After he led from the front and thwarted a short-handed Australia attack with a stirring century to push the first Test into a final day, Kraigg Brathwaite implored West Indies to keep believing. Needing a record 498 runs for victory or bat through 154 overs to draw, West Indies reached stumps at 192 for 3
A consistent Shikhar Dhawan and a supremely talented KL Rahul will battle it out for the opener’s slot even as a top-heavy Indian batting line-up will aim for transformation and show more intent against a gutsy Bangladesh in the three-match ODI series, starting Sunday. Throw a fabulously consistent young turk Shubman Gill (rested for this
With South Africa still figuring out their best XI for the Test tour of Australia, former captain Graeme Smith believes they should stick to an “aggressive mindset” and play six batters and five bowlers. “I’d like to see South Africa back their six batters,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “I think there’s always that fear because the
Stumps Pakistan 499 for 7 (Babar 136, Imam 121, Shafique 114, Salman 10*, Zahid 1*, Jacks 3-132, Leach 2-160) trail England 657 by 158 runs Four late wickets rewarded England for some hard graft on a pitch where runs have ruled, keeping their prospects of pushing for victory over Pakistan in this first Test alive.
As per the ICC’S Future Tours Programme, India have six bilateral series – including the one in Bangladesh starting on Sunday – and an Asia Cup to plan for next year’s World Cup. Multiple members of the squad in Bangladesh are touring the country for the first time as India continue to expand their player
England and Pakistan have promised a fight to the finish in the first Test at Rawalpindi, in spite of the turgid nature of the pitch, with both Joe Root and Abdullah Shafique insisting that their teams will be pushing for victory over the final two days of the game. England reached the close on day
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has returned to work to commentate on the Australia-West Indies Test match in Perth just 24 hours after suffering “sharp pains” in his chest that required him to go to hospital. Ponting spoke openly and honestly on Saturday morning on Channel Seven about the health scare he suffered on Friday.
West Indies 283 & 192 for 3 (Brathwaite 101*, Mayers 0*) need 306 more runs to beat Australia 598 for 4 dec & 182 for 2 dec (Labuschagne 104*) Needing a record 498 runs for victory or – more realistically – to bat through 154 overs to draw, Brathwaite superbly batted through the final two
Batter Brooke Halliday has been ruled out of the remainder of the limited-overs series against Bangladesh due to a hand injury. Opener Rebecca Burns has been called into the squad for the remaining two T20Is. Georgia Plimmer, who was originally selected for the T20Is only, will remain with the squad as batting cover for the
Big picture Cricket-mad Bangladesh is currently football-crazy. The ongoing FIFA World Cup is not just watched in this country, but also celebrated in every corner, with the sport ruling most of the conversations. The visiting Indian players were welcomed by flags of Brazil and Argentina in the buildings overlooking their training ground in Dhaka. There’s
While Malik, who made a decent start to his ODI career in New Zealand recently, was not in India’s original touring party, India did have the option of calling up one of the quick bowlers who are on a shadow tour of Bangladesh with the A team currently. Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar are among
There are some concerns over the fitness of Australia captain Pat Cummins after he failed to take the field for the start of the fourth innings on day four of the first Test against West Indies in Perth due to some right quadricep soreness. Cummins bowled 20.2 overs in West Indies first innings across days
Pakistan 181 for 0 (Imam-ul-Haq 90*, Shafique 89*) trail England 657 (Brook 153, Crawley 122, Pope 108, Duckett 107) by 476 runs With a mountain to climb, Pakistan openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique harnessed up and shinnied towards England’s monster first-innings total on the second day of their contest in Rawalpindi. After Harry Brook pressed
Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher are hopeful that the SA20, South Africa’s new franchise T20 league, will help the national team finally win a World Cup. “I actually thought we had a strong team in this World Cup in Australia, I thought we had a good chance,” Smith, the SA20 commissioner, said at an event
PCB chairman Ramiz Raja has said that Pakistan may consider pulling out of the 2023 Asia Cup if their hosting rights are withdrawn on account of India not travelling to the country. “It’s not as if we don’t have hosting rights and we’re pleading to host it,” Ramiz said on the sidelines of the Pakistan-England
Pakistan’s pitches belonged in “the dark ages”, the country’s top cricket official said Friday, after England plundered runs on a lifeless wicket in Rawalpindi. The visitors were finally all out for 657 — including a record 506 from the first day Thursday — with four batsmen scoring centuries off the hapless Pakistan bowling. In reply,
Having not batted in the nets for two days, West Indies reserve Shamarh Brooks unexpectedly found himself on a green-tinged Optus Stadium surface pitted against a fired-up Australia attack looking to gain a stranglehold of the first Test. Brooks was a concussion substitute for No. 3 Nkrumah Bonner, who copped a hit on the back
New Zealand 164 for 3 (Devine 45, Bates 41, Akter 1-25) beat Bangladesh 32 (Moni 6, Tahuhu 4-6, Jensen 3-8) by 132 runs Lea Tahuhu and Hayley Jensen wreaked havoc as Bangladesh collapsed to 32 all out – their second-lowest score in women’s T20Is – to go down by 132 runs in the first T20I
The Rawalpindi pitch on which England racked up a world-record 506 runs on the first day of the first Test was “embarrassing”, according to PCB chairman Ramiz Raja. Terming Pakistan as living in “the dark ages of pitch preparation” owing to a decade-long hiatus of Test cricket in the country, Ramiz said it would take
After scoring 506 for four on the opening day of the first Test in Rawalpindi, Ben Stokes had one last word for his charges ahead of day two. “We’ve broken some records yesterday, let’s try and break some more today.” Harry Brook took those words to heart. In a remarkable morning session that saw England
Litton Das has been named the Bangladesh captain for their three-match ODI series against India at home starting in Dhaka on Sunday. Tamim Iqbal, the regular ODI captain, had earlier pulled out of the series because of a groin injury. He is also doubtful for the Test series that begins in Chattogram on December 14.
Kagiso Rabada has conceded that he “wasn’t up to scratch” at the T20 World Cup, where he finished as South Africa’s most expensive bowler, and with the fewest wickets among their frontline quicks. Rabada put the dip in performance down to fatigue, and said trying to push through the lethargy had the opposite effect to
Saurashtra 249 for 5 (Jackson 133*, Desai 50, Jani 30*, Ostwal 2-20, Choudhary 2-38) beat Maharashtra 248 for 9 (Gaikwad 108, Kazi 37, Shaikh 31*, Jani 3-43) by five wickets It was a memorable day for Sheldon Jackson, who struck a fine 133 not out to lead Saurashtra past Maharashtra’s 248 to their second Vijay
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been taken to hospital in Perth as a precaution after feeling unwell. Ponting was at Optus Stadium on Friday conducting his Seven Network commentary duties during the first Test against West Indies when he started feeling unwell. It’s been reported Ponting suffered a heart scare, but no confirmed details
Perth Scorchers have suffered a major blow to their BBL title defence with Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh and England batter Phil Salt both ruled out of the entire BBL due to injury. Marsh will miss three months of cricket after undergoing keyhole surgery on his troubled left ankle. He has carried the ankle problem for
Teague Wyllie, the 18-year-old Western Australia batter who scored his maiden first-class century earlier this season, has been selected as part of a Cricket Australia XI to face South Africa in their warm-up match later this month. The match, which will be played between December 9-12 at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, has been downgraded
Allrounders Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana will miss the five-match T20I series against Australia at home starting December 10. While the BCCI release announcing the squad said Vastrakar was unavailable due to an unspecified injury, it gave no reason for Rana’s absence. There was also a maiden national call-up for the Railways left-arm seamer Anjali
Lunch West Indies 150 for 1 (Brathwaite 62*, Blackwood 9*) trail Australia 598 for 4 dec by 448 runs Debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul fell after notching his half-century, but a gritty West Indies showed resolve against an accurate Australian attack on a pivotal day three of the first Test. In response to Australia’s massive first innings
The 2023 programme of domestic cricket in England will feature an expanded Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and regular T20 double-headers involving men’s and women’s teams in the Vitality Blast and Charlotte Edwards Cup. With discussions about the future of the county schedule ongoing, there will be no changes to the LV= Insurance Championship, which will