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Jasprit Bumrah was the Player of the Match for taking nine wickets in the Visakhapatnam Test against England

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-20241:54

Manjrekar: Bumrah’s impact key to India drawing level

Jasprit Bumrah finished the Visakhapatnam Test against England with nine wickets – 6 for 45 and 3 for 46 – to help India draw level at 1-1 in the series. The highlight of his performance was the yorker that swung into Ollie Pope and uprooted his middle and leg stumps in the first innings.”As a youngster that [the yorker] is probably the first delivery I had learned because I had come from tennis ball cricket and I had seen the legends of the game, Waqar [Younis], Wasim [Akram] and even Zaheer Khan, I had seen them on the television, how do they bowl yorkers,” Bumrah told the broadcaster after India’s 106-run victory. “As a kid I used to feel that is the only way to take wickets. So that is the first delivery I learned. Yes, I kept it with me and I kept on using it to my advantage and now even in Test cricket when you get wickets off it, it’s great.”Bumrah now has 36 wickets in six Tests in India, at an outstanding average of 13.06 and strike rate of 29.5, but he said he wasn’t focussed on numbers anymore. “I don’t look at numbers because when I was a youngster I used to look at numbers. Yes, it made me excited, but you know, if you think about numbers, there’s a lot of pressure anyway playing for India. And if you take that added baggage, it doesn’t really help. So I’m very happy that we won and when you contribute towards that success it feels even better.”Related

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When asked if he felt like the leader of India’s attack, even though players like R Ashwin have a lot more experience than him, Bumrah said: “Not the leader but I feel that I have played a little more cricket. We are going through a transition. There are a lot of new bowlers coming in. So it’s my responsibility to help them and guide them in whatever way I can. So yeah, it’s always good that when we have certain conversations, what do we have to do in certain scenarios, it feels great.”Bumrah gave India timely breakthroughs on the final day of the Visakhapatnam Test, trapping Jonny Bairstow lbw in the final over before lunch, and then breaking a half-century stand for the eighth wicket by catching Ben Foakes off his own bowling. After the game, Rohit Sharma was asked if Bumrah was a luxury to have in the team.”Yeah, it is [a luxury to have Bumrah]. I mean, look, you know, he’s a champion player for us,” Rohit said. “It’s been a while, you know, that he’s doing the job for the team. But yeah, I mean, when you win a game like that, you know, you’ve got to look at the overall performance as well. We were good with the bat and then obviously we know that winning a Test match in these kind of conditions is not going to be easy. We wanted our bowlers to step up and they did that.”

Ethan Bamber five-for, Ryan Higgins fifty help visitors take grip in tricky conditions

ECB Reporters Network 25-Jul-2023Middlesex took ruthless advantage of winning a valuable toss by bowling Warwickshire out for 60 on the opening day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston.Warwickshire were skittled for their lowest championship total since 1982 – when they made 43 versus Sussex at Edgbaston – as Ethan Bamber took 5 for 20 and skipper Toby Roland-Jones 3 for 27. The seamers skilfully exploited helpful conditions but were abetted by some flawed defensive shots.Middlesex then replied with 199, with Ryan Higgins making 53 from 72 balls, for a first innings lead of 139 – and there was still time on a chaotic day for the home side to lose two wickets second time round, reaching 53 for 2 by the close.When Roland-Jones won the toss, he hoped his seam attack would make early inroads – to have the home side 17 for 5 after 23 minutes did that job.It all started swimmingly for Warwickshire as both openers struck their first ball for four, but Roland-Jones launched the clatter with a lifter which Alex Davies gloved to the wicketkeeper. Two balls later, the skipper sent a full-length ball into Will Rhodes’ stumps.Bamber then found Sam Hain’s edge and Sam Robson took a slick catch at second slip. A simpler chance, offered by Rob Yates off Roland-Jones, was also accepted by Robson before Bamber bowled the entire middle order in 44 balls. Dan Mousley and Jake Bethell were bowled through the gate, Michael Burgess was castled by one that kept low and Ed Barnard’s off stump was clipped by a peach of an outswinger.When Henry Brookes edged Higgins to third slip, No. 11 Mir Hamza found himself striding in at 12.20pm. He was soon making the return journey after nicking a pull at Higgins.In ten minutes’ batting before lunch, Middlesex lost Robson who edged Olly Hannon-Dalby to first slip. Soon after the interval, Steve Eskinazi edged Hannon-Dalby behind and Mark Stoneman fell lbw to Hamza who then bowled Max Holden through another open gate.After diligent innings of 18 from Jack Davies and Jon Simpson were ended by fatal edges, Higgins and Josh de Caires counterattacked. For the first time the pressure was turned on the bowlers as the seventh-wicket pair added 71 in 18 overs.Higgins has damaged Warwickshire in the past with the ball, notably with 11 for 96 for Gloucestershire in the Bob Willis Trophy at Bristol in 2020. This time he biffed seven fours and a six on his way to his 18th first-class fifty before becoming the first of three wickets for Barnard. Higgins was bowled, de Caires skied a slog and Roland-Jones struck the ball into the crowd at long-on but clipped off a bail with his after-stroke and departed hit wicket.When Bamber fell lbw to Hannon-Dalby, Middlesex had a chunky lead of 139 and, remarkably, Warwickshire were in again for 13 overs. Their traumas continued as Davies sliced Bamber into the cordon to add a first-baller to his morning second-baller and Rhodes nicked an indiscrete waft at Tom Helm. That was careless from the captain but it was Warwickshire’s morning of mayhem that has left them in a cavernous hole.

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was originally meant to be part of the presentation after the final, but the host board said he was unwell and unable to travel to Dubai

Danyal Rasool10-Mar-2025The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the ICC for an explanation after the Champions Trophy tournament director Sumair Ahmed was not included in the post-final presentation ceremony in Dubai on Sunday. Sumair, who is also the chief operating officer of the PCB, was in Dubai for the final in his capacity as tournament director and Pakistan’s representative at the final. Pakistan were official hosts of the Champions Trophy.After India beat New Zealand to secure the title, four officials were part of the presentation ceremony, including Jay Shah, the ICC chair, two from the BCCI, one from New Zealand Cricket but none from the PCB. Other than Shah, the officials present were BCCI president Roger Binny, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and NZC director Roger Twose. It is not customary for representatives of nations playing the final to feature in post-tournament ICC ceremonies, unless the final involves the host country.ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB was puzzled by the presence of Saikia, given that one BCCI official – Binny – was on stage anyway. But it is the exclusion of the host representative that has most antagonised the board. Representatives of the host nation are generally part of trophy presentations. The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was originally meant to be part of the presentations but the PCB said he was unwell and unable to travel to Dubai. They expected Sumair to stand in as Pakistan’s representative.Related

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While it is understood the PCB did not reach out to the ICC to inform it that Sumair would take Naqvi’s place on the podium, the Pakistan board believes the onus was on the ICC to contact it about Naqvi’s replacement. The PCB is aggrieved no ICC representative reached out to the board at any stage during the final to discuss plans for a Pakistani presence on the podium post-match.A PCB official said the ICC was yet to respond to the PCB with any explanation. ESPNcricinfo has also reached out to the ICC for a comment.The final was held in Dubai as part of a deal struck between the PCB and the BCCI. Naqvi was initially adamant the entirety of the tournament – the first ICC event Pakistan has hosted since 1996 – would be held in Pakistan. However, the BCCI said the Indian government had refused permission to their cricket team to travel to Pakistan. As such, the two boards reached an arrangement that saw India play all their games in Dubai, with all ICC events the two nations host over the next three years seeing the other side play their games at a separate neutral venue.This is the third time this tournament the PCB has approached the ICC for explanation following incidents they feel have undermined Pakistan as official hosts of the Champions Trophy. During the second game of the tournament, when India played Bangladesh in Dubai, Pakistan’s name was omitted from the logo on the official broadcast.The following day, when Australia played England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the Indian national anthem briefly began to play instead of the Australian anthem. The PCB squarely held the ICC responsible, saying the anthem playlist was produced and distributed by the governing body, with the ICC in charge of playing the anthems before the matches. The ICC put the absence of the logo down to error, while, according to the PCB, the global governing body offered its regrets for the anthem mix-up and put it down to a DJ error.

Their bowlers, led by quicks Siraj and Vysakh, the debutant, put on a special show to put RCB on top after their had put up a modest-looking 174

Alagappan Muthu15-Apr-2023Royal Challengers Bangalore spent a large part of this game under the pump. Frustratingly, every time they thought they got ahead, like when Virat Kohli reached a 33-ball fifty, or when Glenn Maxwell was pummelling the spinners on a spin-friendly pitch, a wicket would fall to douse the momentum. Winning a game like this – a game where their crowd spent the first innings largely silent – will do wonders for their campaign because they clawed their way back. And because their star turns came with the ball.Mohammed Siraj (4-0-23-2) was phenomenal in conditions that should have cancelled him. Their debutant Vijaykumar Vyshak was the most successful bowler on the night, with three wickets including that of an IPL legend, David Warner. Their fielding was electric, a direct hit run-out from Anuj Rawat setting the tone for the fightback. The only Delhi Capitals batters who managed to resist were Manish Pandey (50 off 38) and Axar Patel (21 off 14).Towards the end of the game, it became clear that the pitch had got better for batting under lights. This is the reason why Capitals, having won the toss, chose to bowl in the first place. But their calamitous start to a chase of 175 – 2 for 3 in three overs and then 30 for 4 with Warner dismissed – just didn’t allow them to take advantage.Virat Kohli celebrates his third half-century of the season•Associated Press

Spin > Pace

A slow pitch and the spinners targeting the stumps together meant it was hard for RCB to hit them off the 30-yard circle. Axar and Lalit Yadav bowled three overs in the powerplay for eight dots and just 16 runs.When there’s no pace coming on to the bat, and you also don’t have room to free the arms, it’s really hard to get power into your shots. That’s why Faf du Plessis felt compelled to go extra hard on the quicks and lost his wicket in the fifth over to Mitchell Marsh.RCB hit seven boundaries in the first six overs. Only one of them came off spin. Even for the rest, they often had to charge out of their crease – creating pace for themselves – to get the most bang for their buck.

Kohli on song

A 33-ball fifty on this pitch was an excellent effort, but also typical Kohli. He knew that 1) this wasn’t a 200 pitch so he could bat at his own pace, and 2) the team would almost certainly benefit if he dropped anchor and played out the whole innings. And 3) he is a monster at the death, striking as well as Andre Russell or MS Dhoni in the last four overs.Things were going smoothly enough. He had just played not one but two shots of the match. A stand-still and bottom-hand drill down the ground turning an almost yorker from Mustafizur Rahman into a boundary. And then another stand-perfectly-still and bottom-hand whip to a back of a length ball on his hips for six. The wristwork on that shot to get it so far was just incredible.But then came Lalit Yadav with a massive full toss. It had to be put away. It was begging to be put away. And Kohli went for it, the only mistake he made was dragging it to the leg side, towards the 70-metre part of the ground. He was caught right on the edge of the rope. If he had gone straight, to the 60-metre boundary, it would’ve been six.2:37

Bishop: Brave call to bring on Kuldeep against Maxwell paid off

Maxwell’s little gem

Prior to this game, among batters with at least 500 runs against spin, Maxwell had the highest strike rate (164) and the best balls-per-boundary ratio (4.6) in the IPL. He lived up to that billing, smashing 20 runs off eight balls against the slower bowlers, and that contribution proved crucial. RCB fell from 117 for 2 to 132 for 6. But they still reached 174 because their spin hitter produced a cameo that allowed their unheralded Indian batters to just play out the overs. The impact sub, Rawat, made only 15 off 26 despite coming in as late as the last five overs and yet it didn’t matter.

Capitals collapse

They were 3 for 2 in the third over. They took 23 balls to hit the first boundary.The first innings was all about fast bowlers being dispatched. Mustafizur, for example, gave up one-third of the total boundaries that RCB hit (7 of 21). They were the ones providing release to under-pressure batters.But RCB’s new-ball attack decided to change all that. Siraj found ways to use even these conditions to his advantage, hitting the deck hard, at high pace and generating movement with his wobble seam variation.Capitals were suddenly under siege against the very type of bowling they thought they’d hit around the park. Yash Dhull certainly thought that when he tried to hit Siraj on the up and over the top, but the problem was, even though it was a full ball, and had very little distance to travel after pitching, it still seamed in to beat the inside edge and trap him plumb lbw. That wasn’t so much a wicket as an exhibition of the gulf in class between bowler and batter.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The end

Vyshak on IPL debut had a great game. RCB’s batters had told their bowlers that digging balls into the wicket was causing problems and he did that all night long.Take his first wicket. It was a slower ball banged into the surface. That length makes you pull on instinct. You know you need to delay their shots on this slow pitch. But that length just over-rides everything. Warner was into the pull too early. Toe end of the bat. Caught at midwicket.That at least was the conditions working against them. Prithvi Shaw, Capitals’ impact sub, which means he didn’t field at all, started by refusing a two that was on, then got run out showing zero urgency to get to the crease. Rawat produced a moment of magic at short extra cover, diving to his right, picking the ball up one-handed and nailing a throw with only one stump to look at. But Shaw just didn’t budget for the fact that his shot could be stopped. He was lazy getting into the run, then didn’t even try to dive when it was clear he was in trouble. His IPL reads 12, 7, 0, 15, 0.That wicket set the tone as Capitals crumbled to their fifth loss in five games this season.

Shakib Al Hasan’s absence will make striking the right team balance tricky, concedes Bangladesh captain

Mohammad Isam12-Mar-2024Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has played down Bangladesh’s recent form blip in ODIs, saying that they are preparing to make a comeback against Sri Lanka this week. Bangladesh have lost their last two home series to Afghanistan and New Zealand and are looking to avoid a third straight defeat.Shanto said that Shakib Al Hasan’s absence will influence how they shape the playing XI, but he wants to keep the batting order as unchanged as possible in this series.”We are prepared for a turnaround as a team,” Shanto said a day before the start of the three-match ODI series. “We did very well between 2015 and 2022, but we had one bad year. That can happen. We always face challenges at this level, so it is important that we start playing well.”We didn’t change [our line-up] much in our last series in New Zealand. Shakib isn’t in the team, so there will be a bit more planning. He makes life easy for all of us. We will keep his absence in mind when making the batting order. We are hopeful of having a steady batting line-up.”Bangladesh will bank heavily on their bowling unit, particularly the quicks, to bring them success in Chattogram. It is usually batting-friendly in the port city, where the dew is often a factor even in March, considered springtime in Bangladesh.”It is important to see how the bowlers adjust to the conditions and wicket in Chattogram,” Shanto said. “It is definitely a challenge for them. Everyone has to consider the conditions in which they are bowling. We are not worried about how much a bowler is conceding individually. We want to see the bowling unit functioning well as a group.”Bangladesh will also hope that Soumya Sarkar, who cracked 169 in the second ODI in New Zealand last year, comes good against Sri Lanka. He broke Tamim Iqbal’s 14-year-old record of the highest overseas innings by a Bangladesh batter in ODIs, but Soumya made only four more runs in the series.”[Soumya] played a full series in New Zealand after a long time. He played a big innings in one of the matches. Everyone has to be consistent. There is room for improvement, and Soumya knows about it,” Shanto said. “He is working on it. His innings in New Zealand was indeed a big deal for our team, especially in those conditions. I am hopeful that he will use his opportunity well.”Bangladesh can expect to play in front of small crowds at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium given it’s Ramadan time. Shanto said that it didn’t worry him as he expected the crowds to come as soon as the team started to do well.”Everything is okay the moment we win a game,” he said. “We probably become a bad team after losing one game. The lower hype may be due to the start of Ramadan. We are not worried about it. Those who follow the team, they always come to the ground. I think they become emotional because they expect a lot more from us. We always try to give our best to make them happy.”

Unbeaten centuries in hefty fifth-wicket stand thwart Derbyshire’s bid for control

ECB Reporters Network26-May-2024Gloucestershire’s James Bracey and Graeme van Buuren blasted their side out of trouble with swashbuckling centuries before rain took a hand on the third day of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match with Derbyshire at Bristol.The fifth-wicket pair launched a savage attack on the second new ball, producing a boundary blitz and adding 156 runs to their team’s overnight first innings total of 243 for four in just 21 overs before the heavens opened, with Bracey unbeaten on 137 and van Buuren having raced to 156 not out.No play was possible after lunch. At 399 for four, Gloucestershire were still 127 short of Derbyshire’s first innings total of 526, but on the most benign of batting surfaces, with two players in top form, they can feel optimistic of avoiding defeat on the final day.Bracey was on 87 and van Buuren 61 when play began, with 14 overs to bat before Derbyshire could take a second new ball both sides knew could be central to the outcome. Bracey moved comfortably to his second hundred of the season, reaching the milestone with his 15th four, a cut off Luis Reece, having faced 151 balls.Gloucestershire had just claimed a second batting bonus point when van Buuren elected to cut loose, moving from 88 to his 15th first class century with three fours off successive deliveries from off-spinner Alex Thomson in the over before the new ball became due.Derbyshire took it immediately, but suffered as a result when both Daryn Dupavillon and Sam Connors strayed in line and length, producing a plethora of short deliveries, while others were overpitched. The first five overs with the harder ball went for 65 runs.Bracey and van Buuren attacked at every opportunity, the latter pulling Connors over mid-wicket for six and clearing the ropes again off the same bowler with a sweetly-timed flick over fine leg. The diminutive Gloucestershire skipper needed only 28 deliveries to move from 100 to 150, sending the ball to all parts of the Seat Unique Stadium.From 318 for four when the new ball was taken, Gloucestershire had posted 383 for four by the end of the 85th over. Derbyshire captain David Lloyd had little option but to remove Dupavillon and Connors from the attack, bringing on Anuj Dal and Reece.Play had already been interrupted by a short shower when heavier rain arrived and lunch was taken. Bracey had faced 175 balls, striking 19 fours and a six, while the inspired van Buuren had clocked up 22 fours and 2 sixes in facing 172 deliveries.The partnership was worth 268 in 48.3 overs when the weather set in. Umpires Paul Pollard and Naeem Ashraf made a 3pm pitch inspection, ordered tea to be taken at 3.10pm, and looked again at 4pm, by which time more rain had fallen. They abandoned play for the day at 4.15pm.

Markram and Klaasen had put Sunrisers in control of their chase before the mystery spinner’s choke

Sidharth Monga04-May-20231:31

Dasgupta: Varun is the leader of KKR’s pack right now

Varun Chakravarthy bowled overs 16, 18 and 20 for 12 runs – four of them off byes and leg byes – and one wicket as Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off an improbable win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, only their fourth in 10 matches this season. The defeat left SRH in an identical situation to KKR’s before the match: three wins in six matches. Both sides remained in must-win territory.When Heinrich Klaasen was dominating at the start of the second half of the chase, it seemed like a cruise for SRH in their pursuit of 172. When they needed 48 off the last six overs, Klaasen fell to Shardul Thakur’s golden arm, and then Varun choked SRH with help from Vaibhav Arora, who got the wicket of Aiden Markram in the 17th over.Varun Chakravarthy was KKR’s hero in the closing stages•Associated Press

Jansen’s bounce

KKR’s seventh opening combination of this IPL was the most anticipated: Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, both of whom have batted breathtakingly in different matches. The promise didn’t materialise as Gurbaz walked at Marco Jansen the first ball he faced, and ended up top-edging to mid-on. Later in the over, Venkatesh Iyer got a snorter: extra bounce from just short of a length, and straight at his face. Off the glove to the keeper.Bhuvneshwar Kumar frustrated Roy with his movement, and Kartik Tyagi, playing his first match this year, benefited as Roy went to manufacture a pull from well outside off and toe-ended it to short third: 35 for 3 in the fifth over.

The recovery

Helped by some waywardness from Jansen in his third over, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh set about rebuilding the innings at a fair clip. Aiden Markram saw the opportunity to slip in a couple of overs to two left-hand batters, and found some grip. It was when Tyagi tried to bounce Rana that KKR finally found proper momentum with two sixes and a four in the 10th over to move to 90 for 3.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Spinners shackle KKR

With KKR looking to dominate, Markram went to his No. 1 spinner Mayank Markande, who immediately applied the brakes. Markram himself got a change of ends, and Rana took a risk only to top-edge a slog-sweep.With Sunil Narine not in batting form, KKR didn’t have an option but to send Andre Russell out to face wristspin. He managed to hit two sixes off overpitched balls, but Markande still overpitched, only wide of his reach, and had him caught at short third.Wickets then kept falling. KKR sacrificed Suyash Sharma by substituting in Anukul Roy with 15 balls to spare, but they never found the big overs at the death.

Harshit gives KKR new-ball bonus

KKR have mainly relied on their spinners to win them matches but they received a bonus through the impressive burly fast bowler Harshit Rana. He bowled with some heat, and had Mayank Agarwal gloving a bouncer. Shardul Thakur’s golden touch continued with Abhishek Sharma nonchalantly skying one up. Rahul Tripathi took Russell on with four, six and four in the sixth over, but fell to a ramp off a slower ball against the same bowler.Having taken three early wickets through the quicks, KKR fancied their chances, especially with Anukul getting harry Brook for a duck on the paddle sweep in the seventh over. At 54 for 4, with their two main spinners in the pocket, KKR proceeded to tighten the screws.Heinrich Klaasen took on the spinners to put SRH in control of their chase•BCCI

Klaasen shifts the momentum

Klaasen and Markram, SRH’s two best batters, went 19 straight balls without even attempting a boundary let alone hit one. They knew there wasn’t much behind them so they were contend to rebuild. KKR were holding back their main spinners, telling them the batters would have to take big risks on a slow low pitch to get the 97 they needed in the last 10 overs.Klaasen chose Anukul’s third over as the moment to start the pushback. He charged the first ball of the 11th over, and went over long-off for a six. Then he slogged a 101m hit over midwicket. It rubbed on to Markram – he was on 11 off 21 then – who welcomed Varun with two square-cut fours.It was as though the floodgates had opened with 49 coming off four overs, leaving Sunrisers just 48 to get off six overs.

Thakur inspires, Varun executes

Brought back, Thakur again imparted the golden touch. This length ball, to start the 15th over, looked on-pace and in the slot, but it was a fast cutter, and Klaasen toe-ended it to long-on. SRH still had Markram in charge, and he had now moved up to a run a ball after his slow start. Two boundaries in that Thakur over calmed SRH’s nerves.However, Varun sucked the life out of their innings. Bowling around the wicket, he denied them any hits down the ground by bowling into the pitch. Nor did he give them any pace to work with.Markram felt obliged to take on Vaibhav, but chose a bouncer too high to go after. He ended up holing out to long-off for 41 off 40. Varun kept tightening the noose. No boundary came off the 18th over. With 21 required off two overs, Gurbaz took a stunning left-handed catch off Jansen’s inside edge. Arora then overcame a no-ball, which Abdul Samad sliced for four, to leave Varun eight to defend in the last over.Samad, 20 off 16 at the start of the over, ended up hitting a slow short ball straight to deep midwicket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had never ended up on the winning side on the 33 previous occasions when he had batted in a chase in the IPL; left with too much to do now, he finished on the losing side once again.

Anrich Nortje still in rehab with hip injury

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2022With key fast bowler Anrich Nortje still missing with a hip injury, South Africa have bolstered their seam attack for the upcoming three-match ODI series against India by calling up Marco Jansen. The 21-year-old left-armer made his international debut at the Boxing Day Test in Centurion, where he picked up five wickets across the two innings, making good use of his 6’8″ frame on a pitch that offered quite a bit of uneven bounce.

South Africa ODI squad

Batters: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Zubayr Hamza, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne

Allrounders: Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius

Fast bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell, Sisanda Magala

Spinners: Keshav Maharaj (vice-capt), Tabraiz Shamsi

In: Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kagiso Rabada

Out: Junior Dala, Daryn Dupavillon, Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickleton and Khaya Zondo

Quinton de Kock, who is currently on paternity leave, will be back in time for the first ODI of the series on January 19. The South Africa wicketkeeper has retired from Test cricket to spend more time with his family but he remains committed to the team’s cause in the limited-overs arena.Temba Bavuma captains a squad of 17 members which includes Wayne Parnell, who made his comeback to international cricket in November after a spell in England where he was a Kolpak player. Opener Zubayr Hamza, who scored a half-century on debut during the aborted series against Netherlands, has also been retained. But Junior Dala, Daryn Dupavillon, Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickleton and Khaya Zondo were all left out as South Africa brought back several first-choice picks who were rested last time around.Related

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“For many of our players, it does not get bigger than playing against this powerhouse Indian team and this will be the biggest series of their young lives so far,” CSA convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang said. “We are looking forward to seeing what they bring to the table and wish Temba (Bavuma) and Mark (Boucher) all the best for the series.”

Geddes shares unbroken stand worth 195 with Luke Hollman as Kent struggle continues

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 19-Aug-2025Ben Geddes and Luke Hollman hit career-bests as Middlesex raced to a six-wicket win over strugglers Kent at Radlett to keep their hopes of a place in the Metro Bank Cup’s knockout stages alive.Geddes led the way with an unbeaten 141, his first century in List A cricket, while Hollman made his maiden half-century in the format, the pair sharing a record unbroken stand of 195 for the fifth wicket as the hosts chased down a target of 280 with five overs to spare.Kent’s 279 for 6 was built around an unbeaten 63 for Jack Leaning and 50 for Chris Benjamin, with Leaning sharing a stand of 81 in nine overs with debutant Corey Flintoff, son of former England allrounder Andrew, who impressed with an unbeaten 29. Henry Brookes and Middlesex List A debutant Sebastian Morgan took three wickets apiece.England Under-19 international Ben Dawkins took three fours from one Noah Cornwell over and ramped Toby Roland-Jones over wicketkeeper Joe Cracknell’s head to dominate an opening stand of 52 with Jaydn Denly. The latter struggled for any fluency, his torturous effort ending when he cut Brookes to backward point. Dawkins took his boundary count to eight only to fall two short of 50 when caught by Cracknell, giving Morgan his first wicket.Benjamin and Joey Evison upped the tempo in a stand of 47 before Morgan pegged back the latter’s off stump and a chance for a fourth wicket was spurned when Brookes dropped Benjamin on 33.File photo: Luke Hollman shared an unbroken stand of 195 with Geddes•Getty Images

Benjamin profited from the life, flaying Morgan over third and crunching a seventh four through the covers to reach 50, but he fell immediately afterwards to Brookes, ending a stand of 58 with Harry Finch. Brookes struck again two balls later to remove Ekansh Singh, superbly caught by Sam Robson, and when Finch became Morgan’s third victim Kent were 198 for 6.However, Leaning and Flintoff launched their late charge, Flintoff evoking memories of his father’s batting heroics with two huge sixes, while Leaning’s beautifully paced effort was capped by clearing the ropes twice in the final over as Kent posted a daunting target.The host’s chase got off to a bad start when Cracknell was caught down the legside without scoring. Robson was then dropped at short fine leg by Michael Cohen, but later in the same Fred Klaassen over, Josh de Caires attempted an injudicious hook to sky a simple catch to Flintoff at midwicket.Robson’s response was to unleash a flurry of boundaries, the former England opener cutting and pulling with authority and with Geddes launching a huge six into the trees a 50-stand came up in 40 balls. Evison though wrestled back control by having Robson caught behind and though Davies planted a six over square leg, he didn’t stay long.Geddes continued to carry the fight, reaching his 50 with his second six, a blow which endangered those on the 4.45pm train to St Albans City. Cohen was similarly despatched into the trees and Hollman swept Matt Parkinson to the fence as the partnership prospered.Both batters were dropped, before Geddes moved to his hundred and Hollman to 50 with the help of a towering six. Landmarks reached, the pair cut loose to scamper home with time to spare.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s innings against UAE saw him fall just six runs short of the India record for highest score in a youth one-day match, held by Ambati Rayudu

Shashank Kishore12-Dec-2025Vaibhav Suryavanshi slammed a blistering 95-ball 171 in the Under-19 Asia Cup opener against UAE Under-19s on Friday. He fell just six short of Ambati Rayudu’s long-standing India record in youth one-dayers – the 177 against England in Taunton back in 2002.Suryavanshi, yet to turn 15, hit nine fours and 14 sixes during his innings, before being bowled attempting a paddle in the 33rd over of India Under-19s’ innings. They eventually finished with 433 for 6 after being put in to bat. In response, UAE could only manage 199 for 7, leading to a 234-run win for India and a Player of the Match award for Suryavanshi.Last month, Suryavanshi had smashed a 42-ball 144 – the joint-third-fastest century by an Indian in men’s T20s – against UAE at the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha. He had got to his century off 32 deliveries that day, in the process recording the joint-sixth-fastest century in all men’s T20s.Suryavanshi – a certainty to feature in next month’s Under-19 World Cup in Namibia and Zimbabwe – also recently slammed an unbeaten 61-ball 108 at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to become the youngest century-maker in the tournament’s history.He had a breakthrough year in 2025, when he became the youngest to slam an IPL century, for Rajasthan Royals (101 off 38 balls) against Gujarat Titans. Having made history just a few months earlier – by becoming the youngest pick in an IPL auction at 13 – Suryavanshi featured in seven games in the 2025 edition, all as an opener. He made 252 runs at a strike rate of 206.55.After IPL 2025, he was part of the India Under-19 squads that toured England and Australia. He smashed a 78-ball century in the first four-day fixture in Brisbane, and finished as the second-highest run-getter of the multi-day series against Australia Under-19s, scoring 133 runs in three innings as India won 2-0.Prior to that, he had amassed 355 runs at a strike rate of 174.01 in the one-dayers against England Under-19s.