Ten long years ago, almost to the day, England’s cricketers suffered a humiliation greater even than their Champions Trophy exit at the hands of Afghanistan. It was meted out by none other than New Zealand’s then-captain, now England coach, Brendon McCullum, and it would soon prove to be the most consequential defeat in their white-ball
Month: February 2025
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has highlighted the need to keep the bowlers fresh with only two days’ gap between the team’s last group match and the semi-final. India – who are assured of a semi-final spot – will not compromise on their balance, he said, as they also want to top the group,
Match abandoned due to rain Afghanistan 273 (Atal 85, Omarzai 67, Dwarshuis 3-47, Zampa 2-48, Johnson 2-49) vs Australia 109 for 1 (Head 59*, Omarzai 1-43) Befitting the latest chapter in this budding rivalry, there were wicked swings of momentum while a hobbled Australia batter at the crease evoked the wildest match in the short
File photo of KL Rahul© AFP India’s first-choice wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul admitted he feels the pressure of Rishabh Pant breathing down his neck, while waiting for his opportunity. With a player like Pant on the bench, Rahul admitted there is always a “temptation” to play either him or the explosive southpaw. India head coach
Paterson, 35, took five-wicket hauls in both of the Tests he played in South Africa’s home summer, against Sri Lanka in Gqerbha, and against Pakistan at Centurion. He has signed a contract which covers Middlesex’s first seven Championship fixtures – including four games at Lord’s, where South Africa will face Australia in the WTC final.
Jos Buttler has resigned as England’s white-ball captain after their group-stage exit at the Champions Trophy, announcing on Friday that he will lead the side for the final time against South Africa in Karachi. England have already been eliminated from the Champions Trophy, after they lost their first two group games against Australia and Afghanistan.
Noor had not been attempting a run – he had drifted out of his crease to meet batting partner Azmatullah Omarzai mid-pitch, mistakenly believing that the ball was dead. The ball is live until the umpire calls “over”, however, and umpire Alex Wharf had not yet called. Replays showed Noor to be well out of
The tenth season of the six-team Pakistan Super League (PSL) will begin on April 11 with a fixture between defending champions Islamabad United and two-time champions Lahore Qalandars in Rawalpindi. The matches – 34 in total – will be played across Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan and Lahore, with the playoffs slotted for Rawalpindi (May 13) and
Nathan McSweeney was a 12-year-old Queenslander when his recently-adopted South Australia last won the domestic one-day cricket competition. McSweeney remembers watching on television when SA captured the trophy in 2011-12 amid drama. Scores in the final against Tasmania were tied but SA was deemed the winner as they finished above the Tasmanians during the preliminary
Bella James has been ruled out of New Zealand’s ODI series at home against Sri Lanka with a grade-two quadricep strain on her right leg. She is expected to require between three and six weeks of rehabilitation and has been replaced by Lauren Down. A decision on James’ availability for the T20I series that follows
While most in South African white-ball cricket see every step of the next two years as building their path to the home ODI World Cup in 2027, Rassie van der Dussen can entertain the idea that the Champions Trophy 2025 could be his last multi-team event. Van der Dussen turned 36 earlier this month and
When Brendon McCullum promised entertainment from England’s white-ball sides, he probably did not envisage this: with England on the wrong side of the two best games at the Champions Trophy so far, down and out with a match to spare, as the rest of the cricketing world laughs. Brought in to sprinkle some of his
Big picture: Winner of virtual sudden death to qualify for the semis Much like Afghanistan’s match against England, the political spectre over this clash is hard to put aside. Matches are rare between the countries with Australia – like England – taking a human rights stance and pledging to suspend bilateral ties while the Taliban
Pakistan have been criticised by Wasim Akram.© AFP/Twitter Pakistan and Bangladesh’s last day in the Champions Trophy 2025 was symbolic of how their campaigns have been so far – zero impact. Their last match, between themselves, was washed out in Rawalpindi on Thursday without even the toss being held. With that result, Pakistan are likely
South Africa are not in a position to think about this yet but should they need to travel to Dubai for a Champions Trophy semi-final or final, they will be at a disadvantage compared to their opposition: India, who are based in the UAE. That’s according to top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen, who said
Match abandoned without a ball bowled Pakistan vs Bangladesh Pakistan and Bangladesh ended their disappointing Champions Trophy campaigns with a point each with the second successive match in Rawalpindi washed out. As on Tuesday, when the same fate befell the Australia-South Africa game from Group B, the match was called off without even the toss
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has been appointed Delhi Capitals’ mentor for IPL 2025. The 44-year-old will join Hemang Badani (head coach), Matthew Mott (assistant coach), Munaf Patel (bowling coach) and Venugopal Rao (director of cricket) in the DC backroom. The franchise, which made the announcement on its app, is yet to name a captain
Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has “no issues” with playing against Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy on Friday. The two sides take each other on in their final group games in Lahore with plenty on the line for both; victory for either side guarantees qualification to the semi-finals. However, invariably, there is attention around Australia’s decision
Afghanistan 325 for 7 (Zadran 177, Omarzai 41, Archer 3-64, Livingstone 2-28) beat England 317 (Root 120, Omarzai 5-58, Nabi 2-57) by eight runs The politicians hadn’t wanted this game to go ahead, but who could have wished to deny the scenes of raw euphoria that unfolded in Lahore as Afghanistan completed the double they
Australia spinner Matt Kuhnemann said he had “never doubted” his bowling action despite being reported following the Test series in Sri Lanka; he was cleared following ICC testing on Wednesday. The outcome of the testing process was confirmed and Kuhnemann was given the green light to continue bowling in international cricket. Commenting for the first
Fakhar Zaman has dismissed speculation that he is planning to retire from international cricket, targeting a return from the injury that cut short his Champions Trophy within the next month. Fakhar, the hero of Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy win with a hundred in the final, strained an oblique muscle chasing a ball in the very
Pakistan have by far the longer and more-varied pace-bowling tradition. But don’t count out the Bangladesh bowlers on Thursday. It is not only the Bangladesh camp that is saying this. Pakistan’s white-ball coach Aaqib Javed, who has worked with Bangladesh quicks in the past, believes so too. In fact, given Jasprit Bumrah is almost inarguably
Buttler won the 2022 T20 World Cup, his first ICC tournament as captain, but England have underperformed ever since. They lost six out of nine games at the 2023 ODI World Cup, were thrashed by India in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in 2024, and have now gone out of the Champions Trophy
Afghanistan’s win against England means it’s now a three-way battle for semi-finals qualification from Group B, with two games to go. Australia (three points, NRR 0.475) take on Afghanistan (two points, NRR -0.99) in Lahore on Friday, while South Africa (three points, NRR 2.14) face England on Saturday. Here’s an explainer on who will qualify
England skipper Jos Buttler said he wouldn’t like to make any “emotional statements” on his captaincy but “all possibilities” are on the table after his side was shockingly eliminated from the Champions Trophy by Afghanistan on Wednesday. A listless England, barring Joe Root who smashed a century, suffered an eight-run defeat against the Afghans, and
If you’re looking for the reason why Pakistan crashed out of their own home tournament, look no further than this one: personnel. Specifically, the inexperience of that personnel. This was the main thrust of white-ball head coach Aaqib Javed‘s post-mortem. Pakistan have one more match to play, of course, against Bangladesh, who are also already
Big picture: Pakistan and Bangladesh hope rain stays away It has not been a tournament to remember for either Pakistan or Bangladesh, and the team talks ahead of their last game, against each other in Rawalpindi, are likely to be similar: play for pride, etc. With some chatter about the poor weather – if it
Big Picture: Politics takes back seat in high-stakes match-up For several febrile weeks at the turn of the year, it was impossible to ignore the political mission-creep of England versus Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy. And yet, it’s not impossible that a cricket match will be allowed to take centre stage, after all, in Lahore
Left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann has been cleared to bowl in international cricket by the ICC. He had been reported for a suspect action following the two-Test series in Sri Lanka where he had picked up 16 wickets in the series as Australia won 2-0. Kuhmemann, who had never previously been reported in a professional career
Jos Buttler should promote himself in the batting order with his England captaincy on the line in Wednesday’s Champions Trophy game against Afghanistan, according to former England opener Nick Knight. Buttler walked out to bat in the 35th over in England’s five-wicket defeat to Australia on Saturday, hitting 23 off 21 balls from No. 6
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