Franchise Cricket

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Australia's Beth Mooney hit an unbeaten 94 off 61 balls to guide Perth Scorchers to a seven-wicket win over Brisbane Heat and secure a play-off spot in the Women's Big Bash.

Chasing 165, Mooney hit 12 fours from the top of the order and got Scorchers over the line with four balls to spare.

She shared 42 with Katie Mack (10 off 13) for the first wicket, 67 with Maddy Darke (24 off 22) for the second and 37 with Sophie Devine (13 off 14) for the third.

England's Freya Kemp was unbeaten on 12 off six balls when Scorchers secured the win.

Heat, who end the season winless, posted 164-7 with Georgia Redmayne top-scoring with 57 off 47 balls.

Scorchers final position - and knockout route - will be determined by the result of Sydney Sixers v Adelaide Strikers on Sunday (23:40 GMT, Saturday).

Sixers would finish second with a win and go into the Challenger but defeat would mean Scorchers occupy that spot.

If Sixers win, Scorchers would slip to third and have to win the Knockout and Challenger to make the final against Hobart Hurricanes on 13 December.

• WBBL fixtures & table

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Sydney Thunder dented Melbourne Stars' hopes of a top-two finish in the WBBL with a rain-affected nine-wicket (DLS) win.

Victory for the Stars would have moved them two points clear of third-placed Sydney Sixers with a vastly superior net run-rate.

Instead, they risk being overtaken by the Sixers and Perth Scorchers (one point behind in fifth), who face Adelaide Strikers and winless Brisbane Heat, respectively, in their final league matches.

The second-placed side advances directly to the Challenger match, meaning they only have to win one knockout match to reach the final.

In a match shortened to 10 overs per side, Melbourne Stars made a promising start with a 36-run opening partnership from Meg Lanning and Rhys McKenna but slumped to 66-6.

England's Em Arlott (2-18), Georgia Voll (2-13), and Lucy Finn (2-10) shared the wickets.

Phoebe Litchfield and Voll then made light work of chasing a revised target of 76, smashing 66 off 38 in an explosive first-wicket stand, before Laura Harris sealed the win with a boundary with 17 balls to spare.

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Shimron Hetmyer hit 48 from 25 balls to set up Desert Vipers' two-wicket win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the International League T20.

Chasing 172, Vipers were struggling at 66-4 when Hetmyer came to the crease but he shared 68 with England's Dan Lawrence (35 off 32).

The pair and Hasan Nawaz were dismissed in a six-ball spell but UAE's Khuzaima Bin Tanveer crashed an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls to get Vipers over the line with three balls to spare.

Knight Riders had earlier posted 171-6 with England's World Cup winner Alex Hales hitting 53 off 37 balls.

He shared 39 with Phil Salt (18 off 15) for the first wicket, before a stand of 63 with Alishan Sharafu.

Both were dismissed in quick succession and Sherfane Rutherford and Liam Livingstone followed to leave Knight Riders 122-5.

But West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell gave the innings late momentum with an unbeaten 36 off 23 balls.

Hales is now on 14,285 runs in T20s, leaving him just 277 behind Chris Gayle's record.

The win moves Vipers top of the early standings, while Knight Riders sit third following their first defeat.

• ILT20 fixtures & table

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Georgia Wareham produced a standout all-round performance as Melbourne Renegades kept their WBBL title defence alive with a six-wicket win over Sydney Sixers.

The Australia international picked up 3-21 as the Sixers were restricted to 130-9 before smashing an unbeaten 49 (29) to wrap up a successful chase with 22 balls to spare.

The result moves the Renegades into the top four, level on 10 points with fifth-placed Perth Scorchers but with a superior net run-rate.

However, they have completed all 10 of their group matches while Perth Scorchers have a game in hand and Adelaide Strikers, on eight points, have two games remaining, leaving Renegades' knockout fate out of their control.

Ellyse Perry (65 off 47) and Ash Gardner (16 off 14) were the only batters to reach double figures as the Sixers struggled to form meaningful partnerships.

Wareham dismissed Alyssa Healy for a duck in the fifth over and later struck twice in three balls to remove Mady Villiers and Emma Manix-Geeves while England's Alice Capsey chipped in with 2-27.

Chasing 131, Renegades slipped to 4-2 and later 49-4 before Wareham came together with Courtney Webb (33 off 21) to power them to a comfortable victory.

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Sri Lanka batter Pathum Nissanka hammered 81 from 42 deliveries as Gulf Giants chased down a target of 164 inside 15 overs to beat MI Emirates by six wickets in the International League T20.

The opener, who struck six fours and four sixes, saw Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gerhard Erasmus fall to Chris Woakes for single figures as Giants found themselves 16-2 in the third over.

Nissanka got their innings back on track, adding 47 with Moeen Ali (26) and 94 with Azmatullah (39 not out) before being caught and bowled by Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar with Giants seven runs short of victory.

The match was done in the same over as Ghazanfar sent down five wides to give last season's fifth-placed side victory with 32 balls to spare.

MI were 58-4 at the halfway mark of their innings having been put into bat, with England internationals Jonny Bairstow (11) and Tom Banton (six) among the batters to fall cheaply.

The experienced West Indian pair of Nicholas Pooran (46) and Kieron Pollard (50) added 78 for the fifth wicket to drag MI towards respectability.

Pollard reached his half-century from 32 balls in the final over of the innings, but was caught off the next delivery bowled by Azmatullah as MI closed on 163-6.

It leaves Pollard just 275 runs behind compatriot Chris Gayle as the all-time leading run-scorer in T20s.

• ILT20 fixtures & table

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Liam Livingstone struck an unbeaten 82 from 38 balls as Abu Dhabi Knight Riders beat Sharjah Warriorz by 39 runs in the International League T20.

The England batter added 95 for the fourth wicket with Sherfane Rutherford (45 from 27) as Knight Riders stormed to 233-4, the second highest total in the history of the competition, having been put into bat.

Warriorz struggled in their reply, slipping to 54-3 in the seventh over with English batters Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Tom Abell dismissed for 14 and six respectively.

The in-form Australia batter Tim David slammed 60 from 24 balls to revitalise the Warriorz innings, before he was caught by Alex Hales off the bowling of Ajay Kumar to leave his side 120-6 at the end of the 13th over.

Dwaine Pretorius hit 39 from 20 balls before he was bowled by Olly Stone, while Adil Rashid struck 25 from 11 and was dismissed in George Garton's final over as Warriorz finished on 194-9, well short of their target.

• ILT20 fixtures & table

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Sydney Sixers consolidated their place in the Women's Big Bash League knockout places with a 16-run win over Melbourne Stars.

Ash Gardner struck a 31-ball 50 and Sophia Dunkley hit 41, with the pair putting on 55 for the third wicket as Sixers closed on 164-5.

Stars were 30-4 inside the powerplay of their reply, before Maia Bouchier reignited their innings.

The England batter hit 67 from 40 balls, adding 82 for the fifth wicket with Kim Garth.

Gardner, who finished with figures of 3-31, removed Garth, while Bouchier was caught off the bowling of Mady Villiers as Stars finished on 140-8.

The result moves Sixers up to third, level on points with their second-placed opponents with a game in hand, and they are now the only side who can overhaul league leaders Hobart Hurricanes.

In the day's later game, two sides out of contention for the knockout stages faced off, and Sydney Thunder condemned Brisbane Heat to their eighth defeat of the season, beating the bottom side by 23 runs.

Thunder's Phoebe Litchfield hit 61 from 43 from number three, and was the last wicket to fall as the seventh-placed side, who lost four of their top seven for single figures, closed on 153-7.

Heat found themselves on 63-5 in the 13th over, but didn't lose another wicket until Annie O'Neil (33) was caught by Litchfield off Georgia Voll's final ball of the match, ultimately finishing short of their target on 130-6.

• WBBL fixtures & table

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Defending champions Dubai Capitals suffered defeat in the opening match of the new International League T20 season, losing to Desert Vipers by four wickets.

Vipers, the losing finalists to Capitals in February, successfully chased down a target of 151 with an over to spare.

United States wicketkeeper Andries Gous struck 58 from 36 balls from the top of the order, putting on partnerships of 50 with opening partner Fakhar Zaman (26) and 35 with Max Holden (16).

Waqar Salamkheil struck twice in the 13th over to rock the confidence of the Vipers, bowling Gous and having Sam Curran caught for seven.

But Dan Lawrence steered Vipers home from that point, scoring a steady 19 from 16 balls before Khuzaima Tanveer struck the winning runs off the last ball of Scott Currie's penultimate over.

Capitals were 32-3 inside the powerplay after being put into bat, with Gulbadin Naib and Jordan Cox dismissed for zero and two respectively by English seamers Curran and David Payne.

David Willey was bowled by Noor Ahmad for 10, before Mohammad Nabi (29) helped push Capitals towards a respectable score, adding 34 with Rovman Powell (39) and 30 with Dasun Shanaka (12).

Captain Shanaka was the last wicket to fall, to Payne in the final over, as Capitals closed on 150-8, a total they were unable to defend.

• ILT20 fixtures & table

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Perth Scorchers moved into the Women's Big Bash League knockout positions with a 30-run win against Melbourne Renegades.

Captain Sophie Devine top-scored with 40 after Scorchers were put into bat, adding 69 for the third wicket with Maddy Darke (36).

England seamer Issy Wong was the pick of the Renegades bowlers, taking 2-34 with the wickets of Darke and international team-mate Freya Kemp.

Paige Scholfield (10) added an unbroken partnership of 33 with Alana King (22) as Scorchers closed on 184-5.

Renegades were 2-2 and then 34-4 inside the powerplay, with Devine, who finished with figures of 4-25, taking three of those wickets, including that of England's Alice Capsey (12).

Georgia Wareham (43) and Nicole Faltum (28) helped the defending champions recover, putting on 65 for the fifth wicket, but both fell to King in successive overs, with Renegades ultimately finishing on 154-9.

The Melbourne side slip to sixth and will now need to beat fourth-place Sydney Sixers, who have two games in hand, in their final game and hope a string of other results go in their favour in order to qualify for the knockouts.

Meanwhile Scorchers now sit in third, with one match against bottom side Brisbane Heat left to play in the group stage.

• WBBL fixtures & table

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The fourth edition of the International League T20 starts in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

The T20 franchise tournament has been brought forward to avoid a clash with February's T20 World Cup and will run until 4 January.

There are 34 matches in total - 30 in the group stage and four in the knockouts.

Six teams are taking part: Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Desert Vipers, Dubai Capitals, Gulf Giants, MI Emirates and Sharjah Warriorz.

Dubai Capitals are the defending champions after beating Desert Vipers by four wickets in last year's final.

The six sides play each other twice in the group stage, with the top four progressing to the knockouts, which work as follows:

30 December - qualifier 1: First v second (14:30 GMT)

1 January - eliminator: Third v fourth (14:30 GMT)

2 January - qualifier 2: Loser of qualifier 1 v winner of eliminator (14:30 GMT)

4 January - final: Winner of qualifier 1 v winner of qualifier 2 (14:30 GMT)

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A total of 31 England-qualified players will be taking part in the International League T20.

Six players from England's last T20 series will feature in the tournament: Opener Phil Salt (Knight Riders), batters Jordan Cox (Capitals) and Tom Banton (MI Emirates), all-rounders Sam Curran (Vipers) and Liam Dawson (Giants), and spinner Adil Rashid (Warriorz).

Liam Livingstone (Knight Riders), Moeen Ali (Giants), David Willey (Capitals) and Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes (MI Emirates), who have all played for England in recent years, are also set to feature. Moeen will captain Giants.

Bowler Scott Currie (Capitals), who was named in England's squad for a series against Ireland in September, and promising batters James Rew (Warriorz) and Tawanda Muyeye (Vipers) will also have a chance to impress.

The tournament will act as another opportunity for some players to push their case to be included in England's squad for February's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Liam Livingstone, Alex Hales, Michael Pepper, George Garton

Desert Vipers: Sam Curran, Dan Lawrence, Tawanda Muyeye, Max Holden, David Payne

Dubai Capitals: David Willey, Jordan Cox, Scott Currie, Tymal Mills, Toby Albert, Leus du Plooy

Gulf Giants: Liam Dawson, Moeen Ali (captain), James Vince, Chris Wood, Tom Moores

MI Emirates: Tom Banton, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Jordan Thompson

Sharjah Warriorz: Adil Rashid, James Rew, Nathan Sowter, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell

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Australia's Tim David, West Indies' Nicholas Pooran and Pakistan's Naseem Shah are among the big-name overseas stars signed to play in the International League T20.

Batter David will play for Sharjah Warriorz, fresh off the back of impressing in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, and will be captained by New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee and have India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik as a team-mate.

Wicketkeeper-batter Pooran returns to MI Emirates, after scoring 301 runs last year, and is joined by last year's leading wicket-taker in Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Pace bowler Naseem has joined last year's beaten finalists Desert Vipers along with compatriot Fakhar Zaman and New Zealand pace bowler Lockie Ferguson, who will captain Vipers.

West Indies trio Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Jason Holder are at Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, with the latter appointed captain. Afghanistan pair Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarazi will represent Gulf Giants.

Bangladesh quick Mustafizur Rahman has signed as a replacement player for Dubai Capitals.

Selected players signed for the ILT20 2026

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: Sherfane Rutherford, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (captain), Piyush Chawla, Brandon McMullen

Desert Vipers: Fakhar Zaman, Lockie Ferguson (captain), Naseem Shah, Noor Ahmad, Qais Ahmad, Shimron Hetmyer

Dubai Capitals: Gulbadin Naib (captain), Jimmy Neesham, Mohammad Nabi, Rovman Powell, Dasun Shanaka, Mustafizur Rahman

Gulf Giants: Azmatullah Omarzai, Blessing Muzarabani, Kyle Mayers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Tabraiz Shamsi

MI Emirates: Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard (captain), Romario Shepherd, Andre Fletcher, Shakib Al Hasan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kamindu Mendis

Sharjah Warriorz: Tim David, Tim Southee (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Dwaine Pretorius, Jayden Seales, Johnson Charles, Sikandar Raza, Taskin Ahmed

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One thing to keep an eye on during the International League T20 is whether Chris Gayle's long-standing record as the leading run-scorer in T20s is finally broken.

The West Indies legend leads the way on 14,562 runs but West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard and England's World Cup winner Alex Hales are closing in.

Pollard is 325 runs behind in second (14,237 runs), while Hales is third on 14,200 runs, just 362 behind Gayle.

Pollard will captain MI Emirates, while Hales will represent Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.

There are 10 group games and up to three knockout matches for the pair to overtake Gayle.

Hales scored 405 runs in last year's tournament with Pollard managing 182.

It's not inconceivable that Gayle's record is beaten before the end of the tournament.

Top five run-scorers in T20s

1. Chris Gayle - 14,562 runs

2. Kieron Pollard - 14,237 runs

3. Alex Hales - 14,200 runs

4. David Warner - 13,595 runs

5. Shoaib Malik - 13,571 runs

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With eight games left in the league phase, the Women's Big Bash table is starting to take shape.

BBC Sport looks at what each side needs to reach the knockouts.

Hobart Hurricanes (14 points) became the first team to progress with a win over Melbourne Stars on Monday. A win in their final game secures top and a place in the final.

Despite that defeat Stars (11 points) are sitting nicely in second and one win in their final two matches sees them through. They would finish top if they win both games and Hurricanes lose their last match.

Sydney Sixers (nine points) have three games remaining and two wins guarantees their progression.

Defending champions Melbourne Renegades (eight points) currently occupy the final knockout spot and realistically need to win both matches and even then may need to rely on net run-rate.

It is the same for Adelaide Strikers (eight points) and Perth Scorchers (eight points) in fifth and sixth.

Sydney Thunder (five points) and Brisbane Heat (one point), who are winless, are both eliminated.

• Women's Big Bash fixtures & table

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England batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge hit her second successive half-century as Hobart Hurricanes consolidated their place at the top of the Women's Big Bash League with an 81-run win over second-placed Melbourne Stars.

The 34-year-old struck 71 from 47 balls, putting on partnerships of 61 with Lizelle Lee (32) and 63 with England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt (31).

The opener departed in the 12th over, caught by Georgia Prestwidge off the bowling of Sophie Day, having made her sixth score of 40 or more in nine innings this season and extended her lead at the top of the tournament's run-scoring chart.

With the match reduced to 17 overs a side following a rain delay, Hurricanes finished on 176-4, losing Sciver-Brunt and Elyse Villani from successive deliveries just before the close.

Set an adjusted target of 180 for victory and a place at the top of the table, Stars failed to fire as spinners Linsey Smith and Molly Strano dominated.

Off-break bowler Strano removed England's Amy Jones (19), one of three catches for Wyatt-Hodge, and Dani Gibson (1) on her way to figures of 5-16.

Meanwhile England's left-armer Smith took 2-29, breaking the stumps of former Australia captain Meg Lanning for nine in the second over, before returning to end the match with the dismissal of Maisy Gibson as Stars were bowled out for 98 with seven balls to spare.

Hurricanes now move three points clear of Stars at the top of standings, having played one game more.

• WBBL fixtures & table

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West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League.

Russell, 37, has played in 13 editions of the IPL - two for Delhi Daredevils and then 11 for Kolkata Knight Riders.

He has played 140 games in the competition and scored 2,651 runs and taken 123 wickets.

"This is the best decision. I don't want to fade out," said Russell, who has won two IPL titles with KKR.

"I want to leave a legacy and it is best to retire when fans ask why?"

Russell, who will continue to play in other leagues, will be part of KKR's support staff for the 2026 season.