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Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav are the other Indians to move up after their series sweep over New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2023Mohammed Siraj has become to world’s No. 1 bowler in the men’s ODI rankings for the first time, replacing Trent Boult at the top after India swept New Zealand 3-0 at home. Shubman Gill, meanwhile, has moved up 20 spots to No. 6 on the batters’ table, one place above Virat Kohli, after scoring 360 runs in the three ODIs against New Zealand, including a double-century and a century.Siraj was third on the wicket-takers’ table for the series against New Zealand after picking up five wickets in two games, behind Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav, who both had six strikes. But that haul made it 14 wickets in five ODIs – with the three games against Sri Lanka in the earlier series added – for him, and contributed to his rise past Boult, who didn’t travel to India and last played ODI cricket in September last year. Boult is currently in third place, with Josh Hazlewood at No. 2.Gill, too, has been in stellar form, with 207 runs in the three-ODI series against Sri Lanka in January, including a century and a half-century. Kohli hasn’t been too shabby himself, scoring two centuries in three matches against Sri Lanka.

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Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, has jumped two places up to No. 8 among batters after his 85-ball 101 in the third ODI against New Zealand.Ireland’s Harry Tector and Josh Little also made gains following their recent series against Zimbabwe which ended 1-1. Tector, who scored one century and a fifty to total 176 runs across three games, has jumped 12 places up to 13th among ODI batters, while Little, who has been impressive in recent times, has moved 27 places to No. 33 among the bowlers.

Little, Hume and Adair shared seven of the nine wickets to keep Ireland hopeful but it wasn’t to be

Mohammad Isam09-May-2023Match abandoned South Africa were confirmed their direct qualification for the men’s ODI World Cup later this year after the first ODI between Ireland and Bangladesh was called off due to rain in Chelmsford. Ireland, who now have 73 points, will play the World Cup Qualifier as they won’t go past South Africa’s 98 even if they win the next two games.Ireland were 65 for three in the 17th over, chasing Bangladesh’s 246 for 9, when play was stopped at 4:34pm local time. The match was called off at 7pm local time when the ground was deemed too wet to be fixed up for even a 20-over game, that could have started around 8:10pm.Ireland’s bowlers did a decent job of restricting Bangladesh to a below-par total on a good pitch. Josh Little took 3-61 while there were two wickets each for Graham Hume and Mark Adair.Mushfiqur Rahim marked his 36th birthday with a half-century in front of a 3,000-plus crowd that mostly had Bangladesh fans. He had some help from Najmul Hossain Shanto, who made 44, but the visitors couldn’t put up a big total.Yet, it wasn’t easy for the home side. Ireland couldn’t quite get going despite Paul Stirling’s best intentions. He struck two fours and a six but Shoriful Islam’s tight angles got him to cut one to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at backward point. In a fine opening spell from the other end, Hasan Mahmud got one to nip back through Andrew Balbirnie’s defence to clean bowl him.Taijul Islam dropped Harry Tector off his own bowling in the 14th over, before taking Stephen Doheny’s straightforward chance in his next. Doheny struggled during his 17 off 39 balls, as Ireland couldn’t attack Bangladesh’s opening burst. The over after Doheny’s exit, though, the players had to get off the field as it had become very dark and the covers were brought on.Hasan Mahmud celebrates with team-mates the dismissal of Andy Balbirnie•Cricket Ireland

Bangladesh’s innings was built around Mushfiqur’s half-century and Shanto’s support act after the visitors lost two wickets in the first four overs. Little removed Litton with a searing yorker, lbw for a golden duck. Adair then had Tamim Iqbal caught behind for 14, when he had the left-hander drive at a wide delivery.Bangladesh had a chance to recover through the middle overs but Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Shanto threw away good starts. Hume cleaned up Shakib when the left-hander missed a wild heave. Fifty runs later, Shanto, who looked in good touch, hit Curtis Campher down Adair’s throat at deep midwicket. He struck seven fours in his 66-ball stay, adding a half-century stand for the fourth wicket with Hridoy, who fell soon after for 27 to give Hume his second wicket.Ireland could have hurt Bangladesh further but Tector dropped an easy chance from Mushfiqur off Campher when the batter was on 19. Bangladesh rebuilt again, Mushfiqur and No. 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz adding 65 runs for the sixth wicket, giving Bangladesh some hope of a good finish. But after hitting some pretty shots and providing good support for Mushfiqur, Mehidy holed out in the deep on the leg side for 27 against the run of play in the 38th over.Mushfiqur then went on to reach his 44th ODI fifty but fell after adding a further 33 runs for the seventh wicket with Taijul Islam, holing out to the sweeper cover.

Kyle Jamieson’s runs have helped New Zealand deal with Colin de Grandhomme’s absence, the coach says

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2020With Kane Williamson’s partner Sarah Raheem due to give birth to their first child later this month, the New Zealand captain might have to take paternity leave. The team will be perfectly fine with that, with Gary Stead, the coach, saying that sometimes “other things are much more important” than cricket, and if Williamson misses some matches, so be it.

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Speaking a day after New Zealand wrapped up an innings-and-134-run win over West Indies in the first of their two Tests, Stead said, “Worst case scenario, Kane misses some matches. As a dad, as a parent, you only get that opportunity once in your life to be there for your (first) child’s birth and I know that it’s important for Kane too. At the end of the day, we play cricket, and other things are much more important. And that is much more important.”ALSO READ: Stats – Williamson doubles his ten-hour tallyThe second Test against West Indies will start on December 11, and once that series gets over, New Zealand host Pakistan for three T20Is and two Tests from December 18. If Williamson does miss some of those games, Will Young, who made his international debut in the first Test – and scored 5 in the team’s 519 for 7 declared in their only innings – will be the “natural replacement”, Stead said.Looking back at the big win in Hamilton, Stead pointed out that the emergence of some players, Kyle Jamieson in particular, had made life easier for the team management. “With Colin (de Grandhomme) not being available, it (Jamieson’s all-round performance) gave us some potential to look at things in a different way,” Stead said. “Kyle Jamieson’s batting has really come on and whilst it’s not in the Colin de Grandhomme category now, I guess it’s something that we hope for that he will keep striving towards being there in the future.”(It was) a very clinical performance throughout, when you lose the toss and get inserted… there’s always a few nerves about how much the wicket will do. I thought the pitch played really well throughout – it kept good bounce throughout and that was pleasing for us.”The win, inside four days, was set up by Williamson, who scored a Test-best 251 to lead the New Zealand batting charge. “Kane’s innings was obviously very special. I think he showed his skill, his temperament, his patience all in one innings,” Stead said. “Our partnerships the guys built around with Kane was the reason we got up to the score we did and put us in a position of strength.”

Testing and the retesting that followed hasn’t shifted Pakistan’s focus away from cricket, says the captain

Umar Farooq27-Jun-2020Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali has said he and his team-mates made a pact during lockdown to keep their fitness intact so that the moment cricket could resume they would all be ready.The Pakistanis haven’t played any competitive cricket since the Pakistan Super League was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March earlier this year. However, with a tour of England on the horizon, some players have been working out at makeshift home gyms while those based in Lahore have been using the Qadar academy and the head coach Misbah-ul-Haq’s private net facility.Once Pakistan’s primary squad arrives in the UK, they start with two weeks of quarantine at Worcester, during which they’ll be able to train, and then move to Derby. They’re also set to play two internal warm-up gamess before the three Tests and three T20Is in August and September.”We are happy now,” Ali said in a pre-departure video conference from a hotel room in Lahore. “The wait is over and cricket is resuming. There is a lot of excitement and hunger to play cricket. For long, we were not able to play the cricket, a game we love the most and this was the toughest time. We’ve been through a lot of challenges in last few months being at home. We all have been in touch with each other on WhatsApp group and made a pact that we have to keep our fitness intact.”There were several who made gyms at home, few had found an isolated place to keep it going and made sure that we have keep our physical fitness. Because we know if we are in good shape, we can work on our skills at any stage later to regain our momentum. Now, we have a month in England for preparation and hopefully this is a sufficient time to focus on skills and get back in our groove.”ALSO READ: Hafeez among six Pakistanis to return negative resultsThe PCB had initially planned to send a squad of 29 players to the UK, but earlier this week ten of them tested positive for coronavirus. On Saturday, Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive, announced that six of those ten returned negative results when they were tested a second time. The primary squad that will fly from Lahore to Manchester on Sunday will include 20 players and 11 support staff. The others will join them after returning two negative tests.”We weren’t worried assuming we don’t have any symptoms,” Ali said. “In fact, we never really imagined that few can still get positive result without even having any sign. So there and then we all started to get worried because we had spent tough times waiting for cricket and once it is about to start .. this sudden thing [ten players testing positive] happened. But then if anything like this meant to happen, you cannot control it. We knew about the testing process and we had to go though at least two tests before going to England so we were mentally prepared. But obviously this news about positive gave us a scare.”Did the testing and retesting that followed take Pakistan’s focus away from cricket? “Now this is a part and parcel of the game and we will get used to of it,” Ali said. There were [the] first couple of tests and once you are in a bio-secure environment you feel totally different. We were at home and came here [hotel] and we started to feel more secure. There are still challenges but cricket has to move forward this way for some time. It’s a tough time and we will try to entertain all the people out there waiting for cricket. So the boys are confident and looking forward for the tour which hopefully will go smoothly.”Pakistan last played Test cricket in February, when teenaged quick Naseem Shah ripped through Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. They were scheduled to play the second Test later in April, but the pandemic had thrown the sporting calendar out of gear by then. However, Ali still drew confidence from their recent success at home and previous trip to England in 2018.”Batting in England has always been tough but we did well in our previous outing,” he said. “At home in our previous Test, our batsmen had scored a lot of centuries and confidence is still there. So we have a lot to take to England. In England once we get 300-plus runs on the board, then I am hopeful that we will do well in the Test matches.”

Alex Carey was unbeaten at stumps with a chance to build a substantial innings

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2023Three late blows from Fergus O’Neill had Victoria on the verge of an important Sheffield Shield victory over South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.The Redbacks slumped to 49 for 3 at stumps on day three in pursuit of 258. After taking 5 for 28 in South Australia’s first innings, O’Neill stepped up again to continue his breakout season. The bustling quick dismissed openers Henry Hunt and Jake Carder, as well as captain Jake Lehmann to a sharp return catch, to have the hosts reeling at 29 for 3.Related

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Nathan McSweeney and Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey were able to guide South Australia to stumps and give them an outside chance of victory on Friday.Earlier, one-Test batter Will Pucovski carved out his best score of the Shield season with a patient 65 in Victoria’s second innings total of 231.After having a 26-run first-innings lead, Victoria recovered from a poor start at 27 for 3 to grind their way towards a competitive total.Campbell Kellaway (46) and Peter Handscomb (44) both made valuable contributions in the middle order to frustrate the Redbacks.SA pace bowler Wes Agar finished with match figures of 8 for 97 after adding to his five-wicket haul in the first innings including that of Pucovski to a delivery that nipped back. Nathan McAndrew was also dangerous for the Redbacks, claiming 4 for 50.The result will be a crucial one as the match is the last for two months due to the upcoming start of the Big Bash League.Both teams have managed two wins from their first five games, but a victory here would put them as high as third on the ladder.

The allrounder tweaked his back during against West Indies and will miss the final series before the World Cup

Alex Malcolm17-Feb-2024Marcus Stoinis has been ruled out of Australia’s three-match T20I series in New Zealand due to a back issue with fellow West Australian allrounder Aaron Hardie called in for Australia’s last series before the T20 World Cup in June.Australia vice-captain and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is also set to miss game one of the series on Wednesday in Wellington due to the impending birth of his third child but is expected to be available for the final two games in Auckland on Friday and Sunday.Stoinis tweaked his back in the warm-up of the second T20I against West Indies in Adelaide last Sunday but was still able to play. He made 16 off 15 with the bat but played a role in feeding the strike to Glenn Maxwell in an 80-run stand before picking up 3 for 36 to continue his excellent bowling form.Related

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But after the long flight to Perth, he missed Tuesday’s third match against West Indies and has subsequently been ruled out of the T20I series against New Zealand having not fully resolved the back complaint. Stoinis is expected to be fit for the IPL which begins in late March.Hardie is currently playing for Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in Hobart and did not travel with the squad on Saturday but will join the squad before the opening match.Stoinis remains a key figure in Australia’s T20I set-up despite losing his place in the ODI side for the World Cup semi and final last year. He was one of Australia’s most important players in the T20 World Cup triumph in 2021, playing match-winning hands against South Africa and then Pakistan in the semi-final. He also made a stunning half-century against Sri Lanka in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. His bowling has been important for Australia as well, having become a key wicket-taker over the past year in both the powerplay and middle overs.But his injury issues remain a concern for both he and Australia’s hierarchy. Australia have been reluctant to bowl him in back-to-back games due to his history and he missed games in the lead-up to and during the ODI World Cup because of several different soft tissue injuries.Australia’s other allrounders also have their bespoke injury concerns with captain Mitchell Marsh’s ankle requiring ongoing management as does Maxwell’s previously broken leg.Spin bowling allrounder Matthew Short also has an injury cloud heading to New Zealand after suffering a low-grade hamstring injury in the ODI series against West Indies which forced him to miss the T20Is.Hardie gets his chance to put forth a case for the T20 World Cup as a back-up allrounder who can bat in the middle-order if Stoinis has more injury trouble at the tournament proper. Cameron Green was not considered to be called into the New Zealand series with Australia’s selectors preferring him to remain red-ball focussed ahead of the New Zealand Test tour. Green will then play a full IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore to push his case for the World Cup squad.Fast bowler Nathan Ellis returns from a rib injury and looms as Australia’s preferred back-up quick behind Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who will all play in the New Zealand series.Sean Abbott and Jason Behrendorff are on standby for the New Zealand series although Abbott is still managing a shoulder issue that ruled him out of the final two T20Is against West Indies.Steven Smith and Travis Head both return to the T20 side for the New Zealand tour after resting from the West Indies series and look likely to be given several opportunities each in the top three as Australia tries to bed down their best side for the World Cup.

They lost a wicket in each session on day three and whittled their deficit to 63 by stumps

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Jan-2020
Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis led Sri Lanka’s steady progress on day three, as the visitors finished just 63 runs adrift, with six wickets still in hand. They lost a wicket in each session on what was a still placid Harare Sports Club surface. The most likely route to a result in this Test may be for Sri Lanka to establish a big lead in the first innings, then dismiss Zimbabwe cheaply.While Mathews started slowly, making only 18 runs off his first 61 deliveries, Mendis ticked the score over through the first session. Although both batsmen were tetchy against Zimbabwe’s seam bowlers, who got more lateral movement off this surface than Sri Lanka’s quicks had, they were confident against the hosts’ spinners, who even by the end of the day had failed to seriously impose themselves on the match. Mendis was ruthless on errors of length in particular, favouring the slap-pull that is a hallmark of his game.He reached fifty off the 118th ball he faced – a slower rate of scoring than is typical for Mendis, but understandable given the nature of the surface, and the fact that this was his first half-century in four Tests. Soon after, he would surge into the 60s, by hitting three consecutive fours off Sikandar Raza’s first over, as the bowler repeatedly bowled either too short or too full. Mendis’ eventual dismissal came against the run of play, as he drove at a full, wide delivery from Victor Nyauchi, and edged the ball to wide slip. He had made 80 off 163 deliveries.By the time Mendis was dismissed, Mathews had settled a little. Although he played and missed frequently at the start of his innings, and had also been nervy between the wickets, he had applied himself admirably despite all this, and was 36 off 119 balls when he got a new partner. He continued to bat sagely, defending more-or-less impeccably, though waiting for only the most egregious bowling errors to attempt a boundary. When he got to fifty, off the 154th ball he faced, he had hit three fours and a six – every one of those off a spin bowler. In fact, he’d only hit one four off the seamers the entire day, a beautifully timed flick off his thigh off Donald Tiripano in the 96th over. He ended the day eight runs short of a well-deserved century, though his strike rate was down at 36.Zimbabwe will perhaps feel that they should have got more than three wickets for their own perseverance on this docile pitch. They beat the bat of virtually every Sri Lanka batsman, and debutant Nyauchi was particularly threatening in the morning session. He had opposition captain Dimuth Karunaratne flicking aerially to short midwicket in the first session – Ainsley Ndlovu taking an excellent low catch. He also dismissed Mendis shortly before tea, and later finished the day with 2 for 38 from 22 overs, his economy rate an outstanding 1.72.The only wicket that didn’t fall to Nyauchi in the day was that of Dinesh Chandimal, and that was a stroke of extreme luck. Chandimal had deadbatted his way through most of the 31 deliveries he had faced, when he attempted to push a Sean Williams ball down the ground, but only managed to hit it on to his boot. The ball then leapt up towards Williams, who snaffled it and appealed for the catch. Replays suggested the ball had not hit the ground thanks to Chandimal’s boot. He was out for 12.That dismissal was partly the result of Zimbabwe delaying to take the second new ball, as Chandimal was dismissed in the 82nd over. They did eventually take the new ball after 88 overs, but Dhananjaya de Silva seemed at ease at virtually everything Zimbabwe threw at him late in the day, and progressed to 42 not out off 73 balls.

A family matter has forced the keeper-batter to leave Bangladesh’s bio-bubble

Mohammad Isam26-Jul-2021Liton Das became the latest Bangladesh player to be ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Australia, after a family matter forced him to leave the Zimbabwe bio-bubble on Monday evening. Upon his return to Dhaka sometime on Tuesday, Das will be unable to join the Dhaka quarantine, which automatically puts him out of the squad.”Liton is out of the series,” Akram Khan, chairman of the BCB’s cricket operations, said. “He has to attend to a family matter, for which we can’t really do anything. We initially had a 20-man squad but after Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim had to pull out, Liton is also not in the squad. We are down to 17 players. The quarantine in Dhaka started on July 20, so we can only have the players who are traveling back from Zimbabwe on July 28.”Related

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Das was initially thought to be one of several injury concerns after he suffered a left thigh injury during the first T20I against Zimbabwe on July 20. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin told ESPNcricinfo on Monday afternoon that Das and Mustafizur Rahman could be available from the third match against Australia, fitness permitting.”Liton and Mustafiz should be available from the second or third game,” Abedin had said. “We are not too worried about them. They will be back. Overall, we are confident about the squad. We have just won a T20 series [away against Zimbabwe].”Das didn’t bat in the first T20I and later missed the second and third T20Is against Zimbabwe. Rahman only played one ODI and one T20I during the tour after suffering an ankle injury on July 14 during a tour match. Apart from them, Soumya Sarkar is nursing a groin niggle from the third T20I on Sunday, while Shakib Al Hasan is understood to be managing a long-standing groin injury.The selectors, however, don’t have to announce a squad in advance – according to the playing conditions agreed by the two boards, the teams can only field players who have either been in quarantine in Dhaka since July 20, or been a part of the tours in Zimbabwe and, in Australia’s case, the West Indies. For Bangladesh, the 18-man squad involved in the 2-1 series win in Zimbabwe will move directly to the team hotel in Dhaka after reaching the country on July 29.Among those originally named in the Zimbabwe tour squad, Tamim Iqbal is out with a knee injury while Mushfiqur Rahim is out after he was forced to miss the July 20 quarantine deadline because of a family matter. Legspinner Aminul Islam is also out of contention after he travelled back to Bangladesh midway through the T20I series following the death of his father.Bangladesh have added Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Mithun and Mosaddek Hossain, who were part of the ODI squad, to make up for the missing players in the T20I squad.Bangladesh T20I squad: Mahmudullah (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan (wk), Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Naim, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Afif Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Shamim Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan.

Mathews fell for 39 in his farewell Test, even as Chandimal’s fifty helped SL reduce deficit to 127

Madushka Balasuriya19-Jun-2025Partnerships were the name of the game for Sri Lanka as every top-order batter chipped in to whittle away at Bangladesh’s healthy first-innings total of 495. By stumps, Sri Lanka’s deficit had been trimmed to just 127.A majority of it was cut down courtesy Pathum Nissanka, who struck a career-best 187 off 256 balls. It was his first ton on home soil, and a knock that had seen him dominate from the first new ball to the second. He would have been eyeing a maiden Test double hundred – to go with one in ODIs – but that second new ball and the unpredictability of a wobble seam combined to dislodge him, as Hasan Mahmud sneaked an inducker through bat and pad late in the day.That wicket may end up keeping Bangladesh’s heads from dropping heading into day four, after the Sri Lanka batters had spent the majority of day three steadily shaking out any confidence the visitors may have gathered during their dominance on the opening two days.Nissanka was part of four steady stands, alongside Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis, which were worth 47, 157, 89, and 38, respectively. More pressingly for Bangladesh, the scoring during each of these stands came at a fair clip, with Sri Lanka’s run rate consistently hovering around four an over.Dinesh Chandimal and Pathum Nissanka added 147 for the second wicket•Sri Lanka Cricket

But even following Nissanka’s dismissal, any respite seemed short lived as Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu already sped to a stand of 37 off 45 deliveries by the end of play. For Bangladesh, the four wickets were shared equally among Mahmud, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Mominul Haque. But with three of the five bowlers employed going at over four runs runs an over, it was a tough day out for the visitors.On a surface that had started showing signs of deterioration – but one that was still good for batting by Galle’s usual day three standards – Sri Lanka’s batters showed Bangladesh where theirs had faltered. Well, as much as you could falter having scored 495.Bangladesh had spent the first two days content at progressing at a touch above three runs an over, rarely shifting pressure on to the Sri Lanka bowlers. In the end, it proved to be the difference between a total of near-500 and perhaps 600.Fine margins, usually, but with Sri Lanka knocking off 75% of Bangladesh’s total in just three sessions, there now lies the very real possibility that Bangladesh could be asked to bat out day five – rain allowing – just to save the Test. And while this Galle surface has been more batter-friendly than usual, the ball misbehaved occasionally, and you imagine that will only get more frequent over the next two days.That said, Sri Lanka still have work to do to make that possibility a reality. But you wouldn’t back against them judging by how they went about their batting across the day.Angelo Mathews got a guard of honour from the Bangladesh players•Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

Aside from a brief period before tea, when scoring slowed to a trickle, Sri Lanka’s batters had it all their own way. This was down to a combination of positive intent from the batters, and some inconsistent lines and lengths from the Bangladesh bowlers. Nissanka, in particular, was batting with supreme authority: anything short was dispatched square, and anything overpitched was laced through the covers.His aggression, and ability to alleviate even small periods of pressure with a boundary or two, meant the pressure on his partners was kept to a minimum. It saw Chandimal notch up a 33rd Test fifty, while Mathews, too, might have enjoined a similar milestone if not for being at the end of one of those rare deliveries that misbehaved. Mominul, the part-timer, got one to dip and turn past Mathews’ forward defence, tickling the outside edge on the way.Each of the wickets to fall, in fact, were against the run of play. Debutant Udara had made it look a far cry from his first Test during a fluent 34-ball 29, before chipping a leading edge back to Taijul. Chandimal, meanwhile, clipped a leg-side offbreak low to leg slip off Nayeem.But with each wicket, Sri Lanka simply dusted themselves off and set about putting together another brisk stand. It was a sharp contrast from Bangladesh’s innings, which had two mammoth stands in the middle, but either side of those had only one reach even 20.Sri Lanka had begun the day with similar efficiency, wrapping up the Bangladesh innings inside the first 15 minutes of the morning session. Asitha Fernando did the honours, ending with figures of 4 for 86.

Unbeaten 70 from Australian opener proves decisive as Welsh Fire fall short of famous comeback

ECB Media09-Aug-2025David Warner made his first half-century in the Hundred to see London Spirit take the spoils against Welsh Fire in Cardiff, despite a thrilling, unbeaten 86 from Jonny Bairstow in response.Like a boxer on the ropes, Bairstow sat back and absorbed the blows as his Fire team fell to 55 for 6 at the halfway point of their reply, before launching a high-octane counterattack that took them close to a famous victory.Bairstow’s 50-ball innings contained six sixes, and saw 74 runs plundered from balls 66 to 95, leaving 17 required off the last five of the innings. As the Sophia Gardens crowd belted out “Wales, Wales, Wales!” it appeared that Bairstow – ably supported by Chris Green – would pull off the comeback but Luke Wood got Spirit over the line.Warner’s innings was a different affair, but was equally effective in driving the visitors – the Australian legend using his experience and nous to work out a defendable total on a track that had something for the bowlers.David Warner made his first fifty of the Hundred•Getty Images

With the ball, before the Bairstow show, Liam Dawson and Richard Gleeson were both parsimonious and though they may briefly have feared that their hard work would be undone it was runs on the board that emerged victorious in the end, Kane Williamson and Justin Langer getting off and running and consigning Fire to a second defeat in two.Warner, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “That got very close at the end, and credit to the way Jonny and Greeny batted. They were absolutely superb. The partnership they built was fantastic, and what it did do was what we’re trying to do here – entertain the crowd and hopefully everyone was excited by that game.”I think what the guys were saying there was that across the last 25-30 balls it wasn’t that stoppy. It skidded, but it was still slow in the wicket. We tried to execute as well as we could but Jonny was on fire there, he was hitting the ball cleanly and obviously we got over the line but it was a good effort by them.”When you’re out there batting, the five balls and then 10 balls from one end – you think you have to change ends as a batter. I’m getting used to it, but what I am loving is the crowds. It’s fantastic. It’s all about the kids, and us trying to put entertainment on the TV – credit to everyone who came out today, thank you.”This is a really important win for us. We lost our first game at home but we’ve got an away game in Manchester coming up, and hopefully we can tick that off.”