Toss South Africa chose to bat vs England South Africa have won the toss and opted to bat first in the opening match in the ODI leg of their multi-format series against England in Northampton. With both sides tied on two points apiece following the drawn Test in Taunton, this is their first meeting in an ODI since the World Cup semi-final which England won by 137 runs, having lost…

Umesh Yadav has begun a maiden stint in county cricket in England, with Middlesex signing him for the remainder of the 2022 season in place of Shaheen Shah Afridi. The Pakistan fast bowler returned home to prepare for the national team’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, which is already underway with a warm-up fixture in Colombo. Umesh was initially set to play five County Championship games from early next week,…

Jos Buttler implored his England team to be “braver” after “timid” performances with the bat in their first two T20 internationals against India, Matthew Mott has revealed. England were bowled out for 148 and 121 in Buttler’s first two matches as their full-time limited-overs captain on Thursday and Saturday, losing by 50 and 49 runs respectively. Mott, their new white-ball coach, admitted they had been taken aback by the “ferocity”…

Lanning took on the state captaincy in 2014 as a 22-year-old but Australia commitments have limited the number of appearances she has been able to make in the WNCL. Although there is a window at the start of the upcoming season with Australia not playing internationals in late September, as they have in recent summers, further international duty will limit Lanning’s matches. Related WNCL set to be boosted by availability…

Former New Zealand captain Barry Sinclair, who was the third player to pass 1000 runs for his country, has died aged 85. Sinclair played 21 Tests between 1963 and 1968, scoring three centuries – one each against South Africa, Pakistan and England. “We were all very sad to hear of Barry’s passing,” Heath Mills, the chief executive of the New Zealand Cricket players’ association, said. “We have been blessed to…

Lunch Sri Lanka 499 for 8 (Chandimal 153*, Jayasuriya 0*) lead Australia 364 by 135 runs Dinesh Chandimal pushed Sri Lanka’s lead to hefty proportions on the fourth morning in Galle as Australia’s hopes of being able to overhaul a deficit and take advantage of bowling last slimmed. Chandimal brought up his 150 from 281 balls, the third time he had gone past that mark in Galle, and had sights…

Sri Lanka have been hit with another Covid-19 case after opener Pathum Nissanka tested positive, taking the number of players since the start of the Australia series to six. “He was found to be positive during an Antigen test conducted on the player yesterday morning, following the player complaining of feeling unwell,” an SLC statement said. “Nissanaka was immediately isolated in a different hotel upon identification and will undergo Covid-19…

20.4 to BA King, In the airrrrr…. and gone! Pressure mounting up and King paid the price. Good length ball onto the stumps, attempts to lob it over the circle fielder, miscues it high in the air. Anamul at the mid off region settles underneath and collects it with ease.. 55/3 20.5 to SSJ Brooks, Two in Two for Shoriful Islam! Brooks followed his partner playing a loose stroke. Length…

Virat Kohli played nine balls in two innings in this T20I series against England. He attempted boundaries off five of them. Two of them resulted in vintage Kohli boundaries – a four over wide mid-on and a six straight down the ground, but the other three got him out twice. On the evidence of Kohli’s T20 career, it is perhaps true that this is not the best approach for him….

Danni Wyatt expects to slip back into England’s middle order for the first ODI against South Africa at Wantage Road on Monday, despite her starring role as an opener in the teams’ last meeting, in the World Cup semi-final at Christchurch in March. Wyatt, 31, made the highest score of her international career – an explosive 129 from 125 balls – as England atoned for their tense three-wicket loss at…