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125 for 9 (Athapaththu 41, Sippel 3-9, Hancock 2-16) by 44 runsQuicks Courtney Sippel and Nicola Hancock effectively utilised a bouncy WACA surface as Brisbane Heat comfortably beat Sydney Thunder in the elimination final.Heat kept their season alive after allrounder Amelia Kerr top-scored with 48 before Sippel and Hancock combined for five wickets under lights to crash Thunder’s chase of 170.Heat will play in the Challenger against Perth Scorchers on Wednesday at the WACA. The winner of that match will face Adelaide Strikers in Saturday’s final at Adelaide Oval.”Perth are a quality side and they have got world class players, we’re going to have to play well to beat them,” Kerr said after getting the player of the match award. “It’s about recovering tonight and then getting ready to go again tomorrow.”In good batting conditions, Thunder never seriously challenged in a disappointing ending to a bounce back season after last season’s wooden spoon.”It [surface] definitely bounced a lot…we didn’t quite make use of the conditions,” Thunder captain Heather Knight said.Both teams had to endure a cross-country journey after tailing off in the regular season to miss finishing in the top two. Thunder won the toss and elected to field in cool and overcast conditions in a notable change to oppressive recent weather in Perth.Heat’s fortunes of a revival seemingly rested on opener Grace Harris, who had gone off the boil recently mirroring her team’s spiral. After a watchful start, Harris took a liking to the wayward bowling from Thunder’s quicks. She particularly capitalised on seamer Sammy-Jo Johnson, who repeatedly bowled back of a length and was subsequently punished for three boundaries in the sixth over.Harris’ timing was exquisite, but she also showcased her trademark power by smashing offspinner Lauren Smith into the gigantic sightscreen near the rubble where the Prindiville Stand once stood.Courtney Sippel took three wickets for nine runs in her four overs•Getty Images

With her half-century in sight, Harris on the next ball attempted another lusty blow but she mistimed to deep midwicket. Harris had dominated the opening stand with Georgia Redmayne, whose struggles this season with being tied down at the crease continued. She made a sluggish 18 off 24 before being caught behind off seamer Hannah Darlington.Kerr took over with sweet shots around the wicket as Heat eyed a total around 200. She effectively went aerially in the power surge, while Laura Harris was keen to make up for lost time in her second match back after being sidelined for two months with a calf injury.Harris smashed Smith over deep midwicket for six off her first ball then whacked Darlington on her next delivery with a crunching blow through the off-side.But she soon fell lbw to a superb full slower delivery from Johnson, who found her length and ignited a late comeback from Thunder. Left-arm spinner Samantha Bates bowled accurately at the death to restrict Heat to a total that only felt par.Thunder’s batting all season had relied on Chamari Athapaththu, the newly-minted player of the tournament. But she struggled to find rhythm on a hard surface and was left rattled after a disastrous mix-up saw opener Tahlia Wilson run out in the eighth over.But the dismissal seemed to ignite Athapaththu, who went after left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen with decisive footwork. She was less assured against pace and it proved her downfall on 41 when Athapaththu succumbed to a well-targeted delivery from Sippel.When Kerr had Phoebe Litchfield caught and bowled, Thunder slumped to 61 for 3 at the halfway point and they never recovered as Heat lived to fight another day.

Glenn Phillips knew that the opposition batters would get stuck into him for relief. He is the fifth bowler of a strong New Zealand attack. He was also bowling for the first time in a Test. Phillips the batter would have certainly tried to hit Phillips the bowler out of the park. It was this element of Bangladesh’s mindset, combined with a few other factors, that gave him his first four wickets in Test cricket. Phillips was the best bowler of the day, something that he perhaps didn’t envisage when he went out in the morning in Sylhet.His reaction to his first wicket said as much, too. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh’s captain in this series and their in-form Test batter, had already taken Ajaz Patel, New Zealand’s spin mainstay, apart. One shot too many, however, brought Shanto back to earth. He mistimed a Phillips full-toss to mid-on, where Kane Williamson pouched a difficult skier.Related

• Phillips four-for keeps Bangladesh in check despite Joy's 86

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• Mitchell, coach Ronchi back NZ to adapt to Bangladesh conditions

Phillips’ facial expression was priceless. He hung his head before a big smile emerged as he celebrated his first Test wicket. He later said, in jest, that he would trade his second wicket (Mominul Haque, caught behind) as his first Test wicket.”I have dreamed of getting my first Test wicket for a long time, but that was not how I thought I would get it,” Phillips said with a round of laughter following in the press conference room. “You see legspinners often bowl absolute peaches and then a nice juicy full-toss. The batter’s eyes light up, and it goes straight up. I have always wanted a little piece of that, but I didn’t want it for my first Test wicket. Maybe we can replace it with the second wicket. Look, I have got out to full-tosses. Every batter gets out to full-tosses. I just got a little bit lucky.”Phillips said that his lack of notoriety as a bowler, coupled with Bangladesh’s aggressive approach, helped him get the four wickets. Soon after he got to the crease, Mominul was heard in the stump microphone telling Mahmudul Hasan Joy to hit Phillips out of the attack.”They came hard at us early on. They put Ajaz [Patel] under a lot of pressure. I think it did present the opportunities to take wickets throughout but as we have seen in the subcontinent pitches, you have to be aggressive to put bowlers off their line and length. The Bangladesh boys did that well today but it presented a few wicket-taking opportunities.”Obviously with someone new that the guys haven’t faced before, there’s always that element of unknown. Obviously being the fifth bowler, as a batter, I’d look to target myself as well. I think maybe the combination of those two things presented the opportunity to take a few wickets, which was really nice.”I tried to stick to the process. Pass the baton on to the other boys. Try to build dots, build pressure. Jazzy bowled unbelievably well. Our seamers bowled incredibly well. Ish [Sodhi] bowled that absolute speccy of a delivery. The pressure was built by everyone all round. I just received the reward,” he said.Mahmudul, who top scored for Bangladesh with 86 runs, said that they played some bad shots against Phillips.”He is an occasional bowler so if we didn’t charge him, the main bowlers would have kept us in check,” he said. “We wanted to attack the occasional bowler. Unfortunately we got out to bad shots against him.”This is how Shanto bats. He wanted to play his natural game. Not all batters get the chance to get set. It is always frustrating to get out in the thirties or forties. People get out. It was a full toss. It doesn’t happen all the time. I was a bit surprised too as Shanto was playing really well.”Phillips was bowling in Tests for the first time, playing in his second Test. He said that his bowling has given him the competitive advantage in a tough field for aspiring batters in the New Zealand Test side.Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mominul Haque put on 88 off 171 balls for the third wicket•AFP/Getty Images

“I have been trying to lose the wicketkeeper-batter tag for a long time now. Hopefully this (four-wicket haul) puts a little stamp on things. I worked really hard over it for quite a number of years now with this goal in mind.”I also felt that I needed to offer something with the ball in order to play Test cricket. Our batting line-up is incredibly strong. Key to getting this opportunity was to play the allrounder’s role.”Phillips said that his captain Tim Southee mixed the bowlers’ spells effectively, particularly keeping in mind the type of bowlers he had and their respective confidence levels.”I think it is a mixture of understanding that there’s five days of cricket to go with only two seamers. Using them in short bursts and understanding that Ajaz will probably bowl a lot of overs to hold an end for a while. Ish is our impact bowler.”I think to be able to have a ball turning in, mixing myself with Jazzy, is probably an ideal scenario. Having lefties in the top-order allowed Ajaz to have a bit of break. But also I think credit to Timmy for understanding what we as spinners need from a confidence perspective.”For example, before he took that wicket, Ish didn’t start off the way he would have liked. He felt a bit more relaxed a few overs into it. Starts ripping it really hard, and then obviously the reward comes. The way he holds himself and talks to us as bowlers, is really encouraging. We back his decision-making all the way.”Bangladesh, meanwhile, will rue throwing away their wickets after most of the batters got starts. Mahmudul felt that the hosts are still on top given the type of pitch in Sylhet, but admitted that their 310 for 9 at stumps is well short of their planned score.”We wanted to score 350 to 380 runs. It didn’t happen. We will try to stop them with their quality spinners. If they bowl well, we can bowl them out for a low total. The pitch isn’t as easy as it looks. The ball turns often. It is not every day that a batter will score runs,” he said.Asked why Shanto and Nurul Hasan were in ultra-attacking mode from the start, Mahmudul said that they stuck to their game plans while he grafted along for 166 balls.”It is easy if you trust your defense. Everyone has a different game plan. Shanto , myself and (Nurul Hasan) Sohan played our natural games. You can last long in any wicket if you trust your defensive technique,” he said.Unfortunately for Bangladesh, it also meant that they couldn’t control their aggressive intent, succumbing to Philips’ highly underrated offspin. Their target to “hit him out of the attack” didn’t go to plan. As Mahmudul said, they are now pinning their hopes on their spinners to do the job.

Ryan Patel recorded his fourth List A century to steer Surrey to their second Metro Bank One-Day Cup victory of the season and consign Essex to the Group A wooden spoon.However, Patel’s 117 off 119 balls was not enough to help Surrey finish any higher than one place above Essex after a disappointing campaign for both counties.Patel shared partnerships of 62 with late call-up Krish Patel, 60 with Josh Blake and 51 with Conor McKerr as Surrey chased down 260 to win with a boundary off the last ball. McKerr also claimed career-best List A figures of 4 for 55 in Essex’s 259 for 9.Essex were indebted to two significant stands in reaching a slightly below-par score on a dead pitch. Beau Webster (69) and Noah Thain (63) lifted them from 79 for 4 with a fifth-wicket partnership of 109 in 24 overs, while Jamal Richards (31 not out) and Ben Allison put on 52 for the ninth wicket.There was drama before play started when captain Rory Burns twisted an ankle in the warm-up and at 10.28am Surrey had to register 17-year-old leg-spin all-rounder Krish Patel.Essex tails were up when they had Surrey’s best hope of anchoring their response, Dom Sibley, out first ball to a bottom edge and having his middle stump jagged back. But they had not factored in Ryan Patel.Josh Blake joined Patel in a 60-run partnership that took up 10 overs before picking out the square-leg boundary sweeper to give Richards a wicket in his first over. Ben Geddes followed to a catch at mid-on off Aron Nijjar.The left-handed Patel hit three fours in the first over and reached his fifty from 50 balls with a six over midwicket. But he lost Cameron Steel to a running catch at long leg off Webster.The debutant Patel joined his namesake and had revised the target to 116 off 20 overs. The lateness of his call-up did not affect his nerves and even found time to deposit Nijjar for six over long off to mark the fifty partnership. He was eventually out for a 46-ball 30, lbw going back to Nijjar.The senior Patel reached three figures with his 13th boundary, punched through extra cover, from his 102nd delivery faced. McKerr’s 20 from 24 balls kept Surrey on course before he was bowled by Webster.Patel’s 45-over innings ended when he drove Allison to Webster at short extra cover and suddenly Surrey needed 33 from six overs with three wickets in hand, then 15 from 12 balls. They lost Ealham to another Webster catch in the covers off Allison as the target rose to 13 from eight balls.A sweep off the first ball of Beard’s final over by Griffiths reduced the figure to nine off five balls, but only a single from the next two balls heightened the suspense. However, Moriarty nudged another bourndary followed by another to leave three required off the last ball. But Griffith’s drive through mid-on for four from a full-toss decided the outcome.Essex lost their first three wickets to sloppy shots inside the powerplay. Nick Browne, captaining the side in his first List A game of the season, lofted Amar Virdi straight for six but perished next ball when he chipped tamely to short mid-on.Feroze Khushi also departed after hitting Dan Moriarty’s second ball over the ropes before being stumped off a legside wide. And Luc Benkenstein became the third to fall in the first 10 overs when he chased a wide one. Charlie Allison did not last long either, dragging on against Steel to leave Essex four down and only 14 overs gone.However, that was the prelude to a steadying century stand between Webster and Thain that helped Essex out of their nosediveThain’s second six, driven straight off Tommy Ealham, brought up the hundred stand in 21 overs before the pair were back in the pavilion in the space of 13 balls, both falling to McKerr. Thain pulled to short midwicket and Webster edged a lifting ball behind.The returning Virdi grabbed two quick wickets for List A-best figures of 3 for 38 with Beard playing all around one to be lbw and Will Buttleman bowled off his pads.

It took a little over an hour for Pakistan to wrap things up, as they hunted down the remaining 83 runs in very un-Pakistan fashion – without fuss and little drama. Sure they lost three wickets, but from the very first ball – which was pulled for four – that they’d get there in the end was in little to no doubt. The result means Pakistan take a 1-0 lead against Sri Lanka in this two-match series, and get them off to the ideal start in this new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. It also gives them a first Test win in exactly a year – the last also coming in Galle.Imam-ul-Haq was unbeaten on 50 with Agha Salman for company when the winning runs – a sumptuous loft over long-off for six – were scored. Prabath Jayasuriya ended with figures of 4 for 56 to increase his ever-growing collection of scalps at Galle, but that will be scant consolation for the hosts.And while those of a Pakistani persuasion might have had doubts gnawing away in the back of their minds over a potential collapse, or a snatching-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory performance by the visitors this morning, this was a result that might force a rethink.Related

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• Dhananjaya de Silva lining in Sri Lanka's far-from-elite batting line-up

• The fast bowling poetry of Naseem and Afridi

On the surface, a four-wicket win when hunting down 131 might point towards some jitters, but this was oddly enough a chase that seemed in control despite those losses.The first delivery of the day in fact provided a microcosm of how both these sides managed their respective briefs throughout this Test, as the sometimes-erratic Ramesh Mendis dragged one short for Babar Azam to put away easily to the boundary behind square leg; Pakistan needed quick runs, Sri Lanka needed to keep things tight, only one side followed the script.This boundary was followed by another later in the over, with the first five overs of the day eventually being plundered for 30 runs. Both Babar and Imam showed uncharacteristic intent during this period, using their feet to the spinners, while the Pakistan captain even gave the sweep a rare outing.When he fell, trapped leg before by Jayasuriya, some of those watching on, familiar with Pakistan’s history, might have been forgiven for bracing for a potential scare. After all, back in 2009, Pakistan had folded alarmingly fast when chasing a similarly paltry total at the very same ground. But this is a new Pakistan – or at least they’re trying to be.They had assured prior to the day’s play that they would play attacking cricket, and so they did, Imam pumping one handsomely over long-off the very next over after Babar’s fall, and Saud Shakeel – the first innings hero – also slashing one behind point.And as the deficit reduced, their intensity only increased. With a little over 20 runs left, Shakeel took Sri Lanka’s best bowler for a pair of boundaries on either side of the wicket. At this point, Shakeel’s average had risen above 100, but he settled for a little less in the end, nicking one through off Mendis before the innings was done.Sarfaraz was the last to fall, top-edging a sweep to deep square leg with just four left to get, but Agha rammed home the point, smoking one long and straight first ball to wrap up the game.As for how long this positive-Pete version of Pakistan carries on remains to be seen, but for the time being, it’s certainly something to be celebrated. Sri Lanka, for their part, have four days to recalibrate on how to combat this new beast and gather themselves for round two in Colombo.

Derbyshire wicketkeeper Brooke Guest scored a career-best unbeaten 145 to frustrate Division Two leaders Durham in the LV=Insurance County Championship game at Derby.Guest backed-up his hundred against Sussex at Hove last week with another accomplished display to steer Derbyshire to 317 for 6 after Durham had put them in. Wayne Madsen made 62 and shared a third wicket stand with Guest of 118 in 32 overs before he fell to England fast bowler Matt Potts who took 2 for 57 from 20 overs.Durham’s decision to bowl first was probably based on the overhead conditions rather than the pitch which played well once the sun broke through. But while there was cloud cover, the openers were challenged by Potts and Ben Raine who saw Luis Reece dropped on 3 at second slip by David Bedingham.It did not prove costly as Reece, who along with Harry Came has signed a two-year contract extension, offered no shot to a ball from Raine that took out his off stump in the 11th over of the morning.Durham had to wait another 14 overs for their second success with Potts removing Came with a full length ball that straightened to bowl him for 16.Madsen almost went first ball, edging Potts just short of first slip and there was more frustration for the paceman when he squared Madsen up but the ball flew over the slip cordon.Potts had the chance to remove Madsen on 14 in the fourth over after lunch when an edge off Brydon Carse went low to him in the gully but the ball went through his hands. It was a miss Durham were made to pay for as Guest and Madsen played with increasing authority in bright sunshine.Guest drove Migael Pretorious through the covers for his ninth four to reach 50 from 103 balls before Madsen greeted Matt Parkinson by sweeping him for four. He came down the pitch to the legspinner and lifted him over mid-on for his eighth boundary to go to 50 off 73 balls and the runs continued to flow with the century stand coming up from 157 deliveries.Durham were desperate for a wicket and Potts provided it when he found some extra bounce to have Madsen caught in the gully by Alex Lees.Haider Ali survived a close lbw shout against Potts but announced his intentions in the last over before tea by launching Parkinson into the seats behind long-on. It completed a good session for the hosts with Guest 13 runs short of another hundred which he completed in the eighth over after the restart by sweeping Parkinson for his 15th four.Guest faced 181 balls and showed good judgement to bat his side into a promising position against the top side in the division.The stand with Haider was worth 70 when Durham got a fourth wicket in bizarre fashion. The Pakistan right-hander went to sweep Scott Borthwick, survived a confident lbw appeal but set off for a run that was never on and was stumped.That brought in Leus du Plooy who needed 21 to complete 1000 Championship runs for the season but made only 2 before he scooped Borthwick low to cover.Durham should have removed Guest on 122 when he edged Raine behind but Ollie Robinson could not hold on and he took advantage to pass his previous best score of 138 against Glamorgan last season.Raine claimed his second wicket when he bowled Anuj Dal but Guest made sure it was Derbyshire’s day.

The PCB’s hybrid model solution to the Asia Cup will see four out of 13 matches being played in Pakistan with the rest – including the final – to be played at a neutral venue, which could be the UAE. Najam Sethi, the board head, told BBC’s podcast that he was still hopeful of the tournament being played in Pakistan, despite two Asian Cricket Council (ACC) members raising objections to a hybrid solution and the more intractable problem of India not being given permission to travel to Pakistan.He also added that if the hybrid model worked during the Asia Cup, it could pave the way for it to be used in the one-day World Cup, to be held later this year in India. Given the fraught and tense relations between India and Pakistan, Sethi said there is a “distinct possibility” that the Pakistan government doesn’t allow Pakistan to travel to India.Sethi held a meeting with ACC officials in Dubai on Tuesday to try and find a solution to the issues, and he believes the PCB has “bent over backwards” to accommodate the various concerns. “The proposal that I submitted three days ago takes care of all this,” he said. “We play four matches in Pakistan, the teams come straight here and then everybody moves to the neutral venue wherever that may be. We play the rest of games there. I made the concession that in the event we get to the final we play the final in a neutral venue, whether against India or anyone else. We’ve bent over backwards to solve all these issues.”Keeping four matches in Pakistan, ESPNcricinfo understands, is to ensure the PCB’s long-term strategy of high-profile international cricket and the hosting of tournaments in Pakistan continues uninterrupted.”My mandate given to me by the government and by the media and by the people of Pakistan is that this has to be an honourable and reciprocal arrangement,” Sethi said. “We are happy to play in the Asia Cup but it can’t be that India refuses to come to Pakistan and then doesn’t allow us to even host few of our matches at a neutral venue. Don’t forget immediately after the Asia Cup, we have the World Cup coming and it’s going to be in India and it’s an ICC event. What happens if India doesn’t come to Pakistan or India torpedoes my hybrid model? I don’t think my government will allow me to go to India to play the World Cup.”The idea of this hybrid solution, and the possibility of the neutral leg being played in the UAE has not gone down well with the boards of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They have raised logistic and operational objections as well as the heat in the UAE at that time of the year. Sethi insisted that as the host country, it was up to the PCB to decide where the neutral venue should be.”I am quite surprised that this idea is being floated unofficially by Sri Lanka and by Bangladesh,” he said. “In the last ACC meeting, which was about a month ago, we all agreed that it was imperative that Pakistan play the Asia Cup and without Pakistan there will be no Asia Cup. Nearly 80% of the revenues of the Asia Cup are from India-Pakistan matches of which, the way the schedule is structured, we play at least two of those and possibly three if we are both in final. The only objection Bangladesh made was that it’s going to be too hot in September in the UAE and that would be a problem. Then the other issue was logistics. The proposal that I submitted takes care of all logistic problems.”The PCB has also been keen to point out that both the 2018 and 2022 editions of the Asia Cup were played in the UAE in September.According to Sethi, time is running out to make a decision. The board, he said, required three months to prepare. “We need to reserve venues in the UAE or Sri Lanka or wherever we decide. Time has already run out, the ACC has to make a decision. We have made our position clear. I had a meeting with a high level ACC interlocutor two days ago in Dubai. He liked it, he said it is eminently workable. He said he would go back to [BCCI secretary and ACC president] Jay Shah and talk to him.”We need to resolve the first issue [of accepting the hybrid solution] and then we can sit across a table and decide where to play. We will be reasonable. The interolocuter said I have briefed Jay Shah about our meeting, he’s okay with it. He now wants to check with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. So let’s see where this goes.”As has been the case throughout the protracted negotiations of where this tournament ends up, Sethi raised the spectre of the consequences in case the worst happens with the Asia Cup. “There is a very distinct possibility [of Pakistan not playing in the World Cup] if we do not come to any solutions right now. I raised this issue in the ACC meeting we had in Bahrain and I invited the ICC chairman [Greg Barclay] to come and sit with us and hear what we are talking about.”The idea being that if the hybrid model works here, then we could well make it work in the World Cup. Meaning the Pakistan matches could be held in Bangladesh or the UAE, one hop away and we can sort it out and all other games in India. Why can’t India come to Pakistan and play? If India comes to Pakistan and plays, then we can go there and play and this matter will be resolved.”

Zimbabwe have picked three uncapped players – Trevor Gwandu, Tashinga Musekiwa and Tinotenda Maposa – in their ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series at home against Pakistan.While Gwandu and Musekiwa have both played T20I cricket for Zimbabwe, quick bowler Maposa, 21, is uncapped in international cricket. He has played just three List A matches so far, picking up four wickets at an economy rate of 6.29. Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava will continue to lead the seam attacks in both ODIs and T20Is.”The series against Pakistan is an important platform for Zimbabwe, and we believe the ODI squad we have selected is well-rounded,” David Mutendera, Zimbabwe’s convener of selectors, said in a statement. “The presence of seasoned players like Craig [Ervine], Sikandar [Raza] and Sean [Williams] provides stability, while young players like Clive Madande, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers and the uncapped trio bring energy and the potential for game-changing moments.”Sean Williams, who had missed the white-ball series in Sri Lanka earlier this year because of an injury, returned to the ODI side, but was omitted from the T20I squad. ODI captain Craig Ervine was also left out of the T20I side. Williams last played an ODI in July 2023.Zimbabwe retained the same T20I squad that had won the men’s T20 World Cup 2026 sub-regional qualifier in Kenya last month. During that tournament, Zimbabwe had broken the record for the highest T20I total.”We felt it was essential to maintain the same T20I squad that excelled in Kenya,” Mutendera said. “This continuity allows the team to build on the cohesion and confidence that drove their outstanding performance.”The white-ball series against Pakistan will begin with the first ODI on November 24 and will run until December 5, with Bulawayo set to host all the games – three ODIs and three T20Is.

Zimbabwe ODI squad for series against Pakistan

Craig Ervine (capt), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Joylord Gumbie, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brandon Mavuta, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams

Zimbabwe T20I squad for series against Pakistan

Sikandar Raza (capt), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava

When is the IPL 2025 auction happening, and where?

The IPL 2025 auction will take place on November 24 and 25, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It’s being held overseas for only the second time – the 2024 auction was in Dubai. The two-day auction is scheduled to begin at 1300 local time (1530 IST) on November 24. This year, the IPL 2025 auction will clash with the third and fourth days of the Australia vs India Test in Perth.

Why is the IPL 2025 auction a ‘mega auction’?

Every three years, the IPL franchises undergo a reset of sorts. They are allowed to retain only a small number of players – a maximum of six this time – and must rebuild their squads at the mega auction. In other years, in between mega auctions, teams can retain as many players as they like before a ‘mini auction’, which takes place over the course of one day. Mega auctions take two days because the number of players up for bidding is much higher than at mini auctions.

So how many players are there in the IPL 2025 auction?

As many as 1574 players registered for the IPL 2025 mega auction but that list has been shortened to 577 players (367 are Indian and 210 are overseas). Here’s the final list of players.

Will there be a marquee set of players like in the previous two mega auctions in 2018 and 2022?

Yes, in fact there are two marquee player sets right at the start of the auction. Expect the teams to bid fiercely for those players. The first set of marquee players contains: Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, and Mitchell Starc. the second marquee set contains Yuzvendra Chahal, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Who are the other big names in the IPL 2025 auction?

There are plenty. Among the Indian players, there’s Ishan Kishan, R Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, T Natarajan, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, and many others.The overseas list includes David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Devon Conway, Tim David, Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, and many more.Related

• Iyer, Pant, Rahul among 12 marquee players to kick off IPL 2025 auction

• IPL 2025 auction – Full list of 577 players

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How will bidding take place?

The marquee players will go up for bidding first, separated into two groups of six each. The next round of names to go up will be of capped players divided into sets based on their specialisation: batters, allrounders, wicketkeeper-batters, fast bowlers and spin bowlers. This will be followed by a round of uncapped players divided based on their specialisation. After player No. 116 (subject to timings), the auction will enter its accelerated phase, covering all players from 117 to 574.After this, franchises will be asked to submit names of unsold players from the full list who will go up once more for bidding in another accelerated phase.

How much money do teams have to form their squads at the IPL 2025 auction?

Each team has a total purse of INR 120 crore but some of that has already been spent on retaining players before the IPL 2025 auction. Punjab Kings have the biggest purse – INR 110.5 crore – to spend at the mega auction, followed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who have INR 83 crore, Delhi Capitals (INR 73 crore), Gujarat Titans (INR 69 crore), Lucknow Super Giants (INR 69 crore) Chennai Super Kings (INR 55 crore), Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 51 crore), Mumbai Indians (INR 45 crore), Sunrisers Hyderabad (INR 45 crore), and Rajasthan Royals (INR 41 crore).

And how many players can the teams buy at the IPL 2025 mega auction?

The size of each franchise’s squad is a maximum of 25 (minimum size is 18) and there are ten teams – so a maximum of 250 players in total. Forty-six players have already been retained by the teams, leaving a maximum of 204 slots to fill during the IPL 2025 auction. Each squad can have a maximum of eight overseas players so there are 70 slots for overseas players at the auction.

• CSK: 20 slots (7 overseas)
• RCB: 22 slots (8 overseas)
• SRH: 20 slots (5 overseas)
• MI: 20 slots (8 overseas)
• DC: 21 slots (7 overseas)
• RR: 19 slots (7 overseas)
• PBKS: 23 slots (8 overseas)
• KKR: 19 slots (6 overseas)
• GT: 20 slots (7 overseas)
• LSG: 20 slots (7 overseas)

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Steyn: ‘Another team will welcome KL Rahul with open arms’

Why do teams have varying number of slots to fill at the IPL 2025 auction?

That’s because teams retained different numbers of players before the auction. While teams were allowed to keep a maximum of six (with a maximum of five capped and maximum of two uncapped players), PBKS, for example, retained only two players, while RR and KKR retained six.Mumbai Indians
Players retained: Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore), Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped playerSunrisers Hyderabad
Players retained: Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore), Travis Head (INR 14 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 6 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped playerChennai Super Kings
Players retained: Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore), MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One capped or uncapped playerRoyal Challengers Bengaluru
Players retained: Virat Kohli (INR 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore), Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 3
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player and two capped players, or three capped playersDelhi Capitals
Players retained: Axar Patel (INR 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore), Abishek Porel (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 2
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player and one capped player, or two capped playersKolkata Knight Riders
Players retained: Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: None
Players eligible for RTM: NoneRajasthan Royals
Players retained: Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: None
Players eligible for RTM: NoneGujarat Titans
Players retained: Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore), Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: One
Players eligible for RTM: One capped playerLucknow Super Giants
Players retained: Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One capped playerPunjab Kings
Players retained: Shashank Singh (INR 5.5 crore), Prabhsimran Singh (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 4
Players eligible for RTM: Four capped players

What does this Right-to-Match option at the IPL 2025 auction mean?

The IPL teams were allowed to retain up to six players this time – of which a maximum of five can be capped and a maximum of two can be uncapped. The six could either be retained outright ahead of the auction, or can be bought back using Right-to-Match (RTM) options at the auction, or a combination of both.So here’s how the RTM options work: If a player has been bought by another franchise at the mega auction, the franchise that he was part of in IPL 2024 can step in at the end of the bidding process and buy back their player using the RTM option by matching the highest bid. After that, the franchise that made the winning bid will be given another opportunity to raise the bid to whatever amount they wish. In that case, the player’s previous team will have to match the increased bid to buy back their player.Having retained just two players, PBKS have the most RTM options (four) at the auction. RCB, who retained three players, have three, while Delhi Capitals, who retained four players, have two. Five teams – MI, CSK, GT, SRH and LSG – retained five players each and have just one RTM option at the auction, while RR and KKR have no RTM options.There is of course no limit on the number of players a franchise can buy back if they place the highest bids for them during regular bidding at the auction.

By the time Hilton Cartwright fronted the media post match, he looked understandably exhausted after a whirlwind few days capped by guiding Western Australia to victory over Tasmania in a tempestuous Sheffield Shield clash.Cartwright had expected to get through the match with his wife Tameka only 37 weeks pregnant. But just as he arrived at the WACA ground before day two, Tameka called him and said she would need to be induced due to complications.They worked out a plan and agreed that she would be induced at around 3.30pm, so that Cartwright could dash from the ground at the tea break. He gave the heads up to WA coach Adam Voges, who was “extremely supportive”.Related

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“I was going to be leaving at tea, regardless of whether I was in, out or we were still bowling,” Cartwright told reporters after the match.As it turned out, No. 3 Cartwright was at the crease and in sublime touch having helped lift WA out of trouble in their first innings before retiring on 52 not out at tea.”My mind was probably a bit elsewhere,” he said. “The only thing I was really thinking about was getting through to tea to give myself an opportunity and the team an opportunity for me to bat later, or for someone to bat later after me.”After Tameka gave birth to their second child early on Tuesday, Cartwright managed just one hour of sleep before fronting up for day three of the match. He was able to resume his innings at the fall of a wicket after Tasmania had agreed as per the rules.Cartwright gave the thumbs up to Tasmania skipper Jordan Silk on his way to the crease, but was understandably scratchy and managed only a further 13 runs before holing out.Having mostly survived the day through adrenaline and caffeine, Cartwright finally crashed later at the hospital and had some desperately needed sleep.There appeared to be some tense scenes between Hilton Cartwright and Tasmania•Getty Images

With a little bit more energy, Cartwright played a starring role on the final day and scored a vital 39 not out from 50 balls to combine with Josh Inglis as WA overcame a top-order collapse to run down the 83-run target with six wickets in hand.But tensions boiled over on-field with Cartwright and Tasmania opener Jake Weatherald engaged in a war of words. They had a long exchange while shaking hands just after the match.”It was just clearing some air that I think might have got a bit misjudged while we were out there and we were able to clear what happened over the last couple of days,” Cartwright said.Tasmania quick Kieran Elliott said “that’s the game, we made our call”.”Without being entirely across what was discussed, if he was out, great result for us. He is obviously a class player,” he said. “For him to come back and get a few more away before we eventually got him in that first innings was important for them.”WA skipper Sam Whiteman believed the laws over retiring batters should be re-evaluated.”It’s a pretty unique situation and I think probably the laws of the game need to change a little bit to take the decision off the captains,” he said.”That will be discussed in the post-match, but at the end of the day the right decision was made and credit to Tassie for letting Hilts come back out and bat. That’s the right decision for the game of cricket.”