Cricket

Faf du Plessis ramps Anrich Nortje for six © BCCI Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Abu Dhabi Pro Tip: Top order batsmen and allrounders are crucial in Abu Dhabi. Our XI: Jos Buttler, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Steven Smith, Rahul Tewatia, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Shardul Thakur, Kartik Tyagi

9:06 PM GMT Vishal Dikshit Only minutes after another stunning knock – an unbeaten 55 off 22 balls – to help the Royal Challengers Bangalore wallop 64 runs off the last 28 balls for a seven-wicket win against the Rajasthan Royals, AB de Villiers said he gets “very, very nervous and erratic” in such chases.

Shikhar Dhawan hits down the ground © BCCI Delhi Capitals 185 for 5 (Dhawan 101*, Stoinis 24, Chahar 2-18) beat Chennai Super Kings 179 for 4 (du Plessis 58, Rayudu 45*, Nortje 2-44) by five wickets Shikhar Dhawan – reprieved on 25, 27, 50, 79 – punished a sloppy Chennai Super Kings and powered a

9:26 AM GMT Debayan Sen Welcome to ESPNcricinfo’s Rolling Report of the 33rd game of IPL 2020, between the Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. Tonight the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal and Aaron Finch take on the likes of Steven Smith, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson and

1:35 AM GMT It was not a straightforward decision for Heather Knight, the England captain, to fly halfway around the world for the WBBL during the global pandemic but she is glad she did. Knight is coming to the end of two weeks in hotel quarantine ahead of linking up with her new team, the

7:00 PM GMT Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 36-year old, who represented Pakistan in 47 Tests, 130 ODIs and 60 T20Is, made the decision after his side, Balochistan, were eliminated from the National T20 Cup on Friday night against Southern Punjab. After the game, a

9:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Wanting to focus on his batting, Dinesh Karthik has stepped down as Kolkata Knight Riders captain, with Eoin Morgan replacing him. The franchise made the announcement hours before their match against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi on Friday. The Knight Riders are currently fourth on the points table

3:00 AM GMT Defending champions New South Wales enter the Sheffield Shield fray from Monday, with the pleasant change that they will not be doing so as a lonely beacon for spin bowling. This time around, on nicely modulated surfaces prepared by the former South Australia and Western Australia paceman Trent Kelly, Queensland, Western Australia

6:45 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Only three days after seeing AB de Villiers hammer an unbeaten 73 of 33 while the rest of the batsmen from both teams couldn’t score as freely, the Royal Challengers Bangalore pushed their ace batsmen to No. 6 on the same ground against the Kings XI Punjab and later suffered

10:31 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Sarah Glenn was understandably daunted by the prospect of spending a fortnight alone in a hotel room ahead of her WBBL debut. But she also fully understands the importance of serving Australia’s mandatory isolation period, having been laid low in April by Covid-19, which she believes she contracted after a

12:50 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Liam Livingstone, the England and Lancashire batsman, will return to the Perth Scorchers for the BBL following the 2019-2020 season where he was the club’s leading scorer with 425 runs. Livingstone is the fourth English player confirmed for the season following Alex Hales’ return to the Sydney Thunder and the

11:25 PM IST Alagappan Muthu Delhi Capitals 161 for 7 (Dhawan 57, Iyer 53, Archer 3-19) beat Rajasthan Royals (Stokes 41, Nortje 2-33) by 13 runs There was spine-tingling entertainment in the powerplay thanks to three unbelievably fast bowlers. There was shot-making of the highest quality from both top-orders. But in the end it was

10:07 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Adil Rashid has said that any potential return to England’s Test set-up will depend on whether his shoulder “can handle the stress of red-ball cricket”. Rashid held talks with England head coach, Chris Silverwood, at the end of the summer and could be in contention for selection if and when

12:38 AM GMT Annesha Ghosh Australia captain Meg Lanning is hopeful that a maiden WBBL title will cease to elude her this season as she resumes leadership duties at a new-look Melbourne Stars. She believes the recruitment of England’s star allrounders Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver will inject a much-needed “killer instinct” and the “real

5:13 PM GMT On the day that England’s logjam at the top of their T20 batting order potentially got even more clogged following the successful promotion of Sam Curran as Chennai Super Kings’ latest opening batsman against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, there is at least one candidate for their World Cup plans who has no intention

2:14 PM IST Western Australia 5 for 481 dec (Inglis 153*, Agar 114*, Pope 5-164) and 2 for 215 dec (Marsh 110*, Bancroft 71) beat South Australia 314 (Weatherald 105, Agar 5-103) and 177 (Head 54) by 205 runs Western Australia closed out a resounding victory over South Australia with 57 balls to spare on

8:09 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Virat Kohli feels the way the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers have turned the games around in IPL 2020 has been “a special addition to the way we have played our cricket”. On Monday, after an AB de Villiers‘ special powered the Royal Challengers to 194 for 2, their bowlers restricted

4:51 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Having made a “full recovery” from his stomach bug, Chris Gayle is likely to be available for the Kings XI Punjab’s next game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday, the franchise posted on their website. Gayle, who is yet to feature in IPL 2020, was unavailable for the Kings