Shrubsole leads sensational fightback

Anya Shrubsole took three late wickets as England women mounted a remarkable late fightback to win the first T20 International against South Africa by 15 runs in Paarl. The hosts looked to be cruising when they reached 96 without loss in reply to England’s 147 for seven. But Shrubsole took 3-9 in her second two-over spell, and with the run-rate mounting South Africa capitulated to finish on 132 for six….

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Tredwell, Borthwick, Onions in MCC XI

James Tredwell will come up against several England team-mates in the Yorkshire side © Getty Images The MCC has named a team featuring five England Test cricketers to play Yorkshire in the Champion County match next month. Ian Bell had already been announced as captain and he will lead his Warwickshire team-mate Rikki Clarke, Graham Onions, James Tredwell and Scott Borthwick. Kent offspinner Tredwell played for England most recently, alongside…

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Afghanistan's pedigree, Oman's debut

The recently reinstated Mohammad Shahzad provides Afghanistan plenty of firepower up the order © Chris Whiteoak Afghanistan A maiden Asia Cup appearance was the result of wowing a very small but influential crowd. Successful talks with the BCCI and the SLC placed Afghanistan as the fifth member in the 2014 edition and the team shook the world, beating hosts Bangladesh and registering their first win against a Test-playing nation. This…

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De Villiers to keep opening role

South Africa are expected to stick with AB de Villiers at the top of the order for the two Twenty20 internationals against England. De Villiers, having opened the batting with Hashim Amla in their last sprint-format series versus India four months ago, is set to retain the role as the Proteas look to finalise their plans ahead of the ICC World Twenty20. But De Villiers could have a new opening…

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Taylor happy to be back in the runs

Sarah Taylor was pleased to return to form as England women secured a 15-run victory in the first of three T20 Internationals against South Africa. Taylor produced a string of paddles, sweeps and ramps in her unbeaten 51-ball 74, which guided England to 147 for seven form their 20 overs. That proved far too many for the hosts, despite a 96-run opening stand between Dane van Niekerk and Trisha Chetty,…

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Morgan happy with form, England options

Eoin Morgan made 64 runs in five innings during the ODIs with South Africa © Getty Images Eoin Morgan has said that he is not worried about his dip in form during the ODI series with South Africa and suggested that England are close to settling on their best XI ahead of the World T20. Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, made just 64 runs from five innings during the ODIs, which…

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Taylor provides platform for victory

England 147 for 7 (Taylor 74*) beat South Africa 132 for 6 (van Niekerk 52, Shrubsole 3-25) by 15 runsScorecard Sarah Taylor made an unbeaten 74 to set up victory (file photo) Stephen Pond / © Getty Images England’s bowlers fought back to secure a 15-run win in the first T20 with South Africa, after Sarah Taylor‘s blistering, unbeaten 74 had masked a top-order failure with the bat. Chasing 148…

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Ombudsman asks Harbhajan to dissociate from Bhajji Sports

BCCI Ombudsman, Justice AP Shah, used the conflict of interest allegation against Harbhajan Singh to set a guideline for similar cases in the board © AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi The BCCI ombudsman, Justice AP Shah, has asked the board to take an “unequivocal undertaking” from spinner Harbhajan Singh that he will no longer be in the management of the sports apparel company, Bhajji Sports, and will not be associated with the…

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No case of conflict against Ganguly – BCCI ombudsman

The BCCI ombudsman has ruled that Sourav Ganguly’s links to the Atletico de Kolkata franchise do not put him in a situation of conflict of interest © AFP Justice AP Shah, the BCCI ombudsman, has ruled that no case of conflict of interest could be found against former India captain Sourav Ganguly under the board’s rules on the subject. Freelance journalist Niraj Gunde had filed a case with Shah alleging…

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Preparation more important than results – du Plessis

Faf du Plessis has stressed results are not the most important thing for South Africa in their World T20 build-up © Gallo Images Victories are not the only barometer South Africa will use to measure their readiness for next month’s World T20. Instead, their five home internationals – two against England and three against Australia – will act as dress rehearsals for their matches in India, even though conditions and…

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