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Bates, Heath steer Durham to victory over winless Somerset
Visitors win basement battle despite all-round efforts of Amanda-Jade Wellington
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
15-Jun-2025
Durham 139 for 6 (Bates 49, Heath 38*) beat Somerset 138 for 7 (Odgers 36, Villiers 2-23) by four wickets
Bess Heath demonstrated maturity aplenty to carry Durham to a four-wicket victory over Somerset in the Vitality Blast women's competition at the Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton.
Chasing 139 to win, the visitors were indebted to the 23-year-old middle order batter, who scored 38 not out from 25 balls under pressure to help the visitors reach their target with 11 deliveries to spare. Suzie Bates top-scored with 49, while Somerset seamer Mollie Robbins returned figures of 3 for 22 in a losing cause.
Full postIan Holland's four-for gets Washington Freedom off the mark
Washington Freedom cruised to victory in their modest chase with quick knocks from Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Maxwell
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-Jun-2025
Washington Freedom 149 for 5 (Ravindra 44, Maxwell 38*, Salamkheil 2-27) beat Seattle Orcas 145 for 9 (Warner 31, Mayers 27, Holland 4-19, Edwards 2-24) by five wickets
Seattle Orcas had no answers to fast bowler Ian Holland's variations as they slumped to 145 for 9, which Washington Freedom chased down with 39 balls to spare. Holland finished with career-best T20 figures of 4 for 19 to restrict Orcas after a flying start, before Rachin Ravindra set up the chase at the top and Glenn Maxwell finished things off with an unbeaten 38 off 20.
Orcas were in a strong position of 66 for 1 at the end of the powerplay as MLC debutant David Warner and his opening partner Kyle Mayers peppered boundaries. Warner stood outside the crease to bash the ball around while Mayers went 6, 4 and 4 off consecutive deliveries against Glenn Phillips in the fifth over to power Orcas past 50.
Full postLuus and Mlaba lead South Africa to series-levelling victory
West Indies put up a fight with Hayley Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle scoring half-centuries but it wasn't enough
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-Jun-2025
South Africa 309 for 9 (Luus 76, Shangase 55, Fletcher 4-64) beat West Indies 269 (Matthews 56, Campbelle 53, Mlaba 4-33) by 40 runs
South Africa's men had their day at Lord's and it might well have roused the women's team because they came back from 0-1 down in the ODI series against West Indies with a power-packed performance. There were contributions all the way down the batting order to put up 309 for 9, led by Sune Luus' enchanting 76 off just 65 balls. Nondumiso Shangase produced a career-best 55 having been trusted with the No. 3 position for only the second time ever. And Annerie Dercksen was around to provide the flourish at the end, even though wickets were falling, as South Africa picked off 106 runs in the last 10 overs.
West Indies, in reply, built their innings around fifties from Hayley Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle but their challenge wilted in the face of some miserly spin bowling from Nonkululeko Mlaba, who brought up her best figures in ODI cricket with 4 for 33. Her dismissal of Matthews came at a crucial time with West Indies keeping up with the required rate at 107 for 2 in the 20th over largely thanks to their captain's fluency. She made 56 off just 58 balls with nine fours.
Full postAllen, Fraser-McGurk, Bartlett, Rauf give Unicorns second straight win
Fraser-McGurk roared back to form in T20s with a blistering 88 off 38 balls that was studded with 11 sixes
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-Jun-2025
San Francisco Unicorns 219 for 8 (Fraser-McGurk 88, Allen 52, van Schalkwyk 3-50) beat Los Angeles Knight Riders 187 (Chand 53, Tromp 41, Bartlett 4-28, Rauf 4-41) by 32 runs
Finn Allen smashed his second straight 50-plus score, Jake Fraser-McGurk roared back to form, and fast bowlers Xavier Bartlett and Haris Rauf picked up four wickets apiece to lead San Francisco Unicorns to their second win on the bounce in MLC 2025. Unicorns posted a 200-plus total for the second game in a row, after their record-breaking 269 for 5 in the opening game of the tournament, and it proved to be too much for Los Angeles Knight Riders as only two of their batters scored over 30.
It was Fraser-McGurk this time who led Unicorns' charge with a blistering 88 off 38 balls that was studded with 11 sixes and just two fours, and it came after he had tallied just 61 runs in his last seven T20 innings at an average of just 8.71, which also included him getting dropped from the Delhi Capitals (DC) playing XI in the IPL. Against LAKR, however, he and Allen hammered 121 runs in just 55 balls for the second wicket - including a powerplay of 76 for 1. The highlight in that phase was the four consecutive sixes Fraser-McGurk smashed off Shadley van Schalkwyk in the fifth over that went for 25. After a rare boundary-less seventh over for just four runs from Sunil Narine, and seven more in the next bowled by Jason Sangha, Fraser-McGurk and Allen got back to smashing the ball around before Allen holed out to long-on off Narine for 52 off 27.
Full postTom Moores swings Outlaws to victory
Unbeaten 74 combined with Lyndon James fifty ends run of three defeats
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
14-Jun-2025
Notts Outlaws 212 for 4 (Moores 74*, James 50) beat Birmingham Bears 206 for 7 (Latham 69, Mousley 53, Patterson-White 3-37) by six wickets
Notts Outlaws ended a run of three successive Vitality Blast defeats with a scintillating six-wicket victory at Edgbaston.
The Bears piled up 206 for 7, with Tom Latham striking 69 off 39 balls and Dan Mousley 53 off 40 before a spectacular late barrage from Moeen Ali and Ed Barnard brought 57 in 20 balls. Liam Patterson-White took 3 for 37.
Full postWard fifty sets up Sussex win, McAndrew haul finishes it
Nathan McAndrew's 6 for 21 seals Sharks' second win over Glamorgan this season
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
14-Jun-2025
Sussex 199 for 7 (Ward 55, Simpson 41) beat Glamorgan 172 (Douthwaite 40, Ingram 37, McAndrew 6-21) by 27 runs
Sussex Sharks completed a double over Glamorgan thanks to 6 for 21 from Australian international Nathan McAndrew to give the visitors a 27-run win at Sophia Gardens.
A strong all round performance kept Sussex occupying an all-important top spot in the South Group of the Vitality Blast at the halfway stage.
Full postAneurin Donald blasts Derbyshire to back-to-back wins
Opener smashes 52 runs in boundaries as Leicestershire's 196 for 5 toppled with ease
ECB Reporters Network
14-Jun-2025
Derbyshire 197 for 3 (Donald 60, Scriven 3-29) beat Leicestershire 196 for 5 (Budinger 49, Brown 3-51) by seven wickets
Derbyshire Falcons completed back-to-back Vitality Blast derby wins in 24 hours with a seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes at Edgbaston.
The Foxes were lifted to a hefty 196 for five by an impressive collective effort headed by Sol Budinger 49 and Shan Masood's 43. Pat Brown took 3 for 51.
Full postMarkram delivers WTC glory to end South Africa's history of heartbreak
South Africa lost Bavuma early on day four but Markram's glorious 136 took them over the line with five wickets to spare
Andrew McGlashan
14-Jun-2025
South Africa 138 (Bedingham 45, Cummins 6-28) and 282 for 5 (Markram 146, Bavuma 66, Starc 3-66) beat Australia 212 (Webster 72, Smith 66, Rabada 5-51) and 207 (Starc 58, Carey 43, Rabada 4-59, Ngidi 3-38) by five wickets
At 12.45pm on a sunny Saturday at Lord's, South Africa secured the most significant moment in their cricket history with the World Test Championship title. It was not without nerves - how could it be? - but this time there was no agony at the end. Aiden Markram took them to the brink with an epic 136, an innings that will go down as the country's most important in Tests, before the winning runs were driven through the covers by Kyle Verreynne to spark the celebrations.
No longer was the 1998 ICC Knockout, with its various names and caveats, the only reference point for South Africa's global success. After so many near misses, they had a crowning moment. It will be a hugely popular victory, too, as the underdog story so often is, and as part of the wider narrative around the health of Test cricket outside of the Big Three.
Full postMagical Mitchell turns lost cause into a win for Texas Super Kings
MI New York fell three runs short in an MLC 2025 contest of major twists and turns
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Jun-2025
Texas Super Kings 185 for 6 (Conway 66, Savage 53*, Bracewell 2-34) beat MI New York 182 for 8 (Monank 62, Bracewell 38, Pollard 32, Milne 3-22) by three runs
If Finn Allen's record-breaking 51-ball 151 made the opening game of MLC 2025 memorable, the second of the season matched it for excitement, with two teams - whose better-known siblings have waged many battles at the IPL - playing out a thriller that had as many twists and turns as a 40-over contest can possibly have.
Chasing 186 for victory against Texas Super Kings, MI New York looked out of the contest, then roared right back, then lost their way, found it again, but then stopped three runs short as Daryl Mitchell, who had triggered the previous turning point in the game, bowled a last over of yorkers and slower deliveries to concede just five to the ninth-wicket pair of Tajinder Singh and Naveen-ul-Haq.
Full postPretorius, Holden shine in wet as Middlesex snatch tie
Hampshire unable to hold off visitors' chase in six-over contest on south coast
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
13-Jun-2025
Middlesex 75 for 1 (Holden 38) tied with Hampshire 63 for 1 (Pretorius 44*) (DLS method)
Max Holden stole the limelight from Lhuan-dre Pretorius's exhilarating debut as Hampshire Hawks and Middlesex tied a DLS thriller in the Men's Vitality Blast.
South African wunderkind Pretorius hammered a 22-ball 44 as Hawks struck 63 either side of the rain delays.
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