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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMisbah-ul-Haq salutes on reaching three figures•Getty Images

A story about the return of one Pakistan player to Lord’s became a tale about the maiden appearance at the ground of another, as Misbah-ul-Haq’s unbeaten century on his first Test in England led his side into a strong position on the opening day. Misbah’s correct call at the toss delayed the much-anticipated return to the fray of Mohammad Amir but his efforts ensured this would be still be an occasion for Pakistan – and cricket romantics of every persuasion – to remember.Alastair Cook had also wanted to bat first on a pitch that has had to withstand regular unseasonal soakings over recent weeks and on what turned out to be a fine summer’s day it was easy to see why. Still, four wickets for Chris Woakes – including bowling nightwatchman Rahat Ali with the last ball of the day – and an impressive showing from the debutant, Jake Ball, meant England’s attack was not entirely quelled by a commanding, 148-run stand between Misbah and Asad Shafiq as an occasionally cloudy afternoon melted into a sunlit evening.At the age of 42 years and 47 days, Misbah became the sixth-oldest man to make a century in Tests. After jogging the single to take him to three figures shortly before 6pm, he gestured to his team-mates on the pavilion balcony before getting down to do a series of push-ups – further proof, if any were needed, of his supreme levels of fitness. He has been the pillar that held up Pakistan cricket in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal that erupted on this ground back in 2010 and it was symbolically apt that he played the same role on the field in their first match back in England since those dark days.There are many threads to the tapestry of this tour beyond the redemptive element of Amir’s return, not least Pakistan’s qualities as a team. The first day of the series immediately flagged that they would provide stiffer opposition than Sri Lanka, the visitors to England earlier in the summer, and while Mohammad Hafeez and Younis Khan would have been disappointed not to build on useful starts, Misbah and Shafiq were not so profligate.Misbah had never before batted in a Test in England, never played more than a few T20 innings at Lord’s, but he was not going to overawed by his first outing. Eight months ago, after leading his side to a 2-0 win over England in the UAE, he was contemplating retirement but he eventually decided to carry on in the belief that Pakistan would need him on this tour. It was clear to see why when he strode out with his side 77 for 3, bearded and resolute, a grizzled captain leading his men into uncharted waters and ready to repel all boarders.”Let’s go to work,” was the slogan from Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film and in Misbah and Younis, Pakistan have a couple of experienced wiseguys capable of doing a number on England. You have to go back to the 1990s for the last time Pakistan won a Test at Lord’s and their chances here relied on an experienced batting order being able to give a much-vaunted attack something to bowl at. England managed to chisel out Younis but, in the shape of Shafiq, there was another, equally determined Mr Green ready to step in and do business.England had resorted to subcontinental bowling plans, with short extra cover and short midwicket, by the time Stuart Broad coaxed a thick edge from Shafiq, on 34, but with only one slip in place the ball flew wide of Cook’s despairing dive. A clubbed square cut for four off Moeen Ali – who Pakistan never allowed to settle and conceded 46 runs from his seven overs – took him to a fifth 50-plus score against England but, with the shadows lengthening a feathered edge off Woakes finally broke the stand. Rahat then dragged on to give the persevering Woakes his best Test figures.Misbah and Shafiq might have been separated sooner, when a mix up left both batsmen running to the same end. Gary Ballance, making his own comeback after a year out of the side, threw hastily at the striker’s stumps when a lob to the bowler would have done the trick. Pakistan were on 184 for 4 at the time and still going about their recovery from being three down shortly after lunch.Ball nearly claimed a maiden Test wicket with his second ball but eventually removed Azhar Ali, to follow an early brace for Woakes in the morning session. Never mind devil, there was nothing so much as a mischievous imp in the pitch but Ball took that out of the equation with a yorker that knocked Azhar off his feet, though the No. 3 left the field shaking his head after utilising the DRS only for the Hawk-Eye to back-up Kumar Dharmasena’s decision that the ball was hitting leg stump by the finest of margins.Misbah began cautiously and he had made 2 from 19 balls when he gloved a Broad bouncer high and wide of wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for his first boundary. A thin inside edge saved him from being lbw to Ball walking across his stumps on 11 and he might have been taken at second slip on 16, when the wayward Steven Finn found his outside edge only for Joe Root to shell a low chance, but he remained unperturbed.He unfurled some more aggressive strokes during Moeen’s exploratory overs, as well as taking easy runs off Finn. Later in the day, in struck four fours in five balls off Moeen – two sweeps, two reverse-sweeps – to move into the 90s and emphasise his mastery over England’s spinner.Despite Finn’s struggle, the bowlers did have some success. Memories had begun to drift back to England’s toil in the UAE following another fifty stand between Misbah and Younis when the latter, batting out of his crease such was the docility of the pitch, flicked a Broad delivery straight to midwicket to depart for 33.They had earlier pegged Pakistan back after a 38-run opening stand that involved a little bit of luck alongside some proactive batting from Hafeez. Anticipation of Amir’s first involvement had given way to a moment for Ball to savour and he nearly struck in his opening Test spell, Cook generously deigning to review an lbw decision against Shan Masood only for the replays to confirm Dharmasena’s suspicion the ball had pitched outside leg.Ball acquitted himself well as the stand-in for James Anderson, pushing the speed gun up towards 89mph and troubling both of the Pakistan openers. Hafeez could have been taken on 11, when a drive at Broad resulted in a thick edge low to the left of James Vince at third slip but he could not hold on one-handed. The same batsman flashed wide of the slips off Ball in the 10th over and Masood followed suit, off Woakes, moments after.Woakes, though, found success shortly before the drinks break, inducing a thin edge from Masood with a delivery than bounced a touch more than expected. He had his second four overs later when Hafeez, who had gambolled his way to 40, finally fell in lackadaisical fashion, trying to flip across the line only to offer a straightforward catch to Bairstow running across towards square leg.

Tymal Mills, the Sussex left-arm fast bowler capable of topping 90mph, could earn an England call-up for next month’s T20I against Sri Lanka when the limited-overs squads are named on Monday.Mills, who was forced to retire from first-class cricket last year after being diagnosed with a congenital back condition, is limited to the four-over workloads of T20 cricket. Prior to his diagnosis he was already on England’s radar because of his extreme pace – he was used as a net bowler during the 2013-14 Ashes tour – and has continued to be involved in the fast bowling programme during last winter.In a recent televised T20 Blast match against Somerset he was clocked at 93mph, when he gave Chris Gayle a working over before shattering his stumps, and also showed his variety of slower balls he often uses at the death. On Friday he claimed 3 for 15 from his four overs against Kent.Earlier this month he told ESPNcricinfo about his ambitions to be a T20 specialist for England. “In a perfect world I could make a career doing this for a long time. I’ve just got to stay fit,” he said. “Everything I do is aimed at being a top T20 player. I want to play for England even if it’s just in T20 cricket.”England’s squads for the five ODIs and lone T20 against Sri Lanka have a few spaces to fill due to James Taylor’s enforced retirement (he was the spare batsman in South Africa when England last played ODIs) as well as injuries to Ben Stokes and Reece Topley. David Willey has recently resumed bowling for Yorkshire after his abdominal injury so is on course to be available.Jonny Bairstow is expected to be the man to challenge for a middle-order role after his stellar Test form, while Jos Buttler resumes behind the stumps, although the selectors may ponder returning Bairstow to county cricket so he can continue to refine his keeping in the Championship for Yorkshire. England also need to decide the balance of the final XI in the absence of Stokes, who has been around the squad during the third Test against Sri Lanka continuing his rehab from knee surgery.Stuart Broad was recalled to the one-day side in South Africa after Steven Finn was ruled out through injury but may again be left out ahead of the Test series against Pakistan. James Anderson, who has not played an ODI since the World Cup, is not expected to earn a recall. Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball, who has been in all three Test squads so far this season, is a contender for one of the pace-bowling slots.Possible squad Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn, James Vince, Chris Jordan, Sam Billings, Jake Ball, Tymal Mills (T20 only)

ScorecardIt has not been an easy start for Robert Croft as head coach•Getty Images

The sun was shining for most of the day in Cardiff as Glamorgan took on Essex but the outlook is very gloomy. The home side sit at the bottom of the County Championship table and are already 50 points off the solitary promotion spot that is available to them. The last time a season started this poorly was Glamorgan’s most recent appearance in Division One of the Championship in 2005 where the side won only once and lost 14 times. But that was in the rarefied air of the top flight, this is in a second division in which there is no real stand out team.Having taken a punt on preparing as green a pitch as you will ever see in County Championship knowing full well that Essex would put them into bat, they started off well enough. At lunch they were 91 for 1 with Mark Wallace and Chris Cooke both looking secure enough. It looked horrible but the surface had pace, carry and even bounce. Then the inevitable Glamorgan collapse happened, something that has become so familiar for this team this year. Their average score when the fifth wicket has fallen this season is just 135. This time they lost six wickets for 73 to find themselves scrambling for late-order runs to rescue their innings.It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The off-season departure of Toby Radford as coach and the ushering in of Robert Croft as a replacement was meant to be the making of this team. There are few people that are as inspiring for Glamorgan supporters as Croft, barring maybe Don Shepherd. If anyone was going to bring Welsh pride to a club that craves just that it was Croft. Quite why Glamorgan seem so short of confidence in 2016 is not clear, but Croft admitted it was a major problem in a supporters Q&A session in the lunch interval today.”Confidence has been low and by our own admission there’s too many of us not performing, junior and senior players, and it’s the role of every player and every coach to try and turn that around,” he said.”Losing the first game here [against Leicestershire] affected confidence and we’ve missed Colin Ingram [who is injured], but I’m not in the business of excuses and our performances from every player and coach is not good enough at the moment and we have to dig deep.”This game against Essex is Glamorgan’s sixth match of the season, they are yet to win and are the only team that have lost more than one match. They suffered their third loss of 2016 at Gloucestershire last week and it was as close to a metaphorical kick in the nuts as cricket is capable of throwing up.Having been in front in the game for three days they needed 269 runs to win on a decent pitch with almost a whole day to get there. They started well, an opening stand between Mark Wallace and Jacques Rudolph taking the team to 87 without loss. From there it was more farce than tragedy as eight wickets fell for 33 runs. Glamorgan eventually lost by 125 runs, in a game they had looked like winning for nearly four days, the whole thing falling apart in less than a session.So much of cricket is about self-belief and as Croft admitted when he spoke to the county’s most loyal of supporters that is missing from this team right now. As they succumbed to yet another middle-order capitulation against Essex it is difficult to know where they will find that much needed confidence boost.There is a huge amount of goodwill towards Croft and that is still evident from the reception that he got from members today. Once he mentioned that he was a proud Welshman just like them, and wanted nothing but success for a county that he has dedicated his entire professional life to, they were as much under his control as a cricket ball during his most brilliant of bowling spells. But history and affection for a favoured son are a currency that only last for so long. Eventually this side need to start winning or the locals will become restless.Croft was keen to point out that things weren’t always rosy for him and the other great players of Glamorgan’s past; that poor runs of form do happen regardless of how good your players are.”I played in some very bad Glamorgan sides as well that had Glamorgan greats in it, and it just didn’t happen at the time. We had some slumps believe you me. I believe in the players we do have and we have to turn it round,” he said.Glamorgan’s director of cricket, Hugh Morris, said that results are analysed and discussed after every game but is backing and his coach and his players to come good.”The margins between success and failure in the Championship are small particularly at this stage in the season. We’re mindful it wasn’t the plan to start the season the way we’ve done and we revaluate our performances after every game and we need to put it right,” he said. “Robert Croft, his coaching team and all the players are working very hard to make sure that happens.”There is no doubting that everyone at the club is aware that this has been a terrible start to the Croft era and that they are redoubling their efforts to turn things around. The issue is that as Glamorgan were bowled out before the close – green pitch or not – and then failed to make significant inroads into the Essex top order there is little evidence that a change is just around the corner.

Big picture: Can India save the series?

Back in 2015-16, when the Test contest between India and South Africa was named Freedom Trophy, or alternatively the Mandela-Gandhi Trophy, both sides committed to treat it as a marquee contest. For the first time since 1992-93, they played four Tests in a series. A major part of such a commitment is to avoid the unsatisfactory two-match series. It was good while it lasted. All of four series. This is the second straight two-match series between these two evenly matched rivals.While India are not responsible for shortening of these series, they are at the receiving end of the series’ brevity. Once again, a series win is impossible for them after 2.67 days of cricket. The best they can do now is level it; the worst will mean a second series defeat at home in the last three after 12 years of winning every home series.Related

• Bavuma and South Africa look to silence every last doubter in Guwahati

• Rishabh Pant's battle with Simon Harmer could define his first Test as captain

• What type of pitch will India want in Guwahati?

• Mystery pitch leaves SA guessing ahead of Guwahati Test

It should come as no surprise that the leaders of the time find themselves under the pump despite all the success in ODIs and T20Is. In fact, it speaks to the health of Test cricket in India that a home defeat, even if it comes against the world champions, draws such sharp reaction.After two fruitless tours of India in the last decade, South Africa would have been glad the depth of their attack was not tested in Kolkata. With Kagiso Rabada missing and Keshav Maharaj off colour, they still managed to take 20 wickets mostly through Simon Harmer and Marco Jansen.With some of the equivocality around their world champions status now dissipated, they will look to find a way once again to take 20 wickets and go away with a series win from the toughest place to tour. India will want to test that depth and make sure their country continues to stay the toughest place to tour, and not get relegated to “formerly the toughest place to tour”.3:30

Botha: New ball should play a role with early start to the Test

Form guide

India LWWWD
South Africa WWLWW

In the spotlight: Ravindra Jadeja and Simon Harmer

The first Test practically came down to a second-innings shootout between the two best spinners in the match. The margin for error was so low that you couldn’t afford even one remotely ordinary spell. Simon Harmer, now as good a spinner as any in the world, took 4 for 21. Ravindra Jadeja, after bowling a near-unplayable spell of 13-3-29-4 on the second evening, went searching a bit on the third morning. This Test will hopefully bring out more aspects of their bowling.2:45

Karim wants India to pick both Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal

Team news: Gill and Rabada ruled out

India will be without their regular captain, Shubman Gill, who faced only three balls in the first Test and retired with a neck injury. With six left-hand batters already in the XI making Harmer an even more potent threat and no reserve right-hand batter in the squad, allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy might come back in if only for the sake of variety. There are also suggestions that B Sai Sudharsan, who made way for the extra spinner in the last Test, might come back to No. 3. Based on what they did at training a day before the Test, Axar Patel is the spinner likely to miss out. Rishabh Pant will be India’s fourth Test captain in the last 12 months.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Dhruv Jurel, 5 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed SirajRabada is out of the second Test as well, but South Africa are bolstered by Lungi Ngidi’s return. Expect him to replace Corbin Bosch. The one question South Africa will ponder is if Wiaan Mulder, who didn’t have much to do in the first Test, should make way for a spin allrounder in Senuran Muthusamy or a specialist batter in Dewald Brevis. If that change does happen, Tristan Stubbs might have to move up to No. 3.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Wiaan Mulder/ Dewald Brevis/ Senuran Muthusamy, 4 Tony de Zorzi, 5 Temba Bavuma (capt.), 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Simon Harmer, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Lungi Ngidi2:53

Saba Karim: Pant will be unpredictable as captain

Pitch and conditions

This is a big occasion for Guwahati as it becomes the eastern-most Test venue in India. The inadequacy of one time zone in a country as vast as India is apparent from how this Test will need to start at 9am in order to beat the early sunset. The first session break, at 11am, will be tea; lunch will be taken at 1.20pm.It is hardly ideal that all eyes will be on the pitch of a debutant venue but it is what it is after an underprepared surface in Kolkata undid India. There has been high drama around the pitch with coach Gautam Gambhir saying it had been made to his order only for batting coach Sitanshu Kotak to say that Gambhir actually sacrificed himself to prevent throwing the curator under the bus, in the process throwing said curator under said bus.Both the captains expect this pitch to be good for batting in the early exchanges before starting to turn. Which is exactly what they said before Kolkata, except that now they have added that it should play better than Kolkata. So make of it what you will.

Stats and trivia

• Kolkata was the first Test and the first toss that South Africa won in India since 2010.
• Nobody other than Bosch and Muthusamy in the South Africa squad averages over 40 with the bat in Test cricket. None of them averages 50 in first-class cricket overall.
• Before he took over the Test captaincy, Temba Bavuma averaged 34.53. As captain, he averages 57.

Big picture – New Chandigarh makes men’s international debut

There is a feeling India are such strong favourites for the home World Cup in two months that the one way to deny them a successful title defence is to catch them on the wrong side of the toss on a damp pitch or a dewy night.South Africa discovered first-hand in Cuttack that India are formidable even on such a night. They will now scramble from eastern India to the north-west with no training day in New Chandigarh and go again on Thursday evening.Related

• Hardik shows what he can do when fit and firing

India will be aware that despite their 6-2 head-to-head record against South Africa in recent encounters, T20s can surprise any team on a given night. They want to have reacted to almost every kind of contingency in their nine remaining matches at home before the World Cup. New Chandigarh will be just one such stop.This, incidentally, is the first men’s international at the venue. India and Australia played two women’s ODIs there in September this year.

Form guide

India WWWLW
South Africa LLLWLThere is nothing wrong with South Africa’s combination, but India might just be a bit too strong for them in these conditions•Associated Press

In the spotlight – Arshdeep Singh and Quinton de Kock

The first over of the chase in Cuttack set the tone for the rest of the night. Arshdeep Singh sought to make the most of whatever movement was on offer, and he got the dangerous Quinton de Kock in the first over. It is a match-up that Arshdeep has had the better of in all T20 cricket: 41 balls, 38 runs, five wickets. Watch out for this contest again. Perhaps South Africa might let Aiden Markram take first strike because de Kock is a key batter for them.

Team news – Changes only if conditions ask for them

In Cuttack, India were close to their best XI if you leave aside the question of Rinku Singh. If the pitch is dry, they can stick in Kuldeep Yadav for Arshdeep; if they worry about batting depth, Harshit Rana can play in Arshdeep’s place. Other than that, they don’t need to fiddle.India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.South Africa might have lost big but the combination didn’t have much wrong. At a pinch, they might think of an allrounder in Lutho Sipamla’s place.South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Donovon Ferreira, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Lutho Sipamla/Corbin Bosch/George Linde, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Anrich Nortje.1:29

Jitesh on competition with Samson – ‘He’s like a big brother’

Pitch and conditions

With no tall stands around it, the playing surface of New Chandigarh tends to not get affected too much by the dew. Teams batting first in the IPL hold a 6-5 record in New Chandigarh. Scores of above 200 have been defended successfully, as has been a 111. Fast bowlers tend to hold sway there.

Stats and trivia

• Only three players have hit 100 sixes and taken 100 wickets in T20Is. Hardik Pandya is one wicket short of joining this list of Sikandar Raza, Mohammad Nabi and Malaysia’s Virandeep Singh.
• Arshdeep has taken the joint-highest powerplay wickets for India: 47. He is tied with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
• Jasprit Bumrah is only the fifth player to have taken 100 wickets in each of the three international formats. Shakib Al Hasan, Lasith Malinga, Tim Southee and Shaheen Shah Afridi are the others.

An inspirational unbeaten century from Jake Lehmann in combination with a career-best 83 from Liam Scott secured South Australia their first home Sheffield Shield final since 2016 after they chased down 300 with four wickets to spare to defeat Victoria at the Junction Oval.Lehmann and Scott shared a match-defining 148-run stand to break the back of the chase having come together at 108 for 4. Henry Hunt also made a valuable early contribution of 66 and shared a 54-run stand with Lehmann. The trio withstood some brilliant spells from Scott Boland who took two late wickets to threaten to steal the game but ultimately Victoria could not sustain enough pressure with the ball.Related

• South Australia prevented from hosting Shield final at Adelaide Oval

• Dixon, Kellaway show glimpses of breaking Victoria's Test batting drought

• McSweeney open to possibilities in bid to earn Test recall

• Queensland revive final hopes with thumping victory

South Australia are now guaranteed a home final while Victoria can still made the decider if they beat Western Australia next week and other results go their way despite losing four matches in a row.Lehmann described his 12th first-class century as one of the best of his career after also going past 5000 first-class runs.”I feel like anytime you get a hundred and it’s in a winning team, and fourth innings is probably the hardest time to make hundreds these days, so yes, definitely up there,” Lehmann told ESPNcricinfo post match. “But it’s just probably on the vibe of the boys and the way we’ve played our cricket, and the belief in the team that we were always going to be able to chase them if we got into that last couple hours of the day.”South Australia coach Ryan Harris was full of praise for both Lehmann and Scott after the match. He was particularly proud of Scott’s efforts after backing up his 4 for 49 on day three with the ball with a match-winning 83.”I think his niche is probably No. 6 in this current set-up,” Harris told ESPNcricinfo. “And his overs, my communication with him is he’s probably a holder and now he’s a wicket-taker. And he’s done that because of having game time and learning his role and progressing as a player and as a person, learning the game. That only comes with game time and he’s done it beautifully. So he’s a huge player now.”Victoria coach Chris Rogers was left to lament how his side had lost a fourth game in a row after they had a lead of 163 with eight wickets in hand midway through day three and also had South Australia four down with 192 runs to defend on the final day.”We’re just missing something a little bit at the moment,” Rogers told ESPNcricinfo. “I just said to the group there were moments in this game where I think if we’d been able to get the upper hand we would have won this game against the side that’s on top of the table.”We feel like all the games we’re right in the contest, but then we just can’t get over the line. And that probably is the biggest frustration, and we’ve got to keep asking ourselves those questions, why aren’t we winning those moments?”The game was poised on a knife’s edge in the morning session when South Australia slumped to 54 for 3. Fergus O’Neill struck twice in three balls, pinning South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney lbw with a brilliant delivery that nipped in off the seam before taking the outside edge of Jason Sangha two balls later with one that straightened the other way.Lehmann and Hunt steadied with a 54-run stand but it was full of nervy moments. Hunt passed 50 but could have been out twice to Todd Murphy in one over, scoring a boundary off the outside edge while an offbreak beat his inside edge and went over the stumps past keeper Sam Harper for four byes.Lehmann also nearly fell to Murphy with Harper unable to hold a challenging catch down the leg side. Lehmann gave another life when he sliced a thick edge low to Xavier Crone’s left in the gully off O’Neill.Victoria still appeared firmly in the game when Hunt holed out to deep square for 66 off Sam Elliott. But Lehmann and Scott thoroughly dominated the middle session as Victoria fell flat.Boland bowled a very loose spell by his standards post lunch. He dropped short on several occasions and conceded four boundaries in three overs. Murphy gave up two at the other end as Lehmann and Scott set the tone for what was about to follow.The pair scored 104 runs from 30 overs in the middle session and scarcely looked troubled. Scott stood tall and drove powerfully through the off side against both spin and pace.Lehmann rotated the strike superbly without taking any undue risks and sweated on anything short and wide. Victoria spread the field to try and slow the scoring rate before the second new ball was due. But in the last 15 overs of the session Scott and Lehmann picked off 51 runs, including 16 off two overs of part-time spin from Campbell Kellaway and Harry Dixon.The trend looked set to continue against the second new ball as Scott raced past his previous highest first-class score while Boland struggled to get his line right in his first two overs after tea.But his international class shone through to force a late twist in the game. With 44 to win, Scott edged Boland to slip to give the hosts life. He then extracted another edge from Harry Nielsen shortly after to leave South Australia still needing 42 with just four wickets in hand. But Lehmann and Ben Manenti held their nerve.Lehmann survived another chance on 80 when he smashed Murphy straight to short cover but Kellaway could not hold the hot offer. Thereafter he latched on anything fractionally short to guide his side home, reaching his century and winning the game with three consecutive boundaries.

Don’t ban the Afghanistan men’s side from playing international cricket but do expect them to do more for the women and girls who don’t have the same rights they do. That’s the opinion of two formerly contracted Afghanistan women’s players living in exile in Australia.Firooza Amiri and Benafsha Hashimi fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021 and have narrated their story of escape to a new life on ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast. Both women continue to play club cricket in Australia, with hopes of representing their country someday even though that will not be possible until the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) put up a women’s team. Under Taliban rule, the ACB cannot do that because of the country’s laws, which forbid women from playing sport, studying and working.Given that Afghanistan are ICC Full Members, and that one of the conditions of that status is to have a women’s side, there has been debate over whether or not to sanction the Afghanistan’s men’s team. Both Australia and England refuse to play bilateral series against them in protest, but continue to play them at ICC events, while the other nine Full Members engage with Afghanistan, sometimes amid growing calls to boycott them. South Africa are the most recent and relevant example, given they were isolated from the 1970s to 1990s for the country’s race-based Apartheid system. While the country’s sports minister, Gayton McKenzie, recently cited gender discrimination as a reason not to play Afghanistan, Cricket South Africa believes punishing the men’s players for a situation beyond their control will not force change. Amiri and Hashimi hold similar views but it is important to know that some of the other players are known to feel differently.Related

• Afghanistan women's players soak up World Cup experience

• Human Rights Watch asks ICC to suspend Afghanistan's membership

• England-Afghanistan to go ahead despite ECB speaking out over 'gender apartheid'

• Pressure mounts on ICC amid Afghanistan women's fundraising drive

• Powerplay: More than just a match for Afghanistan Women's XI

“The Afghanistan men’s team brings a kind of hope. They are role models for us. I don’t want to say I’m not supporting them at all,” Amiri told ESPNcricinfo in May 2024, when we first interviewed her. “But when I cannot play for Afghanistan, what’s more heartbreaking is when you see the men can do something and the women cannot do it – which is absolutely wrong. Everything men can do, women can do as well.”Hashimi, whom ESPNcricinfo spoke to last November, has similar feelings watching the men’s team. “I can say 50-50. I was happy because my team has played very well and Afghanistan got to the semi-finals [of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup] which is quite good for us because we haven’t been there but on the other side I was just hopeless. We have a really great men’s team but we never focus on a women’s team and it is a bit difficult to talk about. So I was happy and I was sad too. It’s a difficult feeling to describe: men having more opportunity than girls.”Australia, where Amiri and Hashimi live, refuse to play Afghanistan in bilateral cricket. This has caused Amiri to wonder whether selective shunning of the men’s team is worthwhile. “If it has an impact on our team, that we can put pressure on the Afghanistan Cricket Board to make a women’s team, then we will be happy, but only if it’s a way we can start playing cricket.”2:52

Mel Jones: Afghan women’s love for the game blew me away

Though she considered the thought of a ban, Amiri recognises that the Afghanistan men’s team has made rapid progress and its success could be more of a statement than a ban. “They are in a good position at the moment in the world and if they start supporting us, they’ll have a big impact on our team. They can be very, very helpful for us and for all the women. If women can start playing sport, women can start studying as well. It can be a pathway.”If they start supporting us, it’s going to be a way for all women. If they can hear my voice from here: Afghanistan, national players, please, please be the voice of the girls at the moment. Please do more for us. Start doing something for women. You are the voice of Afghanistan. They are the most famous people at the moment. They can be the voice of millions and millions of girls.”