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Dani Gregory takes three wickets to derail Sunrisers in run chase

ECB Reporters Network14-Jul-2024The South East Stars coasted to a 44-run win over the Sunrisers in the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Beckenham on Sunday.The Stars were bowled out for 258, after an innings dominated by a record-breaking 148-run partnership between Bryony Smith, who made 84, and Alice Davidson-Richards, who hit 70. Jodi Grewcock took 3 for 43, while Mady Villiers, Grace Scrivens and Eva Gray claimed two wickets apiece.The visitors had looked well set on 88 for 1, but once Jo Gardner was out for 39 they subsided to 214 all out with Dani Gregory taking 3 for 47 and Smith 2 for 31. Alice Macleod was the top scorer with 44.The hosts chose to bat under heavy skies but suffered a double blow when Villiers took two wickets in three balls. Phoebe Franklin was caught for five at deep mid-wicket by Florence Miller, before Paige Scholfield was lbw for a second-ball duck.The Stars responded with a their highest ever List A third-wicket stand, a watchful, patient partnership between two senior players. Smith was dropped on 13 and 73, but played a low-risk innings, until she brought up her 50 by smashing Villiers back over her head for six.Davidson-Richards reached the same landmark by smearing a full toss from Gray over cow corner but she was caught by Gardner at long-on off Grewcock. The same combination saw off Emma Jones for 2, before Smith was stumped off Grewcock by Amara Carr.Aylish Cranstone was then run out by Flo Miller for 21, but Ryana MacDonald-Gay injected some urgency into the innings with 37, 20 of which came from a single over before Scrivens had her caught by Grewcock. Eva Gray then took two wickets in three balls, yorking Kalea Moore for 4 and trapping Dani Gregory lbw for a second-ball duck.Dani Gregory took three wickets to derail Sunrisers•Getty Images for Surrey CCC

Chloe Hill was stranded on 21 not out when Tilly Corteen-Coleman swiped Scrivens to Villiers, with one ball of the innings remaining.The Sunrisers lost Scrivens early on, when Franklin got her for 11, caught by Jones on the boundary, but they hit back with a stand worth 75 between Macleod and Gardner that ate up 19 overs until Gregory bowled the former with a ball that spun back and hit middle. Up until that point the visitors had looked slight favourites but a cluster of wickets left them struggling to cope with the run rate.Jones struck in the first over after the drinks break when Grewcock pulled her to Scholfield at midwicket and Moore then bowled Villiers for 1. Smith claimed the key wicket of Gardner for 39 from 74 balls and then got Amu Surenkumar for 11, both lbw.Gregory then struck twice in successive overs. Miller tried to sweep her and was caught by MacDonald-Gay for 11, before Carr lofted her to Aylish Cranstone 20.Brilliant work by Moore saw Sophie Munro out for 12 and although the Stars were denied a bonus point win was sealed when the last-wicket duo of Gray and Kate Coppack took the score past 206, the result was secured when MacDonald-Gay cleaned up the latter for five.The result sees the Stars leapfrog their opponents in the table and the competition now pauses for the Hundred.

Jack Taylor half-century not enough to prop up hosts as Warwickshire ease to victory

ECB Reporters Network07-Aug-2023Gloucestershire’s flying start in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup came to a crashing halt with an eight-wicket defeat to Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The west country men had won their first two games but surrendered their 100% record to a Warwickshire side which retained theirs after a ruthless display of bowling supported by brilliant catching.Gloucestershire were skittled for 120 with only Jack Taylor (55 off 65 balls) able to resist an attack led by the excellent Olly Hannon-Dalby whose 3 for 14 included the wickets of three of the top five batters.Warwickshire then eased to 123 for two from 25.5 overs as Ed Barnard added a fluent 36 from 39 balls to his two wickets, Will Rhodes struck an unbeaten 36 and Michael Burgess an unbeaten 33.After choosing to bowl, Warwickshire made lavish use of the new ball. Gloucestershire were 10 for 4 after Barnard took wickets with his second and 11th deliveries and Hannon-Dalby struck with his seventh and ninth. All were caught behind the wicket as Barnard induced fatal edges from the Price brothers and Hannon-Dalby had Chris Dent and Graeme van Buuren taken in the cordon.When Danny Briggs started with a wicket-maiden, James Bracey chipping back a return catch from the sixth ball, the visitors were 35 for 5. Taylor and Ben Wells added 29 but the edges continued to come. Wells nicked a perfectly-shaped outswinger from Craig Miles and Zafar Gohar left in high dudgeon after being adjudged caught behind off Hannon-Dalby.Taylor and Anwar Ali constructed the best stand of the innings – 38 from 42 balls – but then fell to brilliant catches. Anwar tickled Miles down the leg side and wicketkeeper Burgess dived low to take his fourth catch of the innings. Taylor passed 50 for the 18th time in List A cricket but is still to turn one of those fifties into a hundred after he thrashed Jake Lintott to extra cover and fell to a stinging catch from Ethan Brookes.When Lintott spun one on to Ajeet Singh Dale’s stumps, Gloucestershire were 120 all out and their strong start to the campaign seemed a distant memory.It grew increasingly distant as Warwickshire openers Barnard and Rob Yates added 46 in 12 overs. Barnard batted attractively before falling lbw when he missed a reverse sweep at Ollie Price.Captain Will Rhodes arrived in no mood to hang about, moving from 1 to 15 with two fours and a six in four balls from Ollie Price and lifting Gohar into the Hollies Stand. Tom Price rattled Yates’ off stump with a jaffa but Gloucestershire’s batting implosion meant that jaffas had to arrive on a conveyor belt to rescue them and Rhodes and Burgess steered the Bears to the most straightforward of victories with 145 balls to spare.

Ajaz Patel could be in contention for the Pakistan Test series after recovering from a calf injury

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2020Colin de Grandhomme will play no part in the upcoming Test series at home against Pakistan as he isn’t yet back to running, and recovers from a foot injury, while the wait for Kane Williamson to return to the set-up continues. New Zealand coach Gary Stead said that the all-format captain, who took leave to be with his partner Sarah Raheem for the birth of their first child, is expected to join the team before the second T20I against Pakistan, but that it’s still a waiting game at this stage.”There’s no update on baby news at this stage, so we’re just going to let them carry on as is,” Stead said of Williamson, three days out from the first T20I against Pakistan in Auckland, at a press interaction. “The plan at this stage still is that he will join the team for T20s two and three.”Related

• WTC final – New Zealand put pressure on India

• Excited about WTC final, but focused on Pakistan – Latham

• Taylor dropped for Pakistan T20Is; Ferguson out with injury

The first Test starts on Boxing Day after the last T20I on December 22, and Stead said de Grandhomme is expected to return to domestic cricket around mid-January. “Colin’s unfortunately going to be ruled out of the two Tests against Pakistan,” Stead said. “He’s got a stress reaction in his right foot; we haven’t at this stage been able to get him up to running stage and then ultimately bowling as well, so unfortunately for Colin, he’s out. Looking like, hopefully, a mid-January return to play in the Super Smash for him.”There was no major update on Lockie Ferguson’s injured back either, with the team management waiting for reports of the scans, but the latest on left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel was encouraging. “Ajaz Patel will travel up with the ‘A’ squad this week [to play Pakistan A in Whangarei]. He is going to be part of their preparations,” Stead said. “We are hoping that he’s going to be in contention for the Test match; in terms of the selection side of things it’s still a bit wait and see to see where he’s at with that.”De Grandhomme and Patel had also missed the two-Test series against West Indies, which New Zealand swept 2-0 with innings wins in both games. Williamson was the Player of the Match in the first Test for a career-best 251, and though he missed the second game as he had gone on paternity leave by then, Will Young, who had debuted in the first Test, slotted in at No. 3 and scored 43.Kyle Jamieson, meanwhile, was the main allrounder for New Zealand in the two Tests, and emerged with the Player-of-the-Series award after picking up 11 wickets – with a best of 5 for 34 in the first innings of the second Test – and scoring 71 runs in two innings, including an unbeaten 51 in the first Test.

Bracewell became only the third New Zealand man to take a T20I hat-trick after Oram and Southee

Sreshth Shah20-Jul-2022A patient yet effective 55-ball 78* from Dane Cleaver, and a dominating effort from New Zealand’s bowlers handed the visitors a resounding 88-run win over Ireland in the second T20I in Belfast. The victory sealed the three-game series for New Zealand, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead with one game still to go.For the second game in a row, Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie’s decision to bowl first proved costly, as New Zealand posted 179 for 4 in 20 overs. Cleaver, playing only his second T20I, hit five fours and four sixes, and stayed right till the end after coming in to bat at No. 3 in the fifth over.Then New Zealand’s well-rounded bowling unit did the rest, helped in part by some unnecessary attacking shots or risky runs from the Ireland batters. If it wasn’t for a 37-run stand for the eighth wicket between Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy, Ireland’s total could’ve been far lesser than their eventual score of 91.The spin twins Ish Sodhi and Michael Bracewell were the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, taking three wickets each. Sodhi’s scalps of Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker and George Dockrell broke Ireland’s back in the middle overs, leaving him with figures of 3 for 21 but Bracewell had the widest smile by the end of the game. Bowling his first over in T20Is, the offspinner cleaned up the Ireland tail with three wickets in three balls, thus making him only the third New Zealand bowler after Jacob Oram and Tim Southee to achieve a T20I hat-trick.Spinners headline Irish collapse
Ireland’s chase of 180 began with some potential as Mitchell Santner was walloped by Paul Stirling for a six and a four in the very first over. Then when Lockie Ferguson was dispatched by Stirling for four more through the covers, it seemed like the Ireland opener could be the big-hitter around whom the rest of Ireland’s batters could rally.However, three balls after the Ferguson four, Stirling fell slicing a catch to mid off, and thereafter the floodgates opened. From the other end, Jacob Duffy had Gareth Delany bowled for a first-ball duck in the fourth over with the batter failing to get forward to a fullish ball, and Harry Tector then paid the price of being impatient, run-out to a direct-hit from Glenn Phillips at cover while trying to take the fielder on for a quick single.Having gone from 23 for no loss to 27 for 3 in the space of eight deliveries, it was up to the prodigy Campher and Balbirnie to stick a partnership together, but the latter was the next to go, becoming Duffy’s second scalp. Duffy went full and wide, got the ball to swing away under cloudy conditions, and all Balbirnie’s drive could do was take an outside edge to Cleaver wearing the gloves. After a quiet – and rare wicketless – over, Sodhi got among the wickets too in his first over of the game.Tucker tried to slog sweep the legspinner, only to lose stock of where the mistimed ball went. It had dribbled past him to the wicketkeeper, and as Tucker tried to pinch a single thinking the ball has gone elsewhere, he was stumped. Next ball, Sodhi brought a slip fielder for the new batter and Dockrell edged it to James Neesham in the cordon.With the score at 45 for 6, and ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster giving Ireland less than 1% chance of a win, the pressure was off the Ireland lower order. Mark Adair, in particular, hit a few lusty blows after Campher became Sodhi’s third (and Ireland’s seventh) wicket. Adair went 4, 4, 6 off Sodhi’s third over to ruin his otherwise tidy bowling figures and then drilled Neesham over his head for another boundary. His partner for the eighth-wicket stand, Barry McCarthy, tonked Neesham and Bracewell for a couple of fours too.But Bracewell’s offbreak had Adair caught at deep midwicket for a 22-ball 27, and with the batters crossing, McCarthy too was out next ball, slogging to the same region. On a hat-trick, Bracewell had better luck than Sodhi, taking his third wicket in three balls as the No. 11 Craig Young tried to clear cover, only to slice a catch behind point, and ending Ireland’s innings at 91.Dane Cleaver attempts a reverse sweep during his highest T20I score•Sportsfile/Getty Images

Cleaver follows his cousin’s footsteps
Having made his T20I debut at the age of 30 only two days ago, it was another chance for Cleaver to make the most of the opportunity of batting at No. 3 for New Zealand with senior batters being rested for the T20Is. Coming in at a position favoured by his first-cousin Kane Williamson – after the fall of Finn Allen’s wicket, Cleaver made a sedate start, but kept upping his gears right until the 20th over.Allen’s blitz at the top had allowed New Zealand to race to 40 for no loss after four overs, but he fell for a 20-ball 35 trying to take McCarthy on in the fifth over. With Martin Guptill struggling with his timing, and Cleaver playing but missing the swinging deliveries offered by the Irish seamers, it seemed like the hosts would provide yet another squeeze to the New Zealand top order like the first T20I.But Cleaver grew in confidence, in particular trusting the bounce on offer to play the pull on numerous occasions to finally get off the blocks. Even with Guptill falling for a 17-ball 11 in the ninth over, Cleaver motored along at a strike-rate of under 110 to move into his twenties in Phillips’ company for the third wicket. Together, they added 53 in 5.2 overs, and as Cleaver’s confidence grew, so did his choice of shots. He scooped McCarthy for an ingenious six over the keeper one time, and then played a sliced drive on purpose to beat the fielder at deep point.However, Cleaver did receive a reprieve on 40 when he skipped down the ground to a Dockrell slider, only to miss it. But the wicketkeeper Tucker failed to grab it, and Cleaver offered no further chances. He picked Adair’s two slower balls in the 16th over well enough to smack them for boundaries, then brought up his maiden half-century in 39 balls with a six over deep midwicket. Daryl Mitchell, the No. 5, contributed just 14 runs in his 48-run stand with Cleaver, letting the man in form enjoy most of the strike.Cleaver would go on to thump Young for a pulled six in the 18th, then tonked Josh Little for three fours in four balls in the 19th, and earned his final boundary off the innings’ penultimate ball by slicing a four behind square on the off side. In all, New Zealand made 50 off the last five and Cleaver finished unbeaten on 78 in 55 balls. His performance eventually eked out the Sodhi-Bracewell efforts in the second innings to also earn him the Player of the Match award.

Pathum Nissanka, Dilshan Madushanka and Kusal Perera have been left out

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Jan-2024Uncapped right-arm seamers Chamika Gunasekara and Milan Rathnayake have been named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting on Friday. Also in the mix are opener Lahiru Udara, and batting allrounder Kamindu Mendis.Omitted, meanwhile, is Pathum Nissanka, who was part of Sri Lanka’s last Test squad, though he has not played a Test since the middle of 2022. Dilshan Madushanka, who is currently in the UAE playing in the ILT20, is not in this squad either. The same goes for Kusal Perera.This is the first Test squad named by Sri Lanka’s new selection committee, headed by Upul Tharanga. The match, which starts on Friday, will also be Dhananjaya de Silva’s first as captain.Related

• ICC Board lifts suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket

Elsewhere, there are no major surprises. Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka are likely to open the batting, as they did against Pakistan last year, with Kusal Mendis likely at No. 3, and Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and de Silva coming in lower down. Sadeera Samarawickrama may take the gloves again.On the bowling front, Sri Lanka are likely to go with Ramesh Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya as their primary spin options, with the likes of Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando to choose from on the seam-bowling front. Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, who had taken 11 wickets on debut in 2021 but has had less impressive outings since then, has not been named in the squad.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Gunasekara has been selected partly on the back of good form in the ongoing National Super League (NSL) four-day competition. In two matches over the last two weeks, Gunasekara has taken eight wickets at an average of 16.5. Rathnayake, meanwhile, has been chosen based on a larger body of work – he has in the past been impressive in the Sri Lanka A side. This is the second Test squad Rathnayake has been selected in, though he is yet to represent Sri Lanka.Udara, who has also not played a Test, gets into the squad having also impressed at the NSL recently. He had hit 100 and 72 against a Galle attack featuring Ramesh Mendis and Rathnayake, in the last fortnight.Afghanistan are without Rashid Khan for this Test. This is the first time these teams will play a Test against each other.

Sri Lanka squad for Test against Afghanistan

Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Udara, Chamika Gunasekara, Milan Rathnayake

“Didn’t you say before [the BPL] that Barishal is the ‘team of the old’?” Mushfiqur hits back after they make the final

Mohammad Isam29-Feb-2024Mushfiqur Rahim has hit back at the criticism of Bangladesh’s senior cricketers, saying great team performances in T20 cricket require experienced hands as much they do the fearlessness of youth.Mushfiqur, 36, pointed towards the success of Fortune Barishal, who beat Rangpur Riders in the second Qualifier on Wednesday to make it to the final of BPL 2024. Apart from Mushfiqur (36), Barishal have two more players older than 35: Mahmudullah (37) and Shoaib Malik (41). All three have chipped in with important contributions during the season.”Didn’t you say before the tournament that Barishal is the ‘team of the old’?” Mushfiqur said. “Didn’t you say that T20s can’t be won with experience? I think this is a wrong concept. You need experience in every format. New players will come, the older ones will go, but they will combine well to build the team. We want to leave a legacy, and we want the likes of [Towhid] Hridoy and Tamim [Tanzid Hasan] to leave a legacy when they become senior players [for Bangladesh]. It is supposed to be smooth sailing.”Related

• Fuller, Saifuddin and Mushfiqur put Barishal in final

Mushfiqur made a call for fitness and performance to be given preference over age when considering players.”It [the criticism] doesn’t motivate me,” he said. “It hurts me. I can guarantee you that I am better than most players in terms of fitness. I can write it down. More than age, I think the criteria should be fitness and performance. Age is just a number.”All three matches between Barishal and Rangpur this season were billed as Shakib Al Hasan vs Tamim Iqbal battles, with crowds booing both players on several occasions. The pair’s differences first came to light last year when BCB president Nazmul Hassan said Shakib and Tamim were not on speaking terms. When Tamim retired, unretired and then resigned from ODI captaincy, Shakib slammed Tamim in a TV interview.They both deserved better, Mushfiqur said. “To be honest, if the limelight is on the two players, then the rest of us can relax. They will have their ‘war’, and we will watch. They are both legends. They have given a lot to Bangladesh cricket. This [a form of booing in Bengali] chant, if they have to hear it, the rest of us should be buried in the ground.”Mushfiqur also added that he was pleased with Bangladeshi players dominating the BPL batting and bowling charts.”It is a positive sign. The top five run-getters and [four of the top five] wicket-takers are all from Bangladesh. Such consistency doesn’t happen by chance. If we can deliver in crunch moments, it means we have cool nerves. Such a thing is helpful for the cricketer and his team.”

Cricket Victoria are making major changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2020The major job losses at Cricket Victoria caused by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic have claimed the Melbourne Renegades’ WBBL head coach Tim Coyle who had been in the role three years.Last week Cricket Victoria confirmed a significant restructuring of its organisation in the wake of cost-cutting measures with community cricket especially hard hit.During Coyle’s time the Renegades reached the finals in both the 2018-19 and 2019-2020 seasons.”The challenges delivered by the current climate have forced us to reassess every area of our High Performance program and unfortunately this has led to the end of Tim’s tenure with the Renegades,” Cricket Victoria’s general manager of cricket Shaun Graf said.”This certainly takes nothing away from Tim’s contribution to the Melbourne Renegades in his time as Head Coach. He’s led the club to back-to-back finals campaigns and a number of players have graduated to the national team under his direction.”We’d like to thank Tim for his hard work over the last three seasons and wish him well for the future.”Last year the Melbourne BBL teams, the Renegades and the Stars, were brought under the Cricket Victoria structure. They have both lost major sponsors in recent months.Coyle’s departure also means both teams are now searching for a new head coach after Leah Poulton quit her position with the Stars after less than a month to take up a job as head of female cricket with New South Wales.

Glenn Maxwell also became the 13th Stars player to test positive

Tristan Lavalette05-Jan-2022The BBL has been thrown into more chaos with Wednesday night’s match between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers postponed after 12 Heat players and a coach returned positive PCR tests to Covid-19.Heat were unable to find enough replacement players in time forcing the clash at Metricon Stadium to be called off and rescheduled at a later date.They were originally due to take on Sixers on Tuesday before Perth Scorchers were swapped in at the last minute when Heat’s Covid issues first emerged.”We acknowledge the wholehearted efforts of the Brisbane Heat to field a team tonight,” BBL general manager Alistair Dobson said in a statement. “However, in the time available it was not possible for them to secure the 13 players required, hence the decision to postpone the match.”Heat’s game against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong on Thursday remains scheduled to go ahead with remaining players and staff to take a charter flight from the Gold Coast tomorrow morning.”We are working hard now to finalise preparations for the next week for the squad, including those who are currently isolating or ill, and to secure a playing group to compete in matches in that time frame,” Queensland Cricket chief executive Terry Svenson said.Wednesday’s earlier game between Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes at the Adelaide Oval will start an hour later.Heat have become the latest BBL team ravaged by Covid-19, which has raised the possibility of the entire competition being moved to a hub in Melbourne.Earlier on Wednesday, Melbourne Stars confirmed captain Glenn Maxwell returned a positive rapid antigen test for Covid-19 following their loss to Melbourne Renegades on Monday night.Maxwell has since undertaken a PCR test and is currently isolating while awaiting the result. Maxwell is the 13th Stars player to contract Covid-19 after 12 others and eight staff members were also struck down.Maxwell captained a depleted Stars team in their last two fixtures against Scorchers and Renegades with the team supplemented by replacement players and coached by a stand-in coaching staff.Up to 10 players and eight coaching staff are set to come out of isolation for Stars’ next match against Adelaide Strikers on Friday.Renegades also confirmed on Wednesday that a member of its squad returned a positive rapid antigen test to Covid-19 and as a precaution the team’s afternoon training session was cancelled.

Glamorgan’s promotion bid encounters further resistance despite Crane taking five wickets

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Sep-2025Saif Zaib continued his prolific summer, becoming the first Northamptonshire batter to score six Championship tons in a season since Lance Klusener in 2006 as he posted 145 (186 balls) on day three of this Rothesay County Championship against Glamorgan at Wantage Road.Zaib, the second leading run-scorer in Division Two, extended his overnight score of 76, smashing a total of 22 fours and two sixes as he shared a ninth-wicket partnership of 56 in 15 overs with debutant Ben Whitehouse (6 not out).Despite Mason Crane taking 5 for 126, his second five-wicket haul this season, Zaib’s innings further held up Glamorgan’s promotion hunt as Northamptonshire moved to 413 for nine, 54 runs behind, when rain ended play early after just 95 minutes. With Ben Kellaway off the field injured, part-time spinner Kiran Carlson finished with 2 for 43.Earlier heavy morning rain prevented play getting underway until 1.50pm, Northamptonshire resuming on 309 for five. New batter Aadi Sharma (25) came out determined to make up for lost time, saving the follow-on when he pulled a dragdown from Carlson for six before flicking Crane through midwicket and slog sweeping him for another maximum. Sharma’s aggression ultimately proved his downfall though as he pulled Carlson straight to the deep midwicket fielder on the side with the longer boundary.Zaib moved through the 80s as he reverse swept Carlson for four, while Lewis McManus ran a single to take Northamptonshire to 350 and secure a third batting bonus point.But McManus soon became Crane’s fifth victim when he went to cut and edged behind, Northamptonshire quickly losing an eighth wicket when Liam Guthrie was adjudged lbw to Carlson.Zaib though was undeterred, advancing closer to his century when he reverse swept Crane for four to move to 99. He turned down a single to protect Whitehouse, before crunching one straight down the pitch to reach three figures off 136 balls.Whitehouse proved an admirable foil as Zaib continued to attack the Glamorgan spinners, sweeping a full toss from Crane for four and depositing Carlson over deep midwicket for six.With the skies starting to darken, Timm van der Gugten and James Harris took the new ball under the floodlights, Zaib responding by playing a remarkable pull shot over fine leg for six.Despite Whitehouse’s stoic defence, Glamorgan’s seamers will regret not targeting his stumps more, the debutant bringing up Northamptonshire’s fourth batting bonus point when he edged Harris low through the slip cordon for four. Zaib then emphatically pulled the Glamorgan quick through midwicket to bring up the 50 partnership off 74 balls.It took a dazzling bit of fielding from sub fielder Zain ul Hassan at deep cover who initially fumbled the ball, before turning in a direct hit to run out Zaib coming back for a second run without putting in a dive to ground his bat.With the rain returning shortly afterwards, the players took an early tea, but hopes of a resumption at 5.30pm were dashed by further downpours.

This is the first time in four seasons that the final of the Women’s Premier League will not be played on a weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2025The 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) will have its final on a weekday (Thursday, February 5), and not over the weekend, for the first time, and feature two double-headers, both on Saturdays, after kicking off on January 9.The 28-day-long tournament will be played across two venues: Navi Mumbai, where India won the ODI World Cup in early November beating South Africa in the final, and Vadodara. The first 11 matches, including the two double-headers, will be played at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, and the remaining 11 matches, including the eliminator on February 3 and the final will be played at Vadodara’s Kotambi Stadium.The dates and venues were confirmed by the WPL’s chairman, Jayesh George, on Thursday, the day of the WPL auction. All games bar the earlier fixture on the double-header days will be evening affairs.The week of the final is a busy one for multi-team competitions, with the men’s Under-19 World Cup finishing the day after the WPL final, on February 6, and the men’s T20 World Cup starting the following day, on February 7.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Apart from having a weekday final, this is the first time the WPL will be played in the January-February window. The first three seasons were played in February-March just before the start of the IPL. This will also be the first time the WPL will not clash with major international fixtures.Mumbai Indians (MI) are the defending champions of the WPL and have won two titles in three editions so far, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) the other past winners. Delhi Capitals (DC) have been runners-up in all three seasons. The other two teams, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz, have never made the title round.Ten days after the WPL ends, India will start an all-format tour of Australia, playing three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15 to March 9.

WPL 2026 schedule

Jan 9: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 10: UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 10: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 11: Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 12: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs UP Warriorz
Jan 13: Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 14: UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 15: Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz
Jan 16: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 17: UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 17: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Jan 19: Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 20: Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 22: Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz
Jan 24: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 26: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 27: Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 29: UP Warriorz vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 30: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians
Feb 1: Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz
Feb 3: Eliminator
Feb 5: Final