Franchise Cricket

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Sydney Sixers sealed their third successive victory with a comfortable six-wicket win over Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.

Chasing 129, Sixers comfortably reached their target with 17 balls to spare, condemning Stars to three consecutive defeats.

Josh Philippe top-scored with 35, while Jordan Silk and Lachlan Shaw's unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 40 saw out the match.

Stars started steadily after being put into bat, reaching 43-0 before losing their top-order of Sam Harper, Chris Rogers and Campbell Kellaway over the course of 13 balls.

Marcus Stoinis and Blake Macdonald, who each scored 33, added 44 for the fourth wicket, but the latter's dismissal sparked a collapse which saw the Stars lose their last seven wickets for 31 runs.

Seamers Jack Edwards and Ben Dwarshuis took 3-27 and 4-13 respectively, with Dwarshuis removing Stoinis and Haris Rauf with back-to-back deliveries.

The left-armer returned to take the last wicket of Liam Hatcher, as Stars were bowled out with one ball remaining in their innings.

The win sees Sixers move level with Stars on eight points after four games, with the two sides remaining in fourth and third respectively.

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Shai Hope smashed a brilliant unbeaten 118 for Pretoria Capitals while Jos Buttler was denied a century of his own as his Durban's Super Giants side were beaten by 15 runs in the SA20.

After Hope's hundred set a target of 202, Buttler almost bludgeoned Super Giants to victory on his own, finishing stranded on 97 in the final over, with his side dismissed for 186.

With two wickets remaining and needing 22 from the final over, the former England captain was unable to score off Roston Chase's first two balls and then saw Kwena Maphaka and Noor Ahmad run out for ducks from the next two deliveries.

Buttler, who struck nine fours and five sixes in his 52-ball innings, couldn't find a long-term partner, with opener Marques Ackerman, who was dismissed for 27 to bring Buttler to the crease, the next highest Super Giants scorer.

Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen were all dismissed in the teens, before Lungi Ngidi took the first hat-trick in the tournament's history, having lower-order batters David Wiese, Sunil Narine and Gerald Coetzee caught in the 18th over.

After being put into bat, West Indies international Hope struck nine fours and nine sixes in his 69-ball effort, sharing a 101-run opening partnership with Connor Esterhuizen.

Esterhuizen was caught by Markram off the bowling of David Wiese for 37, and Hope's other remaining partners played the junior role as the 32-year-old hammered Capitals to a winning score of 201-4.

The win sees Capitals leapfrog over Super Giants into fourth.

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Australia Under-19s captain Oliver Peake hit a match-winning six off the final ball of the game as Melbourne Renegades beat Perth Scorchers by four wickets in the Big Bash League.

Chasing 130 and needing four for victory, the 19-year-old paddled Aaron Hardie over fine leg as Renegades completed their second successive winning chase in the final over of a match.

Peake, who has already played 18 senior games and won the 2024 Under-19 World Cup as a 17-year-old, finished with 44 from 30 deliveries.

He was assisted by captain Will Sutherland (15), with the pair putting on 42 after the home side had looked in trouble on 72-5 in the 13th over.

Sutherland was caught in the covers off David Payne in the penultimate over, one ball after hitting the English seamer for six, but the youngster Peake finished the job in style.

Scorchers struggled after being put into bat, with opener Mitchell Marsh, who hit a steady 27 from 25 balls, one of only two batters to pass 12.

Aaron Hardie top-scored with 44, before becoming the first of three Gurinder Sandu victims in the 18th over, with the seamer also removing tailenders Joel Paris and Payne for ducks on the way to figures of 4-28.

Jhye Richardson was then run out in the final over as Scorchers were bowled out for 127 with four balls remaining in their innings.

Defeat means Scorchers miss out on the chance to move above Hobart Hurricanes at the top of the table, while Renegades ascend one place to sixth, level on points with three other teams.

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Defending champions MI Cape Town won their first match of the season with a four-wicket victory over Joburg Super Kings in SA20.

In a rain-affected match that was reduced to 12 overs a side, the home side chased a revised target of 128 with four balls to spare to seal a win at the sixth attempt.

Opener Rassie van der Dussen (35 from 24 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (33 from 15) got Cape Town's innings off to a good start, while Jason Smith (22 from seven) and Karim Janat (nine not out) hit three sixes from English seamer Richard Gleeson's penultimate over to set-up victory.

Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis made a blistering start to his side's innings after losing the toss, hitting 43 from 18 deliveries, including four consecutive boundaries off the final over of the powerplay, after which the rain came down.

The players returned after more than an hour off the field, but Du Plessis only managed to add one run to his total before he was well caught by Reeza Hendricks off the bowling of Rashid Khan, four balls after the resumption of play.

Having reached 69-2 before the break, Super Kings reached 123-7 at the conclusion of their remaining six overs, with MI's Corbin Bosch taking 3-24 from his three overs.

MI remain bottom but are now within one point of fifth-placed Pretoria Capitals, while second-place Super Kings miss out on the chance to go level on points with leaders Sunrisers Eastern Cape after their first defeat of the season.

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England seamers Luke Wood and Jamie Overton starred as Adelaide Strikers beat Sydney Thunder by six runs in the Big Bash League.

Overton took 3-25 as Adelaide defended a score of 165-8, having Matthew Gilkes caught for 43 to break a threatening 73-run opening stand with David Warner.

Thunder lost Sam Billings and Sam Konstas for scores of one and two respectively, but Warner rebuilt alongside Nic Maddinson, adding 44 for the fourth wicket.

Overton, who like Wood has been named in England's squad for February's T20 World Cup, returned to break that partnership, bowling Maddinson for 21, and then had compatriot David Willey caught by Matthew Short for eight in the penultimate over.

The unbeaten Warner, on 66 from 47 balls, remained on strike for the final over with Thunder needing 13 runs for victory, but the wicketless Wood delivered a death bowling masterclass to seal the win for the home side.

His first three deliveries were dot balls, and Warner could only find a single of his fourth.

Nathan McAndrew edged a four from the fifth ball, meaning the tail-ender needed to hit a final-ball six to win the match, but he only managed a single off Wood's last delivery as Thunder finished short on 159-7.

Adelaide had recovered from 19-2 after being put into bat, with Mackenzie Harvey (38) and Jason Sangha (31) putting on 68 for the third wicket.

Both batters departed in quick succession, with Harvey falling to Ashton Agar (3-16), but all-rounder Liam Scott struck an unbeaten 49 to ensure Adelaide had a defendable total.

Thunder's sixth defeat in seven games means they remain rooted to the bottom of the table and they can now no longer reach the play-offs.

Meanwhile Adelaide move up one place to fifth with a record of three wins and three losses.

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Jonny Bairstow hit a blistering 85 not out from 45 balls, including 34 in a Keshav Maharaj over, as Sunrisers Eastern Cape thrashed Pretoria Capitals in the SA20.

The 36-year-old Yorkshireman, who last played for England in 2024, shared an unbroken opening stand of 177 with South Africa left-hander Quinton de Kock (79* from 41) as Sunrisers raced to a 10-wicket win.

The experienced opening pair needed only 14.2 overs to overhaul Pretoria's 176-7, combining for 12 sixes - six apiece - and 13 fours at Centurion.

De Kock had been the slightly more aggressive of the two, reaching his half-century from 29 balls, before Bairstow exploded in the 12th over.

Up against South Africa left-arm spinner Maharaj, Bairstow launched the first ball high over mid-wicket to bring up his fifty from 35 balls before nailing two more sixes over the same region.

The prospect of six sixes in an over ended with a four next ball but two huge straight sixes ended a mammoth over - the most expensive in the SA20's short history - and put Sunrisers on the cusp of victory.

Earlier, Anrich Nortje took 3-32 for Sunrisers, with Connor Esterhuizen, who top-scored for Pretoria with 52 from 33, among his scalps.

Sherfane Rutherford added an unbeaten 47 from 22 late in the innings to boost the Capitals' total but, once Bairstow and De Kock got going, it was never going to be enough.

Victory puts Sunrisers top of the table on 17 points with Pretoria down in fifth on seven.

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Sydney Sixers edged home by three wickets in pursuit of just 115 to beat Brisbane Heat and move into the Big Bash play-off places.

Sixers slipped to 56-7 in their chase, at which stage Heat had a real chance setting a new Big Bash record for the lowest score successfully defended.

But, on a tricky pitch, Joel Davies and Hayden Kerr shared a superb unbeaten partnership of 62 from 49 balls to secure victory with eight balls to spare.

Kerr clubbed impressive 20-year-old left-arm Oli Patterson, who earlier dismissed Babar Azam and Josh Philippe in his third top-level T20, for six to finish 27 not out while Davies ended unbeaten on 35.

Spinner Davies and Australia seamers Ben Dwarshuis and Sean Abbott all took two wickets in Heat's 114-9.

Heat were 74-8 and 91-9 but an unbroken final-wicket stand of 23 between Patterson and Thomas Balkin gave them slim hope.

Heat drop to fifth after the defeat, one place below Sixers who have played a game fewer.

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England all-rounder Sam Curran made 74 not out as Desert Vipers won their first International League T20 title with a 46-run win over MI Emirates.

After being put into bat, Vipers slipped to 36-2 in the fourth over before Curran put on 89 with Max Holden (41 off 32) for the third wicket.

Curran, who hit eight fours and two sixes in his 51-ball knock, then shared 57 with Dan Lawrence (23 off 15), who was run out off the final ball of the innings.

MI Emirates, who won the tournament in 2024, slipped to 54-4 in reply.

Pakistan's Naseem Shah picked up two of those wickets, including the key strike of England batter Tom Banton, who hit a match-winning half-century in Qualifier 2.

From there, MI Emirates were also behind the game and were eventually bowled out for 136 in 18.3 overs.

Curran's knock ensures he finishes the tournament as the top run-scorer (397), while Afghanistan's Waqar Salamkheil and the United Arab Emirates' Ajay Kumar finish as the top wicket-taker with 18.

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Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza took 4-13 to set up a comfortable seven-wicket win for Paarl Royals against MI Cape Town in the SA20.

Cape Town were 27-0 when Raza came on to bowl the fifth over and had Rassie van der Dussen caught for 14.

From there, Cape Town fell away and were bowled out for 88 in 18.4 overs.

Raza returned in the 13th over to bowl Jason Smith, before he dismissed George Linde and Rashid Khan in successive balls in the 17th over.

Royals lost Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the first over of the chase but Glamorgan and England Lions batter Asa Tribe put on 54 for the second wicket with Rubin Hermann.

The latter fell to leave Royals 56-2 and Tribe was out for 34 three overs later.

But David Miller and Kyle Verreynne saw Royals over the line with 42 balls to spare.

The bonus-point win sees Royals climb to second, while defending champions Cape Town remain bottom.

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Captain Will Sutherland hit two sixes in the final over to power Melbourne Renegades to a gripping four-wicket victory over rivals Melbourne Stars.

With 13 needed from the last over in pursuit of 174, Sutherland began by hitting Marcus Stoinis over the leg side and, with three needed from the last two balls, struck the Australia all-rounder back over his head to complete victory with a ball to spare in front of a crowd in excess of 65,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Renegades had stumbled from a strong position of 127-1 after opener Josh Brown was bowled for 84 at the start of the 14th over.

They lost 5-34, including Mohammad Rizwan for 41, but Sutherland secured Renegades' second win of the season by finishing 19 not out from seven balls.

Stars, who would have gone top of the standings with a win, had to scrap to their total of 173-9 with England bowler Tom Curran top-scoring with 38.

Campbell Kellaway made 33 and Hilton Cartwright 28 but the loss of regular wickets checked the scoring.

Perth Scorchers moved above Stars into second later on Sunday by beating Adelaide Strikers by 33 runs.

An opening partnership of 72 between Mitchell Marsh and Sam Fanning set up the hosts‘ 153-8 and Adelaide barely threatened in their chase and were dismissed for 120.

Strikers are sixth and Renegades seventh with two wins from five matches.

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Both of Saturday's matches in the SA20 were abandoned without a ball bowled because of rain and the persistent threat of lightning in the local area.

Joburg Super Kings' match against Sunrisers Eastern Cape was a day game and the weather relented initially for a five-over game to be agreed and a toss to take place, but the lightning returned and caused the game to be abandoned.

Durban's Super Giants were due to face Pretoria Capitals in a day-night match but the toss was delayed due to inclement weather.

A toss took place, with a 16-over-per-side game agreed, but the rain returned and the game was eventually abandoned.

All four sides take two points each. It means Super Kings are three points clear of Sunrisers at the top of the table, while Super Giants and Capitals are fourth and fifth respectively.

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David Warner's unbeaten 130 was in vain as Hobart Hurricanes comfortably chased 206 to beat Sydney Thunder by six wickets in the Big Bash League.

Warner struck 11 fours and nine sixes in his 65-ball knock as he made his highest Big Bash score - and the joint-fourth biggest in the tournament's history.

He dominated Thunder's innings with Nic Maddinson adding 30 and Sam Billings 20 as they posted 205-4.

Defending champions Hurricanes got off to a superb start in the chase with Mitch Owen and Tim Ward putting on 108 in 51 balls for the first wicket.

Owen fell for 45 off 18 balls, but Ward continued and added 40 in 25 balls with England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed (16 off 14).

Ward fell shortly after Rehan for a brilliant 90 off 49 balls, but Hurricanes only needed 49 off 35 balls.

Ben McDermott fell four balls later, after hitting two fours, but Matthew Wade (13*) and Nikhil Chaudhary (29* off 14) got Hurricanes over the line with 13 balls to spare.

They move top of the table, although they have played two more games than Melbourne Stars in second. Thunder remain bottom with one win from six games.

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A middle-order collapse from MI Cape Town helped Paarl Royals snatch a dramatic one-run win in the SA20.

Chasing 182, Cape Town's chase got off to a strong start with Ryan Rickelton (36 off 20) and Rassie van Dussen (59 off 42) putting on 77 for the first wicket.

Cape Town were 109-1 but dramatically slipped to 118-6 in a 18-ball spell with Ottneil Baartman (4-51) and Sikandar Raza (3-27) both picking up two wickets.

However, captain Rashid Khan crashed 35 off 18 balls, in a stand of 51 off 27 balls with George Linde.

That set up a scenario where Cape Town needed 15 from the last over.

Rashid took two from the first ball before he holed out to long-off off Baartman.

Kagiso Rabada hit his first delivery for six to leave seven from three balls required, but he picked out long-on next ball.

Trent Boult took a single next, leaving six required from the last ball, but George Linde could only hit for four.

Earlier, Royals posted 181-3 with Lhuan-dre Pretorius making 98 not out, which is the highest individual score in Paarl Royals' history.

He was supported by Glamorgan and England Lions batter Asa Tribe, who made 51 off 34 balls at the top of the order.

The win sees Royals climb to third, while defending champions Cape Town are bottom, having failed to win in their first four matches.

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England's Tom Banton made an unbeaten 63 to guide MI Emirates into the International League T20 final with a seven-wicket win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.

Chasing 121 on a tricky wicket, MI were 6-1 and 36-2 but Banton put on 82 with Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan (38 off 24) to put them on top.

Shakib was dismissed with three required, but Banton got them over the line with 23 balls to spare.

Banton hit six fours and one six in his 53-ball knock and he climbs up to fourth in the top run-scorers list in this year's competition.

MI Emirates will face table-toppers Desert Vipers in Sunday's final as they look to win their second title.

They restricted Knight Riders to 120-8 from their 20 overs with Alishan Sharafu making 50 not out and Alex Hales 29, after he was restored to the top of the order in Phil Salt's absence.

Afghanistan's Allah Ghazanfar was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 3-24.

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A superb chase of 196 from Brisbane Heat ended Melbourne Stars' four-game winning start in the 2025-26 Big Bash League.

Heat were under pressure at 34-2 but Nathan McSweeney (43) and Matt Renshaw (41) put on 69 for the third wicket to put the chase back on track.

However, both fell in the space of three balls, and Hugh Weibgen was dismissed cheaply to leave Heat 109-6 after 13 overs.

Max Bryant and Jimmy Peirson put on 24 in 16 balls, before the latter was out, leaving.

Heat needed 44 from 18 balls and from there Bryant and Xavier Bartlett put on a stunning display of hitting to seal a remarkable victory.

They took 17 off Peter Siddle's 18th over, before smashing the same off Tom Curran's penultimate over.

They left 10 required from the last, bowled by Haris Rauf, and Bryant, who finished 48 not out, hit the third ball for six to level the scores, before hitting a match-winning four.

Stars had posted 195-6 with Marcus Stoinis making 43 and Sam Harper 37. They were 137-6 but Blake Macdonald struck 37 not out off 12 at the end of the innings to give them momentum.

Stars remain top despite their first defeat, while Heat climb to fourth with their third win in six games.

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Former England seamer David Willey has been signed by Sydney Thunder as a replacement for the injured Lockie Ferguson.

New Zealander Ferguson had been expected to join up with Thunder this weekend, after initially being replaced by Reece Topley, but has not recovered sufficiently.

Left-armer Willey, 35, became available after his Dubai Capitals side were knocked out of the International League T20 on Thursday.

He last played in the Big Bash in 2018-19 and has taken 26 wickets in 27 matches for Perth Scorchers.

"His bowling capabilities speak for themselves - being able to deliver tight, deceptive slower balls, yorkers, and cutters under pressure," said Thunder general manager Trent Copeland.

"He also offers a pivotal role in the batting order as a cleaning hitting left-hander who can contribute valuable quickfire runs.

"He is the type of player that we need to help turn our season around."

Willey will join up in time for Thunder's game against Adelaide Strikers on 6 January and will be available for their following two games.

Thunder are currently bottom of the table, with one win in their opening five games.

Ferguson joins Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi (Brisbane Heat) and Australia's Tim David (Hobart Hurricanes) in being ruled out of the tournament with injury.

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England's Richard Gleeson bowled a brilliant super over as Joburg Super Kings beat Durban's Super Giants in the SA20.

Gleeson conceded just six - four off the bat - and picked up the wicket of Evan Jones.

With seven required, Rilee Rossouw then Noor Ahmad's first and third ball for four to seal the win.

Gleeson had earlier taken 3-41, including David Weise in the 19th over, as Super Giants could only match Super Kings' 205.

They were struggling at 108-4 in the 13th over but Jones and Aiden Markram shared 60 in 24 balls to give them hope.

They needed 19 from 12 balls but Gleeson's superb penultimate over, which also included the run out of Jones, left 15 needed from the final over.

Wiaan Mulder bowled it and was hit for six off the second ball, before two successive wides when trying to bowl the fifth delivery of the over.

When Mulder did bowl a legitimate ball, Simon Harmer smashed it down the ground for four to leave the scores level.

Harmer missed the final ball and attempted to run a bye but Eathan Bosch was run out by Donovan Ferreira.

Shubham Ranjane top-scored in Super Kings' 205-8 with 50.

The win extends Super Kings' winning start and they sit second, while Super Giants are third.

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Phil Salt and Michael Pepper combined again to keep Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the International League T20 with a 50-run victory over Delhi Capitals.

The pair put on 122 for the first wicket with Pepper making 72 off 49 balls and Salt 43 off 34.

However, they were dismissed in a four-ball spell and Knight Riders slipped to 142-6 with Andre Russell, Alex Hales and Liam Livingstone all out cheaply.

Jason Holder gave them some late momentum though, with an unbeaten 22 off 11 balls helping them to 158-6.

Defending champions Capitals lost Toby Albert and Jordan Cox cheaply to fall to 31-2 and from there the spin duo of Sunil Narine and Livingstone took over for Knight Riders.

Narine claimed 3-12 and Livingstone took 3-26 to put Knight Riders completely on top.

Mohammad Nabi gave Capitals some hope with 27 but Holder removed him and Muhammad Jawadullah in successive balls to seal victory for Knight Riders.

They will face MI Emirates in Friday's Qualifier 2, with the winner progressing to Sunday's final against Desert Vipers.

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Australia's Mitch Marsh crashed 102 off 58 balls to set up a comfortable 40-run win for Perth Scorchers over Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.

Marsh hit 11 fours and five sixes at the top of the order as he made his highest Big Bash score.

He put on 164 with Aaron Hardie (94 not out off 43 balls) for the third wicket as Scorchers posted 229-3 - the seventh-highest total in Big Bash history.

Defending champions Hurricanes slipped to 70-4 in reply and were unable to recover, eventually finishing on 189-9.

Nikhil Chaudhary top-scored with 39, while Ashton Agar was the pick of the Scorchers' bowlers with 3-38.

Scorchers move to third in the table with the win, while Hurricanes remain second with four wins in six matches.

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