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Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup warm-up match against USA was cancelled due to thunderstorms in Dallas on Tuesday morning. Heavy rain and flood warnings meant that both teams remained in the hotel. The ground suffered some damage as seen on photos shared on social media by those present there this morning.”This is to confirm that the warm-up match between Bangladesh and the USA at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas today has been cancelled due to the conditions of the facilities following the adverse weather that has affected the area,” Rabeed Iman, Bangladesh’s team manager, said at 8:54am local time. He later informed that the Bangladesh team was likely to do some gym work before leaving for New York on Wednesday. There, they will play their second warm-up game against India on June 1.This was going to be the first warm-up match for both sides ahead of the T20 World Cup. Co-hosts USA play the tournament opener against Canada on June 1. Bangladesh play their first game against Sri Lanka on June 7. Both these matches are in Dallas, so it was crucial especially for Bangladesh to know more about the venue.Related

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USA beat Bangladesh 2-1 in the T20I series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston last week. It was the home side’s first series win against a Full Member side with the likes of Harmeet Singh, Ali Khan and Corey Anderson helping script history. USA are in Group A of the T20 World Cup alongside Canada, India, Pakistan and Ireland.The shock series defeat will put more pressure on Bangladesh. They have never won more than two matches in an edition of the T20 World Cup. They are in Group D, alongside Sri Lanka, South Africa, Nepal and the Netherlands.USA are hosting an ICC tournament, the biggest one in cricket history in terms of number of participants, for the first time, along with the West Indies.

Lancashire have signed New Zealand pair Daryl Mitchell and Colin de Grandhomme on contracts that will cover the the Vitality T20 Blast and the start of the LV= Insurance County Championship.In a sign of the changing landscape for overseas players in the county game, Mitchell and de Grandhomme will join the squad alongside Dane Vilas, the club’s long-serving South African batter, who stood down last week as club captain but will continue to play for Lancashire this season.With only two overseas players permitted in the XI, Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s director of cricket performance, said having the trio available would “provide us with plenty of options for different matches and scenarios”.De Grandhomme, who has previously represented Hampshire, Surrey and Birmingham Bears, will link up with the club for the start of the summer, potentially playing in four Championship matches before the arrival of Mitchell ahead of the Somerset game on May 11. Both allrounders will be involved in the Blast, with Mitchell available for Championship fixtures against Hampshire, Surrey and Essex and de Grandhomme also providing cover during June and July.Related

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“We are really excited to add both Daryl and Colin to our squad and to be able to do so for such a large portion of the 2023 season – which was a key factor for us when looking to make overseas additions this year,” Chilton said.”The schedule, as it has been for the last few years, continues to be really challenging particularly in the middle part of the summer throughout May, June and July, due to the amount of cricket we’re playing in a short period. With that in mind, we want to ensure we’ve got enough strength in depth to cover for all eventualities and Daryl and Colin provide us with exactly that.”It has been a tricky process to try and add the right overseas players to our squad – in terms of both availability and quality – but I think we have found the perfect fit with two experienced international cricketers, who will bring quality to our changing room.”Colin will be with us from the very start against Surrey in the County Championship before Daryl joins up in mid-May, the pair will then both be available throughout our Vitality Blast campaign and, alongside Dane Vilas, provide us with plenty of options for different matches and scenarios.”Mitchell, who played for Middlesex in 2021 and was Blackpool CC’s professional in 2016, was New Zealand’s Player of the Series during last summer’s tour of England, when he scored 538 runs at 107.60.”I am delighted to be joining Lancashire this English summer,” he said. “The county has a proud history and having lived in Manchester as a child for a couple of years – it’s special to return in this way.”I had a taste of the Vitality Blast and County Championship with Middlesex in 2021 and I am really looking forward to trying to make contributions in both competitions for Lancashire this summer. The chance to test my skills again in two strong competitions is exciting as a player.”I really enjoy playing in English conditions and the special history of the game around the country. I have very fond memories of my two tours to England with New Zealand and hope to build more with Lancashire. It will also be great to link up with my old Blackpool team-mates Steven Croft and Richard Gleeson having played there for a summer in 2016.”De Grandhomme retired from international cricket last year and has a wealth of experience in T20 competitions around the world, playing in the BBL, IPL and CPL, as well as the Hundred in England.De Grandhomme added: “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity of playing for Lancashire this season. I’ve loved playing county cricket previously and I can’t wait to get to England in April to kick off the season with the Red Rose.”Lancashire has an exciting squad who have been so close to silverware in the last couple of years, hopefully I can help to add some experience to the dressing room so that we can go one step further this season.”Emirates Old Trafford is a world-class venue, one which I have played at before in New Zealand colours and I can’t wait to pull on a Lancashire shirt in front of the club’s members and supporters.”

Towhid Hridoy’s dream run of 2023 continued into his ODI debut in Sylhet. His 92 in the first ODI against Ireland is a Bangladeshi debutant’s highest score in this format. There was an air of inevitability about his innings, firstly complementing in the 135-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan, and then cutting loose in the 80-run quickfire stand with his idol Mushfiqur Rahim.The soft-spoken Hridoy said that he wanted to maintain his aggressive intent, a mantra he developed since the disastrous BPL campaign from 2022. Hridoy said that he tried to learn from Shakib during their partnership, but his main focus was on himself.”I wanted to have the right intent,” Hridoy said after the game. “I didn’t try to bat to get settled at the crease. I tried to play each ball to its merit. It was a great feeling batting with Shakib . He is such an experienced batter. I was learning constantly from him. I really enjoyed it. He was giving me advice at times. When I thought I needed to something, I asked him. He was encouraging me, telling to bat as deep as possible.”Hridoy said that it was a great moment from him to bat with Mushfiqur in the latter part of the Bangladesh innings, since it was a moment from the wicketkeeper-batter’s career, 16 years ago, that inspired Hridoy in the first place.”In 2007 when Mushfiq won us the game against India in the World Cup, he took a stump from that game. When I saw that stump in person during a programme in Bogra, I was really inspired by it. I was very little. I dreamed from that day that I want to play for the national team. Today he said some inspiring words, like he wants me to serve Bangladesh cricket for a long time,” said Hridoy.He said that there’s no regret about not reaching the three-figure mark, when he could have been the first from Bangladesh to do so on ODI debut. “I give all praise to Allah. I could have been out early. I am happy with what I got. I always thank Allah. I got what I was in my Rizq (provision). Hopefully I will do better next time. I have no regrets. I hope those making their debuts later, hope they can do even better,” he said.Hridoy is one of the rare products of the BPL, a tournament that is known for organizing and administrative faults. He made 403 runs in this season’s BPL, batting in an aggressive way that no one expected him to. His batting was on the reasons Sylhet Strikers reached the tournament final this year.It was also Hridoy’s failure in the 2022 BPL that motivated him. Hridoy was on strike in the last ball of last year’s BPL final. He was having a woeful time with the bat, scoring runs at 97.84 strike-rate, averaging only 17. Against Comilla Victorians’ Shohidul Islam, Hridoy hit a half-volley to cover, just running a single as Fortune Barishal fell short by one run.”[My aggressive intent and fearless batting] started after playing badly in the 2022 BPL. I thought I should change myself since that tournament. I tried everything including changing my mentality. As much as possible. It was a bad season for me. I tried to get as far away from it.”I was in the HP (high performance) camp and played domestic cricket in the last 12 months. I spoke to [Khaled Mahmud] Sujon sir regularly. He knew me from my childhood. Shohel Islam sir was always there for me. I have spent the most time talking to him,” he said.Hridoy has had more heartbreak in his life. When he was only 12 years old, a man swindled him of a lot of money when he had come to Dhaka for the first time. It turned out that the academy he had intended to join didn’t exist at all. He nearly gave up the game before Mahmud, the former national captain and current BCB director, kept him in the straight and narrow to continue playing in the age-group levels.”I lost a lot when I went to that academy. I didn’t want to continue playing cricket. My father never supported me to play cricket. My parents don’t understand the game but whenever I used to be adamant with my mother, she would relent.”Around that time when I wanted to stop playing, Sujon sir really supported me. This is from my U16 days. He always gave me opportunities from playing in the Dhaka First Division league,” he said.Hridoy said that his parents were delighted with his inclusion in the Bangladesh team, particularly his mother who would often go around his father’s back to help Hridoy pursue his dream. “My parents are very happy, especially my mother. She always supported me. I was always pressured about my studies, but I didn’t really pursue it. I was focused on my cricket,” he said.

In a move that could potentially pave way for the others to follow suit, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has agreed to incentivise its senior men’s team with a 100% pay raise from the 2024-25 season.A recommendation for the state association to match players’ BCCI earnings from the domestic circuit has been approved at the MCA’s apex council meeting. This effectively doubles a player’s earnings through the season.The BCCI currently pays players at the senior men’s level across three slabs. Players with over 40 first-class caps earn INR 60,000 a day, while those who have played 21-40 games take home INR 50,000 a day, and those who have featured in fewer than 20 games earn INR 40,000 a day.Related

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Opening batter Bhupen Lalwani, for example, who featured in all 10 games Mumbai played in Ranji Trophy 2023-24, would have earned INR 17.2 lakhs as match fees. Had this rule come into effect from this season, he would have stood to earn INR 34.4 lakh.Lalwani has played just 14 first-class matches, which means his base earnings from the Ranji Trophy stand at INR 40,000 a day at the moment. The overall earnings for someone who has featured in over 40 first-class games could be significantly higher.Earlier in the month, the MCA announced prize money of INR 5 crores for its players. This was over and above the prize money offered by the BCCI to Mumbai for winning the Ranji Trophy. The move to match earnings is especially bound to benefit those who don’t have an IPL contract.”We felt that the player should earn more, especially those who play Ranji Trophy cricket,” MCA president Amol Kale said. “For us red-ball cricket matters the most as the Ranji Trophy holds a special place for everyone in Mumbai.”There has been a growing chorus among former players to prioritise domestic cricket, particularly in the wake of the BCCI’s decision to introduce a Test Incentive scheme to its centrally contracted men’s players for prioritising red-ball cricket. Under this scheme, a player’s match fees will go up by 300% if he features in more than 75% of Tests in a particular season.Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, voiced his support for extending a similar scheme to first-class cricketers. He had asked the board to consider doubling or tripling existing match fees to “encourage players and look after the feeder system.””If the Ranji Trophy fee can be doubled or tripled, certainly there will be a lot more people playing the Ranji Trophy, [and a] lot less pullouts,” Gavaskar had said. “They will all be wanting to play with the slab system – [if] every ten first-class matches you get that much more – so I would request the BCCI to look at that aspect as well.”This isn’t the first time the MCA has contemplated such a move. In 2022-23, the MCA had proposed annual contracts, and had even set up a three-member committee to propose a structure. That move, proposed by former president Vijay Patil, wasn’t passed by the Apex Council. The MCA soon conducted elections and Patil was replaced by Kale, the current president.

Essex 339 (Walter 134, Critchley 53, Potts 4-71) and 208 for 2 (Elgar 120*, Westley 63*) drew with Durham 587 and 184 for 8 dec (Borthwick 71, Harmer 4-75, Porter 3-18)Dean Elgar reaped his 50th first-class century as he and Tom Westley dropped anchor to secure a draw against Durham in the Vitality County Championship.Former South Africa international Elgar batted the whole of day four, almost exclusively with Westley, to make sure Durham didn’t have a sniff of victory.He ended up with 120 after an epically stoic 165 runs, 421 balls and 276 minutes third wicket stand with Westley – who scored 63 not out.Essex are now 12 points behind leaders Surrey ahead of their meeting next week, while Durham remain in the chasing pack having collected 16 points from a match they led throughout.The hosts needed 405 runs to win on the final day, a tough but not impossible task, but made no attempt to secure a fifth victory of the season.The rationale made sense with a draw meaning Essex would fall 12 points behind table-toppers Surrey – but victory at the Kia Oval next week would likely even things back up.Durham’s initial aim had been to see off the night watcher Jamie Porter.They managed to do that in the fifth over as the day when Matthew Potts beat his fellow fast bowler for pace and crashed into his off stump.From then on, Elgar and Westley got their tents and airbeds out to camp out for the day – as Durham couldn’t extract anything from the pitch to aide a wicket.Westley took 19 balls to get off the mark, and when he did, he also ended a 27-ball spell barren of runs.The lack of opportunity or entertainment seemed to get to the Durham team who took to slow clapping the bowler, in a similar manner to a long jumper preparing to leap.Members of the crowd did not take kindly to the jesting and things got testy when a shout of “no ball” went up as Ben Raine was halfway through his run-up. The incident prompted the umpires to chat to Durham captain Scott Borthwick, while angry comments were volleyed between spectators and fielders.Elgar and Westley were unfazed by the shenanigans as they reached lunch with just 54 runs scored in the morning session.Things didn’t change afterwards, but milestones began to appear. The fifty stand came in 168 balls, Elgar reached a half-century in 96 deliveries and the century partnership in 247 balls.As close as Durham came to a wicket was when Elgar tried to clip Borthwick into the leg side but the ball struck Michael Jones at short leg and ballooned up for Ollie Robinson to pouch. But the umpires, and subsequent replays, made it clear it had been a bump ball.It was one of only three appeals against Elgar, with the other two hopeful lbw shouts at best, with technique and temperament coming to the fore.His maiden first-class century had been scored in Bloemfontein for Free State against Limpopo in 2007 as a 19-year-old.Now 37, Elgar has a half-century of them to help Eagles, South Africa A, Knights, Somerset, Titans, Surrey and Northerns, although his most prized will be the 14 Test tons he plundered before retiring from international cricket last winter.This one came up in 170 balls with a pronounced tickle around the corner before he lifted his helmet, clapped the balcony, and earned a hug off Westley.A mere 85 runs came in the afternoon session, and once Westley had reached an 86th first-class fifty in 198 balls – and 17:00 BST had been reached the hands were shaken on a draw.To sum up Elgar and Westley’s solidity, exactly 400 dot balls had been delivered in Essex’s second innings.

A trial by spin awaits Australia in the T20 World Cup 2024, with them looming as the odd team out in an otherwise all-Asian Super Eight group.Having won their first three games, Mitchell Marsh’s side will progress to the next stage of the tournament whatever happens in Sunday’s clash with Scotland in St Lucia.The main talking point of that match will be the impact it has on England – with an Australia loss enough to knock out the defending champions. But that aside, Australia’s path to a second T20 World Cup and the capture of all three current men’s ICC global titles is becoming much clearer.Related

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Based on pre-tournament seedings, Australia will meet India and Afghanistan in their Super Eight group. Bangladesh are in the box seat to join them, after Nepal fell one run short of shocking South Africa on Saturday.That trio will make for a significant challenge against an Australia team who have traditionally had difficulties on spinning wickets.”A lot of us have prepared for plenty of spin depending on what venue you get to,” Australia’s vice-captain Matthew Wade said. “Guys have been preparing for that through the world, through IPL into the start of this World Cup.”We expect nothing different, and on their day they’re all going to be very very hard teams to beat. We’re expecting them to hit us with a fair bit of spin over the next little bit.”India have so far relied more on their quicks for their matches in the USA, but have Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav at their disposal for the slower Caribbean pitches.Afghanistan can call on Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed and Mohammad Nabi, although have lost Mujeeb Ur Rahman to injury, while Bangladesh will also fancy their spinners as the wickets grow tired. Legspinner Rishad Hossain, who Australia have not faced before, has impressed with seven wickets in three matches.There was significant help for the spinners in the South Africa-Nepal match in St Vincent where Australia will meet Afghanistan.Meanwhile, Wade added he hoped this tournament would not signal his farewell for Australia. He was expected to retire after the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, but at 36 has continued to be a threat for Australia batting at No. 7.”I’m at my best when it’s the last opportunity,” Wade said. “Hopefully I can pull some good stuff out in the next little bit, but it will be the same conversation at the end of this one. There are going to be players go out of this team. I’m more than comfortable if I’m one of them to get the next cycle of players coming in to play for Australia.”

Wanindu Hasaranga has resigned as Sri Lanka’s T20I captain after roughly six months in the role. He said in a statement put out by the board that his decision was in the best interest of Sri Lankan cricket.”Sri Lanka will always have my utmost best efforts as a player, and I will support and stand by my team always,” Hasaranga said in his resignation letter, later seen by ESPNcricinfo.*Related

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Although Hasaranga’s resignation came on the heels of a poor World Cup in which Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the Super Eight, it was still something of a surprise. There was little public pressure on him to be ousted, partly because he was still so new in the role. He also appeared to be relishing the job, even prioritising Sri Lanka commitments over IPL appearances this year as he recovered from a foot injury.In his resignation, he lamented Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign at length.”Sri Lanka’s early exit at the T20 World Cup is extremely disappointing to me as the captain and for the entire team,” he wrote. “As a team and a nation our expectations were high, and I was confident that the best Sri Lanka team was selected to play the tournament.”I do not wish to place excuses to condone our below-par performance, but also wholeheartedly believe that the Bangladesh game was very close and we should have been able to pull through [Bangladesh won by two wickets, with six balls remaining]. If so, circumstances and the fortunes for our nation would have been very much different.”Sri Lanka won six of the 10 T20Is they played under Hasaranga, winning bilateral series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan to start 2024. He had also been suspended for two matches for abusing an umpire during this stint.He remains captain of the Kandy Falcons Lanka Premier League team in the ongoing franchise tournament.While there are no obvious candidates to replace him as captain of Sri Lanka in T20Is, Charith Asalanka’s name will be discussed. He took the reins in the two matches Hasaranga had been suspended for, and also leads Jaffna Kings in the LPL this year.Sri Lanka’s next T20I assignment is the three-match series against India at the end of this month. Sri Lanka will enter that series with a new coach as well, with Sanath Jayasuriya taking over in an interim capacity after Chris Silverwood stepped down following the World Cup. Mahela Jayawardene, too, had quit as consultant coach last month.

Ben Stokes is a major doubt for England’s first Test against Sri Lanka after retiring hurt with a hamstring injury while playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred on Sunday evening. He is set to undergo a scan on Monday which appears likely to rule him out of the three-match Test series.He ended the night on crutches, and was being assessed by medical staff on Sunday evening. “It doesn’t look great, unfortunately,” said Harry Brook, the Superchargers’ captain and Stokes’ England team-mate, after their win against Manchester Originals at Emirates Old Trafford. “I think he’ll be getting a scan tomorrow and we’ll see how he is.”Stokes ran through for a quick single early in the Superchargers’ chase and pulled up injured after completing the run. He was helped off the field by their medical staff and was seen clutching his hamstring on his left leg. He was at the non-striker’s end when Ollie Robinson, his Superchargers team-mate, attempted a scoop which he mistimed into the leg side, and scampered through for a single.He appeared to pull his muscle as he made his ground then collapsed to the ground and threw his gloves off in frustration. Harry Booker (strength and conditioning coach) and James Pipe (physiotherapist) immediately ran on to provide treatment. After Booker and Pipe helped him back to the Superchargers dugout, supporting his weight, Stokes was placed onto a stretcher and wheeled towards an ambulance.Related

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Around an hour later, Stokes was back in the dugout but had to use crutches when shaking hands with the Originals squad after Nicholas Pooran snatched a seven-wicket win with his innings off 66 not out. A Superchargers spokesperson said: “Ben Stokes is having his hamstring assessed. Further updates will be available from tomorrow [Monday].”The injury appears to put Stokes’ chances of playing in the first Test – which starts on August 21 in Manchester – in significant jeopardy. He has managed a chronic left-knee injury throughout the second half of his international career but returned to bowling earlier this year after undergoing surgery over the English winter.Stokes was due to play four group-stage games in the Hundred between England’s series against West Indies and Sri Lanka, with the possibility of staying with the Superchargers if they qualified for the knockout stages. He was dismissed first-ball by Tim Southee in his first appearance, made 2 off four balls in a rain-ruined match in Cardiff on Thursday, and now appears certain to miss their final group fixture against London Spirit on Tuesday.Stokes went down clutching his left hamstring

England are already missing Zak Crawley for the Sri Lanka series due to a fractured finger. Dan Lawrence is set to open the batting in his absence, with Jordan Cox called into their squad as batting cover last week. Ollie Pope is their vice-captain, and would be the strong favourite to lead England for the first time in international cricket in the event that Stokes is ruled out.The Sri Lanka series is squeezed into a short timeframe, with two three-day gaps between Tests. England are then due to arrive in Pakistan in early October ahead of a three-match series which starts in Multan on October 7.

Liam Dawson returned 50 wickets in a Vitality County Championship season for the first time after scoring an eighth fifty of the season as Hampshire closed in on victory over Worcestershire.Spinning all-rounder Dawson reached a half-century of scalps by adding Kashif Ali and Adam Hose to his tally – in doing so beating the 49 wickets he claimed last season – with no spinner in the country taking more this year.Along with his bowling exploits, no one has passed 50 more times than Dawson in Division One in 2024, as he moved to 907 runs with a 51 which set Worcestershire 394 runs to win.The visitors ended the day five wickets down, still 277 runs short of victory – but with Jake Libby still undefeated on 55.Both sides are now only playing for positions after Hampshire’s improbable title challenge ended with Surrey’s victory over Durham, and Worcestershire’s survival already secured.Having elected against enforcing the follow-on the previous evening, Hampshire’s second innings was ramshackle and lacking in fluency, but still ended up at in the vicinity of the destination they would have aimed.The inability to score runs quickly was largely due to Joe Leach’s expertise with a nipping ball, taking three for 17, with six pressure-building maidens, across his first two spells.The 33-year-old is retiring after next week’s fixture against Lancashire, but proved he was still as skilful as ever to pick up Hampshire’s top three – although none of the wickets were classic dismissals.Toby Albert fell in the second over of the morning when he was strangled down leg and was caught behind, Fletcha Middleton lasted a further four overs before he was caught and bowled while playing across one, and first innings double centurion Nick Gubbins was caught at slip after the ball had looped off the wicketkeeper’s glove.Ben Brown quickly followed when Amar Virdi straightened one to pin him, but James Vince was keeping the scoreboard progressing with an often sketchy, sometimes glorious 44.Vince dragged Virdi onto his own stumps while sweeping but after lunch Tom Prest and Dawson returned with a lucidly attacking game plan to whip up a 72-run partnership at a whisker under a run-a-ball.Dawson followed his first innings century and five-wicket haul with a 63-ball fifty but fell soon after when Logan van Beek destroyed his stumps.Things turned frenetic again as James Fuller swished behind, Prest was leg before when stuck on the crease to Virdi, Kyle Abbott was bowled on the swing and Felix Organ was run out after a strike confusion with Mo Abbas – which prevented Virdi from a second career 10-wicket haul.With an imposing, but not impossible target, Gareth Roderick failed to show the resolve of the first innings by getting bowled by Abbott in the sixth over.Kashif Ali played for turn that didn’t come from Dawson to fall lbw in the 14th over before two fine slip catches from Vince accounted for Rob Jones and Adam Hose – the latter was Dawson’s 50th wicket of the season.Jake Libby had staunchly battled to 49, but when initially trying to reach the milestone, he ran out his partner Brett D’Oliveira, before eventually getting to a 47th first-class fifty with a less risky ambled single off 106 balls.Libby remained unbeaten at close, with Ethan Brookes hanging on alongside him.

Ben Manenti has masterminded a 4 for 7 collapse to spin South Australia into a strong position at the halfway stage of their Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at Adelaide Oval.The offspinner was the central figure behind the visitors’ 45-delivery collapse from 59 for 0 to 66 for 4 in the middle session, before wicketkeeper Sam Harper saved his side from embarrassment, joined in the middle late in the evening by Peter Siddle.Related

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Manenti had Jonathan Merlo caught at backward square leg by Lloyd Pope, before bowling Ashley Chandrasinghe, then taking a sharp catch at second slip to dismiss Campbell Kellaway. Manenti dismissed Peter Handscomb, squeezing a catch to Henry Hunt at short leg, and added Tom Rogers to his list, miscuing a pull shot to Pope at backward point.Victoria captain Will Sutherland feathered a catch to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, as did Mitchell Perry, Liam Scott striking immediately with the second new ball.Harper, who has looked in decent touch, remained the key scalp for SA.In the corresponding fixture last summer, Harper thumped nine sixes in an astonishing 151 off 109 balls to lead Victoria to a thrilling, low-scoring victory.”We’ve still got to get these last three wickets,” Manenti said after stumps on Saturday. “Harps is batting nicely and Sids has been around for years – he can obviously chip in as well.”Get these last three, then get to work with the bat and give ourselves a real good shot tomorrow afternoon or early day four to have a crack and put ourselves in a position to win it.”After resuming at 286 for 9 overnight, SA’s stubborn tail frustrated the Victorian attack on the second morning before their innings concluded when No.11 Pope, who scored a personal-best 17, edged Cameron McClure to Harper.Evergreen ex-Test quick Siddle, who turns 40 this month, was the pick of Victoria’s bowlers, capturing 3 for 57.