Cricket

Any doubts as to whether Archer still had the skill for red-ball cricket were effectively answered in his first over of the match, when he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal with his third delivery.

Having been given the new ball immediately on his return, he was the bowler Stokes turned to again and again throughout the match.

Archer’s new-ball spell in India’s second innings on the fourth evening, despite including another dismissal of Jaiswal, was wayward, but he still opened the bowling on day five with the game in the balance.

Archer responded by ripping out Rishabh Pant’s off stump, two balls after India’s most dangerous remaining batter had advanced to hit him for four down the ground, and added a word into the departing India wicketkeeper’s ear.

“I just told him to charge that one,” said Archer.

“He came down the track and that annoyed me a little bit so when the ball nipped down the slope, I was so grateful for that.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan described Archer’s performance as “a great comeback”.

“He bowled with that pace and X-Factor,” Vaughan told BBC Test Match Special. “England will be delighted he is back in the team.”

India post 387 to match England’s first innings in the third Test but tempers flare before stumps on third day.

KL Rahul scored a century while Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant pitched in with crucial fifties as India posted 387, equalling England’s first innings, on a heated third day on and off the field at Lord’s

An injury to Shoaib Bashir blunted England’s pace-spin attack strategy when India looked vulnerable with five wickets down after losing Pant and Rahul in quick succession, before Jadeja steadied their innings with his third fifty-plus knock in a row.

England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who played a single over from Jasprit Bumrah before stumps, remained unbeaten at 2-0 as the five-match series remains tied as both sides look to go 2-1 up with a win in the third Test.

With two overs scheduled to be bowled before stumps, tempers started to flare when Crawley pulled out of his stance four times – and later in the over called for the physio in what would be the only over of England’s second innings.

The tourists were irate with Mohammed Siraj displaying a thunderous look, before Bumrah slow handclapped and India skipper Shubman Gill confronted Crawley, pointing a finger in the opener’s face.

India started well from an overnight score of 145-3 as left-handed batter Pant, who scored twin centuries in the first test, battled through an injured finger on his left hand as he hooked England captain Stokes for six to bring up his fifty.

The 27-year-old survived when an awkward hook on a short ball from Stokes almost got him caught near the fine leg boundary, but a diving Crawley could only lob the ball back inside to prevent a six.

But Pant was run out for 74 on the last ball before lunch as he tried to take a quick single after playing Bashir towards cover point, where Stokes made a quick turn to hit the stumps on the non-striker’s end with a swift, direct throw.

Opener Rahul was the next to fall, edging Bashir’s flighted ball to Harry Brook in the slip on his very next ball after reaching 100, leaving India on shaky ground at 254-5 under a warm London sun.

But Bashir had to leave the ground when he injured a finger on his non-bowling left hand while attempting a low catch from his own delivery as Jadeja shot down the wicket, with commentators saying the 21-year-old might need extra treatment in the evening.

Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy, new to the crease, looked unsteady as England’s bowlers piled on the pressure. Mix-ups between the batters put Reddy at risk of getting run out on two occasions, but Ollie Pope’s direct throws missed the target both times.

However, as England returned to using two pacers soon after Bashir’s injury, the pair put together a 72-run partnership before Stokes claimed his second wicket of the match, getting Reddy to nick it to keeper Jamie Smith for 30.

Jadeja drove Joe Root down long off for four to complete his half-century, while Washington Sundar took a slow, cautious approach on the other end.

Their 50-run partnership for the eighth wicket got India within 11 runs of England’s total, before Chris Woakes dismissed Jadeja for 72 as the batter’s attempt to send the ball down fine leg only took a thin edge and landed in Smith’s gloves.

Akash Deep, in at number nine, was given out leg before wicket twice by umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat during the same over, but Hawk-Eye showed the ball was missing the stumps when the batter reviewed them, overturning both decisions.

But Deep fell soon after to Brydon Carse for seven, with Brook trapping him at third slip with a low dive.

Sundar brought the scores level with a flick to the mid-wicket, before Woakes dismissed Jaspreet Bumrah for a duck in the very next ball to bag his third wicket.

Jofra Archer got Sundar out for 23 to bring an end to India’s innings, leaving the match finely poised going into the final two days.

India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant struggles with finger injury as India keep England in sight on day two of third Test.

As his India teammates closed in on dismissing England in the third Test at Lord’s, Rishabh Pant gave himself one last personal fitness test.

When England were nine men down, Pant left the dressing room with bat in hand and walked the boundary for an impromptu net session on Friday.

He just wanted to be sure the left index finger he damaged while wicketkeeping on Thursday could handle his eccentric batting style.

The finger seemingly did.

He walked in as arranged at number five in the order and was still there at stumps after scoring 19 off 33 balls.

Although Pant was visibly in pain after some shots, England didn’t really test him.

He mainly faced tired medium-pacer Chris Woakes and spinner Shoaib Bashir, off whom he hit his three boundaries. He faced only one delivery from the faster Brydon Carse and got a leg bye.

The real test for Pant’s finger and tolerance for pain will surely come on Saturday when India resume on 145-3, trailing England by 242 runs, and he will have to face 145-kilometre-per-hour (90-mile-per-hour) zingers from Jofra Archer and Carse.

Pant was hurt after lunch on Thursday and never returned to keep for India. England wasn’t dismissed until after lunch on Friday, but Pant’s replacement behind the stumps, Dhruv Jurel, shone by taking three catches.

Pant, India’s vice captain, made back-to-back centuries in the first Test and a 65 in the second Test.

One of India’s greatest adversaries has shown up at Lord’s and given England the edge on the first day of the third Test.

As England’s best batter, Joe Root has had a middling impact on the tied Test series so far. But grafting for more than five hours on a roasting pitch on Thursday earned him an unbeaten 99 that was easily beaconed in a total of 251-4 at stumps.

Root fought for almost the entire first day to vindicate captain Ben Stokes’s decision to bat first. Stokes was with him at stumps, on 39, but struggling with a groin or adductor issue that may affect whether he bowls. He had a chance in the last over to run a second single to give Root his century but declined.

Root’s grit typified an approach by England that was more caution than aggression, unconventional in the team’s three years under coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes, the “Bazball” era.

“Slightly different to the way we usually put together an innings but we’ll take it,” batter Ollie Pope told the BBC radio broadcast. “We want to be a team that is positive and entertaining, but we want to play to the situation. Our order is pretty fast scoring on our good days. We all know we can score hundreds off 120 balls, but we need to dig in off this sort of surface.”

Bazball takes a break at Lord’s

Despite hardly a cloud in the sky over Lord’s, usually a template for a great batting day, England displayed its slowest scoring in the first session of a Test and reached 100 at its second slowest pace under Bazball. The run rate dropped to 2.75 in the afternoon.

India’s fearsome pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj squeezed the scoring. India’s fielding was tight, and the green-tinged pitch became sluggish enough for spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to bowl 20 of the day’s 83 overs and take one wicket.

Root was slow but steadfast without offering India a single chance.

In the process, he became the first batter to hit 3,000 Test runs against India. He reached his 23rd half-century in 33 Tests against India – he’s averaging 58 – and was one run away from his 11th Test hundred against India, which would tie Steve Smith’s record.

His only previous half-century in the series held together the successful last day run chase in the Leeds opener when England was four down and still 118 runs behind.

This time, he fought for almost the entire day to glue England’s first innings in two big partnerships of 109 with Pope and an unbeaten 79 with Stokes. Root has set the platform for England to rack a big total on Friday while India will be pleased it has not been “Bazballed”.

“Joe Root has inspired everyone in the changing room and in this country,” Pope said. “Fingers crossed he can make it a massive one tomorrow.”

England was more “Bazbore” for a long time in the afternoon as Root and Pope grinded out a sleepy wicketless session, including 28 straight dot balls.

There also was a lengthy delay to treat India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s index finger, which was damaged while half-stopping leg byes. He didn’t return for the last half of the day.

Pant’s replacement, Dhruv Jurel, excelled, however.

After Root and Pope scored only 70 runs in 24 overs in the middle session, the tea interval broke Pope’s focus. In the first ball after tea, Pope went after Jadeja, and Jurel produced a brilliant reflex catch at the stumps. Pope left for 44 off 104 balls.

Harry Brook was then castled on 11 by Bumrah, who grabbed his first wicket in 35 overs stretching back to the Leeds Test. He was rested at Edgbaston.

England captain hit by leg injury

Stokes joined Root and was playing fluidly until he called for the England medic. He has 39 off 102 balls. Root has 99 off 191, including nine boundaries.

Root came into the game just after the first drinks break in the morning.

Opening batters Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley wobbled during the first hour when the pitch was at its most wicked. But they survived even Bumrah, who found more movement off the pitch than anyone else in the series so far and got a breather at the drinks break. And then they were gone.

The unassuming Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the series only in the second Test for his batting and bowled six expensive overs at Edgbaston. On Thursday, he changed in for Bumrah, and his medium pace lulled Duckett, Crawley and Pope into errors in the same over.

Duckett pulled, Crawley drove and both edged behind. Pope edged to gully, but India captain Shubman Gill couldn’t pull off a stunning one-handed catch.

England were 44-2, but Pope and Root came together and led England safely to lunch and tea.

After captaining India to an Under-19 World Cup title in 2012 — with arguably the finest performance of his life — Unmukt Chand struggled to even watch his country play on TV.

After donning the royal blue and molten orange jersey as part of India A — the second rung of the national team ladder — Chand’s performance dipped and his name eventually disappeared from the game-day roster for his home state team in Delhi

After donning the royal blue and molten orange jersey as part of India’s A — or second-best — national team, Chand struggled and eventually fell off the game-day roster for his home state team in Delhi.

After years gunning for India’s main team, Chand found himself circling the fringes. His early stardom never quite translated into a stable senior career as opportunities dried up in a system overflowing with talent. By 2021, the dream was still alive, but the runway had faded and Chand decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket.

“To let go of that feeling was something which took me time, and obviously I had to do my own catharsis. I had self-identity doubts,” Chand said.

Unmukt Chand revived his cricket career when he moved to the United States and eventually joined Major League Cricket’s L.A. Knight Riders.

(Andrew Hancock/For The Times)

With the courage to start over, he unloaded his bags on American soil, where the pitch was still being laid. What the U.S. lacked in tradition, it made up for in potential, Chand said — seeing a future in a place that wasn’t bound by his past.

“We’ve all grown up watching American sports and the way they do sports activities, and everything around it is something very exciting,” Chand said, “and something very different from a cricketing point of view.”

Chand and his wife, Simran Khosla, settled on relocating to Dallas. It was a leap made solely for cricket — one that left Khosla without work, stability or anything resembling certainty.

In 2019, American Cricket Enterprises, the strategic partner of USA Cricket, pledged a $1-billion investment to jumpstart a professional T20 league in the country. T20 is a condensed, fast-paced format of the game.

That vision materialized in 2023 with the debut of Major League Cricket, featuring six privately owned franchises each backed by global investors, including some of cricket’s most iconic brands. ESPNcricinfo reported that the league will expand to eight teams in 2027, with sights set on 10 by 2031.

The goal? Hook American to a flashier style of cricket that emphasizes quick scoring, frequent momentum swings and just enough chaos to attract fans who couldn’t tell a wicket from a walk-off.

“MLC is exciting — that’s why it is attracting so many players — top players from around the world,” Chand said. “The way they have done this competition is also very nice, the way teams are being made, the way the domestic and international representation is there.”

While MLC’s launch was delayed to 2022 due to COVID-19, ACE had already been courting Chand as the kind of marquee talent who could lend legitimacy and hype to the U.S.’s cricketing scene.

L.A. Knight Riders batsman Unmukt Chand collects the ball during a Major League Cricket match against the Mumbai Indians New York on July 3 at Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

He made his American debut in August 2021 with the Silicon Valley Strikers in Minor League Cricket, a developmental league aimed at growing the sport across the U.S.

“We were his biggest fans,” said Natwar Agarwal, owner of the Strikers. “We always heard about him, and it was like a dream come true — Unmukt Chand is here, and there’s a possibility that he can play for our team.”

You likely wouldn’t have guessed that he’d just crossed nearly 8,000 miles or buried a dream that shaped his boyhood. Chand paced the league in runs per game, piling up 612 runs during 16 innings as he piloted his team to the inaugural Minor League Cricket title.

“Players like him, … showed that a good quality of cricket can happen in the U.S.,” Agarwal said. “Still today, I get calls from players in India, Pakistan — they want to explore the opportunity where they can come here and play.”

Chand’s championship summer opened doors around the world — including Australia and Bangladesh — but none felt quite like home until 2023, when he signed with Major League Cricket’s Los Angeles Knight Riders, the American arm of one of cricket’s most storied franchises.

The organization, owned by Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, brought a built-in international fan base and marketing muscle rarely seen in American cricket.

For Chand, it was the break he’d been denied back home: a team that backed him, and a league that let him prove he still belonged at the top.

“Playing for a franchise like Knight Riders is something very special, and being in L.A. makes it big,” Chand said. “L.A. holds a very special place — it’s been a sporting capital with obviously the Lakers, and us now being a part of the same sporting ecosystem.”

He joined the Knight Riders as a top-order batsman in a locker room stocked with international firepower and helmed by Dwayne Bravo, a West Indies legend in the T20 format.

Chand made good on it.

Unmukt Chand, of the L.A. Knight Riders, is working to earn a spot on the U.S. national cricket team.

(Andrew Hancock/For The Times)

“He’s been doing really well for us over the years — he was a really great addition to our Knight Riders team,” said Ali Khan, Chand’s teammate and a member of the U.S. national team. “Always helpful and engaged in the field, and off the field as well, he’s always there and helping the team.”

The Knight Riders languished at the bottom of the table in 2025, where they had the past two seasons. But Chand’s 33.6 run average this year offered a rare glint in an otherwise dull stretch.

He produced an unbeaten 86 runs off 58 balls to lift his team to one of its two victories this season, prompting Bravo to publicly endorse his star batsman for the U.S. national team.

“This guy deserves to be involved in USA cricket team! Cricket is bigger than politics, let’s do right for these players. Well done!” Bravo wrote on an Instagram story.

And yet, for Chand, a U.S. call-up remains elusive.

He was left out of the 2024 T20 World Cup roster and passed over for multiple tours abroad. While Chand’s domestic performances have been solid, selectors have said he has yet to shift the selection calculus in a system that might prioritize younger prospects.

“With the USA World Cup not happening for him, it was a little disappointing for us. Not little — very, because this is what we moved here for,” Khosla said. “But he was at it even when things were not working for him — focusing on the process, going back to the basics, working hard, practicing more.”

Though the lack of selection still stings, it’s not unfamiliar for Chand.

Adversity gave him a mindset he still leans on. The U.S. snubs haven’t shaken him — his focus, he says, remains to “perform wherever I can, make the best use of my opportunities and hopefully those things will happen sooner than later.”

Khosla, who met Chand during what she called his “most struggling phase,” said his drive never faded — even when things felt bleak.

What kept him going? His love for the game.

“Cricket is his religion,” Khosla said. “Cricket is something I would call his first wife. … If you take out his blood, his blood would be cricket.”

Chand, 32, speaks ambitiously about the future of American cricket — and his desire to be at the center of its development. The signs are there, he said: the growth of Major League Cricket, the influx of youth academies, the construction of stadiums and the promise of the sport being featured during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

He came to the U.S. chasing a reimagined version of a childhood dream. He didn’t need to rediscover the game — just needed a new place to keep feeding the fire. His journey is chronicled in a documentary that was recently selected for screening by the Dallas International Film Festival.

“U.S. is my new home, and I’m going to be here only,” Chand said. “Playing for USA, playing MLC, playing other franchises around the world is the way to go forward. And cricket has definitely been on the rise. … I look forward to the next few years in USA. It’s going to be exciting.”

Deep took six wickets in the second innings as India levelled their five-match Test series against England 1-1.

Akash Deep, filling in for star bowler Jasprit Bumrah, took six wickets as India crushed England by 336 runs to level the cricket series 1-1 after they bowled out the hosts for 271 to claim their first Test victory at Edgbaston.

With Bumrah being rested in the second Test, Akash was the unlikely inspiration behind the visitors’ dominant, series-tying win just before tea on the final day of the second Test on Sunday.

Akash claimed the first five-wicket haul of his short Test career, removing four of the top five in England’s batting order and then top-scorer Jamie Smith (88) on the way to claiming figures of 6-99.

Akash finished with the bowling figures of 10-for-187 for the match.

Set a world-record target of 608, England started the final day on 72-3 with a draw its only realistic hope and was all out with about two hours still to play on Sunday as India sealed a first win at Edgbaston in nine attempts.

The third Test begins at Lord’s on Thursday.

India recovered well after a tough defeat at Headingley last week, when England chased down 371 on day five.

Bumrah was left out to preserve his fitness, but Akash was a more-than-able deputy.

At age 28, he is a late bloomer – certainly at Test level, where he has played just eight matches since his debut in February last year – but looks the part already with his nagging line and length. He will likely retain his spot for the third Test.

India captain Shubman Gill was India’s other star in the second Test, making 269 in the first innings and 161 in the second innings in a record-setting performance.

India remain in control of second Test despite England centuries by Harry Brook and Jamie Smith on Day Three.

England had big centuries from Harry Brook and Jamie Smith but little else to celebrate as India stayed in control of the second Test on a turbulent Day Three at Edgbaston.

Resuming on 77-3 on Friday, in reply to India’s mammoth first-innings 587 all out, England lost Joe Root and Ben Stokes to successive balls from Mohammed Siraj in the second over but recovered brilliantly purely thanks to a 303-run stand by Brook (158) and Smith (a career-best 184 not out).

After taking the second new ball, India claimed England’s last five wickets for 20 runs in just 44 balls to dismiss the home team for 407 – Brook and Smith accounted for 342 of those runs – and take a lead of 180 into the second innings.

England had a remarkable six ducks in total, and Siraj’s figures of 6-70.

Batting under cloud cover, the Indians reached stumps on 64-1 – with only the loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal (28) – and will resume on Saturday 244 runs ahead and with a series-tying victory in their sights.

Lokesh Rahul was unbeaten on 28 alongside Karun Nair, on 7.

“We are quite ahead right now,” Siraj said, “but the plan is to get as many runs on the board because we know their attacking mindset.”

England was in a big hole that looked gargantuan when Root and Stokes departed to leave their side on 84-5 and still trailing by more than 500 runs.

Siraj dismissed England’s best batter — Root for 22 — by enticing a nick down the leg side, with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant taking a diving catch, and then its captain for a golden duck. Stokes trudged back to the dressing room after a steeply rising and seaming delivery came off the shoulder of his bat and flashed to Pant.

England were rocked, but Smith and Brook played as if there was no pressure with a counterattacking riposte.

“Hopefully, we’ve clawed ourselves back in the game,” Brook said. “I just tried to bat as long as I could, and Smudge [Smith] tried to get the momentum back our way. He’s a phenomenal player.”

Smith came in to face a hat-trick ball, struck that for four, and went on to make the biggest score by an England wicketkeeper – surpassing Alec Stewart. He raced to his second Test hundred before lunch in just 80 balls, the third fastest by an Englishman, and including an over when he pulled and smashed Prasidh Krishna for a six and four fours. Smith was dropped by Pant on 121 off a tough chance.

Brook compiled his ninth Test hundred in 27 matches, getting to three figures, courtesy of a classy late cut for four, after being dismissed for 99 in the first test won by England at Headingley last week.

Brook, a star for England in all formats, reined in some slight frustration at India changing tactics and bowling wide outside off-stump to a lopsided field and looked good after going down with cramp.

Soon afterwards, he was bowled by Akash Deep (4-88) – armed with the second new ball – and was serenaded as he walked off gingerly.

That precipitated England’s late-order collapse that saw numbers nine through 11 – Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shaoib Bashir – all being removed for ducks, joining Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Stokes.

Tongue responded by trapping Jaiswal lbw, but India finished the day in the driving seat.

“If I hadn’t got out, we would not be in this situation now,” Brook said, “but we saw last week how quickly it can change.

“Hopefully, we can put pressure with early wickets and make them crumble.”

With 269 runs, captain Shubman Gill breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most scored outside the Indian subcontinent on day two of second Test.

England have stumbled to 77-3 to trail India by 510 runs on day two of their second Test after skipper Shubman Gill scored a record-breaking 269 and their seamers struck early to put the tourists in a commanding position at Edgbaston.

India were charged up on Thursday when Akash Deep picked up two wickets in two balls before Mohammed Siraj also got in on the act to clean up England’s top order and leave them tottering at 25-3 on what had been a good batting wicket.

Ben Duckett nicked a ball to third slip, where Gill took a smart diving catch before Ollie Pope fell the very next delivery for a duck when Deep drew an edge and the ball flew to KL Rahul in the slips.

Dropped catches had cost India the first Test at Headingley, but this time, they stuck as Siraj drew an edge from Zak Crawley to find Karun Nair at first slip.

“Fielding was definitely one of those things we spoke about as a team, and it’s great to see that come off so far,” Gill told the broadcaster Sky Sports.

“This game was all about confidence. We spoke about if we scored 400 again, batting first or batting second, we would be right in the game.”

Harry Brook (30) survived a review for LBW thanks to the umpire’s call, but he and Joe Root (18) absorbed the pressure to see out the day with an unbeaten 52-run partnership.

Record-breaking Gill

Earlier, Gill became the first Indian to score more than 250 outside the Indian subcontinent, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 241, while he also recorded the highest score by an India captain when he went past Virat Kohli’s 254.

Gill had hardly put a foot wrong over the first two days of the Test, but he briefly lost his concentration after tea when he tried to dispatch a short ball from Josh Tongue, only to find Pope at square leg.

But the Edgbaston crowd rose to their feet to salute the captain’s knock as he walked back to the pavilion, his job done after India found themselves reeling at 211-5 on day one.

“I worked on a few things before the series that I thought might be important for me going into Test cricket,” said Gill, who has scored 424 runs in the series.

“Looking at the results, they are working for me.”

Having resumed on an overnight score of 310-5, Jadeja and Gill built a 203-run stand before the all-rounder fell to a Tongue bouncer, but Gill looked completely at ease on a flat track that offered precious little assistance.

As England’s bowlers toiled under the summer sun, Gill hardly broke a sweat and put a price on his wicket as he showcased his array of elegant drives and well-timed flicks to pile on the runs.

Take a bow, Shubman

Gill made his trademark bow once again after becoming the first India skipper to score a double-hundred in England and soon broke Sunil Gavaskar’s 46-year-old record for the highest score by an Indian in England (221 in 1979).

He was soon toying with the attack and the placement of fielders, coolly switching between sublime and unorthodox shots as he dispatched the ball to all corners of the ground.

With Washington Sundar playing patiently at the other end, Gill was in Twenty20 mode as they cruised past the 500-mark and a rare outside edge went for a boundary to take the captain to 250.

Root finally broke the seventh-wicket partnership of 144 when a delivery broke through the defence of Sundar as he departed for a well-made 42.

India’s tail added only 13 runs after Gill’s dismissal, but that gave their bowlers 20 overs to take a crack at England’s batters on a fruitful day as they look to level the series.

Seales and Joseph take nine wickets before Australia stage mini recovery by restricting West Indies to 57-4 at stumps.

In a performance reminiscent of West Indies’ fearsome bowling attacks of old, Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph tore through the Australia batting lineup, toppling them for a meagre 180 on day one of the first Test at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Mitchell Starc, skipper Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood saved Australia’s blushes, taking four wickets between them to send the West Indies in at stumps at 57 for four, trailing the tourists by 123 runs to leave the match delicately poised on Wednesday.

With Seales claiming a magnificent five-wicket haul and Joseph unleashing thunderbolts that left Australia’s batsmen floundering, the visitors never recovered from a catastrophic start that saw them reeling at 22 for three on a lively pitch.

“This one was pretty special for me,” Seales said.

“I have played against [Australia] once, and was injured. To play against them and get five on the first day was pretty special.

“With the new ball, the plan was to bowl fuller. We knew the batters would come hard if we gave them width, and the plan was to bowl full and as much at the stumps as possible.

“A little slower than what the Australians would have expected, and that made them play a lot more.

“Shamar was special today … He has a love for Australia. He got through the top order and made it easy for us in the middle and at the end.”

Australia, already vulnerable with Steve Smith sidelined by injury and Marnus Labuschagne axed, watched in dismay as their re-jigged top order wilted under relentless pressure from the Caribbean quicks.

Joseph got the Bridgetown carnival started in the fourth over when he trapped teenage debutant Sam Konstas leg before wicket after a review.

The 25-year-old then delivered a scorching delivery that all-rounder Cameron Green could only edge to Justin Greaves at second slip.

Seales then joined the party, coaxing a thick top edge from Josh Inglis that sent him trudging back to the pavilion for five, completing Australia’s horror start.

Veteran Usman Khawaja and Travis Head briefly stemmed the tide with an 89-run partnership, but Joseph struck again at the perfect moment, removing Khawaja for 47 – agonisingly short of his half-century – and extinguishing Australian hopes of a recovery.

The middle order offered little resistance, with Beau Webster (11) and Alex Carey (8) falling cheaply before Greaves claimed the prize scalp of Head for 59, caught behind.

Captain Pat Cummins (28) provided the only lower-order resistance before Seales returned to sweep through the tail, completing his five-wicket masterclass and leaving Australia to contemplate the wreckage of their innings.

West Indies would have fancied their chances at that point, but Starc had other plans, snapping up the wickets of Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell in an action-packed opening spell.

Cummins then had Keacy Carty caught behind on 20 before Hazlewood bowled nightwatchman Jomel Warrican out for a duck, as the Barbadian sun set on an exhilarating day of Test cricket dominated by pace.

A superb century from Ben Duckett helped steer England to a sensational five-wicket win in the first Test against India after a thrilling final day, the hosts reaching a target of 371 – the 10th highest successful run chase in Test history.

Having turned the cricket match on its head at Headingley after India had been 430-3 in their first innings, England appeared to be cruising to a dramatic win on Tuesday.

Openers Duckett and Zak Crawley eased their side to the break at lunch on 117-0 in their second innings.

Duckett continued his imperious form with another four through the covers to reach his sixth Test hundred, before Crawley fell for 65.

Their 188-run partnership was the second-highest England opening fourth-innings stand in Tests.

Two wickets in two balls – Duckett and Harry Brook – dragged India back into the enthralling contest. And when Ben Stokes fell for 33 attempting an ambitious reverse sweep, England’s hopes of victory lay precariously in the balance.

Joe Root’s unbeaten 53 calmed the nerves around his home ground, with the former skipper and Jamie Smith, who hit a six to seal victory, seeing England home as India, having scored five centuries in the match, somehow contrived to start the five-Test series in defeat.

“Incredible, what a Test match. It was a huge number of runs and we have been lucky with the weather,” Duckett said. “I am lost for words.

“We only had to look at the scoreboard to know that if we batted the overs, we would win the game. There were moments when I thought about stepping into another gear, but the breaks in the game helped us to stay calm.

“To start this series with a 1-0 win is huge for us. It felt calm in the dressing room. To have Root out there, it’s pretty easy to be calm.”

Resuming day five on 21-0, uncharacteristically for a team renowned for their ultra-aggressive batting, Crawley and Duckett took 99 balls to bring up their 50 partnership – the longest it has taken the pair to do so for England – before upping the ante.

There was slight concern for England when first-innings centurion Ollie Pope quickly followed Crawley back to the pavilion midway through the afternoon session, the number three becoming Prasidh Krishna’s next victim in back-to-back overs.

Duckett continued to accumulate runs quickly, however, before attempting one big shot too many to fall to Shardul Thakur for 149 – the second-highest Test fourth-innings score by an English opener.

The contribution of Duckett, in such a pressurised situation, cannot be underestimated – it is 15 years since an England opener last scored a fourth-innings hundred: Alastair Cook at Mirpur in 2010.

Nerves set in around the ground when Brook departed for a golden duck, two in two balls for Thakur, with further scares forthcoming as England looked edgy.

Stokes was left shaking his head at the way he fell to Ravindra Jadeja shortly after tea, but Root and Smith both dug in, stopped offering up chances and got the runs required, with Smith rounding off a remarkable victory in style.

Plenty of dropped catches and two batting collapses ultimately cost India. From 430-3 in the first innings, they lost their final seven wickets for just 41 runs, with the tail crumbling again in the second innings, 31 runs accumulated for the fall of the final six wickets.

It is the first time in cricket history that a team has managed five centuries in one Test and not emerged victorious, but also the first time those five centurions have been joined by six batsmen who fell for ducks – three in each innings – in the same match.

“We had our chances,” India captain Shubman Gill said. “A few dropped catches and the lower order not contributing as much as we would like [cost us], but I am proud. Our young team is learning.

“It just didn’t go our way in this match. We have to rectify [the batting collapses] in the upcoming matches.”

For England, at the start of a crucial period with the Ashes to come later this year, their summer could not have got off to a more promising start, with their aggressive approach, even if it has been toned down and refined, achieving their second-highest run chase in their Test history.

India was all out for 364, opening the door for England to stage a dramatic test cricket win at Headingley on final day.

Another India lower-order collapse gave England a fighting chance of a thrilling cricket victory in the first Test at Headingley, with the hosts 21-0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.

Josh Tongue, just as he did in the first innings, came to the fore when seeing off the Indian tail, with three wickets in four balls helping ensure the tourists lost their final six second-innings wickets for 31 runs on Monday.

The collapse, which saw India all out for 364, gave the dangerous Jasprit Bumrah the chance to attack England before close of play. But neither opener, Zak Crawley nor Ben Duckett, looked troubled as they repelled the Indian attack until stumps.

Reaching 371 would be England’s second-highest successful Test run chase against India, and the second-highest at Headingley, more than the Ben Stokes-inspired heroics on the same ground against Australia in 2019.

“To get them all out and not lose a wicket in the last half hour, Ducky [Ben Duckett] and Zak [Crawley] batted really well,” Tongue told Sky Sports.

“The first session we batted really well, I thought we were unlucky. The message was to hit the pitch as hard as we can. It flattened out in the second session. We just had to stay patient.”

Resuming day four on 90-2 in their second innings, with a lead of 96 runs, India captain Shubman Gill, who made his highest Test score in the first innings, chopped onto his stumps to fall for eight to Brydon Carse.

England sensed an opportunity, having dragged themselves back into the Test on Sunday. But Rishabh Pant’s 195-run middle-order partnership with KL Rahul swung the momentum back in India’s favour.

Rahul, Pant rally

The normally box-office Pant started his innings quite conservatively, happy to watch on as Rahul moved smoothly to his century, his ninth in Tests, eight of which have come overseas.

After smashing two sixes in three balls after lunch, however, Pant hit the accelerator and brought out his typically flamboyant shots to all corners of the ground, with his hundred meaning, for the first time, that there have been five India centuries scored in one Test match.

Pant eventually tried one shot too many, caught chasing another six on the boundary by Crawley for 118 before Rahul fell shortly after tea for 137, again chopping onto the stumps off the bowling of Carse.

Then came the Tongue-inspired collapse, as the fast bowler took three wickets and the catch that brought about the end of India’s innings as the touring side, having lost their final six first-innings wickets for 24 runs, fell apart again.

Bumrah, the number one-ranked Test bowler in the world, who took five wickets in the first innings, immediately grabbed the ball but got very little joy as Crawley remained unbeaten on 12, while Duckett will return for a tantalising Tuesday on nine.

The odds are stacked against England on the final day, but there is hope at least. In 59 Tests when defending totals of over 350, India have only lost once. That, however, was against England in 2022.

“Someone’s got to win tomorrow; it will be an interesting day,” Rahul told Sky Sports.

“The wicket is not as easy as the first innings. They won’t find it as easy to hit the ball on the rise. Even if they get a big partnership, if we get a couple of wickets, we’ll be right in the game.”

India has a 96-run lead over England with eight wickets remaining heading into day four of the first cricket Test at Headingly.

India led England by 96 runs on the second innings after three days of an enthralling Test series opener at Headingley.

India bowled out the hosts for 465 at tea on Sunday to eke out a six-run first-innings lead, and was 90-2 in its second bat when rain stopped play a half-hour early.

Opener Lokesh Rahul was 47 not out with captain Shubman Gill beside him on 6.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was nipped out by Brydon Carse for 4, and not long before play ended for the day, Sai Sudharsan fell to Ben Stokes for the second time in the match, on 30.

Harry Brook led England’s batting effort on the day, riding his luck from 0 to 99 when he was out hooking straight to the fielder at deep backward square leg.

Brook was in control of partnerships of 51 with Stokes, 73 with Jamie Smith and 49 with Chris Woakes. But when he was out at 398-7, England trailed India by 73. India would have expected to wrap up the tail with the new ball only five overs old.

But fast bowling allrounder Woakes and batter Carse smashed India for 55 runs off 44 balls, and India needed to give star pacer Jasprit Bumrah a fifth spell to finally end England’s innings.

Bumrah took the last two wickets to finish with 5-83, his 14th Test five-for and 12th five-for away from home, tying Kapil Dev’s India record.

England’s Ollie Pope scores a century in second day fightback of first Test against India.

Ollie Pope and his latest century spearheaded England to 209-3 after India was bowled out for 471 on Day Two, Saturday, of the test series opener at Headingley.

Pope was 100 not out and the leading scorer as England slashed its deficit to 262 runs by stumps and won the day.

Pope was far from perfect. He survived a testing opening spell from speedster Jasprit Bumrah in gloomy bowler-friendly conditions, narrowly avoided lbw on 34 and was dropped on 60.

He rode his luck to his ninth test hundred and second against India.

Bumrah was England’s greatest threat as expected and took all three home wickets: Zac Crawley in the first over; Ben Duckett on 62 to break his and Pope’s 122-run second-wicket partnership; and Joe Root on 28 to break his and Pope’s 80-run third-wicket partnership.

Bumrah would have had a fourth wicket in the day’s last over — Harry Brook without scoring — but he overstepped for the third time in the over. The world’s best fast bowler was also the victim of two dropped catches in the field.

England wasn’t expected to be batting soon after lunch.

India was 430-3 about half an hour before lunch. A total of at least 550 was on the cards but the demise of captain Shubman Gill for 147 sparked a collapse of 41-7 in 68 balls bridging lunch.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Shubman Gill both score centuries for India on the first day of their Test tour of England.

Centuries from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Shubman Gill, his first as skipper, fired India to a commanding position in their series opener against England, closing day one of the first test on an imposing 359-3.

Despite the clear, humid Headingley conditions seemingly favouring the batting side, England chose to bowl first on Friday, knowing each of the previous six Leeds Tests had been won by the side bowling first.

Ben Stokes’s decision seemed ill-advised, with India openers KL Rahul and Jaiswal both looking in fine form, but Rahul fell for 42, with the England captain quickly removing debutant Sai Sudharsan for a duck from the final ball before lunch.

Jaiswal and Gill steadied the ship in the afternoon session, however. The opener stormed to his fifth test century, with Gill’s classy ton, an unbeaten 127, putting England on the back foot from the off in the five-match series.

“It was very special, it meant a lot to me,” Jaiswal told the official radio broadcaster for the series, the BBC. “I really enjoyed it because I have worked so much before the series, after the IPL.

“I just wanted to get in and do something for my team, for my country and for myself after the work I have put it. I loved it. There is no secret. I just try to work very hard and have the will and desire to do well whenever I have the opportunity. I will just keep trying to put my team first.”

The pressure was on Gill on his Test bow as captain, with a nation expecting a smooth transition following the retirements of stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

India’s fifth-youngest captain at 25 found himself in the firing line in the blink of an eye, after England had initially toiled on an unusually humid Leeds day.

Missing numerous front-line pace bowlers through injury, it was left to Brydon Carse, making his first test start on home soil, to make the crucial breakthrough just as Rahul was settling in before debutant Sudharsan quickly followed him back to the pavilion.

Supported by Jaiswal, who sailed to his sixth half century in 10 innings against England, Gill showed his class with his fastest-ever test 50.

Jaiswal, despite receiving treatment for an injury to his hand throughout the afternoon session, quickly retook the limelight from the skipper racing to his fifth century from just 20 matches, and his third against England, to pile the misery on the hosts’ beleaguered bowlers.

After Stokes struck to clean bowl Jaiswal, who departed for 101, ending the third wicket stand of 129, Gill and Rishabh Pant continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over, with a drive through the covers taking the skipper to his first test century outside of Asia.

Pant finished off a memorable day for India by reaching his half-century with a bizarre-looking shot, leaving England with a mountain to climb to avoid getting their summer off to a losing start.

“It was a tough day, but we will get our opportunity to bat soon,” England coach Tim Southee said. “We will come back tomorrow and try to make some inroads.

“The guys are good. The strength of this side is that things can be tough at times, but they try to not to get too caught up in the emotions of bad days.”

India and Pakistan will meet in the round-robin stage of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 on October 5, five months after the most intense military escalations between the two nations, cricket’s governing body has confirmed.

The cricket powerhouses will also face each other in the group stage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, with the marquee clash scheduled for June 14, according to the tournament’s schedule announced by the ICC on Wednesday.

India are hosting the 50-over World Cup 2025 from September 30 to November 2, but all of Pakistan’s fixtures – including any appearances in the semifinals and final – will be held in Sri Lanka as both countries agreed to an ICC-brokered deal in December 2024 to face each other at neutral venues at future ICC events.

India and Pakistan were engaged in a four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, but there are competing claims on the casualties.

Following the escalations, several Indian media outlets reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked the ICC to avoid allocating them the same group as Pakistan in global tournaments.

However, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla confirmed that while India does not “want to play with Pakistan in bilateral series because of the government’s stand”, the country will meet its western neighbour at ICC events “due to the ICC’s engagement”.

“The ICC is also aware, whatever is happening, they will look into it,” Shukla was quoted as saying by Indian media.

During the standoff, which led to fears of an all-out war, former and current cricketers from both countries made social media posts in support of their respective armed forces.

Given the gravity of the situation, the possibility of both nations meeting on a cricket field was under some doubt, but the ICC confirmed the 50-over tournament’s schedule on Monday, with the India-Pakistan round-robin stage match scheduled in Colombo, Sri Lanka, during the first week of the tournament.

The rest of Pakistan’s six fixtures will also be played in the Sri Lankan capital, with the R Premadasa Stadium the likely venue.

Should Pakistan qualify for the semifinals, they will play the first knockout match on October 29 in Colombo. If they do not qualify, the match will be played on the same date in Guwahati.

The fate of the final will also be decided in a similar manner, with Colombo bagging the hosting rights should Pakistan make it, and Bengaluru hosting it in case they do not.

The eight-team Women’s Cricket World Cup will begin on September 30 with hosts India taking on Sri Lanka at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Defending champions Australia, England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka are the other participant nations.

India and Pakistan will meet again in June next year, when they play their Group 1 match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Kingdom.

The match will be played at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham at 13:30 GMT.

The tournament, which was last won by New Zealand in 2024, will be held at seven venues across England and Wales.

Hosts England will play Sri Lanka at Edgbaston in the tournament opener on June 12 at 17:30 GMT.

Twelve teams, divided into two groups, will participate.

Group 1 comprises Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and two qualifiers, which will be decided at the end of the qualifying rounds in 2026.

Group 2 includes England, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and two qualifiers.

The semifinals are scheduled for June 30 and July 2 at the Oval cricket ground in London, while Lord’s Cricket Ground will host the final on July 5.

The last meeting between India and Pakistan came at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Dubai on October 6, when India eased to a six-wicket win in the group-stage encounter.

South Africa end their wait for one of the major ICC titles by beating Australia by five wickets in the WTC final.

South Africa have secured their first major title by beating defending champions Australia by five wickets in the final of the World Test Championship at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

The Proteas knocked off the remaining 29 runs they needed before lunch on Saturday – sealing the win with more than a day and a half to spare, and sparking emotional celebrations in front of a packed crowd.

They moved from a portentous 213-2 overnight to 282-5, the second-highest successful run chase in the 141-year Rest history at the self-proclaimed home of cricket.

Australia did not give up the WTC mace easily, relentlessly attacking the stumps and pressuring a South Africa side with an infamous history of blowing winning positions on big ICC stages.

But South Africa was staunch and composed, only three boundaries in more than two hours, and lost only three wickets on Saturday in an air of inevitability.

“We’ve come a long way as a team, as a country,” an emotional Keshav Maharaj said. “We always say we want to be good people and play good. We’re moving in the right direction as a cricketing nation.

Referencing South Africa’s last title of any kind, the 1998 ICC Champions Trophy, Maharaj fought back tears in adding, “After 27 years of pain, to finally get over the line is super emotional. We’re so grateful to have Temba (Bavuma, captain) to get us over the line.

“Diversity is our strength, so to see the crowd, they stand for the meaning of our rainbow nation. To lift the trophy is going to unite the nation even more.”

The desperate Australians used up all of their three reviews in vain within the first 90 minutes, but fought to the end. They took the new ball but were still blunted by a flat pitch.

Markram was the colossus Australia could not topple until it was too late.

The opener resumed the day on 102 and was out for 136 when only six more runs were needed. He spent six hours, 23 minutes in the middle.

About 15 minutes later, Kyle Verreynne broke the tension by hitting the winning run, a drive into the covers.

Markram and captain Temba Bavuma set up the victory with an unbeaten and chanceless partnership of 143 runs the day before. They could not finish what they started, adding only four runs together before Bavuma edged Pat Cummins behind for 66, one more than he had overnight.

Tristan Stubbs was castled on 8 by Mitchell Starc with 41 runs needed and South Africa was too close to the finish to be denied.

But Markram could not have the pleasure himself. With six runs needed to win, he was caught at midwicket by Travis Head off Josh Hazlewood.

Australia did not celebrate. Instead, players slapped Markram on the back and congratulated him on his match-winning knock as the Lord’s crowd stood and applauded.

They stood again when the end finally came, a rout of red-hot Australia with five sessions to spare.

South Africa’s history on the ICC’s biggest stages has been infamously cruel. The venues and dates of their most heart-breaking losses include Birmingham 1999, Dhaka 2011, Auckland 2015, Kolkata 2023 and Bridgetown 2024.

But London 2025 will go down as one of the greatest days in South African sport, when its cricket underdogs grabbed the advantage and did not let go against one of the great Australia Test sides to seal the title that ranks alongside the ICC’s Cricket World Cup and the T20 World Cup.

South Africa were criticised before the final for its supposedly easier road — it did not face Australia or England in a series in the 2023-2025 WTC cycle — but it has won eight straight tests, its second-longest streak in history, and half of them away from home.

Hobbling captain Temba Bavuma and hundred-hitter Aiden Markram pushed South Africa to the brink of a sensational victory over Australia in a gripping World Test Championship final at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

Bavuma, elevating the drama with a strained left hamstring, and opener Markram capitalised on ideal batting conditions on Friday.

They partnered for an unbroken 143 runs against one of Australia’s greatest bowling attacks to have South Africa 69 runs from an historic triumph.

Chasing 282 to win, the Proteas were 213-2 at stumps on Day Three in a stirring bid to win a first ICC trophy in 27 years.

Bavuma was 65 not out from 121 balls, his running restricted but not his batting technique, and Markram was 102 not out from 159, easily the highest individual score of the final.

Defending champion Australia bombarded them with four of its top-10 all-time test wicket-takers – more than 1,500 wickets in total – but they were not able to part the Proteas pair, and hardly troubled them.

In South Africa’s huge favour, the Day Three pitch flattened, offered the bowlers little and was far easier paced than the first two chaotic days, when 14 wickets fell on each. Only four wickets were taken on Friday, and none after tea.

South Africa will not go to bed entirely comfortably, though. The men’s team has a heartbreaking history in ICC tournaments of blowing winning positions. It is the reason its only ICC trophy is the ICC Knock Out in 1998.

“This would be massive for our country,” Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince said. “Both in terms of what we want to do in test match cricket and what we want to achieve going forward. We’ve fallen short in some white-ball competitions with teams that have been favourites at times. History says we haven’t done it yet, so we have to knuckle down.

“Not sure how I’m going to sleep tonight. Whether I can fall into a deep sleep, I’m not sure!”

It is certain serial champion Australia still believes, too.

“In the morning, we’ve got to come back and try and form a plan,” Beau Webster said. “The boys will be looking at any advantage we can get. Strange things happen in this game.

“We tried some new things with the bowling attack, but they were just too good in the end … and both of them were chanceless, so complete credit to them.”

The odds were in Australia’s favour when South Africa’s chase began straight after lunch.

To win, a work-in-progress batting lineup needed to equal England’s most successful-ever run chase at Lord’s from 2004.

By the time pacer Mitchell Starc removed Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder, South Africa was 70-2, but flying.

There was positive intent missing from the first innings, and the strike was rotated constantly. Australia managed only three maidens in 56 overs, all by spinner Nathan Lyon.

Starc could have reduced South Africa to 76-3 when Bavuma, on 2, thick-edged to first slip.

But a helmeted Steve Smith, standing closer than usual to the wickets because the ball has not been carrying to the cordon all game, could not hold Starc’s 138 km/h delivery and broke his right pinkie finger. He immediately left for a hospital, was out of the final and probably the following three-test tour of the West Indies.

Given life, Bavuma was on 9 when he hurt his hamstring 10 minutes before tea. Prince said he was adamant about continuing, but noticeably limping. The captain soothed his dressing room with pulls and sweeps and hobbled runs, each one rousing the South Africa fans. Bavuma reached his 50 off 83 balls.

Meanwhile, Markram was cutting and driving to 50 off 69 balls. The best of his 11 boundaries was a late cut off Starc expertly sliced between two fielders. His reaction to his eighth test century five minutes from stumps was muted. He had enough strength to raise his bat to all sides and receive applause and a hug from his captain.

South Africa’s celebratory end to Friday the 13th contrasted starkly with the deflating start to the day.

The Proteas would have expected to begin the chase by bowling out Australia, resuming on 144-8, half an hour after the start of play. Lyon was dismissed early and gave Kagiso Rabada his ninth wicket of the match, but tailenders Starc and Josh Hazlewood resisted for almost two hours.

Starc achieved his 11th test fifty, and first in six years. He and Hazlewood’s third 50-plus partnership for the 10th wicket tied the all-time test record.

The stand ended on 59, Hazlewood out for 17 to part-timer Markram. Starc was not out on 58 from 136 balls. He had entered at 73-7, when Australia led by 147, and combined mainly with Alex Carey and Hazlewood to conjure 134 more runs.

Those runs and South Africa’s 20 no balls appeared to put Australia beyond reach. But Bavuma and Markram had the confidence and the pitch to defy nearly all expectations.

New Zealand and San Francisco’s Finn Allen hits record 19 sixes against Washington in 2025 Major League Cricket opener.

San Francisco Unicorns opener Finn Allen smashed a record 19 sixes in his incredible 151 off 51 balls against defending champions Washington Freedom in the opening match of the new Major League Cricket (MLC) season.

The New Zealand international opener’s knock on Thursday evening at Unicorns’ Oakland Coliseum, was the Twenty20 league’s highest individual score since its 2023 debut season.

Allen’s six-hitting display passed the previous record of 18 in a T20 match held by West Indian great Chris Gayle and Estonian Sahil Chauhan, who registered the knock in the European Cricket League.

The Unicorns amassed 269-5, an MLC team record, with Allen taking 34 balls to bring up his 100 against a bowling attack that included fellow New Zealand internationals Ben Sears, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips.

Phillips took a catch at long-on to dismiss the 26-year-old off Mitchell Owen’s bowling in the 18th over of the innings.

Freedom, led by Australian international Glenn Maxwell, were all out for 146 in 13.1 overs in reply, suffering a comprehensive 123-run defeat.

Allen, who was named Player of the Match, has already smashed two centuries and five fifties in 52 T20 international innings for the Kiwis, and hits at a strike rate of 163.

This was his 22nd fifty in domestic T20 cricket, where he has also scored two centuries but hits at a strike rate of 173.

The Auckland-born Allen, who has yet to make his Test debut, has also appeared in 22 one-day internationals for the Kiwis, where he has hit five fifties.

Kagiso Rabada was suspended from cricket only six weeks ago, midway through a stint in the Indian Premier League.

The South Africa seamer received a standing ovation from the crowd at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on Wednesday.

The accolade was for Rabada starring in the World Test Championship final by taking 5-51 in 15.4 overs to help South Africa rout defending champion Australia for 212 on day one.

“You always felt on this wicket, any ball had their name on it,” he said.

The South Africans didn’t have it all their own way, however, as they were left reeling at 43-4 at the close.

Rabada grabbed the spotlight from the off, taking two wickets in the morning. The three wickets after tea also earned him personal milestones.

His third wicket of the day, bowling Australia captain Pat Cummins, tied him with Allan Donald on 330 wickets for fourth place on South Africa’s all-time Test list. The fourth wicket, Beau Webster, left Donald behind. The fifth wicket, Mitchell Starc, gave Rabada a five-for and a second inscription on the Lord’s honours boards.

Each time he finished bowling and returned to patrol the boundary, Rabada was applauded by the large contingent of South Africa fans.

“It feels like a home game,” he said. “I’m just happy I could do a job out there. All of us started really well, I just got the rewards today.”

It all went better than Rabada and South Africa expected after he tested positive for a recreational drug in January and admitted to it.

Rabada underwent education programmes that reduced his suspension from three months to a month – April – in the middle of his multimillion-dollar IPL contract.

The Proteas and Cricket South Africa hierarchy supported Rabada through the process and, after some criticism of the length of suspension, prepared him for any abuse during the WTC final.

If there was any, it was muted by his success.

Just before leaving South Africa for London to play in the final, he said of the suspension, “The biggest thing I took away from it is having gratitude for playing the game that we love. I’m just glad to be playing again.”

South Africa would say the same.

Australia batter Steve Smith, meantime, hopes the variable bounce at Lord’s will help them make further inroads into South Africa’s fragile batting lineup on day two.

Smith marked his first outing since March with 66 runs and felt Australia were in the driving seat after the opening day. Yet they were now looking to capitalise on their advantage.

“I think the bounce is going to be variable throughout the game, as we’ve seen already on day one, so hopefully we can get a few early wickets in the morning and sort of go through them and have a bit of a lead. That’s the ideal scenario for us right now.”

Australia are 169 runs ahead after a day in which 14 wickets fell.

“I think we’re in a good spot. We’ve probably had a few missed opportunities with the bat to try and get a bigger total, but I think the wicket offered something all day.

“We could have had a better day, but we’re still in a nice position,” Smith said after stumps on Wednesday.

Smith, a prolific run scorer at Lord’s, was returning after a lengthy holiday in which he said he hardly picked up a bat.

“I felt good, felt in a nice place. I love batting here at Lord’s and enjoyed my time while I was out there, but left a few in the shed, unfortunately.

“It felt quite tricky, the wicket felt like it was doing enough all day … probably a little bit on the slower side, and then one kind of zings through.”

Smith was irritated to have been dismissed by part-time spinner Aiden Markram, trying to slog him to the boundary but getting a healthy edge to slip.

“I’m still trying to fathom how I’ve done that,” he said.

Nicholas Pooran, one of the world’s leading T20 batters, has retired from international duty with West Indies aged 29.

The Trinidadian has played 167 times for West Indies, but the decision will allow him to concentrate on playing in lucrative franchise leagues.

He had already skipped the ongoing T20 series against England to rest following his time playing for Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He also has deals in Major League Cricket (MLC) and The Hundred this summer.

Cricket West Indies said, external: “We salute his achievements and thank him for the moments he has given fans across the region and beyond.

“We wish him all the very best in the next phase of his journey.”

While Pooran is not the first player to retire from internationals in favour of franchise leagues – South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen did so last week – his decision is one of the most significant, given his age and profile.

West Indies captain Shai Hope was asked about Pooran’s decision to skip the England series last week but said that decision would not impact his future selection.

It is understood Pooran told West Indies of his retirement on Monday.

He last played for West Indies in December 2024 in T20s against Bangladesh, but has not played an ODI since July 2023 and does not play Tests.

Pooran is the most capped West Indian in T20 internationals with 106, and the leading T20I run-scorer with 2,275.