3:00 AM ET Toss Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bowl v Delhi Capitals Bhuvneshwar Kumar led Sunrisers Hyderabad again in the absence of Kane Williamson and chose to bowl with an unchanged side against Delhi Capitals. On the contrary, Capitals made three changes to their XI that lost to Kings XI Punjab three days ago. The hosts picked a spin-heavy side by bringing in Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel and Rahul Tewatia…
9:18 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Are IPL games taking too long to finish? The coaches of two franchises certainly think so, and one of them, Tom Moody of Sunrisers Hyderabad, even has a suggestion as to how to improve over rates, borrowed from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In its 2018 season, the CPL introduced a novel penalty for slow over rates, mandating that 0.05 points be deducted from a…
9:15 AM ET Liam Brickhill Hashim Amla will return to cricket with the Cape Cobras during Cricket South Africa’s upcoming T20 Challenge, coach Ashwell Prince confirmed in Cape Town on Thursday. Prince also revealed that CSA were hoping Amla would be able to take up a short county stint in England to acclimatise ahead of the World Cup, but Amla wanted to stay in South Africa to be closer to…
3:00 AM ET Big picture At six weeks, the IPL can seem like a short tournament. But if you get on a losing run – the kind Royal Challengers Bangalore are in right now – even six weeks can seem like an eternity. But not all is lost for Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers. In the past, teams have come back from five losses to reach the playoffs, and even…
6:13 AM ET Andrew Fidel Fernando Former Sri Lanka allrounder Dilhara Lokuhettige has been slapped with three fresh corruption charges – these by the ICC’s own Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) – five months after the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had also charged him. The ACU’s allegations are generally in line with the charges Lokuhettige had already received from the ECB. The ACU has charged him with: Fixing, contriving or otherwise influencing…
Stop Hardik and you come close to winning – Stephen Fleming (4:52) Head Coach Stephen Fleming talks about team combinations, loss to Mumbai and slow over rate (4:52) 2:15 AM ET Annesha Ghosh in Mumbai Picking players a bit long in the tooth has made trolls label Chennai Super Kings as the “dad’s army” and “Chennai Senior Kings” since last year, but in IPL 2019, it has also played a…
Play 02:03 Blundell picked because of his superior keeping – Stead New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham came to the brink of retiring 18 months ago amid a battle with form and injury that had seen him fall out of love with cricket. Neesham spoke about his challenging time as he soaked up the “surreal” experience of securing a spot in the 15-man World Cup squad as his career came full…
7:41 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Legspinner Georgia Wareham has been awarded her first full Cricket Australia contract for 2019-2020, which includes the Ashes and T20 World Cup, after playing a key role in the team’s success over the past season. Wareham took 2 for 11 in the T20 World Cup final against England having made her T20I debut against New Zealand in Sydney last September and over that period claimed…
6:51 PM ET On Wednesday evening Hardik Pandya was his normal self. He was prancing and dancing around Wankhede stadium. And why not. It was Pandya’s thundering cameo at the death that put Mumbai Indians in a winning position, which he sealed with a three-wicket bowling spell that broke Chennai Super Kings’ back. Pandya’s eight-ball 25 was equal to 39 Smart runs, his Smart Strike rate was a whopping 487.50,…
Play 02:27 Buttler’s mankading overshadows Punjab’s win Jos Buttler believes it was “probably the wrong decision” to give him out in Rajasthan Royals’ first game of the IPL season but feels the current wording of the Laws governing run-outs at the non-striker’s end is “wishy-washy” and requires further clarification. Buttler was run-out backing-up – or Mankaded, as it is often termed – by the Kings XI Punjab captain R Ashwin…