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Shedge, Suryakumar power Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title
MP captain Patidar's unbeaten 40-ball 81 wasn't enough as Mumbai chased down 175 with 13 balls to spare
Himanshu Agrawal
15-Dec-2024
Mumbai 180 for 5 (Suryakumar 48, Rahane 37, Shedge 36*, Tripuresh 2-34) beat Madhya Pradesh 174 for 8 (Patidar 81*, Dias 2-32, Thakur 2-41) by five wickets
Mumbai have yet another star in the making, and yet another trophy in a cabinet which is fast running out of space. Even before the ball landed beyond the straight boundary to confirm victory in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final against Madhya Pradesh, Suryansh Shedge was leaping and punching the air. He now has three crucial contributions in his last four innings, the latest of which helped Mumbai seal a 175-run chase with 13 balls to spare.
Shedge hit an unbeaten 36 off 15 balls while adding an unbroken stand of 51 from 19 deliveries with Atharva Ankolekar, who hit the winning six. Shedge smashed three fours and three sixes during his knock, none more impressive than a six which would have made Suryakumar Yadav proud. The 21-year-old got across to a length ball from Venkatesh Iyer in the 17th over, and nonchalantly swiped him over long leg to all but confirm Mumbai's second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. He now has knocks of 30* (eight balls), 36* (12) and 36* (15) in three of his last four T20 games.
Full postRodrigues, Sadhu hand India big win on belter
Dottin led the fight for West Indies with a rapid fifty, but her team still fell 49 runs short
Sruthi Ravindranath
15-Dec-2024
India 195 for 4 (Rodrigues 73, Mandhana 54) beat West Indies 146 for 7 (Dottin 52, Sadhu 3-37) by 49 runs
An aggressive 81-run stand between Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana combined with some excellent catching gave India a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series against West Indies.
Deandra Dottin led the fight in the 196 chase with a 28-ball 52 along with Qiana Joseph, but in the end West Indies fell 49 short with young medium-pacer Titas Sadhu taking three crucial wickets for India.
Full postCooper Connolly extends Scorchers' dominance over Stars on opening night
Chasing 147, Scorchers were in trouble at 37 for 3 before Connolly and captain Ashton Turner combined for a match-turning 68-run partnership
Tristan Lavalette
15-Dec-2024
Perth Scorchers 150 for 4 (Connolly 64, Turner 37*, Curran 1-25) beat Melbourne Stars 146 for 9 (Curran 37, Stoinis 37, Richardson 3-19, Morris 2-30) by six wickets
On a ground he has played the hero before, allrounder Cooper Connolly stepped up with a game-changing half-century as Perth Scorchers continued their long-time dominance over Melbourne Stars in the BBL season-opener at Optus Stadium.
Chasing 147, Scorchers were in trouble at 37 for 3 before Connolly and captain Ashton Turner combined for a 68-run partnership. Returning from a fractured hand sustained on the ground in last month's third ODI against Pakistan, Connolly hit 64 from 51 balls before Turner sealed the result in trademark composed fashion.
Full postBumrah bags five but Head, Smith tons flatten India
The lack of depth in India's attack showed as the day went on as Head and Smith added 241 in 302 balls
Karthik Krishnaswamy
15-Dec-2024
Australia 405 for 7 (Head 152, Smith 101, Carey 45*, Bumrah 5-72) vs India
Centuries from Travis Head and Steven Smith, those two great India tormentors, put Australia in control of the third Border-Gavaskar Test at the Gabba, on a fast-moving second day that produced 377 runs and seven wickets. Five of those wickets fell to the exceptional Jasprit Bumrah, who kept India in the contest almost singlehandedly while swelling his overall Test tally in Australia to 49; Kapil Dev (51) is now the only Indian bowler ahead of him.
Almost singlehandedly, because Bumrah wasn't the only India quick to trouble Australia here. Akash Deep kept landing the ball in testing areas and induced almost as many false shots (45) as Bumrah did (46), but ended the day wicketless. Mohammed Siraj put in a solid shift too, and for most of the first session India applied pressure from both ends and had Australia on a tight leash.
Full postBouchier, Sciver-Brunt centuries drive England at Bloemfontein
Cross fails to recover in time from back spasms as MacDonald-Gay wins first Test cap
Firdose Moonda
15-Dec-2024
Close South Africa 17 for 0 trail England 395 for 9 dec (Sciver-Brunt 128, Bouchier 126, Mlaba 4-90) by 378 runs
Nat Sciver-Brunt scored the fastest hundred in women's Tests, off 96 balls, eclipsing debutant Maia Bouchier who had briefly held the England record for herself, with a 124-ball effort in a show of batting dominance in Bloemfontein.
England finished on their ninth-highest score and were well on track to post a new record until a South African comeback late in the day clipped their tail. South Africa took 6 for 96 in the third session and left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba claimed a career-best 4 for 90, as the surface started to show early signs of turn. That will only delight England's spin pair, Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone, who will know that in hot weather, the surface's deterioration will accelerate.
Full postNew Zealand take control after O'Rourke, Santner trip up England
Hosts build on 204-run first-innings lead through fifties from Young and Williamson
Alan Gardner
14-Dec-2024
New Zealand 347 (Santner 76, Potts 4-90) and 136 for 3 (Williamson 50*, Ravindra 2*) lead England 143 (Henry 4-48, Santner 3-7, O'Rourke 3-33) by 340 runs
Seddon Park may not be one of the more intimidating arenas in world cricket - even more so when there is a stuffed camel wearing a skipper's cap stood at one end. But it has been a stronghold for New Zealand's Test side and they won all the major skirmishes on day two against England, as they looked to bring an end to a run of four consecutive home defeats.
It began with a ticklish last-wicket stand between Mitchell Santner and Will O'Rourke, which kept England in the field through the first hour of the day while they attempted to wrap up the innings. Come the close, Kane Williamson was walking off unbeaten having notched his 12th 50-plus score in Hamilton, as the hosts made solid progress in pushing on towards an impregnable position.
Full postFinal T20I between SA and Pakistan washed out without a ball bowled
The series now moves to Paarl, where the first of three ODIs between the sides will take place
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Dec-2024
Abandoned South Africa vs Pakistan
The third T20I between South Africa and Pakistan in Johannesburg was washed out by persistent rain without a toss. The game was initially delayed by lightning strikes in the area, before a steady drizzle set in. The drainage at the Wanderers is exemplary, and the groundstaff remained poised. When the rain briefly relented, an official inspection was announced and the groundstaff sprung into action. But before it could happen, the rain returned once more.
Two hours after the game was due to officially start, it was finally called off, with Heinrich Klaasen and Mohammad Rizwan shaking hands by the dugouts. It means South Africa seal the three-match T20I series 2-0, having triumphed in the first game by 11 runs, and the second by seven wickets.
Full postOmarzai and Rashid lead Afghanistan to T20I series win over sloppy Zimbabwe
After scoring just 127, Zimbabwe had a chance with Afghanistan at 45 for 4, but they let the advantage slip
Himanshu Agrawal
14-Dec-2024
Afghanistan 128 for 7 (Omarzai 34, Nabi 24*, Muzarabani 2-19, Raza 2-19, Gwandu 2-30) beat Zimbabwe 127 (Bennett 31, Rashid 4-27, Omarzai 2-10, Mujeeb 2-20, Naveen 2-27) by three wickets
Afghanistan were down at 45 for 4 after seven overs in their pursuit of 128 to beat Zimbabwe in the third T20I, and with that, win the series. That could have been the point at which the game went Zimbabwe's way. But Faraz Akram then bowled an 11-ball over with five wides to give Afghanistan the breathing space they needed, and the fifth-wicket pair of Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib eased into the repair job.
Later, Akram's bowling colleagues worked hard enough to dismiss Omarzai, Naib and Rashid Khan, and leave Afghanistan needing seven runs in the final over to win the game. But the first ball of the 20th, bowled again by Akram, went for four, and Mohammad Nabi wrapped the chase up with three balls remaining.
Full postKhawaja, McSweeney steady for 13.2 overs before rain ruins day one of Gabba Test
Asked to bat first at the toss, Australia's openers ensured they did not lose a wicket against the new ball in brief spell of play
Karthik Krishnaswamy
14-Dec-2024
Australia 28 for 0 (Khawaja 19*, McSweeney 4*) vs India
Only 13.2 overs were possible on a rain-hit first day in Brisbane, where India strove without success after choosing to bowl first in the third Border-Gavaskar Test match.
Overcast conditions and a grassy pitch prompted India to insert Australia after winning their third straight toss, and perhaps recent history informed their decision too, with the team bowling first having won six of the last seven Tests at this venue. It took a while for India's quicks to find their lengths, however, and the openers looked mostly untroubled in the first 5.3 overs before a drizzle sent the players off the field, with Usman Khawaja putting away anything a touch too straight or short while getting to 13 off 22 balls.
Full postTom Latham, Mitchell Santner fifties prop up New Zealand
Tim Southee cameo adds late runs after NZ stumble from position of strength
Valkerie Baynes
13-Dec-2024
New Zealand 315 for 9 (Latham 63, Santner 50*, Atkinson 3-55, Potts 3-75) vs England
Half-centuries to Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner added some gloss to a battling New Zealand innings on the opening day of the third and final Test against England in Hamilton.
Whereas the second Test was a maelstrom of match-shaping moments, this Test progressed at an altogether more believable pace but the situation at stumps was similar, New Zealand having blown a position of strength in the face of a persistent England performance that left the day evenly poised, thanks in no small part to Santner's unbeaten fifty off 54 balls with his side nine wickets down.
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