India would be aiming for a clean-sweep to dent England's confidence a bit more in the third and final One-Day International, their final ODI outing before the ICC Champions Trophy in less than five months, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's mentor VVS Laxman has said that opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan's form is not a matter of concern for the team and added that domestic players need to score runs.
'18 threats' that international cricket faces right now
Skipper Virat Kohli smashed a majestic 122 while Kedar Jadhav conjured up a career-best 120 before India's lower middle-order held nerves to pull off an incredible three-wicket victory over England in the first One-day International.
England's death bowling prowess played a crucial role in their progress to the World Twenty20 final and could be a potent weapon against the big-hitting West Indies batsmen at Eden Gardens on Sunday. While England have eked out victories in their last two matches by being miserly in the final overs, West Indies have largely banked on their powerful batsmen to chase down targets in the tournament. Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan defended 22 runs in the final two overs as England beat Sri Lanka by 10 runs while the fast bowling duo gave away just 20 in the last four in the semi-final against New Zealand. England captain Eoin Morgan said that gave his side extra confidence going into the title clash against the hard-hitting Caribbean team. "It's a small ground here given that it could be a good wicket, that's going to be a key area for us," Morgan told reporters on Saturday.
Images from Saturday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, in Abu Dhabi.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is too familiar with the fickleness of cricket's shortest format to take his team's red-hot form for granted going into Wednesday's World Twenty20 semi-final against England. The Kiwis cruised into the last four as the only unbeaten team in the tournament to book a clash with England who seem to be peaking at the right time. "I know that going into tomorrow, it's a big, exciting match but our feet are firmly on the ground and we going to be running to perform our plans as best as we can," the bearded 25-year-old told reporters at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Williamson has displayed the tactical flexibility required to win a major tournament by sacrificing pace and gambling with three spinners, a ploy that paid off in the tournament opener against hosts India.
Desperate to break their title jinx, Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping for a positive start to their campaign in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
England batsman James Taylor concedes it was "massively disappointing" to be left out of the squad for the ongoing tour of West Indies but the blow has been softened by news he will captain the side in a one-day match against Ireland next week.
Alex Hales wrote his name in the history books when he slammed a 60-ball ton to guide England home in a pulsating World T20 encounter against Sri Lanka.
Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Thisara Perera will be part of the World XI in the Twenty20 International against the West Indies, at Lord's on May 31, the ICC announced on Thursday.
After Stokes's heroics with the bat had helped England score 330 for six in their 50 overs, South Africa needed 10 runs from the last 10 balls of their innings with five wickets remaining, but an excellent final over from Wood that cost just four runs sealed victory.
Images from the ICC Champions Trophy match between England and Pakistan in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Explosive all-rounder Ben Stokes and relentless run accumulator Steve Smith could not be more different in their approaches to the game but both roared back from personally adversity to bestride an extraordinary cricketing year. Virat Kohli and his men top the confused and confusing World Test Championship table with seven wins in as many matches, including their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh last month. That victory marked their 12th consecutive Test series win at home.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
The tournament, which has been shifted to the UAE due to five million plus COVID cases in India, is a 'TV-only event', expected to be lapped up by all and sundry who crave for cricket and Bollywood in equal measure during prime time.
'The advantage probably lies with England, obviously being at home and with such a long tour.'
Australia still searching for their best formula in ODIs, says Finch
Taylor, who missed the third game in Wellington with a quadriceps injury, was limping badly after he appeared to suffer a similar strain but still combined with Tom Latham (71) for 187 runs as New Zealand scored 339 for five in 49.3 overs to chase down England's 335 for nine.
Kohli lauded the effort of his bowlers to come back at the back end and restrict England to a sub-par score while praising Hardik Pandya and centurion Rohit Sharma for their efforts with the bat.
England's Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow struck half centuries to guide the hosts to a four-wicket victory over Pakistan in the fourth one-day international in Leeds on Thursday as they went 4-0 ahead in the five-match series.
Images from the World Cup second semi-final between England and Australia in Birmingham, on Thursday.
'It's not really a surprise (the rule was changed). I genuinely think that no one ever thought that was going to happen and it did'
A brilliant century by Jos Buttler and a more routine one from Jason Roy fired England to an 84-run win over Pakistan in a high-scoring final one-day international in Dubai on Friday and a 3-1 victory in the series.
England cricket chiefs have moved quickly to make it clear that Alastair Cook's dismissal as one-day captain has not opened the door for a return to international cricket for batsman Kevin Pietersen.
Joe Root's third hundred powered England to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth One-day international in Pallekele on Thursday and kept alive their hopes in the seven-match series. After rain forced play to be suspended on Wednesday, the visitors returned to chase down a 240-run victory target and won with five balls to spare.
The World's top-ranked ODI team lost by six runs after just failing to pull off what would have been the second highest one-day international run chase.
In a bid to convince foreign players to fly down to Lahore and play in the final of the second edition of Pakistan Super League, the Pakistan Cricket Board is luring overseas recruits with extra money and better accomodation facilities at the National Cricket Academy.
England women's cricket captain Heather Knight says, given the Eoin Morgan-led team have lost a few games, I think some people have written them off, so in some ways they would come in under the radar if they do reach the semis.
Images from the third and final Twenty20 international between India and England at Bengaluru on Wednesday.
India captain Virat Kohli said the team had the "belief" to win the match and level the series even after posting a modest score on the board and termed the bowling efforts of veteran Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah as "outstanding".
England's Liam Plunkett smashed the last ball of the match for six to earn his team a dramatic tie with Sri Lanka in the first one-day international in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Limited overs stalwarts Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed scintillating centuries to help India secure a series-clinching 15-run victory in the second one-day international against England.
The good thing about the format of this World Cup tournament is the best four teams will go through. All the teams will play each other once, there's nine games each before those semi-finals, so I don't think England will be too worried. They'll learn from things that didn't quite go so well, writes England Women's cricket team captain Heather Knight in her column.
Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Eoin Morgan said absence of paceman Ashish Nehra hurt them badly as they suffered a narrow defeat against Delhi Daredevils.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have captain written against his name one last time when the talismanic wicketkeeper-batsman leads out India 'A' against England in the first practice match, in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Back to their winning ways after sucessive victories, a rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to continue their good run when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab in an IPL T20 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.
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40 must know nuggets about the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
England's security advisor Reg Dickason has played down speculations that his side's Muslim players, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have any concerns about touring India for the five-match Test series, starting from November 9 in Gujarat. Dickason's comments came following reports of Pakistan origin ICC Elite panel umpire Aleem Dar's withdrawal from standing in the series due to the escalating tension between India and Pakistan.
