Afghanistan claim series victory after Rashid's career-best flattens Zimbabwe

Afghanistan 157 (Rashid 25, Raza 3-30, Nyamhuri 3-42) and 363 (Rahmat 139, Alam 101, Muzarabani 6-95) beat Zimbabwe 243 (Ervine 75, Raza 61, Rashid 4-94) and 205 (Ervine 53, Rashid 7-66, Zia 2-44) by 72 runs It had to be Rashid Khan. After starring in each of Afghanistan’s previous three Test wins – in Dehradun, Chattogram and Abu Dhabi – he wrapped Zimbabwe up with a match haul of 11…

January 6, 2025
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Marsh set for BBL return after losing Test place

Mitchell Marsh, who was dropped for the final Test against India, is in line to play his first BBL match for nearly three years after being added to Perth Scorchers’ squad to face Melbourne Renegades at Optus Stadium on Tuesday. Quick bowler Jhye Richardson has also been made available for a BBL return having been part of the Test squad for the final two matches of the Border-Gavaskar series. Related…

January 6, 2025
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Harmanpreet, Renuka rested for Ireland ODIs; Mandhana to lead India

India’s regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and fast bowler Renuka Singh have been rested for the three ODIs against Ireland, set to begin on January 10 in Rajkot. Smriti Mandhana has been named captain in Harmanpreet’s absence, while Deepti Sharma is the vice-captain. Raghvi Bist and Sayali Satghare have been called up for the series, while the likes of Arundhati Reddy, Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav continue to miss out. Bist…

January 6, 2025
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What did victory over India tell us about Australia's present and future?

Australia’s 3-1 series victory over India was comfortable in the end but there were moments when they were severely tested. Jasprit Bumrah was the major headache for Australia and the pitches overall were difficult for batting. There were some strong performances from some incumbents but others were not terribly influential. The bench strength was a major factor in the wins in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Here are some of the…

January 6, 2025
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Cummins likely to miss Sri Lanka tour but no end in sight for captaincy

There’s no end in sight for Pat Cummins‘ captaincy as he prepares to put family first and skip his first full tour since taking over from Tim Paine four years ago. With ODI and T20 World Cups also captured in that time, Cummins was asked after the SCG win if he felt he “had completed cricket”. Related Australia regain Border-Gavaskar Trophy, set up WTC final date with SA Konstas, Webster…

January 6, 2025
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Frustration for Babar after late dismissal despite return to form

Babar Azam found himself rooted to the crease in disgust. He couldn’t believe the shot he’d played after being set on a surface where there was limited threat from either the pitch or the bowlers. He must have thought he’d never make that mistake again, but two sessions later it happened. So, on a day where Babar scored two half-centuries, the bigger talking point surrounded his shot selection. Well set…

January 6, 2025
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Christian comes out of retirement to help injury-hit Thunder

Australian T20 legend Dan Christian has come out of retirement and to the rescue of the BBL’s injury-hit Sydney Thunder. The 41-year-old allrounder last played professionally for Sydney Sixers two summers ago and has since served as an assistant coach at Thunder. Christian has not played a professional match of cricket since Sixers’ BBL12 semi-final loss to the Brisbane Heat but has been keeping fit with UNSW in the NSW…

January 5, 2025
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Botha backs SA bowlers to attack in search of series glory

South Africa have no choice but to “keep attacking” Pakistan as they go in search of the eight wickets required (as Saim Ayub will play no further part in the Test) to win the series and sweep the home summer. With a 208-run advantage, Pakistan following-on and two days left to play, South Africa will throw everything at the batters, even if it means conceding heavily, as they did on…

January 5, 2025
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Agarawal's hot streak continues; Haryana, Punjab, Bengal and TN in knockouts

Mayank Agarawal slammed his fourth List A hundred in five innings as Karnataka entered the knockouts of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy along with defending champions Haryana, Punjab, Bengal and Tamil Nadu among others. Mumbai, the winners of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, haven’t made the knockouts after finishing third in Group C with five wins in seven games. Both their losses, to Karnataka and Punjab, deflated their campaign which…

January 5, 2025
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Rashid picks up six to put Afghanistan in sight of a win

Zimbabwe 243 and 205 for 8 (Ervine 53*, Rashid 6-66, Zia 2-44) need 73 runs to beat Afghanistan 157 and 363 (Rahmat 139, Ismat 101, Muzarabani 6-95) Ismat Alam‘s century on debut and Rashid Khan‘s six-for bookended a day of dominance for Afghanistan, who will come back on the fifth and final day needing just two wickets to seal the match and the series against Zimbabwe. Ismat, who had come…

January 5, 2025
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