Sports
Shamsi, Hendricks architects of South Africa’s 1-0 lead
South Africa took a 1-0 lead in what’s effectively a two-match series with a five wicket win over India in Gqeberha.
Put in to bat on a pitch that was under covers for a while, India put on 180/7 on the board, thanks to fifties from Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh, before rain arrived with three balls left in the innings. South Africa’s adjusted target of 152 in 15 overs was driven by Reeza Hendricks’ 27-ball 49 and achieved with seven balls to spare, but wasn’t without its fair share of drama as India found ways to overcome conditions consistently against them.
With Ruturaj Gaikwad unavailable due to illness, India were saved from a difficult choice at the top of the order but the organically assembled opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill totalled zero runs between them. Jaiswal was out off the third ball of the innings, trying to back-cut a delivery from Marco Jansen and offering a sharp chance to David Miller at point; Gill was trapped on the back leg by Lizaad Williams, leaving India wobbling at 6/2 after two overs.
Gerald Coetzee to Suryakumar Yadav: that was the contest. First ball, a yorker. Second ball, a drive-and-a-miss outside off-stump. Third ball, a cover drive for a boundary. Another four and six followed later in the over as India captain Suryakumar added 15 runs in the third over and then 13 runs in the next to help India repair their PowerPlay and finish at 59/3. This 29-ball fifty was Suryakumar’s fourth in the last five matches and also delivered him to 2000 runs in the T20I format, the second-fastest batter to that milestone in terms of innings taken.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the IPL or the Asian Games or a home series against Australia or an overseas tour of South Africa, Rinku Singh scores everywhere. This time, he walked out to bat inside the PowerPlay after Tilak Varma’s dismissal and got off the mark with a classic straight drive first-ball. He then let the in-form Suryakumar take the lead, playing the perfect foil while scoring the next five runs off 10 balls. The gears went into overdrive with consecutive boundaries off Marco Jansen, followed by flicking, cutting, pulling and even stepping out to Aiden Markram in the 19th over for back-to-back sixes. His 30-ball fifty was his first in T20Is, doing his World Cup selection chances no harm.
Gerald Coetzee, who had dismissed Tilak Varma and then added the wickets of Ravindra Jadeja and Arshdeep Singh, returned figures of 3 for 32 but the pick of the bowlers was Tabraiz Shamsi who finished with 1 for 18, the wicket being that of hard-hitting Suryakumar. The left-arm legspinner was named Player of the Match for his frugal bowling figures in a T20I match where the average scoring rate was above 10.
Mohammed Siraj conceded three boundaries in the first over of the run-chase but two of them were off outside edges. With every passing minute, the South Africa batters looked more and more comfortable at the crease, not in the least because the ball got wet on a moist outfield in the aftermath of the rain delay. The openers set the side on course to 67/1 in the five PowerPlay overs (reduced from six in a rain-affected match) and it took a sharp Tilak Varma throw to end an explosive first-wicket stand of 42. But the damage had been done.
South Africa were going comfortably at 96/1 when Mukesh Kumar banged one short and had the in-form Markram top-edging to the deep. Reeza Hendricks, going hammer at tongs at the other end, was caught off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav in the next over but it was when Heinrich Klaasen was caught off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj that India started to believe. The moment witnessed South Africa with two new batters at the crease, with 44 runs still needed. But David Miller struck crucial runs only for Tristan Stubbs and Andile Phehlukwayo to finish things off.
Brief Scores:
India 180/7 in 19.3 overs (Tilak Varma 29, Rinku Singh 68*, Suryakumar Yadav 56;Marco Jansen 1-39, Lizaad Williams 1-32, Gerald Coetzee 3-32, Tabraiz Shamsi 1-18, Aiden Markram 1-29) lost to South Africa 154/5 in 13.5 overs (Reeza Hendricks 49, Aiden Markram 30; Mohammed Siraj 1-27, Mukesh Kumar 2-34, Kuldeep Yadav 1-26) by 5 wickets (DLS)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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