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Abhishek and Gill added 105 in just 59 balls as India chased down 172 with seven balls to spare

Sidharth Monga21-Sep-20251:45

Was Fakhar Zaman out or not out?

For about 10 overs, Pakistan threatened what has become rare in recent years, a memorable cricketing contest against India, but ran out of gas against the depth of India’s bowling. Still, 171 was the highest total Pakistan have ever posted batting first against India, but it ended up as all their defences against India have: in defeat, this time with seven balls to spare.Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill crushed the total without ever looking in trouble, starting with a six first ball and adding 105 for the first wicket in just 59 balls, making sure the middle order didn’t have too much to do when scoring became difficult against the older ball. Gill scored 47 off 28, and Abhishek, who had dropped Sahibzada Farhan in the first over of the match, carried on to 74 off 39, and left India just 49 to get off 46 when he was dismissed.Farhan went on to score a fifty to promise a contest but it felt like he had to play out of his skin to get there. He was also culpable in Pakistan’s slowdown, adding just 7 off 11 after reaching fifty as Pakistan went 39 legal deliveries without a boundary.Abhishek Sharma’s explosive innings contained six fours and five sixes•AFP/Getty ImagesEven though the chase appeared a walk in the park, the simmering tensions between the sides rose to the surface on the odd occasion. India’s batters appeared to be extra mindful of reassuring each other as the players from the two sides engaged with each other for the first time in more than one-and-a-half matches.India remained the cooler of the sides: Farhan wielded his bat like a gun after reaching fifty, Abhishek blew kisses after reaching his. The celebrations were indicative of the effort taken to reach the respective milestones.Bumrah’s costliest powerplayPakistan protected the struggling Saim Ayub from opening the innings, and it worked with Fakhar Zaman getting off to a flier, after which Farhan carried on. Pakistan raced away to their best powerplay against India, scoring 55 for 1. Jasprit Bumrah bowled three overs in the first six for the third straight match, and registered his costliest T20I powerplay: 34 runs.Sahibzada Farhan slowed down after getting Pakistan off to a quick start•AFP/Getty ImagesPakistan get over middle-overs muddle… just aboutComing into this match, the only teams in this Asia Cup slower than Pakistan in the middle overs were Oman and UAE. Pakistan had gone at under a run a ball, but this time they managed to hit three four sixes in overs 8-10, off Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel. The fourth six brought up Farhan’s half-century.Having done the hard work, Pakistan slumped. The slide began against Shivam Dube, whose progress as a sixth bowler through this tournament will satisfy India immensely. Dube didn’t provide the batters any pace, stayed away from their swinging arc, and took out both Ayub and Farhan after they had put on 72 for the second wicket. The quality of Varun and Kuldeep then shone through, as they tied Pakistan down despite taking just one wicket between them. Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten 20 off 8 added respectability to the score, but it always looked light.Abhishek, Gill blitz throughIt began looking even lighter when Abhishek hooked the first ball of the chase for a six. Gill and Abhishek laced the bowling, making full use of the new ball and whatever pace Shaheen Shah Afridi provided them. India’s 69 for 0 was the best powerplay of this Asia Cup, and India’s best against Pakistan.Abhishek kept clearing the infield while Gill kept finding the gaps, and all the while they made sure they stood together whenever a confrontation threatened to materialise. It eventually came to a head with Abhishek and Rauf in each other’s face after Gill pulled the latter for a four.Ashraf provided Pakistan the breakthrough with a ball that seamed in to bowl Gill immediately after he had taken treatment for cramps. Suryakumar Yadav then fell for a duck, but Abhishek kept striking the ball cleanly, taking down Abrar Ahmed, potentially Pakistan’s most threatening bowler. Even though Abrar finally got his wicket, Abhishek took him for 32 off 12 balls including four sixes.Tilak labours through the last mileIndia experienced a brief slowdown similar to Pakistan’s as Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma struggled to come to terms with the old ball not coming onto the bat. Samson managed just 13 off 17, but Tilak saw India through with sixes off Rauf and Afridi in the 18th and 19th overs.

A statistic has cropped up online in recent weeks regarding Liverpool’s running in the Premier League this season – or lack thereof.

While Liverpool have adopted a cooler approach since Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp in the dugout over a year ago, it is inexcusable that the Reds are being outworked so often this term, emphasising a haggardness that is shaping this frustrating campaign.

Mohamed Salah’s work rate has been questioned this season, accentuated by the 33-year-old’s startling drop-off in front of goal, but he is only one part of a malfunctioning system, and it’s clear that something needs to change.

Slot has the tools to make it an internal fix, but with the January transfer window fast approaching, rumours have emerged concerning Liverpool’s desire to sign a robust new wide forward.

Liverpool's search for a new winger

With Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz both leaving something to be desired down the left channel this season, Liverpool may be interested in signing a more Luis Diaz-esque forward this winter.

This likely wasn’t pre-planned in the FSG offices, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and there’s no question that the Merseysiders are missing the Colombian’s energy and electric presence.

Salah is ageing, and so it’s understandable that he should lack his one-time athleticism. However, that does not alter the problem at hand for Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes.

Salah has always been conservative with his energy, though, and Liverpool actually need a profile tuned more toward that of Sadio Mane.

Well, they may have found their man, with Caught Offside revealing that Antoine Semenyo is right at the top of FSG’s shortlist. However, Liverpool will find thick competition in the shape of Manchester United, who are ready to pip their arch-rivals to the Ghanaian’s signature.

Semenyo, 26, would cost at least £65m to prise away from Bournemouth, though it’s felt that a more accurate figure falls toward the £80m ballpark.

Why Liverpool want to sign Semenyo

With six goals and three assists to his name in the Premier League this season, Semenyo has been one of the most in-form players around, his efforts leading content creator Liam Canning to praise his “world-class” technical ability.

Fast and furious and two-footed, this is a maverick of a forward who has sharpened his skills in the Premier League across the past several years and is now ready for a role at a team like Liverpool, with Semenyo actually described as “the closest you’ll find to peak Mane right now” by Reds analyst Josh Williams.

Indeed, Semenyo is really showing himself to be a superstar, ranking among the top 1% of positional peers in the Premier League this season for goals scored and the top 9% for ball recoveries per 90, as per FBref.

Such metrics show why he could be such a Mane-esque player for Liverpool, and looking at how he’s doing this term when such statistics are collated against the Senegalese’s final year under Klopp’s wing in the Premier League, you begin to see why Liverpool – and Man United – are so keen.

Matches (starts)

34 (32)

11 (11)

Goals

16

6

Assists

2

3

Shots (on target)*

2.9 (1.1)

2.1 (1.3)

Big chances missed

13

5

Accurate passes

23.6 (77%)

19.8 (77%)

Chances created*

1.3

1.0

Succ. dribbles*

1.4 (61%)

1.9 (46%)

Tackles*

1.0

1.6

Duels won*

4.7

6.5

Liverpool have missed Mane ever since selling him to Bayern Munich in 2022, and with Salah now getting on, Semenyo could provide the injection of energy and positivity that the club so clearly need.

The Anfield side might have won their opening-day clash against the Cherries, but Semenyo set his own tone with a stunning two-goal performance, causing Slot’s backline any number of issues throughout the evening.

Diaz was a fine player for Liverpool, but Mane was a cut above. There is a player profile that Liverpool dearly miss, and if they pull off a deal for Semenyo, they will sign a star with a similar skillset who could restore Liverpool’s equilibrium.

FSG sold an "incredible" Liverpool talent & it's a bigger mistake than Diaz

Liverpool are already starting to regret this £15m sale.

ByAngus Sinclair Nov 14, 2025

Former England captain will set high standards as new head coach of ailing national side

Andrew Miller02-Apr-20251:27

Will Charlotte Edwards succeed as England Women’s head coach?

It seemed, on the face of it, to be a classic case of ECB miscommunication. At Lord’s on Tuesday afternoon, with literally minutes to go until the start of a board-hosted event to mark the start of the 2025 county season, a WhatsApp message pinged in the pockets of the invited journalists that drew the attention away from the assembled winners of last year’s eight domestic trophies, and onto rather more pressing matters.Charlotte Edwards, the Grand Dame of England Women’s cricket, had just been confirmed by the ECB’s media machine as their incoming head coach, and the fact that this was a surprise to literally no-one present was another reason to wonder why they couldn’t just let the planned event play out without distraction, and choose a less conflicting moment to divulge such an open secret.And yet, on reflection, Edwards’ unveiling was exactly the news required to tie a bow on the day’s events. For starters it allowed Richard Thompson, the ECB chair, to make mention of the appointment in his address to the assembled guests, but moreover, it leaned into the broader theme of the day, and indeed, the season: the launch of the new tiered structure for women’s county cricket, which is arguably a more significant stride towards gender parity than even the much-trumpeted Hundred.Related

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Charlotte Edwards named England Women head coach

If, after all, the point of the policy is to create a pyramid for the women’s game that extends from the most under-appreciated grassroots all the way up to the England team itself, then it makes perfect sense to have in place a player-turned-coach at the apex who personifies that very journey.As Beth Barrett-Wild, the ECB’s Director of Women’s Professional Game, put it: “She really bridges that gap between where the women’s game has come from, from those early days of professionalisation back in 2014 – when she was one of our first England women’s cricketers to get a professional contract – and then on through to today. It’s incredibly exciting.”The timing, however, is fascinating. There was a time, nine now increasingly distant years ago, when it was said of Edwards that “nothing grew in her shade”, such was the daunting scope of her personal achievements – in terms of longevity, hunger, and sheer weight of statistics. These included more than 10,000 runs across international formats, a milestone that she was the first to reach globally, and which no England Women’s player has since come close to matching.What’s more incredible is that she achieved all of this from a handicapped start. As the classic anecdote goes, Edwards had to pay for her first England blazer as a 16-year-old in 1996, and had been so immersed in men’s cricket as her vehicle that she hadn’t even known that women’s international cricket was an attainable goal until England’s victory in the 1993 World Cup.And now she is back, just days after Heather Knight – her similarly long-toothed successor – received the same undignified heave-ho that Edwards herself was subjected to back in 2016.Charlotte Edwards has enjoyed huge success as a franchise coach•ECB via Getty ImagesIt’s hardly a surprise that Edwards’ standards have since been transferred to the teams she has overseen in her coaching career – eight trophies in five years, including two WPL titles with Mumbai Indians. But her story also hints at an unspoken gripe about the state of the team she’s about to oversee.Privately, there is a consensus that England’s current professional structure is too soft, perhaps inevitably so, given the change in emphasis from that old-school fight for recognition that Edwards’ generation was the last to truly embody, to the status quo, whereby the signing of that ECB contract – however small it may be compared to the men’s salaries – has inadvertently led to a sating of hunger. As the lack of turnover in Knight’s England teams showed, once the players were on the payroll, it was as hard to be dropped as it was to be selected from outside the bubble.There are perhaps shades in this narrative of the pressure – and jealousy – that West Indies’ players of the early T20 era felt from the generational greats that preceded them. And yet, when Alex Hartley made her comments about England’s fitness levels after their shock exit from the T20 World Cup, she was merely making a point that anyone with a set of eyes could have ascertained for themselves. England’s collapse in standards in that fateful Dubai match was so absolute that Jon Lewis, Edwards’ predecessor as head coach, was obliged to march onto the outfield at the end of West Indies’ riotous powerplay in a desperate bid to salvage their campaign.Heather Knight deals with the feeling of defeat•ICC/Getty ImagesClearly that intervention didn’t work, and nor Lewis’s exhortations throughout a dismal Ashes campaign, as shown when Sophie Ecclestone’s touchy response to Hartley’s interview request in Sydney caused those comments to resurface. Despite this, in his infamous “Bondi Beach” address at the end of the tour, Lewis still swore blind that he could not have asked more of his players’ work-rates.And, perhaps, he truly couldn’t. As the recent allegations of bullying in Britain’s cycling and swimming circles have shown, there is something a bit grim about male coaches beasting their female charges way beyond their comfort zones. It may chime with the requirements of professionalism, but it certainly doesn’t chime with the times.And so, we may finally have reached the moment when an elite woman has to take command of England’s elite women.”She definitely runs a very tight ship, and she will bring such authenticity to that role,” Barrett-Wild said. “She’ll be able to speak to it from not too long ago, when it was a very different landscape for the women’s game. It is a timely reminder of how fortunate the women’s game is now, but in a really positive, progressive way. She’s a perfect fit for that right now.”Edwards may have been England’s first professional female, but a total of 142 will feature in their domestic competitions this season. A significant number of those will be on relatively insubstantial £20,000 rookie contracts, but there is also a strong likelihood that 2025 will feature the first million-pound England women’s cricketer, when their earnings from all available competitions are compiled.You can bet that, with Edwards in the building, she’ll be obliged to earn every penny of that. And if not, there also exists – in the less-vaunted but no less significant Tiers 2 and 3 of the county structure – a potential groundswell of Edwards’ prototypes: girls who won’t be paid anything (beyond expenses) for their commitment to the game, but whose desire for that same recognition promises to be every bit as vital in driving the standards of the players above them.”Tier 2 brings strength and depth to our structure, and it creates that pathway,” Barrett-Wild said. “If we’re doing our jobs around growing the women’s game, we are going to need more than eight teams right at the top.”It’s also going to take an England team at the top of that pile that sets truly aspirational standards. Much like those of the woman whose own journey within that team has just been renewed.

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is carrying the hopes of a city starved for sports success on his back this summer—but on Monday, he won't carry them alone.

Reiterating previous statements, Raleigh told Fox's crew that he will involve two family members in his much-anticipated Home Run Derby appearance.

"I'm super excited. My dad's been throwing to me my whole life. My little brother, he's playing right now on the travel-ball circuit, and he's a catcher, so hopefully he doesn't clank any as well," Raleigh said. "It'll be a lot of fun."

Raleigh's father Todd coached Western Carolina and Tennessee in the collegiate ranks from 2000 to '11, while his brother Todd Jr., 15, is indeed a player on the travel circuit.

Cal has 38 home runs this season to go with 82 RBIs, and his Mariners currently occupy the American League's third wild-card position. His home runs Monday are likely to be the most-viewed of his season so far, but they will almost certainly not be his last.

Manchester United and USWNT goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce has suffered a fractured eye socket, with medical assessments confirming she is facing a spell on the sidelines. The 28-year-old missed United’s historic Women's Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain and was seen wearing sunglasses alongside teammates, with the club insisting player safety remains the priority as she recovers.

Tullis-Joyce suffers fractured eye socket

Tullis-Joyce picked up the injury during Manchester United’s Women’s Super League clash with Aston Villa on November 11, in an accidental impact that required immediate attention after the match. Although she did not suffer a concussion, further medical checks confirmed a fractured eye socket, an injury known to require several weeks of careful protection and rest to prevent further damage, as per The Athletic.

When the Red Devils returned to Champions League action against Paris Saint-Germain last Wednesday, head coach Marc Skinner confirmed she was unavailable after experiencing irritation around the affected area. She was spotted on the pitch before kick-off wearing sunglasses and talking with teammates, reinforcing that while the injury is not career-threatening, sensitivity to light and physical contact must be managed closely.

Safia Middleton-Patel stepped in for just her second senior appearance and impressed in United’s victory, though the coaching staff emphasised that the absence of their first-choice goalkeeper is a major blow. The Red Devils remain hopeful that Tullis-Joyce may return before the winter break, but only if doctors clear her to resume full-contact work without risking further damage to the orbital bone.

AdvertisementGettyInjury halts Tullis-Joyce's upward trend

Tullis-Joyce’s injury arrives at a pivotal moment for Manchester United, who are trying to build momentum in both domestic and European competition. The American star has become a vital figure since Mary Earps’ departure in 2024, providing leadership and reliability at the back while helping United establish a more composed playing style from the defensive third.

Her setback forces United to rely on a less-experienced Middleton-Patel as their fixture list intensifies, particularly with a Manchester derby defeat already fresh in the memory and a tough Champions League group still unfolding. The fracture disrupts continuity in a defensive unit that has only recently settled into a strong rhythm, placing added pressure on an already stretched squad.

Internationally, the injury also halts Tullis-Joyce’s upward trajectory with the USWNT. She earned her first senior cap earlier in the year and had positioned herself as a genuine contender heading into future major tournaments. 

Tullis-Joyce's rise at Man Utd

Tullis-Joyce joined Manchester United from OL Reign in September 2023 and quickly proved she was ready for the top European stage. Her strong first season showcased elite reflexes, commanding presence in the box, and excellent distribution, attributes that aligned perfectly with United’s evolving tactical identity and helped accelerate her rise to the No.1 position.

The 2025/26 campaign had already seen Tullis-Joyce reach arguably the best form of her career before injury struck. Her anticipation, decision-making and authority under pressure had greatly improved, making her one of the most reliable keepers in the league. That progress now pauses, but with no long-term damage expected, United still believe she will remain essential to their success this season.

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Getty Images SportTullis-Joyce will only be cleared once injury is tested

Recovery timelines for a fractured eye socket typically extend several weeks, with rest and protection crucial to ensuring safe healing before a return to competition. United’s medical staff will monitor swelling, bone stability and ocular response before allowing her back into full training, while non-contact conditioning may begin sooner to maintain match fitness.

Skinner has stressed that caution will dictate all decisions, as even a minor secondary impact could aggravate the injury and delay her comeback. The club will continue giving Middleton-Patel further opportunities while aiming to remain competitive on multiple fronts without their undisputed first-choice keeper.

Arsenal are now reportedly tracking one of Europe’s leading young talents in an attempt to hijack Chelsea’s move and deal their Premier League rivals a frustrating blow.

Whilst Arsenal will have been disappointed to see their clean sheet streak go against Sunderland as well as their recent winning run in a last-gasp 2-2 draw, they have plenty of reason to be positive.

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He’s a man in demand.

ByTom Cunningham Nov 10, 2025

Heading into the November international break, the Gunners sit four points clear at the top of the Premier League and on course to end their wait for glory under Mikel Arteta.

They’re doing it their way, too. Arteta is no longer simply a disciple to Pep Guardiola. His Arsenal side are far more pragmatic and could have one of the best defensive records that English football has ever seen come May. Meanwhile, in what is a reflection of Premier League football in 2025, Arsenal are benefitting from their position as set piece kings.

When you’re on top, however, it’s all about staying there and it’s no surprise that Andrea Berta is already eyeing potential incomings as a result. The champions-elect are reportedly interested in signing Malick Fofana from Lyon in an attempt to strengthen their left-hand side.

Both Martinelli and Leandro Trossard have competed for the role this season but with the former becoming inconsistent and the latter now 30 years old, there’s certainly room for another option to arrive.

Reports have even claimed that Arsenal are leading the race to sign Fofana ahead of 2026 in what would be another intelligent move from new sporting director Berta.

After Fofana, he may still welcome other options too. The Gunners have also been linked with a move to sign an impressive attacking midfielder ahead of Chelsea.

Arsenal eyeing Nico Paz hijack

According to Caught Offside, Arsenal are now tracking Nico Paz in what could see them hijack Chelsea’s move in unexpected fashion. The Como attacker is one of the best young players in European football and has attracted interest from the Premier League as well as Inter Milan as a result.

So long as Real Madrid don’t trigger their bargain buy-back options worth less than £10m in the next two years then the race to sign the 21-year-old will swing wide open. And that’s when Arsenal could swoop in.

If the Gunners are looking to find out more about the Argentine, meanwhile, then all they have to do is ask Cesc Fabregas. The former Arsenal midfielder is currently the manager of Como and has benefitted more than most from Paz’s brilliance.

With four goals and four assists in 12 games this season, the former Real Madrid star is undoubtedly the standout player under Fabregas, who could now make up for his transfer antics as a player by answering Arsenal’s potential call about his midfield sensation.

Arsenal "monster" is becoming the new Xhaka and he's not even a midfielder

Quetta Gladiators have a strong top order as well as bowling, but new captain Saud Shakeel is untested

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2025Multan SultansIf consistency was the prize, Multan Sultans would be the PSL’s most successful and lauded franchise. They’ve made the final for four seasons in a row now, built on low-risk, unsexy and repeatable methods and planning. It’s much in the mould of their captain Mohammad Rizwan, though his approach at national level is being questioned. Still, since April 2021, Sultans have the highest win-loss ratio for any T20 side in league across the world.Related

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Michael Bracewell seems to be the right pick at the right time; Akif Javed, meanwhile, is breaking through internationally. Expect Sultans to be in the playoffs mix. As always.Best result: Champions (2021)2024 finish: Runners-upStrengths A diverse bowling attack that covers every angle and genre: slow left-arm (Gudakesh Motie), left-arm wristspin (Faisal Akram), left-arm fast-medium (Akif, Josh Little and David Willey), right-arm fast (Mohammad Hasnain), right-arm wristspin (Usama Mir), and offbreak (Bracewell) Potentially deep batting line with all-round options in Willey, Iftikhar Ahmed and BracewellESPNcricinfo LtdWeaknesses The top-order anchor approach, favoured by Rizwan, which feels increasingly at odds with the world’s batting trends. Perhaps it matters less these days, but there are eight players in the squad who are over 30 years old, and two more on the verge.Islamabad UnitedThe actual most successful team of the PSL, with three titles, sits on the other side of the great philosophical divide in Pakistan’s T20 cricket. Not for Islamabad United is the low-risk, tactical rigidity that has defined Sultans. No, Islamabad have always been much more in line with modern T20 trends, bringing together high batting intent, all-round depth, and data sensibilities. Providing both Salman Agha and Shadab Khan, the captain and vice-captain to the national side currently, perhaps that approach is in the ascendant in this moment.Best result: Champions (2016, 2018, 2024)2024 finish: WinnersESPNcricinfo LtdStrengths A batting order that, potentially, hits a very high ceiling. From Matthew Short through (the partially-available) Rassie van der Dussen to the evolving Agha to the very in-form late addition Sahibzada Farhan to the Khans – Shadab, their captain, and Azam – Islambad have the potential to go very big. Jason Holder adds quality all-round depth to a side that isn’t lacking in all-round options.Weaknesses A good spinner would be useful, because Mohammad Nawaz, Agha, Imad Wasim and Shadab himself don’t shout wickets or impact. Shadab’s value to, and leadership of, Islamabad remains unquestioned. But his return to Pakistan colours has been mixed, and it’s not clear whether he has rediscovered his best self.Quetta GladiatorsOnce consistently one of the best teams in the PSL, Quetta Gladiators’ sole triumph in 2019 heralded only the unravelling of that legacy. They failed to make it out of the group stages for four seasons in a row after that win, breaking that run with a playoff place last season. But 2025 promises to bring a change in approach and personnel. Gladiators have appointed Saud Shakeel as their new captain and former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed as the team director. They’re hoping that brings a change in fortune as well.Best result: Champions (2019)2024 finish: FourthESPNcricinfo LtdStrengths With Finn Allen and Hasan Nawaz at the top of the order, Gladiators are shedding the conservatism that has dogged their top-order approach. Allen could be a game-changing addition. The arrivals of Kyle Jamieson, Sean Abbott and a proven PSL allrounder in Faheem Ashraf add much-needed nous to the bowling.Weaknesses The captain Shakeel remains a relatively untested T20 option, having played only ten PSL games in his entire career. Since the departure of Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain, Gladiators have struggled to bring in a fast bowler with proven PSL pedigree. Mohammad Wasim Jr had a tough time last year, and Gladiators haven’t brought in anyone else to fulfill that role.

England’s poor 50-over form continues as South Africa claim first ODI series win in country since 1998

Matt Roller04-Sep-2025Matthew Breetzke had not been born when South Africa last won a bilateral ODI series in England. By extending a remarkable start to his career in the format, he helped them clinch this one with a match to spare. On his return from a hamstring injury, Breetzke hit 85 to underpin South Africa’s total of 330, before their bowlers closed out a tense win under the floodlights.Breetzke, 26, was born five-and-a-half months after South Africa’s 2-1 triumph in the 1998 Texaco Trophy but will now lift the series trophy in Southampton on Sunday after his team took an unassailable 2-0 lead at Lord’s. Unlike in Leeds, England at least competed but none of their three half-centurions – Joe Root, Jacob Bethell and Jos Buttler – kicked on past 61.The chase went down to the final ball, which Jofra Archer needed to hit for six to take the game into a Super Over. But his inside-edged hoick off Senuran Muthusamy brought only a single and South Africa were deserving winners, backing up the thrashing they inflicted on Tuesday with a clinical, calculated performance.ESPNcricinfo LtdThis was an eighth defeat in 11 ODIs for England in 2025, and their captain Harry Brook refused to blame fatigue after an exhausting summer. “In my eyes that’s just an excuse,” he said. We’re good enough and fit enough to be able to keep playing for the time being… Chasing 6.5 an over from ball one is a tough task. But that’s exactly why we’ve picked this side: we’ve a long batting order. To get within one blow of that score is a really good effort.”South Africa had been stuttering at 93 for 3 after 19 overs when Tristan Stubbs joined Breetzke, but a fourth-wicket partnership of 147 off 126 balls laid a strong foundation before Dewald Brevis’ cameo launched them towards 300. They fell four runs short of the record ODI total at Lord’s, which has stood since the 1975 World Cup, but this was clearly a fighting effort.Breetzke’s innings was the highest by a South African in an ODI at Lord’s, and he achieved the unprecedented feat of passing 50 in each of his first five innings in the format. By the time he fell 15 runs short of a second hundred, he had taken his ODI aggregate to 463 and executed South Africa’s clear plan to put England’s part-time spinners under severe pressure.England got away with picking only four frontline bowlers in their 3-0 win against West Indies in June, but South Africa were merciless in targeting Bethell and Will Jacks; with Root curiously unused, they returned combined figures of 1 for 112 from their 10 overs. Brevis was particularly severe on Bethell, hitting him for consecutive sixes, while Stubbs laid into Jacks.The margin of victory obscured the fact South Africa were ahead of the game from the moment Nandre Burger had Jamie Smith caught behind off the first ball of the chase. Root dominated the scoring in a second-wicket stand of 66, with Ben Duckett desperately out of form at the other end; his dismissal for 14 off 33, bowled reverse-sweeping Keshav Maharaj, was a mercy kill.Jofra Archer nearly took England over the line•AFP/Getty ImagesWhere Duckett looked exhausted by his non-stop summer, Bethell had been short on time in the middle and was pushed up to No. 4 to take on South Africa’s two left-arm spinners. Temba Bavuma responded by bringing on Aiden Markram’s offspin, but Bethell slog-swept and pulled sixes as his two overs cost 27 runs.He brought up a 28-ball half-century by launching Burger over mid-on, five balls after Root had cruised to his own off 57. But they fell in quick succession, too: Bethell sliced the relentless Corbin Bosch to backward point, and Root was beaten in the flight by Maharaj to be stumped in an ODI for the first time in a decade.Brook and Buttler added 69 for the fifth wicket, launching sixes off Bosch and Muthusamy respectively. But Muthusamy found extra bounce to have Brook chipping to cover, and despite Buttler’s outrageous reverse-slap for six on his way to 50 – a landmark he celebrated with a look to the skies after his father’s recent passing – the required rate climbed past nine an over.Lungi Ngidi got the big wicket of Jos Buttler at the death•AFP/Getty ImagesThe game looked as good as won when Lungi Ngidi flummoxed Buttler with a dipping slower ball, and Burger removed Jacks and Brydon Carse in the same over to leave 40 required off the last three. Despite Archer’s best efforts – with two lusty sixes and a pair of reverse-slaps for four – they always looked like falling short.It looked like an important toss when Brook put South Africa into bat, with the start delayed by 15 minutes after a morning of heavy showers. Archer and Saqib Mahmood – recalled at Sonny Baker’s expense – both found extravagant seam movement early on, but Markram and Ryan Rickelton were equal to it, adding 73 for the first wicket.Rickelton fell for 35, top-edging Archer behind to Buttler, before Adil Rashid struck twice in quick succession, with Bavuma done on the outside edge and Markram furious with himself after chipping back a return catch on 49. But that only brought Breetzke and Stubbs together, whose partnership took the game away from England – and they never quite recovered.