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Smith and Carey dominate with hundreds in double-century stand
Australia took firm control of the second Test with a pair of outstanding centuries as Sri Lanka's attack struggled
Tristan Lavalette
07-Feb-2025
Australia 330 for 3 (Carey 139*, Smith 120*) lead Sri Lanka 257 (Kusal 85, Chandimal 74, Starc 3-37, Kuhnemann 3-63, Lyon 3-96) by 73 runs
Seemingly having a ball experimenting with the reverse sweep, Steven Smith's mastery in Asia continued and he combined with a dashing Alex Carey to defy a sharp-turning, deteriorating Galle surface as Australia grabbed firm control of the second Test.
The game was in the balance when Australia were 91 for 3 just after lunch on day two in reply to Sri Lanka's first-innings of 257. But stand-in skipper Smith and Carey produced an unbroken 239-run partnership to deflate a Sri Lankan team staring down the barrel of a hefty series defeat.
Full postSunrisers march into third SA20 final as Royals run their course
Defending champions take the long route to final after defeats in first three matches
Firdose Moonda
06-Feb-2025
Sunrisers Eastern Cape 177 for 2 (de Zorzi 78, J Hermann 69*) beat Paarl Royals 175 for 4 (R Hermann 81*, Pretorius 59) by eight wickets
Sunrisers Eastern Cape will play in a third successive final after winning two matches in two days. They will take on first-time finalists MI Cape Town on Saturday, with memories of their wins over Pretoria Capitals (2023) and Durban's Super Giants (2024) fresh in their minds. The defending champions have now won knockout matches both batting first and chasing on the Highveld, where MICT last played a week ago, and may fancy themselves as favourites.
For now, they will celebrate another successful campaign, irrespective of whether they win the trophy or not. They have shown all the ingredients for a champion team, specifically that they have enough depth in the squad for sustained success.
Full postMuzarabani's seven headlines Zimbabwe's dominant opening day
McBrine and Adair scored fifties each to help Ireland recover from 31 for 5 to 260 all out
Ekanth
06-Feb-2025
Ireland 260 (McBrine 90*, Adair 78, Muzarabani 7-58, Ngarava 2-65) trail Zimbabwe 72 for 1 (Welch 33*, Kaitano 26*, McCarthy 1-25) by 188 runs
What started out as a potentially one-sided day in Bulawayo was anything but. Ireland zig-zagged through multiple ups and downs, however, Zimbabwe ended up dominating the day.
Blessing Muzarabani bowled like an Irish curse at the start of the day, utilising the two-paced nature and uneven bounce on day one. His 7 for 58, which is the second-best figures for a Zimbabwe bowler - dented Ireland but not before Lorcan Tucker's initiative, followed by a 127-run stand between Andy McBrine and Mark Adair, lifted Ireland from the precarity of 31 for 5 to the comforts of 260.
Full postVaughan six-for as England U19s complete 10-wicket thrashing
Visiting captain finishes off the game himself as South Africa go down heavily in second Youth Test
ECB Reporters Network
06-Feb-2025
England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) and 25 for 0 beat South Africa U19s 224 (James 84, Hansen 63, Jack 3-42) and 153 (Rowles 71, Vaughan 6-19) by 10 wickets
Young Lions captain Archie Vaughan put the finishing touches on a comfortable 10-wicket win over South Africa Men U19s in the second Youth Test at Cape Town.
Vaughan helped tidy up the home tail on the fourth morning to return 6 for 19 before he and Ben Dawkins knocked off a victory target of 25 in just 3.1 overs.
Full postGill, Shreyas and Axar provide the firepower as India go 1-0 up
Harshit Rana and Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets each to restrict England to a very gettable 248
Vithushan Ehantharajah
06-Feb-2025
India 251 for 6 (Gill 87, Shreyas 59, Axar 52, Rashid 2-49) beat England 248 (Buttler 52, Bethell 51, Jadeja 3-26) by four wickets
It was both untidy and emphatic. India made light work of their 249 target, passing it with 68 deliveries to spare in Nagpur. That they only won this first ODI by four wickets was down to an unnecessarily messy finish. One that spoke more to their disorder at how simple this was than any rallying from England's part. After a 4-1 hammering in the T20I series, Brendon McCullum's first ODI as head coach ended in a similar shellacking.
It was a mix of old and new that combined to give those in light blue a 1-0 lead in this three-match series. Ravindra Jadeja's 3 for 26 was supplemented by Harshit Rana's 3 for 53 on his maiden ODI appearance to roll England for 248 with 14 deliveries to spare. Jos Buttler's 52 and Jacob Bethell's 51 were the only scores of note after Phil Salt's emphatic start of 43 from 26 had been wasted.
Full postKusal Mendis fights for Sri Lanka as Starc and Lyon stand out
The home side were promisingly placed after lunch but lost their way before two Mendis' staged a recovery
Tristan Lavalette
06-Feb-2025
Sri Lanka 229 for 9 (Chandimal 74, K Mendis 59*, Starc 3-37, Lyon 3-78) vs Australia
Australia's trio of specialist bowlers toiled manfully during a see-saw day one against a fighting Sri Lanka on a dry Galle surface that did not live up to the hype, but occasionally spun sharply and is expected to deteriorate significantly.
By the end of 90 overs, the second Test was intriguingly poised after several shifts of momentum. Sri Lanka's top-order built a strong platform to reach 93 for 1 before they lost 4 for 34 in a horror period after lunch. But Kusal Mendis and Ramesh Mendis combined for a seventh-wicket partnership of 65 to lift Sri Lanka to what might just be a competitive first innings total.
Full postSunrisers keep three-peat dream alive as Marco Jansen makes the difference again
Despite three losses in a row to launch competition, SEC are one match away from their third final
Firdose Moonda
05-Feb-2025
Sunrisers Eastern Cape 184 for 6 (Markram 62*, Tahir 2-21) beat Joburg Super Kings 152 for 7 (Bairstow 37, Overton 2-20) by 32 runs
Sunrisers Eastern Cape remain on course for the SA20 three-peat after beating Joburg Super Kings in the Eliminator in Centurion, having recovered spectacularly from three defeats in their opening three games. They will play Paarl Royals in the second qualifier in less than 24 hours' time to determine who will face MI Cape Town in Saturday's final.
SEC have the advantage of having the most recent experience of conditions up country while Paarl, who played in the first qualifier in Gqeberha, have had to travel. They've also lost their last three matches and their best batter, Joe Root, to national duty, so SEC can consider themselves favourites to reach a third final, if not the title itself.
Full postNafay-Talat stand, Al Islam's thrilling cameo take Chittagong to final
Chittagong were all but out but fought back in a see-sawing contest
Mohammad Isam
05-Feb-2025
Chittagong Kings 164 for 8 (Nafay 57, Talat 40, Musfik 3-32) beat Khulna Tigers 163 for 6 (Hetmyer 63, Mahidul 41, Fernando 2-27) by two wickets
Al Islam's last-ball four, that too a classic cover drive, took Chittagong Kings to the BPL final. In an absolute see-saw battle, Aliss came back after injuring himself earlier in the last over, to hit the winning boundary and beat Khulna Tigers by two wickets in the second qualifier.
Islam was unbeaten on 17 off seven balls, with two fours and a six, to take the Chittagong franchise into their second BPL final. They will face defending champions, and favourites, Fortune Barishal at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
Full postSawant, Vaughan put England U19s on the brink of victory
Aaryan Sawant's 130 and Archie Vaughan's five-for has South Africa U19s on the ropes
ECB Reporters Network
05-Feb-2025
South Africa U19s 224 & 145 for 8 (Rowlers 71, Vaughan 5-18) lead England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) by 16 runs
England Men U19s were closing in on victory after a dominant third day of the second Youth Test against South Africa Men U19s in Cape Town.
Aaryan Sawant's maiden century in an England representative shirt helped the Young Lions to a first-innings lead of 129 before skipper Archie Vaughan's five wickets reduced the hosts to 145 for 8.
Full postHenriques' all-round heroics help NSW crush Tasmania
Henriques takes 2 for 31 and makes 71 not out while Dwarshuis bags 4 for 39 as NSW move to the top of the One-Day Cup table after a seven-wicket bonus point win over Tasmania
AAP and ESPNCricinfo staff
05-Feb-2025
New South Wales 209 for 3 (Henriques 71*, Bell 3-29) beat Tasmania 205 (Jewell 37, Dwarshuis 4-39, Henriques 2-31) by seven wickets
New South Wales secured an important One-Day Cup bonus point as Moises Henriques guided his side to a commanding seven-wicket win over Tasmania in Launceston.
Chasing 206 for victory, the visitors always looked in control on Wednesday as Henriques delivered an unbeaten 71 from 83 balls. They reached 209 for 3 in just 38.3 overs, locking in the additional point that put them on top of the table with two regular-season matches left to play.
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