Ten teams will be competing for four spots in the World Cup proper
ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2025Nepal is set to host the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier, which will be held from January 12 to February 2 next year. The matches will be held at the Lower Mulpani Cricket Stadium and the Upper Mulpani Cricket Stadium in Mulpani, Kathmandu. The full schedule for the tournament will be announced later.Ten teams will be competing in the tournament for four places in the World Cup proper, which will be held in England and Wales in June-July. Only five teams have been confirmed as participants for the Qualifier so far.While Bangladesh and Ireland have already confirmed their places in the Qualifier, having participated in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Thailand and hosts Nepal have made it through the Asia qualifiers, and USA from the Americas one.The remaining five teams will be confirmed through the other regional qualifiers, with two teams each from Africa and Europe, and one from the East Asia-Pacific regions filling the slots.The T20 World Cup Qualifier will see the ten teams divided into two groups of five each. The best six teams then make it to the Super Six stage, before the final.The T20 World Cup in 2026 will have 12 teams participating for the first time in the history of the tournament, up from ten teams who had played in it in 2024. New Zealand are the defending champions, having beaten South Africa in the final last year.
The Australia allrounder talks about grabbing opportunity when it comes her way
Andrew McGlashan18-Sep-2024Annabel Sutherland has long been marked out as a key part of Australia’s future. It now feels that her time has come.Last year in South Africa she played one match at the T20 World Cup; it would be a significant surprise if her role was as limited this time in the UAE.Sutherland, who will be in action this week against New Zealand during Australia’s final preparation for the World Cup, enters the tournament on the back of a Player-of-the-Tournament display in the Hundred for Northern Superchargers, where she scored 212 runs at a strike rate of 137.66 and claimed ten wickets with a remarkable economy of 4.53. That output came after a maiden Test hundred in last year’s Ashes and a stunning double-century against South Africa in Perth in February.Related
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While those Test hundreds may not be immediately relevant to a T20 campaign, they put on show Sutherland’s class with the bat, which hasn’t often been given a chance to flourish in an Australia batting order so full of world-class players that opportunity, even when you’re in the XI, can be hard to come by.In T20Is, Sutherland’s highest score remains the 22 off 11 balls she made on debut as an 18-year-old against England in 2020, which helped earn Australia a Super Over in a tri-series held ahead of that year’s T20 World Cup. In 31 T20Is, she has only batted 12 times, and it was not until January 2023 that she bowled a full four overs; in ODIs she has got to the crease in just over half her matches, although last year took the chance provided by opening, with a maiden hundred against Ireland.”[There’s] elements of frustration, definitely, but I think that’s a good thing at the same time,” Sutherland says. “If you are a youngster coming through and you aren’t frustrated or wanting to get a crack up the order or bowl more, then you are doing something wrong.Make mine a double: Sutherland followed up her first hundred, in her third Test, with 210 in her fifth, against South Africa in Perth•Getty Images and Cricket Australia”I’ve definitely felt that at times, probably pestered [head coach] Shelly [Nitschke] a little bit too much about what opportunities I can get. But you look at that top order and, who do you come in for? It’s pretty stacked. There are stars all through the line-up and someone performs more often than not, which is the strength of our team – the depth we’ve got, right down to ten and sometimes 11.”It’s part of it as a young player coming through and you can build a fair bit of resilience. I’ve run drinks for a fair share of games and understand it’s a little bit about earning your stripes. It’s important to take an opportunity when it comes, too. You can easily build up the expectation on yourself, and sometimes you’ve just got to let it play out and believe you’ve done the work.”At last year’s WPL auction, Sutherland fetched the joint-highest price of A$364,000 (Rs 2 crore) when the hammer came down in favour of Delhi Capitals. But she would only play four matches in the competition.”It can be a different world at times over there,” she says. “To be honest, I didn’t think too much about the price you go for. You try to keep that out of your mind, it’s just another cricket game. Probably didn’t get the opportunities I was hoping for but trying to fit four internationals into a side when you have six sitting there – any one of us could have played a role.”
However, as an overseas star in the Hundred, Sutherland was at the centre of the action and the results were impressive. She never failed to reach double figures and bowled with both wicket-taking threat and economy. “I had a really good pre-season,” she said. “Think when you get those windows [that] we don’t often have, it’s important to take them, and I certainly enjoyed that period of time, finding different ways to work on my game.”Her recent bowling returns are especially notable. She is used an increasing amount at the death, and since October 2023 has an economy in the 17-20-over period of just 6.86 – the third lowest among all bowlers who have delivered at least 100 balls in that phase. It won’t always go right, but it’s a role she relishes. At North Sydney Oval last year Sutherland was almost able to stop a rampaging Hayley Matthews when she conceded just three runs off the 18th over.”I’m wanting to put my hand up for any situation,” she says. “I’ve been really grateful for the opportunities I’ve had in the Australian team in the last six to 12 months in ODI and T20, moments that Midge [Alyssa Healy] has thrown me the ball and asked me to do a job. I’ve learnt a lot in those situations.”T20 cricket, especially, is a game of experience – the more times you get put in those situations and feel comfortable under the pump, or a batter is coming for you, you know your options. You have to have the toolbox in the first place but to call on the right options, then execute, it’s the fun part of cricket as a bowler. It can go both ways pretty quickly but I feel like I’ve been able to be relatively consistent in those moments.Team-mate Ash Gardner picks Sutherland as a future leader of Australia. “She’s a player well beyond her years,” Gardner says•Getty Images”A strength of mine is to try and look at things objectively and take the learnings from it,” she says.”Whether I do well or not so well, it’s: what did you learn from it, and what can you take to the next game? That was the cool thing about the Hundred. It was a great opportunity to play some short-format cricket, obviously a T20 World Cup in sight, and taking bits and pieces of learning from it, get comfortable in different situations.”The growth in Sutherland’s bowling is an aspect that has stood out to her team-mates. “We always knew she was going to be good, and her batting has come on leaps and bounds, but I actually think in the T20 format her bowling is what’s been the most impressive,” Ash Gardner says. “She’s one of those bowlers who can be thrown the ball at any point in the game. The credit she deserves is how hard she’s worked and the options she has at the death.”There’s not many female bowlers who can bowl a slower-ball bouncer. She has a very good back-of-the-hand ball, so things like that, she has a lot of balls she can use throughout those moments and has the cricket brain as well to know when to use them.”She’s a player well beyond her years and will be a leader of the future in this side and any other team she plays for. That just feeds back into how calm she is out on the field, and ultimately that’s what’s probably her biggest thing is – she doesn’t crack under pressure.””The thing I love about being a cricketer is, you’ve always got places to improve in your game and I enjoy that process”•Mike Owen/Getty ImagesThe ability to bat big and long has been evident in Sutherland’s two Test centuries. “Feel like it’s been a strength of mine to bat for longer periods,” she says. “Growing up I’d open the batting in boys’ cricket. A strength was that I could bat through. I enjoy batting for long periods, dealing with the ups and downs of an innings, finding ways to keep working through those little ruts you have.”But while for Northern Superchargers she was at No. 4, and she has played the majority of her innings for Melbourne Stars at four or higher, in Australia’s T20I side she will likely remain at No. 7 or 8, which requires a very different skill set.”Whatever role I might play, I’ve definitely worked pretty hard on my boundary-hitting and accessing different areas of the ground, knowing what potential plans teams may throw at me and being able to adapt,” she said. “It’s something I’ve been looking to improve on and worked really hard through the off season [on], lots of time in the nets working on my power-hitting.”You can’t rest on your laurels because the way the game is moving and changing all the time, the depth is growing around the world. The thing I love about being a cricketer is, you’ve always got places to improve in your game and I enjoy that process.”
Just when Chelsea were seemingly building serious momentum, wait, what happened?
When the Blues took a fourth-minute lead through Alejandro Garnacho against Sunderland, they appeared set to cruise to a nice routine victory at 3 o’clock on a Saturday.
However, Wilson Isidor equalised for the Black Cats soon after and then, right at the death, with the home side pushing for a winner of their own, Chemsdine Talbi snatched victory, sparking wild celebrations from the Mackems who had traveled to West London.
Chelsea did end the afternoon with 16 shots to Sunderland’s ten, but forced Robin Roefs into just two saves, while Robert Sánchez made six, hence why the newly-promoted outfit ended the game with a higher xG figure: 0.97-1.16.
Before this, Enzo Maresca’s team had won four on the spin, demolishing Ajax 5-1 in the Champions League, while also beating both Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Now, though, question marks will be raised against the manager, so, with a fierce London derby against Tottenham to come next Saturday, which player should Maresca cast aside following his display during this defeat?
João Pedro's start to life at Chelsea
Back in the summer, after arriving mid-way through the Club World Cup from Brighton, straight into action having been on a Brazilian beach, João Pedro was being heralded as a revelation.
He scored twice on debut against former side Fluminense in the semi-finals, before also netting during the final demolition over Paris Saint-Germain a few days later.
However, since serious football has returned, he’s not lived up to these admittedly astronomical high standards.
Pedro has scored only twice this season, on target against both West Ham and Fulham back in August, thereby enduring something of a goal drought, which is not ideal given that Liam Delap is sidelined long-term.
Also not helping Pedro’s cause is the fact that, on Wednesday night, he missed the annihilation of Ajax, suspended, having been sent off in stoppage time against Benfica, and the team put in a free-flowing, free-scoring display in his absence.
Per Sofascore, during Sunday’s defeat to Sunderland, in 85 minutes on the field, he touched the ball just 30 times, lost possession on nine occasions, was flagged offside twice, and mustered zero shots, replaced by Tyrique George towards the end, a change Chelsea supporters may have wished to see sooner.
However, his place in the starting lineup may actually not be under that much threat, given that his primary competition for minutes may have actually been even worse.
The Chelsea youngster who should be dropped
It may still only be October, but Marc Guiu has already endured a weird season.
The teenage Spaniard began the campaign on loan at Sunderland, making just three appearances for the club, scoring against Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup, before being abruptly recalled following the aforementioned injury sustained by Delap.
Upon his return to West London, he did not feature in any of their first six fixtures, making the recall seem a bit pointless, but he then changed the game off the bench against Nottingham Forest last weekend, providing a much-needed focal point.
Guiu was then rewarded with a start against Ajax in mid-week and repaid the manager’s faith, breaking the deadlock in that one, thereby starting against his, briefly, former club this weekend too, a first-ever Premier League start.
However, as the table below documents, safe to say he did not make Sunderland supporters rue what could have been.
Marc Guiu’s stats vs Sunderland
Stats
Guiu
Match rank
Shots on target
1
8th
Shots off target
1
6th
xG
0.22
4th
Accurate passes
2
30th
Duels contested
3
23rd
Duels won
Zero
30th
Possession lost
6
17th
Touches
10
26th
SofaScore rating
6
30th
Stats via SofaScore
As the table documents, Guiu won zero duels, completed just two passes, and touched the ball only ten times, the same number as the man who replaced him in the 76th minute, namely Jamie Gittens.
Bobby Vincent of Football London awarded him a 4/10, noting that he ‘got very little change’ out of Dan Ballard, while Sam Tabuteau of the Evening Standard added that he ‘struggled to get into the game’ and lacked ‘finesse’, believing the game was a ‘reminder of his inexperience’, both of which are pretty polite ways of phrasing it, we would suggest.
Thus, the Barcelona wonderkid may not be the answer to Chelsea’s centre-forward conundrum after all.
With games against Spurs, Barcelona and Arsenal to come in November, Maresca will surely favour alternative options, especially for those tougher assignments.
Not just George: Maresca must start Chelsea teen who's "similar to Palmer"
Enzo Maresca must start this exciting Chelsea youngster more regularly, who is being compared to Cole Palmer.
Vote for the best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance by an Indian in Australia since 2000
Karthik Krishnaswamy21-Oct-2024Update: This poll has ended. Jasprit Bumrah’s performance goes into the quarter-finals. Check the other polls here.ESPNcricinfo LtdJasprit Bumrah’s slower ball to Shaun Marsh remains one of his iconic deliveries•Getty ImagesJasprit Bumrah – 6-33 and 3-53 in Melbourne, 2018India won by 137 runs, lead series 2-1India had won in Adelaide, lost in Perth, and knew Melbourne would be a hard slog on a slow surface where only 24 wickets had fallen in a drawn Ashes Test the previous year. Time was precious, particularly with rain forecast on days four and five, so they declared seven down with less than 450, recognising they had batted nearly 170 overs.Turns out you don’t need much time if you have a game-breaker who can take the pitch out of the equation. India bowled Australia out twice in 156.2 overs, with nine of their 20 wickets coming from Jasprit Bumrah’s irresistible blend of brain and biomechanical brawn. They wrapped up victory shortly after lunch on day five, with even a washed-out first session powerless to stop them.Bumrah’s first three wickets, all on day three, all from round the wicket to left-hand batters, showcased how dangerous he could be even with minimal swing, seam or pace off the deck. A pinpoint bouncer managed to both rush Marcus Harris and cramp him for room. An unstoppable yorker, with a hint of reverse, burst through Travis Head.In between came the last ball before lunch, a devious, 113kph change-up that would go on to define not just this spell but all of Bumrah’s remarkable career. Shaun Marsh’s movements, tuned to Bumrah’s regular 140 kph rhythm, were entirely out of step with this ball out of a slow-motion nightmare. Fixated on a front leg that moved too far across and far too early, it dipped late to miss the cue end of the bat and pinged the pad on the full, plumb in front.Watch the highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, from October 22 onwards.Cheteshwar Pujara put his body on the line for India in Sydney•Getty ImagesCheteshwar Pujara – 50 and 77 in Sydney, 2021Match drawn, series level 1-1Cheteshwar Pujara contributed three hundreds to India’s 2-1 win in Australia in 2018-19. He scored no hundreds when they pulled off an even more dramatic 2-1 win in 2020-21, and ended this tour with an average of 33.87, but he was still almost as much of a thorn in Australia’s flesh. The key number: 1366 minutes, the most spent at the crease by any batter playing four or fewer Tests in a series without scoring a hundred.Batting time. If an Indian team that lost all its premier bowlers to injury during the tour somehow triumphed over an Australian team that had its first-choice attack in every Test, a fair share of the credit must go to Pujara’s crease occupation. He kept asking Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to go back and bowl another ball over and over again, until they weren’t quite themselves in the back half of the series.Pujara made two fifties in Sydney, and one in Brisbane, at strike rates of 28.40, 37.56, and 26.59, batting with a finger injury sustained earlier in the series. He showed it’s possible to mount a serious challenge in a chase of 407 – there’s a chance India could have won rather than drawn at the SCG if Hanuma Vihari, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja weren’t all battling injury – and haul down a target of 328 if one batter shuts one end down completely and tires the opposition while other, quicker-scoring colleagues bat around him. For hour after hour, Pujara just stood there, taking blow after blow to his gloves and body, and let Australia expend all their energy in the futile pursuit of his wicket.
Como manager and ex-Arsenal star Cesc Fàbregas has now heaped praise on Mikel Arteta following a key Gunners tactical tweak.
The Premier League frontrunners take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light later today, pitting Arteta’s side against the surprise package of the season.
Arsenal arrive on Wearside in utterly imperious form. The north Londoners have won their last 10 matches across all competitions, with eight consecutive victories without conceding a single goal.
Arsenal’s unbeaten run in all competitions since defeat to Liverpool
Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-1 Man City
Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham
Fulham 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid
Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
Burnley 0-2 Arsenal
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal
They’re aiming to win five successive Premier League games without conceding for the first time since 1987, while their run of eight clean sheets in all competitions matches a club record set way back in 1903.
It’s been nearly 13 hours of football since anyone has scored against them, which is quite simply unbelievable, and they of course boast the best defensive record in Europe’s top five leagues as a result.
That being said, Regis Le Bris’ side pose a tough challenge. Sunderland enter this game having defied all pre-season expectations spectacularly. They’ve accumulated 18 points from their opening 10 fixtures – the most any promoted side has managed at this stage since Hull City’s 20 points in 2008-09.
Their remarkable home form has been key, remaining unbeaten at the Stadium of Light this campaign.
Arsenal are still favourites to win this one, though, following their imperious start to the season — which is made all the more impressive by their mountain of attacking injuries.
Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke and captain Martin Odegaard are all unavailable with knee or muscular problems — even if Jesus returned to training this week — Meanwhile, striker Viktor Gyokeres has been ruled out with a potential hamstring injury until after the international break.
This leaves Arteta pretty short of forward options, with Mikel Merino likely to continue in an emergency striker role.
Merino’s second-half brace secured a 3-0 Champions League victory over Slavia Prague in midweek, adding to his very impressive tally of 11 goals in all competitions for Arsenal this calendar year.
The midfielder has been nothing short of inspirational when called upon to play an unfamiliar role by Arteta, and Fabregas is certainly impressed by the former Real Sociedad star.
Fabregas praises "great move" by Arteta to play Merino as Arsenal striker
Speaking in an interview with Calciomercato this week, Fabregas stated it was a “great move” by Arteta to play Merino as a striker once again in the absence of Gyokeres — claiming he’s done very well in the role.
Merino had never played striker before featuring there for the first time against Leicester City back in February, where he scored both goals in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory after replacing the injured Kai Havertz.
Since then, he’s excelled in the position.
The midfielder has netted an astonishing 19 goals for club and country combined in 2025, including his midweek brace against Slavia Prague that also took his Arsenal tally to three headed goals this season. His 6 foot 2 frame makes him a major aerial threat inside the area, while on the deck he’s incredibly strong, using his muscular frame to dominate physical 50-50s.
Visitors were wobbling at 96 for 7, still in arrears, before eighth-wicket pair come to rescue
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay11-Sep-2025A stoic rearguard action from Durham eighth-wicket pair of Ben Raine and Matthew Potts, coupled with an untimely heavy thunderstorm, essentially ended Essex hopes of pulling off a stunning last-day Rothesay County Championship victory.Raine and Potts came together at 96 for 7 with Durham still requiring 28 runs to make Essex bat again. When a bolt of lightning forced the players from the field 14 minutes before the scheduled tea interval, the deficit had been turned into a narrow 19-run advantage courtesy of the biggest partnership of an otherwise dismal batting performance. When the players came back for the remaining 9.5 overs in the evening, 4.1 actually being possible before the rain returned, Raine took advantage of spread-out fields to reach 42 not out.Before the rains came, it looked like the old firm of Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer were rolling back the years to pull off a win that had looked unlikely at the start of the day. The seam-and-spin double act combined to rip through Durham’s fragile batting with Porter ending on 3 for 36 and Harmer 3 for 64.Essex had thrown down the gauntlet by declaring on their overnight score of 457 for 8, which gave them a 124-run lead. Before Raine and Potts joined forces in an unbroken stand of 77 out of 173 for 7, it appeared a prescient decision.The 14 points Essex collected from the draw eased their relegation concerns while Durham’s dozen keeps them in serious danger with two games to play.In the end Essex were close to a third Championship win of an underwhelming season with an attack that was already without Sam Cook, nursing a broken thumb, and Shane Snater, who tweaked a calf while bowling during Durham’s first innings. It heaped a lot of responsibility on to the shoulders of Porter, but he responded immediately and emphatically.Porter needed just 14 balls to make the initial breakthrough, Alex Lees beaten for pace. Six balls later Emilio Gay followed, also lbw and also all at sea.Ben McKinney, who scored a well-judged century first time around, was another who struggled against Porter, taking 15 balls to get off the mark. He had only 11 to his name 49 balls later when he inexplicably left alone a ball from Harmer that went straight on and knocked back off stump.Durham tried to settle into full survival mode, but the pressure got to them. David Bedingham, for instance, faced 60 balls for 16 that included a six over long leg three balls before he top-edged a hook to deep fine leg off Noah Thain.Colin Ackermann, in turn, took 19 balls to score his first run. But three overs into the post-lunch session, and with a guard outside off stump, he went to give himself room to cut Harmer and ended up edging to Dean Elgar at slip.Durham were still 32 runs adrift of making Essex bat again when Porter snapped up his third wicket, rapping Graham Clark on his back pad. And four runs later, Ollie Robinson’s 21 from 55 balls ended when he attempted to slash Harmer past point and was caught behind.Raine and Potts then took Durham past Essex’s total 57 overs into their innings. And the pair had been together for exactly an hour when the players were taken off the pitch as the first flash of lightning lit up the darkening sky.The players came back nearly two hours later, having already lost 24 overs. Essex had seven men around the bat when Harmer wheeled in, but could only watch as Raine thrashed a couple of boundaries and a six over long-on. But it wasn’t long before handshakes were exchanged.
Liverpool are reportedly continuing to eye a move for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Vitinha, in what could be a stunning piece of transfer business.
The 25-year-old has matured into one of the best midfielders in the world currently, proving to be a key figure in PSG’s Champions League triumph last season and being hailed by former Portugal international Pedro Miguel Pauleta.
“It’s a huge pleasure to watch players of this quality. Is he the best midfielder in the world? He’s at a huge level, like Pedri at Barca. They remind me of Iniesta. Vitinha, he doesn’t lose the ball, he’s always well positioned. He knows how to do everything with the ball. He doesn’t make a mistake and doesn’t miss a pass. He has the confidence of his club. He’s a phenomenon.”
Vitinha has been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent days, with one report even claiming that they are willing to table a monster £132m offer for him.
He is contracted with PSG until the summer of 2029, so big money will clearly be needed to prise him away, and a new claim has now emerged regarding the Reds’ interest in him.
How much PSG could sell Vitinha for amid Liverpool interest
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are “keeping a close eye” on Vitinha ahead of a potential move, with Reds scouts identifying him as “one of the most technically gifted midfielders in Europe”. Arsenal and Juventus are also in the mix.
The report adds that the Portugal star “fits the kind of profile that Liverpool have sought since the departure of Thiago”, in terms of his quality in tight areas and ability to dictate midfield battles. It is stated that an offer of around £115m could tempt PSG into selling – £18m cheaper than the above claim.
The idea of Liverpool signing Vitinha is a mouthwatering prospect, considering his status as a world-class footballer who is coming into the prime years of his career.
While the Reds are well-stocked in the middle of the park currently, the form of Alexis Mac Allister is a concern this season, with the Argentine looking jaded after playing so much football in recent years.
Granted, he is still only 26, so this is hopefully just a dip in form after injury problems, but he has also been linked with a move to Real Madrid and may need to be replaced at some point.
More than Wirtz: £36m Liverpool star is becoming a "serious issue" for Slot
Liverpool were condemned to a fifth defeat in six Premier League matches at the Etihad.
ByAngus Sinclair Nov 10, 2025
Either way, Liverpool should never pass up the opportunity to sign a player of Vitinha’s calibre, and the fact that he has some Premier League experience from his time at Wolves can only be a good thing.
FSG have signed a "Rolls-Royce" who could end Konate's Liverpool career
Matthew Breetzke had not been born when South Africa last won a bilateral ODI series in England. By extending a remarkable start to his career in the format, he helped them clinch this one with a match to spare. On his return from a hamstring injury, Breetzke hit 85 to underpin South Africa’s total of 330, before their bowlers closed out a tense win under the floodlights.Breetzke, 26, was born five-and-a-half months after South Africa’s 2-1 triumph in the 1998 Texaco Trophy but will now lift the series trophy in Southampton on Sunday after his team took an unassailable 2-0 lead at Lord’s. Unlike in Leeds, England at least competed but none of their three half-centurions – Joe Root, Jacob Bethell and Jos Buttler – kicked on past 61.The chase went down to the final ball, which Jofra Archer needed to hit for six to take the game into a Super Over. But his inside-edged hoick off Senuran Muthusamy brought only a single and South Africa were deserving winners, backing up the thrashing they inflicted on Tuesday with a clinical, calculated performance.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
This was an eighth defeat in 11 ODIs for England in 2025, and their captain Harry Brook refused to blame fatigue after an exhausting summer. “In my eyes that’s just an excuse,” he said. We’re good enough and fit enough to be able to keep playing for the time being… Chasing 6.5 an over from ball one is a tough task. But that’s exactly why we’ve picked this side: we’ve a long batting order. To get within one blow of that score is a really good effort.”South Africa had been stuttering at 93 for 3 after 19 overs when Tristan Stubbs joined Breetzke, but a fourth-wicket partnership of 147 off 126 balls laid a strong foundation before Dewald Brevis’ cameo launched them towards 300. They fell four runs short of the record ODI total at Lord’s, which has stood since the 1975 World Cup, but this was clearly a fighting effort.Breetzke’s innings was the highest by a South African in an ODI at Lord’s, and he achieved the unprecedented feat of passing 50 in each of his first five innings in the format. By the time he fell 15 runs short of a second hundred, he had taken his ODI aggregate to 463 and executed South Africa’s clear plan to put England’s part-time spinners under severe pressure.England got away with picking only four frontline bowlers in their 3-0 win against West Indies in June, but South Africa were merciless in targeting Bethell and Will Jacks; with Root curiously unused, they returned combined figures of 1 for 112 from their 10 overs. Brevis was particularly severe on Bethell, hitting him for consecutive sixes, while Stubbs laid into Jacks.The margin of victory obscured the fact South Africa were ahead of the game from the moment Nandre Burger had Jamie Smith caught behind off the first ball of the chase. Root dominated the scoring in a second-wicket stand of 66, with Ben Duckett desperately out of form at the other end; his dismissal for 14 off 33, bowled reverse-sweeping Keshav Maharaj, was a mercy kill.Jofra Archer nearly took England over the line•AFP/Getty Images
Where Duckett looked exhausted by his non-stop summer, Bethell had been short on time in the middle and was pushed up to No. 4 to take on South Africa’s two left-arm spinners. Temba Bavuma responded by bringing on Aiden Markram’s offspin, but Bethell slog-swept and pulled sixes as his two overs cost 27 runs.He brought up a 28-ball half-century by launching Burger over mid-on, five balls after Root had cruised to his own off 57. But they fell in quick succession, too: Bethell sliced the relentless Corbin Bosch to backward point, and Root was beaten in the flight by Maharaj to be stumped in an ODI for the first time in a decade.Brook and Buttler added 69 for the fifth wicket, launching sixes off Bosch and Muthusamy respectively. But Muthusamy found extra bounce to have Brook chipping to cover, and despite Buttler’s outrageous reverse-slap for six on his way to 50 – a landmark he celebrated with a look to the skies after his father’s recent passing – the required rate climbed past nine an over.Lungi Ngidi got the big wicket of Jos Buttler at the death•AFP/Getty Images
The game looked as good as won when Lungi Ngidi flummoxed Buttler with a dipping slower ball, and Burger removed Jacks and Brydon Carse in the same over to leave 40 required off the last three. Despite Archer’s best efforts – with two lusty sixes and a pair of reverse-slaps for four – they always looked like falling short.It looked like an important toss when Brook put South Africa into bat, with the start delayed by 15 minutes after a morning of heavy showers. Archer and Saqib Mahmood – recalled at Sonny Baker’s expense – both found extravagant seam movement early on, but Markram and Ryan Rickelton were equal to it, adding 73 for the first wicket.Rickelton fell for 35, top-edging Archer behind to Buttler, before Adil Rashid struck twice in quick succession, with Bavuma done on the outside edge and Markram furious with himself after chipping back a return catch on 49. But that only brought Breetzke and Stubbs together, whose partnership took the game away from England – and they never quite recovered.
Neither side able to force a result on final day of season at Emirates Old Trafford
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay18-Sep-2025
Josh Bohannon made 87•Luke Adams via Lancashire Cricket
Middlesex 211 (De Caires 52, Geddes 52, Aspinwall 4-62, Bailey 4-68) and 99 for 4 (Bailey 3-47) drew with Lancashire 375 for 5 dec (Bohannon 87, Hurst 67, Wells 62, Jennings 61)Josh Bohannon made a superb 87 and both Seb Morgan and Arav Shetty took their maiden first-class wickets on an eventful last day of the first-class season at Emirates Old Trafford but the Rothesay County Championship match between Lancashire and Middlesex ended in a draw.Replying to Middlesex’s 211, Lancashire’s batters went on the attack in the first half of the day, scoring 270 runs in 44 overs before declaring on 375 for 5 an hour after lunch. However, their imaginative attempt to conjure a victory was thwarted, not without the odd alarm, by Middlesex’s top-order and the game ended with the visitors on 99 for 4.The result ensures that Glamorgan will finish second in Division Two, although whether that means they will be promoted to Division One or one of the proposed conferences has yet to be decided.The morning had begun on a positive note for Middlesex when Luke Wells was lbw to Toby Roland-Jones for 62 in the third over of the day. But the session was dominated by the batting of Bohannon whose 69-ball 87 included 14 fours and two sixes, the latter off Henry Brookes and Zafar Gohar. Lancashire’s No. 3 scored 74 of the first hundred runs in his 113-run stand with Jennings and looked set for a very quick hundred before he was bowled by Roland-Jones when hitting across the line.Jennings had been completely overshadowed by his batting partner but he was dismissed for 61 two balls after Bohannon when he played all around a ball from Morgan and lost his leg stump. That gave 18-year-old Morgan his maiden first-class wicket on the ground where his 61 runs had been instrumental in Middlesex’s memorable one-wicket Metro Bank Cup victory back in August.Lancashire came into lunch on 239 for 3, giving them a lead of 28, but they lost George Bell in the third over of the afternoon session when he was leg before wicket to Higgins for 17. By then, though, Matty Hurst had hit the first of his four sixes, two of the maximums coming off Gohar, and Lancashire’s rapid progress was not slowed by the dismissal of Michael Jones, caught at deep point off Morgan, for 33. When the declaration was made, Hurst was 67 not out off 68 balls and Lancashire had scored 270 runs off 44 overs in the day’s play.Lancashire’s hopes of achieving an unlikely victory were given an immediate fillip when Josh De Caires was leg before wicket to Tom Bailey in the ninth over of the innings. That gave Bailey his 500th wicket in all formats for Lancashire and Middlesex came into tea on 26 for 1.On the resumption, Sam Robson and Luke Hollman coped reasonably easily with Lancashire’s seam attack but after the light had worsened and stand-in captain Bohannon was compelled to bowl his slow bowlers if the game was to continue, Robson fell to Bailey’s first offspinner when he was caught at short leg by Bell for 21. Shetty then took his maiden first-class wicket on debut when he bowled Leus du Plooy for 5 and Middlesex’s anxieties were increased three overs into the last hour when Bailey bowled Luke Hollman for 33.To their evident relief, though, the visitors lost no more wickets and were 99 for 4 with Higgins on 14 not out and Ben Geddes unbeaten on 1 when the players shook hands. Bailey finished with 3 for 47 from 17.5 overs.
Fate sealed after failing to pick up a third batting point, though they frustrate a Durham side looking to avoid drop
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay17-Sep-2025Worcestershire 593 for 9 (Roderick 151, Brookes 100, D’Oliveira 84, Taylor 66*, Edavalath 61) vs DurhamWorcestershire’s relegation was confirmed on day three of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Durham despite centuries from Gareth Roderick and Ethan Brookes.Worcestershire, whose fate was sealed after failing to pick up a third batting point, continued to frustrate a Durham side desperately seeking points to avoid the same fate.Roderick picked up his 12th first class century on a docile pitch after the morning session was washed out and despite a first Durham wicket for Afghan leg spinner Shafiqullah Ghafari, they continued to pile on the runs throughout the day.Brookes joined Roderick in the middle and he picked up his fifty, while Roderick passed 150, but a double-wicket burst from Sam Conners halted the Pears’ momentum.However, Brookes continued the onslaught and notched up three figures as the Pears finished on 591 for 9 at the close.Rain meant that play didn’t start until 1.20pm with 70 overs in the day and Roderick, unbeaten on 95, and nightwatcher Ben Gibbon resumed Worcestershire’s innings.Gibbon continued his good work from the previous night as he frustrated the Durham bowlers and Roderick finally got his first century of the season, coming off 180 deliveries.Gibbon continued to play his strokes, picking up a boundary on the offside off the bowling of Ghafari.Conners almost got the breakthrough as Gibbon edged one on 28, but Emilio Gay couldn’t cling on to it at second slip.Ghafari got his first Durham wicket, Gibbon lbw for 33, but it was too late for a second Durham bowling point.The Pears duo of Roderick and Brookes then guided their side to 400, however Raine nearly had Brookes caught behind, but Ollie Robinson couldn’t hold to a diving catch.The solid Roderick continued to frustrate the home side as he played a lovely dab off Will Rhodes to third region for four just before tea.Roderick resumed after tea as he slammed a Matthew Potts delivery through the covers for four, while Brookes produced a carbon copy in the same over.The Pears keeper continued his vigil in the middle by punishing a Rhodes delivery, but Roderick offered a rare opportunity as Rhodes couldn’t cling on to a caught-and-bowled opportunity. Milestones then followed for the visitors as Brookes passed fifty from 86 balls, while Roderick picked up his 150 from 276 balls.Brookes was dropped a second time, as he edged a Ghafari ball on 57, but Robinson spilled the catch, and Brookes made him pay as he picked up the first six of the game with a hit down the ground.Roderick finally fell for 151, as Conners got him lbw, his second of the match and he followed that up with the wicket of Matthew Waite for a three-ball duck.Brookes continued to pick up runs as he played a wonderful sweep shot for four off the bowling of Ghafari and he took his side to 500 later in the over.Tom Taylor got another life as he miscued one when he was on 15, but Gay couldn’t hold onto it.Brookes then picked up his second ton of the campaign from 130 balls and Taylor absolutely smashed one down the ground for four one ball later.Brookes departed for 100 as he was bowled by Potts after going for a big shot, but he completely missed it, however his team-mate Taylor got to fifty from 54 balls.Final pair Ben Allison and Taylor took Worcestershire to close and will resume unbeaten on 10 and 64 respectively in the morning.