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.KL Rahul: “I don’t think I can say this on camera, but I was s****ing myself at the end. But we still had a couple of batters to come, so I was confident that we could get over the line.”But in moments like this and big games, it’s more about holding your composure, which we all know about. It’s not easy, but I’m happy to win this and happy to get over the line this time. I think I’ve batted in times like this in three out of the five games. And one of the games I didn’t get to bat at all, against Pakistan.”The game’s given me good time in the middle and good time to prepare for a big moment like this. It’s hard to put in words, but it’s just pure skill and the way we’ve all played our cricket growing up. We’ve had to face a lot of challenges. We’ve had to face pressure from the time we held the bat and from the time we decided to be professional cricketers. I think it’s just the first-class cricket, BCCI, how they’ve groomed every player, every talented player that comes around. They’re giving us opportunities and platforms to showcase our skills and to put ourselves under pressure and keep challenging ourselves and getting better.”Related

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Hardik Pandya: “It’s always amazing to win an ICC event, and especially the Champions Trophy. I remember 2017 very closely to my heart. We could not finish the job that time. But very, very pleased with the way we have played throughout the tournament. And, at the same time, how everyone contributed. That was fantastic.”Oh, brilliant. You know, that was calm, composed [from KL Rahul]. He took his chances at the right point of time. I think this is what KL Rahul is. KL Rahul has immense talent, and I don’t think anyone can hit the ball the way he can. I think that was the exhibition of how he did today.”Varun Chakravarthy: “Yeah, so I was a sudden inclusion, and I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, and it’s a dream come true. Yeah, it was good, because [in] the first innings the spin was less, and we had to be very disciplined and stick to the stumps.”Shreyas Iyer: “Feeling ecstatic, to be honest. It’s ineffable. And hard to say it in words, to be honest. It’s my first ICC trophy, and I’m kind of overwhelmed. Looking at each and everyone in the dressing room, the way we’ve turned up towards this tournament, and the way we’ve progressed, it was simply magnificent.”To be honest, I love to be under pressure whenever there’s a challenge. I feel I thrive under pressure, and I love such moments. It’s just that I’ve been getting amazing starts in the tournament, and not able to get a big one, but at the end of the day, if I’m able to contribute to a team victory, that is immensely satisfying, and I’m truly happy.”Shubman Gill: “Felt amazing. For the most part, I was sitting back and enjoying Rohit ‘s batting but we kept talking to each other and the [opening] partnership was important for us. Definitely very satisfying, we missed out on the last one that we played in 2023 [World Cup], and it’s a surreal feeling to be able to win this one, starting with the ODI series in England, winning eight ODIs back-to-back, amazing feeling.”Watching him [Virat Kohli] on the TV when I was a kid, and then playing with him, and seeing the intensity at which he plays, it’s just phenomenal to watch. And I think it tells us what the game is all about, giving his everything, and that’s the only thing that he talks about, even off the field as well – give your everything when you’re playing on the field. For him to be able to back his words like that, is just phenomenal.”Ravindra Jadeja: “My batting number is such that I’m either a hero or a zero [on finishing India’s matches often]. Hardik and KL had a good partnership in the last ten overs because the wicket was not so easy for new batsmen but the partnership they had changed the momentum of the game.”This means a lot to India. You’re a part of such a team, and there will be regrets if you’re not able to win tournaments after playing for so many years. But luckily in these two years we’ve won the T20 World Cup and now the Champions Trophy, so it’s great for team India.”Kuldeep Yadav: “Luckily [I didn’t have to bat]. Credit goes to KL and Jaddu to finish the game. There are certainly a lot of expectations when you’re playing well over the years, and you enter the tournaments as favourites, although I don’t believe in the favourites’ tag. We’ve played good cricket over the last few years, and I dedicate this win to the fans, they have a lot of expectations from us. It’s been terrific how we played this tournament.”It’s very difficult to manage four spinners on the field and the way Rohit managed was great and outstanding because you have to read the batsmen and who will bat in what situation, so whom to bowl at what time. The planning was there for the last few days according to their batting line-up and what to bowl when. It was terrific.”A big party is due, and entire India will party today.”

Rohit Sharma’s decision to sit out of the Sydney Test shouldn’t be misconstrued as a retirement decision, he has said. He is confident “things can change” and those with a “mic, pen or laptop can’t decide when we should retire.”Rohit was reacting to media reports in India that had brought his Test future into sharp focus following India’s loss in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test in Melbourne, which all but ended their chances of qualifying for the WTC final.”This decision is not a retirement decision,” he told during the lunch break on day two of the Sydney Test, in which Jasprit Bumrah is captaining India. “Nor am I going to take myself out of the game.Related

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“I sat out of this match because runs are not coming off my bat. There is no guarantee runs won’t come five or two months down the line. I have seen a lot in cricket that life changes every second, every minute, every day.”I have confidence in me that things can change, but at the same time I have to be realistic as well. So life won’t change by what people with a mic, pen or laptop write or say. They can’t decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, mature man, father of two kids. So I know what I need in life.”Rohit, India’s Test and ODI captain, missed the start of the Test series on paternity leave. After joining the squad midway through the series opener in Perth, which India won by 295 runs, Rohit slotted into the middle order for the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests to accommodate KL Rahul at the top of the order.In Melbourne last week, Rohit returned to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal, with Rahul slotting in at No. 3 and Shubman Gill losing out on a place in the XI. However, two failures and a loss on a dramatic final day led to chatter around his place in the XI.Rohit didn’t do his usual pre-match press conference a day out from the final Test, and head coach Gautam Gambhir sidestepped questions on Rohit’s participation, stating a call would be taken after looking at the pitch.”I made this decision after coming here [to Sydney],” Rohit said. “We had only two days between the matches. On New Year’s, I didn’t want to have this chat with the selector and the coach. But it was in my mind that I am trying my best but I am not getting the runs. I have to accept it and have to get myself out of the way.”The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple: my bat is not scoring runs, I am not in form, this is an important match, and we need players who are in form. As it is, the boys are not in great form. So I had this simple thought in my mind: we can’t carry out-of-form players.”That’s why I thought I should tell the coach and the selector what’s going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said you have been playing for so many years, you are the best judge of what you are doing.”Rohit’s form has been a concern for a while. He had averaged 13.30 over ten innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand during the 2023-24 home season. And he presided over a 3-0 defeat to New Zealand, India’s first home-series loss since 2012-13.”It was a difficult decision for me, but if you keep everything in mind, this was a sensible decision,” he said. “I am not thinking too far. Right now, what does the team need? That is what I was thinking. Nothing else.”

Vaibhav Suryavanshi starred with a second successive half-century as India stormed into the Under-19 Asia Cup final with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Friday.The 13-year-old, who became the youngest cricketer ever to be bought at an IPL auction last month, smashed five sixes and six fours for his 36-ball 67 as India chased down a target of 174 with as many as 170 balls to spare.India will face Bangladesh in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.Related

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Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by seven wickets, completing a chase of 117 in 22.1 overs in the first semi-final in Dubai.Opting to bat, Sri Lanka could only manage 173 in 46.2 overs despite a valiant effort from Lakvin Abeysinghe (69 off 110) and Sharujan Shanmuganathan (42 off 78).Their innings struggled to gain momentum but Indian bowlers were in full control with Chetan Sharma (3 for 34), Kiran Chormale (2 for 32), and Ayush Mhatre (2 for 37) wreaking havoc in the middle overs.Ayush Mhatre’s 34 off 28 laid a solid foundation for the chase as he put on a stand of 91 with Suryavanshi for the opening wicket.The young left-hander from Bihar troubled the Sri Lankan bowlers from the beginning as he started with consecutive sixes and a boundary off Sigera, who ended up giving away 31 runs in his opening over.Mhatre too played his strokes at the other end as the duo raced to 87 for no loss in eight overs before Vihas Thewmika gave Sri Lanka their first breakthrough by removing the batter.But Suryavanshi kept the run rate ticking despite losing his opening partner, forging another crucial association with C Andre Siddharth (22).He didn’t stop there, taking the attack to the bowlers with his aggressive strokes, including scoring two sixes off Aayan Khan. Captain Mohamed Amaan (25 not out) and KP Karthikeya (11 not out) then completed the chase.

Essex have appointed Sunrisers duo Danni Warren and Andy Tennant to oversee their women’s set-up as they transition to Tier 1 status for next season.Warren, formerly the regional director of women’s cricket for London and the east, will transition into the role of performance director at Essex. Tennant, the former Scotland international, will take over as Essex Women’s team director, having been head coach of Sunrisers.”I’m incredibly excited to take on this new role with Essex Women as we enter a new era for the women’s professional game,” Tennant said. “Having worked with Danni and the majority of the staff and players at Sunrisers, I know the strength and potential of the team we’re building here.Related

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“Our focus will be on creating an environment where players and staff can thrive and fulfil their potential, both on and off the field. This is a fantastic opportunity to drive towards sustainable success and help Essex Women become a leading force in the game, and I know we all can’t wait to get started.”Warren had been regional director at Sunrisers since 2020 and brought in Tennant as coach ahead of the 2023 season. Last summer, they oversaw Sunrisers’ first title of the women’s regional era, when they defeated South East Stars in the final of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Essex were one of eight teams to be awarded Tier 1 status during a bidding process earlier in the year, as the ECB returned to structuring women’s cricket within the pre-existing county system.

India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has not given up hopes of adding to his lone Test cap, insisting that he is trying to play as much domestic cricket as possible in a bid to make a comeback into the Test side.Suryakumar played his first and only Test against Australia in early 2023, and while his T20I credentials have grown, a Test call-up has remained elusive. The 34-year-old is trying to rectify that. He played a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai last month and had turned out for India B in a Duleep Trophy fixture in September, though without much success.”When the time comes, I will make a Test comeback,” Suryakumar said ahead of India’s first T20I against South Africa in Durban. “I am playing all the domestic tournaments, be it red-ball or white-ball. I don’t miss any game. If that [Test comeback] has to happen, it will happen.”Related

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Suryakumar also threw his weight behind the Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, who has been under fire after India were whitewashed 3-0 for the first time in a Test series at home by New Zealand.”In sports, winning and losing are common. Everyone works hard, everyone wants to win,” he said. “For me, the most important thing in life is the balance. Whether he’s [Rohit] doing well or not, his character does not change. That is one quality which I feel a sportsman should always have.”It is still early days for Suryakumar the T20I captain who took over full-time after Rohit’s retirement from the format post India’s T20 World Cup win in June. Having played under Rohit for India and in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar said that he has “learned a lot” from him, particularly the way he handles the youngsters, a trait he’s trying to imbibe into his captaincy style.Of late, India have been trying plenty of fresh faces in T20Is•BCCI

“I know how he [Rohit] treats the players, what he wants from them. So that route I have also taken because he’s been very successful recently,” Suryakumar said. “When I am on the ground, I keep noticing how his body language is, how calm he is under pressure situations, how he talks to the bowlers, how he treats everyone on the field and off the field.”Most importantly, from a leader you expect how much time he is spending with you to have that comfort. I try to replicate that. When I am not on the ground, I try and spend time with my team-mates, have a meal with them, travel together.”These are the small things which reflect on the ground. If you want to earn your team-mate’s respect and if you want him to deliver on the ground, all these things are very important. I add a bit of my own spice, and we are going forward.”While the sample size is small, India have achieved terrific results under Suryakumar, having won 11 out of 13 T20Is, which includes series sweeps against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Suryakumar also has the experience of leading in South Africa, having captained the Indian side last year in a three-match T20I series which ended 1-1 with the game in Durban washed out.Suryakumar said that his captaincy style is completely different to his aggressive batting style, and that he tries to give his players plenty of “freedom and clarity”.”You have to understand what’s happening around, what’s going on in their [the players’] minds and it is very important to give them that comfort,” he said. “Everyone has different skillset, and they also want to come out and express themselves. So that freedom is very important when they get onto the field and that is what I try and give.”Whatever is running in their mind, I listen to them carefully. Off the field, I try and spend a lot of time with them to understand their strengths, who can deliver for me in a pressure and current situation, and that’s how I am on the field.”See this format is such that if you keep playing, you keep learning and it’s so fast on the field. By the time you blink your eye, the game is over. So that freedom and clarity is very important when you play this format on the field.”

‘The youngsters have made my job very easy’

India have opted for a young T20I squad for the three-match series against South Africa, with three uncapped players in the mix: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Ramandeep Singh and Yash Dayal. Even among the capped ones, there are a few who either don’t have a lot of international experience or are making a comeback after a while such as Tilak Varma.Suryakumar said that managing the youngsters hasn’t been difficult as they have been doing the job for their state teams and IPL franchises.”They have made my job very easy if you’ve seen the last two to three series,” Suryakumar said about the youngsters. “I have told them to keep the needs of the team in front, and whatever calls they take, we are here to back them.”Everyone knows what they have to do. The kind of cricket they play for their state, the franchise, the same they have to play here. Just the colour of the jersey changes and the emotions get heightened. But the kind of cricket they have been playing, they should just play the same way. It feels refreshing to see them play.”Suryakumar also quashed any theories that India would struggle on the bouncy South Africa pitches, insisting they play on such surfaces at home as well. India have an excellent T20I record in South Africa, with six wins and three losses in nine matches.”We do play on good bouncy pitches back home in India also. There are quite a few, so it’s nothing new for us,” he said. “And we played here last year. We know what the conditions are and what the ground and wicket have for us. We have our game plan, we’ll back that and are very excited for the series ahead.”

Scotland vs South Africa

Dubai, 2pm local time

Scotland squad: Kathryn Bryce (capt), Chloe Abel, Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce (wk), Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Katherine Fraser, Saskia Horley, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Rachel SlaterSouth Africa squad: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Sune Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Seshnie Naidu, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloe TryonTournament form guide: Scotland’s maiden T20 World Cup appearance hasn’t gone to plan so far with two back-to-back losses. They started their tournament with a 16-run defeat against Bangladesh, before going down heavily to West Indies by six wickets and 50 balls to spare. South Africa are also coming into this game on the back of a seven-wicket loss against England which saw them slip to third on the points table. Their ten-wicket win against West Indies, though, has kept their net run rate (NRR) relatively healthy.Related

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News brief: There are no major injury concerns in either camp, though it remains to be seen how South Africa manage the players’ workload considering a less-than-48 hours turnaround time after their game against England was a day-night affair in Sharjah on Monday. Scotland are bottom placed on the group B points table, and with an NRR of -1.897, a loss against South Africa will most certainly end their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals. South Africa, on the other hand, can leapfrog England and secure top spot with a big win in Dubai. This is the first time South Africa and Scotland will face-off in any format in women’s cricket. Heat is once again going to be a factor in the day game in Dubai, with temperatures likely to touch 38 degrees Celsius.Player to watch: Nonkululeko Mlaba is currently the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with five wickets and could once again be South Africa’s trump card, especially in the day game where the ball is expected to turn more. Mlaba picked a four-wicket haul the last time she played in Dubai – against West Indies, earlier in this World Cup – and will want a repeat of that performance.Harmanpreet Kaur, who sprained her neck against Pakistan, is expected to play against Sri Lanka•ICC/Getty Images

India vs Sri Lanka

Dubai, 6pm local time

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, S SajanaSri Lanka squad: Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilshari, Nilakshika Silva, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana, Sugandika KumariTournament form guide: India suffered a big 58-run loss against New Zealand in their opening game, but managed to get past Pakistan in Dubai by six wickets on Sunday. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are currently bottom of the group A points table, and are yet to win a game. They lost their opening match against lower-ranked Pakistan by 31 runs, and then went down to Australia by six wickets on Saturday.News brief: India received good news on the fitness of captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who is available to play Wednesday’s game after spraining her neck and retiring hurt in the last over of India’s chase against Pakistan. Pooja Vastrakar, though, is unlikely to take part having missed Sunday’s match due to a niggle, with S Sajana replacing her.India hold the advantage by a 19-5 margin in T20Is against Sri Lanka. But one of those five defeats was as recent as this July at the Asia Cup final. India will be keen on exacting revenge. They need a big win to bolster their NRR, something that they did not manage in their victory against Pakistan despite restricting them to 105. A defeat for Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will make their chances of moving to the next round almost nil. Dew has not had much of an effect in the games in Dubai so far, with the sticky nature of the surface and long boundaries also not making run-scoring easy.Player to watch: Smriti Mandhana does not have the greatest of records in T20Is against Sri Lanka: 379 runs in 19 innings at 22.29 with two fifties. But in a crunch game, India will bank on their experienced batter to give them a grand start, something that has not happened so far in the tournament.

South Africa ran out of time, ideas and most importantly bowlers, as they fell five wickets short of winning the first Test against West Indies in Trinidad. The hosts weren’t too far from challenging for a win themselves: West Indies were 97 short of their target when the curtains came down.With 142 overs lost to rain over the five days, South Africa made a fist of the final day when they batted quickly, declared early and gave themselves a little over two sessions to bowl West Indies out. But, Alick Athanaze, playing in his eighth Test match, scored a career-best 92 and shared in half-century stands with Kavem Hodge and Jason Holder to deny South Africa and save the match. This was the first drawn Test worldwide in 28 matches, since July last year.Related

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Weather aside, questions will be asked of South Africa’s selection after they chose an extra batter at the expense of a fifth frontline-bowling option and were forced to rely heavily on two players. Keshav Maharaj bowled 66.2 overs and Kagiso Rabada 30 out of the 148.1 West Indies faced across both innings, while Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder contributed 30.5. In the absence of a second specialist spinner, Aiden Markram delivered 21 overs.There may also be some scrutiny on the Queen’s Park Oval pitch. It lacked pace and bounce and did not facilitate a free-flow of runs, ostensibly because the square has already been used extensively for club cricket this season. Whatever the reason, it made for an attritional style of play, emphasised by the amount of time lost, and both teams did well to turn most of the final day into a cat-and-mouse battle with all four results possible.Maharaj and Rabada bowled 96.2 overs between themselves in the Test•AFP/Getty Images

South Africa came out with clear intent on the fifth morning: to get runs and get them quickly. Tony de Zorzi and Markram scored 48 in the first 10.2 overs and the 13 they took off Jayden Seales’ third over best illustrated their approach. De Zorzi appeared to defend the first ball but somehow timed it well enough to get through mid-off and almost to the boundary and the pair ran three. Then Markram smashed a short ball through midwicket and drove a full one over mid-on for two fours. Timing, power and finesse all went into their 78-run opening stand.When Jomel Warrican was introduced in the 16th over, de Zorzi tried to be innovative and paddle him away fine but gloved a leg-stump delivery to Joshua Da Silva, ending his 60-ball stay. He fell five runs short of scoring successive half-centuries in this Test and has put a peg in the ground as an enterprising opening option.Tristan Stubbs was in at No.3 and edged the fourth ball he faced past the only slip to frustrate Holder, but Stubbs calmed his nerves with a sweep off Warrican in the next over. The sweep shot was profitable for him and Warrican was a clear target. Markram hit Warrican for six over long-on once but when he tried it a second time, he did not get enough behind the shot and was caught on the boundary by Holder.Tristan Stubbs celebrates his maiden Test fifty•Gallo Images/Getty Images

Temba Bavuma stayed in his No. 4 spot and provided a foil to Stubbs, who was given a licence to thrill. He reverse swept and advanced on Warrican to hit him over the leg side and scored 36 runs off the 25 balls he faced from him. In the process, he reached his first Test fifty, off 42 balls – the second-fastest maiden half-century by a South African after Dudley Nourse’s 40-ball fifty on debut. Stubbs also took on the senior seamer, Kemar Roach, and scored 13 runs off three balls from him before Roach took out his leg stump, and South Africa declared half an hour before lunch.They gave their bowlers 20 minutes in the first session but only had 15 before the rain came down. Maharaj opened the bowling and, with his third ball, had the usually sedate Kraigg Braithwaite attempting a big shot from a full ball and caught at sweeper cover. Stubbs judged his run from the boundary well to hold on to the catch.At the other end, Rabada tested Keacy Carty by beating his outside edge, almost having him played on, and thought he had him caught behind but didn’t. He then reviewed an lbw appeal that hit Carty’s front pad in line with off-stump. Ball-tracking showed it was clipping the top on umpire’s call and Carty survived but then rain arrived.Rain affected play in all five days of the Test•AFP/Getty Images

An hour was lost and when play resumed, Rabada returned with a plan. He set up Mikyle Louis with a series of full deliveries including a fabulous yorker that was well kept out and then bowled a short one. Louis got a top edge to midwicket where he found Stubbs, who held on to a second good catch.With Carty and Athanaze at the crease, South Africa would have hoped to exploit their inexperience but the young pair survived and then thrived. Athanaze became comfortable sweeping and Carty took 12 runs off Ngidi’s second over. The third-wicket stand grew to 46 before Carty hit Maharaj towards cover where Mulder dived forward to take a low catch.South Africa could not prise West Indies open in the second session and put down two chances. Hodge offered Markram a return catch when on 9 and survived again on the last ball before tea when, on 24, he gloved a Maharaj delivery in Bavuma’s direction at second slip. Bavuma went to his right but the ball evaded him. Hodge’s dance with danger ended in the first over after tea when Maharaj found turn and bounce and Hodge got the faintest of edges to Kyle Verreynne.But Athanaze was not easily moved and was excellent against the short ball. He scored quickly, reached 50 off 58 balls and took on South Africa’s main bowlers. He scored 18 runs off 19 balls he faced from Rabada and 47 off 62 from Maharaj and had three figures in his sights until he top-edged a sweep from Maharaj to Ryan Rickelton at deep-backward square leg. By then, West Indies were on safe ground and it was too late for South Africa to push for a result. The captains shook hands on a draw in fading light with 6.4 overs of play remaining.

Middlesex are facing a first defeat of the season in the Vitality County Championship after Leicestershire batted themselves into a commanding position on day two at the Uptonsteel County Ground.Lewis Goldsworthy and Ben Green, who are both at Grace Road on loan from Somerset to boost a depleted squad, made their presence count as Leicestershire reached 311 for 8 in their second innings before rain forced an early end to play, with 37 overs lost.Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones bowled superbly to finish with 5 for 76, but after being bowled out for 86 to concede a first-innings lead of 93 on a 21-wicket opening day, his side are 404 runs behind.One down for 40 overnight, Leicestershire were 63 for 4 within the first 10 overs, which suggested another bowler-friendly day lay ahead. But Goldsworthy and Harry Swindells added 101 for the fifth wicket, and with batting proving a little less hazardous Louis Kimber and Ben Cox put on 62 for the seventh, while Green’s unbroken partnership with Ben Mike stands at 71 going into day three.During that initial flurry of wickets, Ryan Higgins brought his first ball back sharply from outside off stump to bowl Rishi Patel between bat and pad.The uneven bounce in the pitch was then illustrated perfectly as Roland-Jones had nightwatchman Scott Currie leg before to one that shot through at ankle height before dismissing Lewis Hill with one that reared up off a good length, the ball striking the Leicestershire captain a painful blow on the hand before looping gently to second slip Leus du Plooy, who had dropped him in the previous over.Middlesex, 93 behind on first innings after being shot out for 86 on a chaotic opening day, sensed an opportunity to fight their way back into the contest but were not able to make another breakthrough until six overs after lunch when Swindells, who had functioned as the junior partner in what felt like the decisive stand of the match, edged behind off Henry Brookes.One wicket then brought a second as Goldsworthy, his concentration disturbed by the day’s first stoppage for rain, departed four balls later, caught at slip off as he shaped to cut Roland-Jones.Goldsworthy, on loan at Grace Road primarily for his left-arm spin in the T20 Blast, had been one of the few batters in the match to have the measure of the pitch, picking up the majority of his 13 boundaries square on the leg side or else driven through extra cover.Much as his demise was a blow for Leicestershire, it was not the end of Middlesex’s suffering as Kimber, confidence sky high after his extraordinary performance at Hove last week and undiminished by a first-innings duck here, came in to hammer 38 off 21 balls, including four consecutive sixes off Brookes, one of them out of the ground on the Milligan Road side.Brookes had his revenge, bowling Kimber with a slow yorker, and Roland-Jones completed his 27th career five-for when he pinned Cox in front only for Green and Mike to stretch Leicestershire’s advantage beyond 400.Although the pitch is offering less help to the bowlers than was the case on Sunday, it is difficult to envisage the match ending in a draw, barring a substantial loss of time to rain, which means Middlesex will need to make one of the highest-fourth innings scores in their history to win the match.