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Brevis reprieve helps table-topping MICT to get out of sight in Qualifier 1

Firdose Moonda04-Feb-2025Mumbai Indians Cape Town will play in their first SA20 final after beating Paarl Royals by 39 runs in Qualifier 1 and turning around their fortunes from finishing last in both previous editions of the tournament. MICT have won five matches in a row and are running hot ahead of Saturday’s final at the Wanderers.Their yet-to-determined opposition will all be in action over the next two days with two-time defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape to play Joburg Super Kings in Wednesday’s Eliminator and the winner to take on Royals in Qualifier 2 on Thursday.While MICT’s win was comprehensive, and set up by them asking Royals to complete the highest successful chase at St George’s Park, it was not without controversy. They were 133 for 4 with a ball left in the 16th over when Dayyaan Galiem thought he had Dewald Brevis out for 16. Brevis pulled a full toss to deep backward square and an umpire review ruled the delivery a waist-high no-ball.Law 47.1 states that “any delivery, which passes or would have passed, without pitching, above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease, is unfair. Whenever such a delivery is bowled, the umpire shall call and signal no ball.”Brevis’ front foot was outside the popping crease and he was not standing upright at the time of the shot but despite Paarl captain David Miller’s protests, the call stood. Brevis hit the next ball, a free-hit for six and Galiem was taken out of the attack in his next over after delivering another waist-high full toss which was judged a no-ball. That delivery also went for four. Mitch Owen completed the over, which ultimately cost 27 runs. MICT scored 60 runs in their last four overs and Brevis finished unbeaten on 44. After 15.5 overs in Paarl’s chase, their score was 136 for 6 which illustrates how impactful the no-ball and what followed was on the result.Miller was visibly upset on-field and when Galiem addressed at the post-match press conference, he confirmed that Royals did not feel the ball was high enough to be judged a no-ball. “That is obviously tight but that’s the match officials, they have to make the decisions,” he said. “it could have gone either way. We did feel like he was in a bent position and the shot was out in front of him as well, so potentially if that ball carried on going and it was in line with his body it perhaps could have been a touch lower. It was a touch and go and on another day that’s given and everything changes from there, but again I think we could have still been better in certain situations of the game.”One of those situations was Galiem’s no-ball in his next over, and he did not hesitate to acknowledge that. “I just misexecuted those two deliveries,” he said. “Such fine margins as well. I felt really confident after my first over as well and I just wanted to hit a yorker and I just didn’t want to miss on the short side. I misplaced the ball a little bit.”Rassie Van Der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton lifted MI Cape Town in the powerplay•SA20

He wasn’t the only one to misstep. Another tactical question arose when Galiem was taken out of the attack and Royals, despite having what Miller called “enough bowlers to pick from” in the post-match television interview chose not to use Andile Phehlulwayo. On the slower St George’s Park surface, his medium-pace may have been handy, but Phehlukwayo has not bowled at all in the tournament, even though two of his three appearances have come in the absence of Lungi Ngidi.All that suggests Royals have a few selection issues to deal with as they head into the Eliminator, including how they are going to find runs with Joe Root no longer part of the squad. Root left for national duty last week and though Owen is a promising replacement, he has done more with ball than bat so far. “He is obviously just adjusting to South African conditions but he’s an amazing player, we saw what he did in Australia and we know he’s got that about him, so it’s only a matter of time,” Galiem said.The team that has time now is MICT. Victory in the qualifier means they have three days to prepare for the final, albeit one of those will be a travel day, while the other team that qualifies will only have one. They recognise that as an obvious advantage. “It would have been first prize not to play another game heading into the final. We are glad that we ticked that off,” Kagiso Rabada said. “We are not taking anything for granted.”While Paarl have lost their last three games, MICT have not lost in seven matches, including a no-result, and are living up to their hype as the franchise with some of the biggest signings. “We have always had the players, but now I think we got together.” Rabada said. “The senior group had a lot to do with it in terms of pulling everyone together. There is also a familiarity between the players. That hunger is there. The hunger has always been there, but I think we just got together more as a team to put in those crucial performances at crucial times. I think that is what is getting us over the line.”Given the run of form they’ve had, they go into Saturday’s final as favourites, irrespective of who they play, and some would say the trophy looks like theirs to lose.

Players due to also compete in some fixtures against Indian domestic sides

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2025When India take on Sri Lanka at the Women’s World Cup 2025 opener, the spotlight will not just be on the players on the field but also on some of those off it.A group of Afghanistan’s women’s cricketers, currently living in exile in Australia, will be in attendance at the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) Stadium in Guwahati in one of the first attempts to integrate them into the global game. The players do not represent Afghanistan as they are not recognised by the ACB but are playing in league structures in Australia. They will have no formal role at the game, where they will be received as spectators.”[BCCI secretary] Devajit Saikia knows exactly what details about this,” ACA President Taranga Gogoi told ESPNcricinfo. “He will guide us and we are awaiting more details. The Afghanistan players will be here tomorrow and we will make arrangements for that.”Related

• Form vs Spirit: Australia's world champions take on New Zealand's game raisers

• World Cup offers an air of freshness to sombre Guwahati

• Powerplay: More than just a match for Afghanistan Women's XI

• Powerplay: How cricket helped Afghanistan women escape

• BCCI, ECB, CA to help fund ICC's plan to support Afghan women cricketers

Details surrounding the Afghanistan players’ trip to the World Cup have been kept under wraps, with no official announcement from the ICC. However, in April this year, the ICC confirmed it would form a “dedicated task force” to support Afghanistan’s female cricketers which would include coaching and mentorship. Funding for this initiative would be provided by the ICC, and the three most moneyed cricket boards: the BCCI, ECB and CA but exact amounts were never revealed.The idea for Afghanistan’s exiled female cricketers to travel to the World Cup was firmed up at the ICC’s annual conference in July. At the time, a loose plan was put in place for the cricketers to attend a training camp in Bengaluru, which was due to host the opening match of the tournament, play against Indian domestic sides and then attend a handful of World Cup games. As things stand, the players are still due to compete in some fixtures but may not attend any matches other than the tournament opener, although no information has been confirmed.It is also understood that the lack of publicity around the Afghanistan women’s arrival in India is a result of the ICC adopting a cautious approach to any retaliation from the government of Afghanistan. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, women have been increasingly excluded from public life, cannot attend university or secondary school and their voices cannot be heard in public. As such, the ACB is unable to ratify a women’s team, despite contracting 25 players in 2020.The majority of those players live in Australia but some are resident in the United Kingdom and Canada. Not all those living in Australia have made the trip to India as some faced visa challenges but most of them played in an exhibition match between an Afghanistan XI and Cricket without Borders in January.

Pakistan fought back after poor starts in either innings of the game but fell well short

Danyal Rasool16-Nov-2024It looked like it would be a run fest, but then it evolved into a low-scoring thriller. In a shapeshifting T20I in Sydney, Australia adapted better than Pakistan, holding their nerve to defend a modest total of 147 and edging to a 13-run victory, which gave them the T20I series.Spencer Johnson was the star of the show with 5 for 26, taking wickets at the top and the end and keeping Pakistan penned in, but he had plenty of support from his mates in a disciplined bowling effort. It was matched by a first innings where six batters reached double-figures, the clump of cameos ensuring the batters gave their bowlers enough to work with.Pakistan looked like they were on track for a hammering when Australia reached 50 in 3.1 overs – the fastest they have ever got to the mark in a T20I. But Pakistan, led inevitably by Haris Rauf, hit back through the middle overs. However, their fielding lapses proved costly, and in a game of fine margins, that proved to be one of the points of difference between the sides.They will also rue their lack of intent early on with the bat. Pakistan limped along for the first half of the innings and left themselves too much to do at the back end. Usman Khan – who scored his first T20I half-century – and Irfan Khan made a fist of it to get within 13 runs of victory, but just couldn’t do enough to undo the damage of the first part of the innings.Australia made sure they did just enough things better than Pakistan, and on that count, ended up worthy winners.Matthew Short played his part in giving Australia a rollicking start•Getty Images

The flight, and the uncontrolled descent

Australia began the game as if they had drawn inspiration from India’s batting show against South Africa on Friday. Shaheen Afridi was bowling into the arc as if feeding a slot machine, and Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk were only too happy to oblige. Naseem Shah similarly failed to keep it out of the arc, and 15 balls into the game, Australia had sped along to 47, having hit five fours and three sixes already.As Pakistan have learnt over the white-ball tour, when in doubt, give Rauf the ball, and that worked the charm again. He was the only man who could arrest the slide, and it didn’t take him long. A pacy bouncer that Fraser-McGurk couldn’t get on top off and slogged to the cover fielder punctured Australia, before a leading edge sent Josh Inglis on his way.Abbas Afridi – who bowled beautifully all innings – struck with the slower ball to dispatch Short, and suddenly, it turned into an even contest. After the first 15 balls of the powerplay had leaked 47 wicketless runs, the last 21 balls saw just 14 scored, with Australia’s top three back.Haris Rauf struck twice in an over to check Australia’s rapid start•Getty Images

Pakistan sloppy in the field, again

Pakistan tend to take one of their most famous characteristics each game, and turn the dial up to 11. Sometimes it’s the unpredictability, at other times it’s the fast bowling. Today, they went for the comic ineptitude in the field they have picked up a reputation for.The warning signs were there from the first over, which was when Naseem made a mess of a Fraser-McGurk top edge, and it only got worse from there.Salman Agha put Marcus Stoinis down off Rauf, while Shaheen reprieved Glenn Maxwell off Sufiyan Muqeem in the eighth over. Rauf made a mess of an effort in the field off Naseem that went for four, while Babar Azam put Tim David down before the batter went on to get ten runs off the next three balls. Those were just the highlights and, in a low-scoring game, it all counted.Mohammad Rizwan struggled during his 26-ball 16•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Pakistan’s no-power play

Pakistan looked at the way Australia had been dragged back and perhaps thought “this won’t happen to us”. It didn’t, because they never got going at the front end of the innings in the first place. They did lose Babar (pick-up flick to deep square leg) and Sahibzada Farhan (pull straight to deep midwicket) to careless shots, but for much of the first nine overs, there were scarcely any attempts to hit a boundary.Mohammad Rizwan struggled through an especially curious innings where he was either happy with dot balls or poked the ball away for singles. It wasn’t until the tenth over that a boundary off the bat was finally struck as Rizwan cleared his front leg and slog swept Johnson over cow corner to pick up four.But Rizwan attempted the same shot off the next ball, only to miscue it for David to take a superb catch diving forward. By this time, the asking rate was approaching ten, and Pakistan’s top order had written cheques they unfairly expected their lower order to honour.Usman Khan battled hard to give Pakistan a chance•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Johnson brilliance

When Johnson began the innings with a wide down leg side that went for five, and followed it up with a wide outside off that would have done the same had first slip not done brilliantly, any comparisons with the other Johnson, Mitchell, would have only pertained to the phase in his career that spawned the unfortunate “he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right” chant. But it took the South Australian no time to turn his fortunes around, controlling his high pace and exploiting sideways movement beautifully to rip through Pakistan.Farhan’s soft dismissal was only the beginning, and Pakistan were dented during the middle overs, and that proved telling.Rizwan fell in Johnson’s return spell before Salman fell the very next ball, leaving Pakistan’s ultra-long tail one wicket away from being exposed. When Usman and Irfan put up a 58-run stand, it was once again Johnson who struck, taking two more in an over when his extra pace saw Usman smear a pull into the air before Abbas was dispatched in similar fashion. It allowed Adam Zampa’s double-wicket over effectively seal the game despite Irfan’s presence.

He expects to send down a few overs in the next Sheffield Shield match as part of a “slow build” to the Test series

Tristan Lavalette16-Oct-20241:26

How much will Australia miss Cameron Green?

Allrounder Mitchell Marsh will bowl in the upcoming Sheffield Shield round as he prepares to help cover Cameron Green’s absence during the India Test series.Marsh’s fitness and whether he can return to bowling have grown in significance for Australia since it emerged that Green will miss the entire season due to a stress fracture of his back.Green was heading to Christchurch on Wednesday for surgery and in an Instagram post said: “Heartbroken but let’s get a new back.”Related

• Australia's selection race: who is in the running to face India?

• Green out for the season as he takes surgery option

• Cummins to prepare for Test summer in Pakistan ODIs, Marsh and Head on paternity leave

• Australia quicks' unbroken summer could be an 'outlier'

There has been uncertainty if Marsh, who turns 33 on Sunday, can physically handle the rigours of bowling. Since tearing his hamstring during the IPL, Marsh has bowled just four overs – all of which were in the fourth ODI against England at Lord’s last month.Marsh made 13 and 94 as a specialist batter for Western Australia in their drawn Shield opener last week against Queensland at the WACA. While in the field he was mostly based in the slips and and occasionally helped carry the drinks.But Marsh said he felt “really good” physically as he builds up his bowling loads against Tasmania in the Shield fixture starting on Sunday at the WACA.”I won’t bowl too much for WA, it’s all part of the building process to get ready for that first Test,” Marsh told reporters in Perth at the launch of the 2025-26 Ashes fixtures. “It’s been a slow build. I’ve been really well looked after by Cricket Australia, Ronnie [Australia coach Andrew McDonald] and Patty [Pat Cummins], with our planning and when I bowl.”I love bowling, so I’m looking forward to bowling for Western Australia this week and build from there.”Mitchell Marsh’s overs could be vital this summer•Getty Images

With Australia’s frontline pace attack unchanged last summer, and with Tests played on bowler-friendly surfaces, Marsh wasn’t greatly needed with the ball but still did produce several handy spells.There has been an expectation that the five-Test series against India will be more gruelling, magnifying the importance of Marsh being able to provide support.With Steven Smith to move back to No. 4, Australia’s selectors will likely call in an opener rather than a like-for like replacement for Green. Marsh moving to the top of the order, following in the footsteps of his father Geoff and brother Shaun, has some support, including from legendary Australia batter Greg Chappell.But Marsh dispelled the notion with his focus firmly on contributing as an allrounder and he did not put a cap on how many overs he could bowl in the Tests. “Once you’re in the field of battle, you bowl as many overs as the captain needs you to bowl,” he said.
“I see the allrounder role as being really important, especially for when our bowlers need a bit of a break. I think if you look back at the last few seasons, our allrounders have bowled maybe 10 to 13 overs a game, which is not really a lot.”But those 10 to 13 overs can be really important. So for me, it’s about preparing to bowl as much as I can, as much as Patty needs me to.”Marsh said he was “shattered” for Green who is expected to be sidelined for six months.”From all reports he’s pretty good, initially there is always a shock. It all happened pretty quickly,” he said. “Certainly with stress fractures they can be quite a gradual thing, but this one came pretty quickly.”Someone like Cam with his attitude towards the game, he loves it. The thought of missing that much cricket is probably a little daunting for him, but he’s accepted it now and as an athlete you go through these things.”It’s an opportunity for him to come back better and I have no doubt that he will.”

Rookie left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty defended 13 in the final over for Karnataka

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2025Karnataka overcame a scare against Baroda to clinch a thriller by five runs and secure a place in the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Devdutt Padikkal’s 102 off 99 balls not long after he got off a flight from Australia won him the Player-of-the-Match award, but it was Karnataka’s catching that made a massive difference to the resultBaroda were cruising in their chase of 282, with their captain Krunal Pandya and centurion Shashwat Rawat bringing the runs required under 100. But from 185 for 2 in the 34th over, Baroda lost 3 for 16 to give Karnataka an opening.Wicketkeeper Krishnan Shrijith dismissed Krunal by flinging himself full stretch to his left to pull off a one-hand catch off V Koushik. In the next over, Shreyas Gopal had Vishnu Solanki lbw. Mayank Agarawal, the Karnataka captain, then ran back 30 yards from mid-off with the ball swirling away to catch Shivalik Sharma.Even as Baroda lost wickets, they had hope as Rawat approached a century. He eventually got to the mark in the 44th over and Baroda went into the last six needing 59 with four wickets remaining. Bhanu Pania, who had smashed an unbeaten 51-ball 134 when Baroda broke the record for the highest T20 score last month, went after Prasidh Krishna in a 15-run over.The wickets of Pania and Rawat in the space of three balls turned the game again. Having gone for 58 in nine wicketless overs, Prasidh bowled a slower bouncer that got Rawat’s leading edge to wicketkeeper Shrijith.Still, Bhargav Bhatt and Raj Limbani kept hitting the vital boundaries to bring the equation down to 13 off the last six balls. But rookie left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty was not fazed by the pressure. With Baroda needing 8 off the last two, they attempted to steal a second to get Bhatt on strike with six to get off the last ball, but an accurate throw by R Smaran at deep midwicket to the wicketkeeper had Bhatt run out to end the game.That Karnataka had a sizeable total to defend was down to Padikkal, who helped his team overcome the early loss of Agarawal on a pitch that had plenty of assistance for the quicks early on. Padikkal and KV Aneesh put on 133 for the second wicket to lay the foundation of the innings.Padikkal was severe on Baroda off spinner Mahesh Pithiya, using his feet regularly to score boundaries as Karnataka looked to accelerate. He fell soon after getting to a century off 94 deliveries, top-edging a pull to the wicketkeeper off Limbani. From 172 for 2, Karnataka lost a clutch of wickets, but cameos from Shrijith and Abhinav Manohar took them to a match-winning score of 281.

Adam Milne and Noor Ahmad put in the star performances with the ball as Los Angeles Knight Riders were bowled out for 124 to go down by 57 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2025Texas Super Kings were asked to bat for a second game in a row, put up an almost-identical score, and ran out victors again, this time against Los Angeles Knight Riders, to make it two wins in two in MLC 2025.Unlike in the first game, against MI New York, though, the batting effort was a combined one, with no one standing out with a really big contribution. The stars were in the bowling department – Adam Milne, again, and Noor Ahmad.The first partnership of any note for LAKR was the one between Alex Hales and Unmukt Chand for the second wicket. Coming together after Andre Fletcher had become Milne’s first victim in the second over of the chase of 182, Hales (25 in 17) and Chand (22 in 23) added 27 runs, but the going was slow. Chand then added 28 for the fifth wicket with Matthew Tromp, where Tromp showed some initiative on his way to a 12-ball 23, but Chand still couldn’t get any impetus.Milne started and finished LAKR’s fall, adding the wicket of Tanveer Sangha at the end to return 3.1-0-8-2, while Noor ran through the lower-middle order with the wickets of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Tromp – he had sent back Nitish Kumar earlier – to finish with 4 for 25.Earlier, asked to bat, Devon Conway scored 34 in 22 balls at the top, his partnership with Saiteja Mukkamalla, who scored 31 in 22, giving TSK a solid platform after captain Faf du Plessis fell for a low score again. Conway and Mukkamalla put up 57 runs in 5.1 overs, Mukkamalla clearly the aggressor there, and with 74 on the board after eight, TSK looked good for an above-par score.Daryl Mitchell (36* in 33), Shubham Ranjane (24 in 19) and Donovan Ferreira (32* in 16) made sure TSK got what they wanted, and it was way too many for LAKR on the day. In a low- and slow-scoring game on the while, Ferreira and Tromp were the only batters to go at at a strike rate of over 155 – Ferreira 200 and Tromp 191.66.

Yorkshire on top in Scarborough despite unbroken last-wicket stand for visitors

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay29-Jul-2025Sussex 210 for 9 (Coles 47, White 3-21) vs Yorkshire Yorkshire enjoyed a productive opening day of their key Rothesay County Championship clash with Sussex at Scarborough, a day lit up by a stunning James Wharton catch in the deep.Sussex, inserted on a green-tinged pitch, were limited to 210 for 9 from 96 overs. James Coles top-scored for them with 47 off 54 balls.New-ball seamer Jack White impressed with 3 for 21 from 17 overs, with the first of his wickets coming courtesy of what was labelled in some quarters as one of the all-time great catches by Wharton running back towards deep square-leg.Yorkshire came into this fixture second-bottom after 10 of 14 matches. They were seven points away from third-bottom and eighth-placed Durham, with Sussex only 21 ahead of the White Rose in fifth.These two counties were promoted from Division Two last summer. Yorkshire beat Sussex here last August. In fact, Sussex have never won a first-class match at North Marine Road. This is their 11th attempt. If Yorkshire’s start is anything to go by, that run may extend.Quite where Wharton’s catch stands on the list of all-time great grabs is difficult to say with certainty. What can be said with certainty, however, is that was a truly outstanding catch. You will struggle to see better at any county venue this season.Tom Haines looked to whip White over the leg-side but skied a chance off a top-edge. Wharton, positioned at a short midwicket, raced back towards deep square-leg and took the catch mid-air having dived full length.That left Sussex at 19 for 1 in the ninth over. From there, Yorkshire took wickets at regular intervals. Sussex reached lunch at 92 for 3 in the 29th over.Australian left-hander Daniel Hughes was the second wicket to fall when bowled by a beauty from White which angled in from around the wicket, straightened and hit the top of off stump with the score on 26.Coles and Tom Alsop steadied the ship, the former actually counter-attacking, including a six over long-on against the offspin of Dom Bess, Yorkshire’s stand-in captain with Jonny Bairstow on paternity leave. Coles fell just before lunch when caught behind against George Hill.A feature of the White Rose bowling performance was how miserly they were. For example, Sussex only scored 57 runs in an afternoon session which saw three more wickets fall – 149 for 6 at the tea break – and then 61 more after tea.White got wicket No. 4 when he had Danial Ibrahim caught at first slip pushing forwards before visiting captain John Simpson feathered behind a drive at Matt Milnes, leaving Sussex at 113 for 5 in the 44th over.Alsop, twice a fifty-maker in last year’s clash, was then the second Sussex batter to fall in the 40s after Coles. The left-hander had exactly 40 when he was bowled through the gate by one angled in from Revis with 129 on the board in the 53rd.More damage was done shortly after tea as Sussex lost three wickets for the addition of run one in eight balls, slipping to 150 for 9.The three wickets fell courtesy of catches at first, second and third slip. Two of them went to Will Sutherland’s seam in the 66th over – Fynn Hudson-Prentice for 23 and Jack Carson for a duck. Henry Crocombe also fell without scoring in the next over to Hill.Sussex were then boosted late on by an impressively watchful 10th-wicket partnership of 60 unbroken between Danny Lamb and Gurinder Sandhu. Both men pulled sixes off seam, Lamb finishing on 40 and Australian Sandhu 24.

Devon Conway is likely to get in for New Zealand at the top of the order in place of the injured Rachin Ravindra

Danyal Rasool09-Feb-2025

Big picture: Ravindra out after opening-night injury

New Zealand’s start to what they hope will be a full month in and around Pakistan couldn’t have gone much better. The squad they picked for the tri-series as well as the upcoming Champions Trophy appears to be especially well-suited to these conditions at this early stage. They kicked off the tri-series with a comprehensive dismantling of Pakistan, pacing their innings with the bat perfectly, before choking Pakistan with spin under the renovated Gaddafi Stadium’s lights. Dew, if any existed, was no hindrance to spin, with New Zealand turning to it for 26 of the 47.5 overs they sent down.The bad news comes in the form of potential player unavailability. Rachin Ravindra will not feature after sustaining a nasty blow to the forehead in the first game, where a ball struck him after he lost sight of it while fielding in the deep; there was plenty of blood and it required stitches. More serious damage, as initially feared, appears to have been averted, but he continues to be monitored for potential signs of delayed concussion. It has also emerged that Lockie Ferguson’s injury may need a longer recovery time than initially hoped, placing him in doubt for the Champions Trophy.The SA20, which only finished on Saturday, has meant that South Africa have not had the luxury of sending a full-strength side to this tournament. The side that plays the Champions Trophy will be markedly different, but two or three games here gives Temba Bavuma’s side the opportunity to get an early look at conditions in match scenarios. Bavuma captains a side drawn largely from South Africa’s domestic pool, but it does feature familiar names in Kyle Verreynne, Tabraiz Shamsi and Wiaan Mulder, all of whom played recently against Pakistan on their all-format tour to South Africa. Keshav Maharaj and Heinrich Klaasen are expected to be in the mix for their next game, against Pakistan.Perhaps limiting the value of the extra game is its starting time. This match is the only day game in this series, and no matches will be played in this time slot for the duration of the Champions Trophy. The morning start, coupled with a game that does not see Pakistan feature, means attendance figures won’t be anywhere near what they were for New Zealand’s contest against Pakistan. It may also make it even more of a batting surface than day-night games in Lahore tend to be, but with dew guaranteed to not be a factor, New Zealand’s spinners will likely be even more potent.Tom Latham needs runs desperately•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

South Africa LLLLW
New Zealand WLWWL

In the spotlight: Tom Latham and Lungi Ngidi

It’s not a secret that Tom Latham has endured a difficult spell with the bat of late, but the focus will only intensify after he was dismissed for a duck in an otherwise productive New Zealand batting effort against Pakistan. In the other ODIs Latham played this year, he managed one run across two innings, and though these are his first ODIs since 2023, he averaged under 30 across 27 innings that year. Furthermore, the scorecard suggests he didn’t quite convince when he dropped down a level to play the Super Smash, managing 95 runs across four T20 innings at just over a run-a-ball. With the Champions Trophy coming up, it’s a problem New Zealand would rather do without, and a weakened South Africa bowling unit may be the perfect time for Latham to get back in the groove.Lungi Ngidi endured a pretty ordinary SA20, and in normal circumstances, may have faced a battle to be part of this side. But the number of first-choice players rendered unavailable to South Africa because of the SA20 as well as injuries to Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee, saw him tagged on as a late addition to the travelling party. Injuries and fitness concerns haven’t helped him, but this is a bowler who, for several years, was a regular across formats in South Africa’s international squads. With the Champions Trophy around the corner, this would be a particularly useful time to remind coach Rob Walter and the selectors of what he can do when at his best.Senuran Muthusamy is one of many players in the tri-series squad that won’t be part of the Champions Trophy•AFP/Getty Images

Team news

Ravindra will miss out because of the blow he sustained against Pakistan, meaning his side will need to find a new opener. However, New Zealand are unlikely to make big changes to the side that delivered such an all-round performance against Pakistan.New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Ben Sears, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’RourkeSouth Africa have added Ngidi and Shamsi to the tri-series squad. Corbin Bosch, Kwena Maphaka and Tony de Zorzi are all on their way to Pakistan to join the squad but will not be available for this game.South Africa (probable): 1 Temba Bavuma (capt), 2 Jason Smith, 3 Matthew Breetzke, 4 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 5 Senuran Muthusamy, 6 Wiaan Mulder, 7 Mihali Mpongwana, 8 Junior Dala, 9 Tabraiz Shamsi, 10 Ethan Bosch, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Pitch and conditions

Dew wasn’t a factor in the day-night game at the Gaddafi Stadium when New Zealand played Pakistan. With this being a day match, it is guaranteed not to be an issue on what should be a warm and sunny spring day.

Stats and trivia

• Ngidi is four wickets away from reaching the three-figure mark in ODIs. He will become the 13th to get there for South Africa in ODIs when he does
• This is South Africa’s first ODI in Pakistan since 2007. Their last game produced one of South Africa’s great ODI wins

Quotes

“For us, it will mainly be about acclimatising to the conditions and being able to share it with the wider group; and for the young guys, it’s about showing what they can do at this level.”

RoI are still trailing Mumbai’s first-innings total of 537 by 248 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2024Abhimanyu Easwaran’s unbeaten 151 took Rest of India (RoI) to 289 for 4 at the end of day three of the Irani Cup in Lucknow. But with Mumbai posting 537 in their first innings, RoI still have a mountain to climb.In the morning, Mumbai could add only one to their overnight 536 for 9. In the third over of the day, Mukesh Kumar knocked out Mohammad Juned Khan’s off stump for his fifth wicket of the innings, leaving Sarfaraz Khan unbeaten on 222.RoI had a somewhat nervy start but with Shardul Thakur unwell, Mumbai were forced to bring spin as early as in the sixth over. Juned provided the breakthrough by having RoI captain Ruturaj Gaikwad caught at second slip. RoI had only 40 runs on the board at that point but Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan stabilised them with an 87-run stand for the second wicket.Sudharsan, though, failed to convert his start and was lbw for 32 off Tanush Kotian after lunch. Devdutt Padikkal didn’t last long either and was caught behind for 16 off the bowling of Mohit Avasthi. It was a similar story for Ishan Kishan. He scored 38 before edging Avasthi to the wicketkeeper.By contrast, Easwaran was looking comfortable. He eased to his hundred off just 117 balls, even though only 38 runs had come in boundaries. He slowed down a bit after his hundred but Dhruv Jurel kept the scoreboard moving with an unbeaten 30 off 41 balls.In the penultimate over of the day, Easwaran brought up his 150, which was followed by Jurel hitting Kotian for a four and a six off successive balls. By stumps, the two had added 61 in an unbroken stand for the fifth wicket.

Chinelle Henry will lead the team in the injured allrounder’s absence

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2025Barbados Royals have suffered a significant blow on the eve of their WCPL title defence, with a shoulder injury ruling out their captain Hayley Matthews for the entire season.Allrounder Chinelle Henry will lead Royals in Matthews’ absence.Related

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Matthews is the WCPL’s leading run-getter (424 at a strike rate of 113.06) and wicket-taker (23 with an economy rate of 5.79), and a key player in Royals’ title-winning campaigns of 2023 and 2024. She was Player of the Match in the 2023 final against Guyana Amazon Warriors, scoring a 59-ball 82 and taking two wickets, and Player of the Series in the 2024 season.Royals announced the news of Matthews’ injury via X, formerly Twitter. They have not announced a replacement yet. Royals are set to play their first game of WCPL 2025 against Amazon Warriors on Sunday night.Matthews had picked up a shoulder injury on the England tour and opted for surgery during the WBBL. She was the Melbourne Renegades’ pre-draft pick but pulled out before the WBBL draft. She played the home series against South Africa and then the Hundred and was slated to undergo surgery after the WCPL.NaiJanni Cumberbatch, Trishan Holder and Steffie Soogrim were among a select group of emerging West Indian players who tuned up for WCPL 2025 with a stint at the Chennai Super Kings Academy in Chennai last month.

Barbados Royals squad

Chinelle Henry (capt), Afy Fletcher, Aaliyah Alleyne, Kycia Knight, Steffie Soogrim, Shamilia Connell, Sheneta Grimmond, Qiana Joseph, Trishan Holder, NaiJanni Cumberbatch, Chamari Athapaththu, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Webb, Shreyanka Patil