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The Orange Cap table

Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) Nicholas Pooran continues to be the highest run-scorer with 145 runs at an average of 72.50 and chart-topping strike rate of 258.92 following returns of 75 from 30 balls against Delhi Capitals and 70 from 26 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) .B Sai Sudharsan hasn’t been among the fastest scorers in the tournament – though 167.07 is hardly shabby – but his 137 runs from two innings for Gujarat Titans (GT) has him up at No. 2 on the Orange Cap table.At No. 3 is Travis Head, whose 22 off 12 for SRH against DC took his tally to 136 in three games. After his 67 against Rajasthan Royals (RR), he scored 47 against LSG but was kept quiet by Mitchell Starc in the game against DC.2:35

Bishop explains what makes Noor special

The Purple Cap tableNoor Ahmad has been a revelation this season. Turning out for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who also have R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in their starting line-up, Noor has been by far the most successful, his left-arm wristspin bringing him 4 for 18, 3 for 36 and 2 for 28 so far. That’s nine wickets, five more wickets than Ashwin and Jadeja combined.Mitchell Starc is just one wicket behind, and has got to eight wickets in just two games for D]C. He was expensive in his first game, against LSG, conceding 42 runs for his three wickets, but against SRH, he had his career-best T20 returns – 5 for 35. In his opening spell, Starc removed Travis Head, Ishan Kishan and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the powerplay, and he came back in the 18th over to remove Harshal Patel and Wiaan Mulder.There’s a tie in third place between LSG’s Shardul Thakur and CSK’s Khaleel Ahmed, who have picked up six wickets each at this stage, though Thakur has played two and Khaleel three. Thakur’s best was the 4 for 34 he picked up in LSG’s win over SRH, while Khaleel got 3 for 29 in his first game of the season, against MI, sending back Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar Yadav.Highest batting strike ratesBest bowling economy ratesMost sixesBest bowling figures in a match

Surrey have signed Ireland wicketkeeper-batter Amy Hunter for seven games in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.Hunter, 19, has played 36 ODIs and 43 T20Is for her country and was recently in action at the ICC World Cup Qualifier. In 2021, she became the youngest player to score an international century when she made 121 not out against Zimbabwe in Harare on her 16th birthday.”We’re looking forward to welcoming Amy into our environment,” Emma Calvert, Surrey director of women’s cricket, said. “She is a talented young cricketer who has been in impressive form for the Irish national team.”Amy adds depth to our squad in the wicketkeeping department, and I’m confident she will be a great signing for the team in the opening block of the season.”Hunter tallied 201 runs at 40.20 during the World Cup Qualifier, finishing as her team’s second-highest scorer – although it wasn’t enough for Ireland to secure a spot at the tournament in India later this year.Hunter said: “I can’t wait to join up with the Surrey squad and get a taste of English domestic cricket. It’s an exciting opportunity for me to share a dressing room with an incredibly experienced group that plays an expansive brand of cricket. I am hoping to contribute to the club’s success early in the season.”Surrey have signed Australia’s Grace Harris as their overseas player for the Vitality Blast.

Rishabh Pant, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain, has been fined for his team’s slow over-rate during Tuesday’s IPL 2025 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) held in Lucknow.As it was LSG third offence of the season – the first and second were on April 5 and April 26 respectively – under the IPL’s code of conduct relating to over-rate offences, Pant was fined INR 30 lakh. The other members of the playing XII were each fined either INR 12 lakh or 50% of their respective match fees, whichever is lower.Despite this being Pant’s third offence, he will not be suspended, as was the case till IPL 2024. The rule was amended ahead of IPL 2025, although Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya missed his team’s season opener because his suspension had carried forward from last season.On Tuesday, Pant’s unbeaten 118 off 61 balls had steered LSG to 227 for 3 after they were asked to bat, but RCB chased it down with eight balls and six wickets to spare, thanks to Virat Kohli’s 54 and Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 85.LSG finished the season with six wins and 12 points from 14 games and were seventh on the ten-team points table. RCB, meanwhile, have qualified for Qualifier 1 with 19 points from the league phase.

An exhibition of exhilarating powerplay hitting was followed by a long stutter, but the good work done by Mitchell Owen up top was enough to carry Washington Freedom through to victory over MI New York in their MLC 2025 game in Dallas on Saturday.Chasing 189 for their third win, Freedom ended the powerplay on 74 for 2. Owen had hit 48 of those from 21 balls, with four fours and four sixes, young medium-pacer Rushil Ugarkar the worst hit, conceding 22 in the second over of the innings, when Owen hit three sixes.But Owen fell in the eighth over, Freedom having lost Rachin Ravindra and Andries Gous already by that stage. Worse for Freedom was that Mark Chapman just didn’t seem to be able to get a move on, and his 41-run stand with Jack Edwards for the fourth wicket took 5.5 overs. But, importantly for Freedom, Chapman didn’t throw his wicket away even as wickets fell in a rush at the other end, Sunny Patel and Naveen-ul-Haq doing most of the damage.Then the death overs started, and overs 17 and 18 combined for 3 for 2 – Trent Boult conceded just one run, picked up one wicket, and looked like he would get a wicket with each of the other deliveries in the 18th.Unfortunately for MINY, they had been forced to bowl out all their premier bowlers, and had to turn to Ugarkar for the 19th, and that was the release Freedom and Chapman needed to finish the job in the last over, bowled by Kieron Pollard.Sunny Patel got wickets in back-to-back overs to trigger a collapse•Sportzpics for MLC

After they were asked to bat, MINY rode on Quinton de Kock and Monank Patel’s big hitting to get to an imposing 70 in the powerplay. The turnaround began off the first ball after the phase, Owen the man doing it with the ball on this occasion, though the full delivery on the pads didn’t deserve a wicket, perhaps. Another day, Monank would have flicked it for six. Here, he sent it to Mark Adair at deep fine leg.With all the firepower MINY have in their ranks, 70 for 1 in 6.1 overs shouldn’t have been much of a bother, but Nicholas Pooran hasn’t been the Nicholas Pooran we know. After a blazing start to the IPL, his form had tapered off, and he hadn’t gotten into double-digits at MLC 2025 before this game. He did here, but his 33 took 30 balls, slowing the innings down, and MINY also lost de Kock for a 34-ball 55 in that period, compounding their woes.It was only Michael Bracewell’s 24-ball 42 not out, studded with five fours and six – one of only four in the entire innings – that gave them a total to bowl with. It almost proved enough.As a comparison, Freedom scored 74 and 95 in the powerplay and middle overs, respectively, much more than MINY’s 70 and 78 in their innings. It’s not like MINY really stepped it up at the death, scoring just 40 more, but Freedom had lost five wickets by the time the death overs started, and two more within eight balls of the death phase for the addition of just three more runs. It almost cost them two points but, thanks to Owen and Chapman, they squeaked through.The win took Freedom to six points from four matches, the same as Texas Super Kings, but Freedom are third on the table because of an inferior net run-rate to Super Kings. MINY, meanwhile, are fourth with one win from four games.

England spinner Shoaib Bashir looks set to leave Somerset at the end of the summer in a bid to play more regular first-team cricket outside of his international commitments.Bashir has become England’s first-choice spinner in the last 18 months, playing each of their last 15 Tests, and was player of the match in their recent win over Zimbabwe. But he has struggled for gametime at Somerset, who have preferred the left-arm spin of Jack Leach and the all-round ability of Archie Vaughan in their County Championship side.Last year, Bashir played four Championship matches and a single 50-over match for Somerset and went out on loan to Worcestershire ahead of the Test summer. This season, he made a similar short-term move to Glamorgan, where he took two expensive wickets in three Championship fixtures, and he has not been involved in Somerset’s T20 Blast plans.Bashir signed a two-year extension with Somerset in 2023 and ESPNcricinfo has learned that there have been no discussions around a new deal. Bashir has praised Leach’s impact on him as a mentor at Somerset but conceded last week that his situation is “unique”, saying: “It’s hard to fit two of us [in the side], at the start of the year especially.”Sunday marked the opening of county cricket’s effective transfer window, with players in the final year of their current contracts now free to talk to other clubs ahead of next year. While no approach has yet been made, Surrey – where Bashir played his age-group cricket – could be a potential suitor, as could Warwickshire and Worcestershire.Bashir is centrally contracted by the ECB and if his deal is extended as expected, then a prospective new county would not immediately pay him a salary. He would instead sign a ‘shadow’ contract, outlining terms of payment in the event that he loses his central contract, a standard mechanism for England players.Graeme Swann, whose own career took off after he left Northamptonshire for Nottinghamshire, has previously encouraged Bashir to leave Somerset to accelerate his development as a bowler.Swann, who has coached Bashir in the England Lions set-up, told talkSPORT last year: “Long-term, if the ECB can just say, ‘Look, this is bonkers. He’s the best spinner in England. If you’re not going to play him, then you have to let him go and play for someone else.'”Meanwhile, Surrey have lined up Adam Zampa as a potential replacement signing in the T20 Blast. Zampa has previously played for Oval Invincibles in the Hundred – though will not return this year due to Australia commitments – and could act as cover for Mitchell Santner when he captains New Zealand in a T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe in July.Elsewhere, Todd Murphy has lined up a short-term stint in the County Championship. Murphy, who has played seven Tests for Australia but has slipped behind Matthew Kuhnemann as Nathan Lyon’s understudy, was a late withdrawal from Australia A’s squad to tour Sri Lanka and will play four matches for an undisclosed county in June and July.

Hampshire 367 for 6 (Varma 112, Organ 71*, Weatherley 52, Middleton 52) trail Nottinghamshire 578 for 8 dec (James 203*, Haynes 103, McCann 79, Hutton 71) by 211 runsTilak Varma once again proved his enormous talent with his second century in three matches as Hampshire fought hard to keep title-challenging Nottinghamshire at bay at Utilita Bowl.India prodigy Varma added 112 to take his average in his Hampshire stint to just under 79. He put on 42 with Nick Gubbins, 58 with Ben Brown, and most substantially 126 with Felix Organ to bite into Nottinghamshire’s large 578 first-innings score.Organ ended the day unbeaten on 71 with 61 runs still needed to avoid the follow-on – in doing so Hampshire should be safe from defeat on the final day.Fletcha Middleton and Joe Weatherley had hunkered down for 32 overs of hard graft the previous evening. They got their rewards by collecting half-centuries in the morning. Neither showed any flashiness, just survival-style opening batting – putting on 94 together.That was unsurprising for Weatherley who was playing his first red ball match for two years, having lost favour in the Championship and fallen behind Middleton, Toby Albert, Felix Organ, Mark Stoneman, Ali Orr, Ian Holland in recent years.He reached 52 but was bounced out by Mo Abbas – caught on the hook. Middleton also scored 52 and fell on Nelson when he edged Abbas behind.It suddenly felt like an inevitable Abbas day. The Pakistan international had spearheaded the Hampshire attack for four seasons, taking 180 wickets at an average below 20. The Weatherley scalp was his 100th at Utilita Bowl.He was back in his familiar surroundings, not least because the keys to ‘his’ Hilton Hotel suite on the ground had been handed back to him for this week – famously having blocked Manchester City Pep Guardiola from taking the room a few years ago.But despite his mid-morning burst, the Kookaburra ball softened and fast bowling was a game of patience, while the pitch didn’t offer regular turn for the spinners. Not that it stopped Liam Patterson-White ripping one to pin Nick Gubbins lbw playing not shot, before Tom Prest loosely hoicked to mid-on.Brown looked like the man to stick with Varma, but after a 58-run alliance, the Hampshire captain was leg-before to Lyndon James.Josh Tongue had been released by England for the last two days of the match. He replaced Brett Hutton at the beginning of the day but went wicketless in his 18 overs. Notts’ bowlers otherwise toiled for little reward – and will have taken pleasure at the rate never reaching three runs an over.In a low red-ball period for Hampshire, Varma has been a giant. His arrival, which came thanks to Indian owners GMR Group’s influence, has brought a calmness to the middle-order, with plenty of runs to match.He opened with a century against Essex, before 56 and 47 versus Worcestershire and then this century – during those innings he has barely looked like being dislodged. Varma’s judgement of line and length is a superpower, with the ability to boundaries when the right parameters are met for risk.He already has 29 international caps, they will surely only surge in a short amount of time. The left-hander’s century came in 203 deliveries, although he was outdone for patience by Organ, who took zero risks, with large spells of no scoring.Organ’s second fifty of the season came in 138 balls, and even with Varma strangled down the leg side, Hampshire will feel almost safe.

The ECB has ditched a controversial batch of white Kookaburra balls that was blamed for low scores in the Hundred last year after consistent negative feedback from players.Scoring rates in the men’s Hundred dipped to 1.37 runs per ball last season, significantly lower than other short-form leagues like the IPL, Major League Cricket and SA20 despite the shorter format in theory lending itself to more attacking batting. Specialist new-ball bowlers like Daniel Worrall and Tim Southee thrived, and players anecdotally blamed the batch of balls used.The balls used in the first four seasons of the Hundred had the tournament’s logo – a large ‘H’ – imprinted on them, which players felt required additional lacquer and gave them a ‘plasticky’ feel. “The seam seems to be massive,” Moeen Ali told the . “Every game, it seems the ball is nipping. Most teams are 30 for 5 in most games.”Kookaburra insisted that they were made to identical specifications as the white balls used in other domestic and international cricket, beyond the logo, while the ECB commissioned an extensive study over the winter which found minimal evidence that the balls behaved differently to those used in other white-ball cricket in England and Wales.Ball-tracking data did suggest a spike in seam movement and swing at the start of Hundred games in 2023 (compared to 2022), which continued last season. This was attributed primarily to pitches, weather, and the Hundred’s unique format – which allows bowlers to bowl 15 of the first 20 balls – rather than any change to the condition of the balls.But the ECB has opted to ditch the Hundred-branded balls regardless, reverting to the same batch used in the T20 Blast for the 2025 season. Their hope is that the switch will satisfy players after consistent negative feedback and that the perception of less assistance for bowlers will lead to higher scoring rates.The change made no apparent difference in Tuesday night’s curtain-raiser, with London Spirit’s men bowled out for 80 by Oval Invincibles on a slow, low surface. “It was a tough wicket to bat on,” Rashid Khan said, after taking 3 for 11 on debut for the two-time defending champions.

South Africa batter Matthew Breetzke has revealed that he prepared for his record-breaking ODI innings against England at Lord’s on Thursday by watching Northamptonshire’s dramatic win over Surrey in the T20 Blast quarter-finals on his iPad, and he hopes to rejoin his county team-mates for Finals Day next Saturday.On his return from a hamstring niggle, Breetzke top-scored with 85 in South Africa’s five-run win, a victory which clinched their first ODI series win in England since May 1998 – six months before he was born. He became the first man to reach 50 in each of his first five ODI innings and averages 92.60 in the format after previous scores of 150, 83, 57 and 88.”It’s a bit worrying: it can only go downhill for me,” Breetzke said, laughing, after South Africa’s win. “It’s been a special start, to be honest. I’ve played on some really good wickets, and I just hope and pray that it’ll continue to go the way it’s gone… To be honest, I was bleak not to get to a hundred, because it would’ve been cool to be on the [honours] board.”Related

• Breetzke stars as South Africa seal series in five-run thriller

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Breetzke added 147 for the fourth wicket with Tristan Stubbs, his fellow Grey High School alumnus, and said that he had thrived on the opportunity to bat with him. “I played a lot of cricket with [Stubbs] in my younger days… We have a really good relationship, so hopefully it can keep going the way it’s gone.”Breetzke has scored 863 runs for Northants across the last two T20 Blast seasons – and recently signed a new two-year, all-format contract with them – but missed Wednesday night’s quarter-final at The Oval, and watched from his hotel room as Ravi Bopara’s century inspired them to a shock seven-run victory over South Group winners Surrey.Blast Finals Day falls between the second and third T20Is of South Africa’s series against England next week but as things stand, Breetzke is not part of their squad. As a result, he is hoping to be involved at Edgbaston as one of their two overseas players – a sentiment echoed by Northants captain David Willey.”I’m not 100% sure, but I think I will be [available],” Breetzke said. “I love playing in England: the crowds and the energy they bring, there’s nothing better, I feed off it… I was watching [the quarter-final] in bed on my iPad there, on YouTube. It was nerve-wracking, but I’m really happy for the boys and looking forward to meeting them on Finals Day.”Breetzke said that South Africa would celebrate their series win with “a few drinks” before looking to seal a 3-0 sweep in Southampton on Sunday, and said that their triumph in June’s World Test Championship final had taken their confidence to a new level. “It starts at the top with Shukri Conrad… He’s very clear on what he wants and there’s no grey area.”Breetzke admitted experiencing some fatigue after a busy workload this year, but is conscious of the bigger picture. “It does get to you sometimes,” he said. “But for me, I just look at it like I’m so grateful to be playing a sport for a living. I just try to take every opportunity I get and try to make the most of it. It doesn’t last forever.”

Allrounder Flora Devonshire, who is uncapped at ODI level, has been included in New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming women’s ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.Polly Inglis, Bella James and Bree Illing, who have just eight ODIs between them, have also been included for their first World Cup campaigns.Devonshire, a 22-year-old left-arm spinner, made her T20I debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year and was part of the New Zealand A tour of England in June and July. Her inclusion in the 15-player squad meant that fellow left-arm spinner Fran Jonas, who has 26 ODIs to her name, was a notable omission.Related

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• Devine to retire from ODIs after the World Cup

• Bree Illing and Bella James earn maiden New Zealand contracts

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“It’s never easy when you have multiple players pushing for the same spot and that of course made for some tough selection calls,” head coach Ben Sawyer said. “Having to leave out the likes of Fran in favour of Flora was a tough decision. We know Fran is a quality player and at 21 we believe she still has her best years in front of her.”Left-arm seamer Illing took four wickets in her first ODI series against Sri Lanka, while James made her ODI debut against Australia late last year. Inglis, who hit an unbeaten 34 off 21 balls in her second outing against Sri Lanka in March, will also provide wicketkeeping back-up to first-choice Izzy Gaze.”I’d like to especially acknowledge the four players set for their first World Cup – they’ve all earned this opportunity and I’m excited to see what impact they can have on the tournament,” Sawyer said. “I’m really pleased with the balance of the squad. I think we’ve got the right mix to tackle what we’ll come up against in terms of conditions and opposition.””Bree puts batters under pressure early with her swing and has great ability with the new ball. Her and Flora have both shown they can consistently bring the stumps into play, which will be effective in the conditions we’re going to face.”Flora’s got an attacking mind and skillset with the bat, which is valuable down the order. Bella’s a versatile batter who can hit 360 degrees around the ground and can bat in most places in the line up.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Polly gives us another option with the gloves within the squad, and she possesses great grit and determination, which are qualities that will be important in trying conditions.”The experienced core of the squad includes captain Sophie Devine, who will retire from ODI cricket after the World Cup, Suzie Bates, Lea Tahuhu, Maddy Green and Amelia Kerr.”I can honestly say that in the four world events I’ve been part of with this group, we are the best prepared we’ve ever been,” Sawyer said. “Having no international cricket in our calendar since April has given us the ability to work really hard on our physical skills in particular, which is something that could be the difference in India.”The squad leaves for the UAE on September 13 for a pre-tournament camp, which includes two warm-up matches against England, before heading to India. Their opening World Cup match is against Australia on October 1 in Indore.

New Zealand for Women’s ODI World Cup

Sophie Devine (capt), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Jess Kerr, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu

Shreyas Iyer believes that going back to a more upright stance has helped him counter extra bounce. He has used this “new” stance – adapted from one he used in the past – in domestic cricket, against Australia A, and now, in the ODI series in Australia. While India scratched around on a seaming pitch in the second ODI in Adelaide, Iyer negotiated the tough spells, scoring 61 off 77.Iyer’s game against short-pitched bowling at high pace has always been a talking point. Not part of India’s Test or T20I sides, Iyer spent the time off working on his game to counter extra bounce. “Since last year, I wanted to have an upright stance [for conditions] where the bounce is a little bit more than expected,” he said.”And based on that, I worked with my coach and we developed this new technique, and it was kind of suiting me pretty well. And the way I grew up playing, it was very much that I predominantly had an upright stance, and I just was like, ‘Let’s go back to my old technique and see how it, you know, [holds] up.'”So, yeah, I backed myself and then, from there on, I started [trying the technique] in the domestic [games]… Till now, I’ve been continuing with the same stance.”Related

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Iyer grew up batting with this upright stance, but perhaps the back injuries he has battled made him make changes. “Even in Mumbai, when we play on red-soil wickets – where the bounce is a little bit extra than expected – I think it helps with the upright stance,” Iyer said.”And yeah, you’ve got to keep chopping and changing every now and then, because you don’t play on the same wickets [all the time]. Whatever the wicket demands, you’ve got to change your stance accordingly, and I think I’ve changed so many stances [that] I’m able to adapt anywhere at the moment.”Iyer last played for India during their undefeated Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE in March. Since then, he has played the IPL, two first-class matches, and then captained India A in the three one-day matches against Australia A. At some point during this break, he reached the conclusion that his body, at the moment, is not supporting his first-class cricket, prompting him to request the BCCI for a six-month break from red-ball cricket.”When I played red-ball cricket after the IPL, I realised that if I field for long spells on the ground, my intensity starts to go down. And the intensity that you need to maintain in international cricket, I wasn’t able to match up to it. In ODIs, you know you will get rest after one day and be able to recover. Not in Tests. That is why I made that call, and conveyed that message.”