England finding their range after difficult start as SA seek to maintain winning run

Firdose Moonda20-Jun-2024

Big picture: Who will give way at the top of Group 2?

What direction is the drama following these two teams going to go in next?On the face of it, things are going smoothly for South Africa. They are unbeaten at the tournament and have won matches when both setting targets and chasing but, and this is a big but, none of it has been easy. It’s not just they were pushed by former champions Sri Lanka (who actually did the least pushing) and fellow Super Eighters Bangladesh but also by three Associates: Netherlands, Nepal and USA. If England were watching, they will have seen the flaws in South Africa’s make-up, most notably in the batting. Two of the top three – Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram – have only just found form and the middle-order have not yet had the opportunity to play to their potential.England will have been more pre-occupied with their own sideshows. They survived a group-stage scare in which they were all but written off after their rain-out against Scotland and have played and lost to their biggest rivals, Australia. Their net-run-rate boosting victories over Oman and Namibia helped ensure their survival once Scotland’s challenge had faded, but their most recent win over West Indies could yet propel their campaign to a new level. It is entirely possible that three teams in a Super Eight pool of four could end up with two wins each, especially given USA’s underdog status in Group 2, and so net run-rate could provide decisive. England’s is currently at 1.34, which leaves them in a good position, and after their shaky start, they would like to think they’ve got on a roll.South Africa might argue that they are already on one, and all they have to do is stay consistent with the knockouts in sight. Their next challenge is to maintain their winning start against two former champions. England’s task is much less abstract. South Africa humbled them at the 2023 ODI World Cup, in the middle of a horror run they don’t want to repeat, and with only USA to come, they have a chance to stamp their authority on this event.

Form guide

South Africa: WWWWW (last five matches, most recent first)

England: WWWLW

In the spotlight: Opening batters and the quickest of the quick

Both Quinton de Kock and Phil Salt played their best innings of the T20 World Cup in their last games with de Kock’s 74 setting South Africa up for a big total and Salt’s 87* helping England chase 181 against West Indies. Before those knocks, the numbers were not quite what the pair may have liked. De Kock had scores of 20, 0, 18 and 10 and Salt 37, 12 and 11. Starts, for sure and crucial to the tone of the innings, but they were not there at the end. Having players with their aggression bat through could be key on surfaces that seem to have offer runs and so how they perform in the next two matches could be key to their respective team’s semi-final hopes.South Africa have not had the challenge of consistent and genuine pace until now which makes Jofra Archer an interesting opponent. He is England’s joint-leading bowler at the tournament so far and has their best economy rate of 6.58 and could prove a handful to a top-order that is still finding its feet at the event. They’ll hope to counter-punch through Anrich Nortje , who equalled Dale Steyn’s record for the most wickets by a South African at T20 World Cups in the last match, and has looked menacing throughout. Nortje is the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker so far and has been played with respect. Will England’s batters, who enjoy pace on, show him the same?

Team news: Changes afoot for both teams?

South Africa are spoilt for choice in the bowling department and opted to bench Ottneil Baartman to accommodate an extra spinner in Antigua. That team composition could work well for them in St Lucia too but Tabraiz Shamsi was expensive against USA and they may consider left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin instead. However, given the variations he offers, Baartman could come back into contention too and it is a case of trying to fit three players into one spot.South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markam, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi/Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich NortjeEngland stormed to a convincing win with this XI at this venue over West Indies, but the short turnaround means Mark Wood may be due a break from the action after another wholehearted, if unrewarded, display. Chris Jordan is the obvious inclusion, with Sam Curran’s left-handed options seemingly established ahead of Will Jacks, who struggled to translate his aggressive intent into runs in his two outings against Australia and Oman.England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood / Chris Jordan, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

Runs, and a fair few of them, have been available throughout the matches that have been played here with a first-innings average of 187. However, it’s not all smooth sailing for batters. There’s good bounce and carry on offer and some grip, which brought England’s spinners into play against West Indies. The one unknown is whether playing the match in the morning will make any difference to the conditions as all three matches so far have been night games. Weather-wise, there’s rain due over the weekend but the forecast for Friday is clear and humid with peak temperatures at 31 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• The head-to-head record between England and South Africa is all-square with each team having won 12 matches against the other. At T20 World Cups, South Africa hold the upper hand and have beaten England four times in their six meetings, including their most recent clash in Sharjah in 2021.
• Anrich Nortje is two wickets away from 50 in T20Is and Tabraiz Shamsi one away from 300 in all T20s.
• Jos Buttler needs 19 more runs to become the ninth batter to 1,000 in all T20s this year. Currently, there are five South Africans with that many for 2024: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickelton.

Quotes

“Hopefully.”

Kagiso Rabada’s one-word answer when asked if South Africa are peaking at the right time “A lot of people say you learn when you lose, but I truly believe you learn when you win as well. It’s important to reflect on what we did well today. We had a good performance, now we’ll put that to bed and focus on the next performance.”

England’s Jos Buttler has had enough with the platitudes about the gains from losing.

Hampshire’s quarter-final hopes look thin after two wins and five defeats

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2024Visa issues have prevented Ottneil Baartman, the South African fast bowler, from joining Hampshire for the rest of the T20 Blast.Baartman, who made six appearances at the T20 World Cup during South Africa’s run to the final, was due to play for Hampshire in their final six group games. But his arrival was delayed due to unspecified “visa issues” and the club announced on Friday that, with their quarter-final hopes thin, his deal has been cancelled.”We would like to wish Ottneil all the best and hope to see him in a Hawks shirt in the future,” Hampshire said in a club statement. Baartman initially signed as a replacement for Naveen-ul-Haq, who pulled out of his contract with Hampshire citing “personal reasons” and is instead playing for Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.After two wins, three no-results and five defeats, Hampshire sit seventh in the nine-team South Group of the Blast heading into Friday night’s fixture against Gloucestershire at the Ageas Bowl. With the top four teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, they may need to win all four of their remaining fixtures to progress.”We’ll have to do some maths to see if we can still qualify,” Adi Birrell, their coach, said after their most recent defeat to Sussex. “I can’t really think that two wins out of ten gives us a chance of getting through to the quarter-finals but we’ll have to have a look at it.”We had three rained-off games, which has given us a few points, but we’re not really playing well enough to go through… we were a bit off in all departments [against Sussex], as we have been throughout the campaign. We haven’t really put in a good performance in all departments.”

Despite fifties from Masood, Ayub and Agha, and four dropped catches, Pakistan were bowled out for 274

Hemant Brar31-Aug-2024Despite half-centuries from Shan Masood, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha, and four dropped catches of varying difficulty, Pakistan were bowled out for 274 on the second day of the second Test in Rawalpindi. For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz caused the most damage, finishing with figures of 5 for 61.The Bangladesh openers, Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan, had two overs to face before stumps. Mir Hamza got Shadman to edge the first ball of the innings to fifth slip but Saud Shakeel grassed the chance, letting Bangladesh go back unscathed.That Pakistan are without Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah makes their position even more precarious. With Naseem “rested”, Pakistan’s four frontline bowlers for this match have played a combined experience of 16 Tests.Earlier, a warm and sunny morning greeted the teams after rain had washed out the opening day. Given the moisture in the pitch, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had no hesitation in bowling first in what is now a four-day Test.Taskin, who returned from a shoulder injury, proved his captain right by striking in the first over. After bowling five outswingers to Abdullah Shafique, he got the last ball to nip back off the seam. Shafique was not prepared for it. He came forward to defend but left a huge gap between the bat and the pad. The ball sneaked through and hit the top of off stump.For a while, Taskin and Hasan Mahmud kept Ayub quiet by bowling predominantly from around the wicket. Ayub was on 4 off 25 balls at one point but hit three fours in the next 11 balls he faced. Masood was positive right from the start. As a result, the fifty stand between the two came in just 68 balls.Saim Ayub and Shan Masood had a century partnership for the second wicket•PCB

It was not that the Bangladesh seamers did not induce mistakes but none of them brought a wicket. As the day progressed, the pitch eased out. Ten minutes before lunch, Masood brought up his fifty, off just 54 balls. He hit only two fours in his fifty, which made it the fastest fifty in Test cricket since 2002 with two, or fewer, boundaries.At lunch, Pakistan were comfortably placed on 100 for 1 from 25 overs. But things changed after the break with Mehidy removing Masood and Ayub in quick succession. Bowling around the wicket, he first trapped Masood lbw with the one that straightened after pitching. Ayub brought up his fifty with a pulled four off Nahid Rana but when he came out of his crease to smash Mehidy, the offspinner beat him in the flight and had him stumped.Mehidy had an opportunity to further increase Pakistan’s woes but he dropped a regulation catch of Shakeel at second slip off Rana’s bowling. Had the catch been taken, Pakistan would have been 125 for 4.Shakeel failed to take advantage of the reprieve, though. He did hit Taskin for back-to-back fours but chopped on the last ball of the over onto his stumps to be dismissed for 16.At 151 for 4, Pakistan were relying on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for the umpteenth time to pull them out of trouble. But it was not to be. Shakib had Babar playing back to an arm ball when the batter should have been forward and had him lbw. Shakib could have had Agha too in the same over but Zakir failed to hold on to a difficult bat-pad chance at short leg.Rizwan fell shortly after tea, fending a short ball from Rana to first slip. Agha and Khurram Shahzad added 25 for the seventh wicket to keep Bangladesh at bay for a while. Mehidy threatened to end their resistance when he got Shahzad to edge one low to the left of first slip but Shadman could get only fingertips to the ball.Mehidy, though, did not have to wait for long. In his next over, Shahzad miscued a lofted shot towards mid-off where Shakib moved swiftly to his right to take a tumbling catch.But Bangladesh were not done with their gifts. Soon after, Mominul Haque dropped a straightforward chance from Mohammad Ali at leg slip off Shakib. However, that also did not hurt Bangladesh as Mehidy had Ali caught at slip in the next over.Agha got another life on 46. He inside-edged Taskin onto his pad and Mehidy caught the rebound at gully. But the umpire failed to spot the edge. Having burnt all their reviews, Bangladesh had no other option than to accept the on-field decision. Agha rubbed it in by pulling Taskin over fine leg for a six to bring up his fifty.With only two wickets left, Agha was taking more and more chances. Along with Abrar Ahmed, he added 28 for the ninth wicket before pulling Tasking into the hands of fine leg. From the other end, Abrar gave charge to Mehidy and was stumped, bringing curtains to the innings.

Young seamer takes 3 for 52 as Glamorgan’s perfect start continues

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2024Ben Morris blasted a hole in the Essex middle-order to introduce himself on to the first-team stage as Glamorgan maintained their 100 per cent record in this season’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup at Chelmsford.A year after making his Glamorgan debut in the competition, the 20-year-old seamer grabbed his maiden List A wickets in only his third appearance with figures of 3 for 52 as Essex struggled to defeat. He was the perfect foil to his more experienced fellow seamer Jamie McIlroy, who took late wickets to register a career-best 3 for 33.That Essex were so close to their second win of the season was thanks to a record last-wicket stand of 68 in nine overs between Ben Allison (26) and Aaron Beard (42 not out) that would have embarrassed some of their batting superiors.That Essex had to chase 284 was largely down to Sam Northeast, who cemented Glamorgan’s innings with a 93-ball 89. He was ably supported in stands of 74 and 71 stands by Billy Root and Asa Tribe respectively.Northeast was eventually out after two hours and 15 minutes, one of seven wickets in which Essex rookie wicketkeeper Simon Fernandes was involved – five catches behind the stumps and two run-outs. Shane Snater took three Glamorgan wickets for 46 and Jamal Richards posted List A best figures of 3 for 68 as Glamorgan ran up 283.Essex put in Glamorgan on a green-tinged wicket of considerable bounce and carry early on before flattening out. Snater exploited the conditions and had Eddie Byrom caught behind off one that hissed and fizzed during a personal sequence of 12 scoreless deliveries.Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson hung around for 11 overs for 13 in a 54-run partnership with Will Smale. But his eyes lit up at a half-volley from Richards that he flashed low into extra cover’s hands. Smale stroked seven fours in an attractive 43, but departed lbw to one from Richards that nipped back.Northeast and Root looked unperturbed in a stand of 74 that spanned 16 overs until Root pushed Tom Westley for a risky single to mid-on. Northeast showed no interest, turning his back, Root kept running, Snater dived and threw to the striker’s end to complete the run-out by more than half the pitch.As the wicket flattened out, Tribe helped Northeast add another 71 in 10 overs until he tried to work Ben Allison down to third man and edged behind. Snater claimed his second wicket soon after when Tom Bevan sliced high and Fernandes made ground to take the catch at short fine leg.Douthwaite hit Richards for 24 in an over, including two sixes, but that precipitated a collapse of four wickets in 22 balls for 17 runs. At the start of the next over, Northeast attempted to cut Allison and was caught behind. Fernandes claimed a fifth catch when Andy Gorvin went to ramp Snater, and then ran Douthwaite out with a direct hit. Morris departed first ball to a catch at fine leg for Richards’s third wicket.Essex, missing bright hope Charlie Allison to a hamstring injury, were quickly in trouble. Glamorgan bowled four maidens in the first nine overs, by which time they had sent back openers Feroze Khushi and Nick Browne as well as Robin Das. Khushi got a leading edge to third man against Douthwaite, Browne hoicked McIlroy to mid-on and Das skied Douthwaite towards square leg where wicketkeeper Smale ran round to pouch.Sixteen dot balls followed Das’s dismissal before Douthwaite conceded 17 in the 10th over, including three delightful cover drives by Benkenstein, who contributed to Carlson leaking 10 more in the next to drag Essex back into the game.Benkenstein put on 61 for the fourth wicket with Westley, hitting six fours in his 41-ball 39 before misjudging one from Gorvin that kept low. Noah Thain hung around for 19 balls before taking a swing at Morris and holed out in the deep.Morris claimed his second scalp the ball after Westley had pulled him for four to reach a 72-ball half-century, and then had Fernandes bowled playing over a delivery.

Chasing 117, Sri Lanka were tied down by spin and could manage only 85 for 9

Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2024Pakistan secured their first win in four meetings against Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka and opened their campaign with a win at T20 World Cup 2024. Sri Lanka had been riding a wave of success since the last T20 World Cup, winning three out of six bilateral T20I series and 22 out of 32 games, but Pakistan, who had lost four out of their last six series and 16 out of 27 games, had the measure of them on a slow, low Sharjah pitch.Run-scoring was laboured on the opening day of the tournament and scoring rates did not get above six an over but Pakistan’s 116 still looked well below par. None of their top six scored more than 23, there were no partnerships in the top eight of over 25, and captain Fatima Sana, batting at No. 7, was the top scorer with 30. For Sri Lanka, left-armer Udeshika Prabodhani, left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari and captain Chamari Athapaththu, with her offspin, picked up three wickets each.Buoyed by their efforts in the field, Sri Lanka would have fancied their chances of pulling off victory but fared the worst of the four teams in action today with the bat. They were tied down by spin, particularly Omaima Sohail’s offspin and lack of pace. With the ball moving slowly through the air and keeping low, the Sri Lanka batters were often far too early into their shots. They were reduced to 52 for 5 in the 13th over and there was no coming back from that.

The tournament’s first six

It took until the third over of the second match before the World Cup saw its first six and it came from Pakistan’s only centurion in the format: Muneeba Ali. She advanced down the track against Sri Lanka’s only seamer, Prabodhani, and sent her 63 metres over midwicket boundary. On a day when boundaries were particularly scarce, there were two more sixes in the Pakistan innings to go with five fours. Sri Lanka’s innings featured only three fours. There were no sixes in the earlier game between Bangladesh and Scotland and just 15 fours across both innings.Chamari Athapaththu belts out a successful appeal for the lbw of Aliya Riaz•ICC/Getty Images

(Almost) three cheers for ChamariAfter doing an excellent job in keeping pressure on Pakistan by taking the wicket of Sidra Amin and with her bowling changes, Athapaththu brought herself on for a second over in the 14th. Her second ball was full outside off stump and took Tuba Hassan’s outside edge as she camped on the back foot and was caught behind. That brought Pakistan’s last recognised batter, finisher Aliya Riaz, to the crease with plenty of time to cash in but she missed the line of the next ball and was hit on the front pad. Riaz was walking off as she reviewed and the ball-tracking revealed it was hitting middle and leg stump. Athapaththu was on a hat-trick and came oh-so-close to getting it when Diana Baig edged the next ball but wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani could not hold on. Athapaththu finished with 3 or 18 from her four overs.

Sana saves the day

It could be argued that Sana made a tactical blunder by batting herself at No. 7 but she scored 30 off 20 balls, which ended up changing the game, and then took great responsibility with the ball. Baig only bowled one ball before she pulled up with what looked like a calf injury and Sana decided to take over immediately. She finished Baig’s over and kept herself on for more, when she took out her opposite number. Athapaththu was leaden-footed when she drove Sana to extra cover where Sohail took a good catch to her left. Athapaththu understood the magnitude of the moment and punched her bat as she walked off the field. Her dismissal sent Sri Lanka into a shell, and they finished the powerplay on 26 for 2, with the required rate already up at 6.50.

Gunaratne and gone

It was game over, in theory, when Vishmi Gunaratne hit Nashra Sandhu straight down the ground and into the hands of Amin to leave Sri Lanka 52 for 5. But this is not to put the blame on the 19-year-old. Instead, it’s an illustration of the kinds of shots that were being played in frustration as the Pakistan spinners became more and more difficult to get away. On a big outfield, Sri Lanka scored 47 singles but only nine twos and while Pakistan were only marginally better with 51 singles and 11 twos, it’s those tiny margins that make a difference.

Chakravarthy, Bishnoi claim three wickets apiece to secure 61-run win

Firdose Moonda08-Nov-20243:23

Samson and spinners see India dominate in Durban

Sanju Samson struck his second successive T20I century and shattered records and South African hopes at Kingsmead. His was the fastest T20I hundred by an Indian against South Africa and will be remembered as one of the most destructive.For India, runs came mostly in boundaries: 17 fours and 13 sixes, including seven fours and 10 sixes for Samson. Overall, 88 of his 107 runs were scored in boundaries and he was particularly brutal square of the wicket. He scored 69 runs from 19 balls in the region between point and cover and square leg and mid-wicket, and only 13 runs behind square. Samson took on the spinners with gusto and scored 58 runs off the 27 balls he faced from Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj and Nqaba Peter combined. He also shared in two explosive stands: 66 runs off 37 balls with his captain Suryakumar Yadav and 77 runs off 34 balls with Tilak Varma. That meant India’s innings had middle-order momentum that South Africa could not match.They may have thought they gave themselves a chance when they pulled India back at the end. South Africa were staring at conceding the highest total at Kingsmead and highest against India but after Samson’s dismissal in the 17th over, India scored 28 runs off 20 balls and lost four wickets. They still ended up with their fourth-highest total against South Africa, and it proved way too much.South Africa were never in the chase as only three batters scored more than 20 and there was only one partnership of more than 30. The two legspiners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets each and conceded 53 runs in their eight overs after Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan made the initial breakthroughs which all pointed to a more experienced Indian bowling line-up.

Gerald Coetzee’s comeback

It has been 166 days between internationals for Gerald Coetzee but it did not seem like he had been away a day. Given the ball in the fourth over, Coetzee immediately started with a full delivery outside off and found some extra bounce. Abhishek Sharma tried to get under it and clear mid-off but only got the ball over Markram in the ring. He ran backwards and took the catch over his shoulder to bring out an almighty roar from Coetzee, who has recovered from a hip injury and had come back from a 12-week conditioning block.The rest of the over did not go quite as well. India’s captain Suryakumar hit Coetzee over his head for four and then over fine leg for six to take 10 runs off his opening over. Coetzee closed out the Powerplay which India finished on 56 for 1. Coetzee also made an in-match comeback when he was called on to bowl at the death and had Hardik Pandya caught at deep point for just 2 and Rinku Singh caught behind with his penultimate ball.Varun Chakravarthy finished with 3 for 25•Gallo Images/Getty Images

Kruger’s timeless over which ended with a wicket

Patrick Kruger started off with what seemed like a good plan to keep India quiet – a slower ball that Suryakumar had to dig out but Samson was in no mood to be stopped by that. The next ball was also slower and hit over long-off. Kruger put in extra effort in response and overstepped. Then sent down a full toss. Then a wide, a no-ball and another wide and he still had three balls left to bowl. He got it right with a full delivery outside off, then pulled his length back and could not resist going back to pace off to end the over. His 11th ball was a knuckle ball which Suryakumar dragged to deep square leg where debutant Andile Simelane was stationed. He put the nerves aside to make his first contribution to the game, and not a moment too soon. Simelane was brought on as South Africa’s seventh bowler, in the 10th over.

Tilak too good to be left out

Tilak hit the second ball he faced with the wind over deep backward square for six as he joined in on the boundary hitting action. He sent the first ball of Peter’s second over between deep mid-wicket and deep backward square for four and then tore Kruger’s tactic to avoid the shorter leg-side boundary to shreds. He hit over backward point and slog swept over fine leg. His innings was cut short when he hit Maharaj to the deep backward square boundary where Marco Jansen took a good catch but his cameo gave India’s innings middle-order momentum.

Markram’s lean run continues, as does South Africa’s

It has been 25 innings and two years since Markram scored a T20I half-century and the run continued with a seventh single-figure score in this match. Markram looked especially out of sorts when he tried to play Arshdeep through mid-wicket but closed the face of the bat too early and got a faint edge to Samson to fall in the first over. That set the tone for an innings in which South Africa were never really able to get going. Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton were both dismissed in the Powerplay, which South Africa ended on 49 for 3. The combination of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller put on 42 in 6,1 overs but when they were separated, South Africa crumbled. They were bowled out inside 18 overs and were bowled out for their fourth-lowest score against India to lose the series opener by 61 runs.

Varun removes South Africa’s best

Chakravarthy took out South Africa’s two middle-order players and he got them in the space of three balls. In his final over, Klaasen tried to pull a slightly shorter ball but sent it straight to Axar Patel at long-on. And two balls later, Miller hit Chakravarthy to Avesh at square leg and South Africa went from 79 for 3 to 87 for 5 and were looking straight at defeat.

Afridi’s omission makes it unlikely that he will win his place back for Pakistan’s home Test series against West Indies in January

Danyal Rasool04-Dec-2024Shaheen Shah Afridi has been left out of Pakistan’s squad for the two-Test series in South Africa in December and January. Afridi, who was released from Pakistan’s Test side after their defeat in the first Test against England in October, remains part of the white-ball squads for the tour. Babar Azam and Naseem Shah, who were released alongside Afridi after that first Test, return to the Test squad.Afridi’s absence specifically from the Tests, though, appears to signal a point in his career where the red-ball format has become less of a priority than it has before, a state that may even become permanent for him. When he was dropped in October, the belief was that the more pace-friendly surfaces in South Africa, where he played his second and third Test matches five years earlier, would suit him better as he tries to return to form in the format.Since returning from a knee injury he picked up during a Test in Sri Lanka in July 2022, Afridi has played just a handful of Tests, and been ineffective while doing so; in six games, he has 17 wickets at an average of 45.47. His omission from these Tests makes it exceedingly unlikely he will win his place back for Pakistan’s home Test series against West Indies in January, following which Pakistan have no Test matches at all till October 2025.There’s also a return for seamer Mohammad Abbas, who last played Test cricket for Pakistan in 2021. Abbas, whose metronomic accuracy and ability to seam the ball initially saw him come into the Pakistan side when they played their home Tests in the UAE, is the only fast bowler in the squad who was also in the side for Pakistan’s last Test tour to South Africa in 2018-19.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sajid Khan, meanwhile, has been left out of the travelling party, Alongside Noman Ali, Sajid was instrumental in turning the series against England around when Pakistan rejigged their pitches to suit the spinners, taking 19 wickets across the two Tests. But surfaces in South Africa will be vastly different to those, and Pakistan travel with just the one spinner, and have opted for Noman’s left-arm orthodox spin instead.That means Abrar Ahmed, at the start of this season considered Pakistan’s premier Test spinner, has also been omitted.Khurram Shahzad returns to the Test side for the first time since a recurring rib injury sidelined him following Pakistan’s home Tests against Bangladesh in August. Initially, he was thought to be out for just a few days, but it would turn into a much longer absence as he missed the entirety of the England Test series. Since returning at the end of October, though, he has been in sparkling form, taking 13 wickets in two Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches, and a further 15 in three innings against the Sri Lanka A side.It leaves Pakistan’s squad somewhat bereft of high pace, a quality more valuable in South Africa than perhaps anywhere else. Naseem is Pakistan’s only true fast bowler for the series, with Aamer Jamal, Shahzad, Abbas and Mir Hamza the others in the squad. This is likely to stand in stark contrast to South Africa’s Test squad, which currently possesses a battery of fast bowlers who can push into the high 140s and even beyond.There’s much less flux in Pakistan’s white-ball squads, with Pakistan opting to stick largely to the team that played the ODI and T20I series in Australia. Sufiyan Muqeem’s bright start in Zimbabwe has seen him rewarded, as he keeps his place for both white-ball teams against South Africa, while Omair Yousuf is part of the T20I squad.Pakistan play three T20Is and three ODIs in South Africa between December 10 and 22, and two Test matches in Centurion and Cape Town beginning on December 26 and January 7. South Africa is, statistically, Pakistan’s least happy hunting ground in Test cricket, where they have won just two Test matches, and never a Test series.

Pakistan squads for South Africa tour

Tests: Shan Masood (capt), Saud Shakeel (vice-capt), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
ODIs: Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan (wk)
T20Is: Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan (wk)

Chasing 159, Scorchers were bowled out for 97 on a tricky Showground surface

Tristan Lavalette13-Jan-2025Sam Konstas smashed a half-century on a tricky Showground surface before Sydney Thunder capitalised on reckless batting from Perth Scorchers to secure their place in the BBL finals.After being sent in, Konstas produced a fast start for Thunder before they were reeled in by Scorchers’ spinners until Tom Andrews blasted an unbeaten 37 off 13 balls at the death.Chasing 159, Scorchers had a horror show with the bat marked by the disastrous run-outs of Cooper Connolly and Sam Fanning as they were bowled out for 97 in the 18th over.BBL powerhouse Scorchers require a miracle to reach the finals after slumping to a fourth straight defeat.Sam Konstas was off the blocks in a hurry•Getty Images

Konstas fires, Andrews provides late lift

On a surface known for being sluggish and favouring spin, Konstas and fellow opener David Warner decided to go for broke against the new ball.They smashed 36 runs in the first three overs with Warner setting the tone with an early blow over the infield before being overtaken by Konstas.Konstas mixed elegant strokes with trademark inventiveness to race to 28 off 12 balls, but Warner’s dismissal in the last over of the powerplay triggered a collapse.Konstas could not find the strike as Thunder’s batters struggled mightily on a surface that started to become difficult to bat on. They didn’t score a boundary for almost 10 overs until Konstas cleverly reverse-swept Connolly’s left-arm spin for a boundary.He brought up his half-century off 40 balls with a dismissive boundary off speedster Lance Morris before holing out shortly afterwards. At 114 for 7 after 17 overs, Thunder appeared likely to fall well short of a decent total until Andrews unfurled several mighty strokes at the death.He finished the innings with a six down the ground in a final over that cost 25 runs – the most expensive of veteran Jason Behrendorff’s T20 career.Cooper Connolly bowled tidily on a surface with plenty of help for the spinners•Getty Images

Beardman debuts, spin takes over

Scorchers’ finals hopes received a blow after Jhye Richardson’s latest injury setback ended his BBL season.But it meant an opportunity for 19-year-old quick Mahli Beardman, who has been mentored by Dennis Lillee. A year ago he starred at the Under 19 World Cup and recently played in the Prime Minister’s XI two-day match against India in Canberra.He had a tough BBL initiation, entering the attack in the third over against Konstas and Warner. Beardman hopes to one day emulate Morris and bowl 150 kph, but he can already produce significant pace around 140 kph.Beardman was under siege against a rampaging Konstas, his Australia Under-19 teammate, who used his feet superbly to whack a slower delivery down the ground for six.But with the wicket slowing up notably after the powerplay, skipper Ashton Turner turned to his spinners and Connolly, Ashton Agar and Matthew Spoors delivered with three wickets between them.Connolly, whose bowling is slowly progressing, was extremely accurate and clean-bowled Sam Billings to finish with 1 for 16 off 4 overs. It was a tonic after Connolly was not not named in Australia’s Champions Trophy squad.Having taken 2 for 6 off 4 overs at this ground last season, Agar was again miserly with 1-14 off 4 overs while Spoors claimed his first BBL wicket after dismissing George Garton.Morris recovered from a tardy start to claim three wickets with fiery bowling touching near 150 kph. But Turner was left to rue not bowling out Spoors, who still had two overs left, with Morris and Behrendorff smashed at the death.Aaron Hardie was bowled by Tanveer Sangha•Getty Images

Sangha returns in favourable conditions

Playing just his third BBL game of the season, legspinner Tanveer Sangha had the ideal surface to make his return. He started nervously after a loose delivery was swept by Aaron Hardie to the boundary.But Sangha had his revenge with a flatter, straighter delivery that clean-bowled Hardie. He bowled tidily through the middle overs to suffocate Scorchers in tandem with offspinner Chris Green to finish with 1 for 18 off 4 overs.Green claimed a couple of late wickets to finish with 3-13 off 4 overs, while Andrews capped a fine all-round match with the wicket of Nick Hobson.

Hardie’s struggles continue

Allrounder Hardie started the day with good news after he was selected for Australia’s Champions Trophy squad despite a modest BBL season playing as a specialist batter.He came to the crease in the second over following the wicket of Finn Allen. Disaster struck when Fanning was run out at the non-striker’s end after Hardie had initially called for a single before changing his mind.The run-out seemed to rattle Hardie, who was edgy at the crease before smashing consecutive sixes on the leg side off quick Nathan McAndrew. But he was soon bowled for 22 – which was Scorchers’ top score – to trigger a collapse.Scorchers’ disastrous performance was summed up by Connolly, their leading batter this season, being run out attempting a second run after a direct throw from Hugh Weibgen at midwicket.Turner, who has rescued his team many times before, holed out tamely as Scorchers appear almost certain to miss finals for just the third time in BBL history.

The pair also put on the second-highest partnership in all men’s T20 cricket: 241

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2025This morning, Litton Das was left out of Bangladesh’s squad for the Champion’s Trophy 2025. By the evening, he was taking his frustrations – if any – out on Durbar Rajshahi at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He slammed his maiden T20 hundred and batted through the innings for Dhaka Capitals, finishing on 125 not out off 55 balls with ten fours and nine sixes and a strike rate of 227.27. At his side for most of this was Tanzid Hasan, who will be going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. The pair added 241 off 118 – the second-highest stand in all men’s T20 cricket – and Dhaka finished with 254 for 1, which is the highest total in the BPL.Related

• Litton Das: 'I was dropped because I wasn't performing'

• Litton and Shakib left out of Bangladesh's Champions Trophy squad

Litton got to his hundred off 44 balls, which makes it the second-fastest by a Bangladeshi player in men’s T20s, behind Parvez Hossain’s 42-ball hundred for Fortune Barishal in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup in December 2020. He finished fourth on the list of highest scores at the BPL, behind two efforts from Chris Gayle and one from Tamim Iqbal.Rajshahi had elected to bowl in the game and it seemed like a sound decision when Dhaka got to 22 for 0 after four overs. But then Tanzid took 21 off a Sunzamul Islam over, and Dhaka never looked back. By the end of this over, the fifth, Litton was 10 off 9, but he got going in the next, the last of the Powerplay, hitting SM Meherob for 4, 6, 4 off consecutive deliveries.Litton Das got to his hundred off 44 balls, the second-fastest by a Bangladeshi in men’s T20s•Dhaka Capitals

Litton brought up his fifty in the ninth over, with a six off a no-ball. By the end of ten overs Dhaka were 115 for 0 and they just kept going. Tanzid also brought up his fifty with a six, off Ryan Burl to end the 11th. Litton continued the pair’s pattern of bringing up their landmarks with a boundary, getting to his hundred in the 16th with a four off Shafiul Islam.Tanzid completed the set in the final over, taking four first ball to bring up his hundred, before hitting Shafiul for six more and then holing out for 108 off 64 balls (six fours, eight sixes, strike rate 168.75).By then Dhaka already had the record for highest total in the BPL, and the wicket hardly slowed them down with Sabbir Rahman and Litton hitting one more six apiece to close out the innings on a dazzling 254 for 1.In response, Rajshahi quickly wilted, falling to 34 for 5 before an unbeaten 47 from Ryan Burl held off the inevitable. Eventually, they were bowled out for 105 in the 16th over, falling short of their target by 150 runs.

Former British Gymnastics performance director named as successor to Gavin Larsen

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2025Warwickshire have raided English football’s Premier League to fill their vacant performance director position. James Thomas, who is currently director of performance services at Manchester City, will make the move into cricket in June, succeeding Gavin Larsen in the role at Edgbaston.Thomas, who played rugby union professionally, was previously performance director at British Gymnastics for five years, and oversaw the sport’s push for medals at the Tokyo Olympics.His appointment comes in the wake of Warwickshire carrying out a high-performance review during the offseason, which led to the departure of men’s head coach Mark Robinson. In a new integrated structure, Thomas will have overarching responsibility for Warwickshire men, Bears women and the Birmingham Phoenix teams.Related

• Birmingham Phoenix appoint Shane Bond as men's head coach

• Robinson departs role as Warwickshire coach

• Larsen to step down as Warwickshire performance director

Warwickshire’s chief executive, Stuart Cain, said that Thomas’ expertise would be utilised to “create something special” at the club.”James is recognised in high performance sport as a real talent and has demonstrated ability to cross sports and quickly grasp what’s important in order to deliver success,” Cain said.”We wanted someone with real strategic experience of creating world-class, successful performance environments. He’s done that in football, arguably one of the toughest performance environments in world sport, and been equally successful with individual athletes in high-pressure Olympic sports.”He’s proved that he can move in to a new sport and quickly create a successful performance environment that leads to medals and trophies by developing the facilities and structures needed to create world-class players and teams.”The cricket leadership team has more than 200 years of technical cricket experience and 75 years’ experience of being a Bear. Combining this with James’ expertise will create something special.”He knows how to build teams as well as individuals that can handle high-pressure situations and deliver success. This was one of the areas of improvement identified in the recent high performance review.”Having worked globally, he also understands the impact of other leagues on domestic structures, something we really need to get our head around as franchise cricket develops.”The review also demonstrated our need to modernise the way we recruit and prepare for games with greater use of data and analysis. James has some really interesting ideas and plenty of experience in this space which will help us build more accountability and structure in to how we bring in and develop players, as well as create winning teams.”He’s also used to working with multiple coaches working across different disciplines in men’s and women’s sport. Another important consideration as he will be accountable for success across three different teams playing four different formats of the game.”I think James’ desire to become a Bear illustrates how the world of cricket is changing and professionalising as a global sport to rival football.”Although Thomas does not make the switch to Edgbaston until the summer, Warwickshire said he would spend time with the men’s and women’s squads in pre-season “as well as other leading names from the world of cricket” to prepare him for the role.Thomas said: “I am delighted to take on the role of performance director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Throughout the recruitment process I was impressed by the club’s desire to retain and celebrate its proud Bears culture, whilst embracing the opportunity to evolve and build a high-performance environment that’s capable of achieving sustained, long term success.”I am excited to meet the players, coaches and wider staff, as we look to work together to achieve extraordinary cricket performances in the future.”