Lord's, Oakland, and Birmingham: The Cricket Weekend That Has Everything

 

Sometimes the cricket calendar produces one of those weekends where every format, every competition, and every corner of the world seems to be producing something worth watching simultaneously. This is one of those weekends. An ODI series decider at Lord's tomorrow that could end Rohit Sharma's international career. An MLC final tonight in Oakland between the competition's two most successful sides. Vitality Blast semi-finals in Birmingham. And three days ago in Cardiff, a Joe Root innings of 99 not out that reminded the entire cricket world — as if it needed reminding — that the 35-year-old from Yorkshire remains the most reliable batter English cricket has produced in a generation. Here is everything you need to know.

Cricket's Designated Hitter: BBL's Bold New Rule Explained — and Why the IPL Numbers Tell the Real Story

 

The Big Bash League has never been shy about experimenting. Power Surge. Bash Boost. X-Factor substitution. The BBL has introduced and discarded more playing innovations than any other franchise T20 competition in the world, and its relationship with novelty has been both its greatest strength and, at times, its most embarrassing liability. So when Cricket Australia announced the "designated batter" rule for BBL|16 — effectively cricket's version of the designated hitter from American baseball — the predictable question was: is this a genuine tactical evolution, or is this another gimmick that will be quietly shelved in two seasons? The answer, this time, is more nuanced than the question suggests. This rule has real potential. It also has real problems. And the IPL data tells you almost everything you need to know about which outcome is more likely.

Different Team, Different Result: India Win the 1st ODI at Edgbaston — But the Questions Remain

 

Three weeks. That is all the time that separated the most embarrassing chapter of India's white-ball cricket in recent memory — 76 all out at Trent Bridge, their heaviest T20I defeat ever — from the most composed ODI performance they have produced in England in years. Same country. Completely different team. Completely different result. India won the first ODI at Edgbaston, Birmingham by six wickets with 28 balls to spare, chasing down 259 thanks to a captain's innings of 80 from Shubman Gill and an extraordinary all-round performance from Axar Patel — 4 for 62 with the ball, 57 not out with the bat — to take a 1-0 series lead. England, dismissed for 258 in the 48th over at one of their supposed fortress grounds, were poor with the bat and had no answer to a bowling attack that finally looked like what India's bowling is supposed to look like.

Lawes Stuns on Debut, Carty and Hope Chase it Down — West Indies Beat New Zealand by 7 Wickets

 

Providence, Guyana. A slow, low pitch that West Indies had specifically requested — a spin-friendly surface designed to neutralise New Zealand's formidable pace attack and give their own spinners something to work with. The plan, as plans sometimes do, worked almost perfectly. New Zealand were bowled out for 267 with one ball of their innings remaining, their last six wickets falling for 33 runs in what had looked like a much more competitive position. And then Keacy Carty and Shai Hope — West Indies' most reliable ODI partnership — chased it down with seven balls to spare, Sherfane Rutherford hitting a six off the last ball he faced to seal a seven-wicket win and a 1-0 series lead.

England Complete Historic 5-0 Whitewash of India: Full T20I Series Review, Analysis and the IPL Debate

 

England Complete Ruthless 5-0 Whitewash: How India's T20I Summer Fell Apart