Cricket

Toss Zimbabwe chose to bowl vs Afghanistan After persistent rain and then a wet outfield delayed the toss by close to four hours, Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine had no hesitation in electing to bowl in the second Test against Afghanistan on what looked like a spicy surface in Bulawayo. “Overhead conditions suit the bowling. The

Big picture The attempt to give this Test series context may ironically have stripped some from this Test match, especially as far as South Africa are concerned. The hosts have already qualified for the World Test Championship final after beating Pakistan by two wickets in Centurion, and as such, don’t necessarily have a bigger picture

Big picture: SCG showdown to decide Border-Gavaskar Trophy From that first day , when 17 wickets fell in Perth, there has been intrigue in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Even the game ruined by rain in Brisbane threw up something unexpected – a sudden retirement. Now as a hard fought, highly entertaining series comes to an end,

Melbourne Stars 153 for 5 (Lawrence 64*, Stoinis 62, Bartlett 4-10) beat Brisbane Heat 149 for 7 (Bryant 77, Walter 21, Steketee 2-42) by five wickets Melbourne Stars have broken an eight-game Big Bash League [BBL] losing streak thanks to a Marcus Stoinis batting masterclass and a stunning Glenn Maxwell catch in the outfield. Stars

Hobart Hurricanes 161 for 6 (Chaudhary 42, McDermott 34, Owen 33, Bird 4-16) beat Sydney Sixers 111 (Henriques 22, Jordan 3-22, Stanlake 2-22, Salamkheil 2-22) by 50 runs Hobart Hurricanes overcame the late withdrawal of captain Nathan Ellis to hand Sydney Sixers their first BBL loss of the season. Ellis pulled out from Wednesday afternoon’s

Perth Scorchers 146 for 3 (Allen 50, Connolly 48*, Turner 35*, Thornton 2-26) beat Adelaide Strikers 142 for 8 (Doggett 47*, J Richardson 3-29, Behrendorff 2-14, Morris 2-19) by seven wickets Scorchers finish 2024 in second position on the BBL ladder after cruising to a seven-wicket win over the Adelaide Strikers on New Year’s Eve.

With defending champions looking to bounce back, Mhatre led the charge with a brilliant 176 off 232 balls, which was studded with 22 fours and four sixes, against Maharashtra. Mumbai won that game by nine wickets. He had a couple of quiet outings against Tripura and Odisha but slammed his second first-class ton – 116

Mitchell Marsh is a good chance of keeping his place for the final Test against India in Sydney despite a lean series with the bat while his lack of overs continues to be attributed to the nature of the matches rather than any fitness issues. Uncapped Tasmania allrounder Beau Webster is in the squad along

Craig Ervine lamented Zimbabwe’s poor fielding after Zimbabwe drew the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. Rahmat Shah (234) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (246) were the biggest beneficiaries of the dropped chances as they handed the visitors a 113-run first-innings lead despite conceding 586. Afsar Zazai made 113 as well. “The one little area where we’ll

Zimbabwe 142 for 4 (Curran 41, Williams 35*, Zahir 2-43) and 586 (Williams 154, Bennett 110*, Ervine 104, Ghazanfar 3-127) drew with Afghanistan 699 (Shahidi 246, Rahmat 234, Zazai 113, Bennett 5-95) There were three Boxing Day Tests going on simultaneously. The one in Bulawayo, between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, didn’t have the appeal of Melbourne.