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Could rain affect India vs Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday? The day in Colombo started with the sun out, happily for fans waiting to watch on TV or at the R Premadasa Stadium, but word is that things might change quickly, and a severely rain-affected match isn’t ruled out.The weather in Colombo has been a matter of interest and concern, especially after the washout in Saturday’s game between Australia and Sri Lanka without a ball bowled. Will it be the same on Sunday, taking out arguably the most anticipated contest in the tournament? The morning didn’t suggest so, but the forecast is of showers through the day. The fact that it has been a dry morning “doesn’t mean anything”, locals say, since the north-east monsoon appears to have arrived in Sri Lanka before schedule.On Saturday, the skies didn’t look too bad – certainly not as gloomy as on Friday – and the signs were positive when Australia and Sri Lanka walked out before the scheduled toss time to look at the ground. But even the toss wasn’t possible as the rain picked up quickly and, even though the whole ground was covered quickly, the match had to be called off about two-and-a-half hours after the scheduled start time (3pm local).India, the hosts of the tournament, and Pakistan go into the match with contrasting results behind them. India beat Sri Lanka in the tournament opener in Guwahati on September 30 by 59 runs (rain had reduced that to a 47-overs-a-side game too) and Pakistan lost their opening game to Bangladesh by seven wickets in Colombo.

Varun: “Yeah, I feel great. Definitely, at that time, I was going for the wickets, and Fakhar [Zaman] and Sahibzada Farhan were going well. Yes, I had done some plans, and it worked out and the way Kuldeep came and finished – yeah, it gave me memories of KKR, when we were playing together. He’s always a star. He’s the best one of the best spinners.”If you see the trend in the last few matches, [in] the first ten overs, everyone is going berserk if they don’t lose wickets. After that, we knew that if we bowl on the right space, and [on the] right line and length, we can curtail them. And obviously, I would like to mention Hari [team analyst]. He’s a guy who’s done a lot of work behind the scenes, and due credit to him also.”Kuldeep: “Of course, it’s very important to bowl [well] in the middle overs. And, of course, me, Varun and Axar playing together is obviously a luxury to have. Everyone has a different role, so obviously they started really well, after 10-11 overs, they were like 100 for 1. We knew that if we get a couple of early wickets; probably not early, but after ten overs, we got a couple of wickets from him [Varun]. Obviously, it’s not going be easy for [a] new batter to come and score runs easily. Obviously, when I was bowling in the fourth over, I was looking to get them out.”Before the game, he [Hari] just sent the screenshot of the lengths of the lengths where we’re going to bowl to the batters. Especially, big thanks to Hari, and obviously [a] masterclass from Tilak – he was unbelievable today.”Sanju Samson: “Yeah, I really enjoyed the pressure actually. I have not played many India-Pakistan games, but today, I think the pressure was all over there. Three wickets down in the powerplay, so I just had to use my experience, calm the nerves down, and just watch the ball and react. That’s what I did, and it came off nicely. I think I had a really good partnership with Tilak, and really enjoyed playing the game today.”As you all know that the game dictates what type of cricket you need to play, and according to the conditions, you have to respect the conditions, you have to respect the situation. I think that’s what we have learned. Years and years of IPL, years and years of cricket, and that’s what cricket has taught us. So I just had to go out there and then look to time the ball, and that’s what really helped me.”Closer ones [games] are really good. That’s when your characters are being tested and that’s when you also get to test your own mental abilities. So I think that’s a really good awareness which we had just before the World Cup. I think this game was really crucial. Some of these knockout games do actually prepare us for the big games coming a few months ago [later]. And you’ve made some potent contributions.”Shubman Gill: “[Feels] pretty amazing. The whole tournament unbeaten, so it feels pretty amazing to be here in this position. Pretty amazing [to play with Abhishek Sharma]. We have played almost all our cricket together, and I think we know each other pretty much inside out, and it’s amazing to be able to bat with him. The way he bats, [he] takes off the pressure off the non-striker, whosoever is there, and he’s been phenomenal this tournament.”The conversation was to take it as deep as possible. The target wasn’t much, but it was important to soak in the pressure in the start. Losing three wickets early, [it’s] never easy, but I think the way first the partnership for us with Sanju and Tilak, how they batted, and then how Dube came in and hit those big sixes for us was very important.”[In the] final, playing against them, 30 runs in three overs, there wasn’t much panic, but the game can go both ways. You have seen, especially on a slow kind of a wicket, the boundaries are big here, so you really need to connect to be able to get those sixes and, like I said, the way both of them batted, first soaking in the pressure and then got the balls in the zone and they made sure that they hit it out of the park.”

Harry Brook has promised that the England team will rally around Sonny Baker ahead of the second ODI at Lord’s on Thursday, after the fast bowler endured a debut to forget in a brutally one-sided series opener against South Africa at Headingley.Baker, 22, was taken for 76 runs in seven wicketless overs – the most-expensive figures ever conceded by an England bowler in his first ODI – while his economy rate of 10.85 was the second-worst by any debutant to have bowled a minimum of six overs in the format.Baker’s day arguably peaked before the toss, when, in the presence of his family members, he was presented his England cap by his new team-mate Jos Buttler – a fellow alumnus of King’s College, Taunton. Thereafter, with England being bowled out for 131 inside 25 overs, he was on a hiding to nothing, starting from his own contribution to that scoreline: a first-ball duck courtesy of Keshav Maharaj.Baker was then thrown the ball for the first over of South Africa’s chase. He had come into the game with apparent form and confidence, courtesy of his explosive displays for Manchester Originals in the Hundred, but his combined figures of 6 for 81 in his previous 67 balls proved to be little preparation for Aiden Markram in a serious hurry. His skiddy pace was crashed for three fours in his first five balls, and 56 in his initial four-over spell, as Markram rushed through to a 23-ball half-century.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“It’s not probably the ideal start, having to defend 130,” Brook admitted at the post-match presentations, adding that England had “no excuses” after a batting display that “wasn’t good enough”.”Everybody will get behind him,” Brook added. “That’s the nature of this group. We are such a tight-knit group. We’re all good mates. We spend a lot of time away from the game together as well.”He’s had a tough day, but the way that he just kept on cracking on and digging deep, to keep on running in and try and get wickets there for us, even after getting a little bit of tap, was awesome to see. And that’s exactly what we asked of every bowler.”With the game as good as over after South Africa’s 67-run powerplay, Brook admitted that England treated the remainder of the innings as a de facto practice session, and turned back to Baker for a second spell – down the hill from the Kirkstall Lane End – in the 12th over. He initially fared better, conceding just two runs in his fifth over, but Markram and Ryan Rickelton continued to attack him thereafter as their opening stand reached 121 in 18 overs.Related

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“I was just trying to get him a wicket, to be honest,” Brook said. “Obviously we didn’t get off to the greatest of starts with the ball. After the start that they got, I knew that we were never really going to win the game. It was just a matter of trying to get him a pole at that time, and the lads trying to develop and upskill their skills, that they’ve been working on in practice and trying to take them into a game.”The way that they chased that, with Markham coming out and going really ultra-aggressive, was the perfect way to chase a low score, especially in the powerplay, when you’ve only got one or two people out,” he added. “It is tough to defend. So [Baker] might have missed his execution the odd time, but Markram played some extraordinary shots, so hats off to him.”Markram finished with 86 from 55 balls, eventually falling to Adil Rashid with a century just about within his sights.”I definitely didn’t pre-plan anything,” he said of his assault on Baker. “I’ve never faced him before, and there’s some really good talk about him and his abilities. So really I just trying to watch the ball. You want to see the action first, but if you can get a few away early, and you can get ahead of him, then you try and do that. But it won’t always be the case. If he’s got it on a string, he’ll be a really good bowler, for sure.”