Cricket

The beats that bring out the best in players at this World Cup include Lady Gaga’s Just Dance, which was the tonic that turned West Indies around after their opening defeat and inspired two big wins, Punjabi music in the Pakistan camp that even has the injured Diana Baig dancing and a proverbial mix-tape of

India will go into the home Test series against New Zealand with pretty much the same squad that took on Bangladesh in September – that means Mohammed Shami hasn’t recovered in time for what will be India’s last red-ball action ahead of the five-Test series in Australia to close out this year. Yash Dayal, who

Big picture: Bangladesh’s last chance to salvage pride After winning the Test series 2-0, India will be keen to stretch their dominance against Bangladesh to the absolute by carrying their T20I form from Gwalior and Delhi into Hyderabad, in the third T20I. It is the final match of a tour where Bangladesh have batted woefully,

New Zealand’s new Test captain Tom Latham wants the team to play with “no fear” in the three-match series against India as they look to turn around a run of four consecutive World Test Championship defeats which have all-but ended their hopes of a place in the final. Latham has taken over as full-time captain

West Indies 104 for 2 (Matthews 34, Marufa 1-20) beat Bangladesh 103 for 8 (Nigar 39, Ramharack 4-17) by eight wickets Karishma Ramharack‘s four-wicket haul and Hayley Matthews‘ quickfire 34 helped West Indies coast to an important eight-wicket victory against Bangladesh, in Sharjah. Having chased down the target of 104 in 12.5 overs, West Indies,

Australia vs Pakistan Dubai, 6pm local time Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham Pakistan squad: Muneeba Ali (capt & wk), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza,

India 172 for 3 (Harmanpreet 52*, Mandhana 50, Shafali 43, Athapaththu 1-34) beat Sri Lanka 90 (Dilhari 21, Sanjeewani 20, Reddy 3-19, Asha 3-19) by 82 runs On a slightly cooler evening in Dubai, with semi-final qualification hopes in the balance, India brought their A-game to the fore to thrash Sri Lanka in the T20

Shakib Al Hasan has apologised for his silence during the student-led protests in Bangladesh in July, which led to several hundreds of deaths. It is the first time that Shakib acknowledged the movement that led to the fall of the longstanding Awami League-led government – in which he was a member of parliament (MP) –

Queensland 185 for 3 (Labuschagne 77, Clayton 52*, Gannon 2-33) trail Western Australia 465 (Inglis 122, Whiteman 102, Neser 5-68) by 280 runs Test aspirant Matt Renshaw fell cheaply, but captain Marnus Labuschagne led Queensland’s recovery with a half-century against Western Australia at the WACA. Labuschagne was in superb touch, as he hit 77 off

New Zealand batter Suzie Bates will play for Hobart Hurricanes for the first time in the WBBL after being signed as an overseas replacement player for the back end of the tournament. Bates, 37, has played 100 WBBL matches representing Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers across eight seasons. The all-time leading women’s T20I

Australia Women 148 for 8 (Mooney 40, Kerr 4-26) beat New Zealand Women 88 all out (Kerr 29, Schutt 3-3, Sutherland 3-21) by 60 runs Australia put one foot in the semi-finals with a dominant 60-run victory over neighbours New Zealand in Sharjah, and in the process recorded their 13th straight win in T20I World

Sadia Iqbal briefly became the first player from Pakistan to top an ICC women’s T20I player rankings table when she overtook Sophie Ecclestone to become the top-ranked bowler in the world. It didn’t last long, though, as Ecclestone snatched it back by the end of the week when the updates were made public. Ecclestone has

Toss Ireland chose to bat against South Africa Ireland captain Paul Stirling won the toss for the first time in the three-match series and opted to bat as they look for a consolation win against South Africa in Abu Dhabi. Ireland made three changes to the side that played the first two ODIs. Left-arm spinner

Surrey have shored up their bowling stocks in anticipation of a heavy international workload for their seamers in 2025, by signing Matthew Fisher from Yorkshire. Fisher, 27 next month, has played one Test to date, on England’s tour of the Caribbean in 2022, after which he was awarded an ECB pace bowling development contract. He

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is confident that the Champions Trophy 2025 will be held in Pakistan and all teams, including India, will participate in the tournament. The Champions Trophy is scheduled to start on February 19, with the final set for March 9, and Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi earmarked as the venues.

A quick rethink after their disappointing tournament opener put West Indies’ T20 World Cup campaign back on track with a comprehensive victory over Scotland. Having lost by 10 wickets to South Africa, West Indies won by six wickets with 50 balls to spare at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday night. That was after Chinelle Henry‘s

India 132 for 3 (Mehidy 35, Arshdeep 3-14, Varun 3-31) beat Bangladesh 127 (Hardik 39, Suryakumar 29, Samson 29, Mehidy 1-7) by seven wickets A young Indian side outgunned an experienced Bangladesh to start off the three-T20I series. Two debutants in their XI, only three men retained from the side that won the T20 World

Toss Pakistan chose to bat vs India On a hot afternoon in Dubai, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana called it right and opted to bat against India in their Group A encounter of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. Both teams made one change apiece owing to injuries. Diana Baig pulled up with what seemed like