Amid all the noise that swirled around him, he produced a 32nd ODI hundred that was as clinical as it was exhilarating

Sidharth Monga09-Feb-20252:49

Manjrekar: ‘Incredible how easily Rohit does it’

Arguably the best cricket song ever written, this is a poignant look at the imminent end of one’s life as possibly one’s life innings. Roy Harper, the singer and writer of the song, apparently riffed on a line he heard from the commentator John Arlott on the radio about an old cricketer approaching retirement. The more prosaic meaning being you never know when an old cricketer has been dismissed for the last time.Related

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Rohit Sharma is not “old”, but in elite sport, with the amount of batting talent breathing down your neck in a batting-rich country like India, and you volunteer to sit out an international match at the age of 37 years and eight months, you never really know.You begin to wonder whether it is the format and the conditions and the bowling, or if the eye and reactions are going. You begin to wonder if the batter is doubting himself, because which elite cricketer refuses to back themselves when they are the captain of the national side?Then Rohit gets out for 2 in his first ODI in six months, and you forget what a colossal run he has been on in this format, going on for close to three years. In the six months between his last ODI series and this one, Rohit led India to their first home Test series defeat in 12 years – which turned into their first-ever home whitewash – and looked like he couldn’t buy a Test run on a tour where India’s only win came when he hadn’t yet joined the squad. He had already retired from T20Is by then.Now there are reports that the selectors have asked him what his future plans are. It could be time for a reset when the Champions Trophy concludes next month, and time to start planning for the 2027 World Cup, which will take place when Rohit is 39. Then he gets out for 2. You never know whether he’s gone.The shot that brought about Rohit’s downfall in Nagpur brought him his first six in Cuttack•BCCISix overs into India’s chase at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, a floodlight tower goes off. It is unsafe to carry on playing, but Rohit just doesn’t feel like going off. He seems to be asking if the fielding side wants to continue even with that one tower off. The umpires can’t let that happen because they are responsible for the safety of the players.Rohit has been off to a good start, and seems to be wary of the fickleness of the cricketing gods. Batters tend to be. India didn’t train on the eve of the T20 World Cup final that they won in Barbados last year, but Rohit made sure India got the same dressing room they had occupied when they had played and won at Kensington Oval earlier in the tournament.So much can go wrong, and so much is out of your control when you bat, that batters tend to become obsessive. They try to control what they can’t in ways that seem illogical from the outside.It must be a long long time since Rohit has felt this good on a cricket field so it is natural he doesn’t want anything to go wrong. The 29 off 18 that he’s scored so far bring to mind Rohit’s colossal ODI achievements. He has already hit three sixes and gone past Chris Gayle’s 331. He is now behind only Shahid Afridi’s 351. The first of these three sixes is a repeat of the shot that got him out in Nagpur, only executed better this time. The first sign that he’s not yet gone.Rohit has now hit a whopping 94 sixes in 39 innings since his first game as full-time ODI captain in February 2022, and deciding India needed to play in a certain way. The next-highest six-hitter over this period has hit 68 in 55 innings. Rohit is one of only five batters to have scored over 1000 runs in this period at a 50-plus average and 100-plus strike rate. In the 40 matches that Rohit has played as full-time captain, openers have averaged 36.76 and struck at 99.34. Rohit has gone at 50.91 and 118.95.This run features the 2023 ODI World Cup, during which he frequently killed games off in the first powerplay. The same trend followed in the T20I World Cup, in crucial games against Australia and England. In batting in this manner, however, Rohit also went through 38 ODI innings with just two centuries.The word ‘selfless’ had become as much of a millstone around Rohit’s neck as ‘talented’ had earlier in his career•Associated PressLike “talented” early in his career, “selfless” has become a millstone around Rohit’s neck in his time as captain. It started with Rohit inverting his own game to lead a philosophy change in India’s limited-overs batting. Then the word was thrown around trivially, if he even did so much as attend a press conference. The only logical progression was for it to become a pejorative on social media.However, in setting the tone, in reconditioning India’s approach to risk-taking, Rohit has indeed been selfless. From the time that Rohit started to open regularly in 2013 to this floodlight failure, he has been scoring an ODI hundred every five innings. He has used a trusted formula: get yourself in nice and slow and then explode in the second half of the innings. With his numbers, it was tough to argue against his methods, but he felt he needed to lead from the front if there was to be a change in the way India batted.So since February 2022, Rohit has been front-loading without worrying about landmarks and hundreds. His starts have frequently set the base up for monstrous hitting when batting first, and have taken the pressure off other batters in chases.However, in the last ODI series Rohit played, in Sri Lanka back in August 2024, India failed to win a single game even though he had scored 58 off 47, 64 off 44, and 35 off 20, and left them needing 151 in 35.4 overs with eight wickets in hand, 144 in 36.3 with nine in hand, and 196 in 42.5 with eight in hand.There are two reasons, then, for Rohit to tone down his selflessness somewhat in this chase in Cuttack. He needs a big score to calm the voices around him and possibly his own too, and he needs to see the chase through when two quick wickets go down, bringing in a dynamic, young lower middle order prone to the odd collapse. He does this without letting up on the strike-rate. The hitting is pristine. Anything overpitched goes flying. Sometimes he manipulates the length by charging the quicks.This is no hail mary of a desperate batter. This is as clinical as an ODI century at a strike-rate of 132.22 gets. There is a cold deliberation to the way he picks the balls he wants to hit and the ones he wants to tap for singles. He doesn’t show what it means to him personally. He doesn’t even take off his helmet at reaching the century, his first in international cricket since March 2024. In this year he has led India to their first World Cup in 13 years, and also to an unceremonious end to their home Test run. No question is asked about his emotions at the post-match presentation.Rohit gets India close but doesn’t quite take them all the way to the win, which India get to after a brief stumble. In scoring the century, though, Rohit has served a reminder of his ODI form to anyone who needed it. Perhaps to himself too. A reminder that he is not yet gone. Not unless he himself decides to go.

Kusal Perera, with just four appearances, gets a mention

Danyal Rasool27-May-2025Sahibzada Farhan (Islamabad United)449 runs, 37.41 average, 152.20 strike rate, one hundred, three fifties
Coming off a prolific domestic season, Sahibzada Farhan carried his form into the PSL. A scintillating 52-ball 106 in the second game forewarned of his ascent into one of the league’s elite openers, and he continued that hot streak right through the competition. Three further half-centuries made him the highest run-scorer of the tournament, and gave United devastating power up top.Fakhar Zaman (Lahore Qalandars)439 runs, 33.76 average, 152.96 strike rate, four fifties
Injuries, age, discontent, talk of retirement plagued his arrival into the tournament. Vintage Fakhar Zaman came out the other end. Second-highest run-getter in the tournament, his fire-starting was absolutely essential to Qalandars’ triumph (and a reminder to Pakistan of his evergreen value).Related

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Kusal Perera (wk) (Lahore Qalandars)170 runs, 56.66 average, 173.46 strike rate, two fifties
That he makes this list after playing just four games is testament to the outsized impact Kusal Perera had on Qalandars’ title charge. Drafted in as a replacement when the league resumed after a brief suspension, the Sri Lankan played four must-win matches, contributing valuable high-impact runs in each of them. It culminated in a 35-ball 61 in the second qualifier, followed by an unbeaten 31-ball 62 in the final, where he was awarded the Player of the Match as Qalandars lifted the trophy.Hasan Nawaz (Quetta Gladiators)399 runs, 57.00 average, 162.19 strike rate, one hundred, three fifties
Hasan Nawaz was boom or bust in his debut international series against New Zealand, one century complemented by just one run in the other four innings. He found frightening consistency in the second half of the PSL with Gladiators, though, smashing 313 runs in his final five games for just two dismissals. It included an unbeaten 45-ball 100 against United, a last-ball six to ace a chase against Multan Sultans, and a 43-ball 76 in the final.Shadab Khan made an impact with bat and ball•PCBShadab Khan (Islamabad United)173 runs, 24.71 batting average, 155.85 strike rate, 14 wickets, 16.57 bowling average, 7.9 econ
It was an unspectacular, low-profile but high-performance season for the United captain. Shadab Khan will be disappointed with his team tailing off after an electric start but happy that he seems to be returning to more solid form with the ball.Sikandar Raza (Lahore Qalandars)254 runs, 42.33 batting average, 169.33 strike rate, 10 wickets, 17.2 bowling average, 7.75 econ
Another one of Qalandars’ MVPs, Sikandar Raza’s commitment to the campaign was illustrated best by his journey to the final. But he made an all-round impact through the season, in important wins against United, in games against Sultans and, of course, most memorably in the final.Jason Holder (Islamabad United)15 wickets, economy rate 9.36, two four-wicket hauls, 69 runs, batting average 34.50, strike rate 164.28
Perhaps things would have been different for United if Jason Holder had been available for the playoffs, because he was unstoppable for the first two-thirds of the tournament. His ability to take wickets, particularly through the middle and later stages of an innings, proved handy for the defending champions time and again, and he was far and away the leading wicket-taker until the league was suspended.Faheem Ashraf was a late pick in the draft, but showed his worth for Quetta Gladiators•PCBFaheem Ashraf (Quetta Gladiators)17 wickets, economy rate 11.19, one four-wicket haul, one five-wicket haul, 163 runs, strike rate 155.23
Faheem Ashraf’s star appeared to be fading before this tournament, but his late pick at the draft by Gladiators proved a masterstroke. While extremely expensive, his effect on the side was measured in moments, and his knack of taking wickets in clumps put him close to the top of the wickets charts; only Shaheen Shah Afridi took more. Towards the tail-end of the tournament, he’d found his hitting range too, a couple of blistering cameos helping propel Gladiators to the final, where another high-impact knock took them to within touching distance of glory.Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt, Lahore Qalandars)19 wickets, 16.42 average, 7.76 econ
Clutch much? Ten of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 19 season-topping wickets came in the last four games, including breathtaking opening spells back-to-back in the second qualifier and then the final. A third PSL triumph as captain and one knockout retort to the critics and sceptics.Abrar Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators)17 wickets, 19.23 average, 7.34 econ
The league’s best spinner by some distance and one of only two specialist spinners in the top ten wicket-takers. This was arguably the most assured version of Abrar Ahmed we’ve seen. Difficult to get away, never easily read, always a wicket-taking threat.Luke Wood (Peshawar Zalmi)11 wickets, average 18.90, economy rate 7.13
In a phenomenally high-scoring season, Zalmi’s Luke Wood found a way to keep batters on a leash. In all phases of the innings, his canny variations backed up by a truly quick stock delivery, made him devilishly hard to put away. No bowler in the league was more economical, and he often had little support from the other end. In a must-win game against Karachi Kings, Zalmi conceded 237; Wood’s figures read 4-0-19-2.

PBKS crumbled under pressure, undone by swing and seam early in their innings but their eyes are firmly set on redemption in Qualifier 2

Shashank Kishore30-May-20253:05

Moody: The occasion muddled PBKS’ thinking

Punjab Kings had built up their playoffs aspirations all season. They had dreamt of this moment. On podcasts, at press conferences and over Instagram stories with inspiring music. Their batting line-up had been among the most dominant, and their openers had got stuck into bowling attacks, unperturbed by reputation.To be in this position with the arc lights on them on home territory was a dream scenario. But a lost toss against a gun bowling attack on a surface with swing, devilish seam and spongy bounce wasn’t the cocktail they’d hoped for.In the dugout, James Hopes, their bowling coach, had seen enough from the surface six balls into the game that he quietly chuckled to himself wondering why Royal Challengers Bengaluru hadn’t brought on Josh Hazlewood in the second over right away. This was going to be a challenge unlike any other, perhaps closest to the one they faced against Kolkata Knight Riders at the same venue in the league stage.Related

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That night, they had a fiery Marco Jansen and the crafty Yuzvendra Chahal in their ranks to help pull off the lowest-successful defence in IPL history. Neither was available here; Jansen was away preparing for the World Test Championship final and Chahal was nursing an injury he hadn’t sufficiently recovered from. But before they could worry about their bowling resources, there was a simple matter of putting up runs.Priyansh Arya is instinctive mostly. Fast hands and picking lengths early are his bread and butter. But three balls into the second over, he was neither able to get to the pitch nor hit it over and the sticky surface had its first victim. At slip, Virat Kohli urged every bowler to keep hitting the deck hard. Behind the stumps, Jitesh Sharma struggled to find his footing, leaving skid marks at both ends as he wrestled with the extra bounce.For PBKS, there was nothing ‘homely’ about the surface, yet they kept going for their shots. Twice Prabhsimran Singh swung as he charged and tried to negate Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s swing. But the third time, he was completely off balance trying to slog and nicked behind to Jitesh as Bhuvneshwar shortened his length.Those two wickets had been lost even before Hazlewood came on. As Shreyas Iyer took strike, it’s unlikely his match-ups against Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar would’ve been on his mind. Rajat Patidar sent short fine to the boundary, but with midwicket and mid-on in, Iyer looked to hit over the infield, only to be dismissed by an ill-judged slog. By then, there was already a sense of inevitability.2:29

Aaron: PBKS need to assess conditions and game situations

PBKS didn’t buckle down still. Josh Inglis was out to the pull again, off Hazlewood, trying to force the pace in front of square. But at 38 for 4 their hopes were fast fading. “We were a bit befuddled, to be honest, in terms of reading the wicket,” Iyer said after the match, the wounds from the loss still raw. “A lot of wickets we lost [were kind of] random. So, yeah, there’s a lot to go back and study on.”The only semblance of pressure PBKS seemed to shift back on the bowlers was when Marcus Stoinis muscled a few away. But with him trying to literally slog every ball out of the ground, he was skating on thin ice. He was quietly taken out by a Suyash Sharma googly that proved to be deadly accurate. He’d picked up a third wicket, to go with the earlier strikes of Shashank Singh and Impact Player Musheer Khan, both out to the wrong’un – one slogging, and the other sweeping.Hopes echoed Iyer’s call for soul-searching, while also warning against the pitfalls of backing down at a new venue on a new pitch come Qualifier 2. “The worst thing our batsmen can do now is blink and start jumping at shadows and second-guessing themselves,” Hopes said. “We know historically it’s a very good pitch [in Ahmedabad].

“We were a bit befuddled, to be honest, in terms of reading the wicket.”Shreyas Iyer after PBKS’ loss

“We know we’re going to have to go quite hard and score quite quickly. It’s not back to the drawing board by any means. We worked two-and-a-half months to get into a position where we get a second opportunity, and we’re going to have to use our second opportunity now.”For a brief passage in the second innings, with Kyle Jamieson hooping the ball around, you couldn’t quite tell which team was under the pump. Kohli had just been taken out in true Test match style, of the kind that troubled him repeatedly in Australia. Mayank Agarwal kept playing for the lifter and was repeatedly squared up. At the other end, Phil Salt hadn’t yet come to grips with the skid off the pitch, even off someone like Azmatullah Omarzai, who is strictly in the medium-pace bracket.The crowd had found its voice, and it felt like the final session of a Test with two new ball bowlers on fire. At that very moment, you couldn’t help but wonder what could’ve been had PBKS showed a bit more restraint while they batted, perhaps “drawn the line a little bit earlier than we did” in Hopes’ words. But that passage was all too fleeting, as Salt climbed into the bowling, to wallop his fastest IPL half-century to land the knockout punch.But as Iyer put it, PBKS “had lost the battle but not the war” as a second chance beckons come Sunday.

Watching the two India greats in the latter stages of their career, pushing themselves to the 2027 World Cup, is full of feels

Alagappan Muthu29-Nov-20257:34

Rahul: ‘Senior players make dressing room feel more confident’

Virat Kohli’s eyes were speaking in tongues. He was trying to digest being run out. This was back in 2014, a time when he was converting his 10s into 100s. On that roasting hot November day in Kolkata, he wouldn’t get to.Rohit Sharma must have felt really, really bad. It was partly his fault. So he did the only thing he could. Score one hundred for himself and another for his bestie. When he went back to the dressing room, 264 not out, Kohli’s laser eyes had turned into one of the come-hither variety.He had seen how much that innings meant to Rohit when he had gone down on his knees in the middle of Eden Gardens, overcome with emotion, shirt drenched in sweat, head slanted back, eyes closed, hand clinging to the bat that helped him make history which is part of Indian cricket folklore.Related

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Kohli pulled Rohit into a big bear hug the moment they were back within touching distance.A moment in time.The PDA went the other way in 2022 when India burst out into the crisp Melbourne air. Ninety thousand people were losing their heads. They wanted to make a beeline for the man who had taken complete ownership of the MCG. But Kohli is precious cargo. Only a few have access. Rohit got to him first. And jumped on him.A moment in time.”Virat bhai!” “Virat sir!” “Rohit bhaiyya!” “Hitman!” Ranchi, this week, has delighted in welcoming them. It was a thrill to be so close. A memory to take home. A wave. A smile. A sumptuous straight drive. A glorious pull shot.A moment in time.There have been so many over the last 18 years. Bedlam in Hobart. Breakthrough in Cardiff, Blitzkrieg in Jaipur. The catalogue only ever expanded, and so did its uses.Mums and Dads gained a foolproof bargaining tool. Kohli and Rohit’s screen time for being good boys and girls. Cricket matches turned into date nights. Previously unexplored areas of pop culture were infiltrated. Shared fandom became the basis of new friendships and sometimes a strain in established ones, particularly because one succeeded the other as captain, triggering some of the most intense debates about who made the bigger impact on Indian cricket.Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have a chat•ICC/Getty ImagesAt the JSCA cricket stadium on Friday, there was a glimpse of meticulous Kohli. Scuffing up a part of the pitch, short of a length, and asking for balls to be aimed there so he could proceed to flat bat them away. And serene Rohit. Batting like he used to in ODIs, careful at first and expansive at the end. There was cheeky Kohli. Sticking his hands – still holding the bat – onto his helmet after he got beaten, playing to the jeers from his team-mates. And big brother Rohit. Standing by Yashasvi Jaiswal and talking to the young opener until long after it was dark.Eighteen years and endless memories condensed into little moments in time that have now started to feel fleeting. Rohit is 38. Kohli is 37. They only play one format of cricket and their stature is doing a lot of the work in keeping them in the conversation about the 2027 ODI World Cup. They haven’t said it out loud. They’re probably trying not to think about it. When Ravi Shastri tried to big them up after their 168-run partnership to beat Australia last month – “two old dogs still had sting in the tail” – Rohit just said “looks like it.”Sachin Tendulkar had his fairytale ending in 2011 because by that time, the team had developed other pillars to lean on. MS Dhoni. Yuvraj Singh. Zaheer Khan. This India and their two legends might enjoy that same leg up in two years, which is where these three ODIs against South Africa could help. They can arm the probables like Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy and even the wild cards like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad with the experience they’ll need under ICC tournament pressure.To create one final moment in time.

He’s had a horror run with injuries, but Kyle Jamieson’s return in the Champions Trophy, the PSL and IPL this year has been encouraging

Alex Malcolm26-Sep-2025In between changing nappies and cuddling his newborn son Archie, Kyle Jamieson has had some time to watch cricket as a fan. The New Zealand fast bowler hasn’t played since the IPL 2025 final in June, but for the first time in a while, his absence – from New Zealand’s tour of Zimbabwe in July-August – wasn’t through injury.Like any new dad, he has loved the time at home, but equally, the chance to return to cricket next week against Australia at Mount Maunganui has him champing at the bit. And having had plenty of time to watch Australia’s recent T20I series against West Indies and South Africa, he’s excited for the contest.”They [Australia] are going pretty hard, and it’s been a really entertaining watch as a fan of the game,” Jamieson said. “In a way, it’ll be cool to see it up close, how they’re going about things. And in the same way, it’s a nice little challenge for us to go about forming a plan to maybe try and defuse some of those fireworks.”Related

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Jamieson, 30, might feel like the new kid at school within his own group as well. He last played for New Zealand in the Champions Trophy in February. Since then, long-time coach Gary Stead has resigned and new coach Rob Walter has come in.The team made a winning start in Zimbabwe, claiming the T20I tri-series involving South Africa and Zimbabwe. The upcoming Australia series kickstarts a massive summer of white-ball cricket for New Zealand, with series against England and West Indies to follow ahead of the T20 World Cup. Jamieson is excited to see what Walter has planned for a group that will change over the course of the summer, given the number of players who will return from injury at various stages.”Having not gone on that tour of Zimbabwe, I’m yet to immerse myself in that new kind of coaching group and see what that direction looks like,” Jamieson said. “Starting next week, we’ve got a huge amount of white-ball cricket back-to-back. So it’ll be the chance, I think, for everyone to kind of sit down and kind of get a read on Rob’s vision, and kind of where he wants to take the group. And we’ll be getting some bodies back as well, and that will certainly help to build towards that T20 World Cup.”There will be a new vision for the New Zealand men’s team with Rob Walter taking over as head coach•ICC/Getty ImagesJamieson’s focus is purely on white-ball cricket at the moment. He has endured a frustrating few years since initially having back surgery to mitigate against recurring stress fractures.Out of all the success stories that New Zealand-based surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten have had repairing fast bowlers’ backs with screws and titanium cables – which include Shane Bond, Matt Henry, Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer – Jamieson is the rarest of cases so far, with the fracture reopening at one of the screws from 2024. “They hadn’t really seen that before or at all, so they were pretty stumped,” Jamieson said.It has led to a slow rebuild. The success of his return in the Champions Trophy, the PSL and IPL this year has been encouraging. The next step is first-class cricket, but it is not a process he wants to rush.”The red-ball stuff is the next piece of the puzzle,” Jamieson said. “How do we put that into the calendar? How do we sort of dip the toes into that, as opposed to jumping in the deep end? So we’ve had a few conversations with different people around what that may look like.

“I watch someone like Josh Hazlewood bowl and feel like for the most part, he keeps it pretty simple. He may speak a little bit differently about that, but I sort of take a lot of inspiration around what he does and the simplicity, but how he just does it so well”

“But at the moment, it’s very much this next month with a white-ball focus, and then as we hit November, we’ll see where I’m at physically and what we think is the right plan to not just try and get back to red-ball cricket now, but I guess trying to continue to play it over the next however many years.”In the meantime, Jamieson has locked in on becoming the best short-form bowler he can be. His return to the IPL with Punjab Kings was an eye-opening experience after four years away, with the Impact Player rule changing the way T20 batters attack bowlers now.”Just in general, I absolutely loved being back there,” Jamieson said. “I hadn’t been [at the IPL] for four years, and a very different situation to when I went last time for a whole lot of reasons. I just loved being back in that arena and just watching all the world’s best go about it. And I felt like I learned a heck of a lot, even only in the two weeks that I was there.”With that Impact Player, I think teams just come harder. Guys just keep coming. So you’ve got to have a few tools. But you’ve got to, I think, make peace with the fact that what your figures may have looked like three, four or five years ago, is probably not really that relevant to what they’re going to look like now.”Jamieson last played competitive cricket in the IPL•BCCIAustralia’s batting has followed a Sunrisers Hyderabad-type blueprint in some ways, with connections through Pat Cummins, Travis Head and former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who is SRH coach as well as Australia bowling coach. Jamieson is taking inspiration from another man in Australia’s camp on how to bowl in modern T20 cricket without trying too many tricks.”Something I got stuck on early in my T20 career was just trying to do everything and doing none of it really that well,” Jamieson said. “So I just stick to my strength. I watch someone like Josh Hazlewood bowl, and feel like for the most part, he keeps it pretty simple. He may speak a little bit differently about that, but I sort of take a lot of inspiration around what he does and the simplicity, but how he just does it so well. And there’s probably a bit of a gold nugget in that you can probably get too carried away.”Just trying to maximise the new ball, a little bit of swing and movement, and if the surface has a little bit of bounce, you try and make the most of that. But it’s still hard to hit from the top of the stumps. And if you just can do that with good energy on the ball, it can be really, really effective.”

While England, Australia and South Africa have already qualified for the knockouts, India, NZ, SL and Pakistan are fighting to join them there

Sampath Bandarupalli20-Oct-2025India – Matches 5, Wins 2, Points 4, NRR 0.526If India beat New Zealand on Thursday, they will make the semi-finals. If they lose to New Zealand, India have to hope New Zealand lose to England before they beat Bangladesh on Sunday.A washout against New Zealand can also be a good result for India, even if they lose to Bangladesh (and New Zealand lose to England), unless one of Sri Lanka and Pakistan don’t end up with six points.If both of India’s games in Navi Mumbai get washed out, they will qualify for the semi-finals, but only if England beat New Zealand (or if that game also gets washed out). If one of Sri Lanka and Pakistan are tied on six points with India in the aforementioned scenario, India will progress with a better net run-rate.New Zealand – Matches 5, Wins 1, Points 4, NRR -0.245New Zealand’s next match against India will be an all-or-nothing game for them, and a loss will end their World Cup campaign. If New Zealand win their next two games, they will make the semi-finals.If New Zealand beat India but lose to England, they will have to hope Bangladesh beat India. Sri Lanka can also finish with six points if they beat Pakistan, while Pakistan can finish on six if they beat South Africa and Sri Lanka. But New Zealand have a better net run-rate right now.New Zealand will make the semi-finals irrespective of other results if they beat India and their match against England gets washed out. A washout against India will be good for New Zealand only if they defeat England, and India don’t bag two points against Bangladesh. New Zealand can progress to the semi-finals if both their remaining games are washed out, but only if none of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan get to six points.Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka are alive in the World Cup but only just•AFP/Getty ImagesSri Lanka – Matches 6, Wins 1, Points 4, NRR -1.035To reach the semi-finals, Sri Lanka have to beat Pakistan and hope India lose both their remaining games. They will also need England to beat New Zealand on the last day of the league stage.Sri Lanka will be tied on six points with New Zealand in the above scenario, but will be behind on net run-rate if they don’t win big against Pakistan.Pakistan – Matches 5, Wins 0, Points 2, NRR -1.887Despite having no wins so far, Pakistan are still in the race for the semi-finals. They will have to win their last two games, against South Africa and Sri Lanka, by margins that will take their net run-rate ahead of New Zealand’s, and hope India lose both their remaining games. Pakistan will also need England to beat New Zealand.

And together, they showed their team now turns up when the pressure’s on

Firdose Moonda29-Oct-20258:30

‘This is the knock Wovlaardt will be remembered for’

Laura Wolvaardt looked like she was forcing a smile as she raised her bat to her first World Cup century, and 10th overall in ODIs. It may have been because, at 200 for 5 in the 40th over, there was still work to be done, but it’s more likely because that’s just who she is. Focused. Clinical. As she says, someone who “likes my statistics and overthinks about cricket”, but needs to “enjoy the good moments a bit more.” Others would say someone who is ice cold.Marizanne Kapp has played more ODIs for South Africa than anyone else and in five World Cups but her tears still flow at the national anthem like she is hearing it for the first time. In fact, she even cried two days before this match because she had “one of the worst net sessions in the last 10 years of my career.” Take that same softie and put a ball in her hand and something changes. She steams in, swings it, smashes stumps. Pure fire.Together they were the perfect combination as South Africa simmered and boiled before they froze England on their way to their first World Cup final. The temperatures have been a talking point throughout this World Cup and South Africa’s semi-final one was perfect.Forget everything that came before, because South Africa did. Semi-final losses in 2017 and 2022 to the same team they would play today? Irrelevant. Most of the players from those matches are not here, there’s a different coaching set-up, things have changed. Sixty-nine all out just 26 days ago, against the same opponents and on the same ground? Also irrelevant. Blow-outs happen and another happened just four days ago against Australia. As the saying goes, it’s not how you start… A bilateral record of 36 losses in 47 previous meetings with England including only one win in their last eight? The most irrelevant of all because South Africa are now a team that can turn up when the pressure’s on.They have reached their third successive women’s final and fifth successive final across all formats and genders (T20 World Cup finals for both men and women in 2024, Under-19 Women’s World Cup final and World Test Championship final in 2025), and they’ve managed it because their big players step up in big moments. No bigger than Wolvaardt, their leading ODI run-scorer and, and Kapp, the world’s leading seam-bowling allrounder.It’s fair to say neither was dominating the World Cup conversation before this match. Though Wolvaardt had scored three crucial half-centuries in the group stage, she hadn’t grabbed the headlines like finisher Nadine de Klerk. This year, she had been overshadowed by her opening partner Tazmin Brits, who had scored five hundreds and had been, in Wolvaardt’s words, “carrying me”.Two extremes come together to achieve just the right temperature for a semi-final•ICC via Getty ImagesBrits has been all or nothing at this tournament, and today she tried to find the middle ground. She also quickly realised that Wolvaardt was having the better day. “I didn’t want to block up Wolfie, because she was seeing the ball really nicely,” Brits said afterwards, explaining the out-of-character reverse sweep she played that resulted in her being bowled by Sophie Ecclestone. “But I know if Wolf and I come off, that’s what sets the team up for 280.”Wolvaardt was batting breezily, with her first fifty coming off 52 balls, but when Brits was dismissed and then South Africa lost three wickets for three runs, she had to be more cautious. Her next fifty took 63 balls and it seemed she was going too slowly, but she had a plan. “The main goal was to get to 40 overs,” Wolvaardt said. “Once we got to 40, I felt my job was done for the day.”By then, she also had a hundred, the only one by a captain in a World Cup knockout game. She decided she’d set things up for the finishers Chloe Tryon and de Klerk, and “just try and whack, almost like a free hit.”The whacking brought her another 69 runs in 28 balls, including four sixes. She had only hit 13 in her ODI career up to then. Her plundering of runs over the on side showed off a whole new side to her game: not just leg-side play for the owner of the world’s most drooled-over cover drive, but power-hitting leg-side play. She took down Linsey Smith, South Africa’s nemesis from 69 all out, in an over that cost 20 in a full-circle moment for her team.Wolvaardt is now the leading run-scorer at this World Cup, and this innings could be as defining for her as Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171* against Australia in Derby was in 2017. It is career-defining whatever happens in the final, but it will be a once-in-a-generation-feat if it ends up being the innings that set South Africa up for the trophy.Ultimately, that is what they want to gift players like Kapp who, though she hasn’t said it, is probably playing her last ODI World Cup. Before this tournament, Kapp told ESPNcricinfo that she didn’t think her career would be complete without a major trophy. “I almost feel like it doesn’t matter what you have achieved over your career, if you don’t have a World Cup, it’s just not the same,” she said before leaving for the tournament in September. “I’m scared that I might retire the day I win a World Cup. It would just be absolutely amazing.”The off-side strokeplay was gorgeous as always, but Wolvaardt showed she could go the other way too•ICC/Getty ImagesAnd she has taken them to the brink. Everyone will talk about Kapp’s figures of 5 for 20 and especially her opening over, and they should. The delivery that dismissed Amy Jones was a beauty. It nipped back in, found the bat-pad gap, and took out off and middle stumps. Kapp unleashed a near-vein-bursting celebration close to the pitch, where rage combined with unadulterated joy, before she composed herself to dismiss Heather Knight three balls later. That was the one that moved away, which Knight didn’t need to play at but inside-edged onto her stumps. South Africa had all but won the game then, and that may not even have been the most important hand Kapp played.Without her 33-ball 42, South Africa’s innings may not have had an injection of impetus at just the right moment. And who knows what might have happened had she not returned for a second spell and got rid of Nat Sciver-Brunt just as the England captain was starting to cause concern. Kapp’s last three incisions came in the space of seven balls, all caught behind. She should have had another but Sinalo Jafta could not hold onto a chance, diving to her right. In that spell, rather than movement, Kapp relied on discipline, just landing the ball from where it could kiss the edge, and ended up bagging her career-best figures when the team needed it most. That’s what makes this special for her.”To be honest, I probably haven’t had the best World Cup personally. So coming into this game, I knew I was due a good performance,” she said. “In past semi-finals I probably haven’t been at my best either, and have not contributed the way I should have. So I’m really happy that tonight I could make a difference in the result. It’s just the love of the sport. That’s why we play, because we just love cricket so much. And I absolutely love playing for South Africa.”That’s why Kapp has always carried the fire, and she may be teaching someone like Wolvaardt to thaw a little.A broad grin attached itself to the South Africa captain’s face at the end and it almost succeeded in hiding where her mind was already going. “We have experience from the last [T20] World Cup when we had that amazing game in the semi-final [against Australia] and that almost felt like too big of a high. We played our final before the final,” she said. “It will be really important to regroup after this and know we still have a big game against a good opposition.”Then, Wolvaardt caught herself. “I will enjoy tonight.” And Brits reminded her why.”There’s a lot of complications in our country but we made history today. There’s something that’s working.” Something as magical as ice on fire.

Daniel Farke, manager of Leeds United, has been questioned for his side’s performance against Nottingham Forest.

Morgan Gibbs-White produced the perfect response to his England omission by helping Forest to their first Premier League win since the opening day of the season.

Gibbs-White was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers, but reminded the German of his talent with a decisive goal in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Leeds.

The midfielder’s second-half header helped end Forest’s nine-game winless streak in the league as they secured three points for the first time under head coach Sean Dyche.

It was far from pretty as they had to come from behind, Ibrahim Sangare cancelling out Lukas Nmecha’s opener for Leeds.

Elliot Anderson’s late penalty sealed a vital triumph for Forest, who have now taken four points from their last two games and look to be heading in the right direction.

They are just two points behind Leeds, who have lost four out of their last five matches. Following their latest defeat, manager Farke has been called into question.

Farke should have made earlier changes against Forest

Since arriving at Leeds in 2023, Farke has sometimes been questioned for his decisions surrounding substitutes. Often, the German seems to bring new bodies into the game only after the majority of minutes have been played.

Against Nottingham, Leeds made no changes until the 74th minute. This is despite having lost their one-goal advantage, finding themselves 2-1 down and offering little threat to their hosts. Such a decision was noted by commentator Jon Newsome who at the time of United’s substitutions, as per BBC Sport West Yorkshire.

England midfielder Anderson killed the game from the spot in the 90th minute after the lively Hutchinson, introduced from the bench, was fouled by Jack Harrison, a natural wide midfielder who replaced left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson.

In attack, Leeds were bereft of inspiration. They had just four shots before the 70th minute and of the 10 they had across the game, as per SofaScore, only three were on target. Beren Cross of The Athletic commented on the fact that, despite Farke saying he had been in team training for a fortnight, Italian forward Willy Gnonto, who would offer a much-needed creative spark, was not in the squad against Forest.

With an international break ahead of them, Leeds will face a number of tough fixtures as they look for what will be a needed improvement in form. With four defeats within their past five Premier League games, questions may soon be asked of Farke’s future at Elland Road if such a run continues.

Leeds must unleash their "best finisher"

Uneven contest at The Oval as visitors coast home with whopping 30.5 overs to spare

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay18-Aug-2025

Excellent bowling from veteran seamer James Fuller, inexperienced slow left-armer Andrew Neal and pacy 16-year-old Manny Lumsden proved too much for Surrey at the Kia Oval in what became an embarrassingly one-sided nine-wicket Hampshire victory.The Hawks dismissed Surrey for 160 in 46.3 overs before skipper Nick Gubbins anchored a buccaneering chase with 87 not out from 60 balls. Hampshire’s fourth win in five Group A matches, clinched with a massive 30.5 overs to spare, boosts their ambitions of qualification for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup knockout stages.Gubbins was initially joined in an opening stand of 54 with Ali Orr before Fletcha Middleton arrived to hit an unbeaten 35 from 24 balls in an unbroken second wicket stand of 108 in just 9.3 overs.Fast bowler Nathan Barnwell was thrashed for 50 from his three overs – Gubbins twice hoicking him for six in an opening over costing 21 – and left-arm spinner Yousuf Majid’s three overs went for 31 as Gubbins and Middleton accelerated brutally towards the finish line. Gubbins hit three sixes and 13 fours in all, while Middleton’s contribution was two sixes and four fours.Earlier 35-year-old Fuller finished with 4 for 34 after polishing off a Surrey innings that never got going and was in danger of complete implosion at 89 for 6 before keeper-batter Josh Blake and bowlers James Taylor, Barnwell and Majid provided at least some lower order resistance in front of a near-5,000 crowd.Blake was Surrey’s joint top-scorer with 22 alongside South Asian Cricket Academy graduate Nikhil Gorantla, who was Fuller’s first victim when he was excellently caught low down by Neal diving forward at mid-on in the 18th over.That left Surrey 68 for 3 and rookie tyro Lumsden had already made his mark by then, first forcing Rory Burns to miscue a pull to his fourth ball – to be caught and bowled for 20 – and then seeing Adam Thomas chop on to his stumps for 12 in his third over.At 16 years and 288 days, Lumsden bowled with genuine pace in just his second List A appearance and although there were a number of wild deliveries, including an intended bouncer that flew for four wides, he impressed across two spells in his 2 for 46 from 10 overs.Even more impressive was 25-year-old spinner Neal, who played two first-class matches for Leeds-Bradford MCCU in 2019 but only made the first of his previous four List A appearances earlier this month at the start of Hampshire’s One-Day Cup campaign.His 3 for 33 from 10 nicely-controlled overs now gives him nine wickets in the competition and here he numbered the Surrey middle-order of Ben Foakes, Ollie Sykes and Cameron Steel as his scalps. Foakes mishit to long on for 5, Sykes was brilliantly held by a diving Felix Organ at long on for 7 and Steel drove tamely to short extra cover to go for 5.Blake’s 22 was ended by a fatal nibble at Fuller, Taylor offered a few meaty blows before skying Scotland allrounder Brandon McMullen to long-on and Barnwell departed for 15 miscuing high to keeper Ben Mayes.Majid was left 13 not out when No. 11 Alex French fenced Fuller to slip to go for a fifth-ball duck and all that remained was to see how quickly Hampshire’s top order could knock off the runs. Thanks to Gubbins, Orr and Middleton the match was over by 4.10pm.

فاز الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي نهضة بركان المغربي على نظيره ريفرز يونايتد، بهدفين لهدف، في اللقاء الذي جمع بين الفريقين في دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وحل نهضة بركان ضيفًا على ريفرز يونايتد اليوم الجمعة في الجولة الثانية من دور المجموعات ببطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

طالع | يورتشيتش: بيراميدز بطل أبطال القارة.. وهدفنا الفوز على باور ديناموز وصدارة المجموعة

وجاء هدف ريفرز يونايتد في الشوط الأول عن طريق اللاعب مامادو كمارا لاعب بركان بالخطأ في مرماه بالدقيقة 37، وتعادل بركان في الوقت القاتل في الدقيقة 90+7 عن طريق الكعبي، وبعدها بثوان قليلة سجل بركان الهدف الثاني عن طريق شعيل بعد خطأ من حارس المرمى، ليحقق فوزًا قاتلًا.

ويلعب نهضة بركان المغربي في مجوعة تضم ريفرز يونايتد وبيراميدز وباور ديناموز.

ووصل رصيد نهضة بركان إلى 6 نقاط في المركز الأول بترتيب المجموعة، في حين يبقى ريفرز يونايتد دون نقاط في المركز الرابع. أهداف مباراة نهضة بركان وريفرز يونايتد اليوم في دوري أبطال إفريقيا