Ben Stokes provided the spark yet again as his England side crushed South Africa inside three days at Old Trafford to level the Test series.

After a painful innings defeat at Lord's in the first match, captain Stokes led by dazzling example this time with a mesmerising century and valuable wickets, earning the player of the match award.

He cut off the hint of a South African resurgence on Saturday, before his star seamers did the rest, England bowling out the tourists for 179 and getting the win by an innings and 85 runs to set up a series decider at The Oval next month.

England's 264-run first-innings lead allowed them to go for the jugular in front of a boisterous weekend crowd in Manchester, with home-ground hero James Anderson removing Dean Elgar's off stump early in the day before Sarel Erwee edged Ollie Robinson through to Ben Foakes.

Stuart Broad then thought he had bowled Aiden Markram for a duck, but it came from a no-ball. Markram's stint in the middle was brief regardless, with Broad drawing a nick to Zak Crawley at second slip.

Rassie van der Dussen, batting with a suspected broken finger, and Keegan Petersen frustrated England for a while, with the fourth-wicket pair batting valiantly through the post-lunch session.

Stokes had Van der Dussen reaching outside off stump in the 64th over, in the penultimate over before tea, with replays showing there was perhaps the thinnest of edges through to Ben Foakes.

Nobody appealed so the batsman survived, but not for long. At 141-3, South Africa had a sniff of making a match of this contest, yet they collapsed desperately from there.

England made a breakthrough just moments after tea, and it was skipper Stokes who struck, ending an 87-run fourth-wicket alliance by this time drawing a chunky nick from Van der Dussen (41) to give Foakes an easy enough catch.

He removed Petersen (42) too with a hostile delivery the batsman was clueless to defend, presenting wicketkeeper Foakes with another scalp.

The excellent Robinson removed Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi as England sliced through the tail, with Kagiso Rabada falling to Anderson.

Robinson recall a roaring success

Sussex quick Robinson had not played for England since the fifth Ashes Test in Hobart at the start of the year, but he proved his fitness on England Lions duty and backed that up with 4-43 in South Africa's second innings.

His inclusion at the expense of Matthew Potts went down as a raging hit, and he surely has a big part to play next time out in London, not to mention in the long term when stalwarts Anderson and Broad finally make way.

The St. Lucia Kings got their first win of the SKYEXCH 6IXTY with an eight-run triumph over the Jamaica Tallawahs at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Saturday.

The Kings took first strike after the Tallawahs won the toss and elected to field first, making 109-5 from their 10 overs thanks to a 25-ball 48 from Roshon Primus and 32 from Johnson Charles.

Joshua James took 2-25 from his two overs for the Tallawahs.

Despite fighting innings from Amir Jangoo (44) and captain Rovman Powell (34), the Tallawahs fell narrowly short of their target finishing 101-4 off their 10 overs for their first loss of the tournament.

New Zealander Scott Kuggelijn led the way with the ball for the Kings with 2-18 from his two overs.

Saturday’s other Men’s games will see the Barbados Royals tackle the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots facing the Trinbago Knight Riders. Barbados Royals will face Guyana Amazon Warriors in the lone Women’s encounter.

Barbadian Raymon Reifer and Trinidadian Amir Jangoo both starred to help the Jamaica Tallawahs beat the Barbados Royals in the 6IXTY at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Friday.

The Royals won the toss and chose to field first. That decision proved to be the wrong one as the Tallawahs hammered the bowling all around Warner Park to post 162-3 from their 10 overs.

The Tallawahs were 60-3 when Reifer came to join Jangoo at the crease in the fifth over before the pair put the Royals bowling to the sword, adding 102 runs off just 36 balls to help them post the mammoth total.

Jangoo ended with 68 not out from 27 balls including four fours and six sixes while Reifer ended 57 not out off 19 balls including eight fours and three sixes.

The Royals then had a decent showing with the bat in reply but, despite fighting knocks from Ireland’s Harry Tector (35), South African Corbin Bosch (33) and Rakheem Cornwall (25), they fell well short of the target, being bowled out for 121 in 9.5 overs.

Reifer completed a fine all-round display with 3-16 off 1.5 overs while Nicholson Gordon took 2-18 from his two overs.

The Tallawahs have now booked a spot in the semi-finals with a perfect record after two games.

Earlier, Trinbago Knight Riders Women got an easy 10-wicket win over Guyana Amazon Warriors Women.

The Amazon Warriors only managed to score 33 before being bowled out in eight overs after winning the toss and electing to bat.

No batter got into double figures as South African leg-spinner Sune Luus led the way with 2-6 from two overs for TKR. Hat-trick hero from their last game Geetika Kodali from the USA took 1-10 from two overs.

The Knight Riders’ opening pair of captain Deandra Dottin and Lee-Ann Kirby then made quick work of the target, reaching 34-0 off 3.5 overs to seal the win.

The St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots and the Trinbago Knight Riders both got one in the win column in the 6IXTY at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Friday.

The Patriots secured a three-wicket victory over the Kings, condemning them to their second straight loss.

Batting first after being put in by the Patriots, the Kings struggled mightily, being bowled out for 66 in 8.4 overs. Johnson Charles provided some spark to the innings with 28 against an excellent spell from left-arm spinner Jaden Carmichael who took 2-6 from his two overs.

The hosts then needed just six overs to reach their target, finishing 72-3. Sherfane Rutherford ended the game with four consecutive sixes to finish 24 not out off just five balls while captain Evin Lewis earlier contributed 22.

In the second encounter, the Knight Riders secured a 47-run victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

The Knight Riders overcame a tricky first half of their innings which saw them struggle to get on top of the Warriors bowling to eventually score 95-4 from their 10 overs after losing the toss. Tion Webster (27) and Terrance Hinds (23) were the main contributors for the Knight Riders while Odean Smith shone with the ball with 2-11 from his two overs.

The Warriors, in reply, were then put in a stranglehold by an excellent TKR bowling performance. Hitting only four fours and, remarkably, no sixes, the Warriors were restricted 48 all out off just 8.1 overs with South African Heinrich Klaasen getting 25 not out.

Captain Ravi Rampaul was the pick of the bowlers with 2-6 from his two overs while Jayden Seales was also impressive, finishing with 2-10 from his two overs.

The Jamaica Tallawahs will tackle the Barbados Royals while Guyana Amazon Warriors Women will play Trinbago Knight Riders Women later on Friday.

Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes produced with the bat as England built a comprehensive 241-run lead over South Africa on day two of the second Test at Old Trafford.

The duo each brought up centuries as England recovered from the early loss of Jonny Bairstow in terrific fashion, reaching 415-9 before Stokes declared with the hosts having built a mammoth first-innings advantage of 264.

While England's bowlers failed to cap a tremendous day in Manchester with a late wicket, South Africa's opening duo were limited to 23 runs, leaving them with a mountain to climb on day three.

After seeing Bairstow bat England out of trouble on Thursday, South Africa began day two looking for quick wickets, and Anrich Nortje (3-82) got them off to a fine start.

Having stopped Bairstow one run short of his half-century, he accounted for Zak Crawley (38) with a superb delivery just two overs later as the hosts began nervously after resuming on 111-3.

But the Proteas failed to make that momentum count as England steadied themselves either side of lunch, with Stokes (103) and Foakes (113 not out) striking up a fearsome sixth-wicket partnership of 173 to drive Brendon McCullum's men into a commanding lead.

Stokes brought up his 12th Test hundred – and first as captain – shortly before being caught by Dean Elgar off Kagiso Rabada's delivery, but Foakes was unaffected as he went on to rack up just his second tonne in the format.

Foakes survived as Stuart Broad (21), Ollie Robinson (17) and Jack Leach (11) were dismissed before Stokes' declaration, with the home side then seeing out the day without incident after taking up the ball.  

Sarel Erwee (12 not out) and Elgar (11 not out) managed just two boundaries between them in a quiet final nine overs, leaving England as favourites to avoid suffering their first back-to-back home Test defeats since August 2008.

England give South Africa the Bens

Stokes' superb knock eased the pressure on England following a less-than-ideal start on Friday and brought him his fourth Test hundred against South Africa, more than he has managed against any other side (three each versus West Indies and Australia, one apiece against India and New Zealand).

The skipper was upstaged, however, as Foakes cruised to his highest score in the format, recording a first home Test century despite failing to hit a single six.

Mitchell Starc has ODI milestones and a slice of cricket history in his sights as Australia prepare to tackle Zimbabwe.

Left-arm paceman Starc is five victims away from becoming the sixth player to take 200 wickets for Australia in men's ODIs.

It might be asking too much of 32-year-old Starc to expect him to take all five on what will be, should he play, his 100th ODI appearance.

Indeed, team-mate Marnus Labuschagne has already voiced his view that spin could be the chief wicket-taking threat.

However, as long as Starc takes five at some point over his next four appearances, he will be the fastest player in the history of ODIs to reach 200, surpassing Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq, who got to the mark in 104 matches.

Australia and Zimbabwe will clash in three ODIs at the Riverway Stadium in Townsville, Queensland, over the coming days, with the venue staging its first such matches featuring ICC full-member nations.

These will be first ODI encounters between the teams since August 31, 2014, when Zimbabwe beat Australia by three wickets in Harare.

That result ended the hosts' 31-year wait for a second ODI victory in the rivalry between the teams, after Zimbabwe won at Trent Bridge in the 1983 World Cup but then lost their next 27 completed matches against Australia in the format.

Tasty appetiser for Black Caps series

Tussles with Zimbabwe on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday come ahead of Australia's three-game series against New Zealand in Cairns, which starts on September 6.

Australia have a 93 per cent win rate against Zimbabwe in men's ODIs, and only against Bangladesh (95 per cent) do they have a higher such success rate in the format (minimum 10 games).

Warner bids to go past Waugh, Raza sharp for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe, coached by Dave Houghton and captained by Regis Chakabva, will be out to cause an upset and must aim to nullify David Warner's threat.

Warner has 18 ODI centuries in 133 matches, putting him one away from recording the outright second most tons for Australia in the short format. He is currently level with Mark Waugh, with Ricky Ponting's 29 hundreds leading the way.

It will be Warner's first ODI against Zimbabwe, and the visitors have their own batting threat in the shape of Sikandar Raza, who has hit three centuries in his past six innings in the 50-over international game, including a ton last time out against India.

Raza averages 62 with the bat since the beginning of 2022, the highest for any Zimbabwe batter in ODIs in a single calendar year (minimum 10 games).

The Barbados Royals secured a three-wicket victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders in the 6IXTY at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Thursday.

The Knight Riders, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, struggled to 76 all out in just 7.5 overs. West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein top-scored for TKR with 27. It was a very balanced assault from the Royals with the ball as Oshane Thomas, Rakheem Cornwall, Corbin Bosch, Hayden Walsh Jr and Joshua Bishop all took a wicket apiece.

The chase was then made to look simple thanks to the South African Bosch who smashed a 23-ball 42 to complete a man-of-the-match performance. Ireland’s Harry Tector also contributed 16 not out. Ravi Rampaul took 1-5 for the Knight Riders.

In the earlier Men’s games, The Guyana Amazon Warriors beat the St. Lucia Kings by seven runs and the Jamaica Tallawahs got a 55-run win over the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

In the lone Women’s encounter on Thursday, the Trinbago Knight Riders secured a comfortable 29-run win over Barbados Royals.

Returning captain Deandra Dottin starred with the bat for the Knight Riders with 46 off 34 balls to help her team set a total of 92-3 from their 10 overs. Pakistan’s Fatima Sana was excellent with the ball for the Royals with 1-9 from her two overs.

In their reply, the Royals were rocked early by a sensational hat-trick from the USA’s Geetika Kodali in the second over when she removed captain Hayley Matthews for two before dismissing Britney Cooper and South Africa’s Chloe Tryon.

The Royals never recovered, ending their chase at 63-5 from their 10 overs.

Chinelle Henry provided most resistance with 37 while Reniece Boyce also made 18.

Kodali finished with figures of 3-6 off her two overs while Shenetta Grimmond and Sune Luus took one wicket each.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs both secured victories to kick off the Men’s 6ixty at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Thursday.

The Warriors kicked off proceedings by getting a narrow seven-run victory over the St. Lucia Kings. The Warriors batted first after the Kings won the toss and elected to field, posting 111-5 off their 10 overs thanks to a crucial 24-ball 36 not out from West Indies all-rounder Odean Smith.

Jeavor Royal with 2-8 and Matthew Forde with 2-24 starred with the ball for the Kings.

The Kings, despite a fighting 23-ball 41 from Roshon Primus, then fell agonizingly short of their target, being bowled out for 104 with one ball to spare.

Afghanistan wrist-spinner Waqar Salamkheil was the chief destroyer for the Warriors with 3-16.

In the day’s second game, the Tallawahs got a dominant 55-run win over hosts St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

The Patriots won the toss and elected to field first, a decision they’d soon regret as the Tallawahs bludgeoned the bowling to post an intimidating 139 all out off 9.5 overs.

West Indies all-rounders Fabian Allen (45), Raymon Reifer (38) and Rovman Powell (32) were all equally destructive as off-spinner Jon-Russ Jagessar was most economical for the Patriots with 1-13 from his two overs.

In reply, the Patriots offered little resistance before being bundled out for 84 after just 7.2 overs.

South African teenage phenom Dewald Brevis was the only batsman to contribute something of note, hitting 34 off just 11 balls including five mammoth sixes.

Migael Pretorious, Niocholson Gordon and Jamie Merchant all took two wickets apiece for the Tallawahs.

Thursday’s third game will see the Barbados Royals tackle the Trinbago Knight Riders. The Royals and Knight Riders will also do battle in the lone Women’s game on Thursday.

Jonny Bairstow batted England out of trouble after James Anderson and Stuart Broad delivered with the ball as the hosts made a strong start to the second Test against South Africa.

The Proteas posted 151 all out at Old Trafford, with Anderson and Broad taking three wickets each, as South Africa's innings victory at Lord's last time out was quickly forgotten.

England moved to 111-3 at the close in reply after an unbroken stand of 68 for the fourth wicket between Bairstow and Zak Crawley.

Bairstow's 38 not out from 45 balls was not quite a full-blown return to 'Bazball', but his positivity was refreshing as Crawley lived up to his name at the other end, trundling to 17 important runs from 77 deliveries.

At the start of the day, Anderson made a breakthrough in the fifth over after finding early movement off the pitch, having Sarel Erwee caught behind off an inside edge.

Broad soon sent South Africa captain Dean Elgar on his way as Bairstow took a sharp low catch, before the same bowler accounted for Keegan Petersen, snaffled by Joe Root at first slip.

Captain Ben Stokes snagged a fortunate fourth wicket when Aiden Markram mistimed a pull and a top edge was pouched by Ben Foakes, and the skipper had Rassie van der Dussen trapped lbw before lunch as South Africa went in on 77-5, in big trouble.

Anderson pinned Simon Harmer in front, and it was two wickets in two balls as the Lancashire paceman, on his home ground, struck in the same way to remove Keshav Maharaj.

When Broad teased an edge out of Kyle Verreynne, South Africa were 108-8, and Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach picked up a wicket apiece to end lower-order resistance, with Kagiso Rabada the last man out for a team-best 36. Petersen and Verreynne were the only other South African batters to reach 20, both out for 21.

England lost Alex Lees (4), Ollie Pope (23) and Joe Root (9) as Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Rabada made early inroads, reducing the hosts to 43-3; however, Bairstow and Crawley saw them through to the close without any further setback, building a platform for day two.

Happy hunting ground

Heading into this match, England had lost only one of their nine Tests against South Africa at Old Trafford (W4, D4), a three-wicket loss in July 1955. They defeated the Proteas by 177 runs in their most recent such meeting (August 2017).

Veteran Windies batsman Chris Gayle has expressed excitement at the prospect of returning to the cricket pitch ahead of the newly innovated 6IXTY tournament, which got underway on Tuesday.

Gayle, who has not appeared at a cricket competition since the Bangladesh Premier League, for Fortune Barishal, will suit up for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots when the men’s competition bowls off on Wednesday.

He may be 43 years old and played over 463 T20 matches but the batsman, the most prolific scorer ever in T20 cricket, admits he can't help but be excited by the prospect of returning to the pitch.

“I’m really excited to be back in the field. I missed it. I’m like a kid again, looking forward to the first game… For my debut. I’ll have to get back in shape. I’m still in shape but just a li’l (little) prep here and there to get in that mindset of playing cricket,” Gayle told Espn.

The tournament will feature several new innovations.  For example, each batting team will have just six wickets and teams will lose a fielder if they bowl too slowly.  The fans will also vote for the timing of a “Mystery Free Hit”, where a batter cannot be dismissed by the bowler.

The 6IXTY is a joint venture between Cricket West Indies (CWI) and CPL and will see six men’s and three women’s teams competing in a 10-over tournament.  The tournament began with the women’s teams on Tuesday.

The Universe Boss, who will have the trophy named in his honour has done plenty of damage with the bat over his career but quipped that he is determined to do plenty with the ball as well for this tournament.

“You know what? My bowling is natural. I definitely have to bowl,” said Gayle. “I’m the greatest off-spinner of all time. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) won’t contest that for sure. I have the best economy, not even Sunil Narine can come close to that.”

As a part-time off-spinner, he has picked up 83 wickets in his career.

England Test captain Ben Stokes has spoken of his pride over his journey as he confessed he had "gone through a lot of stuff".

Stokes took a break from cricket for five months in 2021 to prioritise his mental health after suffering panic attacks, recently revealing that he feared he may never play cricket again.

Since his return he has taken over the England Test captaincy from Joe Root and won his first four matches before last week's defeat to visiting South Africa.

The 31-year-old is the focus of a new Amazon Prime documentary that goes into detail on Stokes' battle with mental health.

On Wednesday he reflected on his journey, telling reporters: "Looking back on everything I went through and seeing myself in a different way is something I can look back on now and almost go 'I've gone through a lot of stuff' but managed to work my way through it.

"To be here today as England Test captain is something hopefully a lot of people can take a lot of promise from and realise that even when you do feel like you are down and dark you can bounce back and achieve things you want to.

"When the project had finished and I watched it back for the first time, the first impression I got was that maybe it would help people.

"I went into quite a lot with it because the experiences I went through was something that a lot of people do go through but sometimes don't feel like they can talk about. 

"But me being me, and the platform I've got to go into what I went through from a non-selfish point of view, was something I wanted to do.

"And I'm actually very proud of the stuff I've gone into and I've already received a lot of messages from people saying thanks for doing what you did."

Former West Indies Women captain Stafanie Taylor scored an unbeaten 33 to lead the Guyana Amazon Warriors Women to a five-wicket victory over Barbados Royals Women in the 6IXTY Women’s Competition in St Kitts on Wednesday.

Ben Stokes has praised Matthew Potts for his maturity after he was dropped for England's second Test against South Africa at Old Trafford.

Potts struggled for rhythm during a heavy opening defeat at Lord's, the first Test loss of the Brendon McCullum era and since Stokes took the captaincy permanently from Joe Root.

That has seen the bowler pay the price, with Ollie Robinson called up in his place, but Stokes nevertheless believes Potts remains a key member of the wider England cohort.

"It's very tough for Matty to miss out, but what he's done in the five games that he's played is he's taken himself from a county cricketer with a lot of promise and really announced himself on the big stage," Stokes told reporters.

"We've got to give him a lot of credit, to handle the decision so professionally at such a young age is a real indication of where we're at at the moment as a team.

"The selection was based around what we thought was the best bowling attack to suit this particular ground and he completely understood that."

Robinson has not played for England since the end of the Ashes tour in January, with a combination of fitness issues keeping him out of the fold.

But an impressive showing for the England Lions earlier this month has seen him recalled, with Stokes hopeful the paceman will complicate matters for South Africa's batters.

"When you look at what Ollie possesses as a bowler, one of his real key assets is how much extra bounce he gets compared to other bowlers in our squad," Stokes said.

"We think here at Old Trafford, with it being a slightly quicker wicket than other grounds we play at, it obviously offers a lot more bounce. We obviously pick the team we think is going to enable us to win the Test."

Having brushed aside New Zealand as part of the 'Bazball' approach, defeat against South Africa brought England back down with a bumpy landing.

"What we have learned from ourselves is that you can't always go out there and perform how you want to perform," Stokes explained.

"The address after the game was, 'look, lads, you have obviously not performed anywhere near the capabilities we want to and we know we can, but it's not something that we are going to take backward steps from'.

"South Africa were better than us in that Test, that's fine, that's sport. Sport is set up for someone to be a winner and someone to be a loser. We are focussing on this game and the next and want to win the series 2-1."

Fortress Old Trafford needed for England

The hosts will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in men's Tests at home for the first time since August 2008, following their innings and 12-run defeat to the Proteas.

England will take heart from their strong Old Trafford record against the tourists, having lost only one of their nine men's Tests against them at Old Trafford, way back in July 1955.

Elgar eyes milestone

South Africa captain Dean Elgar needs just 89 runs to become the eighth player to hit the 5,000 mark in men's Test cricket for South Africa.

He might just get them too, with his Test batting strike rate in England (51.8) his second-best in any country (60.7 in Pakistan).

Ollie Robinson has been recalled to the England side for the second Test against South Africa at the expense of Matthew Potts.

Robinson has not played for his country since the Ashes Test in Hobart in January, but he will back in the team at Old Trafford on Thursday.

The seamer has been sidelined by a back injury, while he also had to contend with a dental problem and COVID-19.

Robinson sent a message to the selectors by taking five wickets in the England Lions' hammering of South Africa in a tour match at Canterbury this month and he has got the nod over Potts in Manchester.

That is the only change to the team that was thrashed by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test at Lord's last week.

Struggling opening batter Zak Crawley will get another chance at the top of the order against a hostile Proteas attack.

England team: 

Zak Crawley , Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (captain), Ben Foakes, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach,  Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.

Joe Root praised Ben Stokes for showing "great courage" by opening up on the mental health battle which led him to take a break from cricket last year.

Stokes stepped away from the sport for five months in July 2021 after suffering panic attacks, having previously taken compassionate leave to deal with the death of his father and struggled after rushing his recovery from a broken finger.

Ahead of the airing of a new documentary detailing his experiences in that difficult period, Stokes revealed on Tuesday that he feared he would never return to cricket during his break.

Stokes' predecessor as England Test captain has now moved to declare his support for the 31-year-old, saying his willingness to speak out on the subject represents a perfect demonstration of leadership.

"I think it's exactly what you've come to see from Ben as a leader, how honest he is," Root said.

"I think it shows great courage, great bravery, to go and speak openly about that sort of stuff and some of the struggles that he's personally been through.

"We were all there with him, going through it. It's not easy to see a close friend and team-mate like that.

"But look at him now, it's great to have him leading this team and making Test cricket so enjoyable to play and to watch.

"I think, like with any of your mates, you want to get around and do what you can to help. That goes within the dressing room environment away from the game as well."