England showed their power with the bat and ball as they levelled their ODI series with a 186-run thumping of Australia in a rain-delayed match at Lord's.
Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and a blistering batting display from Liam Livingstone sent England on their way before Matthew Potts starred with the ball in hand.
After a relatively quiet start to the top order that saw Phil Salt (22) and Will Jacks (10) fall early, Brook quickly found his rhythm, cruising to a 37-ball half-century.
Duckett's 63 runs from 62 deliveries, coupled with Brook (87), saw England take control, but the pair were dismissed within eight overs of each other.
However, a late onslaught ensued when Livingstone was welcomed to the crease, notching an unbeaten 62 runs from 27 deliveries, a knock that included seven sixes, four of which came as he took 28 off the last over of the innings from Mitchell Starc.
With England ending on 312-5, Australia started their chase strongly, but the wickets of Mitchell Marsh (28), Travis Head (34) and Steve Smith (five) within four overs started the tourists' collapse.
Australia crumbled from 68-0 to 126 all out in 24.4 overs, with Potts (4-38) doing most of the damage, with Adil Rashid (1-11) sealing the win with the wicket of Josh Hazlewood to force a decider in Bristol on Sunday.
Data Debrief: Livingstone leads comeback
In a game that saw a number of standout performers, Livingstone's display with the bat broke ODI records for matches at Lord's.
The Lancashire spin bowler's 25-ball half-century was the fastest seen at Lord's, while England's 12 sixes is a new record in an ODI encounter at the home of cricket.
The triumph also saw England produce their second-highest winning margin against Australia when batting first in the ODI's, with their 242-run victory at Trent Bridge in 2018 the only game they have won by a larger gap.
Kruger and Rickelton star for South Africa in T20I series opener
South Africa eased to an eight-wicket triumph over Ireland in the first match of their T20I series, with Patrick Kruger and Ryan Rickelton starring for the Proteas.
Kruger's four-wicket haul saw Ireland manage 171 from their overs, with Rickleton's knock of 76 from 48 deliveries giving his side a solid foundation to build on.
The Proteas started strongly as Ross Adair (18), Paul Stirling (two) and Harry Tector (16) fell inside the first six overs through deliveries from Ottniel Baartman (1-36), Wiaan Mulder (1-15) and Bjorn Fortuin (1-28).
Curtis Campher's 49 attempted to steady the ship for Ireland, only for Kruger (4-27) to rip through their middle order, giving his side a manageable target to reach.
South Africa's opening partnership of Reeza Hendricks (51) and Rickelton set the early tone, with the Proteas going 136 runs without loss until Hendricks was dismissed by Craig Young (1-25).
Rickelton's time at the crease came to an end in the following over, but Matthew Breetzke (19) and Aiden Markram (17) were able to guide South Africa home to take a 1-0 series lead ahead of the second T20I on Sunday.
Data Debrief: Rickelton rises to the occasion
Rickelton's knock of 76 was his maiden half-century for the Proteas in T20I's, notching nine boundaries (six sixes and three fours) during his 70-minute stint.
The 28-year-old saw his time at the crease ended by Adair, but left the field at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium with an impressive strike rate of 158.33.
Pollard puts TKR’s up and down season down to injuries; happy with where team is heading into playoffs
Trinbago Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard is happy with where his team is ahead of the 2024 Caribbean Premier League playoffs set to begin on October 1 in Guyana.
With two games left for them in the preliminary phase of the tournament, the four-time champions have a record of five wins and three losses in their eight games.
“From a performance perspective, we’ve played eight games. Won five, lost three. We’ll take that. The first step in any tournament is to qualify. If we were in fifth place or sixth place it’d be a different conversation. You expect this to happen. It’s T20 cricket,” Pollard said in a press conference on Thursday ahead of their game against the Barbados Royals at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Friday.
“Given all the obstacles that we’ve had transpire throughout this season, we’ll take where we are at this particular time. We have an opportunity to finish in the top two. We still have to play good, consistent cricket,” he added.
The major obstacle that Pollard referred to in his comments on Thursday was the number of injuries that have hampered his team’s ability to field their best eleven consistently throughout their eight outings.
“Throughout the entire tournament we’ve been hampered by injuries. We have not mentioned what sort of injuries we’ve had throughout and we’ve had to sort of chop and change. That might’ve caused a lot of discussion amongst fans as to why this one and that one is not playing but we had to battle that,” he said.
Nevertheless, Pollard commended his team for their performance despite the circumstances.
“The way how the guys have battled forward through injuries, coming in at the late stages, we have to commend them for their efforts,” he said.
The Knight Riders and the Royals have met 24 times in the past with the Knight Riders holding a 15-9 edge.
Their last meeting came on September 13 when the Knight Riders won a thriller by two wickets with one ball remaining at the Kensington Oval.
The Knight Riders, currently fourth in the standings with 10 points, could secure a top two spot with wins in their final two games over the Royals and the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
“It’s known in the dressing room what needs to be done and hopefully, all the experience that we have and the exuberance of the youth as well will come forth and we’ll be able to finish the tournament a lot more consistently,” Pollard said.
Kamindu Mendis ton helps Sri Lanka to 600 against struggling New Zealand
Kamindu Mendis' century helped Sri Lanka cruise past 600 in their first innings, strengthening their already iron grip on their second Test against New Zealand on day two.
The hosts picked up where they left off on Thursday, with New Zealand offering little resistance as the run count continued to tick over.
Dinesh Chandimal's ton propelled them to 306-3 on day one, and Kamindu carried on their momentum, claiming his fifth Test century in the second session.
His 117-run partnership with Kusal Mendis in that session piled the misery on the tourists, as Kamindu plundered an unbeaten 182, and his partner 106, to help the hosts put 602-5 on the board.
New Zealand's bowling left a lot to be desired, and they struggled to get going with the bat too when they eventually stepped up to the crease.
In just 14 overs, Tom Latham (2) and Devon Conway (9) were dismissed, with Kane Williamson set to continue on Saturday having got six from 42 balls.
With just 22-2 under their belt, they trail by 580 runs and will need a huge performance on day three to chase it down.
Data Debrief: Kamindu steals the show
There was some exceptional batting from Sri Lanka's new star Kamindu, with his unbeaten 182 on Friday his highest-ever score.
He also became the fastest batter to 1,000 Test runs in 75 years (1,004), getting there in 13 innings to equal Don Bradman's pace.
He averages 91.27 a match, maintaining a strike rate of 65.02, and has crossed 50 in nine of those innings, reaching a century in five.
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