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Middlesex 319 for 1 (Holden 137*, Williamson 88*, Robson 57) vs NorthamptonshireMiddlesex’s Max Holden plundered an unbeaten century as he and New Zealand star Kane Williamson piled up runs on the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship clash against Northamptonshire.Holden, opening to accommodate Williamson’s red-ball debut for the county at number three, batted right through the day for 137, his third ton of the season, with the pair adding an uninterrupted 197 to reach 319 for one at Merchant Taylors’ School.Sam Robson (57) shared a stand of 122 with Holden before Williamson – sampling his first taste of Championship cricket since he featured for Yorkshire in 2018 – weighed in with an unbeaten 88.It was a testing day for Northamptonshire, with Ben Sanderson their only successful bowler after they inserted the hosts in overcast conditions, while Rob Keogh sustained a serious-looking finger injury attempting to catch Williamson’s ferocious drive.With Northamptonshire skipper Luke Procter absent for personal reasons, Lewis McManus took the reins for the first time in red-ball cricket and fulfilled his first duty by winning the toss.However, his bowlers went through the morning session wicketless, despite a tricky opening spell by Sanderson – with Holden taking his time to settle, facing 20 deliveries before he got off the mark with a single.First change Dom Leech struggled for consistency and Robson took advantage to steer him for successive fours as Middlesex picked up the pace, with Holden also unfurling a couple of classy straight drives to the boundary.Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal entered the attack as early as the 15th over, extracting turn as he began with two maidens, but Holden danced down the wicket to take him on, driving and sweeping with confidence.Having reached lunch with 90 on the board, the Middlesex pair advanced their partnership into three figures and Robson won the race to his half-century, pulling Liam Guthrie for two boundaries in an over.But the opener departed in the next, caught behind leg-glancing Sanderson and that slowed the batting side’s progress, although Williamson opened his account with a sweetly-driven cover boundary off Liam Guthrie.Holden moved on to 50 with a swiped hook that flew to the rope, but soon afterwards the left-hander survived a sharp chance to short leg off Chahal – now operating in an all-spin attack alongside Keogh.Displaying exquisite timing and placement, especially on the off side, Williamson mastered the bowling and progressed to his half-century just three balls ahead of Holden’s hundred, courtesy of a back-foot punch for four off Chahal.The Indian spinner returned for another spell earlier than expected after tea, with Keogh forced from the field after making a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to catch Williamson’s rocket drive off his own bowling.Holden pummelled Leech for another four to lift the partnership beyond 150 and, following the last of the day’s three brief rain stoppages, he and Williamson resumed the Middlesex offensive.Williamson cut Saif Zaib to the fence and then lifted his next ball effortlessly over the top for six but, with the new ball due and the light continuing to worsen, the umpires called a halt to proceedings.

Ireland batter Peter Moor has retired at the age of 34 after playing 15 Tests, 49 ODIs and 21 T20Is.Moor, who was born in Harare, had begun his international career with Zimbabwe before moving to Ireland. He played his last international game in February this year – the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.He made his international debut for Zimbabwe in November 2014, in an ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur. His T20I and Test debut came in 2016, against Afghanistan and New Zealand respectively. Moor played eight Tests and all his 49 ODIs and 21 T20Is for Zimbabwe.He qualified to play for Ireland in October 2022 – he had an Irish passport as his paternal grandmother was Irish – and was first selected in their squad for the Test tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in March-April 2023. He went on to play seven Tests for Ireland.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to his first Test for Ireland, Moor had said: “I still believe I’ve got three or four years of good cricket in me at the top level. Even though I might have missed out on a few World Cups for Zimbabwe in the last few years, I hope I can play for Ireland at the next one.”However, Moor never played an ODI or a T20I for Ireland. His Test performances also dipped after he moved: he had averaged 35.53 with five fifties in eight Tests for Zimbabwe, but only 14.35 with one half-century for Ireland. The only fifty for Ireland, though, came in a victory against Zimbabwe in July 2024.Moor retired as one of 17 cricketers to have played Tests for two different countries.

Warwickshire 223 for 3 (Yates 113*, Davies 66) trail Sussex 528 (Simpson 181*, Bamber 4-105) by 305 runsBowlers continue to suffer in the Birmingham sunshine as an opening-round runfest unfolds between Warwickshire and Sussex in the Rothesay County Championship Division One at Edgbaston.Sussex have returned to the top tier in style by amassing 528 all out after captain John Simpson added a superb unbeaten 181 from 262 balls to Tom Clark’s opening-day century. Warwickshire’s injury-hit attack, led by debutants Ethan Bamber and Tazeem Ali, plugged away nobly but found the going tough in good batting conditions.Sussex’s hopes of turning that strong total into a victory were then held up by the home batters who responded with 223 for 3. Rob Yates closed the second day on 113 from 148 balls after captain Alex Davies launched the reply with an aggressive 66 off 65.Edgbaston pitches in recent years have tended to flatten out as matches lengthen, so it is difficult to see either side forcing a victory. Both would probably be happy enough with a solid draw from their season-opener.Sussex resumed on the second day on 386 for 5 and were given early impetus by Jack Carson’s punchy 28 before he lifted Ed Barnard to deep square leg in pursuit of his fourth boundary of the over. Fynn Hudson-Prentice was soon lbw to Bamber but the implacable Simpson was joined by Danny Lamb in a stand of 85 in 25 overs.Lamb and Ollie Robinson fell lbw to successive balls from Tazeem and Simpson’s hopes of challenging his career best 205 ended when Jayden Seales scooped Michael Booth to midwicket.Warwickshire opening batters Davies and Yates enjoyed their moments of good fortunes against the new-ball attack of Robinson and Seales but batted positively and the score advanced briskly as soon as the ball softened. Davies hit 11 fours on his way to a 48-ball half-century as his side eased to 112 without loss from 21 overs at tea.They reached that point without taking risks, which made Davies’ departure, slashing the third ball of the evening session, a wide, short offering from Seales, to third man all the more strange. Hamza Shaikh helped the steady Yates to add 56 in 14 overs but was undone by a lovely ball from Carson. Having seen a flighted delivery driven for four earlier in the over, the offspinner looped up another which turned sharply to bowl the batter through a drive.That left Warwickshire, needing 379 to avoid the follow on, 172 for 2 with 17 overs left in the day. Yates chugged on to a 132-ball hundred but the departure of Sam Hain, who edged Seales to slip with 17 balls remaining, sent Sussex off the field with a spring in their step and feeling that a strong third morning could keep the door open to them returning to Division One with a very impressive win.

Big hitting from Hobart Hurricanes mainstays Matthew Wade and Tim David has proved to be the difference in a crucial win over Melbourne Renegades in Hobart.The four-wicket home win with two balls left, however, has come at a potentially high cost, with opening bowler Billy Stanlake injuring his shoulder only six days out from the knockouts. The win puts Hurricanes on top of the points table with two games left and almost ends Renegades’ slim playoffs hopes.Sent into bat, Renegades fought hard after another top-order collapse, but their 154 for 7 was not enough. In the chase then, after limping to 66 for 4 at the ten-over mark, Hurricanes steadied through Nikhil Chaudhary’s 36. Wade then belted 36 from 23 balls with five fours and one six, but his dismissal in the 17th over meant another plot twist, with Hurricanes needing eight off the last over.Tom Rogers was unlucky not to trap David leg before with the third ball of the over – the review showed it pitched just outside off stump. Rogers tried a yorker with the next ball and David hoiked the low full toss over deep square leg for a massive six that tied the scores.David’s single then won the game and he hit an unbeaten 24 from 15 balls, including two fours and a six.Jacob Bethell scored a fluent 87 off 50 balls•Getty Images

Jacob Bethell picked two wickets with his left-arm spin after anchoring the Renegades with a 50-ball 87.The Hurricanes won the toss and paid a high price for the first Renegades wicket when Stanlake took a great diving catch off Riley Meredith to dismiss Josh Brown. Stanlake immediately held his right shoulder and briefly left the field. He twice tried to start the next over, but pulled up in his delivery stride and went off the ground again for the rest of the innings.The Renegades’ top order failed again and were in trouble at 23 for 3 and then 69 for 4. Then Bethell combined with Tim Seifert (24) and Sutherland (15) to put the pressure back on the hosts.Bethell was run out in the last over after facing 50 balls, with eight fours and four sixes. Meredith was the pick of the Hurricanes attack, taking 3 for 36 from four overs.Hurricanes brought in Caleb Jewell and Jake Doran for Ben McDermott (hamstring) and Chris Jordan (back), while Renegades’ left-arm wristpinner Callum Stow took a wicket on debut after he replaced Kane Richardson (soreness).

Rohit Sharma is set to join the India side in Australia on November 24, and will play the two-day pink-ball tour game from November 30 in Canberra, ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide. The India Test captain was not available for the first Test in Perth as he stayed back in India for the birth of his second child.In the absence of Rohit, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team at the Optus Stadium. “I spoke with Rohit earlier,” Bumrah said at his press conference on the eve of the first Test in Perth. “But I got a little bit of clarity on leading the side after coming in here.”Rohit’s return is a boost to the India team, who will have to rely on some fringe players for the series opener in Perth. The two-day pink-ball fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval could serve as valuable prep for Rohit and the Indians as the hosts are likely to include some international players and Test hopefuls.Related

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In the last two seasons the Prime Minister’s XI fixture has a four-day contest featuring West Indies in 2022 (which was also a day-night game) and Pakistan in 2023, having traditionally been a limited-overs match, but the India game has been trimmed to just two days.Rohit will be hoping to find some form, having managed only 91 runs in six innings at an average of 15.16 against New Zealand at home recently.India had last played a day-night Test, against Sri Lanka, in Bengaluru in March 2022, when they won by 238 runs. When India last played a day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval, they folded for 36 in their second innings but they bounced back spectacularly to win the series 2-1.

Big picture: Pride (for India) and WTC points at stake

A 2-0 series scoreline heading into the final Test is what most followers of the game would have predicted when this three-match India vs New Zealand series began 15 days back. But barely anyone would have predicted that “2” would not be against India’s name.It has taken a series of firsts for New Zealand to find themselves in the position they are in. And now as they head to Mumbai with the series in the bag, they have the chance to do the unthinkable – inflict a series sweep over India in India. Only once have India been swept in a series of more than one Test at home – against South Africa in 1999-2000 – and never in a series of more than two Tests. Can India save themselves the blushes?Related

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While there is pride at stake for the home team, there are also crucial WTC points up for grabs for both sides. India are still leading the WTC points table but that lead has been cut short big time with these two defeats. Another loss here and they will have plenty of catching up to do in Australia.For New Zealand, getting to the WTC final seemed far-fetched when this series started but these two wins have brought them right back into contention. A win in Mumbai and then in the three-match series at home against England will keep them in the mix for another WTC final.It’s taken a lot of grit, determination and long spells of brilliant cricket for New Zealand to be able to dictate terms. They cleaned up India for 46 in Bengaluru and then stuck it out in the second innings when Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan were hitting them around. The naysayers would say the conditions in Bengaluru were more suited to New Zealand than to India. So they went to Pune and beat India in conditions that were completely different.Rarely has an overseas spinner outbowled his Indian counterparts in India. But Mitchell Santner understood the assignment from the get-go and India had no answers to his guile and dip. They also have Ajaz Patel, who is at the scene of his epic ten-wicket haul from 2021.For India, it’s more about how to bounce back from these shock defeats and get a win under their belt ahead of the Australia tour. On paper, this is a dead rubber. In reality, it’s anything but.

Form guide

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Gambhir: ‘The more T20 is played, the less people will defend’

In the spotlight – Virat Kohli and Mitchell Santner

Virat Kohli has a problem, it’s called spin, and it’s grown in the last few years, particularly in Asia. Since the start of 2022, Kohli has played 19 Tests in which he has scored four fifties and two centuries. Of those, 12 have been in Asia, where he’s managed just one fifty and a hundred. What’s stood out in those is his fallibility against spin.In 19 innings in Asia since January 2022, he’s fallen to spin 16 times, averaging 29.31. The corresponding number against pace is three dismissals while averaging 47.00. For someone who has that old-school long stretch forward against spinners, he has often been dismissed playing from the crease. He’s fallen to spin three out of the four innings in this series, to Glenn Phillips in Bengaluru and twice to Santner in Pune. On a Mumbai surface that is bound to turn, Kohli might need to do a bit extra to get his spin numbers on point.It will be Mitchell Santner who will once again be tasked with not allowing Kohli and the others to get away. For someone whose Instagram bio reads “part time New Zealand cricketer, full time golfer”, it was an incredible effort to come in and pick up 13 wickets in Pune, the same number he had managed in the five Tests he had played prior stretching to June 2021. He had tweaked his side in Pune, but seems to have recovered fine. He batted and bowled in the nets two days before the Mumbai Test and will hope to have a similar impact to what he did in Pune.

Team news: Bumrah to be rested? What about Southee?

While the series already lost, there are chances India might give Jasprit Bumrah a rest before the five-match series against Australia starting next month. With practice being mandatory, everyone did everything they could at the nets the day before the Test, except Bumrah, who did not bowl. Gautam Gambhir said that Bumrah is fit and available. But with a long tour ahead, India might look to give their premier quick a break like they did earlier in the year against England in Ranchi. Will they replace him with a spinner in Kuldeep Yadav or a fast bowler in Mohammed Siraj remains to be seen. The batting unit should remain unchanged with Sarfaraz Khan holding on to his spot.India (probable XI): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Washington Sundar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah/Kuldeep Yadav/Mohammed Siraj, 11 Akash DeepMatt Henry looks set to come into New Zealand’s XI instead of Tim Southee•AFP/Getty Images

Matt Henry looks set to return to the New Zealand XI after missing out from the Pune Test because of a glute niggle. He bowled at full tilt two days before the Test and had a fitness test on Thursday. Henry was the pick of the bowlers in Bengaluru and is likely to come in place of Tim Southee. There were more indications from practice on the eve of the game with Santner fielding to the quicks at third slip instead of Southee, who often mans that position. The rest of XI is likely to be unchanged.New Zealand (probable XI): 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 William O’RourkePitch and conditionsThe red-soil surface in Mumbai is dry and will take turn early. It is expected to crumble as the Test goes on but there should be good bounce for the fast bowlers and spinners. It is expected to be humid in Mumbai with the temperatures likely to be around the low to mid-30s on the Celsius scale.

Stats and trivia

• Among the current lot, Kohli has the most runs at the Wankhede Stadium – 469 in eight innings at 58.62 with three fifties and a century
• Rohit Sharma has played only one Test at his home ground, back in 2013, where he scored an unbeaten 111 against West Indies
• Since his debut in November 2018, Ajaz has the most wickets for an overseas spinner in Asia – 70
• Henry is third on the list of fast bowlers for most Test wickets in 2024 – 31 in five Tests

Quotes

“I think looks a really good wicket. Obviously, it’s really difficult for anyone to judge how the wicket is going to behave unless the game starts on it and both the teams have batted on it. But I feel it looks a decent wicket and I’m sure once the guys get in, they can actually make the most of it.”
“I think so, yeah. We’ll have a look obviously at the wicket but I think if you look at past tosses, I think most teams have batted first.”

Taskin Ahmed was the first player called in this year’s BPL draft when the new franchise Durbar Rajshahi picked the 29-year old fast bowler. Defending champions Fortune Barishal took Mahmudullah, who recently retired from T20Is, with the seventh overall pick as they retained several of their last season’s squad members for the 2024-25 team.Like Taskin, fast bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana were also first round picks, for Khulna Tigers and Rangpur Riders respectively. Litton Das (Dhaka Capitals), Shamim Hossain (Chittagong Kings) and Rony Talukdar (Sylhet Strikers) rounded off the first round. There was however no takers for Category A players legspinner Rishad Hossain and Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh’s current T20I captain and the top scorer from 2023 season.Barishal would later pick both Shanto and Rishad with the 15th and 43rd overall picks for local cricketers. Shanto hasn’t been in great form off late, while many believed that Rishad’s availability is slightly unclear as the Hobart Hurricane picked him for this season’s BBL.Sylhet took Mashrafe Mortaza, who appeared for the same franchise for the past two seasons. Sylhet had retained Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan, Paul Stirling and George Munsey, while directly signing Jaker Ali. Among those they picked in the draft were Reece Topley, Rahkeem Cornwall and Samiullah Shenwari.Defending champions Barishal retained Tamim Iqbal, the player-of-the-tournament last season, and Mushfiqur Rahim. They directly signed Towhid Hridoy, Dawid Malan, Kyle Mayers, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Ali and Jahandad Khan. They also took Pathum Nissanka from the draft although the Sri Lankan batter is available partially during the BPL.Pakistani cricketers Saim Ayub (Dhaka Capitals), Akif Javed (Rangpur Riders) and Mohammad Hasnain (Khulna Tigers) were the first three overseas picks, followed by James Fuller (Barishal) and Graham Clark (Chittagong).Among the uncapped Bangladeshi players, Nahid Rana (Rangpur), Habibur Rahman Sohan (Dhaka) and Jishan Alam (Rajshahi) were the early picks.The BPL teams can continue to sign players directly till the scheduled tournament start date of December 27. Barishal, Khulna, Sylhet and Rangpur are the existing franchises while Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi are new in this season.

Teenage prodigy Sam Konstas has announced himself on the big stage, striking a coming-of-age century for New South Wales against South Australia in Sydney.Konstas went to his maiden century on day one of the Blues’ Sheffield Shield season opener, hitting 152 as the hosts went to stumps on 297 for 7 against South Australia at Cricket Central.One of the leading lights of Australia’s U19 World Cup success last year, Konstas has long been touted as one of the country’s best young talents. And the opener showed why on Tuesday.The 19-year-old cover-drove superbly throughout his innings, and took to spinner Ben Manenti by hitting him down the ground for three sixes. He then brought up his century off his 163rd ball in the final over of the second session, nudging Brendan Doggett down to backward-square for a single. Konstas’ first Sheffield Shield ton came with Australia’s chief selector George Bailey in attendance. And while the right-hander is not yet in the conversation for the Test opening spot, good judges expect him to one day figure.Konstas made his Shield debut for NSW last summer, and amid glimpses of promise he brought up a maiden half-century in the last round against Queensland. But he looks a far more accomplished and confident batter this summer.He used his feet well to spin, and swept Nathan McSweeney for a big six before offering up his only chance with a missed stumping by Alex Carey.The youngster then brought up 150 by flat-batting a Lloyd Pope full toss over the legside. He was eventually caught at slip off the legspinner, when adjudged to have inside-edged a ball onto Carey’s legs before it was caught by McSweeney.”It was an amazing achievement. Obviously, it’s good to get my first one,” Konstas said. “I just have to be hungry for runs. And whatever teams I make, it’s a bonus.”With Shane Watson as his mentor, Konstas is a regular meditator before games and rushes to the wicket at the start of his innings.”A big thing [I learned from last summer] was my mental stuff, just keeping simple plans and how can I do it for longer?” Konstas said. “I try to be calm.”I did [meditate] this morning, and then I was trying to do that on the field. Just breathing and using it to switch me on and off.”It worked today.”Konstas’ runs came as wickets fell around him under heavy cloud cover and light drizzle. Moises Henriques (five) and Matthew Gilkes (10) both fell to loose shots outside off stump, while Nic Maddinson was caught charging Manenti on 12.Oliver Davies provided some brief fireworks before being bowled by Jordan Buckingham for 37, while Josh Philippe hit 56 in his first Shield game for the Blues.Philippe was eventually stumped off Pope, as the South Australia spinner finished the day with 3 for 61 and NSW suffered a collapse of 3 for 17. Umpires called off play shortly after due to bad light, infuriating visiting captain McSweeney given he had kept his spinners bowling.

Rahul Dravid is set to return to Rajasthan Royals (RR) as head coach ahead of the 2025 IPL season, following the culmination of his tenure as India coach after the 2024 T20 World Cup win in June this year.ESPNcricinfo has learned that Dravid recently signed a deal with the franchise and has had initial conversations on player retentions ahead of the upcoming mega auction. He has a long-standing working relationship with the RR captain Sanju Samson, who came through the under-19 ranks on Dravid’s watch.Dravid has history with RR. He was their captain in IPL 2012 and 2013, and served as team director and mentor in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In 2016, Dravid moved to Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) until he became the head of the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru in 2019. In 2021, he was appointed head coach of the India men’s team and ended his three-year stint with their first ICC title in 11 years.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

RR are also likely to sign former India batter Vikram Rathour as one of Dravid’s assistant coaches. Rathour, a former India selector, was part of Dravid’s coaching staff at NCA before he became India’s batting coach in 2019.It is understood that while Dravid will take charge of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Kumar Sangakkara, who has been their director of cricket since 2021, will continue with their franchise and look after their teams in other leagues – Paarl Royals in the SA20 and Barbados Royals in the CPL.RR have not won the IPL title since the inaugural season in 2008; their next best finish was in 2022 when they came runners-up to Gujarat Titans. They failed to make the playoffs in 2023, finishing fifth in the league despite a terrific start to the season, but did so in 2024 and were knocked out in Qualifier 2.

Maia Bouchier put her hand to her mouth but she couldn’t conceal the broad, relieved grin for long.Bouchier had reached 92 when she was adjudged not out lbw after attempting to pull a Jess Kerr delivery which struck her low on the back pad, and New Zealand’s bid to overturn the decision was denied on umpire’s call. A maiden century was still on the menu.The moment was a precursor – an amuse-bouche, if you will – to a tense passage of play in which Bouchier, who had been in the 90s twice before at international level and never scored a century in professional ranks, set about reaching the milestone with the help of a cool-headed Nat Sciver-Brunt.”You’ve just got to take those as they come and I was just super happy it was umpire’s call,” Bouchier said after her Player-of-the-Match performance in an eight-wicket win for England in the second ODI at Worcester, which put the hosts 2-0 up in the three-match series.”They call them the nervous nineties for a reason. I try not to think too far ahead and it was nice to have Nat come in and be that calm voice. At the start of the game she did our little speech in our huddle and she just said. ‘one ball at a time’. That’s exactly what she said to me when I was on 96 and she just said, ‘keep thinking one ball at a time, watch and react’. My heart rate was going through the roof, but she really calmed me down, so that was pretty good.”England needed eight more to overhaul the target when Bouchier had her stroke of luck, having bowled New Zealand out for a mere 141 thanks to Sophie Ecclestone’s 5 for 25.Bouchier sent the next ball skywards and it dropped short of long-off as she and Sciver-Brunt scampered two, then two singles took her past her previous best, 95 scored in the third ODI against Sri Lanka last September.Danni Wyatt, padded up outside the dressing-room ready to come in next, could barely watch, holding her breath behind cupped hands as the tension rose. Would Bouchier run out of runs to get? It was possible after Ecclestone’s outstanding performance with the ball.Sciver-Brunt lightened the mood somewhat as she blocked the remaining four balls of Molly Penfold’s over to great cheers from the crowd, including a full toss which she prodded to mid-on where Sophie Devine even tried to lure an attempted run by taking a step back. But the England batters were having none of it and Sciver-Brunt succeeded in handing Bouchier the strike, facing Jess Kerr with four more runs needed to win.Related

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Bouchier tucked Kerr’s first delivery to backward square leg and ran two more. Then, after a dot ball pushed towards point, Bouchier struck the next into space through midwicket and took off for the two runs she needed to reach her ton and seal the win for England inside 25 overs.”I didn’t really know what Nat was thinking in terms of just getting the runs for the team, but when she started blocking a full-toss, I kind of knew and it was great that she was there at the end with me,” Bouchier said. “It was an unspoken communication that we both agreed on.”It was on England’s successful tour of New Zealand earlier this year that Bouchier established herself at the top of the order, particularly in their five T20Is, where she had scores of 43 not out, 12, 71, 91 and 6 as England claimed the series 4-1.In last Wednesday’s first ODI, which England won by nine wickets in Durham, Bouchier scored 67 in a 137-run stand with Tammy Beaumont, who was not out 76.In Worcester, Bouchier took charge, particularly after Beaumont was run out for 28, having shared a 73-run opening stand with Bouchier.Bouchier was on 42 at that point and peeled off five fours in the space of eight balls following Beaumont’s dismissal, four of them off one Devine over. She struck 17 boundaries in all and faced 88 balls for her 100 not out.”I’ve just started to trust myself more and I’ve got a lot more confidence in the way I play and not forcing it really,” she said. “That’s a big thing for me. I time the ball quite well and that’s one of my big strengths, so using those as much as I can.”