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The ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 is just a week away as 10 teams have confirmed their 15-member squad for the marquee event. Several teams if not all, have arrived in India to prepare for the quadrennial showpiece with their warm-up matches. On the other hand, Asian Games 2023 will feature the sixth match in the Men's Cricket event on Friday.
Before we talk about Thursday's highlights, check today's matches preview
Asian Games 2023
- Singapore vs Thailand: The sixth match of the Asian Games 2023 Men's Cricket event will be played between Singapore and Thailand on Friday at 11:30 a.m. IST. This will be the first match for Thailand in the competition while Singapore have lost their opener against Malaysia in Group C.
ODI World Cup 2023 warm-up matches
- Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka: Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will face each other in the warm-up clash ahead of the World Cup in Guwahati on Friday. The match will take place at 2:00 p.m. IST.
- Afghanistan vs South Africa: Afghanistan are scheduled to face South Africa in the World Cup warm-up fixture on Friday. The match will be played at 2:00 p.m. IST in Thiruvananthapuram.
- New Zealand vs Pakistan: The 2019 World Cup runners-up will square off against Pakistan in the warm-up game in Hyderabad. The match between the two sides will be played on Friday at 2:00 p.m. IST.
Here, we will discuss the major cricketing events that took place on Thursday, September 28:
Asian Games 2023
- Hong Kong beat Cambodia by nine wickets: Hong Kong dominated Cambodia as they restricted the latter to 70 runs in 18.2 overs and went on to win the match in 6 overs.
- Maldives beat Mongolia by nine wickets: Mongolia's disappointing run continues in the Asian Games 2023 as they placed a target of 61 runs with a loss of nine wickets. On the other hand, Maldives reached the total in just 6.4 overs with a loss of one wicket.
- Malaysia beat Singapore by 73 runs: After registering a target of 161 runs, Malaysia restricted Singapore to 87 runs in 17.5 overs to win the match and go to the top of the Group C standings.
South Africa women's team beat New Zealand by seven wickets
South Africa women's team continued their winning run against the New Zealand women's team and won the second consecutive ODI on Thursday. The 2nd ODI between the two sides was played at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg as the hosts restricted the Kiwis to 253 runs despite Amelia Kerr scoring 88 runs and adding 92 runs with Maddy Green (43) for the third wicket. Nadine de Klerk and Nonkululeko Mlaba picked up three wickets each for South Africa.
In the South Africa innings, skipper Laura Wolvaardt played an unbeaten knock of 124 runs to help her side win the game by seven wickets and 28 balls remaining.
Ravichandran Ashwin replaces Axar Patel in India's squad for World Cup
Team India announced their updated 15-member squad for the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 on Thursday and made a notable change in the squad as veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin replaced injured Axar Patel in the squad. India are scheduled to face England and the Netherlands in warm-up games before commencing their World Cup campaign on October 8.
Marnus Labuschagne returns as Australia announce 15-man squad
Cricket Australia has announced its final squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Pat Cummins will be leading the Aussies while Marnus Labuschagne returned to the squad. Similarly, the injured Ashton Agar, who was on the probable list, was excluded, while Travis Head kept his place. Head has been ruled out of the first half of the World Cup due to a hand fracture.
Khalistani Terrorist threatens to attack ICC World Cup 2023 in India
The head of the Khalistani organisation Sikhs for Justice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, has threatened to conduct during the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 in India. Pannu has been declared a terrorist under UAPA in July 2020. The World Cup will kick start on October 5 with the 2019 WC finalists - England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. Similarly, this venue will be hosting the India versus Pakistan clash on October 14 and the final of the tournament on November 19.
Shakib Al Hasan plans to announce his retirement after 2025 Champions Trophy
The Bangladesh captain threw a light on his retirement plans and said that he will draw curtains on his international career after the 2025 Champions Trophy. The cricketer also said that he plans to call it quits on his T20I career after the 2024 T20 World Cup, whereas is considering the ODI World Cup as his last assignment before quitting Test cricket.
I'm not available to bowl until...: Ellyse Perry updates about her fitness
After suffering a knee injury in July during the second ODI of the Ireland series, Ellyse Perry missed the final match of the series and England's franchise tournament, The Hundred. In September, Australia named Perry in the squad for the white-ball series against the West Indies. However, the 32-year-old all-rounder is unlikely to bowl in the series as she said, "In terms of my full fitness, bowling will probably be something that I still work through across this series. It might mean that I'm not available to bowl until late in the piece or perhaps towards the start of the WBBL."
Temba Bavuma to miss South Africa's warm-up games
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma will miss his side's warm-up matches ahead of the all-important ODI World Cup 2023 as he is traveling home for family reasons. In the warm-up games, South Africa will face Afghanistan and New Zealand on September 29 and October 2 respectively at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram and Aiden Markram will lead the side in Bavuma's absence.
