The big news: Pakistan end England tour on high

Pakistan beat England by nine wickets to win the only Twenty20 International match at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Wednesday. England won the toss and chose to bat first, with Alex Hales and Jason Roy opening the innings. The duo stitched an opening stand of 56 runs, before falling to Imad Wasim. After that, England were never really in the game with Wahab Riaz taking three wickets to restrict England to 135.

Pakistani openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif struck an opening partnership of 107 runs to take the game away from England. Khan eventually fell for 59, while Latif remained unbeaten on 59 and helped Pakistan cruise to a nine-wicket win.

Other top stories

  1. The International Cricket Council (ICC) shelved its plans for a two-tier Test cricket structure after it was opposed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and three other countries. Even though the structure found support with six full members backing the proposal, India opted for a no vote.
  2. The BCCI and ICC seem to be at loggerheads over their battle over finances in cricket. The BCCI has threatened to withdraw from the Champions Trophy in England 2017 after it was excluded from the financial committee meeting. Reports then emerged that India may start it owns tournament.
  3. India Blue progressed to the final of Duleep Trophy after they drew against India Green. India Blue, led by Gauntam Gambhir, will face India Red in the final on Saturday. However, during the course of the day Pragyan Ojha of India Green was sent to the hospital after he was struck on the head with the pink ball.
  4. New Zealand pacer Adam Milne may not feature in the One-Day International squad for upcoming tour of India as he is yet to recover from the elbow surgery, said national selector Gavin Larsen. Milne sustained a hamstring tear in his right leg during the Indian Premier League in May and then required surgery on his elbow as well.
  5. Andrew Strauss, the England team director, issued a warning that if any of the players do not travel to Bangladesh for the upcoming tour, there would be no guarantee of regaining the spot. The English players are yet to finalise their availability for the tour after citing security concerns.
  6. An unofficial Test match between India A and Australia A began in Brisbane on Thursday. The four-day match started with India A winning the toss and opting to bat. They ended the day at 192/4, with Manish Pandey top-scoring (77).