Third team with IPL involvement, as Sunrisers Hyderabad owners make highest bid for Leeds franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi and Matt Roller05-Feb-2025A third IPL franchise owner has emerged victorious in the ongoing Hundred sale with the Sun Group, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, making the highest bid to buy a stake in Northern Superchargers, whose host county is Yorkshire.ESPNcricinfo understands that the Sun Group have agreed to buy 100% of the franchise: both the ECB’s 49% stake, and Yorkshire’s 51% share. The Superchargers are the first team to be sold outright, with host venues retaining a share in the first five franchises sold.The Sun Group’s valuation of Superchargers was £100 million, with two other parties understood to have been involved in the auction. Both Yorkshire and Sun Group have to finalise the agreement within eight weeks of the end of the Hundred sale.Yorkshire will keep 80% of the revenue from the sale of their 51% stake, which will provide the club with an injection of around £40m. Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s chairman, predicted last year that the club would soon be “fighting for its survival” due to debts of more than £20m, of which around £15m is owed to his family trust (which is managed by independent trustees).The Superchargers will be the third T20 franchise team in the Sun Group’s portfolio. They acquired Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012, who went on to win the IPL in 2016 and finished as runners-up last year. In 2023, they added Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have won the SA20 title in its first two editions.The Sun Group is owned by Kalanithi Maran, an Indian media baron, who successfully bid for the IPL franchise after the BCCI terminated the ownership contract of the previous Hyderabad-based team, Deccan Chargers, in 2012.Related

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Sanjay Patel, Yorkshire’s chief executive and the Hundred’s former managing director, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be entering into an exclusivity period with the Sun Group, and will be continuing our conversations with them in the coming weeks with a view to setting the Northern Superchargers up for long-term and sustained success.””Having been in consultation with them for some time now, it is clear that they are aligned to the values and future direction of the club and will play a huge part in ensuring we can go on to achieve great success in the coming years. Today is clearly a huge milestone for Yorkshire CCC, the Northern Superchargers and the Sun Group, but it is worth stressing that there is a lot of detail to be discussed alongside further due diligence and legal processes before a contract can be signed.”The Superchargers are yet to win the Hundred in either the men’s or the women’s competition, with both teams finishing fourth in 2024. Their men’s team is coached by Andrew Flintoff and captained by Harry Brook, while the women’s team recently appointed Lisa Keightley as Dani Hazell’s successor. Mickey Arthur has also taken over as their new director of cricket this year.Pat Cummins captained Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL final last year•BCCI

The Sun Group joins owners of two other IPL franchises – RPSG Group (owners of Lucknow Super Giants) and Reliance Industries Limited (owners of Mumbai Indians) – who made the highest bids to buy stakes in Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles respectively.There could be at least one other IPL owner, the GMR Group, the co-owners of Delhi Capitals, who are also widely expected to buy a stake in Southern Brave after securing a deal to buy host county Hampshire last year.The other successful bidders to date are Cricket Investor Holdings Limited (a Silicon Valley tech consortium spearheaded by Nikesh Arora) at London Spirit; tech entrepreneur and Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil at Welsh Fire; and Knighthead Capital at Birmingham Phoenix.Warwickshire confirmed that Knighthead are their preferred investor on Wednesday. Chief executive Stuart Cain said: “We’d said at the start of this process that we wanted an investor committed to invest in the region and be with us for the long term, to make a real difference. I believe we’ve found that in Knighthead and we look forward to working with them during this exclusivity period.”The total valuation of the six franchises so far is close to £800m, with Trent Rockets and Southern Brave yet to be sold.Feb 5, 1800 GMT – This story was updated several times, including to add Yorkshire’s comments.

Opener smashes 52 runs in boundaries as Leicestershire’s 196 for 5 toppled with ease

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2025Derbyshire 197 for 3 (Donald 60, Scriven 3-29) beat Leicestershire 196 for 5 (Budinger 49, Brown 3-51) by seven wicketsDerbyshire Falcons completed back-to-back Vitality Blast derby wins in 24 hours with a seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes at Edgbaston.The Foxes were lifted to a hefty 196 for five by an impressive collective effort headed by Sol Budinger 49 and Shan Masood’s 43. Pat Brown took 3 for 51.But the Falcons chased it down with ten balls to spare, reaching 197 for 3 as Aneurin Donald launched the chase with an explosive 60 from 25 balls and Samit Patel crowned it with an unbeaten 52 from 32. Having belatedly opened their Blast account at the sixth attempt against Notts Outlaws on Friday night, suddenly the Falcons are flying and right back in contention for quallification.After the Foxes chose to bat, Budinger tore into the Falcons for the second time in a month. When these teams met in the group opener at Leicester, the 25-year-old blasted a 15-ball half-century. This time he thundered to 49, with seven fours and two sixes, by the eighth over. When he skied Samit Patel to backward point, his two Blast innings against the Foxes this season and yielded 100 runs from 41 balls.Masood and Rehan Ahmed (29) maintained the momentum with a stand of 71 from 43 balls. At 136 for 2 in the 15th over with two batters well set, the Foxes were racing but the Falcons hit back with three wickets in five balls. Pat Brown removed Ahmed, who edged to wicketkeeper Brooke Guest, and Masood, caught at third man, in four balls before Louis Kimber missed a cut at Patel and was bowled.Wickets usually slow the scoring but not in this case. Sixth-wicket pair Ben Cox (28 not out) and Logan van Beek (26 not out) settled quickly to smash 55 from the last 29 balls of the innings to ensure an imposing total.Undaunted, Derbyshire openers Donald and Caleb Jewell galloped to 50 from just 23 balls. Donald took 22 from five balls from Matt Salisbury and thundered to 50, 48 of which came in fours and sixes, from 18 balls.The Falcons were 93 without loss in the eighth over when Tom Scriven was brought on and took out both openers in his first over. Jewell edged to wicketkeeper Cox and two balls later an excellent delivery hit Donald’s off-stump. Scriven followed his successful first over with another excellent one (2-0-7-2 at that stage) to further peg back the Falcons.Patel and Wayne Madsen (35) deployed their considerable experience to good effect in a stand of 60 in 42 balls before Scriven returned to have the latter caught at long leg. Needing 22 from three overs, the Falcons still had a bit to do but Patel smote Scriven for successive sixes in the first of those overs to settle matters.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Calvin Harrison nearly spun the visitors to an improbable victory using the Kookaburra ball

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay02-Jul-2025Kent 566 for 8 dec (Bell-Drummond 158, Finch 118, Guthrie 3-92) and 160 for 8 (Evison 49* Chahal 4-51, Harrison 3-59) drew with Northamptonshire 624 for 6 (Zaib 150*,Harrison 122, Broad 107, Vasconcelos 100) Kent clung on to deny Northamptonshire a sensational, record-breaking win in the Rothesay County Championship, closing on 160 for 8 at stumps, after a stomach-churningly tense final hour.A hitherto sterile contest finally ignited on the final day as Yuzvendra Chahal and Calvin Harrison nearly spun the visitors to an improbable victory using the much-maligned Kookaburra ball.Northants defied the elements, batted aggressively and declared on 722 for 6, smashing the record for the highest score by any side at this venue, eclipsing the 676 made by Australia in 1921. Saif Zaib made 196 not out and Justin Broad was unbeaten on 157, an unbroken partnership of 298. It also meant they led by 156, giving Kent a minimum of 59 overs to navigate, 11 of which were lost due to rain.Chahal took 4 for 51 and for the second consecutive week it was left to Joey Evison stave off defeat. He hit 49 from 104 balls and was helped by a dramatic late return from Tawanda Muyeye, who left the ground at lunchtime due to personal reasons, but returned to bat at ten and was there with Evison at stumps.Northants resumed with Zaib on 150 and Broad on 107, but just 12 minutes were possible before the rain became too heavy for the players to continue.Some 18 overs were wiped out and when play resumed, but Zaib and Broad tried to make up for the lost time. Broad took two from Jaydn Denly to pass 150.Gallows humour prevailed. When Matt Parkinson conceded his 200th run his team mates applauded and he put an arm around Zaib, who was on 195 at the time, as if to say: “that’s how you do it.”The rain returned and with Northamptonshire on 722 for 6 lunch was taken early, but this time only one over was lost and Kent faced a potentially awkward afternoon, under leaden skies.It looked even more awkward when Liam Guthrie sent Denly’s off stump cartwheeling, four balls into the reply, but after four overs the rain returned with Kent on 12 for 1 and 11 further overs were chalked off, leaving Kent with a minimum of 48 to survive.Chahal then bowled Ekansh Singh for 37, but despite a succession of appeals of varying conviction Ben Compton and Daniel Bell-Drummond steered Kent to the relative safety of 76 for 2 at tea.After that they fell apart. Bell-Drummond edged the first ball of the evening session, from Harrison, to Broad at first slip and Compton then went trying to sweep Chahal, victim of a low catch at square leg by Tim Robinson.With Muyeye unable to bat Kent were effectively five down with 45 minutes to go before the final hour.Harry Finch cut Harrison straight to Broad for four and Parkinson strolled out with Kent still 61 in arrears. Chahal then took two wickets in two balls: Parkinson survived 12 deliveries until Broad took his third catch of the innings and Wes Agar went for a heave and was out for a golden duck, caught behind by Lewis McManus.Matt Quinn played more sensibly until he lofted the 57th ball he faced from Harrison to Chahal for 13.To widespread surprise Muyeye then came out at No. 10 and Kent had a major let off when Evison was dropped by Ricardo Vasconcelos at silly point. The duo crucially steered Kent into the lead and when 5.50pm was reached Kent were officially safe.

Coles half-century not enough for Sussex as visitors take early control with the ball

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay22-Jul-2025Essex 152 for 4 trail Sussex 204 (Coles 52, Porter 4-30) by 52 runsEssex produced an opening day performance against Sussex which belied their disappointing season to date, bottom but one of the championship’s first division, with just one victory. They bundled out Sussex – third in the table – for just 204 in only 52.4 overs and at the close were powerfully placed at 152 for four.Essex’s inability to pair up their opening attack of Jamie Porter and Sam Cook has been a major factor in their poor campaign. Cook has been involved with the England set-up and Porter, on paternity leave, missed the last championship match against Yorkshire.Here, though, they were back in tandem, both hitting a length on a relentless line of third or fourth stump and Porter, with four for 30, was the star of the show. Sussex, though, knowing the Kookaburra ball gets softer, and batting easier, showed a lack of application.Essex won the toss and bowled on a grassy pitch, with a canopy of clouds also promising to assist their seamers.Sussex, who had dropped Tom Clark for the fit-again Tom Alsop, and brought in Ari Karvelas for the rested Ollie Robinson, struggled to overcome the conditions but were also guilty of some indulgent strokeplay.Porter broke through in the ninth over when Daniel Hughes, going for a lavish drive, edged to keeper Michael Pepper. And it was 31 for two in the next over when Alsop, playing forward defensively, edged Cook behind.The relatively inexperienced Khaleel Ahmed replaced Cook at the sea end but there was no let-up for Sussex. Khaleel pitched one up to Tom Haines who went for the drive. But the ball nipped off the pitch and Simon Harmer took the catch at second slip. And it was 64 for 4 in the 18th over when Dan Ibrahim attempted an expansive drive against the same bowler and was caught behind. The players took an early lunch at 69 for four when a second, heavier shower swept over the ground.The in-form James Coles and John Simpson launched a mini-revival with a stand of 56. Coles showed some of the fluency that had brought him 150 against Warwickshire in his previous championship innings. When he played Cook to backward point for a quick single he had reached his half-century from 62 balls, with seven eye-catching fours. But then he played forward to Porter and edged to first slip, and four balls later Fynn Hudson-Prentice nicked off for a duck.Yet again Simpson was required to make the most of diminishing resources. He added 49 for the seventh wicket with Jack Carson, whose five fours included a straight drive off Noah Thain that might have been the shot of the day.The introduction of fourth seamer Thain saw the first drop in the keen accuracy of the Essex attack. But he, too, was good enough to get among the wickets. Carson had made 25 when he edged to Pepper and next ball it was 169 for eight when Simpson prodded only half-forward to Harmer and was caught at slip.When Karvelas flayed to cover for one Sussex had lost three wickets for two runs but last pair Henry Crocombe and Gurinder Sandhu put on 33.When Essex batted Dean Elgar was caught at midwicket, Paul Walter, half forward, was lbw to Carson, Tom Westley was yorked by Sandhu and nightwatchman Cook was caught at leg slip. But they could still be in a very strong position by the second afternoon.

Spinner takes four to restrict Northamptonshire to 189 before fifties from Sam Robson and Ben Geddes

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay24-Aug-2025Middlesex 192 for 6 (Robson 67, Geddes 51) beat Northamptonshire 189 (Vasconcelos 62, Gohar 4-39) by four wicketsSam Robson and Ben Geddes both struck half-centuries as Middlesex coasted to victory over Northamptonshire to maintain their hopes of a knockout place in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.Robson hit 67 from 70 balls, while skipper Geddes followed up his List A best of 141 not out against Kent with 51 from as many deliveries to propel the visitors across the line at Wantage Road with 17.3 overs unused.The Steelbacks were bowled out for 189 in 38.1 overs despite a third-wicket stand of 108 between Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh, who both registered their first half-centuries of the tournament.But their last eight wickets fell for 77, with Middlesex spinner Zafar Gohar taking 4 for 39 and all-rounder Ryan Higgins 3 for 34 before weighing in with a lively 48 from 34 as his side sealed the win.Higgins, making his first appearance of the competition, had an immediate impact after his side won the toss, achieving plenty of movement as the Steelbacks were reduced to four for two.Tim Robinson departed first ball, caught at second slip off a Higgins outswinger and James Sales also failed to score, perishing in identical fashion before Vasconcelos (62 from 61) and Keogh (60 from 68) launched the repair job.Keogh drove Noah Cornwell for successive boundaries, while Vasconcelos pierced the field with regularity and capitalised on Middlesex’s decision to forgo a slip with the powerplay done.The left-hander drilled Henry Brookes to the cover fence to post his half-century, but was halted in his tracks when Keogh’s powerful straight drive thudded into his helmet at the non-striker’s end.Although Vasconcelos was cleared to resume, the blow had clearly disrupted his rhythm and when he slapped his next delivery from Luke Hollman straight to midwicket, the innings began to crumble.Ravi Bopara, featuring in his first List A game since 2019, lasted just three deliveries before he was bowled around his legs sweeping Gohar and the spinner also claimed the scalp of Keogh, neatly stumped by Joe Cracknell.Gohar picked up two more, with Aryaman Varma superbly caught by Josh de Caires at full stretch running back from midwicket and Brookes wrapped up the innings by bowling Lewis McManus.Northamptonshire’s hopes were raised when Cracknell chopped on to the first legitimate delivery of Middlesex’s reply, extending a lean run of form that has now yielded five runs in as many innings.They might also have removed Robson who, having dispatched Justin Broad twice to the rope in quick succession, edged the seamer to second slip where Vasconcelos spilled the chance.Vasconcelos made amends in Broad’s next over by snapping up De Caires, but Robson took advantage of his earlier escape with a series of leg-side clips and cover drives, advancing beyond 50 as he and Geddes built a steady alliance that realised 76.Rookie seamer Ben Whitehouse eventually made the breakthrough when Robson miscued to mid-off, but Higgins announced his arrival at the crease by thumping the bowler for two fours to keep the scoreboard ticking over.Meanwhile, Geddes unfurled a string of classy strokes off both front and back foot, driving Liam Guthrie for a straight boundary that carried him to his half-century at exactly a run a ball – only to perish straight after the drinks break, top-edging to deep square leg.It was too late to rescue Northamptonshire from a fifth defeat in seven games and, although Higgins holed out late on, Gohar swung George Bartlett over the top to confirm victory.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are both part of the squad for the ODIs in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-20258:14

Aakash Chopra: Didn’t see Gill’s appointment coming this soon

Shubman Gill has been appointed India’s new ODI captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, and will lead the side in the three-match series in Australia starting on October 19.Rohit has been picked in the ODI squad as a batter and, along with Virat Kohli, is set to represent India again for the first time since the 2025 Champions Trophy in March.The selection panel, headed by former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar, met on Saturday in Ahmedabad, where India won the first Test of the series against West Indies by an innings and 140 runs. The reason behind the captaincy change was that the selectors wanted Gill to settle down well before the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. It is understood the decision was taken collectively by Agarkar in coordination with India head coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.Related

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“Obviously at some stage you got to start looking at where the next World Cup is,” Agarkar said at a press conference in Ahmedabad. “It’s [ODIs] also a format which is played the least now, so you don’t get that many games to actually give the next guy, or if there is going to be another guy, that much time to prepare himself or plan. We are two years away still, might look like a long time, but we don’t quite know how many one-day games we might play. Closer to the World Cup we might end up playing a little bit more than what we have, but the last one-day game we played was what, 8th or 9th March in Champions Trophy, and the next one we play is in October 19th, so it is a bit of a challenge with one-day cricket at the moment … It is very difficult to have three different captains for three formats, in terms of not just selectors but more importantly even for the coach, to plan with three different people is never easy.”Gill, 26, now holds formal leadership roles in all three formats as Test and ODI captain and vice-captain of the T20I team. “Hopefully not, he is still quite young,” Agarkar said when asked about the risk of Gill burning out given his workload. “We hope there is no burnout. It is true there is a lot of cricket coming thick and fast over the next few months in particular. We will try and manage it as best as we can, but you also want to, like I said, give the guy enough time to try and prepare going into that next World Cup, which is 24 months away, but may not be that many games, so we want to give him the best possible chance.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rohit, 38, was India’s full-time ODI captain from December 2021. Overall, he led India in 56 ODIs, winning 42, losing 12, with one tie and another no-result. He led India to the 2018 Asia Cup title as stand-in captain, and then to the 2023 Asia Cup title as full-time captain. Under his leadership, India made the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. His tenure culminated in India winning the Champions Trophy.Gill had also become India’s Test captain following Rohit’s retirement from the format in May ahead of India’s tour of England this summer. In his maiden series as Test captain, Gill led India to a 2-2 draw in England, and finished as the highest run-scorer with 754 runs at an average of 75.40.With Rohit and Kohli both retired from Tests and T20Is, the upcoming ODI series in Australia will be their first international appearance in more than seven months. After the three ODIs in Australia, their next opportunities to play for India are in the three-ODI home series against South Africa in November-December and against New Zealand in January.India play three ODIs in Australia on October 19, 23 and 25, followed by five T20Is from October 29 to November 8.

The pace bowler from Haryana played 34 matches for India and 120 games in the IPL

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2025India pace bowler Mohit Sharma announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, bringing an end to a career that saw 34 international appearances and more than a decade in the IPL.Mohit, 37, featured in 26 ODIs and eight T20Is, thanked his team-mates and officials who shaped his journey from Haryana to the international stage.”Today with a full heart, I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket,” Mohit, who featured in three IPL finals without lifting the trophy, wrote on his Instagram page.

45-year-old takes four as Middlesex lose 8 for 26 after Stoneman fifty

ECB Reporters Network21-Sep-2021Darren Stevens took 4 for 21, including a spell of 3 for 3 from five overs, as Middlesex collapse from 121 for 2 to 147 all out at Canterbury before Kent closed on 82 for 4, trailing by 65.Mark Stoneman top-scored with 59 but Stevens’ efforts, with Matt Milnes claiming 2 for 31 and Nathan Gilchrist 2 for 34 in support, meant they slumped to a low total.Tim Murtagh then took 2 for 19 as Kent navigated a perilous final session, Ollie Robinson and Milnes the not out batsmen at stumps on 11 and nought respectively.Second hosted first in the final red-ball fixture of the season, with the winners guaranteed to finish top of Division Three. Kent won the toss, chose to bowl and entered the field to a standing ovation, following Saturday’s triumph in the Vitality Blast at Edgbaston.Sam Robson made 13 before he was caught behind off Gilchrist and Stevie Eskinazi was lbw to Stevens for 15, but Middlesex made it to lunch without further loss, ending the session on 84 for 2.Related

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Stoneman brought up his fifty with a straight drive to Milnes that went for three, but Middlesex then lost five wickets for ten runs.Stoneman chopped a Stevens delivery onto his stumps and Stevens then trapped Max Holden lbw for a six-ball duck, before Grant Stewart sent Martin Andersson’s middle stump flying for nought. Stevens’ fifth over of the session saw him get John Simpson caught behind for six and Luke Hollman went for golden duck when he was lbw to Marcus O’Riordan.Toby Roland-Jones made nine when he chipped Milnes to a tumbling Stevens at mid-on and Ethan Bamber lasted just three balls before edging Gilchrist to Jack Leaning at third slip, without scoring. Murtagh then went for the fifth duck of the innings when Milnes yorked his leg stump to end the afternoon session.Kent’s reply got off to a rocky start when Jordan Cox left a ball from Murtagh that clipped his off stump, bowling him for two. Zak Crawley, captaining the side in the absence of Sam Billings – who is quarantining in UAE before he links up with Delhi Capitals – was caught behind off Bamber 20 and Daniel Bell Drummond was lbw for 20 to Murtagh. Leaning was then bowled by Anderson for 27, leaving Milnes to survive the two overs as night-watchman.

Chelsea stormed to another victory on Saturday, picking up a 3-1 win over Swansea City at Stamford Bridge. It’s a win that means the Blues have moved an incredible 11 points ahead of second place, albeit having played a game more than Manchester City.The win came courtesy of Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Diego Costa although the side did have to overcome the scare of a Fernando Llorente equaliser and a period in the game when the Swans looked well capable of winning a point.The transformation of Chelsea under Antonio Conte has been quite remarkable. From a team who couldn’t finish in the top four to a side capable of blowing away any team in the division.And as this stat from Squawka shows, he has in fact made the best start of any Premier League manager in history. He’s become the quickest manager to reach 20 wins in his debut season.

It’s incredible stuff that really underlines what a fantastic job he is doing at the club. He’s creating a platform that could usher in a whole new era of massive success at Stamford Bridge.

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