Cricket: India to host West Indies, South Africa

BENGALURU: India will kick off their 2025 home season with a two-match test series against the West Indies in October before taking on South Africa across all three formats of the game, the country’s cricket board announced on Wednesday.

Ahmedabad will host the first test against the Caribbean side starting October 2, while Kolkata will be the venue for the second match from October 10, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement.

New Delhi and Guwahati will be the stage for two tests against South Africa starting from November 14. The teams will also face off in one-day internationals in Ranchi, Raipur and Visakhapatnam before a five-match Twenty20 series.

The fifth and final game in the shortest format will be in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in December, after games in Cuttack, New Chandigarh, Dharamsala and Lucknow.

Meanwhile, New Zealand won the second ODI against Pakistan by 84 runs, closing out the three-match series. They will have the opportunity to white wash Pakistan on Saturday, April 5.

After Mitchell Hay scored an unbeaten 99 to lead New Zealand to a total of 292 runs, the Kiwis bowling attack, spearheaded by Ben Sears, dismantled Pakistan’s batting line-up to win the second ODI and the series.

While Hay impressed with the bat, Sears stood out with the ball, as he took his first five ODI wickets in his third ever match.

Haris Rauf retired hurt in the 25th over after suffering a blow on his helmet. He didn’t pass the mandatory concussion test and left the field. 

The men in green immediately got off to a rough start, as opener Shafique was caught out by Mitchell in just the third over, on a delivery from Will O’Rourke. Shafique only managed to score one run. 

That was only the beginning of Pakistan’s troubles, as Babar was caught out by Nicholls on the third ball he faced, which was the first delivery by Jacob Duffy, only scoring on run as well. Not long after, Imam-ul-Haq was caught out in the sixth over, as Mitchell gave Duffy his second wicket of the game. He made three runs off 12 deliveries.