Report
Matthews, Sciver-Brunt extend Mumbai's winning run against Giants
Sciver-Brunt's second consecutive fifty made sure Mumbai kept a perfect 5-0 record against Giants
Ashish Pant
18-Feb-2025
Mumbai Indians 122 for 5 (Sciver-Brunt 57, Kerr 19, Gautam 2-15, Mishra 2-40 ) beat Gujarat Giants 120 (Deol 32, Gautam 20, Matthews 3-16, Kerr 2-22) by five wickets
There was an air of inevitability right from the time a beaming Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl in Mumbai Indians' second match of WPL 2025 against Gujarat Giants. Teams chasing had won every single game so far this season. Couple that with Mumbai's 4-0 record against Giants coming into this match and odds were stacked heavily in Mumbai's favour.
And the game panned out accordingly.
Full postVidarbha eye first-innings lead after Mumbai's middle-order collapse
Mumbai went from 113 for 2 to 118 for 6 in the space of 11 balls
Shashank Kishore
18-Feb-2025
Mumbai 188 for 7 (Anand 67*, S Thakur 37, Lad 35, Rekhade 3-16, Y Thakur 2-56) trail Vidarbha 383 (Malewar 79, Shorey 74, Rathod 54, Dube 5-49) by 195 runs
A full-blown middle order collapse - four wickets in 11 deliveries - has left Mumbai with an uphill battle in their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Vidarbha in Nagpur.
Parth Rekhade, the left-arm spin allrounder playing in only his second first-class match, dismissed Ajinkya Rahane, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube in a single over, the 41st of the innings, as Mumbai went from a comfortable 113 for 2 to 113 for 5.
Full postAzharuddeen's 149* leads Kerala's slow march against Gujarat
Kerala added 212 at the loss of three wickets to their overnight 206 for 4
Shashank Kishore
18-Feb-2025
Kerala 418 for 7 (Azharuddeen 149*, Baby 69, Nagwaswalla 3-64) vs Gujarat
Seven years after his maiden first-class hundred, Mohammed Azharuddeen struck his second, a stonewalling effort that fetched him an unbeaten 149, as Kerala ground Gujarat on a placid Ahmedabad deck.
Kerala were painfully cautious on the second day, just like they were on the first, adding 212 to their overnight 206 for 4. Their go-slow approach made it clear that they were keen on batting just once in their quest to enter their maiden Ranji Trophy final.
Full postRocchiccioli's career-best seven gives Western Australia control
WA, currently bottom of the Shield table, gave themselves a chance of a vital win
AAP
18-Feb-2025
Western Australia 112 for 1 (Whiteman 67) trail Queensland 147 (Rocchiccioli 7-52) by 35 runs
Spinner Corey Rocchiccioli bagged his best first-class figures as Western Australia dominated Queensland on day one of their Sheffield Shield game.
Rocchiccioli snared 7 for 52 as Queensland were bowled out for 147 at the Gabba in Brisbane. WA cruised to 112 for 1 in reply, with Sam Whiteman making 67.
Full postDoggett sparks South Australia fight back as 20 wickets tumble
Kieran Elliott had earlier taken a six-wicket haul of his own as the home side were bundled out for 93
AAP
18-Feb-2025
South Australia 93 (Elliott 6-23) and 24 for lead Tasmania 101 (Doggett 6-40) by 16 runs
Paceman Brendan Doggett sparked a stunning South Australian comeback against Tasmania as 20 wickets tumbled on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash.
Shield leaders SA were skittled for 98 at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday with Tasmanian quick Kieran Elliott bagging a career-best six wicket haul.
Full postKonstas under the microscope as Boland, Davies shine
NSW recovered from 124 for 6 to finish the opening day in a healthy position after the match had started in dramatic fashion
Andrew McGlashan
18-Feb-2025
Victoria 92 for 4 trail New South Wales 238 (Davies 89, Boland 4-56) by 146 runs
Scott Boland again enjoyed himself at the SCG but Ollie Davies rescued New South Wales on a day where Sam Konstas' batting approach came under the spotlight.
In fifth before the round started, NSW are in more desperate need of victory in a push for the final but were in danger of being well short of a competitive total when Boland reduced them to 124 for 6, having earlier won a brief duel with Konstas who fell for a frenetic 10 off 7 balls when he attempted to sweep Boland in just the third over.
Full postBen Curran's maiden ODI ton leads Zimbabwe to 2-1 series win
Craig Ervine also starred with an unbeaten 69 as the hosts wrapped up the third ODI with 63 balls to spare
Ekanth
18-Feb-2025
Zimbabwe 246 for 1 (Curran 118*, Ervine 69*, Bennett 48) beat Ireland 240 for 6 (Balbirnie 64, Tucker 61, Tector 51, Ngarava 2-42, Gwandu 2-44) by nine wickets
Ben Curran beat his brothers Sam and Tom to become the first sibling in the family to score an international century. His unbeaten 118 helped Zimbabwe seal their first ODI series win since March 2023, their first against a Full Member team since August 2022, and their first against Ireland in nearly ten years.
Curran came in on the back of low scores in the first two ODIs, but showed exactly why he's rated so highly while leading Zimbabwe to their target of 241 with 63 balls to spare. As the Harare pitch eased out in the afternoon, he stroked his way to a 38-ball half-century - hitting nine of his 14 fours during that initial burst - before settling into a more relaxed pace as his captain Craig Ervine glided his way to an unbeaten 69 off 59 balls. Curran added an unbroken 122 with Ervine for the second wicket, having first put on a 124-run opening stand with Brian Bennett.
Full postMandhana, bowlers help RCB cruise past Delhi Capitals
Renuka, Wareham and Bisht bowled out Capitals for 141 before Mandhana and Wyatt-Hodge made short work of the target
Vishal Dikshit
17-Feb-2025
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 146 for 2 (Mandhana 81, Wyatt-Hodge 42) beat Delhi Capitals 141 (Rodrigues 34, Renuka 3-23, Wareham 3-25) by eight wickets
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made short work of a full-strength Delhi Capitals by keeping their batting line-up to 141 and then chasing the total down with ease to continue the trend of the chasing side winning, for the fourth game in a row. Even though RCB were without the trio of Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana, which brought them glory in last year's final against DC, the trio of Renuka Singh, Ekta Bisht and Georgia Wareham combined to bundle out DC to a below-par total.
In reply, RCB openers Smriti Mandhana and Danni Wyatt-Hodge put on their second century stand, having earlier done so for Southern Brave in the Hundred in 2021. Mandhana scored her fastest WPL half-century, off 27 balls, and Wyatt-Hodge peppered the off side with six fours out of her seven during her 42 off 33. By the time she fell in the 11th over, RCB needed only 35 off 55 and they cruised over the line in the 17th over.
Full postShorey and Malewar half-centuries keep Mumbai at bay
Mulani and Dube picked two wickets apiece, but Vidarbha reached 308 for 5 at stumps
Shashank Kishore
17-Feb-2025
Vidarbha 308 for 5 (Malewar 79, Shorey 74, Rathod 47*, Dube 2-35, Mulani 2-44) vs Mumbai
Half-centuries from Dhruv Shorey and Danish Malewar helped Vidarbha set themselves a firm footing from where they could hope to cross the 400-run mark in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against defending champions Mumbai in Nagpur.
But Vidarbha will also rue missed opportunities after four of the top five wasted starts to give Mumbai a small opening courtesy left-arm spinner Shams Mulani and allrounder Shivam Dube, who picked up two wickets apiece.
Full postSachin Baby's unbeaten half-century leads Kerala on attritional day
On a surface that offered little for bowlers, Kerala finished the day on 206 for 4
Shashank Kishore
17-Feb-2025
Kerala 206 for 4 (Baby 69*, Saxena 30, Bishnoi 1-33, Jadeja 1-33) vs Gujarat
Kerala made slow progress on an attritional day in Ahmedabad, courtesy of captain Sachin Baby's unbeaten half-century. Kerala's approach may have stemmed from their first-innings collapses of late, most recently in the quarter-final against Jammu & Kashmir when they were reduced to 200 for 9, and needed a last-wicket stand of 81 to take the first-innings lead that proved decisive.
Openers Akshay Chandran and Rohan Kunnummal put on 60 in 20.4 overs before Kerala lost 3 for 26 inside 45 minutes. Chandran was run out for 30, while Kunnummal was out lbw as he played down the wrong line to a Ravi Bishnoi delivery that beat the inside edge to trap him plumb in front, also for 30.
Full postMost Read
Writers