Report
Tilak Varma carries India home in nail-biter
England were proactive and stayed in the game but could not dislodge India's No. 3
Sidharth Monga
25-Jan-2025
India 166 for 8 (Tilak 72*, Washington 26, Carse 3-29) beat England 165 for 9 (Buttler 45, Carse 31, Axar 2-32, Varun 2-38) by two wickets
India are used to their No. 3 sealing tense chases in limited-overs cricket. With the legendary one retired from T20Is, the new one shepherded India to a 2-0 lead with a 55-ball 72 that Virat Kohli himself would have been proud of. With wickets falling around him, Tilak Varma had to tamper with his natural game and even farm the strike in the end, but he produced just enough hits to take India over the line with two wickets in hand.
The two sides brought two diametrically opposite styles to the match. India continued testing England with spin, bowling 14 overs of them for 118 runs and six wickets. The beleaguered England side kept going hard at them, somehow managing to get to 165, and then unleashed high pace and bounce on a surface that gave them just enough zip. They defended bravely, gambling twice with spin, but while the pace and bounce brought them wickets, it also travelled. Jofra Archer went for 60 in his four overs. Tilak took his last over, the 16th, for 19 to tilt the scales decisively.
Full postMooney 94*, England 90 all out; Australia make it 12-0
The visitors put in a woeful batting effort at Adelaide Oval as Australia secured the T20I series 3-0 to leave a whitewash on the cards
Valkerie Baynes
25-Jan-2025
Australia 162 for 5 (Mooney 94*) beat England 90 (Knight 40, Wareham 3-11) by 72 runs
Beth Mooney stood a class above with the bat before Australia's bowlers ground a hapless England line-up further into the dust with a thumping 72-run win in the third and final T20I for a 12-0 lead in the Women's Ashes.
Mooney's unbeaten 94 carried Australia to 162 for 5 on a slow Adelaide Oval pitch where Australia's second-best score was fellow opener Georgia Voll's 23. Then the home side's bowlers, led by legspinner Georgia Wareham's career-best 3 for 11, demolished the tourists for 90 inside 18 overs, their second-lowest total in T20Is with only two England batters reaching double figures.
Full postSpin runs riot again as Noman, Warrican lead the way on 20-wicket opening day
Noman's hat-trick bundled out West Indies for 163, before Warrican's four restricted Pakistan to 154
Danyal Rasool
25-Jan-2025
West Indies 163 (Motie 55, Warrican 36*, Noman 6-41) lead Pakistan 154 (Rizwan 49, Warrican 4-43, Motie 3-49) by nine runs
Head coach Aaqib Javed promised that Pakistan could prepare a spin-friendly wicket anywhere in the country, and the first day of the second Test against West Indies in Multan demonstrated he had kept his promise. Spin ran riot once more, as 20 wickets fell and both sides wrapped up within nine runs of each other. A hat-trick from Noman Ali, the first by a Pakistani spinner in Tests, saw Pakistan tear through the visitors in the morning session.
West Indies were reduced to 54 for 8 at one stage, before a remarkable recovery from the last three batters dragged them to the relative safety of 163. It became clear that two of them could play the spin game when West Indies got the ball in hand. Kemar Roach ripped through Pakistan's top order, while Jomel Warrican and Gudakesh Motie split seven wickets between them. Only Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel offered resistance as Pakistan folded for 154.
Full postThunder one step away from BBL title as Billings, spinners shine
They'll meet Hurricanes in title match after restricting Sixers to 151, and chasing the target down in scrappy Challenger
Andrew McGlashan
24-Jan-2025
Sydney Thunder 157 for 6 (Billings 42*, J Sangha 30, Kerr 2-35) beat Sydney Sixers 151 for 7 (Silk 43*, Andrews 2-15, Agar 2-25) by four wickets
David Warner will have the chance to lead Sydney Thunder to their first BBL title in nine years, a season after they finished with the wooden spoon, after his side held their nerve in a scrappy Challenger final derby against Sydney Sixers to win by four wickets, with seven balls to spare.
The experience of Sam Billings proved vital in the outcome as he nursed Thunder to their target amid a regular loss of wickets. With another 18 runs needed off the remaining 13 balls, Billings broke the tension with a huge leg-side six off Hayden Kerr.
Full postLions toil in face of another Tim Ward hundred
Cricket Australia XI build 255-run lead going into day four in Brisbane
ECB Reporters Network
24-Jan-2025
Cricket Australia XI 214 and 357 for 6 (Ward 120, Clayton 84, Radhakrishnan 58, Cook 3-34) lead England Lions 316 by 255 runs
A Tim Ward century helped Cricket Australia XI turn around their tour game against the England Lions who could manage only five wickets on the third day in Brisbane.
Ward's patient 120 from 223 balls provided the foundation for the home side to take a 255-run lead into the final day after reaching stumps at 357 for 6.
Full postRocky Flintoff makes his England mark with century in Lions tour match
Teenage batter takes the attack to CAXI with boundary-laden knock from No.9
ECB Reporters Network
23-Jan-2025
Cricket Australia XI 214 (Hicks 64, Brown 5-21) and 33 for 1 trail England Lions 316 (Flintoff 108, Davies 76, McCann 51, Whitney 4-72) by 69 runs
Rocky Flintoff struck his first century in an England Lions shirt on the second day of the tour match against a Cricket Australia XI at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
Flintoff, 16, leapt in the air and kissed his bat as he acknowledged the applause of his team-mates after he dominated the home attack, his innings including six sixes, in a 124-ball century.
Full postMcGrath, Harris, Schutt and rain help Australia win the Ashes
Despite Wyatt-Hodge and Knight's fighting knocks, England fell short by six runs
Andrew McGlashan
23-Jan-2025
Australia 185 for 5 (McGrath 48*, Mooney 44, Dean 2-28) beat England 168 for 4 (Wyatt-Hodge 52, Knight 43*, Schutt 2-32) by six runs (DLS method)
Australia secured Ashes outright despite a fine hand from Heather Knight when the skies in Canberra parted for long enough for the game to resume after England had been ahead of the DLS target. But the conclusion was dramatic with the umpires ruling the rain had become too heavy again with Knight having got the equation down to needing 18 off five balls.
As the umpires took the players off, Knight threw the bat to the ground in frustration and remonstrated with the officials although later said there was no anger towards them and it was the correct decision to end the game. The requirement would still have been tough, but Annabel Sutherland was bowling with a wet ball. It ended England's hopes of a drawn series in a way befitting of a campaign they would want to forget.
Full postBosman's priceless spell clinches series win for South Africa Under-19s
England collapse after Archie Vaughan's 60 before Bennie Hansen steadies run chase
ECB Reporters Network
22-Jan-2025
South Africa Under-19s 158 for 6 (Hansen 57, Ali 3-51) beat England Under-19s 156 (Vaughan 60, Bosman 3-4) by four wickets
Daniel Bosman took three wickets in four balls as South Africa Men U19s clinched the Youth ODI series against England Men U19s with a four-wicket win in Stellenbosch.
Young Lions captain Archie Vaughan top-scored with 60 but his dismissal prompted a collapse of four wickets in seven balls as the tourists were bowled out for 156.
Full postAbhishek, Varun lead India's demolition of England
After the spinners limited England to 132, India's batters aced the chase to go 1-0 up
Vithushan Ehantharajah
22-Jan-2025
India 133 for 3 (Abhishek 79, Archer 2-21) beat England 132 (Buttler 68, Varun 3-23, Arshdeep 2-17, Axar 2-22, Hardik 2-42) by seven wickets
India brutally cast aside England in the first T20I at Eden Gardens, as Abhishek Sharma's 79 from just 34 deliveries munched a meagre target of 133 with 43 balls to spare.
Abhishek's third 50-plus score in the format capped an accomplished all-round performance from India. A combination of Arshdeep Singh's 2 for 17 up top and Varun Chakravarthy's 3 for 23 through the middle accounted for England for 132, scuppering their attempts to mark Brendon McCullum's first match in charge in the format with the attacking verve he craves.
Full postMcAndrew five-for knocks Stars out, sets up Sydney derby in Challenger
Sydney Thunder defended 135 - the second-lowest total defended in a BBL playoff game - to go through to the Challenger
Tristan Lavalette
22-Jan-2025
Sydney Thunder 135 for 7 (Davies 36, Gilkes 28, Curran 2-26, Mir 2-26) beat Melbourne Stars 114 (Maxwell 28, McAndrew 5-16, Andrews 2-20) by 21 runs (DLS method)
Legspinner Tanveer Sangha thwarted Glenn Maxwell on a tricky Showground surface and quick Nathan McAndrew claimed five wickets as Sydney Thunder superbly defended a modest total in the BBL elimination final.
Melbourne Stars had high hopes of chasing 136 in 19 overs, but lost regular wickets including Maxwell for 28 off 21 balls. McAndrew started the damage with a brilliant new ball spell and finished with 5 for 16 on a spin-friendly pitch.
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