Franchise Cricket

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Matthew Short clubbed a 43-ball 91 as San Francisco Unicorns maintained their winning streak in Major League Cricket with a 47-run win over MI New York.

The opening batter hit five sixes and nine fours in the Unicorns' total of 246-4 at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas.

Short shared a 74-run stand with fellow Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk for the second wicket with the latter whacking seven sixes in his 26-ball 64.

Kieron Pollard finished the pick of the New York attack with 2-31.

Quinton de Kock biffed 70 off 46 balls as he and Monank Patel, who made 60, enjoyed a stand of 119 in 9.3 overs as MI initially made a decent fist of the chase.

However, the match swung the way of the Unicorns when De Kock dragged on to all-rounder Romario Shepherd.

Then when MI captain Nicholas Pooran departed for a rather ponderous 15 - caught behind off Haris Rauf - the chase lost momentum despite a cameo from Pollard who hit an unbeaten 34 off 16 balls.

Shepherd claimed 2-30 for the Unicorns while Xavier Bartlett picked up 2-35.

Veteran English seamer Liam Plunkett finished with 1-25 as MI finished well short of the target on 199-6.

The Unicorns have won five out of five matches in this year's edition of MLC and sit top of the standings on 10 points - two above defending champions Washington Freedom.

Washington Freedom beat Texas Super Kings by seven wickets to move second in Major League Cricket.

Australian opener Mitchell Owen again top-scored for Freedom, hitting 89 from 52 balls as his side chased down their target of 221 to record their fourth successive victory.

Owen put on 119 for the second wicket with USA international Andries Gous (80 not out from 45), while New Zealand's Glenn Phillips (12 not out from four) hit a winning boundary with four further balls remaining.

Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis was the highest scorer in their innings, striking 69 from 31, but was one of three batters to fall to Owen (3-33) as his side finished on 220-6.

In the early game in Dallas, Los Angeles Knight Riders managed their first win in four attempts as they beat bottom side Seattle Orcas by six wickets.

Two domestic players, Unmukt Chand (80 not out) and Saif Badar (54) put on 139 for the third wicket after Alex Hales and Nitish Kumar both fell for one to leave Knight Riders 7-2.

West Indies international Sherfane Rutherford (20 not out) hit a six to see Knight Riders reach their target of 178 with 10 balls to spare.

Aaron Jones top-scored for Orcas, who are winless in four matches, with 44, but their big-hitting captain Heinrich Klaasen was dismissed for four.

Freedom leapfrog Super Kings to move second, while Knight Riders are fifth, one place above the Orcas.

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Washington Freedom won their third successive match as they beat MI New York by two wickets in Major League Cricket.

Chasing 189, Australian opener Mitchell Owen hit 60 from 26 balls to start the Freedom chase well, while compatriot Glenn Maxwell smashed 16 from five deliveries in the middle-order.

Freedom needed just 20 from the last four overs of the innings, but scored just three runs from the next 12 balls while losing two wickets.

New Zealander Mark Chapman (45 not out from 32) calmed their nerves, scoring 10 from Rushil Ugarkar's penultimate over before striking the winning runs off Kieron Pollard as Freedom reached their target with four balls remaining.

Opener Quinton de Kock top-scored for MI, striking 55 from 34, but the typically explosive Nicholas Pooran scored unusually slowly, adding 33 from 30 before he was caught by Owen off Maxwell's bowling.

Freedom sit third in the six-team table, level with Texas Super Kings on six points but with a worse net run-rate, after four matches.

MI New York are in fourth with one win from their four games.

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Faf du Plessis' hundred was in vain as San Francisco Unicorns chased 199 to beat Texas Super Kings by seven wickets in Major League Cricket.

Captain Du Plessis made 100 off 51 balls as Super Kings posted 198-5 in the first game at Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas this season.

He shared 97 with New Zealand's Devon Conway (23) for the first wicket and 69 with Saiteja Mukkamalla (38) for the second.

The 40-year-old was dismissed off the first ball of the 17th over and Super Kings were then restricted to 32 from the final four overs.

Unicorns' chase got off to a rapid start with Australia's Matthew Short (61 off 29) and New Zealand's Finn Allen (78 off 35) sharing 117 in 8.3 overs.

Allen and Australia's Jake Fraser-McGurk (37 off 25) put on 52 in 24 balls for the second wicket and although both were dismissed Unicorns got over the line with 23 balls remaining.

Unicorns are top of the table and extend their unbeaten start to four matches, while Super Kings are second after their first defeat.

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Batter Sophia Dunkley was the top pick in the Women's Big Bash draft as Sydney Sixers opted not to retain her England team-mate Sophie Ecclestone.

With the first pick in the draft the Sixers could have resigned spinner Ecclestone, who has been at the franchise since 2022 and until recently the number one bowler in the T20 rankings, but opted to prioritise their batting in signing Dunkley.

Ecclestone was left out of England's squad to play West Indies last month and later said she would take a short break from domestic cricket to "prioritise her wellbeing" and recover from injury.

The 26-year-old, who will return to England duty for the series against India which starts later this month, was subsequently signed by Adelaide Strikers, who also opted for England batter Tammy Beaumont.

Elsewhere, Melbourne Stars picked England wicketkeeper Amy Jones, batter Paige Scholfield was signed to play in the tournament for the first time by Perth Scorchers while Hobart Hurricanes picked up spinner Linsey Smith, who impressed for England in Ecclestone's absence against West Indies.

England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt had already been pre-signed by the Hurricanes in the hours leading up to the draft.

The Tasmanian outfit also used their right to retain England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, likewise Sydney Thunder with former England skipper Heather Knight.

England all-rounder Dani Gibson has moved to Melbourne Stars and Alice Capsey will return to Melbourne Renegades.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews had been pre-signed by Melbourne Renegades but it was announced on Thursday that she will miss the tournament to have shoulder surgery.

WBBL draft picks in full:

Adelaide Strikers: Sophie Ecclestone (England), Laura Wolvaardt* (South Africa), Tammy Beaumont (England)

Brisbane Heat: Jemimah Rodrigues (India), Chinelle Henry (West Indies), Nadine de Klerk* (South Africa)

Hobart Hurricanes: Danni Wyatt-Hodge (England), Nat Sciver-Brunt* (England), Linsey Smith (England)

Melbourne Renegades: Deandra Dottin (West Indies), Alice Capsey (England)

Melbourne Stars: Amy Jones (England), Marizanne Kapp* (South Africa), Dani Gibson (England)

Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine* (New Zealand), Paige Scholfield (England), Chloe Tryon (South Africa)

Sydney Sixers: Sophia Dunkley (England), Amelia Kerr* (New Zealand), Mady Villiers (England)

Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight (England), Chamari Athapaththu* (Sri Lanka), Shabnim Ismail (South Africa)

*indicates player was pre-signed before draft

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Pakistan left-arm Shaheen Afridi was the top pick in the Big Bash League's 2025-26 overseas player draft but James Anderson and Jofra Archer were both overlooked for deals.

Anderson, aged 43 and England's leading wicket-taker, entered the draft in another attempt to play franchise cricket for the first time, having retired from internationals last summer.

He has taken 10 wickets in four T20 Blast matches for Lancashire, his first T20s since 2014, in recent weeks but an omission from the tournament in Australia follows him missing out on deals at the Indian Premier League and The Hundred.

Archer, meanwhile, entered the draft despite hopes he could feature in the Ashes this winter which will played at the same time as much of the BBL.

BBL teams instead picked players with guaranteed availability with Brisbane Heat signing Shaheen and Melbourne Renegades picking up Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

England all-rounder Sam Curran was signed by Sydney Sixers to play in the league for the first time while Melbourne Renegades had already retained his brother, Tom.

England left-arm quick Luke Wood was signed by Adelaide Strikers, Hobart Hurricanes picked up leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed and Perth Scorchers picked Surrey batter Laurie Evans where he won the title in 2021-22.

Nottinghamshire's Joe Clarke and England internationals Sam Billings and Chris Jordan will return to Melbourne Renegades, Sydney Thunder and the Hurricanes respectively.

The Sixers also resigned uncapped English leg-spinner Jafer Chohan, adding to their eye-catching pre-draft signing of Pakistan batter Babar Azam.

England internationals Jacob Bethell, Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Alex Hales and Reece Topley were among those who were not signed.

BBL draft picks in full

Adelaide Strikers: Luke Wood (England), Jamie Overton* (England), Hasan Ali (Pakistan)

Brisbane Heat: Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan), Colin Munro* (New Zealand), Tom Alsop (England)

Hobart Hurricanes: Chris Jordan* (England), Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh), Rehan Ahmed (England)

Melbourne Renegades: Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Hassan Khan (Pakistan), Tim Seifert* (New Zealand)

Melbourne Stars: Haris Rauf (Pakistan), Tom Curran* (England), Joe Clarke (England)

Perth Scorchers: Finn Allen* (New Zealand), Laurie Evans (England), David Payne (England)

Sydney Sixers: Sam Curran (England), Babar Azam* (Pakistan), Jafer Chohan (England)

Sydney Thunder: Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Sam Billings* (England)

*indicates player was pre-signed before draft

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United States' Monank Patel made 93 from 50 balls as MI New York completed a Major League Cricket record chase of 201 to beat Seattle Orcas.

The previous highest chase had been Orcas' 195-8 in this fixture in 2023.

Monank hit eight fours and seven sixes at the top of the order and shared an impressive stand of 119 with New Zealand's Michael Bracewell after Quinton de Kock had been dismissed cheaply.

New York were 144-2 when Monank was dismissed in the 16th over and then lost captain Nicholas Pooran for seven in the next over.

However Bracewell (50 not out) and Kieron Pollard (26 not out from 10 balls) shared an unbroken 51 off 16 balls to get New York over the line with six balls remaining.

Orcas had posted 200-5 with West Indies' Kyle Mayers making 88 off 46 balls.

The win is New York's first and leaves them fourth after three games, while Orcas are fifth having lost their three matches.

The tournament now takes a one-day break as the matches move from San Francisco to Texas.

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Former England internationals Moeen Ali and Alex Hales joined overseas stars Quinton de Kock, Glenn Phillips and Tim David in being signed in the draft for the 2025 Caribbean Premier League on Wednesday.

Moeen, 38, joins Guyana Amazon Warriors alongside Phillips and will play with West Indies' Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Romario Shepherd.

Hales, 36, was signed by Trinbago Knight Riders and will play with Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine at the four-time winners.

Australia's Tim David and South Africa's Tabraiz Shamsi join defending champions Saint Lucia Kings, who have Alzarri Joseph and Roston Chase on their roster.

South African De Kock joins Afghanistan's Mujeeb ur Rahman at Barbados Royals alongside West Indies' Rovman Powell, Brandon King and Sherfane Rutherford.

Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi was signed by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, as was South Africa's Rilee Rossouw. They join Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers and Evin Lewis.

Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and Afghanistan's Naveen Ul-Haq join Antigua & Barbuda Falcons.

The tournament begins at 00:00 BST on 15 August.

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Glenn Maxwell struck a 48-ball century as Washington Freedom thrashed Los Angeles Knight Riders by 113 runs in Major League Cricket.

The Australian came to the crease with defending champions Freedom 68-4 in the eighth over and had a cautious start with just 11 runs off his first 15 balls.

He hit three sixes off Tanveer Sangha in the 14th over and that accelerated his innings.

The 36-year-old reached his half-century off 29 balls as a shot was parried over the long-on boundary for six.

He was on 87 going into the final over, bowled by West Indies' Jason Holder, and reached his eighth T20 century with a single off the third legitimate ball of the over.

He hit a six off the final ball to finish 106 not out off 49 balls as Freedom posted 208-5.

Knight Riders' top three of Alex Hales, Sunil Narine and Unmukt Chand were all dismissed without scoring as they slipped to 10-3 in the fourth over.

That became 26-5 in the eighth and only 32 from Saif Badar and Holder's 23 allowed them to scramble up to 85 all out in 16.3 overs.

Freedom are third with two wins from three games, while Knight Riders are fifth having lost all three of their matches.

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James Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, has entered Thursday's Big Bash draft as he continues his quest to play franchise cricket for the first time.

Anderson will be 43 when the tournament takes place at the back-end of the year and he will be the oldest overseas player to feature in the tournament and potentially second-oldest of any nationality.

He retired from Test cricket last summer but is continuing to play for Lancashire and has impressed with 10 wickets in four matches, at an average of 10.30 and economy of 6.86, in the T20 Blast.

Anderson entered the Indian Premier League auction but went unsold. He was also not picked in The Hundred draft, but could yet sign as a replacement.

Zak Crawley and Liam Livingstone have also entered the Big Bash draft, and join Jacob Bethell, Ollie Pope, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran among more than 50 English players on the list.

New Zealand's Kane Williamson has also put himself forward but a clash with the SA20 limits his availability to just three matches.

Recent England debutant Em Arlott has entered the women's draft, alongside South African Mignon du Preez, who gave birth to twins earlier this year.

The draft takes place from approximately 07:00 BST on Thursday.

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Seattle Orcas were bowled out for 60 as they suffered a 93-run thrashing by Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket (MLC).

Chasing 154 to win Orcas were bowled out in 13.5 overs on a pitch that offered variable bounce. Their total is the second-lowest total in MLC history.

Only Aaron Jones (17) and Jasdeep Singh (12) passed double figures with overeas players David Warner (9), Kyle Mayers (0), Heinrich Klaasen (0) and Sikandar Raza (4) all failing.

The wickets were shared around with Nandre Burger claiming 3-10, Zia-ul-Haq 3-16 and Noor Ahmad 3-18.

Super Kings posted 153-6 from their 20 overs with Saiteja Mukkamalla making 30, Marcus Stoinis 28 off just 12 and Daryl Mitchell 25.

They are second in the six-team table with three wins from three, while Orcas sit bottom after their second defeat in as many games.

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England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould says the governing body will consider "de-coupling" some women's and men's matches in The Hundred in the future.

The eight-team franchise tournament, which launched in 2021, has usually featured men's and women's teams playing each other at the same venue on the same day.

However, Gould told ESPNcricinfo, external that model could potentially change in the future with the aim of increasing financial returns and selling out a women's fixture.

"The double-headers have been working well," Gould said.

"At some point, we would like to try and find a way that we can have standalone fixtures, perhaps, for men and women.

"Getting to a capacity crowd for a women's Hundred fixture at some point in the next couple of years has to be a target for us.

"If you get to the point where you can de-couple games, it's really demonstrating the commercial growth of the women's game, into which we're investing a huge amount at the ECB. That's definitely a potential target."

The 2025 edition of The Hundred will start on 5 August when London Spirit host Oval Invincibles at Lord's in a double header.