New Zealand will be heading to Scotland for two T20Is and a solitary ODI against the hosts. The T20I series opener is scheduled to commence on the 27th of July, Wednesday.  

The Kiwis diminished their disappointing whitewash in the Test series against England in June by completing a whitewash of their own in the ODIs and T20Is in the recently concluded tour of Ireland. Michael Bracewell emerged as the find of the series. After smashing a century in the ODI series, the all-rounder recorded a hat-trick in the T20I series.

Scotland, on the other hand, who had an abysmal T20 World Cup last year in UAE, has been rocked by the racism scandal on the board just days before the series. The Cricket Scotland board was forced to resign after an investigation by SportScotland confirmed institutional racism in Cricket Scotland following allegations from two former Scotland international cricketers in an interview in 2021.

SportScotland has now taken over the reins of Cricket Scotland following the departure of its original members and will be in charge of the proceeding until October next year. The ICC has backed the new regime and hopes for a more diverse and inclusive environment in Scotland Cricket.

When and where to watch the England vs South Africa T20I matches in India?

The two T20I matches and the one-off ODI will all be hosted by the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh. The tour will commence with the T20I series, with the first match scheduled on the 27th of July, Wednesday, commencing at 7 PM IST, and the second T20I on the 29th kicking off at the same time. The tour will conclude with the ODI on the 31st of this month, commencing at 3:30 PM IST. The matches can be live streamed on the FanCode App.

New Zealand’s tour of Scotland

Scotland T20I squad

Richie Berrington (C), Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk).

Scotland ODI squad

Richie Berrington (C), Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk), Kyle Coetzer.

New Zealand squad (T20Is & ODI)

Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Michael Rippon.

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria reckons that emerging pacer Arshdeep Singh could be a great option for India in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup this year. Known for his death overs spells and the ability to bowl well-disguised yorkers, Arshdeep who was impressive in the last two editions of the IPL finally found a place in the Indian T20I squad during the first game against England earlier this month.

Speaking on Arshdeep’s potential to be the next big thing in Indian fast bowling, Kaneria said that the left-arm speedster can certainly be a valuable asset for India in both the major tournaments this year as the youngster bowls sensibly and knows how to take wickets. At the same time, the veteran spinner also added that Arshdeep Singh can create a good impression on Dubai wickets during the Asia Cup.

Arshdeep Singh can be successful being a left-arm pacer: Danish Kaneria

“Mark my words. Arshdeep will play the third ODI and make an impact too. Arshdeep has the art, and he uses his mind while bowling. He bowls sensibly and knows how to take wickets. He can be a fantastic option for the Indian team for T20 World Cup and maybe for Asia Cup as well. Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and he can be successful being a left-arm pacer,” said Kaneria while speaking on his YouTube channel.

Arshdeep Singh created a good first impression on his T20I debut against England with figures of 2/18 from his 3.3 overs at an economy of 5.1 including a maiden. With less than three months to go for the T20 World Cup down under, the Indian think tank would now be eager to give Singh a few more chances going forward.

It would be interesting to see whether the left-arm pacer gets to feature in the playing XI for the upcoming five T20Is starting Friday, July 29 as the final auditions for the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup get underway

With the ODI series coming to an end, England and South Africa will embark on a T20I series which is set to begin on July 27. Their ODI series ended in a stalemate as the decider was washed out on Sunday (July 24). The South African bowlers performed really well in the first game and changed the course of the game in the nick of time, but the hosts bounced back stronger to win the second game.

The Keshav Maharaj-led Proteas won the first game by 62 runs as England failed to chase the 334-run target. In the second game, England emerged victorious and registered a thumping 118-run win. South Africa looked in good touch in the final match as top-order batter Quinton de Kock neared his century, but rain played a spoilsport and washed the match out.

The South African top-order has been commendable in the tour so far, whereas the English batting order has been dependent upon a couple of players. On the other hand, the bowling units of both sides have shown sheer class and will be something to look out for once again. The two teams will now face each other in three T20Is followed by as many Test matches, starting in August and lasting till September.

Here’s all you need to know about the series:

South Africa tour of England, T20Is

England Squad

Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey.

South Africa Squad

David Miller (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell

South Africa tour of England T20Is, Schedule

Broadcast Details

TV- Sony Sports Network

Streaming- SonyLiv

Australia Women captain Meg Lanning aims for the gold medal in the T20 event of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which will commence later this month. This is the first time women’s cricket or the T20Is will be a part of the mega event.

Lanning recalled watching swimming and hockey at the Commonwealth Games growing up and admiring Australia’s teamwork across various sports. But she felt that she would never get the chance to partake in the events because cricket was not part of it. Australia, being the defending champions of the T20 World Cup and the ODI World Cup, will go into the Commonwealth Games as one of the gold medal contenders.

“Certainly, the aim is to win gold,” Lanning told the ABC. “I remember watching a lot of the swimming and hockey at the Commonwealth Games growing up and really loving the teamwork of the Australian athletes across a range of sports.”

We are looking to embrace this opportunity: Meg Lanning

“But because cricket was never really a part of it, I didn’t expect to be able to get this chance myself,” said the Australia captain. “As a group, we’re looking to embrace this opportunity because being part of a wider Australian team is new for us, and it might not be something we ever get to do again.”

The ‘Cricket T20’ in Birmingham will commence on July 29, Friday, and the opener will be played between Australia and India. The other teams in the group are Barbados and Pakistan. Group B comprises New Zealand, South Africa, England, and Sri Lanka. The final will be played on August 7 at Edgbaston.

The last time cricket was played in the Commonwealth Games was in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, and the ODI format was used. South Africa, led by Shaun Pollock, won the gold medal, beating Steve Waugh’s Australia in the finals by four wickets. New Zealand settled for the bronze medal. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also been in talks to get cricket to the Olympics for Los Angeles in 2028.

Rahul Dravid, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, who is also regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to have ever represented the nation, has previously talked about how life lessons can be learned from the game of cricket. Dravid, who has 48 centuries to his name in international cricket, opened up about how his first century came in school cricket and recalled how it taught him a lesson that he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

Dravid is currently with the Indian side in the West Indies, where the Men in Blue are facing the Men in Maroon for three ODIs followed by five T20Is. India won the first two games of the ODI series, which were nail-biting thrillers. Having sealed the series with a game to spare, Dravid would hope for the Shikhar Dhawan-led side to white-wash the home team.

During the podcast ‘In the Zone’, hosted by Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, Dravid recalled a comical event in which his name was misspelled as “David” in the press. This realization made him think that, despite scoring a century, he wasn’t very well-known at the time.

I think it was a good lesson for me: Rahul Dravid

“The editor obviously thought that there was a spelling mistake and there could be no one as Dravid. So, it had to be David, right?,” Dravid said recalling the incident.

“Because it’s a lot more common name. So, I think it was a good lesson for me as well to realize that while I might be really happy and excited about scoring a 100 in school cricket but I am still not well known. And people don’t even know my name. They can’t even trust my name to be right and have to change it,” Dravid added.

But the kid made sure that for the rest of his life, everyone in India as well as every publication would remember his name. Rahul Dravid and Bindra had previous encounters before this one.  At a book launch a few years back, Dravid discussed how Bindra’s Beijing 2008 gold medal encouraged him to push himself while he was on the “wrong side of his 30s” and going through a hard time.

“Abhinav’s achievement emboldened me to give it that last push with my own career to dig deep again and to do whatever it took, as difficult as it might seem. His no-shortcuts, no-excuses approach is something we can all aspire for, in whatever tasks big or small that we undertake,” he had said at the Book Launch.

England’s hopes of recording a maiden series triumph under new white-ball skipper Jos Buttler were dashed on Sunday as the ODI series decider between the hosts and South Africa was washed out after just two hours of play at Headingley. The two sides finished the three-match ODI series on level terms and will have to do it all over again in the three-match T20I series commencing on 27th July, Wednesday.

England have suffered back-to-back series defeats ever since Jos Buttler took over the reins from Eoin Morgan after the latter bid farewell to international cricket in June. Ben Stokes won’t be available for the hosts as he had requested a rest from the series, a telling blow for the English camp. 

South Africa, on the other hand, will welcome their bowling spearhead, Kagiso Rabada, back into the squad, and will be led by veteran batter David Miller in the absence of Temba Bavuma. Quinton de Kock looked in phenomenal touch in the final ODI and stroked his way to 92* off just 76 deliveries before the match was called off due to persistent rain. The visitors will be buoyed by his return to form as the southpaw will be crucial for their chances in the T20I series.

England lost their last T20I series against India 2-1 after being comprehensively beaten in the first two T20Is. Meanwhile, South Africa’s latest assignment in the format also came against India in a five-match series which finished on level terms after the fifth match was washed out.

When and where to watch the England vs South Africa T20I matches in India?

The T20I series opener between the two heavyweights will be hosted by the County Ground in Bristol on the 27th of July, and the following match will take place at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff the very next day with both matches commencing at 11 PM IST. The series will culminate with the final T20I being held at The Rose Bowl in Southampton in a 7 PM kickoff on the 31st of July. The matches will be broadcast by the Sony Sports Network and can be streamed online on the Sony LIV app.

South Africa’s tour of England

England squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey.

South Africa squad: David Miller (C), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Rilee Rossouw, Rassie van der Dussen, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Gerald Coetzee.

Bangladesh are set to travel to Zimbabwe for three T20Is and as many ODIs, starting on July 30 in Harare. The momentum is high with the Asian team as they enter this series after beating West Indies by 3-0 in the ODI series. Although they lost the Test and T20I series against the Caribbean side, their dominating display in the ODIs set them in the right direction. On the other hand, Zimbabwe have qualified for the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup after beating Papua New Guinea in the qualifiers semi-final clash. They beat the Netherlands, another qualified side, in the finals of the qualifier on July 17.

Zimbabwe lost their previous bilateral series against Afghanistan last month. Zimbabwe lost all six matches (three T20Is and three ODIs) against Afghanistan at home. Hence, not many are backing them to trouble Bangladesh. The African team will be focusing to find some rhythm and momentum on this tour as they are scheduled to host India in a three-match ODI series at home later in August. They will then travel to Australia to play the same number of 50-over fixtures.

Bangladesh management made a big change to their T20I squad for this upcoming tour. Wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan has been named as stand-in skipper in place of rested Mahmudullah, who is unlikely to regain the captaincy duties in the future. According to various reports, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is planning to appoint star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as the next captain to lead the side in the shortest format of the game. The veteran opening batter Tamim Iqbal is leading the ODI squad for this tour as Shakib opted to rest.

Here’s all you need to know about the tournament:

Bangladesh tour of Zimbabwe

Squads

Zimbabwe ODI Squad: (Will be updated here after the announcement).

Zimbabwe T20I Squad: (Will be updated here after the announcement).

Bangladesh ODI Squad: Tamim Iqbal (c), Liton Das, Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam.

Bangladesh T20I Squad: Nurul Hasan (c & wk), Munim Shahriar, Anamul Haque, Liton Das, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Parvez Hossain Emon.

Schedule

T20I

1st T20I, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Harare, 30th July, 04:30 PM IST and 01:00 PM Local Time

2nd T20I, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Harare, 31th July, 04:30 PM IST and 01:00 PM Local Time

3rd T20I, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Harare, 2nd August, 04:30 PM IST and 01:00 PM Local Time

ODI

1st ODI, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Harare, 5th August, 12:45 PM IST and 09:15 AM Local Time

2nd ODI, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Harare, 7th August, 12:45 PM IST and 09:15 AM Local Time

3rd ODI, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Harare, 10th August, 12:45 PM IST and 09:15 AM Local Time

Live Streaming and Broadcasting details

(Updated soon).

After having a successful outing against Ireland recently, New Zealand will now take on the Netherlands and Scotland in white-ball games. Talking about the New Zealand tour of Scotland, the visitors will take on the home side in three limited-over matches.

At first, both teams will take on each other in a two-match T20I series starting on July 27 (Wednesday) and the second T20I encounter will be played on July 29 (Friday). After the T20I series is done and dusted, both teams will square off in a one-off ODI match to be played on July 31 (Sunday). All the matches will be played at the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh.

The Kiwi side played excellently against the Irish team as they won all the matches including the ODI and T20I encounters and they will back themselves to replicate their performance in the upcoming series against Scotland as well. Meanwhile, Scotland will be without one of their senior-most player Kyle Coetzer as the batter recently announced his retirement from T20I cricket. However, he will be available for the 50-over encounter.

Here’s all you need to know about SCO vs NZ

Squads

Scotland T20I squad

Richie Berrington (C), Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk).

Scotland ODI squad

Richie Berrington (C) Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk), Kyle Coetzer.

New Zealand squad (T20Is & ODI)

Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Michael Rippon.

Scotland vs New Zealand schedule

Broadcast Details

Live Steaming- FanCode App

Finland witnessed a world record being broken at the third T20 World Cup 2024 Europe Sub-Regional Qualifier competition. Gustav McKeon of France, the opening batter, became the youngest male player to hit a T20I century at the age of 18 years and 280 days. He smashed five fours and nine sixes during his 61-ball 109 against Switzerland in Vantaa.

Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai’s previously held the record when he notched up an unbeaten 162* off just 62 balls in 2019 against Ireland. While Zazai was aged 20 years and 337 days when he created the record, McKeon surpassed him and became the youngest Men’s player to do so. In addition to leading the tournament in runs with 185, McKeon also has a strike rate of 161 and an average of 92.50. McKeon’s century followed a daring 76 from 54 balls against the Czech Republic.

Even after the century, McKeon’s France fell short of completing the task and lost in a nail-biting final ball to their neighbours who had set a target of 158. Top-of-the-order batter Faheem Nazir of Switzerland took the lead with a 46-ball 67, and Ali Nayyer’s heroics in the final over secured the dramatic triumph.

Nayyer scored 12 runs in the final three deliveries, including a boundary off the final ball to stun the French, bringing the pair’s group stage standings to a tie at two points. Norway is at first place in Group 2 after two convincing wins against Estonia and the Czech Republic, who are yet to open their respective accounts.

The winner of the third Sub-Regional tournament will compete in the Europe Qualifier

In Group 1, Guernsey and Austria are still unbeaten, while Luxembourg have lost both of its games. Yet to open their account in the competition, Bulgaria and Slovenia will face off on Wednesday (July 27). The Channel Islands are favorites to win their group, but Luxembourg gave them a fight for their money in a 17-run victory.

Shiv Gill of Luxembourg was named the Player of the Match after scoring 47 off 38 balls, but his efforts were in vain as seamer William Peatfield took three wickets to reverse the tide of the game. The winner of the third Sub-Regional tournament will compete in the Europe Qualifier next year against the European teams that did not advance to the 2024 event, namely Ireland, the Netherlands, and Scotland.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri reckoned that the ODI format needs to be shortened from 50 to 40 overs so that it does not fade away. While the emergence of the T20 format was expected to slide down the Test format, it hasn’t been the case, and instead, the 50-over format has taken a toll. With a lot of T20 leagues around the world, fans are much more into viewing the shorter formats.

Interestingly, Test cricket has taken a different route and is starting to gain more and more popularity. Totals are getting chased down in the fourth innings, which has now left the situation of the ODI format in jeopardy. Ben Stokes’ retirement from ODIs at just 31 years was an entire shock to the whole cricketing fraternity, and hence, it is important to address the situation until another valuable talent parts ways with the format.

It stayed for 50 for too long: Ravi Shastri

Shahid Afridi had earlier suggested a reduction in overs from 50 to 40 in the ODI format, and he noted that the format isn’t interesting as it was before. Shastri emulated Afridi’s words stating that shortening the span will definitely work as he explained the examples from the 1983 World Cup when 60 overs were played per innings. He feels the need to think forward and added that the ODI format has been played for 50 overs for a long time now.

“One-day cricket has become quite boring now. I would suggest to cut ODI cricket from 50 overs to 40 overs in order to make it entertaining,” Shahid Afridi earlier told during his interview with Samaa TV after Stokes’ retirement.

“There is no harm in shortening the span of the game. When one-day cricket started, it was of 60 overs. When we won the World Cup in 1983, it was of 60 overs. After that, people thought that 60 overs were a bit too long. People found that span of overs between 20 to 40 hard to digest. So they reduced it from 60 to 50. So years have gone by now since that decision so why not reduce it from 50 to 40 now. Because you got to be forward-thinking and evolve. It stayed for 50 for too long,” Shastri said during the second ODI between India and West Indies on Fancode.