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File photo – Chris Jordan claimed three wickets to help bowl out Gloucestershire•BCCI

Sussex boosted their hopes of reaching the knockout stages in the NatWest T20 Blast after easing to a five-victory win over Gloucestershire at Hove.The visitors were bowled out for 138 in 18.4 overs after an excellent bowling and fielding display by the hosts, led by Chris Jordan and George Garton who both took three wickets. Sussex stuttered when they lost 4 for 16 in 23 balls, but Laurie Evans supervised the chase with an unbeaten 45 and two sixes in the 18th over took Sussex to their second successive win at home with 14 balls to spare.Chris Nash and Luke Wright had launched the reply with 42 for the first wicket before Gloucestershire dragged themselves back into contention. Nash moved to 394 runs in this season’s Blast before top-edging Matt Taylor to short fine leg then former Sussex seamer Chris Liddle struck twice against his former club when he removed Wright and Stiaan van Zyl in successive overs.Skipper Ross Taylor’s poor run continued when he was lbw to Benny Howell for 2 but Evans and Brown steadied the ship with 25 for the fifth wicket. Brown was caught off a leading edge leaving Sussex needing 56 from eight overs.Wiese struck two straight sixes to ease the tension in the home crowd before Evans, who had been badly dropped by wicketkeeper Phil Mustard on 30, finished it off in style, heaving Liddle onto the roof of the pavilion before pulling him high over the scoreboard.Gloucestershire had been put in and made a disastrous start with skipper Michael Klinger, their leading scorer in this season’s Blast with 261 runs, edging Wiese to slip off the first ball of the match. They were 2 for 2 at the end of the first over when Ian Cockbain was run out by Jofra Archer’s direct hit from short fine leg but the experienced Mustard (43) and Cameron Bancroft (37) rebuilt the innings nicely with a stand of 77 in 7.5 overs.The muscular Mustard hit two sixes and six fours and his side were in a decent position to push on in the second half of their innings when they reached 79 for 2 in the ninth over. But left-armer Garton had other ideas. He had Mustard caught behind off a thin edge and in his next over uprooted Bancroft’s middle stump with a searing yorker.Gloucestershire never recovered and lost their last six wickets for 46 runs as Jordan and co made short work of their lower order.The England allrounder bowled Payne and Liddle in the 19th over to end the innings and add to his earlier wicket of Jack Taylor, who was caught at long on. Jordan took 3 for 17 while Garton finished with 3 for 35, his third wicket coming after some agile fielding on the midwicket boundary by van Zyl who parried the ball back inside the rope and caught it even though he was on the ground.It epitomised an excellent fielding performance by Sussex who go to the Kia Oval on Sunday for a game pivotal to both sides’ chances of finishing in the top four.

Mark Taylor, the Cricket Australia (CA) board director, has admitted that compromise must be found between the game’s governing body and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) before the game suffers further damage, in an ugly pay war that has put the national team’s upcoming series at risk of abandonment.In speaking at an Ashes event organised by the Nine Network in Melbourne on Tuesday, Taylor became the first senior CA figure connected to the MoU debate to offer a public opinion on the dispute in more than six weeks, since the chief executive James Sutherland was interviewed by the ABC on May 25. Taylor also remains the only board director to have spoken publicly about it at all.Prior to that, Taylor had spoken firmly about CA’s desire to breakup the revenue sharing model on Nine’s programme on May 14. But he took on a more conciliatory tone this time, 11 days after the expiry of the most recent MoU between the players and the board left more than 230 of the country’s cricketers unemployed and a mounting mess of commercial problems for the board. Not least of these is reassuring its chief broadcaster Nine – for whom Taylor commentates – that the Ashes will go ahead as planned.”I think there’s got to be compromise on both sides, I really believe that,” Taylor said on Tuesday. “I think at any negotiation you give and you take. I think when you get to that situation, which I hope we are getting very close to now, then you get close to a resolution. I’m confident there will be a resolution soon. I don’t know when but I just hope both sides keep working hard at it.”I think everyone has probably read and heard enough about things that don’t involve people scoring runs and taking wickets, me included, and I think that [the cricket] is what we all want to see. That includes sponsors, TV networks, past players, commentators, and I think the quicker we get to that situation the better for the game.”I’m still very confident there will be an Ashes series and I’m very confident there will be some Test-match cricket played by Australia before them. That’s certainly what I’m working towards and I’m assuming both parties are working towards that. It’s far from ideal and it’s cost an Australia A tour of South Africa which is disappointing, no doubt about it. But at this stage we haven’t lost a Bangladesh tour and we certainly don’t want to lose an Ashes tour here in Australia.”While Taylor has only recently returned home from holidays, he said all board directors had been kept informed of progress in talks by CA’s lead negotiator Kevin Roberts, including conference calls every three days that he had dialled in to from overseas. ESPNcricinfo understands that some progress appeared to have been made by the middle of last week before regressing and forcing the cancellation of the Australia A tour. While talks go on, little if any movement from entrenched positions has been discernible since.Mark Taylor said it was necessary for everyone involved to “be adult” about the pay dispute; Ian Chappell said while his sympathies lie on the side of the players, give how protracted this dispute is, there has to be fault on both sides•Getty Images

A director since 2004, apart from a brief absence in 2012-13 when the CA board was changed from a body of 14 state representatives to an independent group of nine, Taylor agreed that it was vital to find a way for the two parties to coexist in whatever new landscape was drawn up as a result of the next MoU.”Day to day it’s management’s job, I’ve been away for the last couple of weeks, only got back on Sunday night myself, but I’ve been kept abreast of the situation,” he said. “Calls every three days, sometimes a bit more often if need be, and now I’m back in Australia I’m well aware of the situation. And I’ll be doing everything I can to try and find a resolution to this.”I think we all have to be adult about it. It’s a big game these days. Players are fully professional. Cricket boards are trying to do what they think is right for the game in general, so there’s going to be times when you disagree and that’s where we are at the moment. But I think both sides have to work towards finding a resolution which is in the best interests of the game and the players.”From a game point of view, it’s far from ideal. We are in July, the Ashes are still four months away, but the Bangladesh tour is only a month away. The quicker we can get it resolved the better, the quicker we can move on and rebuild the relationship [that] I think is important between CA and the ACA. The quicker we can start rebuilding that, I think that’ll be good for the game.”The former captain Ian Chappell, meanwhile, termed the standoff as “the biggest bust up since World Series Cricket between players and administrators” and reckoned both sides of the argument, whatever their merits, had begun to be damaged from the moment the previous MoU expired on July 1.”I think once it went past the June 30 deadline I think it started to hurt the game from both points of view,” Chappell said. “I think the public were probably sick to death of it by then it was a plague on both their houses as far as the public are concerned. I think the quicker it gets resolved the better and if it’s going to be a partnership, which I think it needs to be, it’s not a boss-employee situation.”If it’s going to be a partnership there’s got to be give and take on both sides, and probably most importantly there has to be a bit more respect, that’s the first thing that needs to happen to help rebuild the relationship. My sympathies are always going to be on the side of the players, but when a dispute goes on this long there has to be fault on both sides.”The job of the players association is to work with the administrators. Your job as a cricketer is just to play the game and having come from an era where the players had to fight the fight, that’s not an ideal situation at all. To me it’s up to the players association to get the thing sorted out with the board, and for the players to just play their game.”

Among the many diagnoses for South Africa’s failure to win a major tournament in almost two decades is the theory that they are simply too scared to take the final step.If that sounds silly, just consider that South Africa always have everything else waxed. Their preparations are among the best, their squad always includes some of the world’s best players, and they rarely enter an event without some form on their side. That’s why the likes of Herschelle Gibbs and Lance Klusener, who have been there and not done that, too, believe that if a South African side can avoid over-analysis and trust themselves to think on the fly, their fortunes will change.This time, they have a poster boy to lead the way: Quinton de Kock.At 24, de Kock is already being spoken of as a legend in the making, in the same breath as Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni. It’s not difficult to understand why. Last year, de Kock was South Africa’s highest ODI run-scorer and third globally. This year so far, he has been the second highest for South Africa, behind Faf du Plessis, and fourth overall.With de Kock in the side, South Africa have scored over 300 while chasing four times in the last three years. Barring one of those occasions – when he scored 19 in South Africa’s successful chase of 328 against Australia in Harare – de Kock set them up each time. He slammed 70 off 49 balls in a chase of 372 against Australia in Durban in October 2016. . He did better against England, plundering a century in Centurion last February, and more recently, striking 98 , albeit in a losing cause.The last of those illustrates best the importance of de Kock’s role in the South African line-up. Like every opener, he sets the tone, but seldom pre-empts what that will be. He is talented enough to pull off the spontaneous approach, something South Africa have been specifically working on in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy.”It’s those pressure moments that we identify to make sure we stay in that moment and don’t think too far ahead,” JP Duminy said. “That’s what we’ve learnt over the last couple of weeks – to stay in the moment and focus on what is in front of you and not look too far ahead about the outcome of the game.”JP Duminy, who has gone 11 innings without a half-century, has gone out of the way to prepare for the Champions Trophy•Getty Images

Duminy is speaking from the opposite end of the spectrum. He enters the Champions Trophy under immense pressure, having failed to pass 50 in 11 innings this year. He has made more than 30 only once in that period. This is not the first time he has had such an extended dry run; between July 2015 and June 2016, too, he went 11 innings without a half-century, but had four scores of 30 or more. The close proximity of the lean patches has him hanging on to his place by a thread, and though he would not explicitly say so, it seems he knows it.Instead of spending the period between the end of the South African summer and the start of the English one at the IPL, Duminy opted to stay at home and work on his game. “I put in a lot of hard work in the six weeks I was off,” he said. “The main thing was to try and be mentally fresh for this tournament and what lies ahead on this tour.””I’m feeling that I’ve achieved that. In terms of my skills, there were one or two things I worked on that I felt needed a bit of work. I don’t feel like there’s added pressure. There’s always high expectation within the team and my expectation on myself in terms of my performance is always high. That will never change.”The difference is that Duminy has fallen short of expectation too often, while de Kock has recently begun to exceed it. As a result, the responsibility in the South African batting line-up has shifted somewhat, though Duminy insists the division is the same. “Whether you’re a youngster, whether you’re a senior player, I don’t think that (the responsibility) changes,” he said.Ultimately, the entire South African squad has a responsibility to return home with something to show for their No.1 ranking and the star-studded line-up. They have a responsibility to show that something has changed, that the oft-spoken of conservative mindsets are really in the past and that the shackles have been broken. And they all know it.”We don’t want to put extra pressure on ourselves by thinking that we need to win this tournament but we definitely want to,” Duminy said. “I don’t think there’s any other team that wants it more.”

Listed No. 1 in the ICC rankings for bowlers in ODIs and T20Is, Imran Tahir was “sad” and “down” after going unsold at the IPL auction two months ago. But an injury to Mitchell Marsh opened a door for Tahir: he was signed as a replacement and shone with 3 for 28 in Rising Pune Supergiant’s seven-wicket win in their opening match against Mumbai Indians.After Mumbai raced to 41 for 0 in four overs with consecutive sixes from Jos Buttler, Steven Smith brought on Tahir, who bowled Parthiv Patel around his legs and then removed Rohit Sharma and Buttler within the space of three balls in his next over.”The way they were playing it looked like they were going to end up getting 200,” Tahir told after the match. “I always love challenges, and when I bowl I always look to get wickets. I was very fortunate to get Patel out and obviously, the next two wickets were very special. Those guys were really good against spin bowling and it was very special for me that I got them out and [I’m] really, really happy with the way the ball came out. I’ve been here for one week and I’m trying to do well because it’s a new team and they gave me a lot of confidence.”I always come on the ground with a smile on the face but inside I’m always ready to fight and try to give as much as I can. I love doing what I’m doing and I always look for a challenge.”Tahir expressed how disappointed he was when no franchise picked him at the auction in February, when he had a base price of INR 50 lakhs. He had been released by Delhi Daredevils after an unimpressive IPL last year, playing four matches for five wickets with an economy rate of 8.62.”I was obviously sad not to be part of this league [in the auction] but there’s nothing I can do about it,” Tahir said. “But really relieved and pleased with myself about playing the way I’ve been playing and just deliver it today.”I’m grateful to god and my family supported me, especially my wife. I was quite down when I didn’t get picked in the league. But our life carries on and I came here to prove myself again, that’s what my job is. I don’t blame no one for not picking me. My job, if someone picks me, is to come and perform, that’s what we do for a living.””I always come on the ground with a smile on the face but inside I’m always ready to fight”•BCCI

Supergiant played two legspinners – Tahir and Adam Zampa – in the absence of R Ashwin and left out Faf du Plessis from the XI. Zampa, their highest wicket-taker last season, did not impress as much as Tahir on Thursday, with 1 for 26 from three overs, but Ajinkya Rahane said the strategy of playing two attacking legspinners worked for them.”Both of them are attacking, both of them look to take wickets, and that’s very important in T20,” Rahane said. “Zampa did well for us last year, and Imran Tahir is a world-class bowler. It’s good to have them both in our side, and we, as a team, know they’re always looking to take wickets.”Rahane gave Supergiant’s chase of 185 impetus, scoring 60 off 34 that featured six fours and three sixes. He brought up his half-century off only 27 balls; Supergiant were 79 for 1 in the ninth over.”When you’re chasing 180-190, it’s important to continue the momentum after the first six overs,” Rahane said. “I knew I was batting really well, and striking the ball well. So, for me, it was really important to play with that same momentum. Smith was completely new [on the pitch] at that time. So, I just wanted to take my chances and play my normal shots. I mean, I didn’t take any risks. But it was important for both of us to keep rotating the strike and hit one boundary or six in an over.”When you are chasing 180 plus, it’s the openers’ job to consolidate the innings. For me and Mayank [Agarwal], our discussion was to play positive cricket. We did not set any target for the first six overs. We just wanted to play our attacking game, and later on just capitalise on that. Unfortunately, he got out, but I was batting well. And Smith was there, I told him I’ll take my chances, and he should just carry on and play a long innings.”

Delhi Daredevils batsman Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out for at least a week with a bout of chickenpox. Iyer, who is recuperating at home in Mumbai, will miss Daredevils’ season-opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 8, and is also likely to sit out their second match, against Rising Pune Supergiant on April 11.Iyer’s illness adds to a growing list of unavailable Daredevils players. Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has been ruled out for the entire season with a finger injury, middle-order batsman JP Duminy has pulled out due to personal reasons, and the allrounder Angelo Mathews is also expected to miss a large chunk of the season while recovering from hamstring and calf injuries.Iyer, who recently earned a call-up to India’s Test squad as cover for the injured Virat Kohli, has played two IPL seasons for Daredevils. He was their top run-getter in 2015, with 439 at an average of 33.76 and a strike rate of 128.36, and endured a difficult 2016, with only 30 runs from six innings, including three ducks.

Ross Taylor has suffered a low grade tear of the right calf but will bat if required in the Dunedin Test against South Africa. There is no word on whether he will be able to take any further part in the series.Taylor underwent a scan on Friday morning and had a short net session, after limping off the field in the 43rd over in the second day when he was 8. He received treatment overnight, which included icing on the area, and remains restricted in his movements.He can resume his first innings at any time, but will only be able to bat at five down – or when the time he has spent off the field as elapsed – in the second.After the second day’s play, Taylor’s team-mate Trent Boult admitted the team were concerned about his injury, his second in the same area in less than three years. Taylor missed a three-match ODI series against South Africa in 2014 for the same reason. “It’s a shame for us. He is a big player,” Boult said. “He is obviously disappointed. The way he walked off, it doesn’t look too good. We will see tomorrow.”Taylor is New Zealand’s second-highest Test century-maker on 16, one behind his mentor Martin Crowe. Earlier this season he became their leading century-marker in ODIs, but has lost his place in the T20 side.If this Test goes the duration there are only three days before the second Test starts in Wellington on March 16, which gives New Zealand six days to name a replacement if necessary. One man they cannot turn to is Martin Guptill, who will need six weeks of rehabilitation on his hamstrings ahead of the Champions Trophy. Colin Munro, Neil Broom and Dean Brownlie are believed to be in contention for a call-up if needed.

Mushfiqur Rahim has said that his role as Bangladesh’s Test captain is open for “analysis” by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) but he is happy to continue in the triple role of wicketkeeper, batsman and captain. While there was always the odd question about his captaincy since he abruptly quit the ODI post in 2013, the criticism has increased since 2015 and it flowed into the Hyderabad Test, where his wicketkeeping also came under the scanner.After his proficient 127 in the first innings that kept Bangladesh in the game, it has become evident that his role as a dependable middle-order batsman is gaining importance.Mushfiqur, however, has said that since the BCB has entrusted him with the three roles since 2011, he will happily oblige as long as they decide otherwise.”My average is not more than 33 or 34, so how can I be the No. 1 batsman of Bangladesh? If you are entrusted with two or three roles, that means the management has shown faith in you,” he said. “So I need to deliver in all three departments. If I am not doing well, it’s up to the board to take a call on my future.”At the moment, I am enjoying what I am doing – I love to spend time in the middle and the way you can do your job is to spend time in the middle rather than in the dressing room. There are people who are sitting outside [BCB officials] who can take a decision but as far as I am concerned, I am happy to do all three. Captaincy is not in my hands. The board can analyse and take a call.”During India’s first innings, Mushfiqur made some errors as a wicketkeeper and captain, chiefly the missed stumping of Wriddhiman Saha when he was on 4. He also used Shakib Al Hasan for only 24 of the 166 overs. Although Shakib was expensive, he was used at times when Bangladesh were looking for wickets, so his high economy rate was justifiable at the time. According to Mushfiqur, they wanted Shakib to bowl high-impact spells rather than the long ones, which became the job of the two young spinners.Mushfiqur had given Wriddhiman Saha a reprieve in the first innings•AFP

“Our spinners led the bowling attack. The team management and I felt that Taijul Islam and Mehedi [Hasan] Miraz did their job properly, so we kept faith in them. It depends on who is bowling well on the particular day. I thought Taijul and Miraz were bowling well in partnership.”We want Shakib to bowl as much as it is useful to the team. He is not in a position to bowl a long spell. We want him to provide us a breakthrough. The rest of the work is for the other bowlers. We are happy with Shakib’s bowling. I thought he bowled well in the second innings.”It was surprising to hear of this new role for Shakib, who is the most experienced bowler in the line-up and someone with a proven capability of stemming the run-flow. Taijul and Mehedi ended up bowling 89 overs in which they took five wickets at an economy of 3.6 per over.Mushfiqur said that India should have been restricted to 550 in the first innings to give Bangladesh less batting time against their spinners in the second innings, pointing out that the bowling unit and top order in particular had to quickly make amends.”If we could have restricted them to 550 at least, they would have had to bat another session which means we would have batted three sessions instead of four in the second innings,” he said. “In that area, we gave 170 runs more. Also while batting, if someone from the top four could have gone big, we could have got closer. That first innings was crucial.”We need to execute our plans as a bowling unit. I hope the bowlers learn quickly. In the end, you need to take wickets to put pressure on other teams.”

Aaron Finch will lead Australia in their upcoming Twenty20 international series against Sri Lanka in the absence of captain Steven Smith and vice-captain David Warner. The remainder of Australia’s T20 squad will be named on Wednesday morning, and there will be plenty of space for fresh faces due to the timing clash with Australia’s Test tour of India.Smith, Warner, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh are among the players who will be preparing for the Test series and therefore unavailable. Australia find themselves in the highly unusual situation of playing a T20 international – the final match in the series against Sri Lanka – in Adelaide on February 22, and a Test in India the following day.The cramped fixture has left some members of Australia’s team unhappy; Warner notably described it as “very, very poor scheduling”. However, the situation means that Finch will take over the captaincy for the three-match series, a year after he lost the T20 captaincy to Smith as Australia sought to unite the leadership in all three formats.”It’s very exciting to be back and leading the side in Steve’s absence,” said Finch, who also led Australia in Monday’s ODI against New Zealand in Auckland after stand-in skipper Matthew Wade was a late withdrawal due to injury.With David Warner and Steven Smith preparing for the India tour, Aaron Finch will take over as T20I captain a year after he lost the role•Getty Images

“It’s been a rollercoaster from being captain leading up to the ICC World Twenty20 (in 2016), being injured and then Steve taking over the reins for that tournament but it’s something that, any time you get the chance to captain your country in any format, you’re very chuffed about.”We’ll be missing some big names, some of the biggest in world cricket, but you can’t dwell on that and it will be a fantastic opportunity for guys who’ve performed well in the KFC Big Bash League to push their case for further inclusion, and inclusion in the other formats too.”Interim national selector Trevor Hohns said: “In the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner amongst others, we believe Aaron is the logical choice to lead the side. He’s done it before and he has a great deal of experience in the format as both a captain and a batsman.”When the squad is selected for this series we, as selectors, will obviously have one eye on the present and also one eye on the future, with the next ICC World Twenty20 scheduled to take place in Australia. The KFC Big Bash League has given us the opportunity to see plenty of exciting talent and it means we will have plenty to consider when we chose the players to join Aaron in the squad.”The Test tour of India not only robs Australia of several of its best players but also of its coaching staff. Justin Langer will step in as acting head coach for the Sri Lanka series, with Ricky Ponting and Jason Gillespie as his assistants. The series begins at the MCG on February 17 and also incorporates the first ever men’s international match in Geelong.

Jamaica captain, left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, took 9 for 41 in the second innings as his team beat Trinidad & Tobago by 132 runs at Sabina Park in Kingston. Miller had taken nine consecutive wickets, the last of which came in the 55th over, but narrowly missed out on a possible ten-wicket haul when Roshon Primus was trapped in front by Damion Jacobs off the last ball of the 56th.Miller’s effort came after T&T legspinner Imran Khan had run through Jamaica’s lower order earlier in the day. Having resumed the day on 148 for 4, with a lead of 256, Jamaica lost overnight batsman Jermaine Blackwood for 81 in the second over. He was trapped in front by offspinner Jon-Russ Jaggesar who also removed the other overnight batsman, Devon Thomas. Imran then took the last four wickets to complete his second five-wicket haul of the season and bowl Jamaica out for 229.Imran was then promoted to open the batting for T&T, from where he scored 52 and was involved in a brisk stand of 76 with Kyle Hope. But there was to be only one other half-century stand in the innings, a 50-run stand for the fifth wicket between Yannic Cariah and Yannick Ottley; courtesy Miller, T&T had collapses of 4 for 47 and 6 for 32 on either side of that to fold for 205 in their chase of 338.Speaking to the after the match, Miller said he had gone about business as usual. “They got off to a flyer in the chase, but I was not really worried,” he said. “I just tried to put the ball in the right areas. I was not expecting nine wickets, but it worked out well for me and I got my best-ever haul.”Miller had taken three wickets in the first innings, while legspinner Jacobs picked up four, ensuring Jamaica had the comfortable advantage of 108 runs after the teams’ first innings. For T&T, Jason Mohammed was left stranded on 91 not out in that innings, as the team was bowled out for 206 in response to Jamaica’s 314. The hosts’ total was built on half-centuries from Andre McCarthy and Brandon King.Windward Islands captain Liam Sebastien’s Man-of-the-Match performance helped his side defeat Leeward Islands and register their first outright win of the season at Windsor Park in Roseau. The allrounder was at the forefront of an impressive comeback by Windward Islands – they recovered from 48 for 7 on the first day, to win the match by 94 runs.Sebastien had led his team back from that precarious position on the first day with an unbeaten 82, after fast bowlers Gavin Tonge and Alzarri Joseph had torn through the batting following Leeward Islands’ decision to bowl. During his knock, Sebastien forged consecutive fifty-plus partnerships with the last three batsmen – 78, 70 and 97. He played second fiddle in the last two, where No. 10, Delorn Johnson (56 off 44), and No. 11, Mervin Matthew (73 off 53), made career-best scores to lift their total to 293.In response, only two Leeward Islands batsmen made significant contributions – Montcin Hodge with 76, and Jahmar Hamilton with 94 – as Shane Shillingford (5 for 96) combined with Sebastien (4 for 78) to bowl them out for 259 and take the lead. Sebastien wasn’t required to bat in the second innings as Windward Islands scored at over four per over on the back of ninty-somethings from Tyrone Theophile (96) and Sunil Ambris (91) to declare on 333 for 8 and set Leeward 368 to win.Hamilton added to his first-innings 94 with a 134-ball 125 but once again found little in terms of partners. Kieran Powell and Chesney Hughes got out in the forties, and Hodge made another start, but no one else got into double digits as Leeward folded for 273. Sebastien took 4 for 67 to finish with eight in the match.Shivnarine Chanderpaul nicked behind for 100 in the first innings•WICB

Guyana conceded the top spot to Jamaica after playing out a draw with Barbados at the Providence. Barbados are placed third, just 0.8 behind Guyana.Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 72nd first-class hundred – 100 off 141 balls including 13 fours – was instrumental in handing Guyana the first-innings advantage. His first ton of the season took Guyana to 311 on the first day.Having opted to bat, the hosts lost Rajendra Chandrika and captain Leon Johnson early, but Shimron Hetmyer (60) and Vishaul Singh (40) gave Chanderpaul a decent platform. Chanderpaul then batted for 245 minutes, before he was the ninth batsman to dismissed. Gudakesh Motie, the No. 10, contributed 36 off 89 balls.In reply, Barbados lost both their openers within five overs. Shai Hope and Roston Chase then perked up the side with half-centuries, but the loss of the last six wickets for 78 runs meant they conceded a 23-run lead.Guyana then subsided to 137 all-out in 35.2 overs, with Hetmyer contributing almost half of the total. Offspinning allrounder Chase did the bulk of the damage, claiming figures of 5 for 41. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican supported him with three wickets. Chasing 161, Barbados were reduced to 11 for 3 in 3.2 overs, but Chase and Shamarh Brooks hung onto secure a draw and 9.8 points for their team.

Tamim Iqbal can play in Chittagong Vikings’ first match of this season’s Bangladesh Premier League. The tournament’s member-secretary Ismail Haider Mallick has said the one-match domestic suspension Tamim picked up during the Dhaka Premier League only applied to 50-over matches.”Tamim will be suspended for the next 50-overs domestic match since he was handed the punishment during the Dhaka Premier League,” Mallick said. “This [BPL] is a franchise league. If he was to be suspended, we would have mentioned it during the players’ draft. He can play tomorrow.”A three-member special committee formed by the BCB suspended and fined Tamim at the end of last season’s Dhaka Premier League for his involvement in an incident with the umpires during Abahani Limited’s match against Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club on June 13. A BCB press release dated June 22 had said that, “for breaching the code of conduct for players during the match, Abahani Limited captain Tamim Iqbal Khan has been fined BDT one lac and also suspended for one domestic tournament match”.Since Tamim hadn’t been in Chittagong Division’s National Cricket League squad last month, it seemed that his suspension would apply for his team’s first match in the BPL, since this is the first domestic tournament he has been available for since the DPL, but the BPL’s governing council has interpreted it differently.