Tag: Cricket

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bat first in cricket’s T20 World Cup Super 8 match against England at R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.

A win will earn New Zealand the second semifinal spot from Group 2. Leader England has already qualified after beating Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Victory for England will leave Pakistan with a slim chance of getting into the semifinals via net run-rate if they beat Sri Lanka on Saturday.

South Africa has already qualified from Group 1. The second spot will be decided by the result of the match between India and the West Indies.

New Zealand fielded the same side that beat Sri Lanka comprehensively on Wednesday while England bolstered its spin attack by recalling Rehan Ahmed in place of Jamie Overton.

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Lineups:

England: Harry Brook (captain), Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

MELBOURNE, Australia — England’s managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key says he will investigate the drinking habits of the England team following reports that their mid-Ashes beach resort break may have involved over-indulging of alcohol.

England lost each of the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action.

The England squad visited the resort town of Noosa on the Sunshine Coach north of Brisbane between the second and third tests, a long-planned part of the itinerary designed to help players relax and unwind on the long tour.

Key, who did not join the players in Noosa, said he had no problem with the break, but would not be happy if he found evidence of over-indulging.

“If there’s things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then of course we’ll be looking into that,” he said Tuesday in Melbourne, where the fourth test begins Friday.

“Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I’d expect to see at any stage and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. From everything that I’ve heard so far, they actually were pretty well behaved. Very well behaved.”

He added: “We’ve got enough ways of finding out exactly what happened and everything that I’ve heard so far that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, all of that, had the odd drink. I don’t mind that. If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned.”

Key also said he had previously looked into reports that players had been spotted drinking the night before a match in New Zealand shortly before the Ashes.

A short clip of white-ball captain Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell was shared by a member of the public on social media, said to have been taken while they were out in Wellington before the third one-day international on Nov. 1.

“I didn’t feel like that was worthy of formal warnings, but it was probably worthy of informal ones,” he said.

“I think that was a bit of a wake-up call actually for what they’re going into. I don’t mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that, I think is ridiculous, really.”

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

PERTH, Australia — The build-up to the Ashes series starting Friday began at the end of July 2023 following one or the more acrimonious test cricket series between England and Australia.

Ben Stokes and his England lineup won that test at The Oval in South London but it wasn’t enough to reclaim the Ashes from the Aussies, who won the first two tests and drew the fourth in a five-match series to retain the old urn.

Cue to Perth Stadium, Day 1 of a possible 25 spanning seven weeks and five cities.

There are some big questions in play.

Can an aging, understrength Australia continue its unbeaten run in Ashes tests on home soil that dates to the 2010-11 series?

Can Stokes inspire an end to that long drought for England?

Can Joe Root, the world’s No. 1-ranked test batter, finally post an Ashes century in Australia?

Can Stokes and Root win a test on Australian soil for the first time?

Australia captain Pat Cummins and fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood will be missing the first test because of injuries, leaving Australia’s attack without half of its frontline bowlers.

The remaining half — left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc and offspinner Nathan Lyon — are confident that the team can win on what is expected to be a fast, bouncy pitch in Perth. Brendan Doggett is set to make his test debut alongside fellow fast bowler Scott Boland, making it the first time an Australian men’s test XI will contain two players with Indigenous heritage.

“Good to see the depth in the squad,” Starc said. “We know what Scotty Boland can do, … (and) ‘Doggie’s’ coming off a hot streak at the moment.”

Cameron Green’s fitness to bowl means he’ll fill the allrounder spot and Australia can give opening batter Jake Weatherald a test debut at the age of 31. The flow-on means Marnus Labuschagne will return to the test lineup at No. 3, with stand-in skipper Steve Smith at No. 4.

Stokes knows the record: 13 losses, two draws and no wins in the last 15 tests Down Under for England. He’s thinking more about the 2010-11 squad that beat the Australians 3-1.

“I do understand how big a series this is. I’ve come here absolutely desperate to get home on that plane in January as one of the lucky few captains from England who have come here and been successful,” he said. “A lot has been spoken of about the history and how it has gone for England — this is our chance to create our own history.”

In a bid to break the drought, England is likely to start a pair of express pace bowlers in conditions expected to suit them. Jofra Archer is primed to do well in Australia and 35-year-old Mark Wood recovered from a minor hamstring strain to be including in the 12-man match squad for the first test. Stokes will bowl and it’s likely seamers Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson will also start, although spinner Shoaib Bashir has been included in the 12.

“Jofra and Woody are amazing bowlers and they’ll be huge for us this series,” Atkinson said. “You hear about (tests in Australia) and it’s all ‘pace, pace, pace’ but we’re hearing lately a bit more seam movement. It’s nice to hear that — something I’m looking forward to.”

The 36-year-old Smith will lead Australia for the third time this year and the seventh time since his era as captain ended in the wake of the Sandpapergate scandal in 2018.

He filled in as skipper the last time England toured Australia in 2021-22, after Cummins was forced to isolate for the Adelaide test during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He’s a lot more relaxed as a person all round,” Starc said of his longtime teammate. “Even the times that he’s captained since, when he’s had to fill in for Pat, it’s a different approach.

“He’s still that competitive beast, and still wants to be the best, and still will leave no stone unturned. But I think he’s finding a few outlets to actually switch off from time to time … and just not be cricket 100% of the time.”

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Australia: Jack Weatherald, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (captain), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland.

England (from): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Babar Azam’s first international century in more than two years anchored Pakistan’s comfortable chase of 289 against scratchy Sri Lanka in their series-clinching one-day international on Friday.

Pakistan won by eight wickets, cruising to 289-2 in 48.2 overs on Babar’s fluent unbeaten 102 off 119 balls. They have an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, which ends on Sunday.

Sri Lanka was restricted to 288-8 on a perfect batting pitch after six of the top seven batters couldn’t convert good starts.

The series was in doubt after Sri Lanka players wanted to leave the country when a suicide bomber killed 12 people outside a court in Islamabad on Tuesday, hours before the first ODI in nearby Rawalpindi.

However, Sri Lanka Cricket directed the team to finish the series after it was reassured about security by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Babar came into Friday’s game without an international century in 83 innings across the formats, more than 800 days since a hundred against Nepal in the Asia Cup at Multan in August 2023.

“I had been waiting for this (century) like the fans,” Babar said. “I kept the belief up. I got starts in a few games against South Africa too (in the last ODI series) but you only get what you wished when God wants you to. I was trying to spend as much time at the crease.”

He dug in well against the spin threat of Wanindu Hasaranga, who finished wicketless with 0-35, but the Sri Lanka seamers couldn’t control the wet ball because of dew and consistently missed their lengths.

Babar raised his half-century off 68 balls with only three fours and grew in confidence. He pulled Pramod Madushan to midwicket for a single to complete his much-awaited century off 115 balls with eight fours.

The crowd erupted and chanted “Babar, Babar” to celebrate the end of the drought by Pakistan’s premier batter. His 20th ODI century equaled Saeed Anwar’s Pakistan ODI record.

The opening pair of Fakhar Zaman (78) and Saim Ayub (33) provided a rollicking start of 77 off 58 balls.

Zaman was dropped twice in the 20s and a third time at fine leg just before his dismissal, a brilliant catch by Janith Liyanage at short midwicket. But by then he’d put on 100 runs with Babar to take the game away from Sri Lanka.

Mohammad Rizwan, unbeaten on 51 off 54 balls, and Babar shared a 112-run stand to the win.

“It’s a complete batting performance from us,” stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha said. “We had three very good partnerships. It was a 320-330 wicket for us so I was very happy to keep them to 290.”

Kamil Mishara (27) in his second ODI and Pathum Nissanka (24) made a decent start of 51 runs for Sri Lanka inside the batting powerplay before Nissanka was run out against the run of play when he tried to go for a third run.

Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who recovered from illness, pegged back the visitors with three wickets. He dismissed Mishara, Kusal Mendis and captain Charith Asalanka and dropped the visitors to 98-4 in the 22nd over.

Sadeera Samarawickrama (42) and Liyanage (54) revived the innings with a 61-run stand until Haris Rauf knocked back the off stump of Samarawickrama in his return spell.

Rauf followed his four-wicket haul in the first ODI with 3-66 including the vital wicket of Kamindu Mendis (44) in the death overs.

Hasaranga’s late flurry of 37 off 26 balls helped to set a total that was thought to be about 30-40 runs short of par.

Asalanka rued a ton of missed opportunities, including good starts by batters and dropped catches in the field.

“A lot of wides and extras in the first two overs,” he said. “It’s really hard to come back on these wickets. After 10-15 overs dew came and things got harder.”

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

KOLKATA, India — Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets for nine runs as India fought back in the morning session Friday on the first day of the first cricket test against South Africa at Eden Gardens.

After winning the toss, South Africa set a hectic scoring pace in the first hour of play, reaching 57-0, before finishing the first session at 105-3 in 27 overs.

At the break, Wiaan Mulder was unbeaten on 22 while Tony de Zorzi was batting on 15 not out.

Earlier, India captain Shubman Gill lost his seventh toss in eight tests as South Africa opted to bat.

Openers Aiden Markram scored 31 runs and Ryan Rickelton 23 to give South Africa the early advantage.

But South Africa slipped from its unbeaten 57 to 71-3 in 5.3 overs, before Mulder and de Zorzi batted on for the remainder of the session. They added 34 off 66 balls for the fourth wicket.

Pacer Kagiso Rabada missed out for World Test Championship winner South Africa because of a rib injury, replaced by medium pace all-rounder Corbin Bosch. The Proteas opted for two spinners in Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj.

South Africa has not won a test in India since 2015. It last won a test series in India in 2000-01 under Hansie Cronje.

Kolkata is hosting its first test since 2019, when India and Bangladesh played a day-night test.

The second test will be played from Nov. 22 at Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium, which hosted multiple games in the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup but will become a men’s test venue for the first time.

Recently, India beat West Indies 2-0, with left-arm wrist spinner Yadav the leading bowler with 12 wickets. South Africa drew a two-test series in Pakistan 1-1.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FAISALABAD, Pakistan — South Africa won its first toss on the tour of Pakistan and elected to bat in the series-deciding third and final ODI on Saturday.

The series is locked 1-1 after Pakistan won the first game narrowly by two wickets and South Africa bounced back with the help of Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten century to win the second game by eight wickets.

Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf returned after serving two-match ban for violating ICC code of conduct during the Asia Cup in late September and replaced Naseem Shah. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who was surprisingly left out from the second match, made his way back into the playing XI in place of Mohammad Wasim.

South Africa awarded an ODI debut to 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Rubin Hermann in place of injured Sinethemba Qeshile. The Proteas went with an extra seam option and brought back Lungi Ngidi as left-arm spinner George Linde missed out.

South Africa didn’t win a toss in a two-match drawn test series in Pakistan. The Proteas also lost all the five tosses in the white-ball series before at last calling it correctly in the final game of the tour on Saturday.

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Lineups:

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke (captain), Rubin Hermann, Donovan Ferreira, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Nqabayomzi Peter, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket