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Fast bowler gets through 19 overs on second day of Second XI fixture, and is set for Lord’s debut after Olly Stone’s injury

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Aug-2019Jofra Archer got through 19 overs for Sussex’s 2nd XI on Wednesday to further emphasise his readiness for a likely Test debut at Lord’s next week.With James Anderson already ruled out of that Test, Warwickshire confirmed today that Olly Stone would miss at least two weeks’ cricket with a back problem, leaving Archer and Sam Curran as the frontrunners to bolster the pace attack against Australia.Mark Wood (side and knee) and Lewis Gregory (foot) are also injured, meaning England’s seam bowling stocks are relatively bare.After a staggering first day, in which he took 6 for 29 in 12.1 overs before hitting a rapid hundred from number six, Archer had a quieter day at Woodmancote against a young Gloucestershire 2nd XI.ALSO READ: Jofra Archer takes six-for, scores century in quest for Test fitnessHe leaked a few runs in his first spell, as opener Tom Price hit three boundaries in the first four balls he bowled, before Greg Willows pulled a short ball for six over long leg.But Archer ended up with 19 overs under his belt, returning figures of 1 for 78. There was a brief scare after he dropped a difficult caught-and-bowled chance, as he stayed down for around a minute, but he picked himself back up and took the wicket of George Drissell, who fended a short ball that rose sharply off the pitch to gully.Archer is playing in the fixture to prove his fitness, after suffering a side strain during the World Cup, although Sussex coach Jason Gillespie told he was “surprised” he had missed out on the first Test and that Archer was “100 percent fit, ready to go”.Curran, meanwhile, is set to play in Surrey’s Vitality Blast fixtures on Thursday and Friday, though will be made unavailable for Sunday’s game at Glamorgan.While Archer has not made a first-class appearance in nearly 11 months, Curran has played four games for Surrey this Championship season – taking 18 wickets at 23.22 – as well as an England Lions game and the Test against Ireland two weeks ago. Curran took 3 for 28 in that game, but with coach Trevor Bayliss highlighting the need for “guys with a bit more pace”, Archer looks to be the front-runner.It is feasible that both seamers could play, with Joe Denly dropping out and Ben Stokes moving up to number four, though captain Joe Root stressed after the defeat at Edgbaston that England “don’t have to make any shotgun decisions in terms of selection.”We got plenty of time before the next game,” Root said. “It’s really important that we’re very clear on how we want to go about it.”Anderson, meanwhile, remains hopeful of playing some part in the rest of the series.”The thought of more time away from the game is driving me nuts,” he told . “I haven’t thought about giving up. My body feels great everywhere else, I’m as fit as I’ve ever been. It’s just this one muscle that is bugging me and not allowing me to do what I want to.”I’m pretty confident I can get over this, I want to keep going. The plan is to get back and play some part in The Ashes but, if that doesn’t work out, the winter is absolutely on my radar.”

Confirmation of Glamorgan’s £2.5m payout from ECB comes ahead of an emergency meeting of county chairmen on March 26

David Hopps22-Mar-2018Glamorgan have confirmed a compensation payment of £2.5m from the ECB in exchange for not applying to host Test matches for a five-year period between 2020 and 2024.Overall contributions from the ECB amounted to nearly £5.2m – a figure which also includes the annual share-out to county clubs from international proceeds, and an additional £1m payment from ECB reserves that all counties received in the past year. The total sum is thought to be a record ECB payout to a county.The revelation, shown in the county’s annual accounts, comes at a tense time for the first-class game with an emergency meeting of county chairmen scheduled for March 26.Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, is under scrutiny after it emerged that ‘compensation’ payments could be habitually paid to some Test-hosting clubs in the years they did not stage a match despite the policy having not been discussed at Board level.It remains to be seen whether other counties will also be identified as having been promised similar sums.Bob Warren, the Sussex chairman, has written to Graves, saying: “The ECB policies are, taking into account the way matches and money are being distributed, going to produce eight super-counties with dire effects for the rest of us.”Glamorgan said of their financial support: “Following discussions with the ECB the club decided not to apply to host Test matches during the 2020 to 2024 period in return for a compensation payment of £2.5m. The Club has agreed that if it wishes to host Test match cricket in the future, it will repay this sum on terms to be agreed with the ECB.”This formed part of the Club’s strategy to become the white-ball venue of choice which resulted in the successful allocation of international T20s and ODIs and the appointment of the SSE Swalec as a venue for the ECB’s new T20 tournament.”The appointment of Cardiff as one of the venues for the ECB’s speculative new T20 tournament was not without controversy as both Taunton and Bristol had ambitions to share the south-west venue and, in the case of Somerset, have expressed the belief that they were given reason by the ECB to expect this would be the case.Glamorgan, meanwhile, are nearly out of the financial woods. At their AGM on March 28, they will announce an EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation) profit of £4.146m.The statement read: “Since 2012 the Club has made EBITDA profits of £4.0m, before debt write-offs and before this recent agreement with the ECB. These profits have been delivered through successful hosting of a number of high profile cricket events, including two Champions Trophies and an Ashes Test match, alongside very close control of costs.The debt burden, not so long ago a crippling £15.1m, which came close to driving Glasmorgan into bankruptcy until the chief executive, Hugh Morris, negotiated a way out of the mess, has been reduced to £2.5m.Glamorgan concluded: “The Club is very focused, alongside a close partnership with Cricket Wales, upon developing the game of Cricket in Wales, producing the highest quality players, and providing top quality entertainment for audiences within Cardiff and around Wales. The sporting, social and financial impact of these aspirations for Wales could be enormous.”Durham are another county who might look askance at the situation. They were relegated at the end of the 2016 season, and suffered other sanctions, in exchange for a £3.8m bale-out by ECB – another county that made the heady rush towards Test status and suffered financial hardship in the process.

Roelof van der Merwe, who last tasted international cricket five years ago, is attempting to resurrect his career by making a switch to Netherlands

Firdose Moonda30-Jun-2015Roelof van der Merwe, who last tasted international cricket five years ago, is attempting to resurrect his career – but not with South Africa. The allrounder secured a Dutch passport on Monday and made himself available for Netherlands immediately. He was included in their squad to play against Nepal for a T20I the day after confirming his documentation but was not named in the starting XI on Tuesday.Van der Merwe could play a part in the World T20 Qualifiers in July and, should Netherlands make it through, in the tournament itself, which he has said is his ultimate aim.His new passport also means he can play county cricket as a local player, because of the European Union connection, and that he will end his career in South Africa. Van der Merwe spent nine seasons with the Titans franchise and was an integral part of their set-up, but decided to move on in the hopes of playing at the highest level again and prolonging his career.”It has been a privilege and an amazing journey to be part of the Titans family for the past eight years. My cricket journey will continue, but I have decided on a different path that could be beneficial to my long-term career and family life,” van der Merwe said in a statement issued by Titans.”His indomitable spirit and defiance has endeared Roelof to the Titans fans and to a wider South African audience,” Titans coach Rob Walter said. “He had a never-say-die-attitude and was extremely motivated to make a difference and to win matches.”Those qualities did not put van der Merwe was on the South African selectors’ radar recently but earned him a call-up at the turn of the decade. He played 13 ODIs and the same number of T20Is between 2009 and 2010 and was part of the 2010 World T20 squad.In the seasons that followed, van der Merwe made key contributions for Titans. He bowled them to the one-day cup final in the 2013-14 season, with 15 wickets in a 12-match campaign and was their leading run-scorer in last summer’s first-class competition with 774 runs at an average of 55.28.He remained part of South African A squads and often seemed on the fringes of a comeback, especially as South Africa searched for an allrounder, but was not reselected. Van der Merwe made use of his Dutch ancestry to open doors to play for Netherlands. He is not the first South African to go Dutch. Ryan ten Doeschate and Stephen Myburgh are among the other South Africans who have played for Netherlands.

Gary Ballance enhanced his international credentials with a stylish century against the Australians on a rain-affected first day in Northampton, where Nathan Lyon was the pick of a weakened attack.

Brydon Coverdale at Wantage Road16-Aug-2013
ScorecardGary Ballance was in good touch and made a third century in five innings•Getty Images

Gary Ballance enhanced his international credentials with a stylish century against the Australians on a rain-affected first day in Northampton, where Nathan Lyon was the pick of a weakened attack.Lyon enjoyed working against an England Lions order stacked with left-handers and collected 3 for 80, but he was unable to curb the influence of Ballance, who was out late in the day for 104.The first session was lost to drizzle but a clear and sunny afternoon meant that 77 overs were still possible and Ballance used them to show that Yorkshire’s production line of young batsmen extends beyond Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. Ballance had scored two centuries already this month, 112 against Warwickshire in the County Championship and 139 against Unicorns in the Yorkshire Bank 40, and here he looked the most accomplished of the England Lions batsmen.Whereas the rest of the left-handers struggled against the away spin of Lyon, Ballance was less inclined to drive early and worked his way into form while waiting for the bad balls. He was strong when driving off the back foot – one such punch to the boundary brought up his half-century off Mitchell Starc – and drove down the ground against Ashton Agar, raising his hundred with his only six, a slog over midwicket from Steven Smith from his 153rd delivery.But next ball Ballance fell in a not dissimilar style to Chris Rogers in the Lord’s Test, missing a Smith full toss that the umpire adjudged would have gone on and hit the stumps. It was the second wicket Smith claimed with a rank full toss, after Jos Buttler on 7 sent one down the throat of Lyon at deep midwicket. Smith finished with 2 for 8 from two overs but his figures were far more attractive than his bowling, which was only used late in the day.The presence of Starc and James Faulkner as the only seamers in Australia’s attack meant that spin was the main order of the day and Lyon was used the most. After David Warner was brought on as first change, sending down some ordinary slow-medium seam-up offerings, the stand-in captain Shane Watson turned to Lyon and he was immediately effective, finding an edge from Alex Lees that was put down by Watson at first slip.Lees was on 16 at the time but the miss wasn’t too costly; on 33 he again edged Lyon and this one was taken by Watson, the first of three catches at slip that he claimed off Lyon’s bowling. Lyon, who drifted the ball in from around the wicket and extracted some turn and bounce, was also unlucky not to have Moeen Ali caught at point on 15 when an edgy drive appeared to fall just short of Warner.Lyon picked up his second wicket when Eoin Morgan launched a loose drive outside off and edged to Watson on 5, but that brought together Moeen and Ballance, who added 70 for the fourth wicket. Moeen looked nervous early against the ball turning away but was happier when Ashton Agar came on, lofting him over long-on for six before boosting his confidence further with a classy sweep for six off Lyon.Moeen brought up his half-century with a flick through the leg side off Agar, who struggled to find the right line, bowling to a leg-side heavy field against the left-handers, and did little to enhance his chances of a return for the fifth Test at The Oval. In the end it was pace that accounted for Moeen, who on 61 edged Starc to second slip just after tea, providing the second wicket for the seamers after opener Luke Wells had earlier prodded tamely and edged Faulkner behind for 10.Moeen’s departure brought Ben Stokes to the crease to join Ballance and Stokes played a couple of impressive strokes, including a back-foot drive for four off Faulkner, but he did not give himself a chance of going on when Lyon returned to the attack. The first ball that Stokes faced from Lyon he tried an expansive drive through the off side and edged to Watson at first slip for 19.Lyon finished with three wickets and had a couple of other close calls, including when a diving Smith at midwicket couldn’t grasp a very tough chance off Buttler. On a greenish-tinged pitch that offered a little sideways movement but not much pace, Starc and Faulkner provided few seriously challenging deliveries to the England Lions’ batsmen, which might encourage the Australian batting order ahead of the second day’s play.

ESPNcricinfo profiles the Super League teams in the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2010

Mumbai

It’s time for Rohit Sharma to regain the focus•Cameraworx/Live Images

Defending champions for the last two years they might be, but Mumbai’s reign at the top is far from cosy. The questions from the beginning of last season still remain.One glaring problem is the shaky middle-order. Barring Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer, there is nobody else who has shown the consistency and the runs to give hope. This could be a vital season for Rohit Sharma. Despite possessing the right skill-set, he is yet to achieve the fluency and command that his talent deserves. Last year he was unlucky to miss out on the semi-final and final thanks to national duty, after scoring his first first-class triple-hundred, but he has enough time to impress this season and jump to the front of the queue once vacancies arise in the Indian middle order.If Mumbai have to retain the supremacy, they need their bowlers to hunt in packs. Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar continue to impress in patches, but age is catching up with this stoic pair. Dhawal Kulkarni will miss out on the opening match, serving an eight-day ban during the Irani Cup, and Mumbai will feel the pinch against a stubborn Saurashtra middle order. With four away matches scheduled this season, the bowlers have their task cut out.For years Jaffer, Agarkar and Powar have guarded Mumbai with unflinching resolve. It is now time for the younger generation to start taking over.What they did last season
It might seems unbelievable now, but Mumbai finished third in their group, with just one outright victory, against Himachal Pradesh at home. In the knockouts, though, they started to seize the opportunities. Haryana were brushed aside through a large first-innings lead in the quarter-final; Abhishek Nayar’s battling century along with Powar’s delectable, loopy offbreaks gave Delhi no chance in the semi-final.Mumbai reserved their best for the gripping final, a match full of drama, tension, steel, and excitement. Vinayak Samant’s gritty fifty, in his last match for Mumbai, and Aavishkar Salvi’s brilliant five-for, got Mumbai a 103-run lead. However, Karnataka’s new-ball pairing of R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun reduced Mumbai to 51 for 5 in the second innings. This is when Mumbai showed their big-match temperament, first through a 95-run sixth-wicket stand between Kulkarni and Abhishek Nayar, and then through hostile bowling from a pumped-up Agarkar and Kulkarni to seal a six-run win, leaving Manish Pandey heartbroken after his stylish century.Men to watch
Rahane, the second-highest run-getter over the last two seasons, will remain Mumbai’s bulwark in the top order. The middle-order’s inability to build on solid starts only adds weight to Rahane’s big centuries, built mainly on his aggressive yet studious style of batting. He will definitely need the support from Rohit. With the elevation of a contemporary like Cheteswhar Pujara into the Test ranks, Rohit is bound to feel the heat, and this season could be a personal quest for him. Harmeet Singh, the young left-arm spinner, who grabbed a seven-wicket haul in his debut match last season, could be the surprise package.

Delhi

Delhi will hope Shikhar Dhawan can turn out for them for the majority of the season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two months before the last season began, Delhi’s biggest ticket and most influential player, Virender Sehwag said he was contemplating leaving his team to play for Haryana. In the last three seasons, this team that belongs to one of the most dysfunctional of the India’s major cricket associations has won the title in 2007-08, was knocked out of the League in 2009-09 and reached the semis in 2009-10. The Delhi that turns up this season could feature a team following any of those scripts.They will begin on the edge itself. Their opening game against Bengal will be the first four-day fixture to be played at the Feroz Shah Kotla after the abandonment of the ODI between India and Sri Lanka last December. Delhi have as many as six current international stars in their side – Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli and most lately Shikhar Dhawan could each turn up at different points in the season and find their way into the Delhi XI. Or, if distant stars collide, they could all do so simultaneously.What keeps Delhi’s engine going however is the middle-order consisting of Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia, and the strong bowling attack, which will be shepherded by new coach Manoj Prabhakar. He worked with the Delhi team that won its seventh title in 2007-08, but was kept out of the frame for the next two years. Now he replaces Vijay Dahiya who stood down after three years in the job. Prabhakar will work with former India pace bowler Sanjeev Sharma as his assistant. Last week, Prabhakar said his goal was to prepare a team, “with a solid combination of seniors and juniors that can’t be pushed for the next five years and who play three Ranji finals in the next four years”. Now that would be predictable, but would that be Delhi?What they did last seasonWhat Delhi didn’t do last season was play at the Kotla, their traditional home venue. Delhi played three of four home games at the old Roshanara Club, which can produce a competitive green top but contains no dressing rooms. Scoring first-innings points away in Baroda, Delhi then dropped them to Karnataka at the Roshanara and then suffered defeat against Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. They returned home for two victories against Saurashtra and Maharashtra, the weaklings of the group. They earned enough bonus points against Maharashtra and so conceding the first innings lead to Bengal couldn’t deprive them of a place in the knockouts. Roshanara was lined up for parties in the Christmas – NewYear week and the team had to take its quarter-final to the Palam ground whose track is affectionately called “a road.” Once Tamil Nadu’s first-innings score of 400 for 5 was turned into 463 all out, and Delhi’s middle order kept its head, they were through to the final four. There they ran into the old enemy, Mumbai and Ramesh Powar’s 5 for 47 meant that Delhi’s campaign was over.Men to watchLast season, Parvinder Awana was the team’s leading wicket-taker with 29 wickets from 8 matches but it was the tall left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra that made those lamenting the lack of India’s spinning options sit up and take notice. Rookie left-arm fast bowler Pawan Suyal could be their trump card. The team will want opener Mayant Tehlan to shake off a poor last season and seize control of the slot vacated by Aakash Chopra’s departure to Rajasthan. Keep an eye out for wicketkeeper Punit Bisht, Delhi’s top run-scorer last season (543 at 67.87, two hundreds and two fifties) in a line-up chockfull of batsmen.

Haryana

Different colours, different format, different team – but Haryana will want Hemang Badani to retain his class•ICL

Haryana have clawed their way back into the Super League after three years and their challenge this season will be to compete, rather than conquer. The coach Ashwini Kumar says as much. “I want us to maintain our place in the Elite League, and am not setting lofty ambitions. We will take the season one game at a time,” he says. It was a policy that worked well for his team last year as they dominated the Plate League with three victories and two draws with first-innings leads and a fluent win in the semis to qualify for the Super League quarter-finals. There, they had their moments against eventual-champions Mumbai, but lost the initiative to concede a huge first-innings lead that shut them out of the event.One of the reasons for the reversal against Mumbai was the failure of their main batsman, Sunny Singh, who went into that game after topping the Elite run-charts with 617 at an average of 88.14. Sunny, along with opener Rahul Dewan, was instrumental in Haryana’s Plate dominance, while Sachin Rana and Ankit Rawat offered creditable support. The bowling, led by left-arm seamer Sanjay Budhwar (20 wickets), was adequate if not exceptional. Amit Mishra’s presence for two matches when he was away from India duty gave the attack teeth, and his misfortune could be Haryana’s gain if he does not make the cut for the South Africa tour.What they did last seasonSunny set up his prolific season with an attacking triple-hundred as Haryana piled on 546 to dominate the draw against Madhya Pradesh. He struck another ton against Jammu & Kashmir in a low-scoring game that was affected by rain, before Yuzvendra Chahal ensured Haryana secured the first-innings lead again. Budhwar and Rana helped them recover from 92 for 5 on the opening day against Andhra before Joginder Sharma’s second-innings century helped them set up a hard-fought win. They finished their league engagements by hammering Kerala by an innings to set up a semi-final clash with Tripura. Mishra proved his worth in that game after the batting failed, bagging 5 for 41 to give Haryana another decisive first-innings lead.After restricting Mumbai to 55 for 4 in the Elite quarter-final, Haryana’s attack stepped off the throttle to let Ajinkya Rahane and Ajit Agarkar script a strong fightback. Despite a composed 71 from Dewan, Haryana stumbled against the might of Mumbai’s all-round attack to concede the first-innings lead and bow out of the tournament.Men to watchHemang Badani, the former Tamil Nadu player who has represented India in ODIs, joins Haryana after a period of upheaval following his ICL stint. Badani’s presence will bolster the middle order considerably, and if Sunny and Dewan can replicate their form from last season, Haryana’s opponents will struggle to bowl them out. Rana and Mishra will miss the opening fixture with injury and India duty respectively, but expect big things from them during the course of the season.

BarodaThe sooner Irfan Pathan stands up, the better for Baroda and for India•Associated Press

Baroda have been rebuilding over the last two seasons, experimenting with young players as the old guard makes way for new, much like the Indian team. This year marks an almost-final break from the past, with the 22-year old wicketkeeper Pinal Shah replacing Connor Williams as captain in Irfan Pathan’s absence. Veteran Jacob Martin has retired, while Satyajit Parab, is expected to at the end of the season.Coach Mukesh Narula says that Pinal – who led Baroda on the successful tour of Kenya and in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament – has been steadily groomed for the responsibility. Narula says Pinal has been appointed to have a sense of continuity in the leadership, given that Irfan could be called up for national duty.Irfan, who topped Baroda’s runs and wickets charts last year, is rehabilitating from a persistent back injury and will miss the first two games, according to Narula. They will however be boosted by the presence of Ambati Rayudu, who has left Hyderabad to join them. Narula is confident that his inexperienced team can make the knockouts, though they narrowly missed out in the previous two seasons. They will fancy their chances in a relatively lightweight Group B.Among the bowlers whose actions came under scrutiny last season, left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar has left Baroda. Left-arm medium-pacer Sankalp Vohra worked on his action during the off-season and bowled in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament recently.What they did last yearThey managed only five points from the first four games, getting thrashed by Karnataka after following-on, and conceding a 265-run first-innings lead to Delhi. Irfan rose to the occasion, taking seven wickets and guiding Baroda to victory with an unbeaten half-century against Saurashtra. His seven wickets and centuries from Williams and Shatrunjay Gaekwad set up another win over Maharashtra in Baroda’s final match. The late surge was not enough, however, as they fell short of the third-placed Delhi by one point.Men to watchIrfan, when he comes back, will be the key. He averaged almost 50 with the bat last year, and took 22 wickets at less than 19 runs each. More than the numbers, it’s his presence that uplifts the entire team, according to Narula. MS Dhoni has been voicing India’s lack of a fast-bowling allrounder in every forum, a role Irfan performed well in the past, before his bowling fell away alarmingly. This tournament will be crucial for him, especially with the World Cup less than four months away.

Miller, Klaasen, Maharaj have been included while Rabada has been rested

Firdose Moonda31-Oct-2024Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee will make their returns to international cricket in next month’s T20I series against India at home after a conditioning break. Both players have been part of the CSA domestic T20 Challenge, after Jansen last featured at the T20 World Cup in June and Coetzee at the preceding T20I series against West Indies in May.The pair have worked on a shoulder and hip niggle respectively and were the first two bowlers to be given an extended period of time off as Cricket South Africa (CSA) introduced structured breaks in play to work on conditioning. Lungi Ngidi, who is part of the Test squad in Bangladesh but has not played a game since an ODI in October, will have his turn to work over the next six weeks, as he prepares for the home Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He is not part of the T20I squad for the India series while Kagiso Rabada has been rested with the Tests in mind.Fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who opted out of a national contract, has also not been named in the squad. “I wanted to prioritise other fast bowlers in the group. Anrich is a quality player, he plays in leagues around the world and we know what we get from him. We need to give some of our other bowlers an opportunity to play quality opposition,” Rob Walter, South Africa’s white-ball coach said at a press conference.Related

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• Rabada back at No.1 in Test bowling rankings; Ravindra, Shakeel break into top 10

South Africa still have several big names in the squad. Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Keshav Maharaj, who were not part of South Africa’s white-ball squads in the UAE, have all been included.The squad will be captained by regular leader Aiden Markram and will have Reeza Hendricks and Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order.There are two uncapped players, allrounders Mihlali Mpongwana and Andile Simelane, who were the joint second-leading wicket-takers in the recently completed T20 Challenge. They were among four players who took 12 wickets at averages of 14.08 and 14.25 respectively. Both have been part of South African squads in the recent past and add to a strong all-round contingent. Donovan Ferreira, who was the third-highest run-scorer in the T20 Challenge, and Patrick Kruger have also been included.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Notably, there is no room for Tabraiz Shamsi after he also opted out of a national contract last month. He remains available for international cricket but South Africa have opted for Maharaj and legspinner, Nqabayomzi Peter.”Shammo’s situation is similar to Anrich Nortje,” Walter said. “They are both available and wanting to play. For me, giving Nqaba Peter an opportunity to play was a priority. Shammo has played a lot for South Africa and in leagues around the world. We know what we get from Shammo.”He is a fierce competitor and loves playing for South Africa. It’s important we get the balance right between experience and inexperience.”South Africa’s seam-bowling contingent will be bolstered with the addition of Lutho Sipamla for the third and fourth matches on the Highveld. Sipamla last played for South Africa in 2022 in a Test match and has not played a white-ball international since April 2021 but his career-best 4 for 12 at the Wanderers in the T20 Challenge final forced him into the squad. Sipamla will not be in the squad for the coastal games in Durban and Gqeberha, which kick off the series, which starts on November 8.There has been no movement on Quinton de Kock’s availability, despite him not announcing his T20I retirement. Walter had previously said he has not had any discussion with de Kock about his future and that remains the case.”Quinny’s status is as it has been for the last couple of months. I continue to leave the ball in his court. I have allowed him to have his space and not play international cricket. If he wants to play for South Africa, we will have that conversation. For now, he is not part of our selection conversation,” Walter said.

South Africa Squad for T20Is against India

Aiden Markram, Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla (only for third and fourth T20I), Tristan Stubbs

Netherlands tripped up South Africa in the previous two men’s World Cups. They will be targeting a hat-trick, in conditions that might suit their style of batting better

Firdose Moonda07-Jun-20243:21

Morkel: South Africa cannot expect to roll Netherlands over

Match details

Netherlands vs Nepal
New York, 10.30am local

Big picture: Third time lucky for South Africa?

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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 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; Klaasen 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.Paul van Meekeren with Sybrand Engelbrecht after Netherlands’ win over South Africa in the 2023 ODI World Cup•ICC/Getty Images

Form guide

South Africa: WLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Netherlands: WLLLW

In the spotlight: Reeza Hendricks and Vivian Kingma

After not getting a game at the 2022 T20 World Cup, Reeza Hendricks is the first-choice opener at this event and, as the batter with the lowest strike-rate in T20Is in South Africa’s top six, will be desperate to show what he is capable of. He had limited opportunity in the Sri Lanka match – he only faced two balls before being dismissed Test-match style by Nuwan Thushara, whom he edged to slip. Now he has had time to come to terms with how to play in New York and must combine his shots with the patience he must have, after waiting so long for an opportunity this high-profile.Vivian Kingma went wicketless against Nepal but that is no reflection of the threat he posed. He got movement upfront, swung the ball away from the right-hand batters, beat the bat on several occasions and found the edge in a spell that set the tone for the Dutch. On a surface that could have considerably more assistance for him, South Africa’s top order will want to be at their most watchful while also finding a way to target the bowlers around him.

Team news: Do Netherlands play an extra seamer?

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: 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 Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich NortjeConditions 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: 1 Michael Levitt, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Vikramjit Singh, 4 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 5 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 6 Bas de Leede, 7 Teja Nidamanuru, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Tim Pringle, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Vivian Kingma2:42

Which Netherlands bowlers will South Africa look to take down?

Pitch and conditions

We’re going to see a “new” surface at the venue tomorrow with one of the middle pitches set to make their first tournament appearance, and there will be many eyes on it. The same surface will be used for the India-Pakistan match, so this fixture is something of a test run. From what we’ve seen so far, both pitches 1 and 4 have been tricky for batters because of inconsistent bounce. The ICC has acknowledged the quality has not been up to the standard expected and that it is working on a “remedy.” So far, it has been observed that grass has been shaved off one of the surfaces, which could reduce some of the bounce.At least, everyone can fully focus on the strip and not overhead because the weather is set fine, with highs in the mid-20s.

Stats and trivia

• Netherlands have beaten South Africa in their previous two World Cup meetings, but have not won any matches against them outside of those two.
• Ottneil Baartman is the leading South African wicket-taker in T20s this year and the sixth-highest overall. His 34 wickets have come at an average of 15.17, the best among the top ten wicket-takers.
• At 121.13, Max O’Dowd has the highest career strike rate in the Dutch squad. Five South Africans – Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Aiden Markram – have higher numbers than that.

Quotes

“We definitely want to get back a couple of games against Netherlands. They just do the basics extremely well. The moment they get on top of you, they become a difficult beast. When they do the basics right, they do it so well that they keep squeezing you. They have unbelievable outfielding, so it’s not easy just to shift that momentum against them. For us, it’s a big game.”
“We’re lucky in the sense that we play on a lot of different wickets. Back in the Netherlands, we play on artificials, we play on spicy wickets, we play on spinning wickets. So, for us it’s about adapting to whatever the wicket brings to us.”

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.