Toss Pakistan chose to bowl vs New Zealand Pakistan won the toss and opted to field first in the fourth T20I. In chilly conditions with a bit of rain forecast for the evening in Rawalpindi, which hosts the final two games of this series, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said the hosts wanted to know what target they were chasing. On a surface New Zealand captain Tom Latham said “looks a…
Royal Challengers Bangalore 174 for 4 (Du Plessis 84, Kohli 59, Brar 2-31) beat Punjab Kings 150 (Prabhsimran 46, Jitesh 41, Siraj 4-21) by 24 runs Faf du Plessis revealed that he wouldn’t have played this game had the Impact Player rule not been in place. His bruised rib was causing too many problems. But the new rules gave him the chance to affect the game with just his batting…
Big picture: Can SRH score first win against CSK at home? Sunrisers Hyderabad have not yet beaten Chennai Super Kings at home. They’ve played only three matches against CSK in Chennai, but visiting teams have always struggled for success at Chepauk, where Super Kings have won 19 of their last 23 games. CSK have played only two home games so far but early signs are that Chepauk is staying true…
Lucknow Super Giants 154 for 7 (Mayers 51, Rahul 39, Ashwin 2-23) beat Rajasthan Royals 144 for 6 (Jaiswal 44, Buttler 40, Avesh 3-25, Stoinis 2-28) by 10 runs On a slow Sawai Mansingh Stadium pitch, Lucknow Super Giants spoiled Rajasthan Royals’ homecoming in a game of middling totals by defending 154, the lowest total successfully defended this IPL. Playing in Jaipur after almost four years, Royals restricted Super Giants…
Capitals are in crisis after starting IPL 2023 with five consecutive defeats. They will likely have to win eight of their nine remaining games to have a chance of qualifying for the play-offs, starting with a home fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday night. Moody, a title-winning coach with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, has over a decade of experience in IPL dressing rooms. In an extended edition of ESPNcricinfo’s…
Gary Ballance, the former Yorkshire and England cricketer who recently relaunched his career with his native Zimbabwe, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. Ballance, 33, made four centuries in 23 Test appearances for England between 2014 and 2017, a record that compared favourably with many other players to have debuted in a similar period. However, he was heavily implicated in Azeem Rafiq’s explosive testimony…
Big Picture – Capitals optimistic despite 0-5 start Delhi Capitals have had a calamitous start to their campaign this season, losing all five matches so far, but their captain David Warner still seems optimistic. “Teams have come back well from this position before and we can go on and do better,” he said after their loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They do still have reasons to be positive at this…
KL Rahul has admitted he “feels bad” about Quinton de Kock‘s continued absence from Lucknow Super Giants’ starting XI in IPL 2023, describing his omission as “very unfortunate”. De Kock was unavailable for Super Giants’ opening two games of the season while on international duty and Kyle Mayers, who filled in at the top of the order, made the most of his opportunity. Ahead of Wednesday night’s game against Rajasthan…
Brendon McCullum, England men’s Test head coach, will face no action from his employers at the ECB after questions were raised about his advertising arrangements with a bookmaker. New Zealand’s Problem Gambling Foundation had filed an official complaint to the country’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), with the DIA confirming that 22Bet’s adverts are misleading because “they are not a registered New Zealand sports bookmaker, nor are they licensed or…
Big picture: Hesson’s return Punjab Kings, in their old guise as Kings XI Punjab, missed out on the play-offs on net run-rate in 2019 but that was not enough for Mike Hesson, their coach, to keep his job. Perhaps, with hindsight, Hesson was onto a good thing – but in keeping with Kings’ IPL history, he did not last long enough for them to find out. The following season, he…