Report
Pakistan 91 all out as post Babar-Rizwan era begins with a whimper
Jamieson and Duffy pick up seven wickets between them to seal victory for New Zealand
Abhimanyu Bose
16-Mar-2025
New Zealand 92 for 1 (Seifert 44, Allen 29*) beat Pakistan 91 (Khushdil 32, Duffy 4-14, Jamieson 3-8) by nine wickets
In the fifth T20I in Pakistan's tour of New Zealand last year, the hosts had been dismissed for 92 chasing 135 in Christchurch. In the first T20I of this five-match series, that was a winning total for New Zealand after Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy took apart a new-look Pakistan side.
The dropping of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan signalled that Pakistan were trying to step out of their comfort zone in T20 cricket, which is broadly very good. But on Sunday, they saw the risks that also come with it as they were bundled out for 91, their lowest total in New Zealand and their fifth-lowest in the format.
Full postBates, Illing, Halliday star to level the series at 1-1
Bates made 47 and bowled four overs for 16, while Halliday made 46 not out and took 1 for 12 in the seven wicket win after Illing took 2 for 18 to restrict Sri Lanka to 113 for 7
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Mar-2025
New Zealand 117 for 3 (Bates 47, Halliday 46*) beat Sri Lanka 113 for 7 (Nanyakkara 35, Illing 2-18) by seven wickets
Strong all-round performances from Suzie Bates and Brooke Halliday along with a breakout bowling display from Bree Illing helped New Zealand breeze to a seven wicket win against Sri Lanka in Christchurch to level the series at 1-1.
New Zealand's bowlers set the tone with a frugal display after winning the toss and electing to bowl, restricting Sri Lanka to 113 for 7 in their 20 overs before Bates and Halliday made 47 and 46 not out respectively as the hosts cruised home with seven wickets and nine balls to spare. Bates was named player of the match after also bowling four overs for just 16 runs while Halliday also took 1 for 12 with the ball in addition to posting her highest T20I score.
Full postSciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet seal second WPL title for Mumbai Indians
MI overcame Marizanne Kapp scare after posting 149 for 7
S Sudarshanan
15-Mar-2025
Mumbai Indians 149 for 7 (Harmanpreet 66, Sciver-Brunt 30, Kapp 2-11, Jonassen 2-26) beat Delhi Capitals 141 for 9 (Kapp 40, Rodrigues 30, Sciver-Brunt 3-30) by eight runs
Mumbai Indians (MI) won the Women's Premier League (WPL) title for the second time in three seasons, successfully defending 149 for 7 to consign Delhi Capitals (DC) to a runners-up finish for a third season in a row.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, who became the first to 1000 runs in WPL, and Harmanpreet Kaur, who tallied 300 runs in a season for the first time, were central to MI's batting even on Saturday, adding 89 for the third wicket to lift them from 14 for 2. Harmanpreet continued her fine striking form to hit a 36-ball fifty that dragged MI to a respectable total.
Full postSilk 94* lifts Tasmania as NSW's Shield finals hopes take a hit
Third-placed NSW needed to win to have any hope of reaching the final
AAP
15-Mar-2025
Tasmania 309 for 7 (Silk 94*, Ward 64) against New South Wales
Jordan Silk struck an unbeaten 94 to give Tasmania the first-day honours in their pink-ball Sheffield Shield clash with NSW at Bellerive Oval.
Silk (94 not out off 186), Tim Ward (64 off 158), Caleb Jewell (45) and Jake Doran (39) all chipped in to lift Tasmania to 309 for 7 before rain brought the opening day to an early finish.
Full postHandscomb, debutant Peake hold their own with attrition on WACA green top
Corey Rocchiccioli induced a collapse to register a five-for and restrict Victoria to 197
Tristan Lavalette
15-Mar-2025
Western Australia 10 for 1 (Bancroft 8*, Sutherland 1-2) trail Victoria 197 (Peake 52, Handscomb 48, Rocchiccioli 5-67, Paris 3-37) by 187 runs
Oliver Peake demonstrated his credentials as a long-term Test prospect with a fighting half-century in his first-class debut to top-score for Victoria on a tough WACA surface against Western Australia in a pivotal Sheffield Shield match.
Victoria made 197 with their first innings dominated by a 94-run fourth-wicket partnership between the highly-touted Peake and Peter Handscomb. WA had a tricky 15-minute period at the crease before stumps on day one and they lost skipper Sam Whiteman caught down the legside off Will Sutherland for a duck.
Full postMcInerney maiden ton dents Queensland's final hopes
McInerney made 142, Sangha made 67 while Carey remains 46 not out as South Australia piled up 359 for 4 on the opening day
Alex Malcolm
15-Mar-2025
South Australia 359 for 4 (McInerney 142, Sangha 67, Carey 46*) vs Queensland
A maiden first-class century from South Australia opener Conor McInerney has put a major dent in Queensland's hopes of qualifying for the Sheffield Shield final after just one day the clash at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.
Queensland sit in second on the Shield table and a win and enough bonus points would lock up a spot in the final which will be hosted by South Australia in Adelaide. But they conceded 359 for 4 to the ladder leaders on the opening day with the left-handed opener making 142 from 222 balls while Jason Sangha also made a very fluent 67 from 104 deliveries which included nine boundaries.
Full postMack, Faltum and Mills star in red-ball Australia A warm-up
The CA Green vs CA Gold match had been organised to provide more long-form cricket
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-Mar-2025
CA Green 282 (Ginger 62, Flintoff 4-27) & 214 for 4 dec (Mack 102*, Faltum 62) beat CA Gold 248 (de Broughe 84, Prestwidge 5-31) & 127 (Knott 59, Mills 5-28) by 121 runs
Katie Mack upstaged the women's Australia A squad with an unbeaten century in a three-day red-ball warm-up game in Canberra for Australia's emerging stars ahead of England A's tour of the country.
Mack made 102 not out for CA Green against CA Gold in the third innings of the match to help Green XI claim a 121-run win, with Australia A 50-over and four-day captain and new Australia T20I squad member Nicole Faltum also making 62, while offspinner Lilly Mills took seven wickets for the match including 5 for 28 to bowl Gold XI out for 127 on the final day.
Full postDebutant Madara, Athapaththu fashion SL women's first T20I win in NZ
New Zealand were never able to recover from the rut they got into after their powerplay
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Mar-2025
Sri Lanka 102 for 3 (Athapaththu 64*, Kerr 2-18) beat New Zealand 101 (McLeod 44, Madara 3-14, Dilhari 2-18, Priyadharshani 2-25) by seven wickets
Debutant Malki Madara's three-for combined with two-fors from Kavisha Dilhari and Inoshi Priyadharshani set up a comfortable victory for Sri Lanka in the T20I series opener in Christchurch. Chamari Athapaththu's unbeaten 64 off 48 balls then took the visitors home with seven wickets in hand. This was Sri Lanka's first T20I win in New Zealand and second win overall against New Zealand in the format.
Emma McLeod (44) was New Zealand's highest scorer but only two of her team-mates got into double figures, and there was only one partnership that stretched past 20 balls.
Full postSciver-Brunt, Matthews power Mumbai Indians into second WPL final
Gujarat Giants put down four catches in the field, before losing their way in a chase of 214 in the Eliminator
Vishal Dikshit
13-Mar-2025
Mumbai Indians 213 for 4 (Sciver-Brunt 77, Matthews 77, Harmanpreet 36, Gibson 2-40) beat Gujarat Giants 166 (Gibson 34, Litchfield 31, Matthews 3-31, Kerr 2-28) by 47 runs
Majestic batting from Nat Sciver-Brunt, middle-overs acceleration from Hayley Matthews, and power-hitting from Harmanpreet Kaur helped Mumbai Indians post a daunting total of 213 in the Eliminator. That proved to be too much to chase down, and Mumbai's 47-run win extended their head-to-head dominance over Gujarat Giants to 7-0 and powered them into their second WPL final in three years. On Saturday, they will face Delhi Capitals in a repeat of the 2023 finale.
Giants were without Deandra Dottin for their first knockout game in three WPLs after the allrounder hurt herself only five minutes before the toss, and was replaced by England's Danielle Gibson. Giants didn't do themselves any favours as they misfielded through the innings and put down four catches that cost them heavily. In the run chase, they lost their three top-scorers this season - Beth Mooney, Harleen Deol and Ashleigh Gardner - in the powerplay as Mumbai held on to their catches and effected run-outs.
Full postMandhana, Wareham, Rana breach Brabourne fortress to deny MI top spot
RCB end the season on a high and deny MI a direct finals berth
Vishal Dikshit
11-Mar-2025
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 199 for 3 (Mandhana 53, Perry 49*, Ghosh 36, Matthews 2-37) beat Mumbai Indians 188 for 9 (Sciver-Brunt 69, Rana 3-26) by 11 runs
First-season champions Mumbai Indians (MI) finished the league stage second behind Delhi Capitals for the third year in a row, after failing to chase down 200 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Brabourne Stadium. Needing a win to top the table and seal a direct final berth, MI put on a shoddy fielding display that gave RCB a competitive total. In their reply, Nat Sciver-Brunt was the only batter to cross 23 as the hosts fell to their first loss at Brabourne in six games.
RCB's 11-run win was the third victory in a row for the team batting first at WPL 2025 after the early trend was heavily in favour of teams chasing. Their win that helped them off the bottom of the table was set up by a half-century from Smriti Mandhana, free-flowing strokeplay from S Meghana, Ellyse Perry's anchoring role, and boundary-laden cameos from Richa Ghosh and Georgia Wareham.
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