T20 World Cup | What South Africa need to do against England to qualify for semi-final?

WBBL 2021 | Harmanpreet, Jemimah’s blitzkrieg too much to handle for Brisbane Heat

Indian Players keep on shining in the Women’s Big Bash League 2021 as Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodriguez hit brilliant fifties to get their team Melbourne Renegades Women past 200, the first 200 plus score for any team this season. While Rodriguez scored 52 off 31 balls at a strike rate of 167, Kaur was many steps ahead and powered herself a to 31 ball 65, striking at more than 200, getting out eventually on the last ball of the over trying to accelerate even more. Along with these two Evelyn Jones, another opener in the team also hit a fifty, scoring 62 off 46 balls. Courtesy of all these innings, the Renegades reached 207-4 in their 20 overs. But the victory was still not to come as the Brisbane Heat Wome really turned on the heat with the bat. Courtesy of Laura May Kimmince’s 42 off 21 balls, Georgia Voll’s 40 off 28 balls and late order hitting by bowlers Nicola Hancock, Nadine de Klerk and Charli Knott, they managed to reach 192 in their 20 overs and eventually lost the match by only 15 runs. Harmanpreet also picked up a wicket in her two overs spell. In another game, Melbourne Stars Women were way too hot to handle for Adelaide Strikers Women who were restricted for 89-8, chasing 127 for the win. Meg Lanning, the Australian skipper was the star of the game with her brilliant 82 off just 45 balls. In another match hosts Perth Scorchers Women were surprised by Hobart Hurricanes Women who beat them by two runs in a thriller at WACA in Perth. Nicola Carey was the hero with the ball for the Hurricanes as he defended six runs in the final over while with the bat skipper Rachel Priest shone with her fifty and helped her team get to 137 in 20 overs. Chamari Athapaththu top-scored for Scorchers Women, scoring 33 off 31 balls.

The Ashes | James Anderson sees Australian 'win from any situation' attitude in current England side

The most successful pace bowler ever to play Test cricket in terms of the number of wickets taken, James Anderson has high hopes of his teammates travelling to Australia for the Ashes series scheduled to start next month. Anderson said that the amount of ability to turn games on its head that is there in the current England side under the leadership of Joe Root is way more than it has ever been for any English side of the past. He went on to say that a current lot of players make England like the Australian side of the year between 1990 to early 2000s. He based his argument and hopes on the remarkable rearguard century by Ben Stokes at Headingley in the last Ashes series played in England in 2019. In that game, the hosts were down and out and Australia were on the verge of a rather easy Test win. However, Ben Stokes carried the England ship till the very last wicket and finally got them over the line in one of the most remarkable Test victories of all time. “Because it was Australia that hundred at Headingley was extra special,” Anderson said. “But I also think that for the team, to know you can win from the position we were in then, I think that’s something an England side probably hasn’t had for quite a long time. It was almost very Australian, ‘we can win from any position’. “I remember watching them in the 1990s and the early 2000s and playing against them, and it just felt like they could win from any situation, and we’ve never really had that from an England point of view. But having those characters in the team, the Joe Roots, the Ben Stokes, Jos Buttlers, Stuart Broads, to have those match-winners who feel like they can win the game from any situation, is huge," Anderson said to The Sydney Morning Herald. Anderson missed majority of the last Ashes and with the upcoming being seen as his last of the 18-year-long Test career, he would be desperate to lead them to another Ashes triumph down under after leading the bowling attack to a stupendous performance in 2010-11 when the Andre Strauss-led England had trounced Australia to win the series 3-1.

Ashes 2021-22: First group of England players arrives in Australia

England’s first group of players landed in Australia for the upcoming Ashes series. England Cricket took to Twitter and posted a video that was captioned, “Hello, Australia, Our first group for the men's Ashes tour have arrived Down Under! “ The Ashes is scheduled to begin on December 8 in Brisbane. England got a major boost ahead of the series as all-rounder Ben Stokes was back in the side. Stokes had taken a break from cricket and missed out on the home series against India as well to focus on his mental wellbeing, and was also not picked for the T20 World Cup. "I had a break to prioritise my mental wellbeing and I got my finger sorted," Stokes said. "I am looking forward to seeing my mates and being on the field with them. I'm ready for Australia." England captain Joe Root said that the side can take inspiration from the Indian team after the way they played during the last Tour DownUnder. “One thing I think we can take a lot of heart and confidence from the way India went and played there in their (Australia’s) last home series,” Root told reporters. “They took them on in their own way, they played to their strengths, but they didn’t take a backward step at any stage,” he added. While the first encounter will be played at The Gabba, the teams will then travel to Adelaide and Melbourne for the second and third Test respectively. The fourth clash will be held in Sydney while the fifth and final match will be hosted in Perth.

T20 World Cup | Kieron Pollard pays cheeky tribute to Dwayne Bravo on eve of retirement

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard has paid rich tribute to his teammates Dwayne Bravo, who announced his retirement from international cricket after the conclusion of the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup in UAE. Pollard and Bravo have shared a cordial relationship that has also had a fair mix of banter between them and the tribute message was also full of banter from his side. He called Bravo “self-proclaimed champion” and said that many “all-rounders” including him have taken inspiration from him. Pollard appreciated Bravo for tremendous service of representing West Indies cricket and people he referred to as “our people” in the message. Bravo had already retired from Test cricket and with the announcement of hanging his boots from the shortest format, it would be an end to Bravo as an international cricketer. He has been one of the most phenomenal cricketer to have played the format and one of the best to have come from West Indies whose credentials were not lost on franchise cricket across the world. West Indies are the world champions in the t20 format and they came into the tournament with the task of defending their title under the leadership of Pollard. However, they were rocked by poor form of their batsmen, who failed to adapt to the different conditions on different venues in the UAE and are out of the race for the semi-finals.