Royal Challengers Bengaluru raced to their first IPL final since 2016 with an eight-wicket thrashing of Punjab Kings in a lopsided Qualifier 1 match.
Australia's historic pedigree in cricket's biggest tournaments will count for nothing when they run into an Afghanistan side that is fast cementing its place in the game's top table in the Champions Trophy match in Lahore on Friday.
Young spin-bowling all-rounder Cooper Connolly will replace injured Matthew Short in the Australian squad for the knock-out stages of the ongoing Champions Trophy.
Josh Inglis smashed a maiden ODI century (120 not out) to lead Australia to a thrilling five-wicket victory over England in a high-scoring Champions Trophy match.
A rampant Mumbai Indians will present a stern test of character for the rattled Punjab Kings in a virtual semi-final when the two teams face-off in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
All the 10 teams are involved in a lot of back and forth with their overseas recruits over their arrival plans in India a day after the IPL announced the revised schedule following necessary security clearances from the government.
In the bowling rankings, Keshav Maharaj and Matt Henry have broken into the top five
Struggling CSK look to turn around fortunes against PBKS
Preity Zinta, like Punjab Kings, is a fighter. Her disappointment today only adds to the fire for tomorrow. The tears she held back will likely fuel next season's charge. Because if there's one thing the IPL has taught us, it's that passion like hers doesn't fade. It only comes back louder.
Marsh was nonetheless retained in Australia's list of contracted players released on Tuesday for the 2025/26 season in an endorsement by selectors.
Nathan McSweeney, who opened in the first three Tests with little success, has been dropped.
Australia, who have already secured their place in the final of the World Test Championship against South Africa, won the opening Test, also in Galle, by an innings and 242 runs.
Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant's woeful form with the bat and Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer's sublime touch have made Sunday's mid-table clash an engrossing contest -- one that could decisively shape the fortunes of either side as the IPL enters its business end.
Delhi Capitals will be desperate to arrest their slump and stay in contention for a play-off berth when they take on high-flying Punjab Kings in a crucial IPL match in Dharamsala on Thursday.
Starc's withdrawal comes after pace stalwarts Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were ruled out due to injuries.
Australia's second-string pace attack produced a first-rate display to sink Pakistan with a comprehensive 29-run win in the weather-truncated first T20 International on Thursday.
This squad is by far one of the most compact in Punjab's IPL history and with the tactical genius of Ricky Ponting at the helm, it will be a folly to write them off at any time of the competition.
With recent matches indicating that chasing teams have fared slightly better, the toss-winning captain may opt to bowl first.
Josh Inglis smashed a 43-ball century, Australia's fastest in the shortest format, as the visitors thrashed Scotland by 70 runs in the second Twenty20 International at The Grange, in Edinburg, to clinch the series with a game to spare on Friday.
Matthew Wade has revealed that his team's defeat to India in the T20 World Cup earlier this year was probably the moment that ended his career as it was the first time that the thought of retirement crossed his mind.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's bid for a maiden home victory this IPL season will depend on their batters' ability to handle the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Glenn Maxwell when they face the Punjab Kings on Friday.
Shreyas Iyer had led KKR to their first IPL title in a decade last year. However, on Saturday, he returns as captain of a rejuvenated Punjab Kings chasing a play-off spot.
With Mahendra Singh Dhoni being the same player and no one to "bell the cat", CSK are in unusual mess with a mis-firing top-order where the skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has had to give up his opening slot.
Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been left supremely impressed by the quality of youngsters in the Punjab Kings squad as well as the Indian T20 set up on the sidlelines of the IPL.
Selectors have recalled pace stalwart Hazlewood for the second ODI after he missed the MCG match to play Sheffield Shield cricket.
If Punjab goes for a flat deck, there is no guarantee that the bowling unit can defend anything in the 220 range, especially when KKR have the likes of Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, and Venkatesh Iyer in their ranks.
SRH's ultra-aggressive approach with the bat has backfired spectacularly as they have suffered four defeats in a row -- leaving them languishing at the bottom of the points table.
Uncapped McSweeney to open with Khawaja in India series
Pat Cummins will captain Australia at the Champions Trophy after being named in a preliminary 15-man squad also featuring fellow quick Josh Hazlewood on Tuesday.
Glenn Maxwell's hopes of reviving his Test career may be over after the all-rounder missed out on selection in Australia's much-changed squad for the Sri Lanka tour.
If Smith is ruled out, then the left-hand batter Travis Head will lead the squad as he is the vice-captain of the side.
Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant is looking to make his mark and secure a win in his team's first home game of the season.
Smith's unbeaten 120 is his second successive hundred of the series while Carey made a career-best 139 not out hitting 22 fours and three sixes between them.
Australian opener Matthew Short suffered an injury while fielding but he returned to open the batting and Smith said he could take a few days to recover.
Rajasthan Royals face a tough challenge against a marauding Punjab Kings batting lineup, led by in-form Shreyas Iyer.
Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith hailed his side's resounding innings and 242-run victory over Sri Lanka in Galle on Saturday as "near flawless" after the visitors retained the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy.
Australia's Test regulars will skip the three-match series against Pakistan in November as they prepare for the blockbuster clash against India.
This is Sri Lanka's biggest victory over Australia in ODIs in terms of runs.
Australia bowled out Sri Lanka for 231 in the hosts' second innings and then chased down the target of 75 losing the lone wicket of opener Travis Head.
Dimuth Karunaratne's Test career ended in a whimper as Sri Lanka's most prolific Test opener fell caught behind to Kuhnemann after making 14.
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