SA’s side has undergone a shake-up with Bavuma taking over as captain and van der Dussen among those who have been dropped

Firdose Moonda27-Feb-2023The party is over. After two months of high-octane cricket thanks to the SA20 and the Women’s T20 World Cup, South African cricket now has to get on with the serious business of a Test series and you can expect it to be heavy going.Although the series takes place following sell-out crowds around the country, the Tests start on Tuesday this week and Wednesday next week, leaving little room for big weekend crowds and there’s no buzz to speak of.That’s understandable for a contest whose context was ripped away when South Africa were confirmed to be out of contention for the World Test Championship final and against an opposition that have not properly competed here since their Test win at St George’s Park in 2007. Since then, West Indies have only toured South Africa once in 2014 and have not won a Test.Temba Bavuma made his debut in that series and though it was unremarkable, it marked a full circle moment for someone who saw cricketers from the Caribbean as role-models. “Growing up, West Indies was the team that I supported,” Bavuma said ahead of the first Test. “They were always on the TV at home and my uncles supported them. I guess there’s always been that [special] sentiment when it comes to West Indies. When I made my debut, I got 10 runs, so that wasn’t a thing to make a big noise about. Hopefully this can go better.”As far as leadership debuts go, Bavuma probably could not have wished for a lower-profile assignment. At the same time as his Test captaincy reign begins, Australia play India, England are in New Zealand and the Women’s Premier League is beginning. It’s safe to say the majority of cricket fans’ eyeballs will be occupied, especially as the outcome of this series has no bearing on the current WTC cycle.Related

• Joseph leads West Indies fightback after Markram century

• Bavuma replaces Elgar as SA's Test captain, but relinquishes T20I job

• 'Temba and I are a good fit' – Conrad explains why Bavuma replaced Elgar as Test captain

• Brathwaite: 'Important that we take control of every hour'

• New-look South Africa gear up for old Test grind

For South Africa it is simply an opportunity to begin again, though their next Test will be in December. By then, it’s likely that former captain Dean Elgar will have retired. He was planning this series as a swansong in both captaincy and playing terms and after he had no choice in the former, he will want to make sure he controls the latter. Elgar’s tenure lasted less than two years and began a brief revival for the Test side, but he was replaced with Bavuma by new coach Shukri Conrad, who has been tasked with turning around a team that was completely outplayed in their last five Tests.South Africa lost series in both England and Australia and were bowled out for under 200 runs in seven out of 11 Test innings. That has necessitated a shake-up of the top six which has seen Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Khaya Zondo and Kyle Verreynne dropped and Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton recalled. Also included are Keegan Petersen, who is back from a torn hamstring, and Heinrich Klaasen, who has been picked as first-choice wicketkeeper-batter. The overall make-up of the line-up suggests that South Africa are looking for a more proactive, Bazball-style approach, but with their usual amount of caution. Bavball maybe?”In my experience, the last two series, we know are always tough tours,” Bavuma said. “They separate the good guys from the really good guys and [it] comes with challenges. We didn’t meet up to those challenges. We know we need to score runs to give the bowlers to do what they need to do. We shouldn’t forget the fact we have guys here who played against India last summer when people didn’t back us to do it and we won. And there was no guy who scored 150 or something like that. Hopefully [the series against] West Indies will be another showing of guys going out and doing what they need to do from a team point of view.”To that end, South Africa are also hoping for slightly less hostile pitches than usual, even though the series will be played entirely on the Highveld and there has been heavy rain for several weeks in that area. While Bavuma and Conrad have not specifically requested a particular kind of surface, pitches have been more batter-friendly across the country on the domestic four-day circuit and that is set to continue into the internationals. Whether that will make for more exciting cricket remains to be seen but Bavuma certainly wasn’t selling it that way.Bavuma on South Africa’s Women’s T20 World Cup campaign: ‘We always look for areas everywhere to draw inspiration and energy from and we will be using that in our game’•ICC via Getty Images

Asked what he thought of West Indies, he said, “They play old-fashioned cricket. Batters grind it out. Bowlers are looking to hit their areas outside offstump.” And he’s not wrong. Over the last year, West Indies have the lowest run-rate in Tests among all teams – 2.71. South Africa have the second-lowest – 2.95. Both of them are well behind the format leaders, England, who score at 4.36 to the over and have the best win-loss record in Tests over the last 12 months. For teams like South Africa and West Indies, who are playing catch up, England’s high-risk, high-reward strategy could be an inspiration but its seems Bavuma and co are getting their motivation elsewhere.”All the guys were watching the T20 World Cup final and supporting the ladies. We always look for areas everywhere to draw inspiration and energy from and we will be using that in our game,” Bavuma said, referring to the the South African Women’s team who made history by becoming the country’s first senior side to qualify for a World Cup final.Given that the men were booted out of the last two T20 World Cups in the group stage and are yet to qualify for this year’s 50-over World Cup, it’s fitting that they were taking notes on how their counterparts have exceeded expectation and even echoed the call for more money to be spent on the women’s game.”It’s been big – what the women’s team has been able to achieve over the last while, with the limited resources they have,” Bavuma said. “With performances like this, I hope there will be a lot more support, a lot more care and a lot more invested into the women’s team.”

Rohit Sharma will lead a team that has named six specialist batters

Shashank Kishore25-Apr-20237:12

Muzumdar on Rahane’s selection: ‘They have gone with experience’

Ajinkya Rahane will have a second shot at WTC glory after being named in India’s 15-member squad for the final against Australia from June 7-11 at The Oval. Rahane is one of six specialist batters in the squad and comes in to replace the injured Shreyas Iyer, who recently underwent back surgery.Rahane’s inclusion means there is no place for Suryakumar Yadav, who was one of the reserve batters during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home against Australia this February-March. Suryakumar featured in just one Test of that series – Nagpur – and made 20 in India’s innings victory.Rahane’s inclusion comes at a time when his IPL stocks have hit an all-time high. Playing for Chennai Super Kings, his powerplay batting and six-hitting have earned him many plaudits. In his most recent outing on Sunday night, he made a 29-ball 71 in a Player-of-the-match winning effort against Kolkata Knight Riders.Related

• Hazlewood included in Australia's WTC final squad amid fitness race

• Why Australia could have the advantage in the World Test Championship final

• Shastri backs Rahane's inclusion in WTC final squad: 'In a one-off, you need your most experienced players'

• How Ajinkya Rahane became sixy

• India's rope-a-hope with Pujara and Rahane is wearing thin

Last month, Rahane, who led India to a famous Test series win in Australia in 2020-21 was omitted from BCCI’s central contracts for the current season, a demotion from the Grade B he’d been given prior to that. He last featured in a Test in January 2022, in South Africa.Rahane’s inclusion means his county championship debut with Leicestershire is likely to be pushed back after initially committing to play eight red-ball games and the entire 50-overs competition.Rahane was a constant feature for Mumbai during the 2022-23 domestic season in which he led them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s title. During the Ranji Trophy, he had insisted that he wasn’t giving up hopes of an India comeback and ended the season with 634 runs in 11 innings, with two hundreds and an average of 57.63.”I don’t want to prove anything to anyone,” Rahane had said, when asked where he thought his career was at. “I think my competition is with myself. If I stick to that, things will fall into place. I don’t want to run after anything… just want to back my game.”The only other surprise was the absence of a second frontline wicketkeeper after KS Bharat. It’s likely KL Rahul will take up that role if required. Rahul had earlier lost his Test spot during the Australia Tests to Shubman Gill.Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t considered as he’s recovering from back injury, with the team management keen to amp up his workload and have him fully fit in time for the 50-over World Cup this October-November.Jaydev Unadkat, who made a Test comeback after nearly 11 years in Bangladesh last December, keeps his spot alongside Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav. Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the allrounders.India squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat

Batter hits the fastest T20I fifty by a Bangladeshi, while allrounder becomes the format’s highest wicket-taker

Mohammad Isam29-Mar-2023
17 overs a sideShakib Al Hasan had Litton Das for company as Bangladesh dominated Ireland by 77 runs to clinch the T20I series in Chattogram. They led the way in the hosts’ all-round show that provided them their second-biggest win in the format (by runs). Shakib made a quickfire 38 and then took a five-wicket haul while Litton’s 83 and three catches as wicketkeeper made equal impact. Shakib’s second T20I five-for also took him past Tim Southee to become the highest wicket-taker in the format.Openers Litton and Rony Talukdar added 124 runs in 9.2 overs of the rain-shortened match. Litton cracked 83 off 41 balls before Shakib’s show.Ireland looked incomplete in all three departments, hardly stringing together a few good overs. There was a dropped catch, a few crucial misfields and then the batting fell apart in the face of Shakib’s brilliance. Earlier, rain just at the stroke of the start of play had threatened to ruin chances of the game.The first drops of rain on Wednesday afternoon fell ten minutes after the toss. The downpour stopped after 40 minutes, when the umpires declared a 3:15pm start but minutes later, a drizzle began. The 17-overs a side match finally started at 3:40pm, a full 100 minutes after the scheduled start. But it hardly deterred or unnerved the Bangladesh openers who took off from where they left off in the first T20I.

Litton, Rony blast record-breaking start

The fastest team fifty. The fastest individual fifty. The fastest team hundred. The biggest opening stand for the team. Litton and Rony did it all, as they smacked Ireland around the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in a memorable opening stand.It was 9.2 overs of pure entertainment. The pair hit 13 fours and five sixes, breaking several team records, as the Ireland bowlers and fielders were ordinary. Bangladesh raced to 50 in 3.3 overs after Rony and Litton took big overs off Mark Adair and Graham Hume. It was the first time a Bangladesh opening pair had three successive fifty-plus stands.Litton was dropped in the fourth over on 16, with George Dockrell unable to hold on to his bullet of a pull shot. The same over went for 17 runs, before Fionn Hand went for 19 runs in the following over, his first one on tour. Next over, Litton reached his half-century, beating Mohammad Ashraful’s 20-ball fifty from 2007. Bangladesh raced to their 100 in 7.1 overs, only the second century opening stand for the team. When Ben White removed Rony in the tenth over, his 44 came off 23 balls with three fours and two sixes in the arc between long-on and midwicket.Litton struck his three sixes over point, long-off and square-leg. Seven of his ten fours came behind square on either side of the wicket, but the most significant number was the eight dot balls he played in his 41-ball stay. It is the lowest by a Bangladeshi batter in a 75-plus knock. Litton’s innings however ended tamely when he edged legspinner White in the twelfth over, following a mild lull in the run-rate.Litton Das reached his fifty in 18 balls•AFP/Getty Images

Shakib, Hridoy pound the Irish

But that lull didn’t last for too long. As soon as Shakib slammed Harry Tector for a four and a six in the 13th over, Bangladesh’s run-rate soared again. They also reached their fastest 150 team total in T20Is. Soon afterwards, Hridoy backhanded Hume for his first six over long-on. Shakib deposited Adair’s poor slower ball over square-leg.The pair struck a couple of more blows to take the total close to 200 before Hridoy got out. It was a quick 61-run third wicket stand, helping Bangladesh to consecutive 200-plus totals in the series.

Shakib five-for sinks Ireland

Bangladesh started the Ireland chase with a wicket first ball. Taskin Ahmed removed the dangerous Paul Stirling as Litton held a fine catch diving to his right. It is the second time Taskin took a wicket off the first ball of a T20I innings. From the second over onwards though, it was the Shakib show. With his first ball, Lorcan Tucker mildly swept him to Rony at square-leg, falling for six.In his second over, Shakib zoomed in his arm-ball into Adair’s pads, deflecting on to his leg-stump. Last ball of the over, Delany was caught behind for six. He took two more wickets in the sixth over after which Tector missed a swipe on 22 to become Shakib’s fifth scalp.He became the first cricketer to take a five-for and score 30-plus runs in a T20I twice in his career. Shakib’s five-for is also the fourth time a bowler took five wickets in the first six overs of a T20I innings, emulating Lasith Malinga, Fred Klaassen and Oshane Thomas.

Campher’s spark not enough

Ireland were sinking after Shakib had reduced them to 43 for 6. But there was some life left in Curtis Campher who did the rest of the scoring mostly on his own. He struck three sixes and as many fours in his 29-ball 50, before Taskin cleaned up his stumps in the 15th. Campher had just earlier reached his fifty with two sixes off Taskin with two ramps. Ireland needed a few more innings of that quality on the night, which they lacked, and went down by 77.

Colin Ackermann, Rishi Patel, Rehan Ahmed give valiant chase but fall just short

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2023 Derbyshire 189 for 5 (Madsen 109*) beat Leicestershire 187 for 5 (Ackermann 59*) by two runsA career-best unbeaten 109 by veteran campaigner Wayne Madsen set up Derby Falcons for a first win of the Vitality Blast season over East Midlands neighbours Leicester Foxes, who ran them close but ultimately fell three runs short of their target.The 39-year-old’s brilliant 61-ball innings, which contained 12 fours and four sixes, was his third hundred in the T20 format and his second in consecutive seasons after he made 100 not out against Durham last season.It helped the Falcons post 189 for five after being put in, Tom Wood making 37 from 24 balls and Brooke Guest 25 from 20, spinners Rehan Ahmed (2 for 20), Callum Parkinson (2 for 36) and Colin Ackermann (1 for 16) sharing the wickets for the Foxes.The Foxes, who have lost all of their opening four matches, put up a decent fight in the circumstances, Colin Ackermann (59 not out) and Ahmed (28) scoring 58 off the last 31 balls after Rishi Patel’s 44 but it wasn’t quite enough.Left-arm spinner Parkinson dismissed both openers in his first two overs, Luis Reece leg before and Haider Ali bowled, both attempting to sweep, yet it was the Falcons, at 52 for two, who came out of the powerplay on top after being put in, despite the return to the Foxes attack of Naveen ul-Haq after his successful stint in the Indian Premier League.Madsen’s timing was immaculate as he dispatched Ahmed, Will Davis and Parkinson in turn for sixes out of the middle of the bat before cleverly reverse-sweeping Ahmed for four to bring up a 29-ball half-century – his fourth in as many innings this season – as the Falcons reached halfway at 96 for two.Wood, after his uncertain start, was beginning to find his range when the Foxes at last managed to stem the flow, Wood reaching for one outside off stump and unable to control his shot, Sol Budinger pouching the catch at deep point.That ended a 95-run partnership for the third wicket, after which the Falcons suffered a wobble as Ahmed struck twice in the space of five deliveries, having Leus Du Plooy caught behind down the legside for a second-ball duck before Anuj Dal fell leg before to the googly, 117 for two replaced by 120 for five on the scoreboard.None of his colleagues could match Ahmed’s economy on a night when the Foxes were sloppy in the field. Naveen conceded 23 off his final two overs as the last four of the innings saw the Falcons’ total swell by 50 runs, Madsen lifting Davis over deep midwicket for his fourth six before driving Naveen through the covers to reach his hundred from 56 balls.After a slow start to their reply in which Budinger lobbed tamely to mid-on as Zak Chappell claimed a wicket against his former county, the Foxes found some momentum in the second half of the powerplay to be 48 for one as Patel and Nick Welch began to find regular boundaries.They lost Welch when the opener clipped a ball from left-armer into the hands of deep square leg and Patel had an escape on 33 when Zaman Khan spilled a chance on the legside off Du Plooy, but skipper Ackermann was into his stride with two fours and a six off George Scrimshaw as the home side reached 90 for two from 10.Patel’s second six, launched over long-on off Mark Watt, and two reserve sweeps for four by Ackermann off Wood kept the scoreboard moving nicely but after Patel holed out off Watt’s left-arm aiming for another maximum the required rate was above 10. Wiaan Mulder thin edged behind off Chappell and the Foxes needed 55 from the last five overs.Lilley fell for three, slashing Scrimshaw to deep backward point, but Ahmed uppercut his first ball for six to keep the Foxes interested and after a generally tidy over from Khan stretched the target to 39 from 18 balls, the sixth-wicket pair innovated nicely and ran well between the wickets to leave the Foxes needing 14 off the last over and put the pressure on Scrimshaw, who conceded a boundary to Ahmed from his first ball but the tall seamer held his nerve to avoid conceding another and the Falcons prevailed by two runs.

Glamorgan total overhauled with room to spare as opener helps break chase

ECB Reporters Network16-Jun-2023Essex 177 for 6 (Khushi 61, McIlroy 4-36) beat Glamorgan 175 for 6 (Carlson 43, Harmer 2-43) by four wicketsFeroze Khushi sent off his audition to be Dan Lawrence’s successor as Essex made it four wins in a row by beating Glamorgan by four wickets in the Vitality Blast.Academy graduate Khushi crashed a 37-ball 61 as Essex comfortably chased down 175, despite losing three early wickets thanks to Jamie McIlroy’s four for 36. Khushi is in prime position to push for a regular first-team spot after Lawrence announced he was to join Surrey from next season and showed his promise with an innings that included four huge sixes.Paul Walter continued his fine form against Glamorgan with 43, before Matt Critchley and Daniel Sams saw off most the remaining runs with 24 balls to spare.Having been stuck in on a fresh pitch, Kiran Carlson got the visitors off to a flyer with 43 off 25 balls, which included a straight six off Sams and a swatted pull maximum off Sam Cook.Sam Northeast, who had earlier been meekly dropped, was the first of three catches for Walter at long-on – with Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke also picking out the tallest man on the field – as Glamorgan reached 55 for 1 in the powerplay.Glamorgan’s good start was dented by Ingram and Carlson falling in successive overs as Essex claimed control of the middle overs to have Glamorgan 122 for 4 after 15 – with Cooke falling to Harmer.Critchley lured Billy Root to swing to wide long-on but Timm van der Gugten smashed Harmer for two sixes in an 18 run over to push Glamorgan closer towards par. Van der Gugten was eventually run out in the final over after a brutal 14-ball 33 as Glamorgan ended up on 175 for 6 – with Sams and Critchley both boasting economical figures of 1 for 20 to keep the total narrowly in the Eagles’ favour.Essex take an aggressive approach to their batting – the results coming in two forms. On one side you have two wickets in the first over and three in the powerplay, leaving them 35 for 3: Robin Das slogged his first ball to deep square leg and Michael Pepper ramped the next ball behind. Jamie McIlroy couldn’t get a hat-trick but Josh Rymell chipped to mid-on in the left-armer’s following over.On the other, you had Khushi pinging three sixes in the first three overs as he moved to 33 off his first 11 balls, although he took fewer risks to reach his third half-century in 29 balls.Walter joined Khushi and the pair found a nice rhythm in a 80-run stand in 47 balls. Walter had scored 58 and 78 in his previous two innings against Glamorgan, he struck 42 before his fourth attempt at a six top-edged to short third.Khushi was sensationally caught and bowled by van der Gugten five balls later to leave 59 needed off 51 balls. But Sams and Critchley made sure the result wasn’t in danger, with the former boshing 41 off 16 – Essex scoring 57 off the last 24 balls they faced.