Gujarat Giants have won the toss and opted to bowl first against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 12 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

Gujarat captain Ashleigh Gardner said she chose to ball first because chasing looks a bit easy in this edition of the WPL edition.

"Chasing seems to be a little bit easier throughout the tournament. We spoke about the powerplay. We just haven't had many runs to work with," Gardner said at the toss.

She said that Gujarat have made one change to their playing XI which played their last match as spin allrounder D. Hemalatha came in for Simran Shaikh.

RCB also made one change, bringing back legspinner Prema Rawat for left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht.

After Pakistan’s last game in the 2025 Champions Trophy ended in a washout against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Ground, skipper Mohammad Rizwan admitted that his side didn’t perform well in the competition, leaving them disappointed. Pakistan, the 2025 Champions Trophy hosts and defending champions, made an horrid start to the tournament by losing to New Zealand by 60 runs and then suffered a six-wicket defeat to India in Dubai, which knocked them out of the race for the semifinals.

"We wanted to do well and perform well in front of our nation. The expectations are very high. We didn't perform well, and it was disappointing for us. You can learn from your mistakes. We have made mistakes in the last few games. Hopefully, we can learn from these.”

“We are next going to New Zealand, and hopefully we can perform there and the mistakes that we made against New Zealand here in Pakistan, we can learn from that. And we will do better in New Zealand.”

“We are all very disappointed. We are all here for the nation. Pakistan is our priority, and the expectation from us is very high. We are upset, and we are accepting that we didn't do well. Hopefully, we will do more hard work and come back," said Rizwan to broadcasters after Pakistan and Bangladesh split a point each.

The Indian men’s hockey team’s recent performance at the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 (Men) where they won five out of eight matches was backed by a week-long coaching camp for strikers held in Bhubaneswar.

The Indian team is now placed third in the points table only behind England and Belgium while Netherlands, Germany and Australia are placed No. 4 to No.6, respectively, with the finale scheduled in June.

To foster the Indian team’s performance in a crucial year with the FIH Men’s World Cup qualification at sake, Hockey India invited legendary former Australian forward and striker’s coach Michael McCann for a camp in Bhubaneswar between February 6 to 12. McCann was part of Australia’s dream team that won the Athens Olympic gold in 2004 and gold in FIH Champions Trophy 2005 in Chennai.

He is also a two-time silver medallist in FIH Men’s World Cup and back-to-back Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2002 and 2006. Over the past eight years, McCann has been closely working with the German U21 side and the senior squad.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have ended their 2025 Champions Trophy campaigns without a win after their final Group A match was abandoned due to rain at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Both teams will now end with a point each due to the washout.

Both Bangladesh and Pakistan, the tournament hosts’ and defending champions, were already knocked out of the eight-team competition after India and New Zealand entered the semi-finals, making this clash a dead rubber.

Now with the rain leading to a washout, it has become the second game after the South Africa-Australia Group B match to be abandoned due to rain in Rawalpindi.

It has been drizzling in Rawalpindi for the last 24 hours, meaning that there was always a scare of a washout on Thursday’s game.

The toss for the Pakistan-Bangladesh Group A match in the 2025 Champions Trophy has been delayed due to rain at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Both Bangladesh and Pakistan, the tournament hosts’ and defending champions, are out of the reckoning to enter the semi-finals, making this clash a dead rubber. Interestingly, the South Africa-Australia Group B match on Tuesday was also washed out due to rain in Rawalpindi.

It has been drizzling in Rawalpindi for the last 24 hours, meaning that there was always a scare of a washout on the Pakistan-Bangladesh game. An official inspection time was scheduled at 2pm, but rain coming back with a steady nature meant it never happened, and the toss was officially delayed.

All-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt picked 3-18, her best bowling figures in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), as Mumbai Indians restricted UP Warriorz to 142/9 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.

UPW got off to a rollicking start, thanks to Grace Harris making a quick-fire 45 after being promoted to open the batting and take them to 80/1 in nine overs. But MI made a strong comeback by picking wickets in heaps to keep the Warriorz to a below-par total. Apart from Nat, who used slower balls very well, Shabnim Ismail and Sanskriti Gupta took two wickets each, while Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr each had a scalp.

Electing to bowl first, MI struck quickly when Kiran Navgire pulled off the toe-end to mid-on against Nat. But after that, boundaries began to flow for UPW – Grace dispatched Shabnim for a hat-trick of fours, while Vrinda Dinesh elegantly lofted and hooked Nat for her two fours.

Ibrahim Zadran etched his name into Afghanistan’s cricketing history with a monumental 177 off 146 balls, propelling his team to their highest-ever total in an ICC 50-over event. His knock, laced with 12 fours and six maximums, helped Afghanistan post 325/7 against England in their crucial Champions Trophy 2025 clash at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday.

By hammering the England bowling attack, Zadran became the first Afghanistan batter to score a century in the Champions Trophy and set a new record for the highest individual score in the tournament’s history with 177 runs, surpassing Ben Duckett’s 165 in England's opening match of the Champions Trophy against Australia in Lahore from the same edition.

Zadran’s innings was a masterclass in pacing an ODI knock. After Afghanistan were rattled early and reduced to 37/3, he steadied the innings alongside skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi in a crucial 103-run stand.

Once set, he unleashed an array of strokes, dismantling England’s attack with precision. His innings wasn’t just about survival but domination, as he accelerated in the latter stages, ensuring Afghanistan maximized their final overs with a stunning 113-run burst in the last 10. His knock helped Afghanistan surpass their previous highest total in ICC tournaments —291/5 against Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that Australian left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann’s bowling action is legal, allowing him to continue bowling in international cricket. “The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed that the bowling action of Australia spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has been found to be legal, and the player can continue bowling in international cricket,” the ICC said in a statement.

Kuhnemann had been reported for a suspected illegal action during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on February 9, prompting an independent bowling assessment at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on February 15.

The results of the assessment revealed that his elbow extension remained within the permitted 15-degree threshold under the ICC’s Illegal Bowling Regulations.

With the matter now officially resolved, Cricket Australia (CA) expressed their support for the 28-year-old.

Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey both claimed a couple of wickets in an over each to land early blows as Delhi Capitals overcame a late charge by Bharti Fulmani, who struck 40 not out off 29 balls, to restrict Gujarat Giants to 127/9 in 20 overs in their Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.

The pacers ruled the day for Delhi Capitals with Kapp claiming 2-17, Shikha Pandey bagging 2-18 and the experienced Annabel Sutherland taking 2-20 as Delhi Capitals, after electing to bowl first, capitalised on the slight green tinge on the pitch and the seaming conditions kept pegging at the Gujarat Giants' innings. The spinners maintained the good work in the middle overs as Delhi Capitals raised hopes of restricting Gujarat to less then 100.

But Bharati Fulmani hammered two sixes, the only two maximums of the innings, and four boundaries in her 29-ball 40 not out to give them some hope and respectability to the Gujarat Giants total.

The move to promote Harleen Deol (5,10b 1x4) to the opener's slot did not work for Gujarat Giants as Kapp sent her back in the fourth over, getting her to edge behind to keeper Sarah Bryce for five, Kapp struck again two balls later when she removed Phoebe Litchfield (0) as Gujarat Giants slump to 16/2.

Sanjay Dutt is set to entertain the fans with an action-horror comedy. The 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.' actor took to his social media to announce his next.

He shared an eerie poster for the upcoming drama on his IG, and penned, "Mahadev ki bhakti main shakti hai! Bohot hua wait! Baba is locking the date!("There is power in the devotion to Mahadev! Enough waiting! Baba is locking the date!)"

Reacting to the post, Sunny Singh wrote in the comment section, "Love u sir...zor di jhapp (A tight hug)".

Made under the direction of Sidhaant Sachdev, the film’s title and release date will be announced on 26th February on the occasion of Maha Shivratri.

The yet-to-be-titled drama features an eclectic cast including Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy, Sunny Singh, Palak Tiwari, Aasif Khan, and Beyounick.