Which will be the key battles in the CPL 2024 playoffs? Who are the players to look out for?

Deivarayan Muthu01-Oct-20243:41

Imran Tahir: Defending title tougher than winning it the first time

Eliminator: Trinbago Knight Riders vs Barbados RoyalsThough Nicholas Pooran’s barnstorming century was not enough for Trinbago Knight Riders to secure a top-two slot, they can draw some positives from their win in the final league match of CPL 2024. Despite the injury-enforced absence of Sunil Narine and despite being the last team to play in the Guyana leg, TKR managed to breach fortress Providence this season.It remains to be seen whether Narine has recovered enough to return in the playoffs. TKR also had to contend with injuries to Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo – who has now retired from all cricket – at various points during the season. This has left Kieron Pollard scrambling for options – Tim David, for example, bowled with the new ball when TKR last met Barbados Royals in Tarouba last week. If Narine isn’t fit yet, will TKR run the risk of handing local offspinner Bryan Charles a T20 debut in a knockout game?All eyes will be on Pooran once again. He’s already had a record-breaking year – his 2160 runs in 2024 is already the most by a batter in a calendar year in T20 cricket – and he’s now two sixes away from surpassing Chris Gayle’s sixes tally in the CPL. His familiarity with the Providence pitch, having played for and captained Amazon Warriors in the past, could serve TKR well.As for Royals, their run has mirrored that of their parent franchise – Rajasthan Royals – in the IPL. After having been the early pace-setters with five wins in their first six games, they ran out of gas and lost four in a row. Captain Rovman Powell’s batting struggles – 137 runs in eight innings at an average of 22.83 and strike rate of 117.09 – haven’t helped. That strike rate drops to 91.66 against spin.The South Africa pair of Quinton de Kock, who is currently the highest run-getter this season, and David Miller will have to do the heavy-lifting with the bat. Royals’ bowling attack looks in much healthier shape with Maheesh Theekshana, Keshav Maharaj, Naveen-ul-Haq and Jason Holder all doing the job for them at different stages. Unless Royals’ batters back up their bowling, TKR are favourites to make it 3-0 against them this season.Imran Tahir’s celebrations have been as lively as ever•CPL T20/Getty ImagesQualifier 1: Guyana Amazon Warriors vs St Lucia KingsImran Tahir is 45 and continues to rock the CPL. His legbreaks and wrong’uns in particular continue to befuddle batters and his celebrations have been as lively as ever. Along with Gudakesh Motie, the left-arm fingerspinner, and Moeen Ali, the offspinner, Tahir has ensured that Providence remains Amazon Warriors’ fortress. Dwaine Pretorius’ slower cutters have also suited the slow, low surfaces in Guyana.Like Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Amazon Warriors have constructed a squad with a variety of spin options and a number of spin-hitters. The last time Amazon Warriors faced St Lucia Kings at Providence, during the weekend, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope bossed the middle overs to all but confirm their top-two spot.Hetmyer against Khary Pierre and Noor Ahmad could be a key match-up that could influence the rest of the game. Hetmyer has been particularly severe on left-arm spinners this CPL, taking them for 106 runs off 50 balls at a strike rate of 212. Hetmyer has also been dismissed by left-arm spin six times in ten innings, but that hasn’t stopped him from lining them up.Kings captain Faf du Plessis suffered from cramps while batting against Amazon Warriors but coach Daren Sammy suggested that du Plessis will be ready for the rematch against the defending champions in the playoffs. Like Tahir, du Plessis is still going strong in his 40s and has forged a potent partnership at the top with Johnson Charles, who has reinvented himself at 35 by adding the switch-hit to his repertoire.On Saturday, however, Kings perhaps missed a trick by not promoting the left-handed Shadrack Descarte to counter Tahir and Motie, who dominated the right-hand heavy Kings middle order. So, keep an eye on how Kings use Descarte or Ackeem Auguste in the middle order against Amazon Warriors’ spinners.In CPL 2023, Kings lacked a gun wristspinner, but they remedied it this season by recruiting Afghanistan’s Noor, who has been largely un-hittable, thanks to his bag of variations. He will have to continue his terrific form if Kings are to secure their maiden CPL title.

The Afghanistan wristspinner gave no indication that he would become this good early on. But now he stands at the pinnacle

Sampath Bandarupalli04-Feb-2025Rashid Khan has gone past Dwayne Bravo to become the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket. Bravo, who retired from professional cricket in 2024, finished his T20 career with 631 wickets. Rashid surpassed that tally when he castled Dunith Wellalage of Paarl Royals in the SA20 Qualifier 1 on Tuesday.Entering the third season of SA20, Rashid needed ten wickets to move beyond Bravo’s tally, and it took him ten matches to seal the record.When Rashid made his T20 debut in October 2015, Lasith Malinga was the format’s leading wicket-taker. Bravo took the title in April 2016, at 31, becoming the first bowler to reach 300 wickets. Bravo’s reign at the top lasted nearly eight years and ten months, more than twice that of any other bowler; he had the record for almost 40% of the T20 format’s overall lifespan up until then.Unlike Bravo, Rashid, who’s now 26, will have age on his side, allowing him to potentially add more wickets to his record and hold it for even longer. Before turning 38, Bravo had accumulated 614 wickets but took only 17 in the 26 matches he played thereafter until his retirement.

West Indies are in form, but Bangladesh have been boosted by the inclusion of players – like Soumya Sarkar – who took Rangpur Riders to the GSL title

Mohammad Isam07-Dec-2024

Will the chatter continue in St Kitts?

The cricket between the two sides was absorbing during the Test series. So, too, was the sledging. It was louder from the West Indies side as Jayden Seales had something to say to all the Bangladesh batters. He taunted Mehidy Hasan Miraz when he ducked under a bouncer. The slip cordon joined in from time to time, particularly Kevin Sinclair, who was a substitute fielder in Jamaica.Related

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The on-field umpires spoke to captain Kraigg Brathwaite a few times, and even told the players to calm down. Later, the ICC fined Seales for his send-off to Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Sinclair for not listening to the umpires and continuing to talk.Bangladesh, for their part, weren’t as animated as the home side, but they did have the odd one-liner to share from time to time.The West Indians looked like they lost a bit of focus on the job at hand as a result of all the talk, and might not take the same route in the ODIs. In any case, after the Test win in Jamaica, Bangladesh should now have a few replies ready.

West Indies are in form even if their captain isn’t

The first priority for West Indies would be to continue their good showing in ODIs after the series win against England recently.Shai Hope leads a side that has a good batting line-up and an impressive pace battery. They have included the uncapped Amir Jangoo, who was the top run-getter in the recent Super50 ODI tournament. Justin Greaves, who made three centuries in a row in the competition, returns to the ODI setup, too.But Hope, the highest-ranked ODI batter of the two sets of players, needs to return to ODI form, having averaged 29.28 this year. This comes after several good years – in 2023, he made 824 runs at an average of 68.66. Keacy Carty has shown form for West Indies in ODIs this year, while left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie is their leading wicket-taker.West Indies’ batting line-up is full of power-hitters. Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis will be expected to provide the big hits, while Roston Chase usually holds together the middle-order. Shamar Joseph and Matthew Forde are nursing injuries, with Marquino Mindley and Jediah Blades replacing them and providing fast-bowling cover.Mehidy Hasan Miraz will lead Bangladesh in the West Indies ODIs as well•Athelstan Bellamy

New Bangladesh, but is it improved Bangladesh?

Bangladesh need to carry the positives from their Test win in Jamaica into the ODIs. This is especially important as they have a side devoid of most of their experienced players. Shakib Al Hasan continues to be out, while Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman haven’t made it to the West Indies either – Shanto and Mushfiqur are recovering from injuries while Mustafizur has taken time off for personal reasons.Mehidy will continue as the captain with the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Jaker Ali and Litton Das from the Test side also part of the ODI squad. Soumya Sarkar’s performed in the Global Super League in Guyana should also give the team confidence – Soumya was the Player of the Tournament – and Player of the Match in the final for his 86 – as he finished as the tournament’s top-scorer. Rishad Hossain and Afif Hossain – also part of the Rangpur Riders’ trophy-winning side – are in the squad too.Bangladesh will have Taskin, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana and Hasan Mahmud from the Test pace attack. Tanzim Hasan will come from the GSL where he played for the Guayana Amazon Warriors side. Nasum Ahmed and Mehidy will take charge of the spin department, while Mahmudullah will add experience in the batting line-up that also includes Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain.

International cricket returns to St Kitts after two years

Bangladesh would have happy memories of Warner Park in St Kitts, having won two out of their four completed international matches at the venue.This will be the first international match in St Kitts since August 2022. Incidentally, the last ODI played at the venue was also between the same two sides, while there have been a handful of CPL and first-class matches held here this year.The three ODIs are on December 8, 10 and 12. The weather is mostly dry but there’s a forecast of some rain during the second ODI.

The 20-year-old allrounder from a small town close to Lucknow has already made a splash in IPL 2025

Shashank Kishore and Daya Sagar04-Apr-2025Vipraj Nigam, 20, is pleasantly surprised at how much recognition he has received over the past two weeks at IPL 2025.An allrounder signed by Delhi Capitals (DC) primarily for his legspin bowling, Nigam helped his team turn the tables on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on his IPL debut when he smashed a 15-ball 39 after going out at 113 for 6 in a tall chase of 210. DC won, with Ashutosh Sharma overshadowing Nigam with an unbeaten 66 in 31 balls.”I was nervous, but also excited,” Nigam tells ESPNcricinfo. “The feeling of earning the respect of your team-mates and coaches is something I can’t express in words. It’s been amazing to come and play with the same people I’ve watched on TV.”Related

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Nigam’s batting chops were never in doubt – he broke through into the Uttar Pradesh Under-19s as a batter first, and then legspin took over. When he picked up “13 or 14 wickets in two crucial matches”, an opportunity to be part of a junior camp at the National Cricket Academy [now Centre of Excellence, in Bengaluru] opened up soon after domestic cricket resumed after Covid, sometime in 2022. It was there that he realised the need to develop his all-round abilities.”They [the coaches] told me legspinning allrounders are rare,” he says. “After that, I started working on my bowling seriously.”What he thought was a small step turned into a giant leap when he earned further recognition at the UP T20 League in 2024, where he was the second-highest wicket-taker. Blessed with a quick-arm action modelled on his hero Yasir Shah, the former Pakistan legspinner, Nigam found his way past batters with his fizz. Those performances earned him trials with DC, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).”A few other teams had invited me, but the Ranji Trophy was on, and I wanted to prioritise that,” he says. “But I did well at the trials wherever I went – they gave me good feedback. But there were no guarantees.”At the auction last year, Nigam was signed for INR 50 lakh, “big money” for the son of a primary schoolteacher from Barabanki, a small town near Lucknow. “My father never stopped me from playing cricket,” he says. “My mother would initially tell me it was important to study, but after a point even she started encouraging me. Sports wasn’t a thing at home.”

“I didn’t move to Lucknow initially, I’d do up and down by bus. There was this excitement of going every day to play, as a youngster you don’t think ‘oh, I have to travel this far’. It’s all you want to do. Now the journey has gotten more comfortable since I’ve bought a car”Vipraj Nigam

Sports wasn’t big in his hometown either. Those who aspired to play cricket had to move to Lucknow. Nigam, however, was fortunate to be under the mentorship of Sarwar Nawab, who had just started the lone cricket academy in Barabanki.As Nigam began to develop physically, Nawab worked on his power hitting, while state senior Zeeshan Ansari, who has also broken into the IPL this year, worked on Nigam’s legspin.Ansari played for India at the Under-19 World Cup in 2016 alongside Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan, but lost his way for a few years, failing to break into the UP senior team. During this period, Ansari kept his cricket dream burning by practicing and playing A-division cricket in Lucknow, while being a big brother for young Nigam.Nawab and Ansari helped enhance Nigam’s skills, but the proof of the pudding was in being able to play and perform in competitive games. Nawab happened to know Khaleeq Khan, who ran the UP Timber Cricket Club in the A division of the city’s club circuit. Khaleeq offered Nigam an opportunity to play for the club and he has been a regular since.”I didn’t move to Lucknow initially, I’d do up and down by bus,” Nigam says. “There was this excitement of going every day to play, as a youngster you don’t think ‘oh, I have to travel this far’. It’s all you want to do. Now the journey has gotten more comfortable since I’ve bought a car. Earlier, I used to walk, then take a bus, train there for five-six hours and come back. It used to be tiring.””I learnt a lot from several of my seniors,” Vipraj Nigam says of his UP team-mates•Delhi CapitalsAt the club, Nigam enhanced his skills by playing with the cream of UP’s next in line. “I learnt a lot from several of my seniors there,” he says. “Akshdeep Nath, Upendra Yadav, Mohammad Saif – all of them had Ranji Trophy experience. Playing and training with experienced players helped me tremendously.”Nigam also got to play with many of them when he earned a senior state debut in the 2024-25 season. UP made the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarter-finals after Nigam made an impression with the bat, an unbeaten 27 off eight balls against Andhra, a prelude of sorts to his IPL fireworks.”I feel very blessed to have had the journey I’ve had,” he says. “I’m learning from the best. KL Rahul is in my team. I’ve been speaking to him every day. Kevin Pietersen [the team mentor], Axar [Patel] , Kuldeep [Yadav] – they’re all amazing players. The IPL is such a platform where you see and learn from the best. I’d like to have a chance to speak to MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav.”For now, bowling and picking up wickets and being able to “make an impact” for DC and wherever he plays is enough for Nigam.

Boult’s success – wickets and the economy rate – in the death overs this season has transformed a side that looked down and out not even a month ago

Sidharth Monga23-Apr-20251:43

Is Rohit Sharma well and truly back?

We know Trent Boult is the all-time leading wicket-taker in the first over in IPL history. He is now also only 11 behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 77 wickets in IPL powerplays, getting to 66 with the wickets of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in Mumbai Indians’ (MI) fourth straight win, which made it only four powerplay wickets for him in IPL 2025.However, there is another development that MI will be pleased about. Boult has never taken more than nine wickets at the death in a single IPL season. He already has six this year. Then again, wickets should not ideally be the yardstick at the death because batters are just swinging, as we saw with his dismissals of Abhinav Manohar and Pat Cummins in the last over. The real yardstick should be the economy. Boult has never finished an IPL with a better economy at the death than his 9.37 this year so far.It is all the more striking because in his years at Rajasthan Royals (RR), Boult was hardly ever seen as an option to bowl at the death. In his three years with RR, Boult bowled at the death in only 20 matches out of 41. And never more than an over. This year, he has bowled an over at the death in eight out of the nine matches he has played. It makes him a bit of a specialist in the slog overs.Related

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Fourteen bowlers have bowled more than six overs at the death this IPL. Four have a better economy than Boult’s. One of them is Jasprit Bumrah, who usually bowls two per game at the death unless MI desperately need a wicket earlier. Bumrah is going at 7.75 an over at the death this IPL. MI are not anywhere near the best bowling team at the death this IPL but that’s because Bumrah was not available sooner. Since Bumrah’s return, they are bowling three death overs for 25 on an average.”You just need to be prepared for any role anytime,” Boult said in the press conference after the match. “At Rajasthan, I was prepared to bowl at any stage of the match. I’ve been lucky enough to play ten IPL seasons where it hasn’t always been the same recipe every time.”The first thing is you have to always want the ball. This tournament’s such a big tournament, you’re coming up against the best players, and it’s always a big desire for me to take on the best players. Having that mindset of wanting the ball, and wanting to take on the big players, is always a good start.”With complete bowlers such as Bumrah and Boult, it is not about being more suited for one phase over the other. They will find ways to be effective in any phase. Of course, you want Boult to be there when the swing has to be maximised – which is perhaps why RR used him more at the top – but if you ask him to bowl at the death, he is good enough to bowl well there too. And since MI have Deepak Chahar to use the new ball, they can afford to keep Boult back for one quality over at the death as well.Boult and Bumrah also happen to be the two bowlers on whom MI’s last IPL triumph was built, back in 2020. Since the two have come together this year, MI have won four out of five matches. Is this the sauce they have been looking for?

From missing the U-19 World Cup to starring for Karnataka, Smaran’s rise has been built on discipline, long levers, and belief

Shashank Kishore14-Aug-2025In March 2025, whispers of a new name began echoing through IPL scouting circles: R Smaran.Clips from his trials with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had gone viral within the inner sanctums of IPL talent scouts. Smaran wasn’t just clearing the ropes; he was launching spinners out of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Smaran, 22, received excellent feedback from almost all the trials he attended, but quietly decided to craft his own routines over the next few weeks to make up for the disappointment of not featuring in the IPL.Batting sessions, gym work, and running throughout the day were topped up with pickleball in the evenings. He wanted to keep himself away from overthinking. And then, when he least expected it, his phone rang. Sunrisers Hyderabad came calling. They needed a replacement for the injured Adam Zampa.He was no legspinner, and nowhere close to a like-for-like replacement. But the intriguing signing was an indication he might be a long-term investment. But even before the doors could fully crack open, they slammed shut.Smaran tripped over the advertising hoardings while attempting a catch at training and injured himself. And just like that, his IPL season was over.

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On Tuesday, in just his second competitive outing since his season ended, Smaran smashed an unbeaten 55 off 22 balls for Gulbarga Mystics against defending champs Mysore Warriors in the KSCA Maharaja T20 Trophy.Fittingly, the left-handed batter hit a six, out of the ground and into the trees, to seal the win. There couldn’t have been a better start to what is going to be his second season as a professional cricketer.Smaran is tall, nearly six feet. The penchant to clear the ropes comes from having long levers that he uses to his advantage. But that is only one aspect of a game that he says is very much “work in progress.” In his short career already, he’s shown the ability to grind his way through. Smaran is strong square of the wicket, a by-product of his ability to pick lengths and play well off the back foot. He also prides himself on being an excellent player of spin, something a lot of former Karnataka players and talent scouts have vouched for.”Right from the beginning, I’ve had the ability to clear fences,” Smaran tells ESPNcricinfo. “But I think there’s still a fine line between formats, where in order to be really good at all three formats, you still have to learn to curb your game.”But I think in T20, especially with the wickets being the way it is – really good to bat on – and the size of the grounds in India also not being the greatest when it comes to T20. I think it just comes naturally to me. I wouldn’t say [I’m] a six-hitter, but I back myself to hit sixes on the balls that are loose to me.R Smaran scored 516 runs in ten innings in the last Ranji Trophy season•R Smaran/KSCA”But growing up, the red ball was always a priority. Even now, my main goal is to represent India in Tests. And I think T20 will come as a by-product of that.”Smaran’s 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season started poorly. Five matches in, he hadn’t notched up a single half-century batting in the top five. When Ranji season hit a pause midway for the white-ball leg, the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s (SMAT), he wondered if he’d fluffed his chances.Smaran sat out the first game, but was later drafted into the XI for their second game against Tripura after the selectors decided to drop Manish Pandey. Smaran hit a half-century on debut – 57 off 31 – to help chase down 191.”That knock was a confidence booster, since I had a string of low scores,” he says. “Team-wise, SMAT wasn’t great for us, but it gave me the batting rhythm I needed and I was able to carry that forward into the Vijay Hazare Trophy.”That 50-over tournament was a game-changer for Smaran. Having endured the pressure of replacing Pandey, a senior player in the XI, he hit a superb 101 off 92 in the final against Vidarbha. He helped bail Karnataka out from 67 for 3 in wintry conditions as they posted 348. They ended up winning by 36 runs.Smaran finished as Karnataka’s second-highest run-getter, hitting 433 runs in seven innings at an average of 72.16 with two hundreds and two half-centuries.

“Growing up, the red ball was always a priority. Even now, my main goal is to represent India in Tests. And I think T20 will come as a by-product of that.”R Smaran

“My only goal was to win games for the team,” he says. “One game after another, we started winning. Slowly the belief came in that we can go all the way and win the championship. Once we won, it was surreal.”It’s on the back of this run that Smaran entered the second leg of the Ranji season, in January this year, under immense pressure to keep his spot. On a green top at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Smaran saw the Shubman Gill-led Punjab being bundled out for 55. And when he walked in to bat, conditions were far from easy. Smaran defied the odds and conditions to convert his maiden first-class century into a double ton.”That knock needed mental discipline because conditions were tough, particularly the first day,” he remembers. “It gave me the confidence that I had the ability to play a different style of cricket if required. I’m glad it came off.”Smaran ended the Ranji season with another century to boot against Haryana. Having started the season poorly, he accumulated 516 runs in ten innings at an average of 64.50.

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By 2019-20, Smaran had been a prolific run-getter for Karnataka Under-19s, and was shortlisted as part of a wider pool of targeted players the BCCI felt would form part of their mix for the Under-19 World Cup in 2022.But in early 2020, Smaran had a stress fracture on his right shin. He played through pain, but eventually he had to listen to his body. He was advised to take eight months off the game.Fortunately for Smaran, the injury came around Covid lockdowns. It meant he didn’t miss much competitive cricket, but the long layoff from injury led to weight gain that hampered his form upon return.Smaran couldn’t quite make the same impression as he pushed for an India Under-19 berth. He was left out of the Under-19 World Cup, and India went on to win the tournament under Yash Dhull’s captaincy.R Smaran smashed an unbeaten 55 off 22 in the KSCA Maharaja T20 trophy on Tuesday•Maharaja T20″It felt like the world had ended,” he says about not being selected for the Under-19 World Cup. “I didn’t look forward to anything for the next month. My coach Syed Zabiullah, he’s like family to me. He lifted me up and told me this isn’t the end and there’s lots to look forward to. The main goal should be representing Karnataka at the highest level.”Smaran had two prolific seasons after he fully regained his fitness, but found it hard to break into the Karnataka setup. Until a debut finally came late last year.”I’m glad that it happened last year,” he says. “So overall, I think a lot of credit goes to Syed sir for pushing me throughout during the off-season as well. And also me for putting that effort into training, gym and also hitting the nets.”Smaran’s journey is an ode to his dedication. It was particularly tough because he didn’t come from a family that had anything to do with sport. His father, a mechanical engineer, makes solar inverters. His mother, a housewife, wanted her son to also be an engineer.

I just lacked the confidence [when I started last season]. But now I feel that while I’m still not there, I’ve gotten a step better in terms of knowing my game well.”Smaran on his game

“But the way I progressed, even my mom now keeps asking me, when I’m going to do my Masters,” Smaran, who has a bachelor’s degree in commerce, laughs.”After I represented the state in age-groups, they were like, okay, you can pursue commerce now and pursue cricket,” he says. “I think there’s a lot of conflict between me and my parents (laughs), but I think they’ve really supported me throughout and they’ve let me pursue what I love. But yeah, lot of engineers in the family.”As he looks ahead, Smaran is focused on trying to tick another box. “To bring home the Ranji Trophy for Karnataka,” he says. It’s something they haven’t been able to achieve since 2014-15.”I just lacked the confidence [when he started last season]. But now I feel that while I’m still not there, I’ve gotten a step better in terms of knowing my game well. The main goal while batting is to win games for your team. Whichever team that is, and the rest will take care of itself.”

Sai Sudharsan’s remarkable season, and one to forget for Rashid Khan also feature

Sampath Bandarupalli30-May-20251:29

Two lives for Rohit ‘unlocked the freedom’

228 for 5 – Mumbai Indians’ (MI) total on Friday is the second-highest in the IPL playoffs (or knockouts), behind only the 233 for 3 posted by Gujarat Titans (GT) against MI in 2023.4 – Totals in the IPL for MI higher than their 228 in the Eliminator. Three of those four totals came in the 2024 season. MI’s 228 is also their third-highest while batting first in the IPL.7038 – Runs scored by Rohit Sharma in the IPL. He is the second batter to complete 7000 IPL runs, after Virat Kohli, who leads with 8618 runs.Related

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302 – Sixes hit by Rohit in the IPL. He is only the second batter to hit 300-plus sixes in the league, after Chris Gayle (357). Two-fifty-one of those sixes by Rohit have been for MI, while the remaining 51 were for Deccan Chargers. Only Kohli (291 for RCB) has more sixes for one team in the IPL.759 – Runs scored by B Sai Sudharsan in IPL 2025, the fifth-highest by a batter in an edition of the IPL. Only Shubman Gill (890 in 2023) has scored more runs for GT in an IPL season than Sai Sudharsan.11.45 – Run rate of the opening partnership between Jonny Bairstow and Rohit, who added 84 in 7.2 overs. It is the second-fastest in terms of run rate for a 50-plus opening stand in the IPL playoffs (or knockouts), behind 11.80 by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler’s 61 off 5.1 overs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2022.Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow gave MI the perfect start•BCCI18-0 – MI continue their winning streak of defending targets of 200 or more in the IPL. In all T20s, they have a 19-0 record while defending 200-plus targets, which is also a record.436 – Runs scored by GT and MI on Friday in New Chandigarh. It is the highest aggregate for an IPL match in the playoffs (or knockouts), surpassing the 428 by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2014.33 – Sixes Rashid Khan conceded in IPL 2025, the most by any bowler in one edition of the IPL, going past the 31 conceded by Mohammed Siraj in 2022. The 33 sixes conceded by Rashid are also the joint-highest by a bowler in a men’s T20 tournament, alongside Dwayne Bravo in CPL 2018 (where ball-by-ball data is available).

After England threaten in powerplay, Australia’s middle-order answer SOS with 180-run stand

S Sudarshanan22-Oct-2025

Ash Gardner reached a 69-ball hundred as she and Annabel Sutherland sealed a dominant win•Getty Images

Ashleigh Gardner played out three dot-balls after completing her century. One of those was a full toss. But there were cheers from the 8,531-strong crowd at the Holkar Stadium, and laughs and high-fives in the Australia dugout. Australia were four runs away from handing England their first defeat at the Women’s World Cup 2025. Annabel Sutherland was five away from what would have been a well-deserved century.Sutherland couldn’t get to her hundred in the next over despite a dropped catch. Gardner then finished off the chase by lofting Sophie Ecclestone over mid-off to maintain Australia’s clean slate in this competition.Sutherland and Gardner came together when Australia were 68 for 4 in their 245-run chase. They conjured an unbroken 180 for the fifth wicket and, in the process, gave plenty of lessons to England’s batters. Here’s an example.Sutherland had just laced Lauren Bell, England’s fastest bowler on the park, through extra cover for a four using her long stride. So wicketkeeper Amy Jones came up to the stumps. It did not bog Sutherland down as she was swiftly off strike and Gardner, with the keeper still up, picked up a second four of the over with a slash through backward point.Related

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• Alyssa Healy to miss England match with 'minor calf strain'

• New Zealand in must-win territory with rain in the Navi Mumbai air

• Gardner 104*, Sutherland 98* star as Australia lay marker for knock-outs

A score of 68 for 4 is dire enough to opt for a cautious approach. More so with England pressing their spinners into service. But playing out a dot was the last option in Australia’s operating manual. In their entire innings, England faced 169 dot-balls – that is about 28 overs’ worth. Australia played out only 107 dots (fewer than 18 overs) and finished their chase with 57 balls to spare. The Sutherland-Gardner partnership lasted 148 balls: only 51 of those were without a run.The black-soil pitch in Indore had started to slow down a little and the ball held up just a touch, as evidenced by Ellyse Perry’s wicket. She was early into her flick and popped a catch back to left-arm spinner Linsey Smith. This was in contrast with how Australia’s left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux had dismissed Heather Knight lbw earlier in the afternoon, getting one to skid in with the arm from a similar length, beating her for pace on the inside edge.Sutherland realised quickly that hanging back in her crease, especially against spin, was fraught with danger. She had almost paid the price for it by punching the ball aerially back towards Ecclestone in the 14th over. Ecclestone’s weight was on the right foot and she couldn’t take that half-chance, and had her right hand on mouth in disbelief.Sutherland knew that she would have to create pace on the ball. She used her feet very well, either to come down the track to intercept the ball early or to just shuffle across her crease to nudge the ball into the outfield. The intention was not always to take the aerial route but rely on ones and twos. When she did choose to go big, there were no half-measures. Such as the moment when she put Smith away over deep square leg for Australia’s only six of the innings.Tammy Beaumont produced a good innings but chewed up dot-balls between her boundaries•ICC/Getty ImagesGardner was more happy to use her feet against spin. She was unafraid to take the aerial route, too. With a maximum of only four fielders allowed outside the inner circle from the 11th over to the end, it is actually tough to restrict boundaries against a high-intent batter like Gardner. And she hit 16 off them on the way to a 69-ball century, her second at this World Cup. Only Karen Rolton (57 balls) and Belinda Clark (64 balls) have a century quicker than Gardner in ODI World Cups. Together, they ran 67 singles, six twos and a three.Now Sutherland and Gardner were able to do this despite Australia not having a strong platform. Which points towards a missed opportunity for England. Their openers had added a second successive half-century partnership. England were 55 for 0 in just eight overs, already their best powerplay performance of the tournament. They had a plethora of boundaries by then, with Tammy Beaumont leading the charge. But what she, and by extension England, did between those boundary hits is what hampered them.Beaumont sped to a 59-ball half-century. A perfectly acceptable pace in this era of ODI cricket. But 39 of those were dot balls. It was a pattern that extended throughout her stay. Beaumont scored 78, her first fifty-plus score since June, and fell when Sutherland pre-empted her attack by having her caught at long-on with a slower ball.It was a welcome return to runs for Beaumont, but by chewing up 66 dots of the 105 balls she faced (close to 63%), England were denied the momentum from the early overs on a flat track. It was imperative for a set batter to make up for those dot-balls, given that – prior to this game – England’s Nos. 5, 6 and 7 had an average of 9.25, the lowest among all teams this World Cup.There can be an argument that legspinner Alana King made runs hard to come by for England. She had the ball on a string and, on visual evidence, extracted the most turn from the black-soil surface. Nat Sciver-Brunt tried to take her on and paid the price. England’s reluctance to use the sweep against her was surprising, too. That meant England were in the mire before Alice Capsey, one of the under-fire batters, and Charlie Dean pushed England towards some respectability.”When you come up against Alana King in the middle overs, she had it on a piece of string,” Sciver-Brunt said. “She bowled really well and challenged us a lot. She obviously made it very difficult for us to accelerate through those middle overs. But it’s a balance, isn’t it? In 50-over cricket, going too early and then being all out for 160-180 versus trying to stay in the game for as long as possible.”Sutherland’s unbeaten 98 followed up her three-for as she took home the Player-of-the-Match honours. In the process, she laid down a template for England’s batters to ponder.

His century, after 83 innings and 807 days, shows why Pakistan cricket refuses to move on from him

Danyal Rasool15-Nov-2025Above all, it was the authenticity. At a moment when all around him struggled to capture the moment, Babar Azam simply wanted to live it. Waqar Younis, on commentary, tried to come up with something lyrical to say. Ultimately, he only managed “here we go” as Pramod Madushan ran in, and then “there we go”, when Babar pulled him in front of square to bring up his 20th hundred. ESPNcricinfo’s own ball-by-ball strained for effect as it tried to sum up the magnitude of the event. Fans at the ground, and at home on TV, and on social media, had their phones out, looking for the shot that would surely go viral.The man himself cantered to the other end, his beaming smile shining through his helmet. When he removed it, there was no exaggerated celebration for the cameras, no feigned nonchalance. It was a relieved smile when the helmet came off. He glanced to the skies, he looked down at the floor, and then, he fell to his knees, his face out of the shot. At that moment, he was falling in love with cricket once more.Tellingly he had not, until now, raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd. The sport that has bestowed him with a level of individual fame and popularity perhaps not seen for a cricketer in this country since the days of Imran Khan has, of late, also felt like the chain that shackled him. For now, however, the moment was about him, as well as the uncomplicated joy of batting – a joy that first got him into this position of sport as a vocation, long before everything else about it became so very complicated.Related

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It was also just a reminder of how genuine Babar can be, in an age where sportspeople have even the semblance of a personality media-trained out of them. Babar had no contrived soundbites at the post-match presentations, and then the press conference, which stars tend to reserve for their comebacks. In fact, there really wasn’t anything beyond the banal at all.He was at the business end of criticism for similar banality during his stint as captain so often. On Pakistan’s bad days, he didn’t have much to say, and on the good ones, there wasn’t much to say at all. He hasn’t done much press in the years since, but as he stood in front of the mic after his century, the years appeared to melt away: he thanked God, he was happy to be back among the runs, and he was grateful to his supporters. He ignored his critics, and he wanted to win matches for his team. What more was there to say?The relief is palpable on his face after Babar Azam completes his century after a long wait•AFP/Getty ImagesPerhaps nothing to say for Babar, but his fans and detractors alike haven’t exactly kept silent. We are all now beholden to a social media algorithm, and there is no name in Pakistan cricket that whirs it into gear as much as Babar’s. Whether he is captain or not. Whether he scores runs or not. Whether he’s even playing or not. After all, this is a man who – in a surreal period around late summer 2024 – saw the positioning of the big toe on his left foot become a focus of almost comical scrutiny as a potential explanation for his loss of form.Over the best part of the last three years, when all Babar may have wanted was just a little bit of space – to go away and be forgotten about for a little while – the asphyxiating attention only squeezed tighter. Fans and media alike kept him on display like an exotic animal at a tawdry petting zoo. Those who once prematurely anointed him as “King Babar” had, by now, turned it into something of a meme.But for all the toxicity in Pakistan cricket and the ferocity of its critics, legitimate and otherwise, they never stood a chance against his tsunami of supporters. At the depths of his nadir, stadiums across Pakistan – and indeed wherever its diaspora exists – would pack themselves to watch him bat, however fleeting his innings might be. In the Cape Town Test earlier this year, after he scored 81 and came to do press, the Pakistan team bus’s departure was delayed because Babar’s supporters tried to mob him, hoping for an autograph, a selfie, or indeed just a couple of words. Similar scenes have played out in Melbourne, London, and even New York.

Perhaps disconcertingly for the rest of the team, the fall of Pakistan’s first wicket has begun to be cheered loudly, simply because it brings Babar to the crease. The streaming out of supporters from stadiums whenever he gets out is a throwback to the days of Shahid Afridi, when one man’s performance was often the spectacle within the spectacle.

Perhaps disconcertingly for the rest of the team, the fall of Pakistan’s first wicket has begun to be cheered loudly, simply because it brings Babar to the crease. The streaming out of supporters from stadiums whenever he gets out is a throwback to the days of Shahid Afridi, when one man’s performance was often the spectacle within the spectacle.It was no different on Friday, with Rawalpindi Stadium never fuller than in the chilly evening when Saim Ayub fell in the tenth over. Babar’s knock began like any other innings – with a few solid shots, a brief scare here and there. It may have ended with a whimper very early on, as plenty of his 83 century-less knocks have over the past couple of years. Like when, after scratching five runs off his first 14 balls, he mistimed the 15th one almost straight back to Madushan. Or when he played a pull off a long hop and found short midwicket, who couldn’t quite cling on.It would also be a superb feat of narrative chicanery to suggest anything was written in the stars. The last two years have been littered by “predictions” from fans who are certain the next innings is the one Babar finally breaks his drought in, when every cover drive and every time he ticks up beyond 20 is a harbinger of something special. But things began to get serious when, instead of those prophecies, a tense silence emerged. On this site’s ball-by-ball commentaries, any references what he was approaching were angrily hushed by his supporters, afraid the mere mention of it would render it a mirage.Babar Azam was with Mohammad Rizwan when he broke his drought•AFP/Getty ImagesBut as the temperatures dipped into single digits and the spectators huddled together, for comfort as much as for warmth, Babar showed no signs of the mental or technical fragilities that have tripped him up so often in the recent past.If he needed further reassurance of the good old times, of course it was his mate Mohammad Rizwan at the other end: soon, the two were guiding Pakistan in a chase together, just as they used to do. It was Rizwan who took care of the asking rate, knocking off the runs and taking the pressure off his long-time T20 opening partner.In the press conference, when asked what he thought when the critics had piled on, he simply said, “I ignored them.” The arc of the rest of his innings itself might have demanded a scare here, a chance there; in truth, Babar similarly gave it nothing. His knock was becoming a routine march to three figures, and as he began to approach it, the tension seemed to ease instead of mount. He had, after all, been here before. More often, in fact than any Pakistan batter in the history of ODI cricket.The 90s were when he looked at his most comfortable, reserving the shot of the innings to take him to 97: a glorious drive past mid-off, in all its vintage Babar splendour. Often criticised for slowing down ahead of a personal milestone, he took just nine balls to get from 90 to his hundred – a milestone he seemed to greet like an old friend, rather than one he has been a stranger to for the better part of three years.As he brought up his century, his old friend Rizwan raised his arms aloft in delight, as if he’d been the one to just get to a milestone. In the years in between, these men have been appointed captain and then dumped at different times, somewhat unceremoniously in both cases. Bonds are never more brittle than they are with Pakistan’s cricketing stars locked in a power struggle, but Babar and Rizwan are too experienced to let those trivialities get in the way of a moment like that.Once he’d picked himself up off his knees, Babar raised his bat and gloves to the shivering huddle still within the cosy little ground as midnight approached. And then, he embraced Rizwan, the man he’d have wanted by his side for such a moment when, or in the darker moments as he might have wondered, if, it arrived. A journalist later on found himself in tears when he asked Babar about his return to form, with nearly the entire press pack – his fiercest critics among them – mobbing him for a group photograph after it was all done.No matter how hard the critics, or at times even those within the PCB, might try and move on, Pindi last night proved that there is still, in Pakistan cricket, nothing quite like Babar Azam. And when, in times when there is little uncomplicated joy to be found in Pakistan, he can deliver it like he did last night, you can begin to see why his supporters – and the man himself – refuse to move on and go away.