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Openers Dean Brownlie and Martin Guptill both scored centuries in the drawn game between Northern Districts and Auckland at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.Brownlie, who was to feature for New Zealand A in the cancelled tour game against Pakistan, was involved in two significant partnerships on the first day – 93 for the first wicket with Anton Devcich (26) and 158 for the third with Corey Anderson (103) – and went into stumps unbeaten on 143. Northern Districts were 324 for 5 at stumps, but the prospect of an outright result diminished as the second day was completely washed out. Brownlie was dismissed early on the third day, without adding a run, and Northern Districts added 93 before declaring on 417 for 7. Legspinner Tarun Nethula followed up his five-for in the previous game with 3 for 99, while fast bowler Lachlan Ferguson took 3 for 70, including the wicket of Brownlie.Auckland’s response was aggressive – their run-rate was consistently hovering about six per over for the first 50 overs of their innings. Martin Guptill, who was axed from the Test squad just before this game, was at the crease during those overs. He hit 20 fours and four sixes in his 138-ball 151, before Ish Sodhi (2-113) dismissed him with the score on 295. All of Auckland’s regular bowlers were put under pressure by Guptill, and it took part-timer Daryl Mitchell’s 4 for 39 to restrict them to 351. No other batsman got past 33.Rain truncated play on the final day as well, as Northern Districts lost regular wickets on either side of a 63-run stand for the third wicket between Corey Anderson (46*) and Mitchell (26), to be reduced to 83 for 5, courtesy Ferguson’s 3 for 19. They played out the 13 overs from that point without the loss of another wicket, and took 8 points from the game that keeps them on top of the table.Batsman Cole McConchie and captain Andrew Ellis struck centuries for Canterbury in a rain-hit draw against Otago in Invercargill. Otago bowled 98.1 overs with play possible only on the first day and briefly on the second day.Otago won the toss and put Canterbury in to bat, and seamers Michael Rae and Christi Viljoen prised out the top four batsmen by the 41st over, leaving Canterbury at 108 for 4. McConchie and Ellis then added 258 runs for the fifth wicket, leading Canterbury past 350 before they were separated. Their partnership was Canterbury’s best for the fifth wicket against Otago, surpassing the 236 added by Chris Harris and Nathan Astle in 1996-97.McConchie, playing his seventh first-class match, brought up his half-century off 110 balls before rapidly completing a maiden ton off the next 49 balls. His 103 off 161 deliveries included 15 fours and a six. Ellis, at the other end, brought up his seventh first-class century and surpassed a previous career best of 171 with an aggressive innings. He smacked three sixes in an over and took 21 runs in an over off Viljoen to finish the first day on 184. Ellis, however, fell four runs short of a maiden first-class double-hundred after he was dismissed by Viljoen on a rain-affected day in which only 7.1 overs were bowled. Canterbury eventually declared their innings at 446 for 6.Rae finished with a career-best 4 for 112 while Viljoen had returns of 2 for 120.

ScorecardFile photo – Mignon du Preez’s 80 helped South Africa level the series•ICC/Getty Images

Mignon du Preez’s 80 led South Africa Women to their first-ever win against New Zealand Women, in the second ODI in Kimberley. She struck ten boundaries in her 112-ball knock to help South Africa level the seven-match series at 1-1.This after Lizelle Lee, who was promoted to open, made a run-a-ball 42. Morna Nielsen, the left-arm spinner, pegged South Africa back with her third ODI five-wicket haul, and was New Zealand’s only wicket-taker till Holly Huddleston, the fast bowler, removed du Preez with five to get. But there were no more hiccups as South Africa completed their four-wicket victory with five balls to spare.Earlier, New Zealand’s top order showed more resolve than in the first ODI after being put in, led by captain Suzie Bates who top-scored with 66. She put on 68 for the opening wicket with Rachel Priest, and 72 for the second wicket with Amy Satterthwaite, who scored 47. However, the middle order failed once again as they slipped from 140 for 1 to 168 for 5 in a span of 7.3 overs. The collapse strangled New Zealand, and the last 12 overs fetched only 54.Medium-pacer Marizanne Kapp was at the centre of this collapse, as she removed Sattherwaite and Katie Perkins in consecutive overs. She finished with 3 for 41 in nine overs before contributing 27 in a 49-run fifth-wicket stand with du Preez.The win brought South Africa within one point of fourth-placed New Zealand in the ICC Women’s Championship table. A win on Thursday -only the first three ODIs count towards the championships – will help the hosts jump into the top four.

Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq has identified the paucity of 50-over cricket at domestic level as the main cause of the team’s current ODI struggles. Pakistan’s domestic structure has undergone several changes in recent years and Misbah said the one-day game has been getting the short shrift.”While a Pakistani domestic cricketer may play at least ten to twenty first-class matches a season, he doesn’t get the same match practice in the 50-over format,” Misbah told ESPNcricinfo. “I have long been saying that we need to lay greater emphasis on one-day cricket in our domestic system, and play more one-day games, because you can’t evolve by playing a maximum of five 50-over matches a year in the domestic circuit.”While Pakistan are the No. 1 Test team in the world, they languish at No. 9 in the ODI rankings. Misbah was clear the discrepancy in the team’s fortunes was due to lack of exposure, and not talent.”We have just one fifty-over tournament and the format is not even played at club level anymore,” he said. “Most of the cricket at grassroots level is 20 to 25 overs; this is one big reason that our ODI cricket has deteriorated and we are standing at No. 9. We needed and still need to develop our resources and we can only do so by increasing the number of games in our domestic tournament. The reason we are on top in Tests is because our players are getting enough games and exposure at domestic level. That is the only reason I see.”Otherwise, these players are talented and they have shown glimpses of their flair, though not consistently. So this talent needs to be nurtured by giving them more games at domestic level. Exposure to a lot of competitive cricket will enable them to polish their skills.”Misbah took over the ODI reins in May 2011 and led the side for almost four years, before stepping down after the 2015 World Cup. Having won 13 of their first 14 matches under Misbah, Pakistan’s results took a nosedive with 38 losses in the remaining 72 matches of his tenure. Azhar Ali has managed only nine wins in 25 matches. Misbah, however, insisted that the captain should not be the only one blamed for poor performance.”In Pakistan, there is a perception that the captain is the only one responsible for everything. Cricket is a team game and every player has to contribute,” he said. “We used every possible talent in the country but it didn’t work. Whenever you are forced to change, that is because team isn’t performing. Unfortunately, in one-day cricket, the boys haven’t performed well, like they have done in Test cricket. The bowling, after Saeed Ajmal, hasn’t done enough and the batting has never been consistent.”In the search for solutions to the team’s ODI slump, Pakistan’s selectors have tried well over 40 players since the start of Misbah’s captaincy, in a seemingly never-ending transition.”When the team doesn’t perform and keeps losing, then changes are necessary,” Misbah said. “But when you start winning then you can back the talent and just go into the future with that. But that wasn’t really the case for Pakistan. We tried a lot of players in a bid to find a good combination, but it didn’t give results and players were dropped because they never gave us a chance to retain them.”Nobody wants to carry on with failure and if a player is stuck with his weakness and not improving, regardless of his potential, you have to drop him and move on. This not only good for the team, but also for the player because you can’t allow him to play with consistent failure – it is really unfair as it can cost him his career, so you have to be think tactically as well.”Pakistan have 14 ODIs scheduled before the window for direct qualification into the 2019 World Cup in England closes and Misbah has backed coach Mickey Arthur’s efforts to make sure they are among the top eight teams by the September 2017 deadline.”The important thing is that he is trying to bring a structural change from top,” Misbah said. “There was connection missing in between and that is being connected. Players’ fitness, bowling actions, batting techniques are being taken into consideration before selecting a squad to represent the country. Fitness is a major component and players must realise that.”

Alex Hales “deserves his fine” for dissent, according to England’s assistant coach, Paul Farbrace. Hales was fined 15% of his match fee for showing dissent to the TV umpire during the first day of the fourth Investec Test at The Oval.Having struggled to hide his frustration after he was adjudged to have been caught at midwicket by Yasir Shah off the bowling of Mohammad Amir – Hales believed the ball had bounced before Yasir claimed it – he then visited Joel Wilson in the third umpire’s room and questioned the decision. Hales was then said to have made “inappropriate comments as he was leaving the room” according to an ICC statement.As a result, Hales was found to have breached Article 2.1.5 of the ICC code of conduct, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match”. Hales admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee, Richie Richardson. There was no need for a formal hearing.While the England team management have no intention of taking further action against Hales, they have made it clear that his behaviour was inappropriate, unacceptable and unwise.”He deserves his fine,” Farbrace said. “You can’t go into the match referee’s office during a game and have heated exchange as Alex did. He deserves to be fined. We can’t support any player going in and having a crack at third umpire. However frustrated he might be, it is the wrong thing to do. The ICC have done the right thing today.”Going into the match referee’s office was the wrong thing to do. We would not have advised him to go and share his thoughts. It was not the brightest thing to do and it wasn’t going to make any difference. And mid-game, it’s not the best thing to upset umpires.”Hales has endured a poor series. He is averaging just 19.00 after seven innings with a top-score of 54. Broadcast footage of his dismissal at The Oval was unclear and did not clarify whether the catch had been taken cleanly.Hales’ mood will not have been improved after he dropped a relatively straightforward chance offered by Yasir to gully on the second morning of the Test. Later in the session he was seen to mock Azhar Ali – Hales feigned crying – after it appeared the batsman had complained to the on-field umpires over comments made to him by the England fielders.Farbrace was not concerned by Hales’ on field actions – “there are always exchanges on the field”- but felt a “line had been crossed” when he went to remonstrate with the TV umpire.”It’s hard to support that player in that situation,” Farbrace said. “The last thing you need to do is go in and kick the door off its hinges and tell the third umpire he’s made a mistake. It’s not going to make any difference, other than to your bank balance.”

CSA has removed former South Africa batsman HD Ackerman as the host of its upcoming annual awards ceremony in a bid to to avoid “further potential negative comments” around his announcement that he was emigrating to Australia in September. Ackerman is the fourth South African involved in the country’s cricket structures to move to Australia or New Zealand in the last two months.”In view of certain negative comments on social media following HD’s Facebook post that he was leaving South Africa for Australia, we have decided to avoid any further potential negative comments around HD hosting the live CSA Awards,” Altaaf Kazi, CSA spokesperson, told “We decided to replace him and have no further comments to make in this regard.”CSA has not revealed who it has appointed as Ackerman’s replacement.Ackerman had announced his decision to emigrate through a post on Facebook: “It is with a heavy heart that I have to let all my friends know that Kerryn Ackerman, James, Tannah and I will be moving to Perth, Australia in September. It has caused many sleepless nights and even more tears but it is a decision that we have reached as a family and feel it is the best one we can make for our little ones at this time.”South Africa has so much potential, however in my entire life I don’t think I have ever seen anything more common than something or someone fail to reach their potential. I fear this may be the case with my beautiful country. I truly hope that the decision we are making is the right one for us and I truly hope that South Africa does go on to reach its true potential and that crime decreases, corruption slows (as all countries have this problem) and an equal opportunity is there for all.”His employer, South African broadcaster , confirmed Ackerman’s departure to take up a role as director of coaching at Guildford Grammar School in Perth. The broadcaster said Ackerman had left open the possibility of freelancing.On Thursday, Ackerman revealed on Facebook that he had been removed from hosting the awards, which he has been part of for several years. “Wow, just been pulled off hosting the Cricket South Africa awards on the 26th because a few people on social media feel my move to Australia is because I’m racist. Forget the fact my wife’s sister had just moved to Brisbane and that my wife’s parents have just moved to Perth, or that I got a job offer in Perth that included a school bursary for my son, those reasons are not good enough. Wow, wow, wow.”Social media reaction to Ackerman’s move was largely encouraging, particularly from former players. Former South Africa fast bowler Brett Schultz said on Twitter: “And SA loses another incredible talent, as a player in his day and behind the microphone in the modern game.”The only post, at the time of writing this article, with a racial undertone came from one user who accused Ackerman of being “anti-transformation”. Ackerman responded by telling the user, “That’s where you are soooo wrong.”Ackerman played 220 first-class and 230 List A games in a 16-year career that included stints at two provincial and four franchise sides. After retiring, he turned to commentary and coaching. He was involved with South Africa A and recently accompanied some South African players on a spin camp to India.While Ackerman is relocating to Perth, three other South African cricket administrators – Dolphins chief executive Pete de Wet, national team logistics manager Riaan Muller, and Titans’ coach Rob Walter – have all accepted jobs in New Zealand.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA stampede in the Powerplay by Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons set up an insurmountable total for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, who defeated St Lucia Zouks by 58 runs on Sunday afternoon at Warner Park. The pair propelled the hosts to 69 for 0 in six overs after being sent in, and Lewis kicked on for a top score of 73 in the Patriots total of 203 for 7.The Patriots had only advanced to 22 after three overs, but Simmons doubled that total in the fourth when he targeted Canada allrounder Nitish Kumar’s offspin for three sixes and a four. That spurred Lewis to take on Darren Sammy in the fifth as the left-hander smashed the Zouks’ captain for four consecutive boundaries through the off side.The stand was broken two balls into the seventh over by Derone Davis, when Simmons skewed the left-arm spinner to Shane Watson at short third man for 30, but Lewis had no intention of slowing down and brought up his fifty in 28 balls off Davis in the ninth, before continuing his onslaught with three sixes in four balls against Kristopher Ramsaran in the tenth over.Watson eventually intervened to remove Lewis in the 12th, but Devon Thomas’ surge in the 18th and 19th overs ensured the Patriots would get past 200 as he carted Watson and Morne Morkel for four sixes and a four on his way to 48 off 27. Watson dismissed Thomas, and snared Carlos Brathwaite too, in the final over but by then the damage was done.Watson and Johnson Charles seized on the small boundaries at Warner Park to give the Zouks hope of overhauling the target, motoring to 90 after nine overs of the chase. Samuel Badree’s intervention dashed that vision though, as he had Charles caught at midwicket for 40 to start the tenth over. Watson brought up his fifty off 26 balls two deliveries later, but mistimed a drive off Badree to long-on two balls into the 12th for 55. From there, the Zouks stuttered through their final eight overs – typified by Michael Hussey’s 22 off 28 balls – adding just 45 runs to end on 145 for 5.The Patriots have a day off before facing Barbados Tridents at Warner Park on Tuesday while the Zouks have eight days off before their next contest in Providence against Guyana Amazon Warriors.

Craig McMillan has been appointed full-time New Zealand women’s assistant coach after serving in a part-time capacity in the position for just over a year. He will work alongside head coach Ben Sawyer and batting coach Dean Brownlie, “with his appointment officially beginning this week”.A New Zealand Cricket (NZC) statement said that McMillan, the former New Zealand allrounder, will now focus on both the national team and the women’s players of interest programme “as he steps back from his successful commentary career and other coaching commitments”.”I’m over the moon to be in this role,” McMillan, who was part of the support staff when New Zealand won the T20 World Cup in the UAE last year, said in a statement.Related

• New Zealand begin World Cup prep with Chennai camp

“The women’s game is going from strength to strength, and I’m excited to continue to work with our talented players and help them reach their goals. The last year has gone so quickly and I’ve loved every minute of being part of a team that continues to improve, challenge one another, and does special things on the world stage.”Next up is the women’s ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starting later this month.”It’s been a busy period leading into the 50-over World Cup,” McMillan said. “We’ve had a number of camps including one in Chennai which exposed the players to Indian conditions like what they’ll face in October-November.”The team is pumped to get back to India and take on another World Cup.”The World Cup squad is expected to be announced on September 10.

A veterans’ cricket match that was to be played between India and Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) in Birmingham on Sunday has been cancelled after the Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, refused to participate in it because of the “current geopolitical situation and prevailing tensions” between the two countries.There had been cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack in India in April, which had led to the temporary suspensions of the IPL and PSL.Even though the organisers of WCL said in a statement that they had planned this match in the tournament – that also involves teams from Australia, South Africa, England and West Indies – after hearing news that the Pakistan hockey team will be touring India this year and seeing a recent volleyball match between the Under-16 sides of the two nations, they cancelled the game if they had “unintentionally caused discomfort to our Indian Cricket Legends.”Dhawan posted a screenshot of his statement on X that said: “This is to formally reiterate that Mr Shikhar Dhawan will not be participating in any matches against the Pakistan team in the upcoming WCL League. This discussion was communicated earlier during our discussion on call and WhatsApp dated 11th May 2025.”In view of our current geopolitical situation and prevailing tensions between India and Pakistan, Mr Dhawan and his team have taken this position after due consideration. We respectfully request the league’s understanding and cooperation on this matter.”The second edition of the WCL started on July 18 in Birmingham and has seen three matches played. Pakistan played the opening game of the tournament but Sunday’s clash was going to be India’s first. Yuvraj Singh is leading the India side while Mohammad Hafeez is captaining Pakistan.