• Updates from around the grounds on day four
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Ali ponders England’s chances:

Good morning Tim Maitland! “Spent more time than I’d care to admit trying to decide who to watch now that Yorkshire have been so inconsiderate as to win inside three days. I’ve plumped for Essex v Durham on the basis that it’s the most significant in terms of the championship itself and that I should at least get a spirited rearguard action from second-placed Essex.

”Judging from the second over of the day Dean Elgar is not going to last long facing Callum Parkinson and a Kalahari Desert of rough outside the left-handers off stump. And the nightwatchman Jamie Porter has gone for 3. A beautiful ball from Matthew Potts nipped in a fraction to literally take the top of off: it would have done for better batsmen.Essex 43 for 2.

”It’s something to do while I get the char siu and poached eggs on rice ready.” Sounds delicious. While you’re at it, I think buginabreeze was up for a lunch order…

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© Photograph: Gavin Ellis/TGS Photo/REX/Shutterstock

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© Photograph: Gavin Ellis/TGS Photo/REX/Shutterstock

West Indies all-rounder’s T20 World Cup final heroics left him feeling listless but joy of playing eventually returned

“Will 2016 be the sole focus of the piece?” comes the text back. That’s after a couple of friendly nudges and even more days of SMS silence. Carlos Brathwaite doesn’t really want to talk about his T20 World Cup-winning exploits at Kolkata in 2016. Three more pixellated dots unfurl on the phone screen … here we go. That drawing board is getting a revisit any second now. “Sorry, I don’t just want to regurgitate the same story.”

Fair enough. With the latest T20 World Cup reaching the business end in the Caribbean, the footage of a 27-year-old Brathwaite peppering the Eden Gardens stands eight years ago while the bowler – a body-buckled Ben Stokes – looks on in pained disbelief, will do the rounds once more.

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© Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Defending champions trounced semi-final opponents in 2022 but face a revitalised team with form and focus

Ben Duckett was a bit cheeky when he suggested India’s Test team had been inspired by Bazball earlier in the year. But in the second semi-final of the men’s T20 World Cup on Thursday, at Providence Stadium, Guyana, England’s white-ballers meet a side they influenced – or at least jolted into life – two years ago.

Much like the rollercoaster this time around, England had scraped their way into the knockouts in 2022 before delivering a thumping 10-wicket victory over India in Adelaide. “We were unbelievable with the bat,” said Moeen Ali as the defending champions jetted off to Georgetown on Tuesday, recalling the day Jos Buttler and Alex Hales vaporised a target of 169 with a staggering four overs to spare.

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© Photograph: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC/Getty Images

• Statistician devised formula alongside Tony Lewis
• ICC adopted method in 1999 and it remains in use

Frank Duckworth, one half of the team who pioneered the Duckworth-Lewis method for calculating target scores in limited-overs cricket matches abridged by bad weather, has died at the age of 84.

Along with his fellow statistician Tony Lewis, Duckworth devised the formula that was officially adopted by the International Cricket Council in 1999 and remains the means by which affected matches are decided.

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© Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

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© Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

• Gulbadin appeared to suffer injury at crucial moment
• Rashid: ‘it’s not brought a massive difference in the game’

The Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib has found himself at the centre of controversy following his side’s historic progress to a T20 World Cup semi-final after commentators accused him of faking – or at least exaggerating – an injury during the dramatic rain-affected match.

Gulbadin and his teammates needed to overcome Bangladesh in St Vincent to secure their spot and a final-four clash with South Africa at Australia’s expense – but their narrow eight-run victory, via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, has come under scrutiny following the incident when Gulbadin indicated he had cramp.

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© Photograph: Darrian Traynor-ICC/ICC/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Darrian Traynor-ICC/ICC/Getty Images

GQ: "It's happening very fast," said Saurabh Netravalkar, the Team USA cricket player with the world-famous LinkedIn profile ... Several fans in attendance held up signs calling Kohli a god; one held up a sign asking Netravalkar for a job reference. Guardian: As it happened: USA beat Pakistan. The Athletic: So, for a son of Mumbai to inflict such a humiliating defeat on the old enemy was a case of Netravalkar - in the words of his younger sister Nidhi on social media - "making two countries happy". Times of India: Balancing his dual roles as a cricketer and a software engineer at Oracle, Netravalkar manages his demanding career alongside his sports commitments. Interviewed in cricbuzz: "I filed for a patent. It was an innovation algorithm that we had."

Cricinfo: After the Pakistan win, a screen grab of his Slack out-of-office message was all over social media. It said he would be away from work until June 17, when the group phase of the World Cup ends. Netravalkar is not thinking ahead to whether he might have to extend his leave of absence in case USA make it to the Super 8s... ...update on that: As of an hour ago, the USA have enough points so they can't be caught by Ireland, Canada or Pakistan in their group. This means the USA qualify, along with India, into the final group stage of the current World Cup: this also gives the USA automatic qualification for the same World Cup tournament in 2026, two years before cricket returns to the Olympics in Los Angeles. Saurabh is going to need to ask for an extension to WFWCM (Work From World Cup Matches).