Australia

8:00 AM GMT South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl v Australia Daryn Dupavillon, the Dolphins fast bowler, became South Africa’s 139th ODI cap – and the sixth new face this summer – as he was handed a debut for the season finale in Potchefstroom. That takes the total number of players that

© Getty Images Fast bowler Mitchell Starc is set to leave South Africa early and miss the third ODI in Potchefstroom on Saturday, to watch his wife Alyssa Healy play the Women’s T20 World Cup final against India at the MCG on Sunday. Starc is scheduled to leave South Africa on Friday and coach Justin

12:07 PM GMT Australia 5 for 134 (Lanning 49*, Mooney 28, de Klerk 3-19) beat South Africa 5 for 92 (Wolvaardt 42*, Schutt 2-17) by 5 runs (DLS method) Australia defied Sydney’s rain, a doughty South Africa and the absence of their hamstrung talisman Ellyse Perry to survive a nerve-shredding semi-final at the SCG and

3:54 PM GMT Annesha Ghosh at the SCG After going down to Australia in a thrilling, rain-shortened semi-final at the T20 World Cup, South Africa captain South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk made it clear she would “rather lose than get a free pass” into the tournament’s final. Van Niekerk’s views came in the wake

6:09 AM GMT Alex Malcolm Cameron Bancroft has been dropped from Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield side to face Queensland after a horror run of form this summer. Bancroft, 27, has scored just 158 runs from 13 Shield innings this season at an average of 13.16 with a highest score of 30. He will make way

7:38 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Glenn Maxwell will return to Lancashire for the T20 Blast this summer. Maxwell starred with the bat as Lancashire topped the North Group last season, hitting 305 runs at a strike rate above 150, while averaging 38.12 before a surprise quarter-final exit against Essex. He also contributed with the ball,

10:56 AM GMT Australia won the toss and chose to bat v South Africa On a hot day in Bloemfontein, Aaron Finch opted to make the hosts chase in their bid to win a first series this summer. The dry appearance of the pitch led the Australian captain to believe spin would play a role

5:41 AM GMT Big Picture Few teams have had more contrasting paths to the semi-finals than Australia and South Africa. The hosts have been a walking news cycle of dramas, unexpected twists and, in the case of Ellyse Perry’s hamstring injury, sporting tragedy, all while dealing with the enormous expectations of fulfilling their favourites tag

1:32 AM GMT Cricket Australia asked the ICC about whether a reserve day could be added for the T20 World Cup semi-finals with the weather threatening to ruin the double-header day, which would send Australia and England out, but were told it was not possible to alter the tournament playing conditions. Kevin Roberts, the CA

3:06 PM GMT Big picture South Africa lead the series after a convincing 74-run win in Paarl, but it is the hosts who are under pressure, having found themselves in this position only to falter more than once during their home summer. The Proteas led Test, ODI and T20 series against England after the opening

10:08 AM GMT Alex Malcolm Sydney’s weather could impact the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final double-header at the SCG on Thursday. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting that 5-15mm of rain could fall in Sydney on match day, and there are chances of a thunderstorm too, just days after the last two Group B games

6:53 AM GMT Alex Malcolm Australia’s star allrounder Ellyse Perry suffered a right hamstring injury while fielding during the winner-takes-all clash with New Zealand at the Junction Oval. Perry fielded a ball at mid-off and threw in one motion, off balance, trying to run out New Zealand captain Sophie Devine. She immediately crumpled to the

7:14 AM GMT Australia 155 for 5 (Mooney 60) beat New Zealand 151 for 7 (Devine 31, Green 28, Wareham 3-17, Schutt 3-28) Australia suffered a grievous blow to their chances of lifting the T20 World Cup even as they survived a virtual elimination final against New Zealand, as Ellyse Perry limped from the Junction

11:32 AM GMT South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first vs Australia South Africa handed Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne ODI debuts at Paarl and picked two frontline spinners in Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi. Missing Kagiso Rabada, ruled out of the series late last night with a groin injury, South Africa

10:43 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Adam Zampa is four years old in international cricket, and is Australia’s first-choice white-ball spinner, but he still doesn’t feel “comfortable” at this level. Although that may not necessarily be a bad thing. “Even now I don’t feel comfortable, which is probably a good thing to be honest – same

3:25 AM GMT Australia’s World Cup campaign remains on a knife-edge but their convincing victory against Bangladesh was forged from their most convincing top-order display since the series against Sri Lanka last year. The 151-run opening stand between Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney followed two uncertain displays in the matches against India and Sri Lanka,

Feb 26, 2020 ESPNcricinfo staff Steven Smith, the former Australia captain, will skipper Welsh Fire in The Hundred this year. Smith was stripped of the Australian captaincy following the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in 2018, banned from playing cricket for year and barred from leading any side under Cricket Australia’s jurisdiction for a further year after

11:30 AM GMT Australia 189 for 1 (Healy 83, Mooney 81*) beat Bangladesh 9 for 103 (Fargana 36, Schutt 3-21) by 86 runs Australia flexed their muscles on the back of a record opening stand to set themselves up for a likely winner-takes-all final group match against New Zealand as Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney

3:56 AM GMT To say Australia enjoyed an unbeaten and dominant summer in 2019-20 is not quite true. Yes, the Test team proper dominated Pakistan and New Zealand, hurtling to five successive victories through the prolific feats of David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, stubborn support from Steven Smith and the relentless nature of the bowling

8:39 PM GMT Aaron Finch has hailed the importance of David Warner and Steven Smith to Australia’s T20I side, after the pair starred in a dominant batting performance in the third and deciding game of the South Africa series in their first game at Newlands since the ball-tampering scandal of March 2018. Warner put on

3:47 PM GMT South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first vs Australia South Africa will chase in the deciding T20 against Australia in a bid to win a first series since March 2019 without a specialist opener. Temba Bavuma has not recovered from the hamstring injury that has kept him out of

© Getty Images Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey thinks allrounder Marcus Stoinis should play for Australia in all three formats, such is his value and versatility as a cricketer. Stoinis was Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded Big Bash League, setting a new tournament record with a tally of 705 runs, including a

12:21 AM GMT Domain, the naming-rights partner for Test cricket, is not the only brand to be exiting Cricket Australia’s suite of sponsors. Mastercard and Specsavers are also on their way out, with Bupa to scale down its commitment and so lose its naming rights sponsorship of the national cricket centre in Brisbane and place

2:02 PM GMT Big picture Whatever the outcome in this, the sixth and final match of South Africa’s T20I fortnight, you can be sure they will emerge battle-hardened for the experience of taking on two of the toughest white-ball opponents in the world, if not entirely the wiser as to their own direction of travel

2:59 PM GMT Annesha Ghosh in Perth Imagine falling asleep after Australia’s defeat in the T20 World Cup opener against India on Friday and then waking up no sooner than the third over of their 123-chase against Sri Lanka three days later, only to find the four-time winners and defending champions are staring at another

6:23 PM GMT While South Africans celebrate their double success in T20 cricket on a super Sunday in which both the men’s and women’s teams won crucial matches, Australia are not making any attempt to hide their disappointment that victory could have been theirs. Their men’s team lost a T20 for the first time since

Feb 21, 2020 ESPNcricinfo staff Middlesex have signed Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh as one of their overseas players for this year’s Vitality Blast. Marsh is expected to be available for the duration of the competition, including the knockout stages if Middlesex qualify. Marsh enjoyed a productive 2019-20 Big Bash League, scoring 382 runs in 14

4:34 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Moises Henriques, the Australia allrounder, has signed for defending Vitality Blast champions Essex. Henriques, who recently captained Sydney Sixers to the Big Bash League title, will arrive in last May and be available for the rest of the tournament. Essex have already re-signed Adam Zampa for this year’s Blast, after

8:30 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff It would be easy to assume that Ashton Agar had been in fine form going into Friday’s T20I at the Wanderers, but after taking a hat-trick and 5 for 24 to bowl South Africa out for their lowest-ever score in the format, Australia’s spin-bowling allrounder revealed that he “was actually