Toss Zimbabwe chose to bowl vs Ireland The toss for the second T20I took place under overcast conditions in Harare, with the hosts Zimbabwe winning the toss. Sikandar Raza, the hosts’ captain, chose to insert Ireland, with both sides naming unchanged XIs. The teams will be hoping to get a game that lasts long enough … Read more
Big picture: New Zealand primed for semi-finals New Zealand are in their element. They came into the Champions Trophy after an unbeaten run to the tri-series title against South Africa and Pakistan, whom they beat convincingly once again in the tournament opener. Will Young and Tom Latham struck centuries to set up a 300-plus score … Read more
Tasmania 330 for 8 (Owen 149) beat South Australia 329 for 9 (Harvey 129, Drew 63, Webster 3-48) by two wickets Mitch Owen produced another heroic batting display, crushing 149 off 69 balls in Tasmania’s thrilling two-wicket One-Day Cup win over South Australia. Ladder leaders South Australia posted a formidable 329 for 9 at Adelaide … Read more
Victoria 311 for 2 (Kellaway 117*, Handscomb 91*, Dixon 57) beat New South Wales 310 (Shaw 80, Gilkes 72, Green 57, Murphy 3-46, Siddle 3-54) Victoria secured a spot in the One-Day Cup final after defeating New South Wales by eight wickets on the back of blistering knocks from Campbell Kellaway and Peter Handscomb. In … Read more
Western Australia 132 for 4 beat Queensland 131 (Swepson 45, Jackson 4-39, Couch 3-45) by six wickets Queensland crashed out of the One-Day Cup title race in humbling fashion, suffering a six-wicket loss to wooden spooners Western Australia at the Gabba. WA paceman Bryce Jackson snared 4 for 39 in a player-of-the-match performance as Queensland … Read more
New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson last played international cricket a year ago. Time away included ten months out of action with a stress fracture of the back for the second time. Having been named in New Zealand’s squad for the Champions Trophy as an injury replacement for Lockie Ferguson, Jamieson feels he is in the … Read more
The PCB has reached out to the ICC for clarification after the Indian national anthem was erroneously played for a moment at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Ahead of the game between England and Australia, the national anthem of the UK was played without incident. However, instead of following it up with the opening tunes … Read more
By the time Australia’s fourth wicket fell, Josh Inglis had switched into declutter mode. There remained more than 200 runs still to get, the asking rate nearing eight, and there wasn’t too much batting to come. There was little time to regroup and consolidate, and at the same time little room for error. None of … Read more
Australia 356 for 5 (Inglis 120*, Carey 69, Short 63, Rashid 1-47) beat England 351 for 8 (Duckett 165, Root 68, Dwarshuis 3-66, Labuschagne 2-41, Zampa 2-64) by five wickets Ben Duckett provided the ruthlessness England so desperately craved with a record knock of 165. But his heroics went in vain as Josh Inglis countered … Read more
Pakistan vs India matches will always inspire passions. But for Pakistan’s players, this is just another opportunity to do the cricketing things they train to do as professionals. The hype, said Pakistan’s coach Aqib Javed, is external. “For the cricketers, this is a profession,” Javed said. “For them, it definitely is an honour. But, it … Read more
They’ve only opened together 28 times in this format, so the sample size is small. But in those innings they’ve put on 1943 runs at an average of 71.96. Only in ten of those 28 innings have they failed to get India to 50 for no loss or better. To this dependability, they have also … Read more
Toss Ireland chose to bowl vs Zimbabwe Ireland chose to chase after the first T20I against Zimbabwe was shortened to nine overs a side due to rain in Harare. The toss was delayed by more than two hours before Paul Stirling called correctly and asked Zimbabwe to bat. Ireland were without opener Ross Adair, who … Read more
Toss Delhi Capitals chose to bowl vs UP Warriorz Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning won the toss and elected to bowl against UP Warriorz in Bengaluru. It has been the trend of WPL 2025, for captains to win the toss and choose to chase. All seven games in this season have been won by teams … Read more
Big picture: Pakistan’s fight for survival If ever Pakistan needed a miracle, it is now. Not for the cricketers’ fault, they find themselves isolated in international cricket to the extent that this is the first ICC event they are hosting in 29 years. And barely three days into the Champions Trophy, following a thrashing against … Read more
It’s a day out from the game, and yet getting to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium when Australia or England are en route can be impossible. Presidential-style security chaperones the sides between the hotel and the newly-rebuilt ground. The ticketing website and resale venue were overwhelmed as soon as tickets for this contest were released, and then … Read more
South Africa 315 for 6 (Rickelton 103, Bavuma 58, Makram 52*, van der Dussen 52, Nabi 2-51) beat Afghanistan 208 (Rahmat 90, Rabada 3-36, Mulder 2-36, Ngidi 2-56) by 107 runs Ryan Rickelton is showing the value of runs under the belt. He came into the Champions Trophy on the back of a solid SA20, … Read more
Big picture: Both teams coming off series defeats Would you believe it, not only have Australia and England been drawn in the same group at a global tournament, but their Champions Trophy returns also start against one another. Universe (ICC), you’ve done it again! And yet, amid such predictable money-grabbing comes a bit of shameful … Read more
Toss Mumbai Indians chose to bowl vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the first match of the Bengaluru leg. Win the toss, opt to field and win the game has been the trend so far this WPL. But with … Read more
When the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore was rebuilt over the past few months at breakneck speed, the PCB may have envisioned it opening with cricket’s most ferociously rivalry, but cricket’s oldest rivalry will have to do instead. With Pakistan not guaranteed a game at this venue at all, there was no other game here with … Read more
Gloucestershire have signed Australia’s Cameron Green for five County Championship matches, in a deal made possible by a “significant donation” from one of the club’s members. ESPNcricinfo reported this month that Green is hoping to make his return from a back stress fracture before the end of the Sheffield Shield season, and that he was … Read more
Vidarbha 383 (Malewar 79, Shorey 74, Dube 5-49) and 292 (Rathod 151, Wadkar 52, Mulani 6-85) beat Mumbai 270 (Anand 106, Rekhade 4-55, Dubey 2-68) and 325 (Shardul 66, Mulani 46, Dubey 5-127) by 80 runs Shardul Thakur’s fighting half-century wasn’t enough for another Mumbai rearguard as the defending champions lost the Ranji Trophy semi-final … Read more
There was no Heinrich Klaasen or Tristan Stubbs in South Africa’s team sheet for the Champions Trophy game against Afghanistan in Karachi on Friday afternoon, and CSA confirmed that Klaasen had been ruled out “as a precautionary measure due to a left elbow soft tissue injury”. Stubbs might not have been a contender for the … Read more
Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble feels that Virat Kohli is “trying too hard” and that’s making it tougher for him to find form amid a lean patch. Kohli has managed just 137 runs in the six ODI innings he has played after the 2023 World Cup, with a single half-century. In India’s first … Read more
Bangladesh chose to bat in their Champions Trophy opener against India in Dubai and were 35 for 5 inside nine overs – it could have been 35 for 6 if Rohit Sharma hadn’t dropped a dolly off Jaker Ali off Axar Patel’s hat-trick ball in that ninth over. Towhid Hridoy, who partnered Jaker in an … Read more
Shubman Gill is a “lambi race ka ghoda [one for the long haul]” and batting at just 60% is enough for him to score a century like he did in India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh. This is the assessment of Sanjay Manjrekar, who also feels that Gill gives the impression of being someone who … Read more
South Australia 93 (Elliott 6-23) and 388 (Sangha 75, Scott 69*, McInerney 61) beat Tasmania 101 (Doggett 6-40) and 293 (Radhakrishnan 68, Doran 65, Webster 53, Pope 4-76) by 87 runs Lloyd Pope missed out on a hat-trick but played a crucial role as South Australia continued their quest for a drought-breaking Sheffield Shield title … Read more
Former Test opener Chris Rogers has questioned if Sam Konstas really wants to be an all-out aggressor, as data shows how much the teen’s game has changed since December. Konstas put himself back in the headlines this week, when bowled trying to slog-sweep Scott Boland in the third over of a Sheffield Shield match against … Read more
“That was an easy catch, I should have taken that,” Rohit said at the presentation. “The standard I’ve set for myself for standing in the slips… That was a little disappointing, but these things happen, I do understand that. But again, the way these guys bowled that set the game for us. “I know they … Read more
Pakistan were fine five percent of their match fee on Thursday for maintaining a slow over-rate during their match against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy opener at the National Stadium in Karachi. The tournament hosts and defending champions lost to New Zealand by 60 runs on Wednesday. Pakistan were found one over short of … Read more
Jamie Smith will bat at No. 3 for the first time in his ODI career and keep wicket for England in their Champions Trophy opener against Australia in Lahore on Saturday. Joe Root has been England’s first-choice No. 3 for the best part of a decade, but slid down to No. 4 in the final … Read more