Pakistan were fine five percent of their match fee on Thursday for maintaining a slow over-rate during their match against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy opener at the National Stadium in Karachi. The tournament hosts and defending champions lost to New Zealand by 60 runs on Wednesday. Pakistan were found one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration, the ICC said. While on-field umpires…
Shami five-for, Gill century highlight India's win
India 231 for 4 (Gill 101*, Rahul 41*, Rishad 2-38) beat Bangladesh 228 (Hridoy 100, Jaker 68, Shami 5-53) by six wickets Shubman Gill dug deep for his slowest ODI hundred and India’s slowest in the last six years to see India through a tricky chase of 229 that must have brought back memories of their 3-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka last on similarly slow tracks. Despite a quick…
Jamie Smith to bat at No.3 vs Australia
Jamie Smith will bat at No. 3 for the first time in his ODI career and keep wicket for England in their Champions Trophy opener against Australia in Lahore on Saturday. Joe Root has been England’s first-choice No. 3 for the best part of a decade, but slid down to No. 4 in the final match of their recent ODI series in India – which they lost 3-0 – and…
Afghanistan begin with dreams to realise, South Africa with nightmares to squash
Big Picture: The game some didn’t want SA to play Group B of the Champions Trophy gets underway with a fixture between the dream side of the last two tournaments, Afghanistan, and the one which has nightmares about the number of times it has not got its hands on the trophy, South Africa. Afghanistan will make their Champions Trophy bow on the back of strong performances at the 2023 ODI…
Jaymeet, Panchal frustrate Kerala as Gujarat eye lead
Gujarat 429 for 7 (Panchal 148, Jaymeet 74*, Saxena 4-135) trail Kerala 457 (Azharuddeen 177*, Nagwaswalla 3-81) by 28 runs Eight games into his maiden season, 22-year old Jaymeet Patel has already made massive contributions as a batting allrounder. Like his quarter-final century against Saurashtra or his twin half-centuries in a must-win against Himachal to qualify for the knockouts. On Friday, he’ll have a chance to put impactful performances like…
Smriti Mandhana's RCB ready to kickstart homecoming party
Who’s playing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) vs Mumbai Indians (MI)Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, February 21, 2025 What to expect: RCB’s Indian unit vs MI’s overseas players The formidable RCB side will be looking to continue their imperious run as they enter the home leg. They have a lot going for them this season and though they are without several match-winners from last season, their Indian players have stepped up. Smriti Mandhana…
Shahidi: 'We're not here to just participate, we want to win the title'
“Between 2019 and now there’s too much difference and just recently we beat them [South Africa] in Sharjah – 2-1 – so we have that confidence with us and we are not under pressure anyway,” Shahidi said at his press conference on Thursday. “Because right now we are focusing what we can do in this tournament and I believe that our team is more ready for this tournament and we…
Moises Henriques joins Notts Outlaws for 2025 Vitality Blast
Australian allrounder Moises Henriques has joined Notts Outlaws for the 2025 Vitality Blast. Henriques, who has made 10 appearances in the competition for Surrey across two stints, the most recent coming in 2017, has been capped 44 times for his country, with the majority (24) coming in T20Is. The 38-year old brings a wealth of experience, with 282 matches in the T20 format. As Sydney Sixers captain, he has led…
Kumble: Time for India to start building for 2027 ODI World Cup
Anil Kumble, the former India captain and legspinner, believes the team must start setting transition plans in motion after the ongoing Champions Trophy, and build a new, younger team capable of challenging for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s Matchday show ahead of India’s opening game against Bangladesh, Kumble said that head coach Gautam Gambhir will have some “tough calls” to make, irrespective of how the current team…
Mumbai stumble in tall chase as Vidarbha close in on Ranji final
Mumbai 270 and 83 for 3 (Anand 27*, Dube 12*, Dubey 2-26) trail Vidarbha 383 and 292 (Rathod 151, Mulani 6-85) by 323 runs Yash Rathod struck a superb 151, his fifth hundred this season, as Vidarbha set Mumbai 406 for a place in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy final. Mumbai will be chasing history – the highest successful chase in the tournament’s history is 378 that Railways achieved against Tripura…