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Heat, who beat Sixers in last season’s final, moved up to fifth with their point

AAP03-Jan-2025Rain was the only winner as the BBL game in Coffs Harbour between top-of-the-table Sydney Sixers and defending champions Brisbane Heat was washed out without any play.The game was abandoned just over an hour after it was scheduled to start.The point apiece for the no result put Sixers three points ahead of second-placed Perth Scorchers, who were scheduled to play Sydney Thunder later on Friday.Heat, who beat Sixers in last season’s final but lost to them in Brisbane last week, moved up to fifth with their point.Rain had fallen over the north coast venue for several hours.At one stage, it appeared to have almost ceased, but it intensified and forced the abandonment of the game to the disappointment of the several thousand fans who arrived at the ground.Michael Neser had been scheduled to make his comeback from an hamstring injury suffered almost two months ago while playing for Australia A. Heat had also named wicketkeeper Tom Alsop in their squad, with the England Lions representative poised to make his season debut.Heat, who had lost three games straight before Friday’s washout, will next play Thunder in Brisbane on Monday. Sixers, who suffered their first loss in their last start after winning their first four, face Melbourne Stars at the MCG next Thursday.

Josh Hazlewood will return for the home side while Pakistan need victory to take the series to a decider

Tristan Lavalette07-Nov-2024

Big picture: Pakistan out to keep series alive, last hit-out for several of Australia’s Test stars

After falling short of an incredible heist in game one at the MCG, Pakistan will need to regroup and conjure a rare victory at the picturesque Adelaide Oval on Friday to keep the series alive.Pakistan’s quicks gamely attempted to defend a modest score of 203, with fiery bowling from Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah on a fast and bouncy surface almost leading to a dream start for new ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan.Related

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• Short: Pakistan may have to change tactics in Adelaide

The short-pitched tactics worked well and rattled Australia’s batters, but Pakistan will likely need to change their approach on a ground with much shorter dimensions square of the wicket compared to the MCG. They will be wise to focus on bowling a disciplined line and length against an explosive Australia batting-order determined to stick with an ultra-aggressive method.To keep the series alive heading into Sunday’s decider in Perth, Pakistan will also need to defy a poor record against Australia having only won twice in the last 14 ODIs between the two sides.Australia weren’t overly convincing in game one, but can wrap up the series in what will be the final hit-out for skipper Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne before the first Test against India.Starc has been in sizzling early season form, while Cummins was clutch with ball and bat at the MCG. Smith’s crisp 44 allayed fears over his form but Labuschagne is in the midst of a lean patch and scored just 16 in the first ODI before being hustled by the extra bounce of Rauf.

Form guide

AustraliaWWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
PakistanLLWWL

In the spotlight: Matt Short and Babar Azam

While the Test ‘bat off’ continues during the second Australia A match at the MCG, Australia also have David Warner’s shoes to fill in ODI cricket. With regular opener Travis Head on paternity leave, Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk are trying to make compelling cases ahead of the Champions Trophy but both fell cheaply in the opening game. Short has been viewed as having the inside running after performing well against England in the UK recently but made just one run in the series-opener after top-edging Shaheen Shah Afridi to third man. He should relish returning to the Adelaide Oval, where he has made a heap of runs in the BBL over the years for Strikers. Short has a golden opportunity in front of him in conditions he knows very well.Babar Azam looked in good touch before being beaten by Adam Zampa in Melbourne•AFP

Pakistan’s batters were exposed in challenging MCG conditions after being sent in. The exception was Babar Azam, who was a class above his team-mates with an elegant 37 off 44. He got through Australia’s quicks until he stumbled trying to accelerate the run rate against legspinner Adam Zampa. Babar’s recent struggles have been well documented and led to his controversial axing during the England Test series. But he seemed well at home back in ODI cricket, his favored format where he averages 56.52 – the fourth highest all-time – and is one century away from equalling Saeed Anwar’s Pakistan record of 20. He’ll have fond memories of playing at the Adelaide Oval having scored an even century against Australia in January 2017 – the last time the teams clashed in an ODI at the ground.

Team news: Hazlewood returns; Naseem expected to be fit

Hazlewood is likely to replace Sean Abbott in the XI and play his sole international match before the first Test. After a month’s break following the UK tour, Hazlewood made his return for New South Wales against Queensland in a Sheffield Shield fixture at Cricket Central that finished earlier in the week. He went wicketless from 24 overs in Queensland’s only innings of the drawn match.Australia (possible): 1 Matt Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodNaseem was forced to leave the field in the first ODI due to cramps but is expected to be available. Pakistan may need to consider playing a frontline spinner in Adelaide.Pakistan (possible): 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Ali Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Pitch and conditions

Despite its reputation as a batting paradise, Adelaide Oval has been tough to bat on as underlined in a low-scoring Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and Victoria that finished earlier in the week although that was designed to assist the home side’s spinners. The surface is usually considerably flatter for white-ball cricket with the short square dimensions leading to rapid scoring. There has been rain in the lead-up to the match and a shower is forecast on Friday morning. But play should be unaffected with sunny conditions expected throughout the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Starc is six wickets away from becoming the fourth Australian to take 250 ODI wickets. He has the best strike-rate by an Australian in ODI cricket (minimum 50 wickets).
• Glenn Maxwell needs 66 runs to reach 4000 in ODIs.
• Shaheen Shah Afridi (25.99) and Haris Rauf (26.23) sit seventh and eighth respectively for bowling strike-rates in ODI history (minimum 1000 balls).
• Pakistan have beaten Australia just once from eight ODIs at the Adelaide Oval. Their only win was by 12 runs in December 1996.
  

  Quotes

  “The game is changing and we want to take the game on in the first 10 overs. Instead of scrapping to 240-250, which aren’t winnable scores out here, getting towards the high 300 mark is more of a winning total we think.”

No confirmation yet on whom he will play for this season

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2025Batter Mandeep Singh has decided to leave Tripura ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season after spending just one season with the team.”Thank you Tripura CA for giving me the opportunity to play last season, I enjoyed my time there,” Mandeep wrote in an Instagram post. “Made some wonderful memories on and off the field. Wishing the team success for the upcoming season. Looking forward to the next chapter.”Mandeep captained Tripura across formats, playing six matches in the Ranji Trophy, six games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and seven matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Tripura in the 2024-25 season.Tripura failed to make it out of the group stages in all the competitions but Mandeep showed good form.In the Ranji Trophy, he scored an unbeaten 124 and made five half-centuries, crossing the fifty-run mark in every game he played last season. He made three fifties in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with a top score of 94 against Bengal, and he scored two half-centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s.Mandeep had switched over to Tripura after 15 years with Punjab, having led them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali title in his last season with them, ending a 30-year trophy drought.There is still no confirmation on which team he will play for in the upcoming season.

England quick savours the emotions of his successful return after fearing he was a ‘burden’

Melinda Farrell06-Jun-2024Jofra Archer had tears in his eyes as he surveyed the scene at Kensington Oval, about to represent England but, for the first time, in his motherland. When his name was announced at the start of the second over, his first in the match against Scotland, the cheering could hardly have been louder or warmer than if he had been wearing maroon.The loudest applause came from a large group of children in yellow uniforms, students of Archer’s , Christ Church Foundation. They had been given the day off lessons, along with students from Chris Jordan’s former school, to join friends and family and fans alike in welcoming the not-so-old boys home.”Yeah, it was a little bit emotional,” Archer said, speaking at Windward Cricket Club, just a stone’s throw from his Barbados home. “I had a little bit of water in my eye, a bit of a cry but I was just settling.”The prime minister invited us up to the box when [the match] got cancelled, but she said she pretty much cancelled school, and CJ’s old school, so the kids could come and watch us. It was really, really emotional. As I said earlier, I had a little bit of water in my eye and it wasn’t the rain. It was really, really nice. I saw a clip of one of the reporters as well – she went to primary school with me – and she was going around to people in the ground, by the statue, and that was touching. I felt really supported. I felt unbelievable.”Archer had avoided talking to the media ahead the game, preferring to concentrate on getting his return to Barbados under his belt.”Once you get the first ball out of the way, any nerves are gone,” he said. “You tend to forget everything else and just focus. I feel that’s the best way. There’s so much surrounding the cricket before you bowl a ball. So much goes into playing a game.”Certainly, a lot has gone into getting Archer ready for this tournament, so great is his value to the England side. Since he flew home from last year’s IPL and underwent surgery on his right elbow, his return has been carefully managed with England’s T20 World Cup defence in mind, the caution sharpened by his history of back and elbow injuries.Jofra Archer in action during the Scotland match•Getty Images

“It was just a little bit of luck because, you know, if we’d gone a little bit… it could have gone wrong,” he said. “Maybe I could peak too early and could have missed this. Or I didn’t get up to speed fast enough and I miss it again. So I just feel very lucky that everything had checked along with this block. Hopefully I can peak for all of it.”Archer raised eyebrows during England’s tour of the Caribbean last year when he was spotted playing a local league match for his old school during the Barbados leg of the series, apparently without the knowledge of the ECB. However, he said he had been careful to monitor his own levels to ensure a gradual return to action.”I’ve been playing cricket since November. I’ve been fit since November,” he said. “I’ve just been trying not to do too much or too little. Just trying to be okay for this period, for this summer. Just really glad that everything seems to be going all right. Not just this tour but to finish the summer and continue playing a part. Obviously it’s been a while. I don’t know how much rehab I have in me.”He signed a two-year contract with the ECB in October – he was offered three years but turned it down – and was anxious to return to the fold and repay the faith shown by England Men’s Managing Director, Rob Key.”I found it a little bit worrying, not really frustrating, because I was able to spend most of my rehab here,” he said. “I only live 150 metres from this ground right now, so being able to do your rehab, just get away from the noise back in the UK, was really good. I made a joke with Keysy as well earlier. I said ‘I’m really glad I’m back playing because I reckon I would have lost my contract in October’. And he laughed and said, ‘no you’re all right’.”Sometimes you feel like a burden not playing, and sometimes I’ve seen a few comments as well, people saying he’s on the longest paid holiday I’ve ever seen. You try to not let it get to you, but you can ignore 100 of them but sometimes that 101 is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I’ve changed a lot of my social media stuff just so you don’t see a lot, but there’s a little that always filters through. But you’ve just got to keep going.”Jofra Archer speaks to the media ahead of England’s match with Australia•Getty Images

In March, Archer played his first competitive cricket since his elbow injury in Barbados. He felt he was fully fit from the first of five club matches. But it wasn’t until he bowled against Pakistan at the Oval in the fifth T20I that he knew his body was up to the rigours of international cricket.”It’s alright to train and it’s alright to play in games here, but to get that last 10% intensity and [feel] actually, the body is okay. You know when you are able to step it up and the body takes it, then that’s really, really refreshing.”Archer will not play Test cricket this summer. But his (hopefully) eventual return to Test cricket is being managed just as carefully as his rehab leading up to this tournament.”I’ve got a PDF file of every single game I’m supposed to play in from now till next summer anyway,” he said. “Yeah, they’ve really planned out almost everything. Probably the only thing they haven’t planned out is the showers I take. It’s been really, really good. Even when I wasn’t playing, they made me feel really involved as well. They sent me targets that I’d keep trying to tick off and it’s really nice that they’re actually falling into place, honestly.”Related

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• Jofra Archer: 'I don't know if I've got another stop-start year in me'

England have one more match at Kensington Oval before moving to Antigua for the rest of their group matches, the highly anticipated clash with Australia that, after the washout against Scotland, may be crucial to their T20 World Cup hopes. The majority of fans will again be cheering, not just for England, but for one of their own. But there are a few extra guests Archer would like to sneak into Kensington Oval; his beloved dogs. Whether he can get them past security is another matter.”I can definitely try. I can put one of those service jackets on him and probably get caned, something like that.”The animal lover has added a couple of parrots to his menagerie, named Jessie and James. Not after the American outlaw, but for two characters in the Pokemon video game. They play for Team Rocket.England would dearly love to see Archer fire a few rockets of his own when they face Australia on Saturday.

The T20Is will serve as preparation for the Asia Cup, while ODIs are part of the ICC Women’s Championship

Madushka Balasuriya16-May-2024Fresh off qualification for the Women’s T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka will host West Indies for three ODIs and three T20Is from June 15-28.For Sri Lanka, the tour will primarily serve as preparation for the T20 Asia Cup, also to be hosted in Sri Lanka, starting July 20. It will be their second bilateral T20I series this year, following their successful tour of South Africa across March and April. They are also set to tour Ireland in August.As for West Indies, they just concluded a month-long tour of Pakistan where they won both ODI and T20I series. As things stand, this will be their last competitive games before the World Cup in October.

West Indies tour of Sri Lanka

T20I series (all matches in Galle): June 15, 18 and 21
ODI series (all matches in Hambantota): June 24, 26 and 28

The last time these two sides squared off in a bilateral series was back in 2017, where West Indies swept Sri Lanka across both T20Is and ODIs. West Indies have dominated Sri Lanka in T20Is with a head-to-head record of 18-4. In ODIs, the contest has been much closer with West Indies winning 18 and Sri Lanka 14.This tour though has the potential to be a much more closely fought affair, with Sri Lanka entering on the back of historic series wins over the England, New Zealand and South Africa over the past year.The ODI series will be played from June 15-21 in Galle and is part of the ICC Women’s Championship, which serves as a pathway to the 2025 ODI World Cup. West Indies are currently seventh on the Women’s Championship points table and Sri Lanka eighth. Top four teams, apart from hosts India, will get a direct qualification.The T20Is will be held in Hambantota from June 24-28.

Stokes has encouraged his players to be “smarter” in their decision-making and to get better at “soaking up pressure”

Matt Roller19-Jun-20253:16

Does England’s inexperienced bowling even the scales?

Ben Stokes had a simple message for his England team at Headingley: “It’s about winning.” Speaking ahead of Friday’s first Test against India, Stokes called on his players to show that they are capable of “adapting better” under pressure and prove that they have substance to underpin their attacking style during this series, as he looks to take England “to the next level”.England have won 23 and lost 12 Tests since Stokes took over from Joe Root as captain and now face a defining seven months, with five-match series against India and Australia. They have become the fastest-scoring team in the world and pulled off some historic victories, but Stokes wants his team to be more resilient when they are behind the game.”We have a team identity about how we want to go out there and play the game,” Stokes told the BBC. “We’ve had time to talk as a group, identify areas where we know that we are incredibly strong, but also identify areas that we think we need to get better at. One of those areas was adapting better when we’re up against the wall.Related

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“We know that when we are on top of teams, we are very, very good, and where we maybe have let ourselves down in the past over the last three years is when we have been behind the game, we’ve not given ourselves the best chance of wresting ourselves back into the game, and that’s an area that we have looked at and know that we need to get better at if we want to end up being where we want to end up being as a team.”We still want to be known as a team who play an exciting style of cricket,” Stokes added. “[It’s] not that we never wanted to win every game that we played, but it’s changing what we say and how we say it. We want to be playing exciting games of cricket because we know that’s what brings the best out of individuals and us as a team. But it’s about winning.”England’s recent Test losses have often been thrashings, epitomised by a 423-run reverse in Hamilton at the end of last year, and defeats by 434 runs and an innings and 64 runs during their most recent series against India, 18 months ago. As a result, Stokes has encouraged his players to be “smarter” in their decision-making and to get better at “soaking up pressure”.”It’s just being smarter in those situations when it’s obvious that the opposition is on top of us,” he said. “We just felt like, as a team, that the area of improvement… is actually soaking up that pressure, and allowing ourselves a better opportunity to then apply the pressure back onto [the opposition] in the way that we know we can.”When we have lost, we probably look back on those moments [and think], ‘Could we have been a lot better at slowing everything down, and understanding where we are in the position of the game to then allow us to play in that natural way that we like to go about things?’ Having those reflective moments and honest conversations within the group is what can take teams to the next level.”Ben Stokes – “[It’s] not that we never wanted to win every game that we played, but it’s changing what we say and how we say it”•Getty Images

Stokes batted away any questions about the forthcoming Ashes series, insisting his team are focused only on India. He separately hinted at his desire to turn England into a great team. “We have been good over the last three years. I think results show that,” he told talkSPORT. “But we want to be better than good.”He is also expecting a stern challenge from India despite the recent retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin. “The pool of talent that Indian cricket has is just ginormous,” Stokes said. “[They are] three massive names, three people who have done wonderful things for their country, but it’s not going to be any easier for us because those three big names aren’t here.”England announced their team on Wednesday, with Ollie Pope beating Jacob Bethell to the No. 3 spot in their main selection decision. “Having him at No. 3 since I’ve been captain, over a three-year period, averaging over 40, it speaks for itself,” Stokes said. “Scoring 170 in his last Test match [against Zimbabwe] has shown how well he’s handled that extra scrutiny.”Bethell is set to play for Warwickshire against Somerset in the County Championship from Sunday, while Jofra Archer – who has not played a Test match since early 2021 – will also make his red-ball comeback for Sussex at Durham. Stokes said that the prospect of unleashing Archer against India was a “very, very exciting” one.”Jof’s tracking really, really well to be available,” he said. “I know he’s been absolutely desperate to play Test cricket again for England… Seeing him back out playing and being in a situation now where he’s building back up to be in contention for selection for the Test team again is very, very exciting.”

Australia were restricted to 105 for 8 before Botha’s whirlwind knock helped South Africa chase down the target with 11 balls to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2025A four-wicket haul from Ashleigh van Wyk backed up by a whirlwind 24-ball 37 from opener Jemma Botha helped South Africa outclass Australia in the first semi-final by five wickets and confirm a place in the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup final for the first time.Electing to bat in sunny Kuala Lumpur, Australia were on the back foot immediately, with Ines McKeon trapped lbw first ball to fast bowler Nthabiseng Nini. Grace Lyons, promoted up the order, was then run out backing up too far at the bowler’s end, with captain Lucy Hamilton’s punch ricocheting off Nini’s fingers onto the non-striker’s stumps.Hamilton and Caoimhe Bray were circumspect, with the South Africa bowlers sticking to a wicket-to-wicket line. Australia got their first boundary only midway into the fifth over, though Hamilton quickly added a couple more off Nini.Then Kayla Reyneke, the South Africa captain, struck in her first over, pinning her opposite number in front of the stumps, missing a sweep. Australia went 7.3 overs without a boundary, with South Africa putting on a spin strangle. Eleanor Larosa and Bray added 27 runs for the fourth wicket in 47 balls.Jemma Botha scored 37 off 24 balls•ICC via Getty Images

A stunning return catch from Seshnie Naidu saw the back of Larosa before van Wyk took control, ripping through the Australia lower middle order with four wickets in three overs. Australia needed Ella Briscoe’s unbeaten 17-ball 27 to take them to 105 for 8 on a good batting strip.The chase wasn’t expected to be straightforward for South Africa, against an Australia attack that hadn’t conceded more than 100 even once in the tournament. Botha, though, wasted no time.Batting well down the track to negate any movement, Botha got going with back-to-back fours against Larosa in the first over. Simone Lorens also started with a four but was soon castled by a Chloe Ainsworth in-ducker. But there was no stopping Botha. She smashed five fours and two sixes as South Africa raced to 50 for 2 after six overs.With the foundation set, Reyneke took over and guided her side sedately towards their target. She stitched a 21-run stand with Botha and then a 38-run partnership Karabo Meso as South Africa coasted through the middle overs. Reyneke fell with South Africa three short of the target before Naidu took them home with 11 balls to spare.

Jon Holland has been preferred to Bryce McGain as Victoria’s specialist spinner in the FR Cup game against Western Australia

Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2009Jon Holland has been preferred to Bryce McGain as Victoria’s specialist spinner in the FR Cup game against Western Australia on Saturday and the Bushrangers are also hopeful of having Clint McKay available in Bunbury. McKay is in Australia’s squad for the second Test against West Indies but should be released on Friday if he is not in the starting XI.Holland, the left-arm spinner, was part of Australia’s one-day squad in India last month, but he did not play a game and when he returned he has had to battle with McGain for action. McGain was dropped following figures of 0 for 43 off five overs in Victoria’s loss to Queensland on Wednesday. Darren Pattinson is also in the 13-man squad that will not be finalised until Saturday morning.Western Australia have Ashley Noffke back and will want to build on their win over New South Wales last week. They thrashed the Blues by 129 runs in the FR Cup before being swept aside in the following Sheffield Shield encounter.Victoria squad Robert Quiney, Chris Rogers, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Jon Holland, Clinton McKay, Darren Pattinson, James Pattinson.Western Australia squad Shaun Marsh, Wes Robinson, Adam Voges (capt), Mitch Marsh, Theo Doropoulos, Luke Ronchi (wk), Justin Coetzee, Aaron Heal, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Michael Hogan, Brad Knowles, Steve Magoffin.

Quinton de Kock was named the men’s ODI Player of the Year, while Reeza Hendricks won the T20I award

Firdose Moonda06-Sep-2024Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa’s women’s captain, was the big winner at the CSA annual awards, where she picked up five prizes including Women’s Player of the Year following a stellar 2023-24 season. Not only did Wolvaardt accept the leadership role permanently in the past season, she was also South Africa’s leading run-scorer in ODIs and T20Is in the period under consideration.Fittingly, she was named the Women’s ODI Player of the Year and Women’s T20I Player of the Year. Her popularity among her team-mates and supporters was clear as she also took home the Players’ Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year awards.She was joined by Marco Jansen, who was named as the Men’s Player of the Year in recognition of his all-round contributions which included 17 wickets at the ODI World Cup and impressive performances with bat and ball in the Boxing Day Test against India.Related

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The awards recognise achievements from May 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024, so performances at June’s Men’s T20 World Cup and in Test and T20I series in West Indies will be considered only at next year’s events. The reason for the awards being held in September rather than immediately after the season in May is because CSA’s sponsors require all nationally contracted players to appear at the ceremony and that would not be possible in May because of the IPL.South Africa only played four Tests in the period under consideration – two against India and two with a second-string side in New Zealand – which made choosing a Test player of the Year tough. David Bedingham, who scored 56 on debut against India and 87 and 110 in his two second innings in New Zealand, was recognised for his efforts. Bedingham was also named the International Newcomer of the Year.In white-ball formats, Quinton de Kock, who has now retired from 50-over cricket, was named the ODI Player of the Year after his four centuries at the 2023 World Cup. Reeza Hendricks, meanwhile, won the T20I Player of the Year award. Hendricks was the only South African batter to score a half-century in the period under consideration which excludes the T20 World Cup. Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm spinner who defied medical odds to make his comeback three months early from an Achilles rupture and play at the ODI World Cup, was voted by his peers as the Players’ Player of the Year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two other marquee awards were won by female internationals: the Best Delivery Fuelled by KFC and Makhaya Ntini Power of Cricket Award. Marizanne Kapp’s inswinger that bowled Beth Mooney in South Africa’s first ODI win over Australia was judged the best ball in the season while Masabata Klaas was acknowledged for overcoming the odds to carve a career in cricket. The Makhaya Ntini award, which is in its third year, seeks to recognise players who, like Ntini, have risen above tough circumstances and this is the first time the award has been won by a female cricketer.Klaas had her daughter Rethabile in 2013, just before South Africa’s women’s cricket professionalised, and she has been a single mother though her career. She took three years out of the game but with the support of her own mother, Paulinah, was able to return to cricket and played a key role in South Africa’s automatic qualification to the 2021 50-over World Cup. She became the 10th women’s bowler to take a hat-trick, doing it against Pakistan in 2019. She is seventh on South Africa’s all-time ODI wicket-takers’ list and sixth in T20Is. Earlier this year, she spoke to ESPNcricnfo’s Powerplay podcast about her journey in the game and how she has taken on a mentoring role in the women’s side. Klaas and other cricketing mothers were also on the most recent episode of Powerplay.On the domestic front, legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter who bowled the Lions to victory in the CSA T20 Cup and made his international debut in June was named the men’s Domestic Newcomer of the Season and T20 Challenge Player of the Season. Lions’ allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who was the third-highest run-scorer and took 16 wickets in division one of the four-day division one first-class competition was named four-day domestic Player of the Season. Western Province allrounder Mihlali Mpongwana, the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the one-day cup, won the one-day Domestic Player of the Season award. In the women’s domestic competition, left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba was named women’s one-day Player of the Season, while Tazmin Brits won the women’s T20 Player of the Season award after finishing as the leading run-scorer in the domestic tournament, with three centuries.

Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 67 runs and face a 221-run deficit, which threatens to get out of hand

Firdose Moonda07-Dec-2024Stumps South Africa 358 and 191 for 3 (Markram 55, Bavuma 48*, Stubbs 36*, Jayasuriya 2-75) lead Sri Lanka 328 (Nissanka 89, Kamindu 48, Mathews 44, Chandimal 44, Paterson 5-71, Maharaj 2-65, Jansen 2-100) by 221 runsTemba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs shared an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 82 and South Africa pulled away from Sri Lanka on the third day at St George’s Park. They extended their lead to 221 after taking a slim 30-run advantage from the first innings, having bowling Sri Lanka out for 328 earlier in the day.South Africa’s strong performance came on the back of Dane Paterson’s first Test five-for and Aiden Markram half-century, which set up their second innings. Bavuma is two runs away from a fourth successive fifty-plus score in the series, in which he has already collected more than 300 runs. Despite not playing any competitive cricket for two months before this series as he recovered from an elbow injury, Bavuma is seeing the ball better than anyone else and has added a more aggressive style to his strokeplay.Related