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Priya Mishra sets up easy win for Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants were inspired by Priya Mishra’s three-wicket haul and captain Ashleigh Gardner’s breezy 52 to post a comprehensive six-wicket win over UP Warriorz in their second home game of the WPL 2025. Giants were a much-improved outfit with the ball and on the field, and followed it up with a clinical batting effort where the likes of Harleen Deol and Deandra Dottin also chipped in, to chase down a modest 144 in Vadodara with 12 balls remaining.
With the injured Alyssa Healy not available and Chamari Athapaththu making way for Alana King, Warriorz lacked power up front. New captain Deepti Sharma’s 39 and Sophie Ecclestone’s excellent bowling performance went in vain as Giants bounced back from the opening-day loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru to get off the mark early in the tournament.
Gardner carried on from where she left off, scoring yet another crucial fifty to lift Giants from 2 for 2. After her unbeaten 79 in the opener against RCB, Gardner came in to bat as early as the second over after Giants lost Beth Mooney and D Hemalatha early. She got going by scoring back-to-back fours off the debutant fast bowling-allrounder Kranti Goud in the third over.
She was particularly brutal against Saima Thakor, who conceded 20 runs in the fifth over. Two of the three sixes of the over were hit by Gardner, one over long-on and another over deep midwicket. She used her feet well to charge down the ground when necessary and converted full tosses into fours or sixes. With Laura Wolvaardt, she stitched a crucial 55-run stand for the third wicket.
She brought up her fifty off 28 balls, with a humongous six over deep square leg off Alana King after flicking away the previous ball to deep backward square leg for four. Overall, she hit five fours and three sixes.
With 131 runs in two matches at an impressive strike rate of 195.52, Gardner is the leading run-scorer of the tournament as of now.
After Tahlia McGrath dismissed Gardner in the 12th over, Giants needed 58 off 49 balls. But Dottin came in and swung her bat straightaway over midwicket to collect her first six, off King. Putting her power game to use, she punished McGrath for two more fours in the next over and released pressure off Giants.
The dew factor and a few dropped catches didn’t help Warriorz either as Deol also played the role of anchor to keep the chase at a healthy run-rate. Deol made an unbeaten 34 off 30 balls while Dottin hit a quickfire 33 that included three fours and two sixes.
Earlier, with the ball, Dottin struck in the second over, dismissing Kiran Navgire with an inswinger and then knocked off Uma Chetry with a short ball in the tenth over when Warriorz were just trying to steady the ship after a few early wickets.
Warriorz were 73 for 3 after 10 overs, and with McGrath and Grace Harris yet to come, they would have hoped for a lift-off. But Mishra landed a big blow by removing both the Australians in the span of three deliveries. For McGrath, she bowled a googly that skidded on in line of middle and off and scrapped past the batter’s inside edge and hit the pad first, and then off the bat and onto the pads. McGrath reviewed the lbw decision but it was struck down.
A ball later, Mishra bowled another googly, a flighted delivery on off, and Harris went for a big slog across the line only to be beaten on the inside edge as the ball crashed onto the stumps. Mishra let out a loud roar after producing a statement performance.
After being asked to bat, Warriorz decided to open with Kiran Navgire and Vrinda Dinesh, who had suffered a shoulder injury last season after playing four matches. But neither of them made an impact with Dottin and Gardner striking inside the powerplay.
Uma Chetry, at No.3, also toiled to middle a lot of deliveries but utilised her strong bottom hand to smash four boundaries in her 27-ball 24. With Deepti at the other end, the duo produced a 51-run partnership to rescue Warriorz from early jitters. Deepti, who had hit an unbeaten 88 against Giants last year while batting at No.4 the only other time before Sunday, was the positive of the lot and smashed 39 off 27. She used her trademark sweep shots to good effect and also kept the scorecard ticking in the middle overs with pull shots and punches off the backfoot. Eventually, Deepti was also dismissed by Mishra in the 15th over.
Despite the late flourish at the end of the innings thanks to Thakor and King, Warriorz finished with an under-par total.
Wolvaardt shimmied down and smashed one down the ground for four after missing Ecclestone’s first ball of the fourth over. Four dot balls followed. Eventually, Wolvaardt fell to Ecclestone for 22 off 24 balls. In a moment of indecision that left her neither playing forward nor back, she was beaten on pace in the ninth over. Overall, Wolvaardt scored six runs off Ecclestone’s ten balls with only three scoring shots in it. Ecclestone finished with figures of 2 for 16 but that wasn’t enough for Warriorz.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants Women 144 for 4 in 18 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 52, Laura Wolvaardt 22, Harleen Deol 34*, Deandra Dottin 33*; Sophie Ecclestone 2-16, Grace Harris 1-01, Tahlia McGrath 1-21) beat UP Warriorz Women 143 for 9 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 39,Uma Chetry 24, Alana King 19*; Priya Mishra 3-25, Deandra Dottin 2-34, Ashleigh Gardner 2-3, Kashvee Gautam 1-15) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Former Sri Lanka allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya is set to make his USA debut at the 2026 T20 World Cup. The 34-year-old, who bats left-handed and bowls offspin, has been named in USA’s 15-man squad for the tournament, which is set to begin in India and Sri Lanka on February 7.
With USA Cricket presently suspended by the ICC, the squad was picked by a panel led by head coach Pubudu Dassanayake, with the selection observed by a compliance officer appointed by the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).
USA are in Group A alongside Pakistan, Namibia, Netherlands and defending champions India. They begin their tournament against co-hosts India in Mumbai on February 7, and then face Pakistan – whom they famously defeated in the 2024 edition – in Colombo on February 10. Their last two group matches are in Chennai, against Netherlands (February 13) and Namibia (February 15).
USA squad for T20 World Cup 2026
Monank Patel (capt), Jasdeep Singh, Andries Gous, Shehan Jayasuriya, Milind Kumar, Shayan Jahangir, Saiteja Mukkamala, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan, Mohammad Mohsin, Shubham Ranjane
Time for the real quiz. As pleasing as it was for Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum to win a rare ODI series away from home – England’s first in almost three years – the true purpose of their return to the coal-face so soon after the Ashes was to help them tune up in the shortest format, with a T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka just around the corner.
England are a more confident beast in T20, as evinced by them blasting 304 for 2 against South Africa last September – the highest score in games between Full Member nations. But this series will provide important reconnaissance ahead of the World Cup, with England set to play their three Super 8s games in Sri Lanka (assuming no slip-ups in the group stage, where they face Nepal, West Indies, Scotland and Italy).
That game at Old Trafford effectively sealed the deal on Jos Buttler reuniting with Phil Salt at the top of the order (after Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett were tried earlier in the summer) and most of the line-up fills itself in from there. Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson have been earmarked as the experienced frontline spin pairing, with the potential also to call on Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks; Sam Curran helps balance the side, while Jofra Archer, who was not in the original squad, is a surprise inclusion, fit to lead the seam attack after a side strain interrupted his Ashes.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, need to brush up on their T20 skills as they prepare to host a global men’s ICC competition for the first time since 2012. As Andrew Fidel Fernando, ESPNcricinfo’s senior writer out in Sri Lanka, said on the Switch Hit podcast at the start of the tour, perhaps they could do worse than learning some of the reckless habits that are second nature to their guests?
The days of Sri Lanka being a team of freewheeling mavericks at the cutting edge of the format are long gone. To pick out just one measure of their conservatism, since the start of 2025, Sri Lanka batters have scored at a rate of 8.09 per over in T20Is – quicker only than Afghanistan and Bangladesh, among Full Members. Results have been patchy, with one series win – against Zimbabwe – in that time.
They have a new captain, too, albeit an old hand in Dasun Shanaka, who previously did the job between 2021 and 2023. He officially replaced Charith Asalanka last month (though Asalanka remains in the squad) and has already found himself in the spotlight trying to explain decisions by the selectors. with Kusal Perera seemingly retained at the expense of Kamindu Mendis, despite the latter being, in his captain’s words, “a very valuable player”.
The backroom has at least been strengthened, with Vikram Rathour and Lasith Malinga among the experienced heads Shanaka can turn to. And there is still plenty to work with: the likes of Pathum Nissanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana all dangerous talents who evoke the rebellious spirit of Sri Lanka’s golden period.
While Sri Lanka’s T20 batting has become more and more inhibited, Pathum Nissanka has ascended to the peak of his hitting powers. Five years since coming through with a first-class average in the 60s and a reputation as a classical strokemaker, he shapes as one of the players best placed to carry Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup hopes on home soil. He had his best year in T20Is in 2025, pushing his strike rate up to 149.16 and scoring a maiden hundred (although the moment was slightly spoiled by Sri Lanka slipping up against India and losing the Super Over). A 24-ball fifty in the third ODI against England, briefly firing hopes of chasing 358, showed his batting is in the right mode.
Liam Dawson comes across as someone who would rather the spotlight be pointed in completely the opposite direction, but he has steadily become a key cog in the white-ball set-up – after years of collecting winners’ medals on the fringes. Since being recalled last summer as part of England’s planning for a subcontinental World Cup, he has taken twice as many wickets (12) as he did in the first eight years of his T20I career, performing his role with aplomb as the middle-overs flannel who suffocates opposition batters.
Sri Lanka look set to field a very similar top order to that used in the ODI series – although that may not include Pavan Rathnayake, who has batted once in T20Is but won a place in the squad after his sparkling maiden hundred on Tuesday. Dushmantha Chameera returns to contention after being rested for the ODIs, but Sri Lanka might want to have a look at his back-up, Pramod Madushan, whose last T20I appearance was in 2023. Dunith Wellalage was practising his range hitting at training on Thursday and could also be in line for a recall.
Sri Lanka (possible): Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage/Dunith Wellalage, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera/Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana
England named their team a day out, with Salt, the No. 2-ranked ICC batter, partnered by Buttler and Tom Banton carded at No. 4, having been apprenticing as the side’s finisher. Jacks missed the New Zealand tour with injury but is back to take over from Jordan Cox (who isn’t in the squad) at No. 7, while Jamie Overton is preferred to Luke Wood and Brydon Carse. Duckett was considered after bruising a finger during the third ODI. Fast bowler Josh Tongue could make his T20I debut at some point on the tour.
England : Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
(Cricinfo)
Viran Chamuditha’s 94-ball 110 helped Sri Lanka Under 19 chase 262 and keep their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the Men’s Under-19 World Cup 2026 alive. Sri Lanka will now have to hope Afghanistan lose to Ireland; otherwise, Afghanistan will go through. South Africa on the other hand, have lost all four of their games and are placed fifth in the six-team group.
The day began well for South Africa Under-19, who won the toss, chose to bat and added 96 for the first wicket. Once Vigneshwaran Akash got Adnaan Lagadien, Jorich Van Schalkwyk – the other opener – had to do the bulk of the scoring, with regular wickets falling at the other end.
Akash finished with a four-for and Kavija Gamage got two. There was a missed chance off Van Schalkwyk in the 21st over off Gamage, when he was on 50.
Van Schalkwyk made Sri Lanka pay with a 130-ball 116, featuring 13 fours and two sixes. After he fell, Paul James (37* off 36) and Michael Kruiskamp (21* off 15) gave South Africa a good finish, with an unbeaten 40-run stand off 31 balls.
Sri Lanka’s chase started shakily as Dimantha Mahavithana fell cheaply to Kruiskamp. Chamuditha then began a match-defining 143-run stand off 130 balls with Senuja Wekunagoda. Chamuditha contributed 85 of those run, and brought up his century during his stand with captain Vimath Dinsara, who chipped in with 32 off 38 balls.
Chamuditha finished with 13 boundaries and a six. After he fell, there were two handy partnerships of 31 and an unbeaten 28 between Chamika Heenatigala and Dulnith Sigera, which took Sri Lanka home with four overs to spare.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Under 19s 265 for 5 in 46 overs (Viran Chamuditha 110, Senuja Wekunagoda 48, Vimath Dinsara 32; M8chael Kruiskamp 2-59, Come Botha 2-37) beat South Africa Under 19s 261 for 7 in 50 overs (Jorich Van Schalkwyk 116, Adnaan Lagadien 46, Paul James 37* ; Vigneshwaran Akash 4-64, Kavija Gamage 2-61) by five wickets
Akash Vigneswaran celebrates a wicket with his team-mates, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, Under-19 World Cup, Bulawayo, January 29, 2026 (Cricinfo)
(Cricinfo)
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