As part of the centenary celebrations, NZC has designed a special logo and will unveil an all-time Plunket Shield XI
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2025The 2025-26 edition of the Plunket Shield, New Zealand’s domestic first-class tournament, will start on November 18, with the eighth and final round scheduled from March 27. New Zealand Cricket confirmed that it would be the 100th season of the competition.The Plunket Shield was introduced in 1906, originally competed for on a challenge basis. But it was not until 1921-22 that the tournament was contested over a round-robin format by all New Zealand first-class teams.CLICK HERE FOR PLUNKET SHIELD SCHEDULE”The Plunket Shield was first awarded in 1906, by the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Plunket, and was given to Canterbury as the association with the best record that season,” NZC statistician Francis Payne said in a release. “The 1921-22 summer was the start of the men’s domestic first-class competition as we know it, with the Plunket Shield competed for on a seasonal basis featuring four of today’s six major associations, with Central Districts (1950-51) and Northern Districts (1956-57) later additions.”The competition was suspended for five seasons during World War II (1939-1945), thus making the 2025-26 its centenary season. Central Districts play Auckland, Wellington take on Otago, and Canterbury face defending champions Northern Districts in the opening round this season.Wellington fast bowler Michael Snedden has a very strong connection with the history of Plunket Shield as he is a fourth-generation first-class player. His father Martin, grandfather Warwick and great-grandfather Nessie have all played in the past, with Nessie playing the inaugural season in 1921-22.”It’s been said before and I agree, our domestic competitions are the equal of any others in the world, and the Plunket Shield is the jewel in that crown,” NZC CEO Scott Weenink said. “The basis for the Black Caps side that won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship and achieved that wonderful piece of history in India last year is the Plunket Shield. It continues to produce international-ready Black Caps and demonstrate its relevance, more than 100 years on from when it began”.As part of the centenary celebrations, NZC has designed a special logo and will unveil an all-time Plunket Shield XI.
India will eye a series win and may not want to tinker much with their XI after a close match
Sidharth Monga02-Dec-2025
India came within a couple of connected full tosses of possibly losing the first ODI•AFP/Getty Images
Big picture – Raipur’s second ODI everThere is a reason why ODIs are a format after India’s heart. Why, at a time when ODIs fight for relevance outside the World Cup, do Indians still sell out stadiums to watch their team in action? It doesn’t demand as much devotion as Tests do, but still provides enough time and certainty for their heroes to showcase their skill and fitness. And when two of the greatest of all time, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, find the form they did during the first ODI between against South Africa, it’s all the more reason for a three-match series to be frenzied.While ODIs are less reliant on luck than T20Is, the first ODI was also an example of how much heavy lifting the side losing the toss has to do. Despite all the pedigree they have, India came within a couple of connected full tosses of possibly losing to a side that has been chopping and changing, and has played 37 players in this year alone.Ranchi was India’s experience and skill coming up against the conditions and the incredible hitting depth in the South Africa line-up. You’d expect the same for the rest of the series if India keep losing tosses – they have now lost 19 in a row – but the only ODI Raipur has ever hosted was a bit of a dream for seam bowlers, who bowled New Zealand out for 108 in early 2023.Related
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It happened to be the match immediately after one that mirrored this series’ Ranchi ODI. Asked to bat first back then, India rode on Shubman Gill’s double-century to post 349 for 8 – exactly what India got against South Africa in Ranchi – and had New Zealand reeling at 131 for 6, but the lower order gave India a scare once the dew came in, getting to within 12 runs of the score.This time, you’d hope Raipur gives us a closer contest than the Ranchi thriller. Not least because if India are on the dealing end of a one-sided game, the series will then have to feature a dead-rubber in Visakhapatnam.Form guideIndia: WWLLW South Africa: LLWLLIn the spotlight: Harshit Rana and Nandre BurgerIndia had only a brief window of movement in Ranchi before the dew turned bowling into a nightmare. But Harshit Rana took two wickets in that small window to put India ahead. He has now shown that not only can he be effective in hitting the pitch hard with the old ball, but also with the new ball. Rana’s next challenge might be taking the new ball in the afternoon, when it tends to do little.Unlucky to not be a regular part of the Test set-up just yet, Nandre Burger took on that challenge in the afternoon in Ranchi, and came out with credit. He bowled at consistent high pace, and found a way to challenge the batters. If Burger can find a way to do even better, he will be a theme in the rest of the series.Team news: Bavuma, Maharaj should be backIndia will not want to be fickle with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Washington Sundar at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. Now that they have started the series with them there, one match against a soft ball shouldn’t be enough to push the two players out.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad/Rishabh Pant, 5 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Prasidh KrishnaTemba Bavuma should be back after resting in the first ODI•ICC/Getty Images
South Africa rested regular captain Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj for the first ODI, but they were both quite active. Bavuma spoke to the players during drinks breaks, and Maharaj served as a substitute fielder for a while. So they should come right back in. Maharaj is an easier swap for Prenelan Subrayen, while Bavuma should replace one out of Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton, both of whom scored ducks in Ranchi.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Quinton de Kock/Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Matthew Breetzke, 5 Tony de Zorzi, 6 Dewald Brevis, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Ottneil BaartmanPitch and conditionsThe India vs New Zealand match from 2023 remains Raipur’s only day-night List A game, so there isn’t much history to go by. But the endeavour generally is to not produce a pitch too loaded in favour of the bowlers. So that 108 all out of nearly three years ago will likely be an aberration more than the trend. The weather promises to be pleasant for cricket, with temperatures not likely to go higher than 27 degrees celcius or lower than 14.Stats and trivia Rohit Sharma now holds the record for most ODI sixes: 352. The 681 runs scored in Ranchi was the highest aggregate for an India-South Africa contest.
The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2025 will be held from November 27 to December 23. Now in its sixth edition, the tournament will take place across three venues – Colombo, Kandy and Dambulla.This will be the fourth time in six years that the LPL is scheduled for the November-December window rather than its preferred July-August slot. The last two seasons took place during July and August, however this year, with the 2026 T20 World Cup set to begin in February, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) felt the later window better suited their needs.”The idea to conduct the LPL during this time frame is aimed at aligning the tournament with the ICC men’s T20 World Cup 2026,” LPL tournament director Samantha Dodanwela said.ESPNcricinfo also learnt that talks are underway to incorporate a sixth team into the tournament. The first five editions saw five teams representing Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Dambulla and Jaffna compete.”Potential owners for a sixth team are currently being vetted,” Dodanwela confirmed.The inclusion of a sixth team has long been discussed, though SLC’s cautious approach to introducing new ownership might be understandable. The LPL has struggled with long-term franchise ownership over the years.Earlier this year, Jaffna Kings – formerly the longest-standing franchise, having joined in the tournament’s second edition – and Colombo Strikers were terminated by SLC for “failure to uphold contractual obligations.” As a result, the LPL currently has no franchise owners with a history stretching back beyond 2024. New owners for both the Jaffna and Colombo teams are yet to be announced.Dodanwela also elaborated on SLC’s desire to curate more batting-friendly surfaces, with a view to better prepare players for the kind of wickets they are likely to play on during the T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.”We were quite happy with the wickets during the last edition, particularly in Dambulla and Kandy,” Dodanwela noted. “We saw lots of high scores and even some centuries during that portion of the tournament. It was only in Colombo where batting was a little harder.”Backing up Dodanwela’s assessment is the fact that the pitches at the R Premadasa Stadium are currently in the process of being relaid. Several national players, such as Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva, also recently voiced the need for more batting-friendly surfaces.