Month: October 2020

12:32 AM GMT A company headed by two former Cricket Australia executives has won a multimillion-dollar contract to build a bespoke replacement for MyCricket, the much-criticised digital portal for community cricket in Australia. PlayHQ, which boasts the former CA chief executive James Sutherland as chairman and the ex-CA manager of media rights and strategy, Sam Walch, as chief executive, had already picked up major contracts to run digital fixturing, scoring…

7:38 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff “Suryakumar Yadav from Mumbai to watch out for in future!” That’s part of a tweet from Rohit Sharma, circa 2011. Since then, Yadav spent two years with the Mumbai Indians, then five with the Kolkata Knight Riders, and, since 2018, he’s back with the Mumbai Indians. Cameos have been aplenty, runs have flowed at different periods of his IPL career, but the one thing that…

6:22 PM GMT The 48th match of IPL 2020 pitted two of the top-two aspirants, the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Mumbai Indians won, becoming the first team to reach 16 points. What does that mean for the qualification chances of the two teams? Mumbai Indians: Played 12, Points 16, NRR 1.186 Remaining matches: vs Delhi Capitals (Oct 31) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (Nov 3) Mumbai’s fantastic net…

11:22 PM IST Deivarayan Muthu Mumbai Indians 166 for 5 (Suryakumar 79*, Kishan 25, Siraj 2-28, Chahal 2-37) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 164 for 6 (Padikkal 74, Philippe 33, Bumrah 3-14, Pollard 1-5) by five wickets A death-bowling masterclass from Jasprit Bumrah, followed by a rollicking unbeaten 79 from Suryakumar Yadav, ensured the Mumbai Indians became the first team to reach 16 points and all but secure their place in…

4:17 PM GMT Nasir Jamshed will be allowed to fight deportation proceedings from his home in England having won his release from prison. Jamshed, the former Pakistan batsman, was imprisoned in February for his part in a spot-fixing conspiracy. While his sentence for that offence is now served, he was recently informed of the Home Office’s decision to progress with deportation proceedings. Although Jamshed was legally in the UK on…

2:46 PM GMT Danyal Rasool Last year at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, only 10 matches in the entire season produced results. The opening round saw all two off three matches drawn, with huge scores dominating games and little chance of a result in sight. The signs this time indicate this could be a very different QeA season. All three games ended up producing winners and losers; two of them saw results…

1:39 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Gautam Gambhir believes that despite the Chennai Super Kings enduring its poorest season in IPL history this time in the UAE, the franchise will retain MS Dhoni as their captain in 2021 because of the “fabulous relationship” they share. “You’re putting me in a fix. Now that’s a tough question. It up to the franchise. What he has done for the franchise and how the…

1:02 PM GMT A little less than two months ago the SCG Trust chairman, Tony Shepherd, discovered he had been thwarted in a quest to bring the AFL Grand Final to Sydney. Football’s decision to award the competition decider to Brisbane and the Gabba on September 1, left Shepherd looking towards Melbourne’s other iconic day of the year, the Boxing Day Test, as a chance to step in amid an…

1:02 PM GMT Debayan Sen Welcome to ESPNcricinfo’s Rolling Report of the 48th game of IPL 2020, between the Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. The likes of Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya will take on the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Yuzvendra Chahal, and others in Abu Dhabi. Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore If the blog doesn’t load for you,…

1:01 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore have been in and around the top three for most of IPL 2020, but neither can yet count on finishing there. The tournament table has been known to shape-shift dramatically in past seasons as the league stage approaches its close, and there’s a possibility, this year, of five teams finishing tied at 16 points. Mumbai Indians vs…