicket haul in the chase to wreck LAKR’s middle order, which only compounded their woes after they lost their top three of Alex Hales, Sunil Narine and Unmukt Chand all for ducks. It was only the fourth time in franchise T20 history for the openers and the No. 3 to all be out without scoring.Middle-order batter Saif Badar scored 32 and captain Jason Holder scored 23, but they couldn’t bring the margin of defeat to under 100. Jack Edwards – who dismissed Chand, Rovman Powell and Holder – collected a three-for too, while Saurabh Netravalkar took the first and last LAKR wickets to finish the game in the 17th over.

Purple Cap table

Josh Hazlewood marked a spectacular return after injury, taking three wickets to dismantle PBKS’s top order with precision and swing. His spell at the start of the innings not only left PBKS reeling but also pushed him back into the top three of the Purple Cap standings. With 21 wickets form 11 innings, he has jumped to No. 3 spot.Noor Ahmad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with 24 wickets, continues to lead the table while Gujarat Titans’ Prasidh Krishna, with 23, is behind him. Apart from Prasidh, Mumbai Indians’ Trent Boult, who has 19 wickets and occupies the fourth position, will also be in action in the Eliminator on Friday.Virat Kohli joins in the celebration as Josh Hazlewood bagged his third on Thursday•BCCI

Orange Cap table

Chasing a low score of 102 in New Chandigarh, RCB’s Virat Kohli could only add 12 more runs to take his tally to 614 runs from 14 matches. Kohli maintained his fifth position on the Orange Cap table.There was no change at the top with Gujarat Titans’ B Sai Sudharsan (679) leading the table, followed by Shubman Gill (649) and Suryakumar Yadav (640) of MI. All three of them will be in action on Friday.Mitchell Marsh of Lucknow Super Giants has signed off the season with 627 runs and sits at No. 4.Here’s what ESPNcricinfo’s MVP table looks like.And here are some other IPL 2025 tables that show the season’s best performers in different aspects of the T20 game.

• Highest batting strike rates
• Best bowling economy rates
• Most sixes
• Best bowling figures in a match

England 565 for 6 dec (Pope 171, Duckett 140, Crawley 124) beat Zimbabwe 265 (Bennett 139) and 255 (Williams 88, Raza 60, Bashir 6-81) by an innings and 45 runsEngland began their home international summer with a comprehensive win over Zimbabwe after bowling them out twice inside five sessions and finishing the four-day Test with more than a day to spare. Offspinner Shoaib Bashir, playing in his 16th Test, headlined the final day with his fourth Test five-for – the most by an England player before turning 22 – and second in Nottingham.The magnitude of the defeat did not wipe the smiles off the faces of the visitors and their boisterous fans, who filled Trent Bridge with noise and colour, and stayed to applaud them in a lap of gratitude afterwards. This was Zimbabwe’s first Test in England in 22 years and a strong expat crowd delighted in brave batting from Sean Williams, Ben Curran, Sikandar Raza and Wessly Madhevere.Williams fell 12 short of a century and put on 122 for the second wicket while Raza reached a 10th Test half-century and shared a 65-run fifth-wicket stand with Madhevere. Zimbabwe did not disgrace themselves as they came within 45 runs of making England bat again and showed promise ahead of home Tests against South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan later this year.England, meanwhile, have had their first bit of preparation ahead of a massive eight months in Tests which includes a five-match home series against India and the Ashes in Australia. They may have some concerns over their frontline seamers, who lacked some bite. Captain Ben Stokes was the most threatening on his return to bowling after hamstring surgery, and also maintained the highest pace, across his two four-over spells. In total, he bowled 11.2 in the match, while Bashir finished with nine for 143, his best match figures.Zimbabwe began the day on 30 for 2, 270 runs behind and needing a big batting performance from someone. Williams, an international veteran of 20 years who averages 66.56 in the last five years, delivered. He played a typically energetic knock, laced with boundaries. He hit 16 fours in his innings, nine through the covers and mid-off as England overpitched and occasionally offered width. He also ushered Curran through a cautious knock that spanned 104 balls for 37 runs.Stokes began the morning’s proceedings and immediately caused problems for Zimbabwe. His third ball was wide and full, Curran drove hard and edged past gully for four. Stokes would have known he’d also planted a seed of doubt and in his next over, he could have reaped the rewards. On 10, Curran drove the ball back to Stokes, who stuck out both hands but could not hold on in his followthrough. That would have stung and more so when Williams smoked Stokes through point and over midwicket later in the over.Williams reached fifty in the next over with a pinpoint straight drive off Josh Tongue, off the 42nd ball he faced. In the next over, Tongue hit Williams on the bottom forearm, with a delivery that reared up from back of a length and drew blood. Williams was treated on-field and appeared unaffected as he drove a wide Atkinson ball in his favoured region for four more.Sean Williams produced a fighting 88 to lead Zimbabwe’s resistance•Getty Images

Joe Root was used for an over for Tongue to change ends and England went double-spin with the introduction of Bashir. Williams reverse-swept his first ball for four to enter the seventies. At the other end Tongue began a short-ball assault on Curran that almost paid off. Curran, having hauled his way to 29, pulled Tongue to Stokes at midwicket but the England captain could only get fingertips to it.Curran survived again when Umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave him out lbw after he missed a sweep against Bashir but Curran reviewed. Hawkeye showed the ball was bouncing over the top of the stumps. Williams was not quite as lucky. On 88, he was hit on the pads, given out and reviewed. Replays showed the ball was clipping the top of the leg stump. Having faced 82 balls, he had been on course to reclaim the national record for fastest century that Brian Bennett’s 97-ball effort had taken on the previous day.Post-lunch, Curran adopted a more aggressive approach and drove Bashir aerially but only as far as Stokes at short cover, for whom the third time was a charm. He had no trouble holding on. That brought Raza and Madhevere together and they took on the spin and the short ball from Sam Cook with confidence. They had a couple of nervy moments: when Bashir induced Raza’s edge once and the ball ricocheted off Jamie Smith and onto the peak of Harry Brook’s cap at first slip, which saved him from being hit on the forehead. Then, Cook got a full ball to jag back into Madhevere and hit his front pad and convinced Stokes to review. Ball-tracking showed it was missing leg stump.In the end it took a moment of magic, and the return of Stokes, to separate the pair. He went short to Madhevere and found extra bounce, Madhevere attempted a cut but found an outside-edge and the ball seemed to be heading over second slip. Brook jumped, stuck his right hand up and plucked the ball out of the air, to everyone’s surprise. Madhevere looked back, astonished that he had to go while Stokes placed his hand over his mouth a la Stuart Broad, who celebrated in the same way when Stokes himself pulled off a blinder in the Ashes a decade ago on the same ground.With Madhevere went Zimbabwe’s last real hope of making England bat again and the result was only a matter of time. Tafadzwa Tsiga was bowled by Bashir when he came down the track to a ball that turned in and through the bat-pad gap. Zimbabwean emotions see-sawed as Raza reached fifty in the next over when he creamed Stokes through the covers for his eighth four but in the over after that Blessing Muzarabani slog-swept Bashir straight to Root at deep midwicket. Bashir bagged his fifth when Raza, who had added two more fours to his count, tried to heave him over the leg side and managed a leading edge which Brook pouched.Fittingly, Bashir finished things off when he struck Chivanga on the back pad as he played inside the line and was hit in front of middle and off. Richard Ngarava, Zimbabwe’s No.11, did not bat in either innings after leaving the field on the first day with a back injury.

Each of the five sides at the Champions One-Day Cup – Pakistan’s newer, flashier version of the domestic 50-over competition – will be captained by Pakistan internationals. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Haris have been announced as captains of the sides they represent, taking charge of the Lions, Wolves, Panthers, Dolphins and Stallions respectively.Haris’ captaincy of the Stallions – chosen by the team’s mentor Shoaib Malik – appears to mark a remarkable, and sudden – return to favour with the PCB. He last played ODI cricket a year ago, and was left out of Pakistan’s World Cup squad. He also lost his place in the T20 side, the format most conducive to his skillset, during Wahab Riaz’s stint as chief selector. Now, however, he captains a team that also includes Babar Azam, Pakistan’s white-ball captain, as well as Haris’ captain at Peshawar Zalmi, where the two play at the PSL.Unlike previous iterations of the tournament, the PCB has pulled out all the stops to ensure maximum participation of Pakistan’s highest-profile players. There is no international cricket for Pakistan which coincides with the competition, with just about every fit centrally contracted player taking part.Related

• The Champions Cup: can it live up to the hype?

• Stump Mic: The good, the bad, and the Pakistan Cricket Board

• Misbah joins as one of five PCB mentors 'to reduce the gap between domestic and international cricket'

• Waqar, Misbah among five mentors appointed by PCB for domestic competitions

During the mentors’ unveiling press conferences, Misbah-ul-Haq, mentor of the Wolves, said any unfit players would be excluded from the competition. The PCB has provided a list of players who did not make the cut on that account, including former Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan.All games will take place in Faisalabad, with the tournament running from September 12-29 with playoffs rather than semi-finals. The tournament concludes eight days before the start of the first Test between Pakistan and England.Each side has announced extended squad lists, which are to be trimmed by September 10. The sides do not have affiliated city names, though each name does have historical links to previous domestic cup sides: Lahore for Lions, Karachi for Dolphins, Peshawar for Panthers, Faisalabad for Wolves and, perhaps most famously, Sialkot for Stallions.Sarfaraz Ahmed is the only player-mentor, operating in that role with the Dolphins. Misbah (Wolves), Malik (Stallions), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers) and Waqar Younis (Lions) are the other mentors.

Sussex took control against Derbyshire at Hove as they pushed for a victory that would strengthen their promotion push in the Vitality County Championship.The second division leaders reduced the visitors to 73 for 5 after Sussex had piled up 607 for 8, their highest total against Derbyshire.Wayne Madsen held them up and was unbeaten on 79 at stumps on day 2 as he put conditions in perspective but Derbyshire are still 429 runs behind on 178 for 6.They were soon in trouble as Indian left-armer Jaydev Unadkat, who is back at Sussex for the run-in, took 3 for 19 in a skilful five-over opening spell.Opener Harry Came edged Unadkat’s third ball to first slip where Tom Alsop took a good, low catch while Brooke Guest drove lavishly at another outswinger but straight to backward point.It was 19 for 3 in the seventh over when Fynn Hudson-Prentice struck with his fifth ball, which straightened enough to pin left-hander Luis Reece, and Derbyshire lost their fourth wicket on 24 when Tom Haines took a fine diving catch low to his left to remove skipper David Lloyd, after Unadkat pushed one across his defences.Madsen and Aneurin Donald added 49 for the fifth wicket but they were parted when off-spinner Carson, who earlier made a career-best 97, nipped one through Donald’s defensive push with his fifth ball.Madsen found another ally in Anuj Dal and they put on 84 for the sixth wicket in 24 overs but Carson made another important breakthrough just before stumps when Dal (45) was caught by Alsop at short leg playing a forcing shot off he back foot.Sussex skipper Simpson had earlier led the successful charge to secure the maximum five batting bonus points – for getting to 450 inside 110 first innings overs – with an early assault on Derbyshire pacemen Daryn Dupavillon and Zak Chappell.Simpson had already taken three lovely offside fours off Dupavillon’s opening over of the day when Alsop chipped Chappell’s loosener, at the start of the second over, straight to short mid-wicket after he had added just a single to his overnight 69, his third successive fifty and seventh of the season.Alsop swished his bat in annoyance at his mistake but Simpson, who had resumed on 25, was in no mood to waste an opportunity to score quick runs.Two extra cover fours off Chappell were followed by a straight driven four off Dupavillon that took him to a 68-ball fifty and another booming straight four, this time off Chappell, to reach 60.Hudson-Prentice (8) edged Anuj Dal’s medium pace to keeper Guest but Carson brought up Sussex’s 450 in the 108th over by slamming left-arm spinner Jack Morley high past mid off for four.Carson swung Morley over the short legside boundary for the first of his three sixes, the final one a massive blow over mid-wicket off Dupavillon as he went past his previous highest score of 87.Simpson eventually holed out to long off on 121, his fourth Championship hundred of a prolific season, after facing 167 balls and hitting a six and 13 fours. He also reached 10,000 first-class career runs in the process.And Carson’s bid for a maiden first-class hundred ended when he was bowled swinging at a full ball from Dupavillon. His excellent effort came from 125 balls, with six fours besides his trio of sixes, and Sussex’s declaration immediately followed. Sussex’s total was their biggest at Hove for seven years.