On paper, Afghanistan look far stronger, but Uganda have reached here the hard way and will want to make a big impression

Mohammad Isam03-Jun-20243:08

Spinners in focus in Afghanistan vs Uganda encounter

Match details

Afghanistan vs Uganda
Providence, 7.30pm local

Big picture – Can Uganda make it a debut to remember?

It has been a long road for Uganda to the T20 World Cup 2024 but they are here by right, and now have a chance to make a big mark.Their first opponents, however, are not the sort you want to face when trying to ease into the top flight. Afghanistan are a team bristling with talent and ambition after finishing sixth in the 2023 ODI World Cup. They beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Netherlands in an impressive run, and might just have finished stronger had it not been for a once-in-a-lifetime innings from Glenn Maxwell.At this World Cup, Afghanistan would want to finish things off quickly against Uganda in the first game and later Papua New Guinea, the Associates in their group, because co-hosts West Indies and New Zealand are also in the same group, so Super Eight qualification could get tricky. And that’s not counting for upsets, as PNG threatened to pull off against West Indies.Related

• 'We carry a whole country's hopes on our backs,' says Uganda captain Brian Masaba

• Rashid: We have the batting line-up to chase down 200

• Embracing the unorthodox – South Asian teams are now fast-bowling powerhouses

• Meet Uganda, the newest African kid on the block

• 'If we play our own style of the game, we can beat any side'

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran will be expected to give them a quick start. Their spin trio of captain Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman make up one of the most formidable T20I spin attack. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq are reputed T20 quicks, while allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai is a rising star. It’s a team with a lot of T20 class.But Afghanistan’s batters will have to be watchful against Uganda, who have as many as three left-arm fingerspinners in their ranks. Apart from Najibullah Zadran, none of the likely starters among the batters are left-hand batters. Uganda, on the other hand, have some variety in their bowling, which opponents have to watch out for.They got to the World Cup through the Africa qualifiers, where they beat Zimbabwe by five wickets. It was their first win against a Full Member side, and one that has raised their hopes. They will bank on batter Roger Mukasa, allrounders Riazat Ali Shah and Alpesh Ramjani, and left-arm spinner Henry Ssenyondo, all regular performers.It could become an interesting battle, despite the gulf between the two sides. And if Uganda want some inspiration from history, they could look back at this game from 2009.

Form guide

Afghanistan WWLWL
Uganda WLWWWGetting past Zimbabwe to make the T20 World Cup was a stirring story for Uganda•International Cricket Council

In the spotlight – Azmatullah Omarzai and Alpesh Ramjani

Azmatullah Omarzai was among the top-performing allrounders at the ODI World Cup last year. His 353 runs and seven wickets were comparable to the numbers of Rachin Ravindra and Maxwell among those who scored at least 300 runs and took five wickets. Omarzai doesn’t have great numbers in T20s yet, but Afghanistan see the 24-year-old as one for the future, as did Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024. He will bat in the middle order, and his swing bowling might come in handy in the powerplay too.Allrounders are Uganda’s strength, and Alpesh Ramjani is the leader of that pack with his 469 runs and 65 wickets since 2023. Ramjani bats in the middle order and bowls left-arm spin. A product of Mumbai’s famed cricket structure, he played with the likes of Shivam Dube, and considers Suryakumar Yadav as a mentor. Ramjani moved to Uganda in 2021 at the advice of current team-mate Dinesh Nakrani, and made his international debut in 2022.

Team news

Afghanistan are likely to play Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib and Karim Janat, all seam-bowling allrounders, alongside Naveen and Farooqi. It will give them batting cushion down to No. 8.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Gulbadin Naib, 4 Azmatullah Omarzai, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Rashid Khan (capt), 8 Karim Janat, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq FarooqiMukasa and Simon Ssesazi are a solid opening pair for Uganda, while Riazat, Nakrani and Ramjani form the all-round core of the side. They can field three left-arm spinners, including captain Brian Masaba, depending on the conditions.Uganda (probable): 1 Roger Mukasa, 2 Simon Ssesazi, 3 Robinson Obuya, 4 Riazat Ali Shah, 5 Dinesh Nakrani, 6 Alpesh Ramjani, 7 Kenneth Waiswa, 8 Fred Achelam (wk), 9 Bilal Hassun, 10 Brian Masaba (capt), 11 Henry Ssenyondo0:50

Which team is the likeliest to be upset?

Pitch and conditions

In the last 12 months, teams have had to score 190-plus on average to win games at the Guyana National Stadium. The surface is slow traditionally. There’s a bit of rain forecast for the evening.

Stats that matter

• Among Full Members, Ibrahim and Gurbaz are T20Is’ second-most prolific pair since the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup for any pair to have batted at least ten times. They have scored 503 runs at an average of 41.91 in this period, with a hundred and three fifty stands.
• Ramjani (55) and Ssenyondo (49) were the top-two wicket-takers in T20Is in 2023.
• Mukasa was the second-highest T20I run-scorer in 2023 with 738 runs, five ahead of Suryakumar, who had 733 runs.
• Nabi is Afghanistan’s only surviving member from the 2010 edition of the T20 World Cup.
• Frank Nsubuga, at 43, is the oldest player in the tournament.

Quotes

“I think it’s a good sign for us as a team. We have those players who played recently here in the CPL, and they got that experience. And we share that experience with the boys. But I think in ICC [events], you always expect something different.”

Pakistan captain says lack of rhythm upfront with the bat, and then again in the middle overs, cost his side against India

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-20241:47

Mumtaz: PCB needs to provide leadership skills to players

Babar Azam reckoned not utilising the batting powerplay well enough and then playing too many dot balls in the middle overs were the main reasons behind Pakistan not being able to chase down 120 in their T20 World Cup 2024 match against India in New York.”In our mind, we wanted to play normally, utilise the first six overs in the batting and [if we had done that] we win,” Babar said after Pakistan’s six-run defeat. “But one wicket down and we were not up to the mark in the first six overs. We were targeting like 40 to 45 runs in the first six overs, but we did not capitalise properly and yes after the ten overs also we made the same mistake.”Related

• Kirsten bemoans Pakistan's 'poor decision-making'

• Bumrah spearheads India's defence of 119; Pakistan on brink of elimination

• The curious case of Pakistan's World Cup 15

Having restricted India to 119, Pakistan did not lose too many wickets upfront but also did not score many runs. They managed 35 for 1 in the powerplay and then moved 72 for 2 in 12 overs. Then, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya orchestrated a collapse. Hardik got rid of Fakhar Zaman with an excellent short of a length ball, before Bumrah breached Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps with the first ball of his second spell.

In the middle overs (6.1 to 15.6), Pakistan played 29 dot balls and scored 50 runs while losing three wickets.”We bowled well after ten overs and we would have taken 120. It’s a better total here. In the batting, we went run-a-ball but unfortunately, but we lost back-to-back wickets and then there were too many dot balls,” Babar said. “Tactics were simple, play normally, just rotate the strike and just try and play one boundary and be normal…get five or six an over. But in that period we had too much dot balls, the pressure was on us. And we lost back-to-back two to three wickets.”Having suffered back-to-back defeats to start this World Cup, Pakistan now find themselves struggling to make it out of the first round. Babar said they will just look to win their last two Group A games, and then take it from there.”Obviously we have to win the last two matches. We will sit and discuss our mistakes but we are looking forward to the next two matches.”Pakistan play Canada on June 11 at this venue and then finish the group stage against Ireland on June 16 in Lauderhill.

Brian Lara Cricket Academy pitch comes in for sharp criticism from observers and participants after wildly misbehaving in Afghanistan vs South Africa semi-final

Sidharth Monga27-Jun-20244:14

Moody, Flower on Tarouba pitch: ‘Dangerous’, ‘not good enough’

The first two balls of the chase summed up the conditions in which the first semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup was played. The first ball practically rolled along the ground, and the next one reared off a similar length. The pitch at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy came in for sharp criticism from observers, but participants in the match had to be careful not to come across as either making excuses or downplaying their achievements, depending on which camp they were in. However, they still ended up making an unflattering assessment of it.”I don’t want to get myself into trouble and I don’t want to come across as bitter or it being a case of sour grapes,” Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said when asked what he made of the pitch, “but that’s not the pitch that you want to have a match, a semi-final of a World Cup, on plain and simple. It should be a fair contest. I’m not saying it should be flat completely with no spin and no seam movement, but I’m saying you shouldn’t have batsmen worrying about going forward and the ball flying over their head. You should be confident in your foot movement and being able to hit through the line or use your skills.”T20 is about attacking and about scoring runs and taking wickets, not looking to survive. If the opposition bowled well and got to a position where they bowled very, very well and it’s through skill, then that’s fine and then it’s about adapting to that. But once the ball starts misbehaving and rolling… if we had bowled as straight as South Africa had, I think you would have seen a very interesting second half as well. South Africa bowled well, used the conditions, and showed our boys what it’s capable of. But it just didn’t go our way tonight.”Related

• T20 World Cup 2024: New York, Tarouba pitches rated 'unsatisfactory' by ICC

• ICC Board seeks answers after costs spiral for US leg of T20 World Cup

• Shamsi: 'It's a huge achievement, but we didn't come here to get to the final'

• Report – SA demolish Afg to book spot in World Cup final

• Stats – SA men's maiden World Cup final, Afg's lowest T20I total

South Africa have played in dodgy conditions throughout: be it the underprepared and untested drop-ins of New York, or the excessive spin in Kingstown, or this brute with both excessive uneven bounce and seam movement. Aiden Markram, the South Africa captain, was asked the same question. “Yeah, I mean T20 cricket as a whole, you want entertainment,” Markram said. “The wickets that we’ve had throughout the competition have been pretty challenging. Tonight’s wicket was pretty challenging once again. It’s hard to say that a wicket is not good because it can’t just always be a batter’s game, but I think if we reflect back on this wicket, we’ll probably be pretty happy that we’re not playing here again.”If the winning team makes it sound like it has made it out of a game of Russian roulette unscathed and can’t wait to leave town, you know something has gone wrong. Tom Moody, speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s analysis show Timeout, said this track was not fit for any game of cricket, leave alone a World Cup semi-final. “I don’t think you would want to see [this kind of a pitch] in any game,” Moody said. “You want a fair contest between bat and ball, and I’m not advocating we need to have surfaces for 200-plus but for one, you need consistent bounce. That’s the most important thing. Any batter will hold their hand up and say that’s the most important thing. If you’ve got one ball that’s hitting the toe of your bat [and] one that you’re feeling you’re going to punch with your gloves [from] the same length, that is a very difficult challenge to combat.”If you’ve got sideways movement or swing or spin, that’s a different challenge but at least there’s some sort of consistency and you can come up with some sort of strategy or method to combat that. Look, I don’t think that was good enough. I actually covered two games in Trinidad at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy [as a broadcast commentator] and the surface was pretty similar. You see the crazy paving – if I could put it that way – where a lot of dense grass was gathered around those cracks and you could tell that that was the thing that promoted the inconsistency of bounce.”Andy Flower, also speaking on Timeout, agreed. “Those conditions were simply not good enough,” he said. “The pitch was so very, very tough for any batsman to play on. We saw some interesting visual shots from above the square and a couple of commentators referenced this being a brand-new pitch; perhaps they could’ve used a pitch that had been used previously [in this World Cup] and therefore you could [go in] knowing it produces a certain type of bounce, something more consistent and predictable. But those shots showed the crazy paving-type effect, and those blocks and the cracks around those blocks produced the wild variance in bounce and, as a batter, you’re trying to predict where the ball is going to be. You want to meet it somewhere near the middle of the bat at least. On this pitch, it was almost impossible to do that on any consistent basis.”I thought it was actually a little bit dangerous. A couple of balls flew off a length around shoulder, neck, chin-height from the South African quicks. And one of them flew over Quinton de Kock, the keeper’s head and gloves, for four byes. I was pleased that no one got hurt. We got a similar pitch in New York in the early part of the competition, which wasn’t good enough for international-quality quicks. And then we saw it again today and it produced a complete mismatch.”The track at Brian Lara Cricket Academy has previously produced scores of 40 all out, 78 all out and 95 all out in this World Cup. There has been only one decent contest possible, when West Indies narrowly defended 149, but even in that match they were 30 for 5 at one stage.Trinidad is home to one of the legendary cricket venues, Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, but it didn’t host a single World Cup match, losing out to this newer, practically untested venue that made its international debut in men’s cricket less than two years ago.

The left-arm seamer took 17 wickets in last season’s competition and has full availability

Andrew McGlashan23-Aug-2024Allrounder Paul Walter, who was a key figure in Brisbane Heat’s BBL title success last season, could be in line for a return to the competition after he was confirmed among the latest batch of nominations for next month’s draft.Walter, a left-arm seamer and hard-hitting batter, became a cult hero for Heat as he claimed 17 wickets, celebrating with a trademark aeroplane each time, and was named in the team of the tournament voted for by the eight head coaches.Related

• 'Tall' Paul Walter makes big splash at the Big Bash

• Heather Knight: Dani Gibson's 'bravery' elevates her T20 World Cup credentials

• Shamar Joseph nominates for BBL draft; Harmanpreet confirmed for WBBL draft

• Ollie Pope signs for Adelaide Strikers, Akeal Hosein joins Sydney Sixers

Heat have retention rights for Walter should they want to bring him back and another team tries to select him. A key factor is he has full availability including the finals and he would again seem a good fit for them after supplementing their varied attack which includes Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson plus spin twins Matt Kuhnemann and Mitchell Swepson.”I think we’ve got the best bowling unit in the competition,” he told ESPNcricinfo during last season’s campaign. “I feel like I complement the rest of the attack quite well and we’ve been good at managing games. Kuhny and Sweppo have bowled so well through the middle that teams have come hard at me, which is probably what you want with my style of bowling.”I’ve worked a lot on my defensive bowling, trying to figure out how to get batters off strike and trying to keep the ball away from the shorter pockets. I normally bowl the overs where the right-handers are hitting to the short leg side, so I’ve had to get quite clever with getting them to hit to the other side of the ground. I do a lot of work off the field figuring out what I’m going to do in different situations.”English cricketers dominated the list of names released on Friday although most only have availability for between six and nine games. England have a Test series in New Zealand that finishes three days after the BBL begins and then have a limited-overs tour of India starting on January 22 next year. A significant number of players also have ILT20 or SA20 deals.However, some will likely attract interest including Olly Stone, Dan Lawrence, Jordan Cox and Joe Clarke. Legspinner Rehan Ahmed, who was initially drafted by Sydney Sixers last season before withdrawing when he was selected to tour West Indies, has again nominated.Pakistan allrounder Imad Wasim, who Melbourne Stars have retention rights for, has full availability as does slingy fast bowler Zaman Khan who played for Sydney Thunder last season.England players are also strongly represented in the latest WBBL nominations. Dani Gibson, who played a defining role in the Hundred final last week and earned praise from captain Heather Knight, impressed for champions Adelaide Strikers last season striking at 147.43 in the middle order and claiming ten wickets. She is currently down as having full availability although England have a T20I series against South Africa which overlaps with the WBBL finals.”We saw the game she played at Lord’s, a reverse-sweep to go and win the game against Australia last year, and that’s the sort of mindset that we want in that England side: the willingness to take risks, take the game on and express what your talent, and Dani epitomises that,” Knight said.South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt, who was announced among the initial batch of nominations and has been a regular for Strikers, now has availability of six to nine games rather than the entire tournament.Strikers in the WBBL are the only club yet to name a pre-draft signing although they are expected to fill that spot next week. Each club across BBL and WBBL can sign one player ahead of the draft. In the draft, a club can use their retention option once and only if they have not already selected the player in the relevant round.

Current BBL nominations by retention clubs

Adelaide Strikers: Adam Hose, Jamie Overton, David Payne
Brisbane Heat: Paul Walter, Tom Banton
Hobart Hurricanes: Corey Anderson, Sam Hain
Melbourne Renegades: Joe Clarke, Jordan Cox, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Melbourne Stars: Dan Lawrence, Imad Wasim, Liam Dawson, Olly Stone, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf
Perth Scorchers: Zak Crawley, Stephen Eskinazi, Laurie Evans, Tymal Mills
Sydney Sixers: Izharulhuq Naveed, Rehan Ahmed, James Vince
Sydney Thunder: Alex Hales, Zaman Khan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Nominations with no retention club: Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Shadab Khan, Shamar Joseph

Current WBBL nominations by retention clubs

Adelaide Strikers: Dani Gibson, Georgia Adams, Laura Wolvaardt
Brisbane Heat: Bess Heath
Hobart Hurricanes: Shabnim Ismail, Bryony Smith
Melbourne Renegades: Eve Jones, Harmanpreet Kaur
Melbourne Stars: Alice Capsey, Sophia Dunkley
Perth Scorchers: Amy Jones, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt
Sydney Sixers: Suzie Bates, Sophie Ecclestone, Jess Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Linsey Smith
Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight
Nominations with no retention club: Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues

There will be a total of 74 matches played, 10 fewer than what was listed by the IPL in 2022 during the new media rights cycle

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Sep-2024There will be a total of 74 matches played in IPL 2025, the same as the last three seasons. That number, though, is ten less than the 84 matches listed by IPL in 2022 when the media rights for the 2023-27 cycle were sold.In the tender document for the new rights cycle, the IPL had listed a varying number of matches per season: ranging from 74 games each in 2023 and 2024, 84 matches each in 2025 and 2026, and a maximum of 94 matches for the final year of the deal in 2027. ESPNcricinfo has learned that one significant reason the IPL has decided not to have 84 matches in 2025 is to help the Indian international players manage their workload. India are currently favourites to make their third successive World Test Championship final, scheduled from June 11 at Lord’s, and the BCCI wants to ensure players get enough rest as part of their preparation if they qualify.Currently, the IPL dates for the 2025 season aren’t finalised yet but the window is likely to stretch between mid-March and last week of May. “We have not taken a call on organising 84 matches in IPL 2025 since we also have to factor the load on the players due to the increase in matches,” Jay Shah, the outgoing BCCI secretary, told the recently. “While it’s (84 matches) part of the contract, it’s up to the BCCI to decide whether to organise 74 or 84 matches.”Related

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• IPL begins March 21 weekend; WPL to start from February 7

• IPL 2025 to begin on March 14; dates for next three seasons revealed

• Ponting appointed Punjab Kings head coach

• Rathour joins Rajasthan Royals as batting coach

In 2022, the IPL became one of the richest sporting leagues in the world (in terms of per match value) when the media rights were sold for INR 48,390.5 crore (USD 6.2 billion approx.). The rights had been sold across four packages: A (TV rights in the Indian subcontinent), B (digital rights in the subcontinent), C (digital rights in India to a special package of high-profile games – including the playoffs and the final – ranging between 18 and 22 per season) and D (global media rights across five separate regions).The total number of matches in a season, the IPL said, would also determine the number of matches in package C, also known as the special package. This package includes the tournament opener, weekend evening matches, and the four playoffs, including the final. While the opening match and the playoffs will be mandatory, the IPL will determine the number and which evening matches from the double-headers will be included in this package, based on the total number of games in a season.A season total of 74 matches (as was the case in 2023 and 2024) means the special package had 18 matches. If there are more than 74 matches in a season, then the special package matches will rise by two for every ten additional matches. So if there are 84 matches in a season, the special package matches will rise to 20 and if the tournament has 94 games, the special package will have 22 matches.

Melbourne Renegades quick will miss a third straight WBBL season due to injury

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2024Luckless Australia and Melbourne Renegades fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck has been ruled out of the WBBL for the third consecutive season following the shoulder dislocation she suffered in the T20 World Cup.Vlaeminck, 25, dislocated her bowling shoulder just moments into Australia’s World Cup match against Pakistan which was her first at a major tournament since 2018.She was subsequently ruled out of the World Cup and Renegades confirmed on Friday that she would play no part in the WBBL that starts next Sunday.Related

• Vlaeminck dislocates shoulder on T20 World Cup return

Vlaeminck has not played in the WBBL since November 2021 when she was playing for Hobart Hurricanes. She signed with Renegades ahead of the 2022-23 season but has not managed to play a single game due to an extraordinary run of injuries.Vlaeminck has twice dislocated her left shoulder. The first came playing for Victoria in the 2017-18 season. Then, during the Australia A tour of England which coincided with last year’s Women’s Ashes, she dislocated the same shoulder again while bowling, which led to corrective surgery.Before she made her debut for Australia, in 2018, she had undergone two ACL reconstructions. Stress fractures in her foot also forced her to miss the 2020 home T20 World Cup as well as the 2022 ODI World Cup, the Commonwealth Games later that year and the 2023 T20 World Cup. Her foot injuries led her to spend time training with professional dancers at the Australian Ballet as part of her rehab work.

However, the rule will be in effect for the next three season in the IPL

PTI14-Oct-20243:35

Should the Impact Player rule stay or go?

The BCCI has decided to scrap the Impact Player rule for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT). The rule was introduced in SMAT couple of years ago and was later extended to the Indian Premier League (IPL).”Kindly note that the BCCI has decided to do away with the provision of the ‘Impact Player’ for the ongoing season,” the BCCI informed the state associations on Monday.The BCCI’s decision to do away with the Impact Player comes shortly after they decided to retain it in the IPL for the next three seasons, up to 2027. Since its introduction in the 2023 season, the rule has stirred debate over whether it is indeed beneficial to Indian cricket, which was the original motive, or whether it could be hurting the development of allrounders. Several high-profile players such as Rohit Sharma had expressed concerns over the rule saying it could be detrimental to the development of allrounders.Related

• IPL mega auction: Six retentions, RTM back, Impact Player to stay

• Shah on Impact Player rule: 'Not permanent, but not saying that it will go'

“I generally feel that it is going to hold back (development of allrounders) because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I’m not a big fan of impact player. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it little entertainment for the people around,” Rohit had said on the podcast.In May this year, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah had referred the rule as “a test case” in the IPL and that this “is not permanent [but] I am not saying that it will go.”Saurashtra head coach Niraj Odedra welcomed the BCCI’s decision. “It is nice change. Also the ICC doesn’t have this rule in major tournaments So it would be good for cricketers who want to play for India as they graduate from domestic season,” he said.

An ECB update at tea stated Stokes will not return to the field for NZ’s second innings

Vithushan Ehantharajah16-Dec-20240:48

Trescothick on Stokes injury: We didn’t see it coming

Ben Stokes was forced to leave the field during day three of England’s third Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park after a recurrence of a left hamstring injury. He will undergo a scan this evening to understand the full extent of the injury.England’s captain pulled up after the second ball of the 56th over of New Zealand’s second innings – his 13th, and third of the day – on Monday afternoon, immediately feeling the back of his left thigh after delivering a bouncer that Rachin Ravindra pulled for four. It was the same hamstring he tore in August while batting for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals in the men’s Hundred, which kept him out for two months.Bowling from the City End, Stokes put his hand on his face and kept walking in the direction of the team dressing room away at the newly renamed Tim Southee End. New Zealand were leading by 409 at the time, as left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell finished the over.An ECB update at tea stated Stokes will not return to the field for New Zealand’s second innings while he receives treatment, with a further assessment to be made on whether he will bat. England finished the day 18 for 2, chasing a mammoth 658, though they have already secured the series after victories in the first two Tests.”It’s the same hamstring that he’s had before,” confirmed England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick. “He’s been going so well, he’s been bowling and playing the role that he does as an all-rounder and captain.”We didn’t see it coming, you don’t have any signs of these sort of things…generally they just happen.”Stokes’ 36.2 overs in Hamilton were the most he has bowled for in a Test since 40 at Trent Bridge in 2022 (also against New Zealand). On day one, his 23 overs were the most he has managed in a single day, split between spells of eight, eight and seven. It is worth noting England’s first innings capitulation for 143 meant their seamers only had 34.5 overs of rest after 97.1 between them for New Zealand’s opening effort. The hosts went further in their second innings, keeping England in the field for 101.4 overs, eventually finishing on 453.This series has brought Stokes seven dismissals at 36.85 from 66.1 overs – his most as captain – accompanied by a batting average of 52.66 across four innings. After struggling to effectively fulfill the allrounder role, this series had been a welcome return to the Stokes of old.It was only on the previous evening (Sunday) that assistant coach Paul Collingwood lauded Stokes’ return as a talismanic allrounder. Following today’s events, Trescothick stated Stokes might have to tailor his bowling loads going forward.”I still think he’s shown signs over the course of this series that getting back to fitness he is going to have that level. Maybe it’s a case that you manage his bowling loads and he doesn’t bowl the volume that he’s potentially bowled in this game.”Injuries happen, right? they’re always going to be part of the game. he works dramatically well with his fitness. to try and get into the shape he can be. He bowled 24 in the first innings, and he was bowling quite a few in this (second) innings [12.2 overs]. We’ll just have to look at how we manage it.”Stokes looked understandably crestfallen as he walked off, having only just overcome the physical and psychological toil from the initial hamstring tear which derailed his return to full fitness in the summer.Related

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• Williamson ton has England staring down prospect of heavy defeat

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Having arrived into the home summer following successful knee surgery in October 2023, he bowled 49 overs across three Tests against West Indies, with five wickets that took him past 200 career dismissals. The tear subsequently set him back, ruling him out of the three-match series against Sri Lanka at the end of the season, and the first Test of the Pakistan tour.Stokes returned for the final two matches of that series but England lost both, succumbing to a 2-1 defeat having won the first Test. He admitted his drive to regain full fitness led him to “physically drain and ruin himself”. When the squad gathered at Queenstown at the start of the series, Stokes apologised for the negative effect he had on the team environment.Prior to this final Test, Stokes was optimistic he was in a good place, with a better understanding of his body.”I have to work so much harder on the physical side of the job to allow me to go out and do my job but I got a good amount of overs in during the last two games and I am more confident about getting through a lot of spells in a day.”That is where I got to before I pulled my hamstring. I bowled nice in summer, had a setback but now feel out of that and worrying about anything else happening again. As you get older you think about your body a bit more but I work harder because I have to.”Now, the 33-year-old must undergo another period of rehabilitation. England’s next Test match is not until May 22, against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, but a lucrative £800,000 with MI Cape Town in the SA20, which begins on January 9, may have to be forgone. Having signed a two-year central contract in October, the ECB has the power to withdraw him outright from the tournament, even if he is able to regain fitness prior to the end of the group stages, with MI’s final match on February 2.This latest setback also complicates any prospective white-ball return for Stokes. The man himself has remained coy on whether he will make himself available for the upcoming Champions Trophy, with Test head coach Brendon McCullum assuming control of the limited-overs sides. Now, perhaps, the decision has been made for him.

South Africa have not played a single, full 20 over game in the tournament having been hounded by rain

Raunak Kapoor30-Jan-2025

Australia

The story so far: Australia topped their group with comfortable wins against Scotland and Nepal, and a tense two-wicket win against Bangladesh. An easy win against West Indies in the Super Six combined with other results meant they secured a semi-final spot ahead of their final Super Six clash against Sri Lanka, where they failed to chase 100, becoming the only semi-finalists to suffer a defeat in the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup.What’s working: The bowling attack. Eleanor Larosa’s left-arm swing is a genuine threat with the new ball. Fifteen-year old WBBL sensation Caoimhe Bray, who idolises Ellyse Perry, is playing Perry’s role for this U-19 team: wicket-taking, decisive counter-attacking batting or making tough catches look easy. Legspinners Teegan Williamson and Hasrat Gill have 15 wickets between them at a combined average of 7.77. Lily Bassingthwaighte’s late entry into the playing XI has added more teeth to the attack, resulting in opposition scores of 48, 91 for 9, 56 for 8, 53 and 99 for 8.What’s not working: The batting. Openers Kate Pelle and Ines McKeon are both power-hitters, but have consistently misfired, leaving Australia with a big decision on whether to leave one of them out in the semi-final. Nepal captain Puja Mahato had them at 14 for 3 before Bray’s brilliant counter-attacking 45, also the highest score for an Australian batter in the tournament, helped them post their highest team total of 139 for 6. Accurate spin bowling has also been a challenge for the Australian batters at the top and in the middle order, a struggle that was apparent in their last game when they failed to chase 100. Captain Lucy Hamilton at No. 3 remains their most reliable bat. Her innings of 30 off 35 on a tough spinning surface in Bangi, Malaysia, against Bangladesh won her the Player of the Match in a chase of 92.What to look out for: They might be entering the semi-final off a loss, but Australia have been tested as a unit far more than their opposition, or for that matter, all the other semi-final sides. Their batters would welcome the change of venue to the Bayumeas Oval in Kuala Lumpur where run-scoring has been much easier than the more challenging UKM Oval, where Hamilton’s side have played all five of their matches in the tournament. If they can get a competitive total, even 100-110, they’ll back the form of their bowlers to defend it.South Africa go into semi-finals undefeated•ICC/Getty Images

South Africa

The story so far: Rain has followed Kayla Reyneke’s South African side throughout the tournament. But it has relented just enough to allow them one reduced game after another to secure the wins needed to top both their Group Stage and the Super Six Group, without having played a full 40 overs once. They won an 11-overs-a-side game against New Zealand, an eight-overs a side shootout against Nigeria and a 10-overs per side contest against Ireland. Their only full match happened to be against Samoa, where they blew their hapless opposition away for a record low of 16 and chased it in 10 balls. Their final Super Six match against USA was washed out.What’s working: While they’ve never had to bowl a full 20 overs, the bowling unit does seem well-equipped and well-rounded. Nthabiseng Nini might be among the quickest in the competition and has been effective moving the ball away from the right-handers, while Monalisa Legodi moves it the other way. Legspinner Seshine Naidu and captain Reyneke’s offspin have made light work of any opposition so far. All four playing in their second U-19 Women’s World Cup. Reyneke has led the side impressively and in spite of lengthy rain breaks and waiting on the sidelines, South Africa have looked sharp when on the field.What’s not working: They might have four wins on the board but South Africa’s batters have batted only 26.5 overs all tournament, less than half of England (55.2) and India (54.2), just over a third of the overs their more battle-hardened semi-final opponents Australia (76.5). It’s hard therefore to conclude what sort of form their batters are in but openers Jemma Botha and Simone Lourens, and keeper Karabo Meso have notched up quickfire 20s and 30s when needed. All three of them are also playing their second edition of the women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup.What to look out for: South Africa’s spinners will be key to testing Australia’s vulnerabilities. Reyneke leads their wicket-taking list with nine wickets at an average of 3.88 and economy of 4.03.

The batter has been with RCB since 2021, and has grown into one of their key players

Ashish Pant13-Feb-202511:44

Will RCB captaincy affect Patidar’s batting?

Rajat Patidar has been appointed captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for IPL 2025, which begins around March 21. The development was contrary to wide speculation that Virat Kohli would lead RCB again after they did not retain Faf du Plessis, their captain from 2022 to 2024, before the mega auction.RCB made the announcement in Bengaluru on Thursday at an event attended by team director Mo Bobat, head coach Andy Flower, and Patidar. He is the eighth captain for RCB and has played three seasons for the franchise since joining them in 2021 and has grown into one of their key batters, scoring 799 runs in 28 matches at a strike rate of 158.85.”I could speak for quite a long time about Rajat, but I’ve settled on three main things that I thought might be interesting to share,” Flower said. “The first one is there’s a calmness and a simplicity to Rajat that I think will stand him in really good stead as a leader and a captain, particularly in the IPL. As we know, the IPL is one of the premier competitions in the world and there’s pressures involved in that, and I think the calm, simple demeanour that inherently lives within Rajat is going to serve him really well in the hurly-burly of that tournament.Related

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“And his decision-making will be tested like all of ours is. But I think these qualities will stand him in really good stead. We watched Rajat very closely as he captained Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and we really liked what we saw around those qualities.”The second thing I’d say about him, he’s inherently quite a quiet guy, but observing him, he cares about the people around him, he cares about the people that he plays with, that he shares a dressing room with. And I think that’s a quality that means that he will instantly have the respect and care from other people. As a leader, those qualities are important. In that people will follow you and get behind you.”And then the third thing that stands out for me about him is that he’s got a stubbornness and a strength and a steeliness about him. I’ve seen it myself when I’m trying to coach him in the nets and he won’t listen to me, but you see it in the way that he plays. You see the bravery with which he takes on the game and I think that quality within him will be really important for him through the ups and downs, the inevitable ups and downs that come along with playing in the IPL, and now stepping up another gear into leading a big franchise in the IPL.”Bobat confirmed that Kohli was an option the team management had thought about.”With our retentions, it’s probably worth noting that we obviously retained three players, three Indians, and of those three, it’s worth saying that both Virat and Rajat were obviously credible captaincy options for us going into the auction,” he said. “And then at the auction itself, we spent quite a lot of time thinking about leadership characteristics. We didn’t necessarily want to go into the auction and have our heart set on a captain because we felt that was quite a dangerous approach and then you end up probably overvaluing somebody potentially.”Rajat Patidar has been a part of RCB for the past three IPL seasons•AFP/Getty Images

In a video released by RCB, Kohli congratulated Patidar on the appointment, emphasising that he has earned the right to be in this position.”The way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed, you have really made a place in the hearts of all the fans of RCB all over India and they get really excited to watch you play,” Kohli said. “I’ve seen Rajat evolve in the last couple of years as a player. He has got the chance to play for India. His game has improved many levels in the last couple of years.”The way he has led his state team as well and the responsibility that he’s taken and has shown everyone that he has what it takes to lead this amazing franchise and I just wish him all the very best and I would request all the fans to show him absolute support, get right behind him and know that he will always and always do what’s best for the team, what’s best for this franchise.”Discussions within the group confirmed to the coaches that Patidar was the right choice, Bobat said.”We spent some time discussing things with the likes of DK [Dinesh Karthik, the batting coach], who’s obviously a really important part of our management team now. [We] had multiple conversations with Virat, even had some discussions with Rajat and I say discussions, they probably felt a little bit more like interviews for Rajat. But Andy and I spent some time talking to Rajat about his captaincy aspirations and what struck us was that he was very determined and ambitious about leadership and captaincy and he really wanted to do this and that was really important for us to understand and feel.”Bobat also said that they wanted an Indian captain to lead RCB this time around.”Andy and I felt quite blessed that we had quite a few to choose from,” he said. “Whether we went Indian or overseas was an important discussion point for us. We felt quite strongly that an Indian captain was preferable.”That’s nothing against any overseas options, but we were really keen on an Indian option primarily because it’s an Indian competition on Indian pitches against predominantly Indian players. So somebody who’s got that local knowledge and insight is really, really helpful for us.”While this will be 31-year-old Patidar’s first captaincy stint in the IPL, he has captained MP in the 2024-25 season of the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (where they finished runners-up) and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Those tournaments were his first full-time assignments as captain in domestic cricket.”I had a conversation with Mo last year,” Patidar said. “I told him before getting the captaincy of RCB, I want to captain a state team. When they told me about this, that it could be between Virat and Rajat, I was happy. I can’t express my reaction.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I really feel good right now. If I talk about my way of captaincy, I’m not that much expressive, but at the same time, I’m aware of the situation of the matches. So I think for me it’s important to back my players and stand with them and give the sort of involvement where they feel relaxed and confident. So yeah, I’m lucky that I am surrounded by one of the best people in the team and we have a group of leaders as well where their experience and ideas will definitely help in my new leadership role and growth as an individual also.”Patidar was the second-highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 428 runs in nine innings at an average of 61.14 and strike rate of 186.08. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he made 226 runs at an average of 56.50 and strike rate of 107.10.RCB have not won the IPL title yet, though they have been finalists three times, the last of which was in 2016. They have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including in 2024, when they won their last six league matches to get into the top four but then lost the Eliminator.With RCB appointing Patidar, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) are the only teams yet to name their captains for the upcoming season. Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s captain last year, will lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) this year, while the former DC captain Rishabh Pant is now leading Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).