Franchise Cricket

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Joburg Super Kings booked their place in the SA20 play-offs with a convincing 44-run win over Paarl Royals.

Super Kings, who have qualified for the play-offs in all four editions, knew a win would see them progress, but they secured a bonus-point victory.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, they lost James Vince to the third ball of the match but recovered to post 166-5.

Middlesex's Leus du Plooy top-scored with an unbeaten 54, while Neil Timmers made 39 and Michael Pepper and Matthew de Villiers both added 27.

Royals, who had already secured their passage to the knockouts, were well positioned at 81-2, needing 86 off 52 balls, but suffered a middle-order collapse.

They lost Rubin Hermann and Delano Potgieter in a four-ball spell to slip to 82-4, and four overs later they were 113-7 when England's Dan Lawrence fell for 45.

At that point the game was beyond them and they were 122 all out, with captain David Miller unable to bat.

Super Kings finish fourth and Royals third, meaning they will face each other in the Eliminator. Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Pretoria Capitals occupy the top two and get two chances to reach Sunday's final.

SA20 play-off schedule

Wednesday, 21 January: Qualifier 1 - Sunrisers Eastern Cape v Pretoria Capitals (15:30 GMT)

Thursday, 22 January: Eliminator - Paarl Royals v Joburg Super Kings (15:30 GMT)

Friday, 23 January: Qualifier 2 - loser of Qualifier 1 v Winner of Eliminator (15:30 GMT)

Sunday, 25 January: Final - winner of Qualifier 1 v winner of Qualifier 2 (13:30 GMT)

• SA20 fixtures & table

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued their relentless form in the Women's Premier League with a dominant 61-run victory over Gujarat Giants that secured their place in the play-offs.

Gautami Naik, who earned her place in the RCB squad through dominant displays in domestic cricket, struck 73 off 55 balls - shepherding the visitors to 178-6.

No other batter passed 30 as Kashvee Gautam and captain Ash Gardner took two wickets apiece.

Lauren Bell once again set the tone with the ball for RCB, who reduced Giants to 5-3 and 56-6.

Bell, who has delivered more dot balls than any other bowler in the competition, built the pressure that led to destructive openers Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine falling to Sayali Satghare in the second over of the chase.

Bell then bowled Kanika Ahuja to leave the hosts 5-3 - a position they never looked like recovering from despite Gardner's defiant half-century.

RCB, the 2024 champions, have won their first five matches and are six points clear of second-placed Mumbai Indians.

Scorecard; Table

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Defending champions MI Cape Town were knocked out of the SA20 with a seven-wicket defeat by Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who earned a top-two finish.

MI went into the game knowing they needed a bonus-point win to stay in knockout contention and posted 148-6 with Reeza Hendricks top-scoring with an unbeaten 70.

They struggled on a slow surface with Australia's Chris Green claiming 3-29 in his first Sunrisers game, and James Coles taking 1-17.

Sunrisers, who had already qualified, lost Jonny Bairstow (10) early but Quinton de Kock and Matthew Breetzke put on 109 for the second wicket.

De Kock fell for 56 off 49 balls to leave Sunrisers 124-2 - beyond the 119 that MI needed to keep them under to claim a bonus-point win.

Sunrisers needed 25 from 17 balls at this point and Breetzke and Jordan Hermann hit two fours and a six to leave five required from the final over.

Breetzke was dismissed off the third ball but Hermann got Sunrisers over the line off the penultimate ball.

They climb to the top of the table but could finish second to Paarl Royals, depending on the outcome of their match against Joburg Super Kings on Monday.

Regardless, Sunrisers, who won the first two editions of the tournament, will have two chances to reach the final on 25 January.

The play-off schedule will be confirmed after Monday's game, with Super Kings needing to win to claim the final spot off Durban's Super Giants.

• SA20 fixtures & table

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Sydney Sixers secured second-place in the Big Bash League and their spot in Tuesday's qualifier match with a five-wicket win over Brisbane Heat.

Heat, who could have qualified for the play-offs at Sixers' expense with a win, finish fifth despite scoring 171-9 in a first innings where Mitchell Starc took 4-35.

Sixers batters Steve Smith and Sam Curran both made half-centuries and put on 60 for the fourth wicket, with their side passing their target in the penultimate over of the innings.

Nathan McSweeney top-scored for Heat after they were put into bat, hitting an unbeaten 69 from number three.

McSweeney added 48 with Michael Neser (35) for the seventh wicket, but saw other partners fall cheaply with no other Heat batter passing 20.

Sixers lost top-order batters Babar Azam and Josh Philippe for one and eight respectively, but Smith's early hitting set his side on course.

The Australia vice-captain was bowled for 54 by Zaman Khan, but Curran took over, hitting 15 runs off Matthew Kuhnemann's 18th over to reach 53 off 27 balls.

Needing 11 to win, Lachlan Shaw smashed a four and a six off the next two balls, but was caught behind off Xavier Bartlett with the scores level.

Jack Edwards then finished the game in style, lifting Bartlett for a match-winning six over square leg.

Big Bash play-off schedule

Tuesday, 20 January: Qualifier - Perth Scorchers v Sydney Sixers (06:30 GMT)

Wednesday, 21 January: Knockout - Hobart Hurricanes v Melbourne Stars (08:15 GMT)

Friday, 23 January: Challenger - Winner of Knockout v Loser of Qualifier (08:15 GMT)

Sunday, 25 January: Final - Winner of Qualifier v Winner of Challenger (08:15 GMT)

Listen to ball-by-ball commentary on each game on BBC Sounds (UK users only).

• Big Bash fixtures & table

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Joburg Super Kings missed out on the chance to secure a place in the SA20 play-offs with a 21-run defeat by Pretoria Capitals.

Super Kings made an incredible start, reducing Capitals to 7-5 in in 4.5 overs.

But, Dewald Brevis and Sherfane Rutherford put on 103 for the sixth wicket, as Capitals battled up to 143-6.

Rutherford top-scored with 74 not out off 50 balls, while Brewis made 53 off 47 balls.

Super Kings lost regular wickets and slipped to 68-6 in the 13th over, and despite Dian Forrester making an unbeaten 44 they finished well short on 122-8.

Captain Keshav Maharaj claimed 3-15 and seamer Lizaad Williams took 3-25.

They will have a second chance to qualify when they face Paarl Royals on Monday.

That game and the outcome of Sunrisers Eastern Cape v MI Cape Town on Sunday will also confirm Capitals' play-off route.

• SA20 fixtures & table

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Captain Smriti Mandhana made 96 as Royal Challengers Benglauru extended their 100% start to the Women's Premier League with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals.

Chasing 167, Mandhana saw Grace Harris dismissed in the third over, before putting on 142 with Australia's Georgia Voll for the second wicket.

She was closing on the first century in the tournament's history but was caught off Nandni Sharma with 11 required.

Richa Ghosh joined Voll, who made an unbeaten 54, as 2024 winners RCB got over the line with 10 balls to spare.

Earlier, they bowled Capitals out for 166 off the final ball of the innings, with England seamer Lauren Bell taking 3-26.

She bowled South Africa duo Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt in the first over, before returning to dismiss Shafali Verma for 62 in the 17th over.

Capitals did well to post 166 because, after Bell's double first-over strike, Sayali Satghare also claimed two wickets in the second over as Capitals slipped to 10-4.

The win moves RCB four points clear of three sides at the top, while Capitals remain bottom with one win in four games.

• WPL fixtures & table

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Aiden Markram hit a century as Durban's Super Giants kept their slim hopes of reaching the SA20 play-offs alive with a 58-run win over Paarl Royals.

After being asked to bat, Markram saw Sunil Narine and Jos Buttler dismissed in the first seven balls of the game.

But he built a partnership of 44 with Kane Williamson (22) and 81 with Heinrich Klaasen (29 off 21).

Liam Livingstone added 19 but was dismissed in the 18th over and that was the cue for Markram to attack.

He took 28 off Sikandar Raza's 19th over and reached his century off 55 balls with a towering six.

He was caught and bowled by Hardus Viljoen, who claimed 4-21, in the final over as Super Giants posted 189-7.

Royals, who had already guaranteed a play-off spot, raced to 31-0 but then suffered a big collapse to 68-6 after 12.5 overs.

They struggled against the spin of Narine (2-18), Makram (1-9), Livingstone (1-25) and Simon Harmer (1-13) before the pace of Gerald Coetzee claimed two wickets as Royals finished 131-9.

Super Giants now have to wait to see if Joburg Super Kings can win either of two remaining games and seal the final play-off spot.

• SA20 fixtures & table

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Australian duo Meg Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield both made half-centuries to set up UP Warriorz's 22-run win over Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League.

After being put into bat, Warriorz lost Kiran Navgire in the first over but Lanning (70 off 45) and Litchfield (61 off 37) put on 119 for the second wicket.

Litchfield was dismissed off the final ball of the 13th over, before Lanning fell five balls later.

But Harleen Deol added 25 off 16 balls and Chloe Tryon 21 off 13 as Warriorz posted 187-8.

Defending champions MI struggled in reply, slipping to 69-5 after 11 overs. There were starts for batters with Hayley Matthews making 13, Nat Sciver-Brunt 15 and captain Harmanpreet Kaur 18 but none were able to go on.

That poor start meant they were always behind the rate and despite Melie Kerr making 49 and sharing 83 with Amanjot Kaur, MI finished on 165-6.

The defeat is their third in five games, but they remain second on net run-rate, while Warriorz are fifth after their second win in five matches.

• WPL fixtures & table

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Perth Scorchers sealed top spot in the Big Bash League in their final group game with a six-wicket win over Melbourne Stars.

A partnership of 94 between Finn Allen (69) and Aaron Hardie (41) helped Scorchers pass their target of 131 inside the 17th over.

Stars seamer Haris Rauf had Mitchell Marsh (12) and Cooper Connolly (2) caught in the space of three balls, then dismissed Josh Inglis for one in his next over to leave Scorchers 26-3.

Hardie and Allen rebuilt the innings, and while the latter fell to Peter Siddle with the end of the match inside, Hardie stood firm and, with the scores level, cut a winning four in the following over.

Having been put into bat Stars were 15-3 at the end of the second over, but Marcus Stoinis (55) helped put together a platform alongside Campbell Kellaway (19) and Hilton Cartwright (13).

However Stoinis' dismissal, caught off English seamer David Payne, started a collapse where Stars lost their last six wickets for 30 runs and were bowled out with 10 balls left in their innings.

Both sides now await Sunday's final group game between fifth-placed Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers in fourth to see who they'll face in the midweek qualifiers.

If Sixers win, they, rather than the now second-place Hobart Hurricanes, will play Scorchers in Tuesday's qualifier match between the table toppers and runner-up.

No result would see Sixers face Stars, who stay third having missed out on their chance to go top with Saturday's defeat.

Victory for Heat would see them leapfrog Sixers into the final qualifying place, setting up a knockout match with Stars on Wednesday.

In the earlier game Adelaide Strikers finished their season with an eight-wicket hammering of Melbourne Renegades.

Strikers, who are unable to make the play-offs, chased down their target of 100 inside the 12th over.

Renegades were immediately in trouble after being put into bat, seeing spinner Jerrssis Wadia dismiss Tim Seifert and Jake Fraser-McGurk with the first two balls of the innings.

South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi then took the last four Renegades wickets, finishing with figures of 4-15 as the Melbourne side were bowled out in the 17th over.

Captain Will Sutherland was the only Renegades batter to make it past the teens, reaching 38 before he became the third batter to fall to Shamsi.

Strikers openers Alex Carey and Matthew Short hit 22 and 30 respectively, before Chris Lynn (27) and Liam Scott (18) saw out the match.

Seventh-placed Renegades conclude their season in the bottom three for the sixth time in seven years, while Strikers end their campaign in sixth, having finished bottom last year.

• Big Bash fixtures & table

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Defending champions MI Cape Town beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape by three wickets to keep their hopes of qualifying for the SA20 play-offs alive.

Sunrisers won the toss and opted to bat first but their batters struggled to adjust to a slow wicket and they slipped to 69-5 at the start of the 13th over.

All-rounder Marco Jansen counter-attacked and crashed 42 off 23 balls in a 45-run stand with Sussex's James Coles.

Sunrisers were 114-6 when Coles was bowled by Trent Boult (3-28), before Corbin Bosch (4-34) got Jansen in the next over as Cape Town restricted them to 139-9.

Cape Town's chase started badly and they were reduced to 19-2 before captain Nicholas Pooran steadied the slip somewhat with 17 off 11 in a stand of 33 with Reeza Hendricks.

Hendricks, who made 41 off 43, was the mainstay of the innings and he was happy to play second fiddle as George Linde made 31 off 18 and Kieron Pollard 20 off 14.

Both fell to leave Cape Town 125-5 and 15 needed from 18 balls. Jason Smith and Hendricks were dismissed, but with four needed from the final over, three singles and a no-ball sealed the win with three balls to spare.

The result means that Pretoria Capitals join Paarl Royals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the play-offs, and MI Cape will battle with Joburg Super Kings and Durban's Super Giants for the final spot.

Super Kings have two games remaining and a win in either of their games against Capitals on Saturday or Royals on Monday seals their progression.

Super Giants must beat Royals on Saturday to stay in contention, while Cape Town must also win against Sunrisers on Sunday to stand any chance.

• SA20 fixtures & table

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued their perfect start to the Women's Premier League with a comfortable 32-run win over Gujarat Giants.

The 2024 winners slipped to 43-4 in the final over of the powerplay, but recovered to post 182-7.

That was mainly down to a 105-run stand between Richa Ghosh (66 off 47) and Radha Yadav (44 off 28), before South Africa's Nadine de Klerk added some impetus with 26 off 12 balls.

Giants got off to a decent start with England duo Lindsey Smith and Lauren Bell conceding 10 and 16 respectively off the second and third over.

But Arundhati Reddy removed Sophie Devine with a sharp return catch in the fourth over and less than seven overs later Giants had slipped to 70-5.

Among those to fall were Beth Mooney in the fourth over to Shreyanka Patil and Ash Gardner was caught behind off Bell.

RCB dropped a couple of chances to allow Bharti Fulmali and Kashvee Gautam to put on 56 in 28 balls, leaving 61 required from 30 balls.

However, Patil returned to have Gautam caught, before Bell (3-29) came back on to take two wickets in the 17th over with two well-executed slower balls.

Patil then finished the innings off, taking two wickets in the 19th, to finish with her best WPL figures of 5-23.

RCB are top of the table after three successive wins, while Giants sit third with two wins and two defeats in four games.

• WPL fixtures & table

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Steve Smith hit a brilliant 100 from 42 balls as Sydney Sixers survived a late collapse to beat city rivals Sydney Thunder by five wickets in the Big Bash.

The former Australia skipper smashed nine sixes as he shared a blistering 141-run opening stand with Babar Azam (47 from 39 balls) in reply to Thunder's 189-6.

The Sixers were cruising at 141-0 after 12 overs and, despite losing 5-28 to slip to 169-5, they got over the line with 16 balls to spare.

It meant that David Warner's superb unbeaten 110 from 65 balls came in vain as the Thunder fell to their eighth defeat in 10 matches.

Without Warner, the game at the Sydney Cricket Ground could have been over far quicker with Nic Maddinson's 26 the next highest score.

England all-rounder Sam Curran was the pick of the Sixers bowlers with 3-28 from his four overs.

A chase of 190 could have been tricky but Smith and Babar quickly went about taking the game away from the Thunder.

After Babar was dismissed at the start of the 13th over, Smith proceeded to bring up his fifth T20 century from 41 balls.

However, he was stumped from the next ball he faced as the Sixers lost five wickets in 3.3 overs.

But any hopes of a dramatic Thunder victory soon faded as Lachlan Shaw and Jack Edwards put on an unbroken 22 from 10 balls with the latter sealing the win with a towering six.

A fourth win in five games puts the Sixers fourth on 11 points, two behind leaders Hobart Hurricanes, while the Thunder stay bottom on four points.

Sixers' game against Brisbane Heat on Sunday is effectively a shootout for a play-off spot.

• Big Bash fixtures & table

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Paarl Royals moved top of the SA20 and secured their place in the play-offs with a six-wicket thrashing of Pretoria Capitals, powered by a superb bowling display from seamer Ottneil Baartman.

Capitals were blown away by Baartman, who finished with remarkable figures of 5-16 after claiming a hat-trick of lower-order batters.

After bowling out their opponents for 127, Royals raced to their target inside 16 overs thanks to contributions of 46 and 41 from Rubin Hermann and Dan Lawrence.

Capitals had won the toss and chosen to bat, but were soon in trouble after Baartman removed opener Connor Esterhuizen and trapped England batter Jordan Cox lbw for a golden duck.

The 32-year-old wasn't able to secure a hat-trick on that occasion, but he returned to dismiss Andre Russell, Lizaad Williams and Lungi Ngidi with the first three balls of the 19th over.

Hardus Viljoen, who had previously taken the wicket of Capitals' top-scorer Sherfane Rutherford (29), then had Keshav Maharaj caught off the first ball of the final over as Capitals lost their last four wickets for a single run.

Openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Asa Tribe were dismissed for one and five respectively by Williams early in Royals' response, but the pairing of Hermann and Lawrence, who put on a 106-run stand in Royals' last outing against Durban's Super Giants, added 52 for the third wicket to steady nerves at Centurion.

Hermann provided much of the firepower in that partnership, but Lawrence took over when his partner was caught by off the bowling of Gideon Peters, forming a 57-run pairing with David Miller (28 not out).

Lawrence was bowled by Ngidi with the target in sight, before new batter Sikandar Raza scored a winning single two balls later to secure victory with 29 deliveries to spare.

Royals move above their opponents and former leaders Sunrisers Eastern Cape, topping the standings on number of wins.

Capitals need a point from their final game against Joburg Super Kings to join them.

• SA20 fixtures & table

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UP Warriorz won for the first time this season with a seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League.

Harleen Deol hit an unbeaten 64 from 39 balls to marshal Warriorz' chase of 162, putting on a partnership of 73 with Phoebe Litchfield (25) for the third wicket.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt top-scored for Mumbai after they were put into bat, adding 85 alongside Nicola Carey (32 not out).

Sciver-Brunt was one of two wickets to fall in the final over, as Giants closed on 161-5.

The all-rounder then dismissed Warriorz captain Meg Lanning (25) and her fellow opener Kiran Navgire (10) in the space of five balls immediately after the powerplay.

Having helped rebuild the innings, Litchfield was caught off the bowling of Melie Kerr, but Chloe Tryon (27 not out) joined Deol at the crease, hitting a six and then seeing the win brought up with a wide, as Warriorz won with five balls to spare.

Lanning's side remain bottom despite picking up their first win in fourth attempts, but go level on points with Delhi Capitals in fourth.

Mumbai miss out on the chance to go top outright and remain in second, level on points with first-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru and third-placed Gujarat Giants.

• WPL fixtures & table

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The Afghanistan Cricket Board has implemented a new rule preventing their players from participating in more than three international leagues per year.

The Board says the new policy will "manage workload and ensure peak performance for national duties", but it could mean many of the country's players have to take a financial hit to remain compliant.

Players like Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Mujeeb Ur Rahman play for numerous franchises around the world.

Spin-bowling all-rounder Khan, 27, is currently captaining MI Cape Town in the SA20.

He also plays for MI's other franchises in the ILT20, Major League Cricket and in The Hundred, plus has a deal with Gujarat Titans in the IPL.

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Perth Scorchers continued their push for a sixth Big Bash League title with a convincing 50-run victory over Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.

New Zealand's Finn Allen smashed 101 off 53 balls as the visitors racked up a huge 219-7 despite Sam Elliott's four wickets.

No other Scorchers player passed 22 as Allen dominated - striking eight sixes in his brilliant knock.

Opener Tim Seifert (66 off 43) anchored the reply for struggling Renegades but once Jake Fraser-McGurk fell for a lively 42 off 18 balls, he began to lose partners regularly.

Harry Dixon, making his first appearance of the season, retired hurt on one after being struck by a nasty Mahli Beardman bouncer.

The 20-year-old, who has been likened to David Warner, was sent to hospital for observations.

Renegades were never able to keep pace with the required run-rate and slipped to their fifth defeat of another disappointing season.

Scorecard; BBL table