Georgia Wareham provides star turn for Australia as Meg Lanning makes light work of chase

Nigar, Marufa show pluck for Bangladesh but champions demonstrate all-round strength

S Sudarshanan14-Feb-2023Bangladesh showed spark in parts but it was the return of legspinner Georgia Wareham that stole the headlines as Australia continued their winning run at the Women’s T20 World Cup.Wareham picked up three wickets – including two in her last over – to restrict Bangladesh to 107 despite a feisty half-century from their captain Nigar Sultana. With a batting line-up as enviable as Australia’s, it was a walk in the park as Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning made light work of the chase to notch up a win in the first-ever women’s international at St. George’s Park in Gqeberha.

Healy, Lanning douse Marufa fire

Young Marufa Akter starred in Bangladesh’s Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup campaign and continued her good run. She began the 107-run defence with a fiery opening spell, bowling five dots on the trot to Healy, who was seemingly troubled by her seam movement. However, Marufa strayed on her pads on the last ball to get her going.However, the 18-year-old fast bowler from Saidpur, a small town to the North of Dhaka, struck in her next over. She lured Beth Mooney into an uncertain poke at an away-swinger to give slip a low catch. She believed. Bangladesh believed. But Healy and Lanning did, too.Nigar introduced spin after Marufa’s second over and it was all downhill thereon for Bangladesh. Healy welcomed the left-arm spin of Nahida Akter with a huge hit back over her head before Lanning played a square drive for four. In the penultimate over of the powerplay, Healy hit Salma Khatun for back-to-back fours and Lanning then hit Nahida for another in the next over. By the time the powerplay came to a close, Australia had raced to 45 for 1.Coming in for Jahanara Alam in the XI, legspinner Fahima Khatun’s first over saw Marufa fail to hang on to a tough catch running to her left from long-off. Boundaries then dried up as Australia managed just one four between overs eight and twelve. In a bid to hit another, Healy mishit one to short cover to give leggie Shorna Akter her maiden international wicket.Australia slowed down in the middle overs and it was not until the 19th over that they crossed the line. Lanning finished unbeaten on 48 off 49 balls with Ashleigh Gardner ending 19 not out.Nigar Sultana swipes one through square leg•ICC/Getty Images

A welcome return for Wareham

Seeing a track aiding spin in Gqeberha, Australia opted to add another wristspinner in Wareham instead of left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen. She had last played an international game in October 2021. And perhaps the nerves were on show as her first delivery was a full-toss duly dispatched to the ropes by Shobana Mostary. But, call it a legspinner’s trait or luck, an innocuous delivery fetched her her first wicket of the night.Mostary looked to turn a shortish ball to the on side, only to hit it via the leading edge to midwicket. Wareham was on the board. She then found her flight and also the lengths, almost trapping Shorna lbw in the same over. She stifled a set Nigar and Shorna as Australia successfully applied the squeeze in the middle overs. She conceded only one four in her first three overs – when Nigar successfully sliced one between backward point and short third.Frustration got the better of Shorna in Wareham’s last over. She tried to give her the charge, only to be deceived by the flight and dip to be bowled through the gate. Three balls later, Wareham made the experienced Rumana Ahmed look pedestrian after she missed her sweep and was bowled. Wareham signed off with a sharp ripper – turning away and just missing the outside edge of Ritu Moni’s bat and the off pole by a hair’s breadth – to signal a successful return to the big stage a day after she was picked up by Gujarat Giants at the Women’s Premier League auction.Nigar Sultana, the lone star with the batAfter Bangladesh opted to bat, their captain Nigar found herself in the middle in as early as the fourth over. Speedster Darcie Brown had managed to send back both the openers with only 11 on the board. Unfazed, Nigar drove Brown for successive fours to get off the blocks quickly.In what could be a strong contender for one of the shots of the tournament, Nigar shimmied down and had a free swing of her arms to deposit legspinner Alana King over the long-on ropes. This was a delivery after she cut the same bowler through cover-point using the depth of the crease. While runs were not easy to come by – something she confirmed during the mid-innings chat with the on-air broadcasters – she hardly stalled. She almost seemed to have extra time to play her strokes, be it the drive or the pulls and the cuts.Nigar became the first woman from Bangladesh to score a half-century in T20 World Cups when she pushed Gardner towards cover off her 41st ball. She fell a couple of overs later for 56 off 46, having helped Bangladesh cross 100 but it was not a total that would have challenged the mighty Australians.

Tom Curran suffers back injury, expected to miss start of T20 Blast

Surrey, his county, did not put a time frame on his recovery

Matt Roller20-Mar-2023Tom Curran is expected to miss the start of the T20 Blast after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back for the second year in a row.Curran announced in February that he would take an indefinite break from red-ball cricket, saying that prioritising white-ball cricket was “the right decision for my body and for my mental health”.But earlier this month, while playing in the Pakistan Super League, he reported pain in his lower back and scans upon his return to the UK revealed another stress fracture.”Tom Curran returned early from the Pakistan Super League and scans have shown he has suffered a stress fracture of the lumbar spine,” Surrey, his county, said in a statement.The club did not put a timeframe on Curran’s return, saying: “Tom will be out for a period of time whilst he recovers and undergoes rehabilitation at Surrey.”ESPNcricinfo understands that he is considered a doubt for the start of the Blast on May 20, and may miss the competition altogether depending on his timeframe.He was also recently retained by Oval Invincibles on a £100,000 contract in the Hundred, which starts on August 1.Curran, who recently turned 28, has played 60 times for England across all formats but has slipped down the pecking order at international level. His most recent appearances in ODI and T20I cricket came in July 2021.He has spent the first two months of the year playing overseas, first for Desert Vipers in the inaugural edition of the ILT20 and then for Islamabad United in the PSL.

Mitchell Starc withdraws from Men's Hundred on eve of draft

Nortje, Markram, Stubbs also out of Men’s draft; Schutt, Sutherland pull out of Women’s

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2023Mitchell Starc will be a high-profile absentee from this year’s Men’s Hundred, after withdrawing his name from the long-list for the tournament draft, which is due to take place on Thursday.Starc is currently in India with Australia’s ODI squad, where his five-wicket haul in Sunday’s second match helped to secure a 2-1 series victory. He had been one of the few multi-format Australians to put his name forward for this year’s competition, which is due to get underway one day after the scheduled end of the fifth Ashes Test.After entering the draft last month, Starc would have been a tempting option for one of the five vacant £125,000 slots available for overseas players – although Northern Superchargers, where his wife Alyssa Healy plays, did not have availability in that price bracket.Starc had been lined up as a top draft pick by Superchargers for the 2022 draft as well, but withdrew shortly before the registration deadline.A number of other prominent overseas players have also withdrawn from both the men’s and women’s drafts, including Australia’s Jhye Richardson, and the South Africa trio of Anrich Nortje, Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs. Nortje was this week unveiled as a marquee pick for Washington (DC) Freedom in the inaugural Major League Cricket season in the USA, which is set to run from July 13 to 30, with the Hundred starting two days later on August 1.Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland and Tayla Vlaeminck are also notable absentees, joining an exodus of Australia’s women’s players including Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath, all of whom recently secured lucrative deals in the inaugural Women’s Premier League in India. Sutherland had previously been a retained player for Welsh Fire.As revealed by ESPNcricinfo, Laurie Evans – Player of the Match in the 2022 Big Bash Final – has been included in the draft after his provisional ban following a positive test for a banned substance was lifted.Other notable additions to the draft include the England Test wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, and Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal.

Fakhar Zaman's 180* leads Pakistan to their second-highest ODI chase

Daryl Mitchell’s 129 propelled New Zealand to their highest ODI total in Pakistan, but hosts went 2-0 up in the series

Danyal Rasool29-Apr-2023When Fakhar Zaman has these kinds of days, there’s very little any side can do about it; and what makes him so special is he has days like these with frightening regularity. A third successive ODI hundred – this one a monster century – by Pakistan’s premier ODI opener blitzed New Zealand, as he cracked an unbeaten 180 off 144 balls.It helped his side coast to their second-highest chase in the format, running down New Zealand’s 336 with seven wickets and almost two overs to spare. A 135-run stand with Babar Azam, who scored 65, formed the backbone of the chase, while a devastating counter-attacking partnership with Mohammad Rizwan swept the game out of New Zealand’s reach.New Zealand had done plenty of things much better than they did in the first ODI, and yet, this game simply felt like a repeat. Daryl Mitchell scored a hundred, and New Zealand set themselves up for a huge total. And while they did get much further along than they managed in the first ODI by posting 336, a tight final three overs from Pakistan ensured the hosts grabbed some momentum at the death.And Pakistan began the chase brightly once more, though Matt Henry did strike to remove Imam-ul-Haq in the final over of the powerplay; but the hosts kept coasting at above seven runs an over. Coming in at No. 3, Babar struggled through the first few overs of the innings, scoring just 16 runs in his first 25 balls. Thus, the onus fell on Fakhar to ensure Pakistan remained on top of the asking rate, a burden he fulfiled with aplomb.The real acceleration came in the 21st over when he launched Ish Sodhi for 17, speeding along to his tenth ODI hundred. He had brought up three figures in 83 balls, before launching Rachin Ravindra for a huge six over midwicket, as by now Pakistan were purring. Babar had rediscovered his own touch too with a pair of boundaries against Henry Shipley, and was coasting towards another half-century.Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham put on 183•AFP/Getty Images

New Zealand ran through the bowling changes but could simply find no way through, until an unforced error from Babar himself provided the breakthrough. He had tonked Sodhi for a six and a four in the 30th over, before a leading edge saw the ball fly up to Chad Bowes at short cover.The visitors were then provided a glimmer when debutant Abdullah Shafique was prised out by Shipley, but Rizwan hit back with another effective counterattacking knock. It began with a regal cover drive off the first ball and continued with the same elegance. Fakhar had much of the pressure taken off him as both experienced batters tore chunks out of the bowlers, particularly the inexperienced Ravindra.Fakhar brought up 150 and carried on, while Rizwan’s own half-century arrived off the penultimate ball he faced as Pakistan eased to the win in the end.Earlier, Mitchell’s second successive hundred of the series had helped New Zealand to an imposing total of 336. A 183-run stand for the third wicket between him and his captain Tom Latham was the foundation of New Zealand’s biggest ODI total in Pakistan, with Latham’s 98 from 85 balls ensuring his partner had plenty of support at the other end.Unlike the first ODI where New Zealand fell away sharply in the final ten overs thanks to a rock-solid bowling display by Pakistan, there would be less of a let-up at the death this time. New Zealand cranked through the gears in the final few overs to press home the advantage of the dominant position they had worked themselves into by plundering 98 runs in the final ten overs, with their innings featuring Mitchell’s career-best 129 off 119 balls.Tom Latham fell for 98•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan had won the toss and reprised the decision to field first, and while New Zealand made a more urgent start than they did on Thursday, Haris Rauf struck to remove Will Young early. But aside from Naseem Shah, whose accuracy and menace forced them into caution, no pace bowler was really spared. Ihsanullah, making his debut, bore the brunt of the third-wicket partnership’s punishment. Rauf wasn’t spared either, and in the 17th over, Mitchell tonked him for a four and a six, bringing up the side’s 100.Haris struck again after Bowes reached his maiden fifty, but it brought together the defining stand of the innings when Latham and Mitchell got together. Latham had found strokeplay a struggle on Thursday, but had no such problems on the day, getting off to a brisk start and milking the spinners effectively. Mitchell looked characteristically imperturbable, and New Zealand’s platform was being built beautifully.Pakistan were sloppy in the field in the first game, and must have rued the chance to get rid of Mitchell before he brought up three figures on Saturday too. Naseem put down a dolly at mid-on in the 39th over, with Mitchell four away from the milestone, thus denying Usama Mir the wicket his bowling deserved. Four balls later, Latham pulled Mir away for four to bring up his own half-century, while Mitchell eased his way to a hundred the following over.The shackles were broken at that point, and in the absence of the same quality from the Pakistan bowlers as in the first ODI, run-scoring was easier. The final 11 overs brought 107 runs for New Zealand, with Latham central to much of the boundary-hitting. He was denied a century when, in the 47th over, Pakistan reviewed a not-out verdict to find that Latham had inside-edged to the wicketkeeper off Rauf when on 98. And eventually, a tight final three overs from Pakistan ensured New Zealand were kept below the 350 they had threatened.But with Fakhar and Pakistan in this chasing form, there’s little to suggest even that would have been enough on a day Pakistan motored along in Rawalpindi, while New Zealand petered out.

What do KKR and Rajasthan Royals need to do to qualify for the playoffs?

The losing team will have to depend on other results going in their favour

S Rajesh10-May-2023

Rajasthan Royals

Kolkata Knight Riders

Both Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders are identically placed with 10 points from 11 games, but in terms of momentum, they are at very different places in their campaigns. Royals have lost five of their last six matches; Knight Riders have won three of their last four.Also, both were involved in last-ball finishes in their most recent game, but while Royals made a mess of a match they should have definitely won against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Knight Riders came through in a tough chase against Punjab Kings.Whichever team loses on Thursday will be up against it, as they can finish only on a maximum of 14 points. That will leave them depending on several other results, for as many as eight teams can finish on 14 or more points, including four on 16 or more. Thus, the team losing this game will be at the mercy of several other results going in their favour.Even with 16 points (wins in each of their three remaining games), qualification isn’t assured for either of these teams, because progress could still come down to net run rates. If it does come down to that, Royals are better placed with a relatively healthy value so far, but for it to be of consequence, they will have to start adding to their points tally as well.Though Royals have the better NRR, Knight Riders have the advantage of two home games in hand, compared to just one for Royals. Neither team has made good use of home conditions, though – Knight Riders have won two of five, and Royals two of six – so Royals might actually be relieved to be playing away from home.For both teams, it is that stage of the tournament when any further slip-up could result in elimination.

Leus du Plooy steers Derbyshire chase after Zaman Khan three-for

Northamptonshire stumble to six-wicket defeat that hurts last-four hopes

ECB Reporters Network21-Jun-2023Derbyshire Falcons skipper Leus du Plooy led from the front with a crucial unbeaten 40 from 23 balls to keep his side’s Vitality Blast quarter-final hopes alive with victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks.Du Plooy guided the Falcons over the line at Wantage Road with four deliveries to spare after they appeared to be wobbling at 112 for 4, despite a third-wicket partnership of 68 from 47 between Harry Came and Wayne Madsen.
Falcons’ Pakistan international seamer Zaman Khan had earlier claimed 3 for 26 – including eye-catching yorkers to dismiss Emilio Gay and AJ Tye – as Northamptonshire were restricted to 156 for 8. The result enabled Derbyshire to leapfrog their hosts to go sixth in the North Group table, just a point off the quarter-final places.Having won the toss and opted to bat, the Steelbacks lost Ricardo Vasconcelos in the opening over, pinned leg before by offspinner Alex Thomson. That wicket ushered Chris Lynn to the crease and the big-hitting Queenslander pulled a short ball from Zak Chappell over midwicket for six, combining brute power with shrewd placement as he reached 33 from 23.However, attempting to smash Thomson’s first ball after the powerplay over the top, Lynn picked out the long-on fielder and Derbyshire cemented control as George Scrimshaw sent Justin Broad’s middle stump cartwheeling. Scrimshaw also picked up the prize wicket of David Willey, caught behind off a miscued pull and that meant the Steelbacks needed Gay, who had seen little of the strike early on, to hold their innings together.The left-hander seemed on the verge of his second T20 half-century, having steered Zaman to the cover boundary to reach 47 – but the Pakistan international had the last word with his next delivery, a fast swinging yorker that took out Gay’s leg stump.It was a similar tale for Saif Zaib, whose leg-side maximum off Zaman took him to 25 from 13, only to punch his next ball straight to long-off and it needed Ben Sanderson’s audacious ramp for four in the final over to haul Northamptonshire above 150.However, the Falcons found it hard to get the ball away at the start of their reply, stuttering to 37 in the powerplay for the loss of Luis Reece and Haider Ali – the latter giving Tom Taylor the charge and skying into the gloves of Lewis McManus.Taylor was unfortunate not to add the scalp of Madsen, who survived a compelling lbw appeal before he had scored and capitalised on that close call by drilling the bowler back down the ground for four. There was also frustration in the field for Taylor, who did well to prevent Came’s drive off Freddie Heldreich from crossing the long-off fence, but could not hold on after palming the ball back into play.Madsen continued to milk the bowling cleverly until Willey brought himself back on to bowl the veteran for 35 from 24 and, with pressure building, Came holed out to deep midwicket soon afterwards. But du Plooy kept the scoreboard moving along, finding the boundary regularly enough to keep Derbyshire in touch and drove Sanderson for six in the penultimate over before Taylor conceded four wides to end the contest.

Shafique 201, Salman 132* put Pakistan well on top

The visitors scored 385 runs on day three for just the loss of just three wickets, ending with a lead of 397

Madushka Balasuriya26-Jul-2023Stumps An Abdullah Shafique double-ton and a rapid Agha Salman century were the major highlights in a day in which Pakistan ground down and extinguished any lingering hopes Sri Lanka might have harboured of winning this Test. The visitors’ commanding performance on day three saw 385 runs scored for the loss of just three wickets.By stumps, Pakistan had amassed 563 for 5 and a lead of 397, with the only question remaining being one of when exactly the declaration would be made. While there are still two full days of cricket left to play, it’s unlikely the weather will allow for the full six sessions to play out.At the crease at the close were Salman on a 148-ball 132 with Mohammad Rizwan alongside him on 37 off 61. Rizwan had been drafted in as a concussion sub after Sarfaraz Ahmed had copped an Asitha Fernando bouncer on the back of his helmet; he would bat on following the blow, but would have to retire hurt following a late onset of symptoms.

Asitha receives demerit point for breaching ICC code of conduct

Sri Lanka quick Asitha Fernando has received a demerit point for breaching the ICC code of conduct during the third day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the SSC. This was his first offense in a 24-month period.
Fernando was found to have breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”
The incident occurred in the 81st over of Pakistan’s innings when Asitha celebrated Saud Shakeel’s dismissal in an inappropriate manner. Since Asitha admitted to the offense and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee David Boon, there was no need for a formal hearing.

As for Sri Lanka’s bowlers, they toiled all day for little reward. The three main attacking options – Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis and Asitha Fernando – were all taken for triple digits. And the few wickets that came, only arrived after significant damage had been done, and at an agonisingly slow rate – one per session.A brief glance at the session scoring rates tells its own story, with each progressively expunging any life out the Sri Lankan attack; the morning session saw 95 runs at 2.92 per over, the middle session 124 runs at 4.43 per over, and then in the final session Pakistan plundered 166 runs at 5.03. Pakistan’s list of partnerships, meanwhile, read as follows: 13, 108, 89, 109, 25, 124 and 95.If those numbers weren’t enough, there were records to tack on too. Saud Shakeel, who racked up his sixth Test fifty in seven Tests, in the process became the first batter in the history of Test cricket to score fifty or more in each of their first seven Tests – Shakeel also has two hundreds to his name. Abdullah Shafique became the highest scoring opener at the SSC, to go along with his maiden Test double ton, and there probably might have been some sort of record for collective mental anguish caused to the opposition, had we some sort of device to measure such a thing, as Babar Azam directed his wards to just bat and bat and bat.Related

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But this is not to takeaway from the batting itself, which was far from tedious. In fact, one could argue it’s some of the most effective going around. In hindsight, the pacing of the day’s play seemed tailored to sussing out any potential Sri Lankan ambitions of reeling themselves back into the game.The morning session, as highlighted by the aforementioned scoring rate, was a slow burn. It took 13 balls for the first scoring shot, a pull to the backward square leg boundary, and then the next 18 deliveries saw just two runs scored. Boundaries would litter the session, but in general it was a cautious one by the visitors. Crucially though, they had lost just the wicket of Babar.Agha Salman finished day three unbeaten on 132 off 148•AFP/Getty Images

But as the day progressed and the afternoon sun began to beat down harder, so did Pakistan’s batters. Shafique would prove the constant – defending stoically, lofting majestically and easing pressure like a well-oiled valve. At the other end was where the dynamism was sought. Shakeel was the initial foil, but once he fell business really picked up.Pakistan’s lead at that point was a touch over 150, with quick runs the order of the day. Enter Sarfaraz, who would crack three boundaries in his 22-ball stay before being ruled out of the Test. Salman would follow and he would scarcely slow down. His fifty came off just 50 deliveries, his century off 123; by the end of play he had notched 15 fours and six.Shafique, meanwhile, continued to play like he had done throughout the innings, knocking over the strike with the odd boundary thrown into the mix. Only once he reached his double-century, did he play a shot in anger, slicing one high to mid-off.But like with each wicket that preceded it, this one only brought more pain for the hosts, as concussion sub Rizwan matched Salman’s intensity, and the visitors piled on ever more runs.There was speculation a declaration might have been forthcoming in the final hour before stumps, but now the wait is to see if there will be one made overnight. Sri Lanka might be looking forward to the reprieve, but unless rain intervenes, they still have a substantial grind ahead if they’re to save this Test.

Moreeng to continue as South Africa women's coach despite calls for change

It is understood a group of players wrote to CSA wanting to see change following Moreeng’s lengthy tenure

Firdose Moonda11-Aug-2023Hilton Moreeng will stay on as coach of the South African national women’s team, extending his tenure beyond 11 years. Moreeng has been in charge since 2012 and was expected to move on after the home T20 World Cup, in which South Africa reached the final, but will continue for at least the 2023-24 season.ESPNcricinfo understands that a group of players are unhappy with Moreeng’s continuance and some of them took their complaints to Cricket South Africa via email. This move stems from what sources have called a desire to see a change in the coaching style following Moreeng’s lengthy tenure. However, the players have been unable to get CSA to see eye-to-eye with their thinking and Moreeng has been rewarded for a string of good results which includes qualifying for the last two 50-over World Cup semi-finals and becoming the first coach to take a senior South African team to a World Cup final.”It was never going to make sense not to extend (Moreeng’s deal) because of the back-to-back tours we have coming up now,” Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s CEO told ESPNcricinfo.Related

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Although South Africa have not played since the T20 World Cup in February, they have a full schedule over the next few months, starting with a trip to Pakistan in August. They will then return home to host New Zealand and also have visits from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka already penciled in on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) before an all-format trip to Australia in early 2024. The time between the end of Moreeng’s contract in April and this season’s fixtures was deemed too short to replace him. “It would have not been fair to ask a new person to take over and have only a month or so to prepare the team for the Pakistan series [which begins on September 1],” Moseki said.Instead, CSA has turned its attention to creating a new position in the women’s game: head of women’s cricket. Applications for the post closed on July 14 and ESPNcricinfo understands that the process of finalising the appointment is ongoing. The head of women’s cricket will report to the current Director of Cricket, Enoch Nkwe, who has been in meetings with the women’s team management this week.At the time of writing, Nkwe was unavailable for comment.

Viacom18 bags Indian cricket digital and TV media rights for $720 million

Deal comprises 88 matches between 2023-28 covering both digital and TV rights globally

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Aug-2023Viacom18 has bagged the media rights – both digital and television – to Indian cricket globally for INR 5963 crore (USD 720 million approx.) for the period 2023-28. These rights extend to all the cricket the BCCI runs in the country, international and domestic, apart from the IPL.Up against two competitors, Disney Star* and Sony, Viacom18 bid the highest in both digital and television categories, in an e-auction conducted by the BCCI on Thursday. In the digital category, Viacom18 bid INR 3101 crore (USD 375 million approx.), and another INR 2862 crore (USD 346 million approx.) for television rights. Disney Star and Sony’s bids remain unconfirmed.Viacom18, who takes over the BCCI media rights from Disney Star, already owns digital rights for the IPL, and both digital and TV rights for the Women’s Premier League (WPL).Related

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Viacom18’s latest deal translates to an average per-match value of INR 67.75 crore, which is 12.92% higher than the INR 60 crore Star India had paid the BCCI in the previous cycle. For 2018-23, Disney Star, which was earlier Star India, had won worldwide rights to India’s games for INR 6138 crore (then USD 944 million), for a total of 102 international matches. This time, the BCCI listed 88 international matches for the rights period.In the previous cycle the BCCI had put three categories of rights up for bidding: Indian subcontinent television rights and rest of the world digital rights (GTVRD), digital rights for the Indian subcontinent alone (ID), and global consolidated rights (GCR). The winning bid was eventually made in the last category. This time the BCCI limited the bidding to two categories: TV for Indian subcontinent only (base price INR 20 crore, or USD 2.42 million approx.), and digital for Indian subcontinent combined with TV and digital rights for rest of the world (base price INR 25 crore, or USD 3 million approx.).BCCI secretary Jay Shah had tweeted the news on Thursday evening.

Last year, during the IPL media rights bidding, Viacom18 secured digital rights in the Indian subcontinent, and TV and digital rights across three global regions – Australia + New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa – for INR 23,758 crore (then USD 3 billion approx.). Disney Star had won IPL TV rights in the Indian subcontinent at the same auction.Viacom18 then pipped Disney Star to the global media rights for the WPL, paying INR 951 crore (then USD 116 million approx.) for the period 2023-27.

Bilateral cricket financially less valuable now?

An overall comparison of the winning bids for the BCCI rights from 2018 and now would show a 2.8% drop, but there are 14 fewer matches in the current cycle. The bigger talking point would be the shrinking value of bilateral cricket rights compared to the exponential sums being forked out for IPL rights.Last year the IPL climbed to a podium position globally, slotting in behind only the NFL in terms of per-match value after the sale of five-year rights (2023-27) for INR 48,390.5 crore (then USD 6.2 billion approx.).In addition to the amount Viacom18 spent – as noted above – Disney Star retained the TV rights in the Indian subcontinent for INR 23,575 crore (then USD 3 billion approx.) while Times Internet paid almost USD 60 million for overall media rights in two other global regions – the Middle East (INR 205 crore/USD 26.27 million approx.) and the USA (INR 258 crore/US$ 33.06 million approx.).Disney Star’s winning TV bid was worth INR 57.5 crore (then USD 7.36 million approx.) per match. In addition, Viacom18’s winning bids averaged to effectively INR 58 crore (then USD 7.43 million approx.) per match: INR 50 crore (then USD 6.40 million approx.) per match for subcontinent digital rights plus INR 33.24 crore (then USD 4.26 million approx.) per match for a non-exclusive package of high-profile games (ranging between 18 and 22 matches). That totals roughly INR 115 crore per match, not including Times Internet’s offerings.

Williamson to miss New Zealand's World Cup opener against England

New Zealand captain will only bat in their first warm-up match, and aims to field as well in their second warm-up fixture

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2023New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the opening match of the 2023 ODI World Cup against England as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.Williamson will play as a specialist batter in New Zealand’s warm-up match against Pakistan in Hyderabad on Friday, with the aim of fielding and batting in their next warm-up game against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.”Right from the start we’ve taken a long-term view on Kane’s return to play,” New Zealand’s head coach Gary Stead said. “His recovery is tracking well and it’s now a matter of making sure he can cope with the rigours and intensity of international cricket. We’ll continue to take a day by day approach to Kane’s rehabilitation and certainly won’t be putting any pressure on him to return before he is ready.”Related

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  • Southee to join New Zealand World Cup squad as he continues recovery

  • Williamson aiming to play a part in New Zealand's warm-up games

Williamson is returning from a six-month layoff after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the opening match of IPL 2023 and undergoing surgery. He continued his rehab in England along with the national side and had a “desire to be involved” in the World Cup warm-up matches.”It’s just wanting to progress [with] what I am doing now – the running, the fielding, and also time in the middle with the bat,” Williamson had said ahead of the team’s departure to India earlier this week.”The load is going to keep increasing, so there is a little bit of an unknown. But it has felt pretty good really in the last few weeks, [I’m] hoping it continues to feel like that. But we’re definitely looking to touch on more stuff, [and] introducing myself into the game mode, which is something which we haven’t had the opportunity to do.”In Williamson’s absence, Tom Latham will captain New Zealand in the World Cup opener against England on October 5 in Ahmedabad. Latham will also lead in the two warm-up matches, with Williamson’s focus purely on getting fit in time for New Zealand’s second World Cup game against the Netherlands on October 9.

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