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Hathurusinghe on Taskin: “Want to give him the best chance of be fit for the first game”

Mohammad Isam15-May-2024Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and coach Chandika Hathurusinghe are concerned about Bangladesh’s batting, but that hasn’t led to any late changes to the T20 World Cup squad. As a result, Litton Das has survived despite scoring just 79 runs in his last six T20Is, all played this year.Litton’s T20I form had dipped so much that he lost his place in the side after scoring 1, 23 and 12 in the first three T20Is of the five-match series against Zimbabwe. His last innings ended when he missed with three consecutive attempts at scooping Blessing Muzarabani, dragging the ball on to the stumps off the last one.”Litton is a very important player in our team,” Shanto said in a press interaction on Wednesday. “He hasn’t had a good time recently. It can happen to any cricketer. But we didn’t want to bring in a new player for such a big event. We valued Litton’s experience. I wouldn’t have dropped him.Related

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“We were already discussing our World Cup team combinations during the Sri Lanka series. We wanted to be prepared by playing matches at home but the success in those matches was subjective. We were clear that we won’t change anyone only because he did badly in these home matches.”We didn’t bat on good wickets in the T20I series [against Zimbabwe in Chattogram and Dhaka]. We had to go on and off from the ground due to rain in some of the matches too. But Litton and I should score runs in every game. We have clarity in the team, so we hope we will deliver at the World Cup.”Hathurusinghe admitted that the top and middle order didn’t combine as well as expected against Zimbabwe, but felt there were occasions when they did fire to win games – they won the series 4-1, after all.”We managed to get a good start in some matches, and when we didn’t get a good start, we managed to finish strongly in some matches,” Hathurusinghe said. “So everybody got an opportunity to bat in the middle, that was a positive. Yes, individually, some of the players would have loved to spend [more] time in the middle, score runs, but in T20 cricket, anything can happen because it is a very different game to the other two formats.”We would love our top order to score all the time – in that kind of scenario, it takes a lot of pressure out of the other players. I am confident that – we have five matches leading up to the first game – we will be able to get those areas of concern sorted.”Bangladesh will play a three-T20I series against T20 World Cup co-hosts USA at Prairie View later this month and then the warm-up fixtures.Mahmudullah is back at his familiar finisher’s position and doing well•BCB

‘Want to give Mahmudullah and Shakib good memories’

Both Shanto and Hathurusinghe said that the batters should take inspiration from Mahmudullah. The senior batter, who is part of the 2024 squad, was dropped ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup but returned to the fray just before the 2023 ODI World Cup, in which he was Bangladesh’s best batter. Mahmudullah has struck two fifties in T20Is this year in his familiar finisher’s role and had just one failure, a first-ball duck in the third T20I against Sri Lanka.”He’s been playing regularly. He made a strong comeback. Lately he’s playing his best cricket,” Hathurusinghe said. “He’s changed his approach to batting a lot. His role is going to be in the middle order, probably be the enforcer in the middle as well as a finisher role, which he has done remarkably well lately in all formats, in the domestics as well.”Shanto said that he was looking forward to Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan, the most experienced cricketers in the squad, to share their experience with the other players.”The team is benefiting from [Mahmudullah’s] role in the batting line-up, at No. 5 or 6,” he said. “It gives the team an extra advantage. He is an inspiration for the youngsters. He has shown how to come back from such a tough situation.”We want to give them [Mahmudullah and Shakib] good memories at the World Cup. It is our responsibility as the younger players. I want them to perform their normal roles but, at the same time, if they can spread their experience with the rest of the team, it will help us.”Chandika Hathurusinghe: “Taskin is a very important member for us. He’s a leader”•AFP via Getty Images

‘Taskin is our leader of the pack in fast bowling’

Bangladesh are also hoping that their new vice-captain, Taskin Ahmed, gets fit in time to have an impact – Taskin was included in the squad despite a side strain.”Taskin is our leader of the pack in fast bowling,” Hathurusinghe said. “The rules of the tournament allow us to carry someone [reserve players], and then we can make a decision. We are giving him the best chance to be fit to play.”Taskin is a very important member for us. He’s a leader. That’s why he’s the vice-captain as well. We have the best medical and recovery procedures in America so we are going to use those resources and then give him the best chance of be fit for the first game.”Despite the question mark over Taskin, Shanto believes the bowling attack can win them games at the T20 World Cup.”We have a much improved fast-bowling department,” he said. “There’s a higher possibility of winning a T20 match if the bowling unit does well. We are also likely to play in conditions that may aid spin, so given our variation, they should also do well. Bowling is our strength.”At the 2022 T20 World Cup, then captain Shakib and the coaching staff led by S Sriram had overseen a new, fearless approach from the players, which gave Bangladesh two wins. They have struggled at global tournaments on the whole, though, but Hathurusinghe is being quietly optimistic.”I understand that we have high aspirations as a country. We have been playing good cricket generally out of the ICC events,” Hathurusinghe said. “As players and coaches, we also have high expectation. The first step is to get through this difficult group stage. We are in a very strong group so getting out of it is the main target.”Bangladesh are in Group D, with Nepal, Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka, and start their World Cup on June 8 with a fixture against Sri Lanka at Dallas’ Grand Prairie stadium.

Match abandoned without a ball bowled to dent teams’ qualification prospects

ECB Reporters Network13-Jun-2024Western Storm vs Thunder – no resultHeavy rain in Cardiff severely dented the prospects of either Western Storm or Thunder qualifying for the latter stages of the Charlotte Edwards Cup.Needing to win if they were to make up lost ground on those above them in the table, the two sides were frustrated by the elements that caused their showdown at Sophia Gardens to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.With no opportunity to remove the covers and Glamorgan and Hampshire Hawks scheduled to contest a Vitality Blast South Group fixture at 6.30pm, umpires Anna Harris and Ant Harris had no choice but to call the women’s game off at 3.25pm.Already trailing runaway leaders The Blaze and South East Stars by a considerable distance, Thunder remain in fifth place, with ground to make up on Southern Vipers and Central Sparks, who have a game in hand. Cast adrift at the wrong end of the table, Storm are effectively out of the running.Thunder will hope for better conditions when they return to action against Central Sparks at Edgbaston tomorrow, while Storm will attempt to secure only their second win of the campaign when they meet fellow strugglers Northern Diamonds at Headingley on Sunday.

The PCB made the decision saying “all three cricketers play all three formats and Pakistan will need their services in the next eight months”

Danyal Rasool20-Jul-2024The Pakistan Cricket Board has refused No-Objection Cetificates (NOCs) to Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for the Global T20 in Canada. In a statement, the PCB said it had decided against issuing these NOCs “after consulting with the three players and the selection committee”.The decision comes shortly after the PCB also refused Naseem Shah’s NOC to play the Hundred last week. Naseem had been signed by Birmingham Phoenix in a deal that would have seen him earn GBP 125,000.As ESPNcricinfo reported a few days earlier, the PCB was expected to deny NOCs to all four players owing to their status as all-format international cricketers, and have cited the heavy upcoming international schedule as the reason: “It should be remembered that between August 2024 and March 2025, the Pakistan cricket team has to play nine Tests of the ICC World Test Championship, the ICC Champions Trophy, 14 ODIs and nine T20Is. All three cricketers play all three formats and Pakistan will need their services in the next eight months.”The PCB’s denial of NOCs appears contingent on the extent of international availability of the players concerned. Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz and Asif Ali recently received NOCs for multiple T20 tournaments, but with the busy Test schedule in the months ahead, the PCB has moved to prevent red-ball cricketers from tournaments in the days leading up to the series against Bangladesh in August.Related

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The decision to pull three marquee players out of the league in Canada, as well as Naseem from the Hundred, is significant. The three-year central contracts the PCB and the players signed last year allowed for two overseas franchise competitions per year, as long as those did not clash with international commitments. While the contracts do state the PCB has the right to refuse NOCs if it feels it is in the best interests of the Pakistan team, the decision to withdraw the players from leagues which do not directly clash with international cricket is set to cause discontent among players affected, and questions around whether the allowance made in central contracts is being respected in spirit.Afridi, in particular, had expected to be allowed to take part in the Global T20 Canada, even announcing a pullout from the Hundred last month. The NOC rejections are set to go further than just the leagues over the next month. Pakistan have a virtually non-stop cricketing schedule from October 2024 to May 2025.They play three Tests against England at home, followed by limited-overs series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, a Test series in South Africa, a home Test series against West Indies, a home tri-series featuring South Africa and New Zealand, a home Champions Trophy, eight white-ball games in New Zealand, and the PSL. It is understood the PCB will entertain no NOC requests during that period for all-format players, which coincides with a spate of T20 leagues.Bangladesh are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan in mid-August, with two Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi beginning on August 21 and August 30 respectively.

Chasing 185, Malaysia were all out for 40 as 15-year-old Shashini Gimhani took 3 for 9

Shashank Kishore22-Jul-2024Chamari Athapaththu’s T20I best – an unbeaten 119 off 69 balls – formed the heart and soul of Sri Lanka’s crushing win over Malaysia at the Women’s Asia Cup in Dambulla.There was also a dream outing for 15-year-old ambidextrous wristspinner Shashini Gimhani, who picked up 3 for 9 with her left-arm wristspin to send Malaysia on a tailspin in the powerplay from which they couldn’t recover, making it one-way traffic from start to finish.

Athapaththu starts sedately

Vishmi Gunaratne, the half-centurion in Sri Lanka’s win over Bangladesh, was out for 1 when she tamely chipped a check drive to short cover in the second over. But that hardly had any effect on Athapaththu, who kept putting the loose balls away from time to time. She also found some help from a series of lapses by the Malaysia fielders.Athapaththu broke the shackles in the sixth over with back-to-back boundaries and raised Sri Lanka’s half-century in the next over. For much of the first half, Athapaththu’s elegance, and not her trademark brutality, took centre stage. With hardly any pace on the ball, she innovated at times to get well outside the line to flick and sweep, allowing Harshitha Samarawickrama some breathing space to find her gears during the course of a 64-run second-wicket stand.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Athapaththu hit back-to-back sixes off her opposite number Winifred Duraisingam in the 11th over to raise her half-century off 35 balls. Even then, there was a sense that Sri Lanka weren’t fully out of the third gear. Athapaththu received a lifeline on 56 when she was put down by Dhanusri Muhunan at backward point in the 12th over. That was the trigger for her to go into overdrive.

Athapaththu cranks it up

From 85 for 2 in 11 overs, Sri Lanka made 99 in the last nine. Athapaththu made 68 off her own, a majority of those coming in the last three overs. Unbeaten on 76 off 57 at the end of the 17th over, Athapaththu hit one four and five sixes in the last three overs. This included two back-to-back sixes off Aisya Eleesa’s military medium to bring up a century in the 19th, the first-ever in the history of the Women’s Asia Cup.Athapaththu’s modus operandi was simple. Clear the front leg and muscle the ball into the arc from long-on to deep midwicket. Malaysia were so out of depth that they operated much of the second half with barely any protection on the leg side boundary against Athapaththu.Anushka Sanjeewani had the best seat in the house during the course of their 115-run stand off just 62 balls. Sanjeewani’s own contribution to it was 31 off 24. The only semblance of cheer for Malaysia apart from their first wicket came right at the end when Duraisingham picked up two back-to-back wickets to close out the innings.Winifred Duraisingam took 2 for 34 for Malaysia•Asian Cricket Council

Gimhani – Sri Lanka’s World Cup trump card?

Gimhani was one of the four changes Sri Lanka made in a bid to give everyone in the squad a run in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup. And she responded by picking up three wickets, including two in two overs inside the powerplay, with her left-arm wristspin.Gimhani imparted plenty of revs on the ball and wasn’t afraid to toss it up. Sure, the quality of the opposition wasn’t the best to challenge her, but figures of 3 for 9 from four overs will be confidence-boosting. Malaysia’s chase never took off and from 17 for 3 in the sixth over, it only kept getting worse. Aina Najwa held on defiantly to bat out 43 balls for her 9 as Malaysia were bowled out for 40 in the final over.Elsa Hunter, who hit the only two boundaries of the Malaysia innings, was one of Gimhani’s three victims.

Former captain and team-mate braced to be overtaken as England’s leading run-scorer

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2024Alastair Cook hailed Joe Root as “a genius” after losing his record for the most England Test centuries to his former team-mate. Root made 103 in the second innings against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Saturday, his second hundred of the match and his 34th overall in Test cricket, taking him clear of Cook’s former benchmark of 33.”He is quite simply England’s greatest, and it’s absolutely right that he should have this record, on his own,” Cook, who was England’s captain in each of Root’s first 53 Tests, said on commentary for the BBC’s “Take it in, Joe. We are watching a genius.”I don’t think there’s a batsman that I can remember watching play [who shares] the sense of inevitability about scoring runs that Joe Root gives off. I called it when he was on about 6 today, that he was going to get 100. I know he’s in great form, but it’s just a pleasure to watch a master, a craftsman at work.”Twin hundreds at Lord’s took Root’s career aggregate to 12,377 runs, and he needs 96 more runs at The Oval next week to overtake both Kumar Sangakkara and Cook. That would make him the fifth-highest run-scorer in Test history, and England’s highest. “He’s just got the final one to tick off next week,” Cook said. “In this kind of form, there’s no reason why he can’t.”Root milked Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya during his second hundred of the match, scoring 60 runs off the 59 balls he faced from him. “The spinner was bowling today, and quite honestly, he could have hit him wherever he wanted with absolutely no risk,” Cook said. “That is the art of batting: low-risk shots which score you runs.”Cook was in the opposition when a teenaged Root made his List A debut as an 18-year-old in 2009, making 63 off 95 balls for Yorkshire against Essex. “He couldn’t get the ball off the square,” Cook recalled. “Everyone said, ‘he’s a good player’, but I didn’t see that.”Related

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But three years later, Cook was England’s Test captain when Root made his international debut in the final match of their 2-1 series win in India. “I saw someone mentally ready to play Test cricket,” Cook said. “The only check was when he walked out to bat for the first time, how he would handle it.”The game was in the balance and he walked out to bat with his England cap on, looking 13, massive smile on his face. I watched his first few balls, and I was like, ‘This bloke is here to stay.’ I honestly said, ‘He’s scoring 10,000 runs.’ I don’t know who I said it to, but I know that I said it.”

Australia restricted Sri Lanka to 93 and were in a spot of bother themselves at 35 for 3 in the chase, when Mooney steadied the ship

Firdose Moonda05-Oct-2024Australia began their T20 World Cup defence with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka, who slumped to a second defeat in less than 48 hours to leave their semi-final hopes hanging by a thread. Australia kept Sri Lanka to under 100, and knocked off the runs inside 15 overs. But their speed of run-scoring was not enough to put Australia on top of the group ahead of New Zealand on NRR, which could prove crucial in a pool where they have already been two upsets.While it was relatively straightforward for Australia, they would be the first to admit that they were not at their most clinical best. Their bowlers sent down five no-balls and two wides, and the 13 extras were the fourth-highest contributor on a sorry Sri Lanka scorecard. That continues a trend of Australia conceding the most number of extras since the start of last year, and is a discipline they would want to tighten up on.Nitpicking aside, Australia held the advantage early thanks to medium-pacer Megan Schutt, who finished with the best figures among the bowlers on a spinner-friendly track. Between them, spinners Ash Gardner, Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham bowled 12 overs, which cost only 55 runs while they shared four wickets.Sri Lanka’s only real resistance came from a 31-run fifth-wicket stand between Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva, and they were the only batters to get more than 20. Sri Lanka ended up well short of a par total, but initially made a fist of defending it. They had Australia 35 for 3 and were fielding excellently, but did not have enough runs to make a game of it.Beth Mooney hit 43*, and sealed the chase in the 15th over•ICC/Getty Images

Australia’s awesome start

If there was any thought that Australia would be anything less than their absolute best as their tournament got underway, that was swiftly dismissed as they got off to the perfect start. Schutt started proceedings with the tournament’s second maiden over, and Gardner followed up with a second, which immediately raised questions of Chamari Athapaththu’s decision to bat first.She got bat on ball in the third over, when she guided Schutt past backward point for two, but the over ended badly when Vishmi Gunaratne was given out lbw off the last ball, and reviewed to no avail. Schutt got the ball to tail in from outside off and pin Gunaratne on the back pad in front of middle and leg stump. Ball tracking confirmed her dismissal.Things got worse two balls later, as Gardner beat Athapaththu’s sweep shot and asked for a review after the on-field decision seemed to suggest it was sliding down leg. But ball-tracking judged it to be hitting leg, and Athapaththu had to depart for a second single-figure score to start the World Cup. Sri Lanka were 6 for 2 in the fourth over.

Sri Lanka fail to cross 100 second time

Sri Lanka’s batters can’t be blamed for trying to make something happen in their search for runs, but their attempts to be attacking were unsuccessful as they could not get the ball to clear the boundary. Samarawickrama, who battled hard to score 23 off 35 balls, was the first to play a poor shot when she swung at a full, wide delivery from Molineux without much conviction, and popped a simple return catch to the bowler.Hasini Perera only faced four balls for her 2, and was then given a gift when Wareham sent down a filthy full toss which she swiped at, but towards Gardner, who took a good catch over her right shoulder. And in the final over, with runs needed to put up a respectable total, Anushka Sanjeewani tried to lap Schutt but ended up scooping the ball straight to Wareham at short fine leg.Udeshika Prabodhani cleaned up Alyssa Healy in the first over of the chase•ICC/Getty Images

Alyssa’s aggression = Udeshika’s reward

Sri Lanka were under the pump when they conceded eight runs off the first three legal deliveries of the Australia innings, but Udeshika Prabodhani had the perfect response. Her fourth ball was on a length and angled in, and Alyssa Healy shaped up for the leg-side flick, but the ball held its line and beat her completely to find off stump. Prabodhani closed out the over without conceding another run, and from nowhere, Sri Lanka were in the contest.

Beth bosses it

When Wareham was run-out in the third over and Ellyse Perry was bowled, the match teetered on an upset. But then, there was Beth Mooney. Arguably the best chaser in the women’s game, she took her time upfront and found her first boundary after the powerplay, when Inoshi Priyadarshani offered a full ball down leg, and Mooney paddled it fine for four.She was into her work when she sent Sugandika Kumari over mid-on for four, which reduced the runs required to under 50. In typically responsible fashion, Mooney was there at the end, unbeaten on 43, and hit the winning run in the 15th over.

Alex Carey carried his white-ball form into the Sheffield Shield, making 90 off 85 balls, but South Australia struggled as Nathan Lyon loomed ominously with three scalps

AAP09-Oct-2024Alex Carey has launched his red-ball summer by blitzing a quick-fire 90 for South Australia against New South Wales, before Nathan Lyon inspired a late collapse to put the Blues in command.Carey smashed 90 from 85 balls on day two at Sydney’s Cricket Central, as South Australia went to stumps at 227 for 7 in reply to NSW’s 366.After arriving at the wicket with the visitors at 87 for 3, Carey peppered the cow-corner boundary and regularly had the game stopped for lost balls in the scrubland.The left-hander hammered four sixes in his counter-attacking knock, going after Tanveer Sangha after the NSW spinner struck twice.Carey’s runs came after Travis Head also hit two sixes in his 30 for South Australia, batting at No.4 and not opening just six weeks out from the first Test against India.Head twice hit Sangha over the rope for six, before the legspinner beat the left-hander in flight when he tossed a ball up outside off stump and drew his edge.But, after making two half-centuries on Australia’s recent one-day tour of England, Carey stayed in white-ball mode. He hit back-to-back boundaries down the ground off quick Jack Nisbet, and also slog-swept Nathan Lyon for another six into the scrubland.Sangha was given the same treatment later in the day, before Carey reverse-swept and drove the spinner to the boundary.”Tanveer was bowling a pretty aggressive line around the wicket into some rough, so I felt like I had to be on the front foot and not just sit on the crease,” Carey said.”The intent was definitely there. I think when I am playing my best cricket I have a strong intent.”I just thought I had to be a little proactive.”The wicketkeeper-bat eventually bit off more than he could chew, caught in the deep trying to take on Lyon. His dismissal prompted another collapse of 4 for 5, with Lyon taking three wickets in 14 balls to finish with 3 for 45. Australia’s Test spinner had Daniel Drew caught-and-bowled for a duck, before he spun one out of the rough to bowl Ben Manenti for four.Captain Nathan McSweeney was run out on 55, adding salt into the wound for South Australia as the pressure from Lyon mounted.”I’ve been itching to get back playing. It’s what I love doing,” Lyon said. “I feel like I’ve been training the house down and in a really good headspace.”I had [spin coach] John Davison down last week, so just ticking those boxes with a really big summer ahead.”Carey’s knock came after fellow wicketkeeper Josh Inglis made 122 from 117 balls for Western Australia against Queensland. Earlier, Sangha (19 not out) and Liam Hatcher (26) added 42 for the final wicket for the Blues, giving the hosts a brief upper-hand when the pair then struck early with the ball.

Players incensed by ECB clampdown on permissions to play in overseas leagues

Matt Roller06-Dec-2024A group of English players have discussed the possibility of boycotting the Hundred in 2025 as the fall-out from the ECB’s new policy on No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) continues.The reported the boycott threat on Friday, and ESPNcricinfo understands that players have raised it as a nuclear option with their agents, and in crisis talks with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), if the policy does not change. The PCA declined to comment, and the prospect of a boycott has so far been discussed independently of the players’ union.The timing is particularly unfortunate for the ECB ahead of Monday’s second-round deadline in the Hundred’s sales process, which will see prospective investors submitting offers for stakes in the eight teams. The ECB declined to comment, while a source insisted that the timing was coincidental and that the potential for a boycott would have been raised regardless.The latest development comes after a chaotic week behind the scenes in the English game, with players scrambling for clarification over the new policy. There is confusion at apparent discrepancies between the wording of the policy itself and the details briefed by the ECB, and frustration at limited consultation with the PCA before its publication.Around 40-50 players put their frustrations across to the PCA across two group calls staged on Monday, and suggested potential next steps. These included the idea of a collective policy of non-engagement with the Hundred’s retention process, which is expected to begin imminently and run until late February.Related

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In practice, such a move appears unlikely – not least because the ECB’s board are understood to have ratified pay rises for the 2025 edition of the Hundred, ahead of further increases once deals with private investors have been signed off. The group of players who have raised the option is not thought to include anyone on an England central contract, though does feature some who were among the Hundred’s higher earners last year.Several players were incensed to learn on Monday – via ESPNcricinfo’s reporting – that players with ‘pay-as-you-play’ red-ball provisions in their contracts would be considered the same as all-format county cricketers. Those frustrations were raised by agents in a PCA meeting on Wednesday afternoon, who cited inconsistencies with precedents around insurance.The PCA is awaiting legal advice before working out its own next steps, while several players want answers as to whether they will be granted NOCs to fulfil long-standing commitments for the winter. Male English players have already featured in leagues in Abu Dhabi, Guyana and Nepal since the end of the season, with Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) starting next weekend.Players also want to know where they stand before the six Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises step up recruitment for the 2025 season, which will clash with the first two months of the County Championship. Some English players have already agreed deals in principle to play in the PSL, with a draft date and recruitment regulations expected to be published this month.The first-class counties are understood to be generally supportive of the new policy. One source predicted that the regulations would prompt a handful of players to retire from first-class cricket, but said that the English game as a whole would benefit from the ECB’s attempts to stave off the perceived threats posed by a significant player drain to overseas franchise leagues during the English summer.

Van der Dussen scored his seventh T20I fifty to flatten Pakistan

Firdose Moonda13-Dec-2024Reeza Hendricks scored his first T20I century, in his tenth year of being an international cricketer, as South Africa won their first bilateral T20I series win since August 2022. They registered the third-highest successful chase at SuperSport Park to break a T20I trophy drought that has extended for eight series, since they beat Ireland more than two years ago. It is also Rob Walter’s first T20I series win since taking over the white-ball coaching job in March 2023.After being asked to field first, South Africa conceded the fifth-highest first-innings total at SuperSport Park and chased it down with three balls to spare. Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen, batting at No.4, shared a third-wicket partnership of 157 off 83 balls to form the spine of the chase. Van der Dussen scored his seventh T20I fifty and hit the winning runs with stand-in captain Heinrich Klaasen at the other end.Pakistan were guilty of an over-reliance on the slower ball, which they sent down liberally, but that may not be where they lost the game. Although they crossed 200, they could have had many more. They were 103 for 1 after 11 overs and 136 for 4 after 16.In that five-over period, South Africa took 3 for 33, thanks to debutant Dayyaan Galiem and left-arm spinner George Linde. Despite those strikes, Pakistan’s innings was built on two big partnerships: Babar Azam and Saim Ayub put on 87 off 45 balls for the second wicket before Ayub and Irfan Khan posted 73 of 32 balls for the fifth wicket to propel their score over 200.It was not enough thanks to Hendricks and van der Dussen, two older hands, who took South Africa home.Dayyaan’s dream (and nightmare) debut Galiem was planning to be at this match, but not playing in it. He had hospitality suite tickets and was due to be sitting with his domestic team-mates enjoying the start of the December holidays with some drinks but on his way home from the gym this week, he got a call he never expected. Anrich Nortje had broken his left big toe and Galiem was called up to the national squad. He was given a debut on his home ground and then handed the new ball.His first over cost just three runs. Exactly why he didn’t bowl another in the powerplay is for Klaasen to answer but in that period he dropped Ayub on 3, which proved costly. He was brought back on in the seventh over, and erred once in length with a short, wide ball but taken off again. In his third spell, Galiem got his first international wicket when Usman Khan top-edged him to Kwena Maphaka at deep third but his moment came in his final over. It was only the second he bowled in succession and Tayyab Tahir popped a leading edge back up to him and Galiem took a sharp catch. It would not have made up for his earlier miss but it gave him good figures of 2 for 21 in four overs, with 12 dot balls, in his first international outing. But that wasn’t the end of Galiem. He was at long-on when Ayub hit Donovan Ferreira just about straight to him. Galiem got himself into an awkward position and the ball burst out of his hands.Sensational Saim but he would have wanted two more Pakistan separated RizBar as they continue to experiment with their opening combination and Ayub has made the case to continue in the role. He scored three runs off the first eight balls he faced before swatting a Ferreira delivery to debutant Galiem at point, who could not hold on to the chance. The next ball Ayub faced, he muscled over deep midwicket for six at the start of a spectacular takedown of Maphaka. The next two balls brought back-to-back boundaries before three dot balls ended the most expensive over of the Powerplay. The slog sweep proved a favourite shot of Ayub’s as he perfectly complemented Babar.Ayub’s career-best, and also his first half-century in the format came off 33 balls in the 11th over, so he had the time and opportunity to double up. After Babar was dismissed, Ayub brought out more classical strokes like the square drive. He continued to take on Maphaka, and hit him for three sixes in his final over to stand on the edge of 90, with three overs left. In a cruel twist, Ayub only faced six balls in the last three overs, and none in the last over, and was left unbeaten on 98.Jahandad’s double strikeBrought into the side in place of wristspinner Sufiyan Muqeem, Jahandad Khan almost immediately showed what he can do. His second delivery moved away from the left-handed Ryan Rickelton, who could not help but play at it with minimal foot movement and edged to Rizwan to end the opening partnership on 6. In his next over, Jahandad played with his lengths and speeds, delivered a slower ball and then and ended with a short ball which Matthew Breetzke attempted to pull but could only sky to mid-on. Shaheen Shah Afridi took a simple catch to leave South Africa 28 for 2 after four overs. A hundred for Hendricks A day after being dropped from the ODI side to play Pakistan next week and with questions swirling over his continued presence in national squads, Hendricks silenced his critics by showing he still has what it takes at this level. He operated at a run-a-ball off the first 14 balls he faced and then tucked into a short Haris Rauf delivery to top-edge him over fine leg for six before putting a slower ball into the stands over deep square for six more. A third six saw South Africa finish the powerplay on 52 for 2, seven runs ahead and a wicket more than Pakistan’s 45 for 1 at the same stage.He went on to smash two more sixes, including one off Abbas Afridi which brought up his fifty off 29 deliveries, by the halfway stage. South Africa were 94 for 2; at the same stage Pakistan were 90 for 1. Hendricks dealt in boundaries and leapt into the nineties with three more sixes and two fours before bringing up triple figures when he hit Rauf over midwicket. His hundred came off 54 balls, and he finished with 117 off 63 balls, including seven fours and 10 sixes and left South African on the brink of victory. When Hendricks was dismissed, they needed 21 runs off 14 balls, and got there off 11.

They have now lost a total of 13 points during the 2023-25 cycle, putting them in danger of a bottom-place finish

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2025Pakistan have been docked five World Test Championship (WTC) points and fined 25% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate during their 10-wicket defeat in the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town. They were ruled to be five overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.Match referee Richie Richardson imposed the sanction, which Pakistan captain Shan Masood accepted after pleading guilty to the charge – levelled by on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Nitin Menon, third umpire Alex Wharf and fourth umpire Stephen Harris – which meant that was no need for a formal hearing.Related

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Teams are deducted one point for every over by which they fall short of their target. This is Pakistan’s third points deduction in the 2023-25 WTC cycle. They were docked two points after the first Test against Australia in Perth in December 2023, and six points following the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi in August 2024.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

As a consequence, Pakistan now have 35 points – instead of a possible 48 – from 12 Tests in the 2023-25 cycle. The latest deduction has brought their percentage of points contested – the number that determines a team’s position on the WTC table – down from 27.78 to 24.31. They remain in eighth place as before, but their points percentage is now only a few decimal points better than West Indies, who occupy the bottom of the nine-team table with a percentage of 24.24 – with no over-rate deductions.The deduction adds a layer of intrigue to one of the two remaining series in the 2023-25 WTC cycle – Pakistan are due to host West Indies for two Tests, in Karachi and Multan, starting January 16.