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The visitors are set to trial a new set of players – largely plucked out of the MSL and the South Africa A sides – under a new captain in de Kock

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu14-Sep-20197:39

Agarkar: Don’t think India will be intimidated by South Africa

Big Picture

South Africa’s Vision 2019, their grand plan for 50-over World Cup success, went completely awry. World Cup hangovers aren’t easy to shake off, but South Africa will now have to quickly shift their focus to the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia. They are set to trial a new set of players – largely plucked out of the Mzansi Super League and the South Africa A sides – under a new captain in Quinton de Kock.A few of these players were also part of a spin camp in Bengaluru last month, held to help them come to grips with Indian conditions ahead of the three T20Is and three Tests. And, while some of these players have also been part of the IPL, South Africa’s squad lacks T20I experience on the whole. All told, their squad has a collective experience of 210 T20Is while India’s potential top three – Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and captain Virat Kohli – have a collective experience of 219 games in the format.ALSO READ: The T20 game: India haven’t figured it out yet, but they are willing to changeHashim Amla, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy have all retired following the meltdown in England and Wales, while Faf du Plessis will tune up for the Test series with an extended spell at Kent. In their absence, the onus is on de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen, who has established himself as a well-travelled and versatile franchise T20 player – to lead the way with the bat.ALSO READ: ‘I’m going to feel 21 again’ – Bavuma awaits dream T20I debutKagiso Rabada, who was troubled by injury in the World Cup, will test out his hamstring, and 25-year-old tearaway Anrich Nortje, who had been sidelined from the entire World Cup with injury, will be awaiting his international debut. South Africa have at least nine matches to figure out their combination ahead of Australia 2020 while India have the bigger cushion of at least 17 games to work with.Rassie van der Dussen goes for a pull•Getty Images

The hosts have already begun their build-up, having swept West Indies 3-0 in the Caribbean last month. They are now going to have to adapt to the changing T20 landscape, a departure from their safety-first approach in the previous T20 World Cup in 2016. This series is another chance for the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and Rishabh Pant to settle in the middle order.With India’s premier spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal swapped out for this series too, finger-spin-bowling allrounders Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya and legspinner Rahul Chahar will look to push their cases for a longer stint in the team.

Form guide

India WWWLL (completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WWTLW

In the spotlight

Around this time last year, 19-year-old Washington Sundar was at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, recovering from an ankle injury sustained while playing football during training in England. Washington doubted if he could be effective with the white ball on return, but he overcame that and posed a threat to the left-handers in the Caribbean and then was among the wickets in the one-dayers against South Africa A. South Africa could have at least three left-handers among the batsmen – de Kock, David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo – and Washington will relish bowling to them.Rassie van der Dussen stood out with his nous and middle-order gears amid South Africa’s World Cup rubble, and even had du Plessis earmarking him as a future captain. He has been there and done that in domestic T20 competitions at home, CPL, MSL and Global T20 Canada, and also has a reputation of being a good player of spin. Now, it’s over to him to replicate that form in T20Is and take full charge of the middle order as South Africa rebuild for another World Cup.Virat Kohli, and India, have at least 17 games to prepare for the 2020 T20 World Cup•Getty Images

Team news

Having been rested for the Caribbean tour, allrounder Hardik Pandya is set to slot back into the side. It remains to be seen whether KL Rahul or Shikhar Dhawan partners Rohit Sharma at the top.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan/ KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Manish Pandey/Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja/Rahul Chahar, 9 Washington Sundar, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Navdeep SainiSouth Africa’s XI following the World Cup shake-up is hard to predict. Temba Bavuma, who has been widely perceived a red-ball player, might make his T20I debut, while allrounders Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius are likely to fit into the lower-middle order.South Africa (probable): 1. Quinton de Kock (capt & wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Temba Bavuma, 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 David Miller, 6 Andile Phehlukwayo, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Bjorn Fortuin/George Linde, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Junior Dala/Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch and conditions

The pitch, too, is hard to predict, considering the rain threat. The pitch had to be covered because of afternoon showers on Saturday. Some rain has been forecast for Sunday too. The last time India faced South Africa in Dharamsala – it was the first T20 at this venue, in 2015 – South Africa hunted down 200 as Rohit’s hundred went in vain.

Stats and trivia

• There is a case for South Africa to pick Junior Dala and let him have a crack at Rohit with the new ball. The seamer has dismissed Rohit three times in seven balls in T20s.
• Since his T20I debut in December 2017, Washington has claimed nine wickets in the Powerplay. Only Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya, England’s David Willey, and Australia’s Billy Stanlake have taken more wickets in the first six overs in T20Is, but they have all had the benefit of playing more games than Washington.

On a day where he took his maiden international wicket, Afridi also confessed that the conditions in Harare were the coldest he’s ever played in

Liam Brickhill in Harare05-Jul-2018Left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi revelled in his first international wickets for Pakistan, braving winter temperatures that dipped as low as 13°C to take the wickets of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short during his team’s 45-run win over Australia in Harare.”This is by far the coldest day of cricket I’ve ever played,” said Afridi, who found his way into Pakistan’s T20I squad after turning heads with some remarkable performances in the Pakistan Super League, played today in place of the rested Hasan Ali, and now has found his way into the wickets column.With the ball hooping through the air and jagging off the pitch, Afridi found the inside edge of Finch’s bat and then beat Maxwell with one that dipped and curved into his pads. “Since yesterday I’ve been planning on getting these two wickets and trying to work out how to get them out early,” said Afridi.He also added the dismissal of Short, flattening the left-hander’s leg stump as Australia’s chase completely lost its way. With the rest of the attack also chipping in with wickets and the match never out of Pakistan’s control, this was a far improved performance and Afridi said that captain Sarfraz Ahmed – who had some harsh words for his team despite their win yesterday – was much happier with them.”He’s definitely happy with the bowling attack today,” said Afridi. “He’s the captain, and sometimes that happens when he’s unhappy, but today he was much happier with our performance.”Where Australia had gone for the aggressive tactic of banging the ball in short this morning, Pakistan’s attack pitched it up more often than not to utilize the swing and seam on offer. “I think they didn’t take advantage of the pitch,” said Afridi. “The ball was seaming around a lot, and that’s why we pitched it up.”At just 18, Afridi is at the very beginning of his professional sporting career but his performances to date have already drawn comparisons to a young Mitchell Starc from Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur. He took 8 for 39 in his first ever Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match – the best ever by a Pakistani on first-class debut, and then claimed the best ever figures in PSL history with his 5 for 4 against the Multan Sultans earlier this year. During the same tournament, he shrugged off being hit for six by Shahid Afridi (his namesake, but no direct relation) to knock the T20 legend’s stumps down with his very next ball. It is no wonder, then, that he seems to have taken very easily to international cricket.”Shahid Afridi is a very big name, not just in our country but globally,” he said. “He hit me for six first ball in the PSL, but with the next one I got him out. I was very happy about that. After PSL, I don’t think any international match is tough for me. After that, I’m calm playing international cricket.”

Delhi Daredevils bounced back from the ignominy of falling to their lowest IPL total by dominating their chase in a six-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Report by Varun Shetty02-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:58

Hogg: Nair batted like a T20 cricketer

Delhi Daredevils bounced back from falling to their lowest IPL total in their previous game by dominating the chase in a six-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla.Daredevils’ stand-in captain, Karun Nair, had put Sunrisers in hoping the pitch would stay true through the game. The visitors responded by scoring 66 in the Powerplay. Daredevils fought back in the middle overs, removing Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson in quick succession after strangling them with spin, but lapses in the field allowed Sunrisers a way back in. Yuvraj Singh made use of a dropped catch and dominated an unbroken 93-run stand for the fourth wicket with Moises Henriques that lifted Sunrisers to 185 for 3.Daredevils began briskly in the chase, with Sanju Samson’s 19-ball 24 and Nair’s 20-ball 39 setting the pace. The momentum was picked up by the rest of the top order before allrounders Corey Anderson and Chris Morris put on 41 off 19 balls to take Daredevils past the target with five balls to spare.Jayant Yadav and the opening stand
Against a top four that had three left-hand batsmen, Daredevils picked the offspinner Jayant Yadav. In fact, his only game this season was the away fixture against Sunrisers on April 19, when he had opened the bowling.Jayant did it in Delhi as well and seemed to have David Warner lbw first ball. Warner, who had struck a thunderous 126 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, went for the sweep against an overpitched delivery drifting into him. HawkEye showed his survival was marginal.That was the only sign of the offspin punt working against the openers. Warner and Shikhar Dhawan played Jayant out respectfully – apart from a Warner switch-hit over the backward point boundary.Against Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris, they were more fluid, hitting five fours and a six before Warner welcomed Mohammed Shami with a boundary to start of the sixth over. That whip over midwicket brought up the fifth opening stand of fifty or more for Sunrisers this season. It ended next ball, however, with Shami sliding a steaming yorker under Warner’s drive to take his off stump.Kotla slows down
Sunrisers were 66 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay. Kane Williamson played four dot ball in the next over against Morris, two of which were slower deliveries. It was a precursor to the home team’s plan for the middle overs. Jayant and Amit Mishra bowled four overs in tandem, which set the tone for Daredevils’ most fruitful phase in the field. Mishra depended heavily on his new-found offbreak against the left-handers, but it was his googly that met the top edge of Dhawan’s attempted sweep.Jayant had cramped Williamson to the extent that the Sunrisers No. 3, aside from a six off a quicker delivery, had only managed three singles off seven deliveries. When Shami came back in the 12th over, his dot-ball ratio had climbed to 50%. That induced a skied hook straight to deep square leg. The six overs after the Powerplay fetched Sunrisers only 27 runs for the loss of two wickets.Yuvraj cashes in
Daredevils gave away extra runs on at least four occasions. The most painful one was when Samson dropped Yuvraj, who had 24 runs in his last four innings, at deep square leg. Samson, who had been involved in that infamous mix-up with Mishra against KKR last week, wasn’t under any such pressure this time – the nearest fielder was yards to his left.However different the two missed chances were, the outcomes were similar. Robin Uthappa had piled on the misery that day and Yuvraj, on 29 off 26 at that point, made 41 off his next 15. His unbeaten 70 took Sunrisers to 185 for 3.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bhuvi returns the favour, Nair finds his mojo
Another man who had not found runs was Karun Nair. He opened the chase and utilised the Powerplay to hit himself into form. Like Yuvraj, Nair was helped by ordinary fielding. On 20, he toe-ended a scoop to short fine leg, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar was late in getting his hands up to take the catch. Nair made 15 off his next four balls, primarily through shots on the up or ramps behind the wicket while the ball still came on.His knock took Daredevils to 62 in the Powerplay. Shortly after, Nair offered another catch to Bhuvneshwar, who caught the full-blooded drive at long-off. The momentum had been conceded though.Finish it with power
Daredevils had two spinners to tie Sunrisers down on a slow track; Sunrisers had dropped their second spinner, Bipul Sharma, for Deepak Hooda who didn’t end up batting. This proved to be the difference as Daredevils’ young top order scored 36 off Moises Henriques’ 2.1 overs.The promotion of Rishabh Pant to No. 3 also played a part. Warner was reluctant to expose his only other spinner, Yuvraj, against Pant but Yuvraj went for 16 in his only over, bowled after Pant had been dismissed. It allowed Daredevils the luxury of playing legspinner Rashid Khan out at a run a ball without losing a wicket to him. It was only Rashid’s second wicketless game – the previous one also against Daredevils.One might have expected to see Angelo Mathews at No. 5, or even No. 6, as Daredevils lost wickets close to the target. In the end, Anderson and Morris filled up those slots, a signal that Daredevils didn’t just want to win, but wanted to do it comprehensively.

Victoria have added Clint McKay to a 13-man squad for the Sheffield Shield final against South Australia, in anticipation of a well-grassed pitch

Daniel Brettig22-Mar-2016Victoria have added Clint McKay to a 13-man squad for the Sheffield Shield final, in anticipation of a well-grassed pitch for the competition decider against a South Australia combination that has not played in a draw all season.The Redbacks surged late in the season to claim the top spot on the ladder as the Bushrangers faded, largely through the strong work of the seam bowling trio of Joe Mennie, Chadd Sayers and Daniel Worrall. Their final victory was a two-day romp over Tasmania on a surface that offered some help to the seamers at Glenelg Oval, the same venue where the final will be played, starting on Saturday.While a stalemate will secure the Shield for SA and Victoria need an outright result, the inclusion of McKay suggests the Bushrangers are half expecting the kind of pitch that will encourage seamers, after they used the twin spin of Fawad Ahmed and Jon Holland in Alice Springs against New South Wales.”Clint McKay comes in as it is important to cover all options until we have a look at the wicket,” Andrew Lynch, the chairman of selectors, said. “It was nice to get a tough, hard game under our belts last week and the boys have freshened this week and will be ready to go.”It was great to see Cam White and Marcus Stoinis in the runs, so, hopefully, the rest of our batters can follow their lead as we are confident we have the bowlers to claim 20 wickets.”The Bushrangers and Redbacks have traded outright results this season, SA victorious at the MCG while the Victorians prevailed at the Adelaide Oval. They were also successful in their one previous visit to Glenelg last season.SA’s squad for their first Shield final in 20 years in unchanged from the group that overpowered Tasmania in the last round to leap into a home decider.South Australia squad: Travis Head (capt), Thomas Andrews, Alex Carey (wk), Mark Cosgrove, Jake Lehmann, Joe Mennie, Elliot Opie, Sam Raphael, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Jake Weatherald, Daniel WorrallVictoria squad: Matthew Wade (capt, wk), Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Dan Christian, Travis Dean, Peter Handscomb, Ian Holland, Jon Holland, Clint McKay, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Tremain, Cameron White

Centuries from Vijay Zol and captain Abhishek Nayar ensured India A held on for a draw against New Zealand A in Visakhapatnam

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2013
ScorecardZol struck a ton on first-class debut•BCCI

Centuries from Vijay Zol and captain Abhishek Nayar ensured India A held on for a draw against New Zealand A in Visakhapatnam on the final day. Zol also brought up a maiden century on first-class debut in the process.Responding to a strong first-innings total of 310, thanks largely to Luke Ronchi’s 125, India began the third day on 6 for 1 after Unmukt Chand fell late on the second day. Sarabjit Ladda, the nightwatchman, fell in the 18th over to leave India at 49 for 2.In came Zol, who has been in red-hot form having posted scores of 128, 173 and 128 in the last few months, and along with Jiwanjot Singh, constructed a partnership of 77 for the third wicket.Jiwanjot fell just two short of his half-century, bringing Manprit Juneja to the crease. Zol continued going from strength to strength, putting on a 97-run stand for the fourth wicket with Juneja. When Juneja was dismissed on 43 by Todd Astle, India were 77 behind the New Zealand total.Abhishek Nayar stepped in and played a responsible knock, aiding Zol to a century on his first-class debut. Zol was bowled by Carl Cachopa after the pair had added 60 runs,. A small string of partnerships followed, as India looked to bat out time till stumps. Nayar stayed unbeaten on 102, while Astle was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 106.The teams are scheduled to meet again for a four-day match on the same ground from September 2.

England’s batsmen were suspect against spin but their bowlers, without Graeme Swann, worked their way through Pakistan’s brittle line-up to comfortably defend 111

The Report by Abhishek Purohit in Colombo19-Sep-2012
ScorecardStuart Broad dismissed Shahid Afridi for 5•Getty Images

England’s batsmen were suspect against spin but their bowlers, without Graeme Swann, worked their way through Pakistan’s brittle line-up to comfortably defend 111 at the P Sara Oval. On a slow pitch with turn and bounce, left-arm spinners Danny Briggs and Samit Patel did the early damage before Stuart Broad weighed in with a testing spell. Jade Dernbach ensured there would be no resistance from the Pakistan lower order and sealed England’s second warm-up win. While England’s struggle against quality spin was not unexpected, what was heartening to see was the way the defending champions scrapped to defend an insubstantial total, after their lower order had capitulated against Saeed Ajmal.After winning the toss, England had crumbled from 106 for 5 to be bowled out for 111, losing their last five wickets in eight balls, three of them to Ajmal. Their innings never really took off, with only Luke Wright making an impression with a steady 38.Both sides opened the bowling with left-arm spin, and England found that Raza Hasan’s flat and quick deliveries were difficult to get away. Alex Hales lasted three balls and Craig Kieswetter’s attempt to hit out ended when he was caught at deep midwicket off a slog sweep, both men falling to Hasan.The innings meandered along, with England unable to find a way to attack the spinners. Eoin Morgan summed up England’s approach. He tried to paddle Ajmal’s first ball and missed, succeeded the second time, and was caught behind trying to cut a quick one.Jos Buttler was bowled after he missed a sweep off Ajmal and the lower order had no clue what the offspinner was upto. Stuart Broad lobbed a catch to Mohammad Hafeez first ball; Steven Finn guided Ajmal to slip second ball.Pakistan seemed much more comfortable against spin, but started self-destructing soon. Young Briggs flighted the ball consistently, and Pakistan took the bait immediately. Hafeez survived a stumping opportunity off Briggs after a big charge, but slog-swept the bowler to deep midwicket off the last ball of the first over. Imran Nazir did the same a few overs later, after which Patel sneaked in a tossed-up delivery through Nasir Jamshed’s defences. Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal were largely in control before throwing it away through needless forcing strokes against Broad and Briggs.Broad was unplayable at times, getting short deliveries to straighten around off stump, and his mid-innings effort of 4-1-12-2 started to turn the game England’s way. He got Shahid Afridi nicking one such ball to the wicketkeeper in the 15th over, a wicket-maiden.Pakistan still needed only 39 off 34 deliveries with four wickets remaining, though. But the asking-rate rocketed to more than nine following tight overs from Finn and Patel. Against Dernbach’s variations, Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq never looked like middling the big strokes Pakistan needed. Failure to chase 112 with all the batsmen in the squad playing today was a reminder to Pakistan of their batting frailties as they head to Pallekele for their group games.

Scott Borthwick’s maiden five-wicket haul revived Durham ‘s County Championship title challenge at Hove and deepened Sussex ‘s relegation fears

01-Sep-2011
Scorecard
Scott Borthwick’s maiden five-wicket haul revived Durham ‘s County Championship title challenge at Hove and deepened Sussex ‘s relegation fears.A week after his England one-day debut in Ireland, leg-spinner Borthwick took
five for 80 in 19 overs as Sussex were dismissed for 218 on a good pitch under
cloudless skies. They trailed by 154 but Durham declined to enforce the follow-on and reached 93 without loss after Michael Di Venuto retired hurt on two following a blow on the
elbow from a ball by Wayne Parnell.Will Smith, dropped by Luke Wells at backward point off Amjad Khan on 42, was
on 54 at the close with Mark Stoneman on 30 following his first-day century. Stoneman also held a brilliant catch to get rid of Matt Prior, who made 22 off 14 balls. He had already taken six runs off a Borthwick over when he drove the youngster over extra cover and Stoneman dived to hold the catch just inside the short boundary on the pavilion side.Borthwick initially came on for the final over before lunch and was rewarded
with a third-ball wicket as a googly had left-hander Luke Wells lbw for 27. It was the fourth time that a wicket had fallen in the first over of a spell and, after snaring Prior in the second over after the break, Borthwick stayed on for the rest of the innings.He took five successive wickets while Graham Onions topped and tailed the
innings to finish with 4 for 67. When Onions was recalled with eight wickets down home skipper Michael Yardy, continuing his fine form, twice cut the paceman for four and also drove him to
the cover boundary in the same over to complete his half-century.After protecting Amjad Khan from the strike, Yardy was on 61 when he took a
single off Onions two balls before tea. Khan tried to pull the next ball and gloved a catch to Phil Mustard to delay the interval with last man Monty Panesar coming in. Yardy took five runs off the
next over, but in making room to hit Onions to the short off-side boundary he
was bowled for 66.Onions’ earlier victims were Chris Nash, who checked his intended pull and
offered a return catch off the sixth ball of the innings, and Murray Goodwin,
who fell to the first ball of the paceman’s second spell. Coming down the hill this time, Onions found some extra bounce and Goodwin fended to gully.

Durham skipper Phil Mustard underlined that his team will not hand over the County Championship title to Nottinghamshire without a fight

31-Aug-2010
ScorecardPhil Mustard led Durham’s fightback and put them on opening at Chester-le-Street•PA Photos

Durham skipper Phil Mustard underlined that his team will not hand over the County Championship title to Nottinghamshire without a fight. The fourth Championship century of his career was his first at Chester-le-Street and he shared an unbroken stand of 159 with Scott Borthwick to take his side to 347 for 6 at the close of the first day.Mustard was 117 not out, his highest score since making 130 in the first match of the 2006 season at Canterbury. Nottinghamshire went into the game 16 points clear with three matches left, giving them a game in hand on their only realistic challengers, Somerset and Yorkshire.The visitors reduced Durham to 76 for 4, but half-centuries from Mark Stoneman and Ian Blackwell began the recovery before Mustard took command. The second 50 in his 131-ball century came off only 34 balls and included 10 fours as he and Borthwick swept into overdrive against the new ball.On 82 Mustard hit three successive fours off Luke Fletcher, then in the next over he cut Ryan Sidebottom to the boundary and turned him to long leg for the four which brought up his century. Sidebottom, who will leave after Wednesday’s play to join the England Twenty20 squad, grew increasingly exasperated when failing to add to the prize scalp of Michael Di Venuto, which he claimed in the first over.In the last over before tea he looked aghast when a huge appeal for caught behind was turned down with Mustard on 22. Then off the final ball before the break Borthwick, who had yet to score, edged towards first slip. Chris Read dived across and tipped the ball towards third man for two runs.Borthwick, like his captain a left-handed batsman from the Sunderland area, equalled his best of 54, made at Basingstoke last month. He would have been run out on 26 had the shy from mid-on hit the stumps, but played some high-class strokes, notably an on drive and wristy flick through square leg, in his 89-ball half century.Nottinghamshire left out Darren Pattinson and nominated him as Sidebottom’s replacement to give Fletcher a game. He swung the ball away to have Gordon Muchall caught at gully and Durham’s early struggles made Mustard’s decision to bat look questionable.Andre Adams had Dale Benkenstein caught behind in his first over and surprised both Stoneman and Blackwell with his skiddy pace. Full-length balls had Stoneman lbw for 67 and bowled Blackwell for 59, both playing across the line.The other wicket went to Paul Franks, Ben Harmison being caught behind for 2 after replacing Ben Stokes, who has a foot injury.

He took over during a crisis, but has helped script a series of successful mini-chapters

Shashank Kishore02-Oct-2024Sri Lanka have been on an unprecedented high. The team hasn’t looked in a better shape than they are currently, having come off a historic first-ever series win in England followed by the Asia Cup triumph.There’s boisterous energy around the group that stems from “having walked the talk” in the words of Rumesh Ratnayake, their head coach, ahead of their women’s T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan in Sharjah.In February 2023, weeks before the previous T20 World Cup in South Africa, Ratnayake was summoned from the academy to steer a team that appeared to have been stuck in a rut of insipid results and lack of direction within the leadership. Ratnayake wasn’t sure if he’d continue for long, but a week of being with the team convinced him there was enough to work with.Related

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Sri Lanka’s upset of South Africa on the opening night in Cape Town was mere validation of his intuition. It set the ball rolling for a fruitful association that has seen several successful mini-chapters along the way. Like the Asia Cup and England triumph.The SLC mandate when he took over was “do it your way.” Ratnayake explains he was big on inclusivity. “By that, I mean involving everyone in decision making, not merely me giving instructions and them following,” he explains. “This included all staff as well as playing members. It was never like ‘this is my way of doing.'”Everyone had to show the same level of commitment and fit into the culture we wanted to create. We’ve come a long way since, but it’s an ongoing process. We made them believe first that they could grow. For that, along with skill enhancement it needed a commitment to fitness. We’ve worked towards achieving that.”Ratyanake had to hit the ground running, having little time to familiarize himself with the group. It wasn’t ideal, but he had the complete backing of Chamari Athapaththu, the captain, and SLC. The women’s setup, in a way, has been a deviation from the norm: of coaches coming and going. And recent results are merely a byproduct of that faith and continuity.”We have a good leader in Chamari. I also had the backing of the board, which was huge,” he says. “The entire group also quickly bought in to the direction we wanted to take. And it was to be fearless, and not take the safe way. Not being intimidated by the bigger teams.”A team like New Zealand for example, anyone would be overawed by their build. But we knew cricket’s not a game of physicality. It’s about skills, execution and mindset. You can win with smart options. We spoke about what those smart options were. Mind you, it was a hard road. It certainly wasn’t as easy as people picture it to be.”Taking good decisions in the middle when you have little time to decide involves training in a certain way. We’ve tried to take fear out of the minds. After almost two years now, I can say that it certainly happened in a way which now makes it seem like a picture-perfect walk.”Ratyanake’s primary goal in his time as coach is to develop players. It annoyed him that the team’s chances were always dependent on Athapaththu. “When I came into the system, when Chamari did well, Sri Lanka did well. There’s truth to it no doubt, but it sort of ignited me to make sure others elevate their standards to get to where Chamari had.”When I came into the system, when Chamari did well, Sri Lanka did well. There’s truth to it”•Sri Lanka Cricket

“So, in every aspect, especially in batting, we made plans, specific scenarios we worked on at training. We worked on what we wanted to achieve and how we were going to. I’m not saying we’re fully close to it yet, but yes, we are somewhat there, where we can say, even if Chamari fails one particular day, there are others who can win games for us.”Ratyanake exudes cautious optimism around Sri Lanka’s chances. He knows they’re in the “stronger group.” And the only way to think they can progress is by thinking “every game is a final.””We want to win those moments,” he says. “We want to concentrate on building a set of small moments together. We’ve tried to instill that into our thinking. This is a very happy bunch of players. They’re united and looking after each other. That’s something you can’t instill; it has to come naturally. Aa coaches we’re fortunate to have that culture.”It’s huge for us. I believe they know their tasks to deliver at the right moment. But there’s no guarantee. And when we get the small things, we hope that we’ll do well to string them together to win the big moment.”

Scotland scored 277 and needed to prevent Netherlands from crossing it in 44 overs; de Leede ensured it didn’t happen

Hemant Brar06-Jul-2023Bas de Leede put in an all-round performance for the ages as Netherlands stunned Scotland to book their ticket to the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup in India. First, de Leede’s maiden five-wicket haul helped Netherlands restrict Scotland to 277 for 9. Netherlands needed to chase that down inside 44 overs to trump Scotland on net run-rate. Around the halfway mark, they looked all but out of the contest, before de Leede smashed 123 off 92 balls, his first ODI century, to power them over the line in 42.5 overs, with four wickets to spare.This will be Netherlands’ fifth appearance in the men’s ODI World Cup. They last featured in the 2011 edition. De Leede, meanwhile, became only the fourth player to score a hundred and take five wickets in a men’s ODI, reducing Brandon McMullen’s equally outstanding hundred for Scotland to a footnote.In the morning, Scott Edwards opted to bowl citing help for seamers in the first hour, and Logan van Beek duly sent Matthew Cross’ off stump cartwheeling in the opening over of the match. Christopher McBride and McMullen ensured Scotland didn’t lose another wicket in the first ten overs. While McBride struggled with timing, McMullen looked at ease. He used his feet well, often coming down the track to try to disrupt the Netherlands seamers’ lengths.McBride chipped in with two successive fours off left-arm spinner Clayton Floyd in the tenth over but fell to de Leede in the next when he pulled straight to short midwicket. De Leede picked up his second wicket when George Munsey gloved a pull that was caught down the leg side.That left Scotland 64 for 3 in the 15th over, but McMullen was looking more and more comfortable by now.Through a perfect alchemy of timing and power, he put up an exhibition of eye-catching strokes. In the 11th over, he timed offspinner Aryan Dutt over long-off for his first six. A few overs later, he went down the pitch to a short ball from de Leede and smashed it over mid-on. To bring up his fifty – off 63 balls – he lofted Ryan Klein over wide long-off for another six, and then chipped Floyd over extra cover for back-to-back fours.Brandon McMullen scored his second ODI century•ICC/Getty Images

McMullen reached his hundred off 106 balls, with a punched four through extra-cover off van Beek. He and Richie Berrington added 137 off 135 balls for the fourth wicket, and took the side past 200 in the 38th over. Scotland were eyeing a total in excess of 300, but the late strikes from Klein and de Leede reined them in. Klein first had McMullen caught behind and then left Michael Leask’s stumps in disarray to make it 207 for 5.Berrington held one end up and brought up his half-century but couldn’t provide the impetus. He was on 64 when de Leede uprooted his middle stump. Shortly afterwards, de Leede sent back Chris Greaves and Mark Watt off consecutive deliveries to complete his five-for. All that meant Scotland could score only 74 in the last 12 overs.Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh gave Netherlands a steady start of 65 in 12.4 overs before Michael Leask trapped both lbw in successive overs. The loss of Wesley Barresi and Teja Nidamanuru in a short interval further dented Netherlands’ chances, leaving them needing 170 in 20 overs to qualify.De Leede was on 19 off 30 at that stage. He and Edwards revived the chase by hitting four fours in four balls, across the 25th and 26th overs. The pair added 55 in 44 balls before Edwards failed to connect with a sweep against Watt and was lbw.Even at this point, Scotland were the favourites; Netherlands needed 115 in 13.1 overs with half their side back in the pavilion. And when the next three overs produced just 12 runs, it became 102 required from ten overs.With Netherlands’ backs against the wall, de Leede went on an all-out attack. He started by hitting Watt for a six before picking up two fours off Safyaan Sharif a couple of overs later. Saqib Zulfiqar too found the occasional boundary to keep Netherlands abreast with the required rate.With 45 needed in four overs, it was even-stevens. That’s when de Leede went into overdrive, hitting four sixes in a space of ten balls that also included a maximum from Zulfiqar. One of those hits took de Leede to his hundred, off just 85 balls. By the team he was run out, Netherlands needed just two from 11 balls. They got them in singles.