Report
Pope spins South Australia to within touching distance of Shield final
Tasmania had threatened to make a game of a tough chase but none of the batters could convert into a big score
AAP
21-Feb-2025
South Australia 93 (Elliott 6-23) and 388 (Sangha 75, Scott 69*, McInerney 61) beat Tasmania 101 (Doggett 6-40) and 293 (Radhakrishnan 68, Doran 65, Webster 53, Pope 4-76) by 87 runs
Lloyd Pope missed out on a hat-trick but played a crucial role as South Australia continued their quest for a drought-breaking Sheffield Shield title with an 87-run win over Tasmania.
Set 381 runs for victory, Tasmania moved past 200 for the loss of three wickets as they sought to pull off an improbable run chase on Friday's final day of play at Adelaide Oval.
Full postGill ton helps India ace tricky chase after Shami five-for
Despite a quick 69-run opening stand, India were tested by the 229 target
Sidharth Monga
20-Feb-2025
India 231 for 4 (Gill 101*, Rahul 41*, Rohit 41, Rishad 2-38) beat Bangladesh 228 (Hridoy 100, Jaker 68, Shami 5-53, Rana 3-31, Axar 2-43) 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 2-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka last August on similarly slow tracks. Despite a quick 69-run opening stand, India were tested by a target that was kept to 229 in the main by Mohammed Shami, who took his sixth ODI five-for and became the quickest man to 200 ODI wickets in terms of balls bowled to get there.
Both sides will rue missed opportunities in their Champions Trophy opener. Bangladesh won a crucial toss on a tired pitch with no dew expected to make chasing easier, but they got off to such a poor start that they needed three dropped catches and a superlative fighting hundred from Towhid Hridoy to stay in the contest. India had Bangladesh down at 35 for 5, Axar Patel was on a hat-trick, and Rohit Sharma dropped a sitter, and that was followed by two more lives for the record-breaking sixth-wicket pair. It allowed Bangladesh to get to a total that denied India a net-run-rate boost, which can prove crucial if they happen to lose one of their three matches.
Full postJaymeet, Panchal frustrate Kerala as Gujarat eye lead
Patel will look to build on his unbeaten 74 to help Gujarat pocket the 28 runs they need for the decisive first-innings lead
Shashank Kishore
20-Feb-2025
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 those to shade, if he can build on his unbeaten 74 to help Gujarat pocket the 28 runs they need for the decisive first-innings lead against Kerala. The first innings hasn't yet been decided in the game, but the scorecard hardly reveals how fascinating this slow burn of a contest has been - purely for the contrasting approach of both sides.
Full postMumbai stumble in tall chase as Vidarbha close in on Ranji final
Yash Rathod's century set Mumbai a target of 406, before Vidarbha ended the day with three key wickets
Shashank Kishore
20-Feb-2025
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 last season.
But that job got that much tougher as they ended the day in Nagpur on 73 for 3, with Ajinkya Rahane, the captain, being dismissed in the last half hour. Shivam Dube, and not Suryakumar Yadav, came out to bat at No. 5 to join first-innings centurion Akash Anand. It wasn't clear if Suryakumar was suffering from a niggle - he was off the field for the entire duration of Vidarbha's batting innings.
Full postRadhakrishnan digs in to give Tasmania hope in big chase
The left hander was unbeaten on 53 from 189 balls with the visitors chasing an imposing 381
AAP
20-Feb-2025
Tasmania 101 and 164 for 3 (Radhakrishnan 53*) need 217 more runs to beat South Australia 93 and 388 (Sangha 75, Scott 69, McInerney 61)
Precocious talent Nivethan Radhakrishnan posted a half-century as Tasmania faced a final-day fight for 217 more runs to defeat Sheffield Shield leaders South Australia.
Set 381 runs to win, Tasmania were 164 for 3 at stumps on the third day at Adelaide Oval. Radhakrishnan, an Indian-born 22-year-old who can bowl spinners with right and left arms, has underpinned the chase with an unbeaten 53. He will resume on the last day with Jake Doran, who was 19 not out.
Full postBird joins 400 club to put NSW in mix for Shield final
Scott Boland claimed a 10-wicket match haul but Victoria's batting collapsed on a tough pitch
Andrew McGlashan
20-Feb-2025
New South Wales 238 (Davies 89, Boland 4-56) and 174 (Gilkes 49, Boland 6-46) beat Victoria 182 (Bird 3-24) and 154 (Murphy 40, Bird 5-68) by 76 runs
Jackson Bird joined an elite group of bowlers to take 400 Sheffield Shield wickets as he propelled New South Wales to a victory that put them firmly in contention for a place in the final.
Bird claimed 5 for 68 on the third day, making full use of a surface that was getting tougher to bat on, as Victoria were bowled out for 154 chasing 230, the margin only narrowed by a late dip from Todd Murphy who flayed 40 off 32 balls.
Full postMorris turns up to the heat as WA thrash Queensland
The defending champions reignited their season with an impressive performance at the Gabba
AAP
20-Feb-2025
Western Australia 312 (Fanning 95, Whiteman 67, Neser 4-34) beat Queensland 147 (Rocchiccioli 7-52) and 153 (Morris 3-35) by an innings and 12 runs
Reigning champions Western Australia have revived their quest for Sheffield Shield history, trouncing Queensland by an innings and 12 runs to rise from last to third on the ladder.
WA paceman Lance Morris claimed three wickets as Queensland were bowled out for 153 in their second innings on day three at the Gabba on Thursday.
Full postLatham and Young centuries hand New Zealand thumping victory
An injury to Fakhar Zaman hampered Pakistan's chase from the outset as they stare at a difficult ask to stay in the Champions Trophy
Deivarayan Muthu
19-Feb-2025
New Zealand 320 for 5 (Latham 118*, Young 107, Phillips 61, Naseem 2-63) beat Pakistan 260 (Khushdil 69, Babar 64, O'Rourke 3-47, Santner 3-66) by 60 runs
Pakistan had to wait for nearly three decades for a global tournament to return to their country, but New Zealand spoiled their party on the opening day of the Champions Trophy, handing the co-hosts a 60-run loss in Karachi. In a short, sharp tournament, where each team plays just three group-stage games, a defeat like this might jeopardise Pakistan's chances of making the semi-finals. Will Young and Tom Latham were the architects of their team's victory, both batters scoring outstanding hundreds to set up the dominance that followed but there was also a little bit of luck.
Two balls into the game, Fakhar Zaman suffered an injury while chasing a cover drive from Young and was forced off the field for large parts of the first innings. As result of the time spent off the field, Fakhar, whose big hitting is exactly what was necessary for a big chase, could not open the batting in their pursuit of 321. And when he came out to bat at No. 4 - Pakistan were 22 for 2 in ten overs at the time - he was visibly hampered while running between the wickets. New Zealand's offspinners, Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips, kept hiding the ball away from his reach and made life even more difficult for him. Fakhar's tortured stay eventually ended when Bracewell bowled him with a non-turner for 24 off 41 balls.
Full postSutherland, Kapp hold nerve to keep sloppy Warriorz winless
Warriorz's fielding lapses of three dropped chances and misfields in the last over cost them the game after Lanning smashed 69
Vishal Dikshit
19-Feb-2025
Delhi Capitals 167 for 3 (Lanning 69, Sutherland 41*) beat UP Warriorz 166 for 7 (Navgire 51, Sehrawat 37, Henry 33*, Sutherland 2-26) by seven wickets
The Delhi Capitals middle order stepped up for the first time in this WPL and didn't squander the blazing start provided by their prolific opening pair of Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning to consign UP Warriorz to their second straight loss. Capitals' seven-wicket win ended the Vadodara leg of the tournament with the chasing team winning all six games, before the action moves to Bengaluru, and then Lucknow and Mumbai.
It was not all smooth and easy for Capitals though. Once Lanning fell for 69, they needed a tricky 48 off 32 on a pitch that was keeping low. The ever-dependable Marizanne Kapp tilted the game in their favour with consecutive fours off Sophie Ecclestone when the equation read 31 off 17 and Annabel Sutherland all but sealed the chase in the last over - off which they needed 11 - by handing similar treatment to Grace Harris. This was also the highest total chased by Capitals in WPL.
Full postPanchal leads strong Gujarat reply with unbeaten century
Gujarat ended the day on 222 for 1 after Azharuddeen's unbeaten 177 had taken Kerala to 457
Shashank Kishore
19-Feb-2025
Gujarat 222 for 1 (Panchal 117*, Desai 73) trail Kerala 457 (Azharuddeen 177*, Baby 69, Nizar 52, Nagwaswalla 3-81, Gaja 2-75) by 235 runs
At 34, Priyank Panchal is no longer on the fringes of the national team like he once was. He's also now just a one-format player for Gujarat. Up until the semi-finals, he had just one century and a half-century in what was an underwhelming 2024-25 Ranji season. The selectors resisted the temptation to chop and change, and Panchal was persisted with for the semi-final.
On Wednesday, Panchal repaid that faith, hitting his 29th first-class hundred that he brought up with a six and a nerve-popping roar, leading a strong Gujarat reply to Kerala's 457 on a hot and humid day in Ahmedabad. Gujarat ended day three on 222 for 1, trailing Kerala by 235 runs, with the second-wicket stand between Panchal and Manan Hingrajia already worth 91.
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