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South Africa, Pakistan share opening-day honours after Masood 87
South Africa could have been in a better position had they not dropped four clear chances
Firdose Moonda
20-Oct-2025
Pakistan 259 for 5 (Masood 87, Shafique 57, Maharaj 2-63, Harmer 2-75) vs South Africa
The calendar has moved forward a week from the Lahore Test, but you'd be forgiven for thinking the clock has stopped. In an almost exact replica of day one at Gaddafi Stadium, Pakistan established a position of control in Pindi, moving to 259 for 5, after choosing to bat on a surface that is already tough, and will get tougher.
The major difficulty, at this stage, is the lifelessness of the track, which is not offering significant spin (yet) but there have been signs of deliveries keeping low. South Africa also benefited from reverse swing with the older ball. Pakistan's top and middle order navigated the challenges well, albeit not quickly. Their scoring rate remained under three an over as they batted conservatively and will be happy to have only lost five wickets on a day where many more could have gone down.
Full postEngland in semi-finals after India unravel in tense finish
Mandhana 88, Harmanpreet 70 in vain as India suffer their third successive defeat
Shashank Kishore
19-Oct-2025
England 288 for 8 (Knight 109, Jones 56, Deepti 4-51) beat India 284 for 6 (Mandhana 88, Harmanpreet 70, Deepti 50, Sciver-Brunt 2-47) by four runs
Indore was a giant party waiting to take off on Diwali eve. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur had put together a century stand. Deepti Sharma knocked off a measured half-century after picking up four wickets with the ball.
When India needed 57 off 57 balls, with seven wickets in hand, their attempt to scale down their highest-successful chase in women's ODIs was well on track. But big-match nerves took centre stage, like it often has in the recent past. They collapsed sensationally, and fell short by four runs. England joined Australia and South Africa in the semi-finals.
Full postMarsh secures seven-wicket canter after Starc, Hazlewood set game up
In a contest cut to 26 overs by rain, India couldn't recover from early trouble against the new ball
Tristan Lavalette
19-Oct-2025
Australia 131 for 3 (Marsh 46*) beat India 136 for 9 (Rahul 38) by seven wickets (DLS squad)
Mitchell Marsh spoiled counterpart Shubman Gill's ODI captaincy debut after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled in their much-anticipated comeback to international cricket.
On a damp day at Optus Stadium, the series-opening ODI was reduced to 26 overs per side with India making 136 for 9, after a series of rain delays frustrated the crowd of 42,423, having slumped to 45 for 4 against impressive new-ball bowling, particularly from Josh Hazlewood.
Full postAnother washout for Pakistan; SA through to semis
Tahuhu's two-for reduced Pakistan to 92 for 5 and leave their chances of progressing hanging by a thread
Vishal Dikshit
18-Oct-2025
No result Pakistan 92 for 5 (Riaz 28*, Tahuhu 2-20, Carson 1-7) vs New Zealand
Colombo handed a second washout in four days to Pakistan at the Women's World Cup 2025, leaving their chances of progressing to the knockouts hanging by a thread. As Pakistan and New Zealand shared points, South Africa became the second team to progress to the semi-finals, after Australia, as even a finish on eight points in the league stage will take them through.
If two or more teams finish on the same points, it will first be seen who has more wins, and South Africa will progress with four wins already from five games.
Full postRishad's six-for wrecks WI as Bangladesh take 1-0 lead
Chasing 208, WI folded for 133 in 39 overs on an unusually dark pitch in Dhaka
Mohammad Isam
18-Oct-2025
Bangladesh 207 (Hridoy 51, Mahidul 46, Seales 3-48) beat West Indies 133 (King 44, Athanaze 27, Rishad 6-35) by 74 runs
Rishad Hossain's 6 for 35, which included the first five West Indies wickets in a chase of 208, paved the way for a Bangladesh win in the series opener in Dhaka. After being on 51 for 0, West Indies were dismissed for 133 in 39 overs.
The visitors' chief tormentor on an unusually dark Dhaka pitch was Rishad, who became only the second legspinner to take the first five wickets in an ODI innings. Sri Lanka's Jeffrey Vandersay is the only other legspinner to this feat, when he took the first six wickets against India last year in Colombo.
Full postSwepson's career-best outing charges Queensland to big win
Mitchell Swepson has claimed 10 wickets for the match to lead Queensland to a comfortable fourth-day Sheffield Shield victory over South Australia
AAP
18-Oct-2025
Queensland 398 (Labuschagne 159, Hearne 106, W Agar 5-88) and 139 for 3 (Lovell 72*) beat South Australia 228 (McInerney 60, Sangha 51, Neser 4-30, Swepson 4-50) and 308 (Sangha 55, Swepson 6-109) by seven wickets
Mitchell Swepson has spun Queensland to a seven-wicket win over South Australia, producing the finest match of his Sheffield Shield career in Adelaide.
Swepson ran through the hosts' tail on Saturday to have them all out for 308 in their second innings, leaving Queensland a fourth-innings chase of 139.
Full postRain ruins Christchurch opener after Curran claws England to 153
New Zealand thrive on green-tinged pitch before the weather has the final say
Andrew Miller
18-Oct-2025
England 153 for 6 (Curran 49*, Bracewell 1-10) vs New Zealand - match abandoned
It turns out there's a reason New Zealand don't often host international cricket in October. A truly glorious sunset over Christchurch gave way to dankness and mizzle after dark, as persistent rain wrecked a well-poised contest at Hagley Oval and sent a capacity crowd home unfulfilled.
The home fans could at least be content that their own players had had the better of the 20 overs that were possible. New Zealand's six bowlers claimed a wicket apiece, as England's aggressive batters struggled to cope with the early-season movement of a green-tinged pitch.
Full postCarey the key to denying Queensland victory against South Australia
Mitch Swepson took three wickets and Lachlan Hearne scored his first Sheffield Shield century as Queensland closed on victory
AAP
17-Oct-2025
South Australia 228 and 238 for 5 (Sangha 55, Swepson 3-87) lead Queensland 398 (Labuschagne 159, Hearne 106, W Agar 5-88) by 68 runs
Alex Carey holds the key to South Australia's hopes of manufacturing a draw on the final day of their Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.
The Test wicketkeeper is the last realistic hope for the hosts, who lead by 68 runs with five wickets in hand at Adelaide Oval.
Full postBell's late strikes put Tasmania on the brink in a thriller with Western Australia
WA slumped from 198 for 5 to 215 for 8 chasing 259 after Matt Kelly's career-best 6 for 49
AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff
17-Oct-2025
Western Australia 172 & 215 for 8 (Hardie 61, Bell 3-60) need 44 runs to win against Tasmania 171 & 259 (Weatherald 94, Silk 57, Kelly 6-49, Gannon 3-65)
Two crucial late strikes from Gabe Bell has put Tasmania on the brink of victory at Bellerive Oval after Western Australia quick Matthew Kelly took a career-best six-wicket haul on a wild day of momentum swings.
Chasing 259 to win in the fourth innings WA were 198 for 5 as they neared stumps on day with Aaron Hardie on 61 having shared a half-century stand with Joel Curtis before they lost three wickets in 12 balls with Bell snaring two of them. It left WA still needing 44 to win at stumps on day three with Curtis not out alongside Corey Rocchiccioli and No.11 Liam Haskett still to come.
Full postWolvaardt, Brits fifties put SA closer to semi-final berth
South Africa completed their fourth chase of the tournament, this time with ten wickets in hand
Firdose Moonda
17-Oct-2025
South Africa 121 for 0 (Wolvaardt 60*, Brits 55*) beat Sri Lanka 105 for 7 (Gunaratne 34, Mlaba 3-30, Klaas 2-18) by ten wickets (DLS method)
20-overs-a-side
20-overs-a-side
South Africa took a big step towards a World Cup semi-final berth by chasing successfully for the fourth time in the tournament, this time in a rain-reduced encounter in Colombo. They played what was essentially a T20 against Sri Lanka, whose innings was paused for five-and-a-quarter hours, and whose semi-final hopes now hang by a thread. Sri Lanka have two points from two washouts and are winless. For any chance of a final-four spot, they must win their last two games and hope other results go their way.
After choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka faced 12 overs before the rain delay and scored 46 for 2. They returned to hit 59 runs in eight overs, losing five wickets in the process. South Africa's target was adjusted up from Sri Lanka's final score of 105 for 7 to acknowledge the hosts did not know they would only bat 20 overs for 60% of their innings.
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