SPORTS

"Wicket doesn't look as fresh, there's a lot more cracks," said England stand-in captain Moeen Ali while deciding to bat first as he reckoned that the wicket will play low and slow and would get even slower as the match progressed which is why they added an extra spinner to their side for the second T20I in Karachi. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, on the other hand, said that 150-160 would be chaseable.

Everyone expected the wicket to play a little slow and the balls to grip in the surface and if anything Alex Hales' wicket showed where the ball remained lower than what England opener expected to crashing into his stumps, it seemed like it was a surface of a middling score.

Harmanpreet Kaur's towering unbeaten century delivered India a resounding victory over England at Canterbury and an unassailable 2-0 ODI series lead.

India's 88-run win, built on Harmanpreet's 143 not out off 111 balls, means Saturday's finale at Lord's will be a dead rubber in the context of the series with England's best hope now claiming the two ICC Women's Championship points on offer in a consolation victory after winning the T20I leg of the tour 2-1.

Asked to achieve the first 300-plus run chase in a women's ODI after India posted 333 for 5 - their second-highest in the format, England managed 245 in reply, Danni Wyatt's half-century coming in a losing cause as Renuka Singh claimed four wickets to put the result beyond doubt, India winning with 34 balls to spare.

A tame Indian pace attack gave a poor account of themselves in the first T20I against Australia on Tuesday, as the hosts went down by four wickets. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-52-0), Harshal Patel (4-0-49-0). Umesh Yadav (2-0-27-2), Hardik Pandya (2-0-22-0) all leaked runs as India failed to defend a 208-run total. Cameron Green (61) and Matthew Wade (45*) starred with the bat for Australia. Earlier, Hardik Pandya scored 71 not out off 30 balls after KL Rahul's 55 off 35 to help India post 208/6 in 20 overs.

The landscape of T20 cricket leagues has taken a big step towards on Monday (September 19) as the first-ever auction for the South African T20 League (SA T20) is taking place in Cape Town. Some of South Africa and world cricket's biggest and most popular players are up for grabs .

Quite interestingly all six franchises that will be part of the first-season of the blockbuster league are owned by Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. Mumbai Indians (MI Cape Town), Chennai Super Kings (Joburg Super Kings), Rajasthan Royals (Paarl Royals), Delhi Capitals ( Pretoria Capitals), Lucknow SuperGiants (Durban SuperGiants ), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) are the founding members of the league

India are all set to begin their journey at the T20 World Cup 2022 starting from October. However, before the big event, the Men in Blue will play two three-match T20I series against Australia and South Africa at home in preparation. The first match between India and South Africa is scheduled to be held on September 28th at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

However, just 10 days before the start of the game, the Kerala Sports Facility Limited (KSFL), who look after the stadium have landed themselves in a bit of a spot of bother. According to a report by The New Indian Express, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) have cut the power supply to the stadium over the non-payment of dues that stands currently at a whopping Rs 2.5 crore.