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India and England are locking horns in the first Test of the highly anticipated five-match Test series in Hyderabad. With a brilliant day out in the middle on Day 2, the Men in Blue lead by 175 runs at Stumps. Apart from that, West Indies and Australia are taking on in the second match of their two-match Test series in the WTC 2023-25.
Here in this article, we’ll look at all the big news that took place on Friday, January 26, but before that, let's check the matches scheduled for the day.
Today’s match preview:
SA20 2024: Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs MI Cape Town
Aiden Markram's Sunrisers Eastern Cape are scheduled to square off against Kieron Pollard-led MI Cape Town at the St George's Park in Gqeberha on January 27 at 05:00 p.m. IST. In the SA20 2024 standings, the Sunrisers are placed third with three wins from six games while the MI Cape Town are reeling at the fourth place with just two wins so far in the tournament.
SA20 2024: Pretoria Capitals vs Joburg Super Kings
Wayne Parnell-led Pretoria Capitals are set to lock horns with Faf du Plessis' Joburg Super Kings in Match 21 of the SA20 2024 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion in the second match of double-header Saturday, January 27. The match is scheduled to be played from 9:00 p.m. IST. While the Capitals enter this fixture after beating Sunrisers Eastern Cape by 3 runs, the Joburg Super Kings lost against the Paarl Royals by five wickets.
Major cricket events that happened on January 26
Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 83 helps Super Giants beat Paarl Royals by 57 runs
Durban Super Giants defeated the Paarl Royals convincingly by 57 runs to go to the top of the table in the standings. Super Giants were rattled early with their openers sent back in the powerplay. With his side 24/2 in the fourth over, de Kock joined forces with JJ Smuts to revive the innings. Heinrich Klaasen finished the innings with a hat-trick of sixes to power his side to 190. Chasing a huge score, Royals did get off to a flier by knocking off 24 runs from the first two overs, but things turned downhill after Smuts got Jason Roy. Soon after, the Royals suffered a collapse to eventually get bowled out for 133.
WPL 2024: Chamari Athapaththu replaces Lauren Bell in UP Warriorz
English fast bowler Lauren Bell has withdrawn from the upcoming TATA Women’s Premier League 2024 season. The UP Warriorz have named Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu as replacement for Bell. Known for her attacking batting, Chamari is the only Lankan woman to have scored a century in T20Is. She has been signed for her base price of INR 30 Lakh.
New Zealand announce Test squad for South Africa series
New Zealand on Friday, January 26 announced 14-member squad for the Test series against South Africa. Rachin Ravindra is poised to make his much-awaited return to Test cricket on home soil after a two-year hiatus. Ravindra's inclusion comes as Henry Nicholls finds himself omitted from the squad for the two Tests. It also sees the return of Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson, and Kyle Jamieson, who are coming from their respective injuries.
Shoaib Malik quashes 'fixing' rumours in BPL 2024 after reports of contract termination surfaces
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik has issued a statement reacting to the reports claiming his contract was terminated in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) due to suspicion of match-fixing. In his statement, the 41-year-old quashed all the rumours circulating and revealed that he had to leave Bangladesh midway through the tournament for a pre-committed media engagement in Dubai.
West Indies commits to achieve gender pay equity
West Indies have pledged to ensure gender pay equity, seeing this move in countries like New Zealand, India, Australia, South Africa, and England. By signing a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, January 25, the West Indies have started taking steps towards providing equal pay for all their players, irrespective of their gender.
