11:52 AM ET Liam Brickhill Given arguably the hardest job in Test cricket – that of opener in South African conditions – Dean Elgar has forged a reputation as a batsman of extremely durable disposition. His fifty against a bristling Pakistan seam attack – albeit missing Mohammad Abbas’ wiles – on a variegated, helpful Centurion track was vital in setting up South Africa’s 1-0 series lead, but Elgar admitted that…
The Pakistan team troop off the field after losing the first Test in three days 10:35 AM ET Less than three full sessions before the match ended with a commanding South African victory, Pakistan found themselves in relative control. They had a lead of 59 runs and still had nine wickets in hand to influence the result of the Centurion Test. But then Duanne Olivier and Kagiso Rabada went on…
7:13 AM ET Cameron Bancroft‘s nine-month ban for his part in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal ends on December 29 and he is expected to return to professional cricket the day after for Perth Scorchers against Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL. Here is a look back of a turbulent time for the opening batsman March 24 During the afternoon session of the third day at Newlands, footage captures Bancroft putting a…
3:00 AM ET Alex Malcolm Hobart Hurricanes 3 for 196 (Wade 85, Short 58) beat Sydney Thunder 6 for 193 (Buttler 89) by seven wickets Bat finally dominated ball for one of the rare times in this tournament, and the best opening partnership of the season from Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short helped the Hobart Hurricanes outgun Sydney Thunder in Hobart. Asked to chase 194, following a masterful innings from…
3:00 AM ET Lunch South Africa 223 (Bavuma 53, Amir 4-62) and 81 for 1 (Amla 45*, Elgar 32*, Hasan 1-35) need 68 more runs to beat Pakistan 181 (Babar 71, Olivier 6-37) and 190 (Masood 65, Olivier 5-59) Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar shared in an unbroken 81-run second wicket stand that left South Africa needing a further 68 to win the first Test against Pakistan at Centurion. Both…
4:52 AM ET George Dobell Umar Farooq Northamptonshire are closing in on the signing of Faheem Ashraf for the Vitality Blast. ESPNcricinfo understand Faheem, the Pakistan allrounder, has agreed a contract with the club and expects to be available for the entire duration of the 2019 T20 season in England. The competition starts in mid-July – immediately after the World Cup – with the group stages finishing on August 30…
The ball is getting soft. The pitch is possibly easing out, going back to its avatar of the first two days. There has been a partnership after the first three wickets, Australia can think of safety as lunch approaches… But just then Jasprit Bumrah produces a mad piece of genius, only his second slower ball of the series, a dipping yorker to squeeze under Shaun Marsh’s bat to trap him…
4:33 AM ET Pat Cummins has admitted to being “pretty exhausted” after Australia’s bowlers found themselves back in the field within 24 hours of India’s first-innings declaration. No batsman made more than 22 in Australia’s first-innings total of 151 and, after spending most of the first two days in the field, Cummins – who brought the MCG crowd to life with a late four-wicket burst – said he felt the…
3:47 AM ET When Tom Latham grinds out big scores, Jeet Raval gets a good start, Henry Nicholls consolidates at No. 5, and Colin de Grandhomme produces the rollicking lower-middle order slogfests, it can feeling like New Zealand have a rocking top seven. When Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor’s contributions almost go overlooked, that feeling only grows stronger. And when BJ Watling isn’t even required to produce one of his…
2:58 AM ET Two Christchurch boys putting on a 214-run stand on their home ground, in a Boxing Day Test – one learning off the other. This is roughly how Henry Nicholls summed up his fourth-wicket stand with friend Tom Latham, on a third day in which New Zealand took the second Test against Sri Lanka by the collar. Both batsmen made big hundreds; Latham produced 176 to follow his…