Titans looked on track in the chase at a point but then lost eight wickets for just 48 runs

Alan Gardner07-Apr-20242:21

Why Stoinis came in to bat before Pooran

Lucknow Super Giants claimed their third win in a row, and first over Gujarat Titans in five attempts, with a fighting defence of 163 in Lucknow. Marcus Stoinis’ first half-century of the season provided the ballast after the home side had chosen to bat first and, although Titans started well in their run chase, Yash Thakur claimed a maiden five-for to help demolish the innings.The LSG batting effort was rarely fluent, captain KL Rahul and Stoinis opting for accumulation after Umesh Yadav had struck twice with the new ball. Both fell when looking to up the ante and it needed flashes of power from Nicholas Pooran plus a cameo from Ayush Badoni to get them up to a respectable score.Related

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In their favour was the fact LSG had never been beaten defending a target of 160-plus. Titans looked set to threaten that record after racing to 54 without loss inside the powerplay, only for a stunning collapse of 8 for 48 to make it 13 from 13 for LSG. After Yash skidded one through Shubman Gill, Ravi Bishnoi’s spectacular caught-and-bowled dismissal of Kane Williamson provided the spark, while Krunal Pandya raced through his four-over allocation for figures of 3 for 11 as Titans imploded.That they managed such a comfortable defence was even more remarkable given LSG lost the services of their new pace sensation, Mayank Yadav, after just a single over due to a side strain – the one sour note as Rahul’s team moved to six points and third in the table.Titans start strong then stumble
Chasing what seemed a middling target, Titans eased out of the blocks with a fifty opening stand inside the powerplay. Sai Sudharsan was all poise and wrists, hitting four early boundaries – including two off Mayank in his only over, during which the LSG fast man barely breached 140kph – while Shubman Gill looked to play himself in. With Mayank having to leave the field and M Siddharth struggling with front-foot no-balls, Titans looked to be cruising.Krunal Pandya finished with three wickets•BCCI

However, the dismissal of Gill from the final ball of the sixth over sparked an extraordinary collapse. Krunal whizzed through a tidy over, before Ravi Bishnoi struck with his second ball, leaping to hold a brilliant one-handed return catch off Kane Williamson, Titans’ impact sub. Sudharsan then holed out to deep square leg from the first ball of Krunal’s second over, which was followed by BR Sharath top-edging a sweep to deep backward square. Titans had shipped four wickets for seven runs in the space of 18 balls and suddenly had it all to do.Yash we can!Titans’ chase never recovered. Krunal claimed a third wicket as the asking rate rose towards 12 an over, with the canny Yash returning to dismiss Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan in the space of four balls to leave the score 93 for 7. Rahul Tewatia presented the only danger of an upset, twice clearing the ropes in 30 off 25 balls, but he picked out deep square leg before Yash wrapped up the innings for career-best T20 figures.Rahul’s slow-and-steady rebuild
LSG were after a fast start against the new ball, with Quinton de Kock marking his 100th IPL appearance by clattering Umesh Yadav into the stands second ball. He didn’t survive the over, however, an attempted repeat resulting in a big top edge to deep third. With Devdutt Padikkal notching a fourth single-figure score in a row for his new franchise, Lucknow were 18 for 2 in the third over and looking vulnerable.Marcus Stoinis and KL Rahul rebuilt after two early blows•AFP/Getty Images

Rahul is the perfect man for a rebuild, though, and he helped resurrect the innings in the company of Stoinis. After taking three boundaries off Spencer Johnson’s second over, the pair batted watchfully through the middle of the innings, until what almost appeared to be Rahul’s first shot in anger, in the 13th over, as the LSG captain attempted to hit Darshan Nalkande over long-on only to hole out. The partnership was worth 73 from 62 balls but ended just when LSG were hoping to push on.Spinners squeeze but Pooran finishes
Stonis should have been dismissed in the following over, mishitting Noor Ahmed straight up only for Rashid to grass the chance running in from long-off. Noor bowled his four overs off the reel for just 22 runs – conceding a single boundary – and although Stoinis broke the shackles to pump Nalkande twice over long-on for a 40-ball half-century, he fell trying to target the same bowler, top-edging a skier to the keeper.With two new batters at the crease going into the death overs, and Rashid still with two up his sleeve, LSG were facing an uphill struggle. Rashid conceded five singles off the 17th, but Pooran and Ayush Badoni released some pressure by taking Mohit Shah for three boundaries in the next. Although Badoni holed out looking to take on Rashid, Pooran carted the legspinner over midwicket for the only boundary of his allocation, with another six in the final over – in which Johnson conceded just eight – taking LSG beyond the magic 160-mark.

Gazi Ashraf Hossain said they decided to not make any tweaks after a conversation with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe

Mohammad Isam25-May-2024Bangladesh chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain is keeping the faith in the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup keeping in mind the ICC’s May 25 deadline to submit the final squads for the tournament. Bangladesh had the opportunity to make changes after they lost the first two T20Is – and hence the series – against USA in Texas with the same squad.”After speaking to the captain [Najmul Hossain Shanto] and coach [Chandika Hathurusinghe], we decided to keep this squad,” Ashraf said. “We are hoping they do well in the T20 World Cup. We are keeping faith in the existing squad. We never expected that the team will start the tour with a series loss [against USA]. But that’s the reality. We have another 12 days in hand. We have to get out of this disappointment. They know that if the team does well in the World Cup, this will be forgotten quickly.”Ashraf was speaking at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka where the BCB called up 21 players for the Bangladesh Tigers’ training camp from May 26. Ashraf said the camp includes six players designated as T20 World Cup reserves although Mohammad Saifuddin has opted out for the first two weeks due to a family emergency.Related

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• Injured Taskin Ahmed named in Bangladesh's T20 World Cup squad

• Ali Khan, Monank Patel take USA to historic series win over Bangladesh

“Since nobody was in training, we started the Bangladesh Tigers’ camp. We are keeping some players ready for white-ball cricket so that when facing a crisis, we can send replacements,” he said. “They are all World Cup standbys. (Anamul Haque) Bijoy is there if there’s a crisis around Litton (Das). (Nurul Hasan) Sohan is there for Jaker Ali. Khaled, (Parvez Hossain) Emon, Nasum (Ahmed) and (Mehidy Hasan) Miraz are also in the camp. Nasum was suffering from jaundice, so he might join the players in the Sylhet phase next month.”Saifuddin has been given a leave till June 10. He is attending to a family situation. He was one of the six players asked to join the Bangladesh Tigers’ training camp. We will now prepare Khaled with the others.”Bangladesh’s opening batting combination has been under scrutiny this year, particularly with Litton Das and Soumya Sarkar looking out of form. Tanzid Hasan has been the only opener to have scored a little consistently although he has played only six T20Is since his T20I debut against Zimbabwe earlier this month.Ashraf said they are not looking for a makeshift opening option just yet because he feels it is a specialist’s job. He said they should be able to pick openers from those who did well in the BPL this year.”Facing the new ball is a challenge everywhere, so you won’t see many teams nowadays sending makeshift openers,” he said. “Unless they really have to. Cricket has moved on from using pinch hitters.”We are supposed to have 24 openers playing in the BPL, if you consider each team having a reserve opener apart from the regular pair. I don’t think it is a good practice if we have to think about a makeshift.”Ashraf also informed that Taskin Ahmed, who suffered a side strain earlier this month, could be training properly from June 5. “Taskin could start light training from June 1. He is recovering quicker than expected. He could be bowling with a full run-up from June 5,” he said.Bangladesh, in Group D, open their T20 World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 7 in Dallas before heading to New York to play South Africa (June 10), and then to St Vincent to take on Netherlands (June 13) and Nepal (June 16). They will also play two warm- up games, against USA on May 28, and opposite India on June 1 before the main tournament.

Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup

:Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Taskin Ahmed (vice-capt), Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Tanvir Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan
Traveling reserves: Hasan Mahmud, Afif Hossain

In the stands for England’s 2010 triumph, the opener is now integral to their World Cup defence 14 years on

Andrew Miller03-Jun-2024Fourteen years ago, in May 2010, Phil Salt was a kid in the stands at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, watching England’s cricketers parading their first piece of global silverware, after victory over Australia in the final of that year’s World T20. Now he’s back as an England star in his own right, seeking to launch his team’s defence of the same trophy at the same venue, when they take on Scotland in Bridgetown on Tuesday morning.By his own admission, Salt’s is not a homecoming to rival that of Jofra Archer or Chris Jordan, the two born-and-bred Bajans in England’s anticipated starting XI. Even so, having spent six formative years in Barbados – honing his love of cricket from the age of nine to 15, while his father Chris was working as a property developer – he acknowledges it’s an extraordinary turn of events.”To be back here and have the opportunity to play for England in a World Cup isn’t something I ever thought I’d be doing, but it’s certainly very special,” Salt said. “Everything about the place suits me. Pretty laid-back, a lot of cricket, a lot of sport, still got a lot of friends on the island. I don’t think there’s too many people that disagree that living in Barbados is a touch. But yeah, I loved it.”Salt played a small part in England’s T20 World Cup victory in Australia two years ago. After coming into the starting XI as a replacement for the injured Dawid Malan, he did not bat in the semi-final against India as Jos Buttler and Alex Hales romped to a ten-wicket victory, then made 10 from 9 balls at No.3 in a low-scoring final against Pakistan.Now, however, is very much his moment. Six months ago, he nailed his audition to be Buttler’s regular opening partner with back-to-back centuries against West Indies in Grenada and Trinidad, then ran hot at a crucial juncture of Kolkata Knight Riders’ recent IPL triumph, with a run of 290 runs from 144 balls in five innings, including 89 not out from 47 balls against Lucknow Super Giants.Salt had always had the ability to start an innings strongly – two years ago, he marked his T20I debut (coincidentally, also at Bridgetown) with 57 from 24 balls. And yet, he recognises his game has gone to a new level in recent months, to the extent that he enters this tournament as one of the most dangerous batters on display.”It’s been a combination of things,” he said. “The opportunity to gain more experience in international cricket has definitely been the biggest part of it in my own head. I’ve also had a look at where I’m strong, where I’m not, used the analysis, learnt from the coaches, to make those movements in my game.”I can’t put my finger on any one thing, but it’s maybe a mindset shift, that I want to be the person winning more games for England. You like to think [that people fear you] as an opening batter, but the moment you recognise that and you start thinking, ‘I’m the big guy I am’, the game’s always going to bite you. I try not to think about anything like that and keep it one ball at a time.”Salt’s form was integral to KKR’s third IPL title•BCCI

Another key facet of his growth, he says, has been the opportunity to bat alongside his England captain in the Hundred – an alliance that has been instrumental in Manchester Originals reaching the final for two years running. In 2022, Salt’s tally of 353 runs in ten innings was second only to Malan (377), while his 232 the following year may have been dwarfed by Buttler’s haul of 391, but they came at a blistering strike-rate of 194.95.The pair reprised their antics in an opening stand of 82 in 6.2 overs against Pakistan at The Oval on Thursday – England’s final warm-up ahead of the Scotland encounter. Though Salt admitted their partnership had taken a while to click, he felt the dynamic was now similar to the one he had enjoyed in the Vitality Blast with his former Sussex captain, and now England selector, Luke Wright.”[Luke] liked to take a few balls. So, my role at the time was just to get us off to a flyer,” Salt said. “That probably stood me in good stead for batting with someone like Jos.”We do have different styles. In my career I’ve always been the aggressor and I suppose I am the aggressor early on in this partnership. I feel like we both showcased it pretty well at The Oval the other night. I didn’t get a flyer, but we sort of hung in and then Jos went and then we dovetailed nicely.”It’s good because we both communicate a lot out there and we realise that when one goes, we feed the strike to the other person, so there’s no ego about it. It’s whoever goes first. We just communicate and it sounds really simple, but I’ve batted with a lot of people and it’s not always the case. So, it’s nice when you have that connection with your partner.”It remains to be seen whether it’s a partnership that can carry England all the way to their third T20 World Cup title. But, auspiciously for Salt, when they won the first of those back in 2010, it was once again the opening partnership that laid the foundations for everything that followed. As the impressionable youngster in the stands remembers well.Related

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• England have 'no preconceived ideas' about used Barbados pitch

“Craig Kieswetter was definitely one [role-model],” Salt said, recalling the Somerset opener who burst to prominence alongside Michael Lumb, after the pair were hastily thrown together on the eve of the tournament, and contributed a match-winning half-century in the final.”He was a bit of an unknown at the time and then he came out, and I was in awe of him. I thought he was brilliant, he took some incredible catches and the way he played, he was certainly someone I tried to model myself on at the time. I watched a lot of good cricket here. People like Chris Gayle … when I was a kid, anybody who hit the ball hard or kept, I’d watch them on YouTube and just try and try and emulate them.”And though he played down any similarities between the class of 2010 and the team he’s fronting up for now, Salt did recall the highlight of his day out at that original final. If he gets to emulate it this time around, he really will have fulfilled his childhood dream.”Colly [Paul Collingwood] came past up this stand here – the Hall and Griffith where I was sat upstairs watching the final – with the trophy and said, ‘here, touch it while you can’. So, I got a touch of the trophy that day. That’s the thing that always sticks with me when I think about that day.”

He produced an all-round performance, notching up 67 at No.7 and then taking two wickets in a tied game

Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Aug-2024Dunith Wellalage, all of 21, produced an exemplary all-round performance on a tough pitch at Khettarama. Batting at No. 7, he played Sri Lanka’s best innings, hitting 67 not out off 65, in a total of 230 for 8 in the first ODI.When defending, the left-arm spinner took 2 for 39 off nine overs, taking the crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma, who was India’s best batter on the evening, and Sri Lanka went on to tie the game.On the batting front, Wellalage had started watchfully after coming in at 101 for 5 in the 27th over, but on a surface on which no one truly looked set, he seemed the most comfortable batter across both teams, even striking powerful boundaries at the close. For this innings, he took inspiration from a Sri Lanka team-mate, he said.Related

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Pathum Nissanka, who hit another fifty on Friday, has been the hosts’ best batter of the tour so far, having also made runs in the T20Is.”They have a lot of experienced bowlers, so the more we can limit our mistakes, the more we can put pressure on them,” Wellalage said of his thinking during his innings. “I was watching Pathum Nissanka bat quite a lot. I put his batting in my mind as I came up with a plan. If you take the pitch, it was one that supported spin bowling. I tried to put as much pressure on the bowler and build partnerships.”With the ball, he perhaps struck the most important blow of the night. Rohit was threatening to make easy work of the target when he galloped to his fifty off 33 balls. But in the 15th over, Wellalage beat him in flight, and struck Rohit in front of the stumps as he attempted a sweep shot, cutting that innings short for 58 off 47.This is after he’d also dismissed Shubman Gill, again with a nicely flighted delivery that Gill top edged high enough for the keeper to track it down. Wellalage had been the first spinner to be introduced, inside the powerplay.”We knew that the wicket was spinning. So Charith Asalanka had told me that I would be bowling in the powerplay. I had good support from the wicket too.”With Rohit at the time, I was trying just to bowl wicket-to-wicket, because I knew how much assistance there was from the pitch.”The middle to late overs, were all Wanindu Hasaranga and Asalanka, said Wellalage. Those two bowlers took three wickets apiece, with Asalanka providing the final touches, taking two wickets in the 48th over when India had already tied the game. Having Axar Patel caught behind was his other wicket.Earlier, Hasaranga had removed Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Kuldeep Yadav.”When we bowled, the game changed with the wickets that Wanindu and Charith took. They took wickets at very difficult times, and that’s how we were able to at least keep it to this score. If you take Axar Patel and KL Rahul, these are batters who have finished a lot of matches.”At that time we needed to get the bowlers in, and when Charith got Axar out and Wanindu got KL Rahul out. It was important to stay calm at that stage, and the match turned our way.”

Ingram top-scores with 47 as hosts make it two wins from two

ECB Reporters Network07-Jul-2024Glamorgan 182 for 8 (Ingram 47, Allison 3-52) beat Essex 156 (Walter 53, Rossington 41, van der Gugten 3-15) by 26 runsGlamorgan made it back-to-back wins in the Vitality Blast with a 26-run victory over Essex in Cardiff. Middle-order runs and a brilliant bowling display helped them close out their fourth win of the tournament.Having been put in to bat, Glamorgan scored 182 for eight with Colin Ingram top scoring with 47. He was well supported by Marnus Labuschagne and Chris Cooke to set Essex a stiff target.An excellent stand between Adam Rossington and Paul Walter looked to be taking Essex to victory before Labuschagne and Mason Crane choked the life out of the chase to give Glamorgan the win.Essex were bowled out for 156 with the highest score coming from Walter who made 53.Essex kept Glamorgan guessing with their bowling changes in the first part of their innings, with eight bowling changes in the first eight overs. Mixing up the bowling seemed with work with 43 runs and two wickets coming from the PowerPlay.Both Glamorgan openers fell early with Will Smale top edging a sweep shot off Simon Harmer that was caught inside the circle by Robin Das and Kiran Carlson dismissed for 11 when he edged a ball from Ben Allison through to Adam Rossington.A stand of 49 between Tom Bevan and Marnus Labuschagne helped Glamorgan recover from the loss of their openers inside the Powerplay but Bevan departed when he nicked Matt Critchley to Rossington for 23.The experienced trio of Labuschagne, Ingram and Cooke were the reason Glamorgan got to a competitive total with all three players making significant contributions. Labuschagne made 30 from 26 balls that steadied things after the loss of early wickets. He was dismissed when he missed a sweep shot and was bowled by Critchley.Ingram and Cooke combined for the highest stand of the Glamorgan innings, scoring 67 runs for the fourth wicket. Ingram was the highest scorer in the innings but it was Cooke who was the most destructive, scoring 38 runs from just 18 balls. Both fell in the pursuit of quick runs at the death, with Cooke departing to a fantastic catch from Ben Allison on the boundary that robbed him of another six.The Essex innings started with Timm van der Gugten claiming three early wickets to leave the visitors 27 for three. Van der Gugten trapped Dean Elgar lbw for 4 before bowling Michael Pepper and having Robin Das caught behind.The target seemed a long way away at that point but a brilliant partnership of 83 between Rossington and Walter brought Essex back into the game. Walter was the main contributor, making 53 of those runs from just 33 balls before he was dismissed by Dan Douthwaite.Rossington fell in the very next over when he skied an attempted sweep off Labuschagne’s legspin and he was caught by the bowler for 43 to leave Essex 113 for five.From there Crane and Labuschagne strangled the Essex middle-order as the run rate kept climbing. The two legspinners combined for eight overs for the cost of just 48 runs and claiming five wickets between them as Essex were bowled out a long way short of the target.

Gets to the landmark in the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Khettarama

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Aug-2024Ranjan Madugalle has become the first match referee to officiate 400 ODIs, with his taking charge of the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Khettarama.Madugalle has been a match referee since 1993 and in that time has also officiated more than 200 Tests, also a record. He had, in addition, served as the ICC’s chief match referee until that position was removed.Simon Taufel, former elite-panel umpire and the former umpires performance and training manager for the ICC, paid tribute to Madugalle.”Ranjan’s longevity is remarkable,” Taufel said. “He was there at the beginning of my international umpiring career and the end. He has served Sri Lanka, the ICC and game of cricket with distinction and integrity. This milestone highlights his commitment and dedication to the sport he loves.”Madugalle, in a statement put out by the ICC, said getting to this landmark was “dreamlike”. “It has been a great honour and privilege to have officiated in international cricket for so many years and it’s almost dreamlike to be reaching this milestone.”I was pleased when I got the opportunity to be associated with the game after my time as a cricketer but never thought that it would stretch to over three decades!”During this period, I have had the chance to officiate all over the world and in several World Cups, relishing every moment.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ICC, Sri Lanka Cricket and my colleagues with whom I have worked over the years for their support and friendship, as well as my family and friends, without whose support it would not have been possible to have come this far.”Before turning his attentions towards officiating games, Madugalle had played 21 Tests and 63 ODIs for Sri Lanka as a batter.

The security assessment became necessary because of the political turmoil in Bangladesh in July-August

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2024South Africa’s two-Test series in Bangladesh will be played on schedule, with CSA okaying the tour following a security assessment by its experts. The first Test will be played from October 21-25 in Dhaka, and the second in Chattogram from October 29 to November 2.A CSA statement on Monday said that it had given the tour the go-ahead after “an in-loco inspection” on the part of the board’s operations manager, team security manager, safety and security consultant, and a representative of the South African Cricketers’ Association, who submitted their recommendations to the board after visiting Bangladesh last week.South Africa will reach Dhaka on October 16. The squad for the series is expected later on Monday.

Bangladesh vs South Africa

Oct 21-25: 1st Test, Dhaka
Oct 29 to Nov 2: 2nd Test, Chattogram

South Africa’s concerns about the security situation in Bangladesh were because of the anti-government protests in the country in July-August, which led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, and, later, the women’s T20 World Cup moving out of the country to the UAE.CSA sources had told ESPNcricinfo earlier this month that they had been told the situation in Bangladesh had “settled”, but the tour wouldn’t go on if any risks were identified in the security assessments.South Africa only have six Test matches left in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. They have already played six games, having won two, lost three, and drawn one. They are currently sixth on the points table, and need to win at least five of their remaining games to have a chance of qualifying for next year’s final at Lord’s. All six of their series in this cycle have been limited to two Tests, as CSA prioritised the launch of the SA20, their domestic T20 franchise competition, and cost-cutting.The last time South Africa and Bangladesh had faced each other in a Test series was in South Africa in March-April 2022. South Africa’s white-ball squads are currently in the UAE to take on Ireland.

Two young batters produced outstanding innings at North Sydney Oval, while a well-known name also starred

AAP01-Nov-2024Sydney Thunder recruit Georgia Voll has enjoyed the red-letter day of her career, leading her side to their biggest win with a 64-run smashing of Adelaide.In a record-breaking blitz at North Sydney Oval, Voll’s 92 from 55 balls helped Thunder smash their highest total – 212 for 5.Related

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Spinner Sam Bates then claimed career-best figures of 4 for 21 from her four overs as Strikers collapsed to be all out for 148.The result marked the Thunder’s most emphatic victory in the competition’s 10-year history, and their second win in three games to start the year. Two-time defending-champions Adelaide are now 1-2 to start the summer, in the shortened 19-game season.And Voll was the star on Friday for Thunder, in just the 21-year-old’s third WBBL match since moving from Brisbane Heat. Brought to the Thunder on a three-year deal with the chance to open, the Queenslander smashed three sixes and 12 boundaries in her knock. It marked only her second half-century in 61 WBBL games, but offered a glimpse of what is possible at the top of the order.”Definitely [that’s the best I’ve hit them],” Voll said. “I’ve been up and down the order, so it’s nice to be settled at the top of the order, play my role really well and have the backing to play my shots.It was nice to be able to bat for a long time because I got out quite cheaply in the first couple of games.”She slog-swept Megan Schutt for a six early, pulled Darcie Brown for another six and put spinner Anesu Mushangwe deep onto the North Sydney hill. The right-hander looked set for a maiden century, before she picked out Amanda-Jade Wellington at short fine-leg while trying to scoop Orla Prendergast.Voll’s runs came in 54-run opening stand with Chamari Athapaththu, before she and Phoebe Litchfield combined for a 96-run second-wicket stand off 52 balls. Litchfield also peppered the leg boundary in her 49, while bringing her creative strokeplay with a typical mix of scoops and reverse sweeps. The pair at one stage added six boundaries in seven balls, taking the game away from Strikers.Heather Knight hit 28 from 15 late on as Thunder romped past their previous high total of 204 and to the third best score of any side in WBBL history.In reply, Strikers were barely in the contest. Only Katie Mack’s 51 held the innings together early, as Shabnim Ismail took 3 for 18 before Bates ran through the middle and lower order.Rhys McKenna flayed a 22-ball 52•Getty Images

Meg Lanning produced a vintage knock and Rhys McKenna announced her arrival as a legitimate WBBL force to help the Melbourne Stars beat the Sydney Sixers.On a record-breaking day at North Sydney Oval, Lanning and McKenna produced the fastest-scoring century-stand in WBBL history before rain ended the game early. Sitting at 68 for 2 at the halfway mark, Lanning and McKenna put on 104 runs from 43 balls.Sixers were then 56 for 4 in reply when rain stopped play, falling to a 32-run loss on DLS.McKenna, a 20-year-old, blitzed her 52 from just 22 balls, playing one of the shots of the tournament when she square-drove Ellyse Perry for six. She hit three sixes in total and seven fours, as she and Lanning took the game completely out of Sixers’ control.Lanning was also in imposing form, after helping steady the ship early in her innings. She led the way as the Stars took 28 off one Lauren Cheatle over, cutting a full-toss no-ball from the left-armer for six over point. The former Australian captain also hit one of her classic cover drives for six off spinner Sophie Ecclestone, as Stars hit 127 runs from their final 10 overs.Sixers then lost wickets cheaply in reply, with only Perry scoring an unbeaten 31 after Alyssa Healy was caught behind for 4 on return from a foot injury.

Neither team will read too much into how individuals have fared, but there are broad, team-level issues they may want to look into

Karthik Krishnaswamy12-Nov-2024

Big picture – both teams have issues to address

This series is a bit of an oddity, with two sides at below full strength, with a number of big names rested for more pressing engagements, facing off in a format that’s taken a bit of a back seat in terms of wider relevance, with no immediate world event to build towards. It’s also an oddity in that it’s four matches long, rather than three or five.For all that, it’s been extremely competitive, and at 1-1 could be shaping up for a blockbuster second half. After sharing honours on the coast, South Africa and India now move to the pace, true bounce and high altitude of the Highveld with all to play for.Given that both sides are testing out young players and new combinations, neither team will read too much into how individuals have fared so far. But there are broad, team-level issues they may want to look into.Related

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South Africa have faced 16 overs from India’s two wristspinners, and scored 91 while losing 12 wickets. The format is different, but Ravi Bishnoi and, in particular, Varun Chakravarthy seem to be exerting the same sort of influence that Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal did on the ODI leg of India’s tour of this country in 2017-18, when they shared 35 wickets in five games.India’s issue is structural, and one that’s cropped up from time to time over recent years: their batting in the first two T20Is seemed to stop at No. 7. They only scored 40 runs in the last six overs of the first match, and failed to turn Sanju Samson’s storming century into a truly awe-inspiring total. In the second, they lost early wickets, and never recovered thanks in part to this lack of depth.How the two teams sort out or work around these issues could well determine how this series finishes.

Form guide

South Africa WLLWL
India LWWWW

In the spotlight – David Miller and Abhishek Sharma

In this series so far, David Miller has been out twice to Varun – the second off a peach that turned past his outside edge and bowled him for a golden duck – in 13 balls, while scoring 14 runs off them. Miller prides himself on his spin game, which he has transformed over the last three years, and will undoubtedly be working extra-hard on picking Varun’s variations and getting on top of him.He announced himself with an audacious 47-ball 100 against Zimbabwe in only his second appearance, but his eight other T20I innings have brought Abhishek Sharma only 70 runs, with only two of them going past the ten-ball mark. Abhishek’s no-holds-barred approach, which is exactly what earned him his international call-up, comes with the in-built risk of early failure, and getting the best out of him will require India’s team management to ensure they judge him on processes and not outcomes, helping him become a more rounded player while backing his attacking instincts.Lutho Sipamla has been brought in for the last two T20Is, and he has form behind him•Getty Images

Team news

Lutho Sipamla has joined South Africa’s squad for the third and fourth T20Is, and the fast bowler comes into the series with form behind him. He picked up the Player-of-the-Match award for his four-wicket haul in the final of the CSA T20 Challenge in late October, and followed it up with another match-winning contribution for Lions against Titans, a first-innings four-wicket haul in the CSA 4-Day Series. If South Africa bring him into their XI, either Andile Simelane or the legspinner Nqaba Peter may have to make way.South Africa (possible): 1 Ryan Rickelton, 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Andile Simelane/Lutho Sipamla, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Nqabayomzi PeterThere is no quick-fix for India’s batting depth issue within their squad, but they could try and mix things up nonetheless. Three players in their squad are still awaiting their first T20I caps: fast bowlers Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Dayal and the explosive lower-middle-order hitter Ramandeep Singh.India (possible): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Pitch and conditions

Centurion hosted two incredibly high-scoring T20Is in the space of two days last year. First, South Africa clattered their way to 131 in a rain-shortened, 11-overs-a-side contest, only for West Indies to haul down their target with three balls to spare. Then the hosts exacted a spectacular revenge, with Quinton de Kock’s 44-ball 100 helping them haul down 259 in just 18.5 overs and set a new record for the highest T20I chase. Expect plenty of runs, then, though the steep bounce at the venue could also bring fast bowlers into play if there’s a little bit of help from the surface. A clear and pleasant day is expected.3:33

2nd T20I takeaways – Varun, Stubbs, Coetzee show how good they can be

Stats and trivia

• Of the six South African grounds that have hosted at least three T20Is since the start of the decade, Centurion has been the highest-scoring, with batting teams going at 10.90 per over and averaging 33.25 runs per wicket.
• Miller (81) has the most catches by a non-wicketkeeper in all T20Is.
• Varun already has eight wickets in this series, and has a great chance, with two matches remaining, of going past the Indian record of most wickets in a bilateral T20I series of nine, held jointly by R Ashwin and Bishnoi.
• Since his debut in July 2022, no Full Member player has taken more wickets than Arshdeep’s 89 in T20Is. Arshdeep is well on course to take over as India’s highest wicket-taker in the format, needing just eight more to go past Chahal’s tally of 96.

Quotes

“Everyone on the team hates losing. In the first game, we didn’t play at our best, if we can call it as it is. And then the second game, the whole focus was just to try and give us the best chance to win. In the second game, we were a lot more focused on winning those small battles because in T20 two or three overs is actually [significant], there’s a lot that can happen. So for us, it was just a focus point in terms of just trying to win those small battles. And I think we won most of the small battles, even though it was a low-scoring game.”
“I’ve had a really good bowling partner in Jassi . He has helped me enormously in taking a lot of wickets by creating pressure from the other end. So a lot of credit goes to him as well. But the main thing is how well I can adapt to the conditions and the situations of the game, how I can attack the batsman early on and take some early wickets. And even at the death how I can outsmart them and bring the game back into our hands.

The England captain will have a scan on Wednesday morning after missing the final day’s play in Hamilton

Vithushan Ehantharajah17-Dec-20242:05

Stokes: We came here to beat New Zealand and we did it

“I ain’t holding back,” England captain Ben Stokes said when asked if scaling back his workloads as an allrounder was necessary after suffering a recurrence of a left hamstring injury during the third Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park.Stokes pulled up on day three as New Zealand racked up 453 in their second innings, setting England a target of 658. The 33-year-old will have a scan on Wednesday morning in Hamilton and had his left thigh heavily strapped as he sat out the final day’s play, in which England were dismissed for 234, handing the hosts victory by 423 runs.It was a consolation win, as England claimed the Crowe-Thorpe trophy 2-1. Stokes was able to take part in the post-series formalities, walking with a limp but relatively pain free between his various media duties. He confirmed it feels less serious than the torn hamstring sustained in August while batting in the men’s Hundred, which forced him to miss four Tests (a three-match series against Sri Lanka and the first of a tour of Pakistan). He had to be helped off the field then, but this time walked off without assistance.Related

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• Stats – New Zealand pay England back in kind

Having built himself back up over the last month in New Zealand, Stokes bowled 23 overs on day one of the third Test – the most in a single day across his career – with the 36.2 overs he eventually managed the most in a Test in over two years.This latest setback means yet more rehabilitation for Stokes, who underwent knee surgery in November 2023 in a bid to return to the bowler he once was. Putting his body on the line is nothing new for him, but as captain he acknowledged the importance of offering more as an allrounder to give the team another dynamic.His returns on paper this series – averaging 52.66 with the bat and seven dismissals at 36.85 with the ball – suggested he was trending in the right direction. It is why he was crestfallen as he left the field on Monday two balls into his third over of the day.Stokes, though, is in no mood to tailor his approach going forward. Having got over the initial disappointment, he is confident a full return should come quicker second time around.”I worked really hard to get myself into position to play the role that I did this game,” he said. “And it’s just one of those unfortunate things. But nah, I ain’t holding back.”Every time you walk out to field as an athlete, you’re putting yourself at risk of getting injury. Whether you feel great or you don’t feel great. I worked my arse off to get to where I was in this game in particularly with my body. It’s just sod’s law – the first time in a while I feel like I’m young again, something happens.”Obviously, [I was] incredibly disappointed walking off yesterday, very emotional about the whole thing.Ben Stokes was all smiles with the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy•Getty Images

“You’re always asking yourself, ‘Could I have done more? Should have done this, should have done that?’ But you know, when you sleep in it, and you take the emotion out of it, you realise that when you’re walking out there, you’re always putting yourself at risk of an injury.”Tuesday also marked the end of England’s joint-busiest calendar year of 17 Tests, finishing with nine victories and eight defeats. Though the team ended with a loss, Stokes was satisfied with their third series win of 2024, especially given it was England’s first in New Zealand since 2008.”We came here to beat New Zealand,” he said, “a team who wherever they go in the world are very competitive and knew they were going to be full of confidence after their historic win in India.”To play the cricket that we did in the first two games was very, very pleasing. We came here this week with the same attitude, same mindset, that we always do in the first two games out here. We just didn’t play anywhere near our capabilities.”It’s obviously disappointing to end the tour and the year with a loss. But what we came here to acheive, we managed to achieve. It’s no mean feat coming to New Zealand and beating them becease they’re a very very strong team in their home conditions.”