Kirsty McColl has been approved by the ICC Technical Committee as a replacement for injured Darcey Carter in Scotland’s squad for the ongoing Women’s ODI World Cup qualifiers in Pakistan.

Kirsty, who is yet to make her international debut, was named as a replacement due to off-spin all-rounder Darcey being ruled out of remainder of the competition after sustaining an injury to the right hand during Scotland’s epic 11-run win over the West Indies on day one of the qualifiers on Wednesday.

In the match, Darcey made 25 off 48 balls in Scotland’s campaign opener and picked up the wicket of opener Qiana Joseph for a duck in her very first over. Kirsty had been a member of Scotland’s squad playing the 2025 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia.

A lot had been said about Rashid Khan’s dwindling returns in IPL of late, but the premier Afghanistan leg-spinner bounced back in Gujarat Titans’ 58-run win over Rajasthan Royals by picking crucial scalps of Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey to end with 2-37 in his four overs.

Rashid said his endeavour during the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium was to bowl in a good area after admitting to missing his usual line and length. “If you work hard, you always get positive results. It was a difficult wicket to bowl for either a pacer or spinner. But we enjoyed it a lot as a bowling unit and as a player.”

"There is a lot of expectation from everyone. You have to do well in every match. If you are not good in one or two matches, there is a lot of expectations from people that this shouldn't be happening. I have played 126 matches in the IPL. So, sometimes you want to do something, but it doesn't happen and you don't get a good result.

South Africa Test captain Temba Bavuma has sustained an elbow injury two months before the World Test Championship final.

Bavuma was expected to feature for the Lions against the Titans in the Cricket SA Four-Day Series first-class final, which begins at the Wanderers on Thursday. But, he did not arrive in Johannesburg. The Lions found out late on Wednesday that Bavuma could not play the match because of the niggle, acccording to ESPNcricinfo report.

Since the conclusion of the Champions Trophy, Bavuma has not participated in any competitive cricket. However, he was part of the Lions’ squad for last week’s match against the Knights in Bloemfontein, which was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Cricket at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games will be played in the T20 format, with six teams competing in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, the Organisers said.

The event programme and athlete quotas for LA 2028 was approved by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday.

The organisers said that a total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing every team to name a 15-member squad.

The cricket venues for LA28 are yet to be confirmed.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has said the introduction of the mixed team event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games "significantly enhances the Olympic table tennis program."

The decision was made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the men's and women's doubles events are set to replace the men's and women's team events. The number of table tennis events at LA28 will be increased to six - men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, mixed doubles, and mixed team.

"This historic development significantly enhances the Olympic table tennis program," read a statement from the ITTF.

The mixed team event was first launched at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup held in Chengdu, China, in December 2023. For the ITTF, this innovative format brings men's and women's players together in combined teams, highlighting the sport's strong commitment to gender equality, integration, and teamwork.

FC Barcelona hit top gear and all but ensured its place in the Champions League semifinal with a 4-0 win at home to Borussia Dortmund in their quarterfinal first-leg tie.

Apart from a short period at the end of the first half, Hansi Flick's side dominated proceedings with the attacking trio of Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, with Pedri pulling the strings in midfield, tearing their rivals apart.

Barcelona was fast out of the blocks with Yamal cutting inside from the right and seeing a shot saved by Gregor Kobel.

Raphinha then worked his way along the touchline and flashed the ball across the face of goal. The Brazilian turned his side's positive start into a goal in the 25th minute, sliding in to score from very close range after Pau Cubarsi had turned Inigo Martinez's header goalwards.

Rajasthan Royals will be without the services of leg-spin all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga as captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first against Gujarat Titans in Match 23 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday.

Gujarat Titans (GT) are in second place in the points table, while Rajasthan Royals (RR) are in seventh position. A win for RR in Ahmedabad will take them to join a large six-point bandwagon. After winning the toss, Samson said Hasaranga was out due to personal reasons, with left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi replacing him in the playing eleven.

In light of the rising temperatures and ongoing heatwave in Rajasthan, special arrangements are being made at Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Stadium in Jaipur ahead of the first IPL 2025 match, scheduled for April 13.

To ensure the well-being of spectators and players, ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) counters and drinking water cans will be set up throughout the stadium.

He added that water will also be provided free of cost at various locations inside the venue.

League leaders Delhi Capitals will aim to continue their winning start in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season when they visit the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.

The hosts have so far won three of their opening four games, but their only loss came at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, an eight-wicket defeat to Gujarat Titans in their first home game of the season so far.

RCB come into the game on the back of their first win at the Wankhede Stadium in 10 years when they defeated the Mumbai Indians by 12 runs. It was once again Virat Kohli who led the side with an aggressive 67-run innings, which also saw him become the first Indian to score 13,000 runs in T20s, helped him set the tone while skipper Rajat Patidar’s 64 and Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 40 helped set a massive target.

New Zealand stand-in skipper Michael Bracewell has moved up in the top five of the ICC Men's All-Rounder Rankings following victory in the third ODI against Pakistan.

The 34-year-old, who contributed 85 runs with the bat, including a superb half-century in the final ODI in New Zealand's 3-0 series sweep over Pakistan, rose two spots to be placed fifth in the all-rounder list with 246 rating points, becoming highest ranked Kiwi in the category with compatriot Mitchell Santner sitting sixth.