England Men's Cricket Team

Image source, International League T20

Former England opener Alex Hales became the second-highest run-scorer in T20 history but was on the losing side as Dubai Capitals beat Desert Vipers to reach the final of the International League T20.

Hales, 36, made 67 from 32 balls as he moved ahead of Pakistan's Shoaib Malik and West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard.

The right-hander has scored 13,558 runs and is now only behind West Indies opener Chris Gayle, who has 14,562 runs.

Hales averages 30.06 across 488 innings and 2,074 of his runs came for England, including 212 in their 2022 T20 World Cup-winning campaign in Australia.

He was supported by Dan Lawrence (36 off 26), Max Holden (35 off 25) and Sam Curran (24 off 21) as Vipers, who topped the group stage table, posted 189-7.

Capitals openers Adam Rossington and Shai Hope shared 51 for the first wicket but the key innings were played by Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib (62 off 39) and Sam Billings (38 off 16).

They needed 12 from the final over and Gulbadin reduced that to one off two balls before being dismissed by Lockie Ferguson.

But Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza hit a four off the final ball to seal a five-wicket win and a place in Sunday's final.

Vipers will have another chance in Friday's qualifier against the winner of Thursday's eliminator between MI Emirates and Sharjah Warriorz.

Image source, BBC Sport/International League T20

Image source, SA20

England opener Zak Crawley was left out by Sunrisers Eastern Cape after a miserable run of form in the SA20.

Crawley has scored just 88 runs in eight innings in the competition and had made single-figure scores in five of his past six innings.

It comes after the 26-year-old managed just 52 runs across six innings at an average of 8.66 in England's Test series in New Zealand before Christmas.

No details were given for his absence but Sunrisers coach Adi Birrell seemingly opened the door to Crawley being dropped after his first-ball duck in the previous match.

"T20 is a brutal game if you're out of form," he said. "It doesn't give time.

"I really feel for him. He's a great guy who puts in the hard work and tries his utmost best to turn it around. But it's been hard for him.

"He's been getting out to straight balls but also caught behind off wide balls. He's been getting out in two modes.

"We are going to have to look at it and come up with the plan for the next game. We've obviously backed him until now. We have got other options."

Victory against MI Cape Town on Wednesday would have secured Sunrisers place in the play-off places but they were thrashed by 10 wickets.

Asked to bat first, the defending champions were dismissed for just 107 with Crawley's replacement Tony de Zorzi making two from eight balls.

MI Cape Town then completed their chase in 11 overs with Ryan Rickelton ending 59 not out and Rassie van der Dussen unbeaten on 48.

The win, which was only the second 10-wicket win in the tournament's history, secured their place in the play-offs.

• SA20 fixtures & table

Image source, SA20

Joe Root was out for a first-ball duck but Paarl Royals beat Durban's Super Giants by six wickets to extend their lead at the top of the SA20 table.

Root, who went into the game as the top scorer in the tournament with 279 runs in seven innings, was trapped lbw by Prenelan Subrayen as he looked to sweep.

It was given not out on field but Super Giants reviewed and the technology showed the ball would have crashed into leg stump.

Royals recovered from the early loss to chase 144 from the penultimate ball with Rubin Hermann (59 off 51) and Lhuan-dre Pretorius (43 off 29), who has overtaken Root as leading run-scorer, sharing 91 for the second wicket.

Both fell in a 10-ball spell but Dinesh Karthik made 21 and Mitchell van Buuren an unbeaten 13 to see Royals to their seventh win in eight games.

Super Giants had posted 143-7 with Marcus Stoinis making 55 not out from 40 balls and Kane Williamson 45 off 36 balls.

Royals are seven points clear of MI Cape Town at the top of the table, albeit having played an extra game.

Super Giants, who were beaten finalists last year, are bottom of the table and can no longer reach the play-offs.

• SA20 fixtures & table

Image source, SA20

Joe Root hit 78 not out as his SA20 side Paarl Royals beat Pretoria Capitals by 11 runs.

Opening the batting, Root hit eight fours and two sixes in his 56-ball innings, anchoring the Royals to 140-4 in their full 20 overs.

He put on an unbeaten 59 stand with skipper David Miller after a run of early wickets.

The former England captain then also chipped in with two wickets for good measure as the Capitals were restricted to 129-7.

Root said: "Today was a case of being brave enough to take it deeper and you might have a better match-up down the line. I thought we did that pretty well.

"When I was bowling I tried to stay as low as I can. There was a lack of bounce, which makes it hard to get after.

"I didn't think it would spin as much as that. It was a great game of cricket. I've really enjoyed my time here and want to keep putting in winning performances."

Root is one of 14 England players taking part in the six-team tournament.

Scorecard, SA20 fixtures & table

Image source, SA20

England's Joe Root was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Chris Woakes but Paarl Royals beat Durban's Super Giants by five wickets in the SA20.

Chashing 143 to win Root chased a wide delivery and was caught at slip in the first over.

Despite that Royals made a fast start with Lhuan-dre Pretorius (25 off 13) and Rubin Hermann (44 off 22) finding regular boundaries, but both were dismissed to leave Royals 77-3.

Mitchell van Buuren (41 off 41) and David Miller (24 off 21) shared 59 for the fourth wicket to take control of the game but both were dismissed with seven and two required respectively.

India legend Dinesh Karthik came to the crease and hit the winning runs as Royals won with 15 balls to spare.

Super Giants posted 142-7 with Quinton de Kock making 43 off 30 balls at the top of the order.

Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed 2-23, while Root dismissed New Zealand's Kane Williamson in taking 1-18 from four overs.

Royals are top of the six-team table with 20 points and Super Giants sit bottom on eight points.

• SA20 fixtures & table