12:55 AM ET Umar Farooq Eight Pakistan players, including Saeed Ajmal and Imran Khan, found themselves in a pay dispute with the Afro T20 Cricket League organisers and decided to return home without completing the tournament. The players’ return tickets were also cancelled at one point but according to Ajmal, their flights were rebooked for December 21 after talks with the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA). The Afro T20 Cricket League,…
3:00 AM ET Vidarbha 185 (Sarwate 47, Mithun 5-45) and 313 (Satish 81, Vinay 3-71, Binny 3-74) beat Karnataka 301 (Nair 153, Gautam 73, Gurbani 5-94, Umesh 4-73) and 192 (Vinay 36, Gurbani 7-68) by five runs Rajneesh Gurbani is congratulated by his team-mates PTI One of the most dramatic and emotionally-charged Ranji Trophy matches in recent memory hurtled to a pulsating finish in Kolkata as Vidarbha charged into their maiden…
3:00 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff CSA Invitation XI 55 for 3 (Bavuma 35, Jarvis 2-15) trail Zimbabwe 196 (Masakadza 79) by 141 runs Dale Steyn clutches his right shoulder Getty Images Dale Steyn endured a wicket-less return to first-class cricket, returning 0 for 16 from his 12 overs for the CSA Invitation XI against Zimbabwe in the first day Paarl. He did, however, come close twice: Solomon Mire nicked behind in…
Cullinan: I wouldn’t select Dale Steyn to play against Zimbabwe (5:39) Daryll Cullinan reacts to the announcement of South Africa’s squad for their one-off four-day Test against Zimbabwe on Boxing Day (5:39) 1:19 PM ET There was no swing, not much speed, and definitely no swearing as Dale Steyn made a low-key return to his whites after an absence of over a year. Steyn bowled what he called “steady stuff”…
1:00 PM ET George Dobell “All right isn’t good enough,” Mark Stoneman grunts. It’s just been put to him that he has “done all right” in the Ashes so far. And it’s a question that seems to have both irked him and gone to the heart of England’s performance in Australia. “At three-nil down, all right isn’t good enough,” he says. “There have been times when I feel I’ve belonged,…
12:46 PM ET Andrew Fidel Fernando Chandika Hathurusingha will have a free hand as Sri Lanka’s head coach, or so, at least, the board has promised. During his two-and-a-half-year stint as Bangladesh’s coach, Hathurusingha had wielded substantial influence in the system, and had been a selector besides. Though he will not be a selector in the Sri Lanka set-up for now, he has signed on with SLC partly because the…
3:00 AM ET India 180 for 3 (Rahul 61, Dhoni 39*, Pandey 32*) beat Sri Lanka 87 (Chahal 4-23, Pandya 3-29) by 93 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Dew was always going to play a role in the first T20I at the Barabati Stadium, and both teams knew it. Sri Lanka picked just one specialist spinner, packed their side with seam options, and gave themselves the early advantage by winning the…
9:23 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Big Picture Having two powerhouses in the final is hardly a big surprise. In the last four years, SNGPL have reached the final for the third time, while WAPDA look to defend their crown. Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament has failed to capture the public’s interest, even though the bowlers have enjoyed considerable success with the Duke ball and some fairly wild pitches. Title aspirations aside,…
8:39 AM ET Mohammad IsamESPN The BCB has taken a slow and steady approach to appointing Bangladesh’s next head coach, according to president Nazmul Hassan. He also said that the board is at an advanced stage of talks with Gary Kirsten for a wide-ranging consultancy role, and days away from signing a new batting consultant for the senior side. “We are on the back foot, that’s for sure,” Hassan said….
3:00 AM ET Toss: Sri Lanka chose to bowl v IndiaLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details Thisara Perera, the Sri Lanka captain, has chosen to bowl in the first T20I keeping in mind the possibility of dew setting in later in the evening. India captain Rohit Sharma said he would have preferred to bowl first too. Sri Lanka made four changes from their XI for the third ODI: they handed a…