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Groups and schedule

• Group A: Australia (1), New Zealand (4), England (6) and Bangladesh (7)

• Group B: India (2), Pakistan (8), Sri Lanka (5) and South Africa (3)

• June 1 – Eng v Ban, The Oval

• June 2 – Aus v NZ, Edgbaston

• June 3 – SL v SA, The Oval

• June 4 – Ind v Pak, Edgbaston

• June 5 – Aus v Ban, The Oval

• June 6 – Eng v NZ, Cardiff

• June 7 – Pak v SA, Edgbaston

• June 8 – Ind v SL, The Oval

• June 9 – NZ v Ban, Cardiff

• June 10 – Eng v Aus, Edgbaston

• June 11 – Ind v SA, The Oval

• June 12 – SL v Pak, Cardiff

• June 14 – Semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff

• June 15 – Semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston

• June 18 – Final, The Oval

• June 19 – Reserve day

Two of cricket’s traditional rivalries will be on show in the 2017 Champions Trophy, with hosts England and Australia in Group A, and India and Pakistan in Group B. Group A also contains New Zealand, which means a trans-Tasman clash as well in the first round.The opening game of the tournament is between England and Bangladesh on June 1. Cardiff, The Oval and Edgbaston are the venues for the event, which comprises 15 matches in 18 days, with the final at The Oval on June 18.The ticket ballot opens on September 1 and closes on September 30. The remaining tickets will go on sale in October.The top eight sides in the ICC ODI rankings as of September 30, 2015 qualified for the event, with West Indies and Zimbabwe being the two Full Member countries that failed to make the cut. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals in Cardiff and Edgbaston on June 14 and 15.India and Pakistan have met in the group stage of every ICC tournament – five of them – since the 2011 World Cup, where they had met in the semi-final. When asked if this was a coincidence, the ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said it wasn’t. “It’s no coincidence. The match schedule is done in consultation with the broadcasters. The bottom line is that a significant portion of the cricket world want to see that fixture. Time and time again, it is the biggest fixture in all our events. I don’t think it affects the competition’s integrity. Not as long as the groups are equal in strengths. It’s silly just to avoid it when you can fairly cater for it.”He added: “The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 is not just an ODI competition, it carries a great deal of value since it is being played just three months before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 qualification cut-off date. As such, every point earned here could be crucial.”England are hosting the Champions Trophy for the third time; they made the finals of both the previous tournaments at home, losing to West Indies in 2004 and to India in 2013.

ScorecardWill Bragg laid the base for Glamorgan’s victory•Getty Images

Gloucestershire, the current Royal London Cup champions, suffered their second defeat in successive days when they were soundly beaten by 52 runs by Glamorgan.Despite half centuries from Michael Klinger and top score Benny Howell (77), Gloucestershire were always behind the run rate and lost wickets at regular intervals.Glamorgan, who were put in by Klinger, made 289 before they were dismissed with a ball of their innings remaining, but had been in a position during their 50 overs to have scored in excess of 300.Jacques Rudolph and Will Bragg laid the foundation adding 122 in 22.2 overs for the second wicket, Bragg top scoring with 75 and Rudolph 53. The Glamorgan captain has struggled for runs this season, and in a laboured innings of 81 balls he struck only two fours, scoring only five in the first ten overs.From 156 for 1, Glamorgan suffered a mini collapse, losing four wickets for only 23 runs and it was left to Colin Ingram and Graham Wagg to resurrect the innings with a partnership of 60 until Wagg ran himself out with four overs left.Although Gloucestershire’s two left arm spinners Chris Dent and Tom Smith conceded 94 runs in their ten overs, Glamorgan were restricted by Matt Taylor and Benny Howell in the last 10 overs, as they added 74 runs and lost five wickets. Howell, with his variation of cutters and slower balls was a difficult proposition and is an important member of Gloucestershire’s one day team.Wagg soon made inroads into Gloucestershire’s top order by taking wickets in his third and fourth overs. Dent gave the bowler a return catch then Gareth Roderick struck one to short midwicket where Donald held the catch at the second attempt.When Hamish Marshall fell to Timm Van de Gugten, the visitors had slumped to 48 for 3, with their hopes resting primarily on Klinger. He put on 61 with Ian Cockbain, but both batsmen were restrained by some accurate bowling, and after Cockbain was caught down the leg side by the wicketkeeper, Gloucestershire lost their leading batsmen when Klinger, who had struck 52 from 79 balls, gave Ingram a return catch.Ingram’s leg spin caused problems for the batsmen and after Jack Taylor was caught at long off Gloucestershire were in trouble at 123 for 6 with Ingram having taken 2 for 12 from 5 overs.With 10 overs remaining Gloucestershire required 105 to win, with Tom Smith and Benny Howell having shared a useful stand of 64, but Craig Meschede then uprooted Smith’s off stump with his third ball. Howell battled until the end before he was the last man out, caught on the extra cover boundary.

ScorecardNew Zealand’s Suzie Bates scored 25 and took 1 for 20 as Southern Vipers started with a win (file photo)•IDI/Getty Images

Georgia Adams hit 41 as the Southern Vipers produced a flawless display with bat and ball to start their Kia Super League campaign with a six-wicket bonus point win over Surrey Stars.Opening batsman Adams crunched her runs from 43 balls in a stylish knock, helping to put on a 66-run opening stand with New Zealand international Suzie Bates. Despite a mini-wobble with victory in their sights, the Vipers chased down their target with 28 balls to spare following a disciplined bowling performance in front of 2,250 at the Ageas Bowl.The only blemish for the home side came when captain Charlotte Edwards, who recently retired from England duty, suffered a sickening neck injury when she collided with Fi Morris attempting to catch Nat Sciver’s aerial strike, forcing her to sit out the rest of the match.Surrey had elected to bat first but opening bowlers Morna Nielson and Natasha Farrant piled on the pressure from the off, with batsmen Bryony Smith and Tammy Beaumont struggling to pierce the infield. The frustration was typified when England star Beaumont chipped Farrant straight to Edwards at mid-on from the 12th ball of the innings.The squeeze continued into left-armer Farrant’s second over when she had Cordelia Griffith leg before and Bates joined the fun by bowling a slogging Smith.The Stars were then left on 26 for 4 when a stunning catch from Edwards, again at mid-on, gave Nielsen her first wicket with the final ball of her spell – and top figures of 1 for 12 from four overs. It got even worse for the visitors when captain Nat Sciver sent back overseas player Marizanne Kapp, who was well short of making her ground.Naomi Dattani was lbw to Morris but Sciver and Rene Farrell milked as many runs as possible in an unbroken partnership of 37 to help the Stars reach 85 for 6 in their 20 overs.The Vipers boasted a glowing bowling card, with home-grown pacer Katie George a surprise standout, only going for 13 in her four overs, including 17 dot balls, and Farrant taking 2 for 17.In reply, Bates and Adams, promoted to the top of the order with Edwards sidelined although able to bat if required, looked more at ease at the crease than their Surrey counterparts. Adams stroked a glorious cover drive before Bates, the ICC’s No. 2-ranked T20 batsman, copied her at the other end as the pair went through the gears to reach 32 for 0 by the end of the Powerplay.Surrey’s day got worse when Kapp dropped a low chance off Adams, and the Sussex batsman made her pay with a beautiful lofted drive down the ground soon after. The fifty stand came up in 65 deliveries, but Adams drilled a caught and bowled at Alex Hartley to end the partnership.Sara McGlashan fell to Hartley’s next ball and Bates was castled by Lea Tahuhu as three wickets fell for two runs, before Alice Macleod was run out with three still required but the home side managed to ease home three balls later.

ScorecardMichael Richardson took a blow but made an important fifty•Getty Images

There is the faintest risk of relegation in the air for Durham and Warwickshire, with the whiff about to become stronger for whichever county finishes on the wrong end of the result here. Just the time then with the Championship season at such a critical juncture for Paul Collingwood to stage an encore for Brigadier Block.Durham’s coach, Jon Lewis, had summoned the squad in on Monday, barely 24 hours after their defeat in the final of the NatWest T20 Blast, for a practice session that he called “more mental than physical”. The emphasis had to switch to four-day cricket and Collingwood, who ground out 23 in 107 deliveries, certainly gave it his full attention.It was clear from the outset that if Warwickshire got him out it would be over his dead body – it was just that there were times in a stubbornly strokeless display when it seemed that his death had been a little premature.It was the sort of Bowling Day that legitimised such defiance with plenty of encouragement for the bowlers in humid conditions and on a pitch that Warwickshire regarded as a bit “tacky”. Only Michael Richardson, who made 55 from 72 balls before he edged Keith Barker low to second slip, and more briefly Jack Burnham, also picked up at slip, this time off Chris Wright, made much headway in a total of 207 that took 81 overs to compile.Richardson has handed over the gloves to Stuart Poynter and the batting responsibility seemed to spur him on. But generally, it was attritional fare for a decent sun-drenched crowd.Barker bowls his left-arm medium with grace despite his bulk, a man who one suspects would barely leave a footmark in a fresh fall of snow. Such economy of effort enabled him to deliver 11 overs with the new ball, bowling Mark Stoneman and swinging one away from Keaton Jennings to have him caught at first slip. Barker has made a habit of tormenting Durham with bat and ball in recent seasons and 3 for 29 off 17 overs was another decent effort.But once Richardson had departed, half the Durham side sent back for 151, the last five wickets fell to the offspin of Jeetan Patel. Figures of 5 for 32 in 15.3 overs are not what you expect from a spinner on an opening day at Emirates Riverside, even in a season where attempts have been made to encourage spinners back into the game.At a time when Collingwood might have hoped to benefit, he became increasingly careworn, feet not always moving, bat likewise. His only boundary was a delicate leg glance off Barker from the 67th ball he faced. There was a flurry of activity straight after tea when he tried to drive Patel and the ball spun past leg stump and trundled for four byes.He fell in hesitant fashion to the next delivery, sitting back to dab the ball between silly point and slip, flinging his head back in response to some modest turn and bounce and somehow depositing the ball into the hands of silly point. It was an innings to make his various injuries niggle away a little deeper, but Durham scored 114 for 2 while he was at the crease and the value of his innings might be recognised in hindsight.Patel made short work of the rest. Poynter and Barry McCarthy, back from Ireland duty, were both bowled, Paul Coughlin swept to deep midwicket and Graham Onions’ idiosyncratic reverse paddle against Patel was the sort of T20 shot Lewis had feared, only from a No. 11 who had not actually been part of the squad.Durham’s resolve has never been higher this season than when they won at Edgbaston last month, surviving Chris Woakes’ brilliant 9 for 35 to secure the game on the final morning. They will need a display of similar determination, one fancies, if they are to come out on the right side of this one.

Adam Voges hopes his remarkably productive home summer last year will hold him in good stead when Australia’s selectors assess the fallout from the recent whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka. Australia lost all three Tests in turning conditions, and will face much of the same early next year they will travel to India for four Tests. But in the meantime, they will host South Africa and Pakistan for six Tests on surfaces that are far more familiar.Voges was one of the batsmen who struggled to adapt to the slow, spinning pitches in Sri Lanka, where he failed to score a fifty across the three Tests and averaged 19.66. However, last summer he piled up 660 runs at 165.00 in the six home Tests against New Zealand and West Indies, and he also scored profusely on the tour of New Zealand that followed.But at 36, Voges knows that all his mountains of runs will count for little if he endures a prolonged dry patch, and scores of 47, 12, 8, 28, 22 and 1 constitute the beginnings of one. The home Test summer begins at the WACA against South Africa in early November, and Voges hopes that his track record at that ground, and in Australia generally, will be enough to convince the selectors to stick with him.”The first home Test for the summer is here at the WACA and obviously conditions are fairly different to what we’ve just experienced,” Voges said on on Thursday. “I take a lot of confidence out of what I was able to do last summer, and hopefully get that opportunity here in Perth at my home ground, somewhere that I’ve grown up playing and know the conditions really well.”I’ve given the selectors the opportunity to leave me out if they wanted to, with how I’ve performed in Sri Lanka. Hopefully they keep the faith with me. I still think I’ve got plenty to offer. I take a lot of confidence out of what I was able to do last summer, and really the form and the run that I’ve had over the last couple of years, hopefully the last three Tests have just been a small blip on what’s been a pretty good couple of years.”Four times from the six innings in Sri Lanka, Voges was dismissed by Rangana Herath. However, he was far from alone in struggling against Herath, who claimed 28 wickets for the series and caused Australia major problems in all three Tests.”We didn’t have a lot of answers for him, to be honest,” Voges said. “He has very subtle variations with his release points, his pace, where he stands on the wicket. But ultimately the ball seems to end up relatively in the same area. Some spin, some don’t. And he’s just very crafty. In conditions that suit him, like they did over there, he’s certainly a handful.”It took until the third Test for Australia to find a batsman to build on a start and go on to reach triple figures – Shaun Marsh and Steven Smith both did so in the first innings in Colombo – but by then the series was decided. Sri Lanka had wrapped up their triumph in Galle, where they set Australia 413 to win. Voges came to the crease at 61 for 4 and reverse swept his first ball, persisting with the shot until it brought him undone on 28.”We spoke before that fourth innings and on a Galle wicket that was spinning quite a bit, the skipper and the coach asked the batting group to be a lot more proactive with the way we went about things,” Voges said. “The reverse sweep was basically my version of it. I played one first ball, which was a little bit gutsy, but there was only one bloke on the off side and eight on the leg side.”My thinking was that if I could get one away it would bring at least one of those guys back over and maybe I could find a couple of gaps on the leg side … It always looks bad when you get out playing that sort of shot, but at the time I thought it was the best way to try and combat them and score runs in those conditions … If I had my time again I’d still play the shot – maybe a little more selectively and mix it up a little bit more than what I did.”

India opener Shikhar Dhawan has admitted to channelling the disappointment of being omitted from the playing XI for the recent T20I series against West Indies into improving his standards. Dhawan had a mediocre outing in the Test series in the West Indies, where he managed only 138 runs from four innings before being dropped for the final Test in Port of Spain.”I feel my motivation always increases even when things don’t go well for me,” Dhawan told reporters after the Duleep Trophy final between India Blue and India Red. “Sure, it does hurt me, but I channel the hurt to keep getting better; I don’t let it bog me down. That’s how I work.”Like, when I was left out for the T20s – of course I wanted to be in the playing XI. So, that required me to do better. So, I thought, ‘OK man, I have to raise my standards. As simple as that.’ I don’t look outside; I look inside and say, ‘I will have to do this, I will do it.'”Dhawan also said his motivation to do well increased with time, and that age didn’t have a bearing on it. “It depends on your desire [to do well], how much you love the game and what goals you have.”With the emergence of KL Rahul, India have had the luxury of opting for any two of three potential openers – Rahul, Dhawan and M Vijay – and the team used all possible pairings during the West Indies Tests. Dhawan’s middling returns have coincided with a breakout season for Rahul – he scored 236 runs, including a hundred, from three Test innings, before smashing an unbeaten 51-ball 110 in the first T20I in Florida.Dhawan agreed that the competition for the opening spots had intensified, and that it had kept every player on his toes in the lead-up to a long home season. “It is a good thing. [One needs to give it one’s all to keep one’s place in the side],” he said.”Rahul, anyway has done quite well in Test matches and T20s, so if you look at the bigger picture it’s very good for India that there are three or four openers pushing one another, as well as openers in the domestic circuit who are also pushing for places. Such competition ensures each individual keeps working hard.”With the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur set to begin in a little over a week, Dhawan said he was preparing well and getting physically and mentally stronger. Asked if there was any specific preparation involved, he replied with a laugh: “I am batting for 40 minutes [in the nets].”Dhawan was also appreciative of head coach Anil Kumble’s cricketing smarts, and said he was learning from him the importance of hard graft. “It’s been great having Anil around. Of course, he is a great legend,” he said. “He is so well educated and obviously has a sharp brain. He has great cricketing intelligence as well, so you obviously learn a lot for him – be it the dedication and hard grind he brought to his game, or the aggressive mindset with which he played.”Dhawan, who turned out for India Red who lost the Duleep Trophy final to India Blue, said the tournament provided useful game-time ahead of a busy season. “It’s quite useful because I believe practice in the form of matches is always good as it gives you a feel of the pressure,” he said. “Especially, after you field for two successive days, your body also loosens up and you get a good vibe. So, you take that confidence forward.”

Nobody wants to atone for last year’s road-like WACA pitch more keenly than the curator Matt Page. However, circumstances of climate and schedule have conspired to increase the degree of difficulty for the ground staff commissioned to restore a slowing surface to its former glory.The New Zealand Test began on November 13 last year, 10 days later than this one, providing extra time for the surface to harden under the Perth sun. Additionally, this year, an unseasonably cold Spring has prevented the WACA’s block of 10 pitches from baking in the sort of heat more commonly associated with the venue.Moving the WACA Test to the start of summer, after more than 20 years of opening Test matches at the Gabba in Brisbane, has complicated life for Page and his staff. That decision was based around Cricket Australia’s desire to hold a second day-night Test in the 2016-17 season while ensuring both visitors – South Africa and Pakistan – played one apiece. Perth is considered too late a time zone to host a match starting any later than a day Test.Nevertheless, Page has worked off the knowledge gained last season to try to produce a livelier deck. “We’ve done things a little bit differently this year,” he said on Wednesday. “We’ve left a little more green grass on it, we’ve also adjusted our water.”Being November, we don’t usually get the high temperatures we need to bake that surface to try to give us every possibility to get something that will go through and give the bowlers a good crack at the batters. [The weather’s] not been great, but we’ve tinkered with our prep to try to get a harder surface than we would normally see here this time of year and just try to help it go through a bit quicker.”Page feels the WACA square has not been baked enough by the sun•Abhishek Purohit/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Unlike the WACA practice pitches, which have retained their traditional clay base and have thus remained arguably the quickest in the world, successive operations on the WACA’s square have left it less settled than it should be. So some strips are faster than others, with the central one not necessarily so, to suit the commercial demands of television. This year’s pitch is the same as last year’s.”The ones on this [east] side of the block seem to be a bit quicker, they’ve all got their own little characteristics, the 10 wickets out there, they all do little things,” Page said. “There are some that are a little bit quicker than others. This one is a normal Test-match wicket. We saw a couple of one-dayers here a couple of years ago with South Africa when it went through really well.”Last year was not so good, so we’re hoping that it’s more towards that South African wicket of a couple of years ago. Hopefully it’ll [also] be something very similar to the last Shield game we had. There was a bit of bounce there, there was a bit of seam, something there for the bowlers, something there for the batters, there were three hundreds. That’s sort of what we’re looking for this time of year, being November.”Page was philosophical about the chances of getting things back to the old days, even as the construction of Perth’s new multipurpose stadium meant many major matches will be shifted elsewhere. “It’s something we’re working towards and we’ve seen wickets here since the wicket that was reconstructed that have really gone through well,” he said. “Our biggest issue is our consistency, they’re not consistently quick. That’s what we’re working towards to make sure it happens.”There’s pressure with every wicket you produce at the WACA, there’s that reputation of the pace and the bounce and getting it back consistently to the way it was in the 1970s. That’s what we try to do with all our wickets, sometimes we get there, sometimes we don’t. I’m pretty confident we’ll have a wicket that will have a bit in it for both batters and bowlers.”One form of pressure that won’t be on Page is to tailor a pitch to the specific demands of the home team. Everyone knows what to expect at the WACA – the tricky bit is meeting those expectations.

South Africa are keen to play more pink-ball cricket even after losing their first day-night Test. Both stand-in captain Faf du Plessis, and Man of the Series Vernon Philander said they would like to see the ball used at home, though South Africa may face some challenges in introducing it.”The questions we had about day-night cricket were more skeptical and now we are not so much like that anymore,” Faf du Plessis said. “But there are positive signs. I would like to see it in South Africa. Obviously, the lights would have to be upgraded dramatically but it adds something different to Test cricket.”With the rising cost of electricity, stadiums in South Africa are reluctant to turn the lights on at the best of times, but the merits of investing in the format were on display at the Adelaide Oval. Du Plessis’ day one declaration was the earliest example. He called time on South Africa’s innings to put Australia in for 45 minutes under lights, in the hope of extracting some extra movement and making inroads.It was a gamble that did not pay off, but South Africa soon realised that twilight was when the pink ball could be most dangerous. Not only did it swing, but it also turned.They may have been disappointed that their left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi did not prove the trump card he was primed to be but du Plessis was pleased to see the improvement from one innings to the next.”In the first innings Shamsi may not have bowled as well as he wanted,” du Plessis said. “But then in the second innings, in a different situation, he bowled really well. He stepped up to the challenge of being better.”Stephen Cook was one of three South African players to endorse the pink ball after the Adelaide Test•Getty Images

For Philander, who relied on subtlety, the pink ball sometimes “did too much,” but he said he would also like to see “our domestic teams play with it a bit for future reference.” He couldn’t get the most out of it, but he believed South Africa have a diverse enough attack for someone else to.”Our attack now covers all bases and the guys have stepped up really well,” Philander said. “With myself and Kyle Abbott upfront, we have seam and swing and then we have KG [Rabada] with a bit of pace. It’s wonderful to have all those varieties available to you but then it’s also up to the captain to see how to use it.”From a batting perspective, South Africa’s fear of collapsing under lights was not realised, though they did find the going tougher once the sun set. Their most successful batsman, Stephen Cook, learnt that patience was invaluable when facing the pink ball. “You can’t get ahead of yourself with the pink ball. Once you start to chase things, you can come undone,” Cook said. “If you look at Usman Khawaja, he stuck with his game plan from ball one to ball 300 and I tried to do the same thing. Just because I had 60, didn’t meant I could take it to the attack.”Cook had led the South Africa A side on a pre-series recce in the winter to play with the pink ball, and having faced it more than most, hoped it was here to stay.”It’s got better in terms of the ball from last year with the white seam, which swung more and deteriorated faster. Now, it lasts longer and is more durable. If those improvements continue to be made, I would absolutely want to keep using it and we won’t have to make conditions to suit the ball. We’ve had a nice experience with it.”

Match facts

Friday, December 9, 2016
Start time 1745 local (1145 GMT)Dhaka’s Shakib Al Hasan and Dwayne Bravo will need to display their all-round skills in the final•BCB

Big Picture

Though there are in-form specialist batsmen and bowlers in both line-ups, the BPL final between Dhaka Dynamites and Rajshahi Kings could boil down to one set of allrounders edging out the other.Dhaka’s firepower is led by Andre Russell, assisted by Dwayne Bravo, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain. All of them have shown the ability to change the course of the game with their batting, their bowling and their fielding. Russell, Bravo and Shakib have done so time and again in T20 finals but Nasir and Mosaddek will have to adjust to the big occasion.Darren Sammy will lead Rajshahi’s all-round troops, which also include Samit Patel, Mehedi Hasan, Farhad Reza, James Franklin and young Afif Hossain. It is a motley crew of veterans and rookies but they have done the job on many occasions during the BPL this year.Rajshahi’s bowling attack also includes Kesrick Williams and Nazmul Islam, two bowlers who have been miserly whenever they have been pushed to win a game. Of course, Rajshahi would be foolish to depend solely on their middle order and bowlers. The likes of Mominul Haque, Nurul Hasan and Sabbir Rahman have to do their bit, which will also give them momentum ahead of Bangladesh’s full series against New Zealand later this month.Dhaka’s openers Mehedi Maruf and Evin Lewis are dangerous, while the experienced Kumar Sangakkara will provide balance in the top order.

Form guide

Dhaka Dynamites: WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Rajshahi Kings: WWWLL

In the spotlight

Mehedi Maruf hasn’t scored a half-century since Dhaka’s fourth game; he is due, and when better than the final to deliver? He has been trying to hit out from the first over and, if he succeeds, that could be dangerous for Rajshahi who will also need to contain Evin Lewis at the other end.After his memorable Test debut against England, Mehedi Hasan has had an uneventful maiden BPL campaign – so far. He has taken 11 wickets in 14 matches and has done well with the bat just once. A budding allrounder, his offspin could make a big difference to Rajshahi’s attack against Dhaka’s big-hitters.

Team news

Dhaka are likely to go with the same XI that crushed Khulna in the first qualifier, which means that the big-hitting Seekkuge Prasanna may have to be kept out.Dhaka Dynamites (probable): 1 Mehedi Maruf, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Nasir Hossain, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Alauddin Babu, 10 Sunzamul Islam, 11 Abu JayedRajshahi is also likely to remain unchanged from the second qualifier against Khulna, fitting their six allrounders into a strong but inconsistent batting line-up.Rajshahi Kings (probable): 1 Mominul Haque, 2 Nurul Hasan (wk), 3 Afif Hossain, 4 Sabbir Rahman, 5 James Franklin, 6 Samit Patel, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Mehedi Hasan, 9 Farhad Reza, 10 Kesrick Williams, 11 Nazmul Islam

Pitch and conditions

Mirpur’s darker soil hasn’t been all that comfortable for the batsmen. Its slow nature has meant that the average score for teams batting first in the evening games has been only 135. In Chittagong it was 161, while in the day games in Mirpur it was 154. Only seven out of 19 times in this tournament have teams batting first won an evening game in Mirpur.

Stats and trivia

• In matches won, Dhaka’s Mehedi Maruf has batted at a rate of 145.19. Rajshahi’s Darren Sammy has done even better in that regard: strike rate of 194.79 in wins. With the ball, Kesrick Williams has conceded just 3.33 runs per over in Rajshahi wins
• Rajshahi won both their league games against Dhaka, with Samit Patel adjudged Player of the Match on both occasions
• This will be the third BPL final for a Dhaka franchise, with the Gladiators having won the title in 2012 and 2013. Rajshahi will be playing their first final

Quotes

‘We want it just as bad as they want it.”

ScorecardJon Holland claimed his third five-wicket haul in first-class cricket•Getty Images

Left-arm spinner Jon Holland ran through Tasmania with a five-wicket haul on the first day in Hobart, where the Tigers were dismissed for 203 after choosing to bat first. At stumps Victoria were 3 for 54 in reply, with nightwatchman Scott Boland on 1. Jackson Bird, captaining Tasmania for the first time in any format, had 2 for 25, having dismissed Travis Dean and Marcus Stoinis cheaply.But Tasmania still had much work ahead of them after their own batting struggles. Dom Michael made 54 and Simon Milenko chipped in with 52, but they were the only contributions of note as Victoria’s strong attack – all of its members have represented Australia in one format or another – gave them little respite.Holland finished with 5 for 49, the second-best figures of his first-class career, and he now has 25 at 17.08 in this Sheffield Shield season. John Hastings, overlooked for Australia’s ongoing Chappell-Hadlee campaign against New Zealand, picked up 2 for 29 from 16 overs, and Chris Tremain also claimed two wickets.