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Opener shared a 209-run stand with Australia A skipper Jason Sangha who also made an unbeaten 121

AAP22-Jul-2025Darwin-born Jake Weatherald sealed a happy homecoming and put his name in the conversation surrounding Australia’s opening batter conundrum for the Ashes with an imperious century for Australia A against Sri Lanka A.Starting day three of the second four-day game on 45, Tasmania’s Weatherald powered to 183 in a magnificent 275-ball innings punctuated by 16 fours and two sixes.Australia A captain Jason Sangha made an unbeaten 121, his third first-class century in his last five innings dating back to the end of the Sheffield Shield season. The pair’s 209-run third-wicket stand, after Kurtis Patterson made 59 in a 134-run second-wicket stand with Weatherald, took Australia A from 76 for 1 on resumption to a strong 379 for 3 by stumps on Tuesday, in reply to Sri Lanka A’s 485 for 6 declared.With the Darwin pitch ideal for batting, the chance of a result looks slim, with the series poised to end 0-0 after game one finished in a stalemate.Most discussion out of the match, then, may centre on Weatherald after the 30-year-old made hay on the Marrara Cricket Ground pitch to score his 13th first-class century.Coming after his 54 in his only innings in game one, the knock was a timely reminder to national selectors as they weigh top-order options for this summer’s home Ashes after a bleak tour of the West Indies for openers. Usman Khawaja has averaged 15.37 in his last eight Test innings and will turn 39 during the Ashes. The 19-year-old Sam Konstas fared even worse when recalled to partner Khawaja in the recent 3-0 Test series romp in the Caribbean, averaging 8.33 and looking well short of the finished article. Nathan McSweeney – dropped after averaging 14.40 through his first three Tests last summer against India – made 94 for Australia A last week to push his case for a possible recall, but failed on Monday in the second match, making 12.Jason Sangha brought up a century from No. 4•Cricket Australia

Into calculations for a top-of-the-order Test debut in the Ashes comes Weatherald, who opened for Australia A and raised his century on Tuesday off 146 deliveries, scoring in virtually every part of the ground.The left-hand batter is coming off the finest summer of his career, in which he topped the Sheffield Shield competition with 905 runs.His three Shield centuries – as with his effort on Tuesday – showed his capacity to push on to make a big hundred, scoring 186 against Queensland, 155 against Victoria, and 145 against New South Wales.On Tuesday, he and Patterson progressed their second-wicket partnership to 134 before Patterson was caught at point for 59 reaching for a wide delivery from paceman Asanka Manoj.Weatherald and Sangha piled on 209 for the third wicket before Weatherald was bowled by offspinner Nuwanidu Fernando.

Pakistan closed eight wickets down and 244 runs ahead as England’s seamers battled back on the third evening

The Report by Valkerie Baynes07-Aug-2020Yasir Shah collected four wickets as Pakistan secured a healthy first-innings lead but England’s five-pronged seam attack chipped away to keep them in contention during the opening match of what could turn out to be a classic three-Test series.Late on an intriguing third day, it felt as though there were multiple scenarios yet to be played out, but it would take much more than England had shown so far to completely flip the script. By the close, the hosts had put themselves in a position to do just that, provided they can take early wickets on the fourth day and then produce an improved batting performance in their second innings.England had resumed in peril at 92 for 4 and required either Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler or both to produce big innings with the deficit 184 runs following Shan Masood’s outstanding 156, built over the first two days.Instead, Pakistan seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Abbas kept the pressure on the batsmen with a miserly first hour in which England managed 19 runs. Abbas was particularly exacting, conceding just one run from his initial seven overs.Pope, who had resumed on 46, passed fifty during that time but he and Buttler, who began the day on 15, just couldn’t get into a flow.It was teenage firebrand Naseem Shah who caused the batsmen real bother, however, eliciting loose shots from both before he had Pope out to an excellent ball that lifted late off a full length, found the splice and went straight to Shadab Khan at gully for 62.Three balls later, Naseem cracked Chris Woakes on the side of his helmet with bouncer. Concussion tests passed, Woakes joined Buttler in guiding England to lunch otherwise unscathed, despite the introduction of Yasir, who bowled two overs before the break. In all, England had added 62 runs for the session and trailed by 167.Yasir, who had Joe Root caught behind on the second evening, struck with his second ball after lunch, bowling Buttler between bat and pad as he played forward to a ball he expected to turn more than it did and which crashed into the top of off stump. Buttler, having come in under pressure to score runs, added just 23 for the day before he found himself out to a very good delivery.Yasir then removed Dom Bess with turn and bounce and an excellent slips catch by Asad Shafiq, who leapt high to his right to pull down the ball which looped off the shoulder of the bat and, crucially, held on as he hit the ground, horizontal and at full stretch.Woakes had dug in for 19 runs off 48 balls but he also fell to Yasir, whose quicker ball clattered into middle stump. For a third day in a row, England were struggling after lunch but being eight wickets down brought Stuart Broad to the crease and there was a sense of anticipation following his crucial half-century in the third Test against West Indies not a fortnight ago.Three consecutive boundaries followed off Afridi but by the time Khan had Jofra Archer caught behind off the glove for 16, Broad had quietened down. He had another go with 6-4-2 in succession off Yasir to move to 29 but that’s where he stayed, unbeaten, when James Anderson fell lbw to Khan attempting a reverse sweep and England were all out for 219, trailing by 107.When Broad removed Masood for an 11-ball duck, Pakistan were 8 for 1 and they could have been two down at tea but for Ben Stokes putting down Abid Ali off the bowling of Anderson.It took the introduction of Bess to make further inroads after the interval. Bess struck with his sixth ball to remove Abid, hoicking in ungainly fashion to deep square leg, and so began an enthralling period where the plot deviated one way then another.Like Bess, Woakes came in with immediate effect, removing the dangerous Babar Azam – who scored 69 in the first innings – for just 5, caught by Stokes holding on this time at second slip. Woakes then trapped Azhar Ali lbw for 18 to put Pakistan at 63 for 4 with the lead 171 and keep England in the fight.Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Rizwan pushed Pakistan’s advantage beyond the 200-mark with a partnership that looked set to frustrate the hosts but which ended on 38 with a superb run out by Dom Sibley, descending on the ball from point and firing it in off-balance to take out the stumps with Shafiq nowhere near making his ground.Stokes, who did not bowl in the first innings due a quad injury suffered in the West Indies series, came into the attack late in the day and his ability to make things happen could not be denied. Stokes had Rizwan out lbw and Afridi gloving a bouncer to gully, with Broad accounting for Khan via the DRS in between after his appeal for lbw was initially turned down by on-field umpire Richard Illingworth but was shown to be hitting leg stump.That left Yasir set to be the protagonist again, seeking quick runs to push the lead up on the fourth morning as the storyline came full circle.

Both players described as “conscious and stable” by CWI

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2021The second women’s T20I between West Indies and Pakistan in Antigua was delayed after two of the home side’s players collapsed on the field, in separate incidents. Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation were taken to hospital, where they were “conscious and stable”, according to a CWI spokesperson.Both the incidents took place during Pakistan’s chase, which was also beset by weather interruptions.”Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation were taken to hospital for medical attention,” CWI said in a statement. “Both Henry and Nation are conscious and stable at hospital and are being assessed.”West Indies Women brought on two substitutes and the game continued, with the home side eventually declared winners by seven runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern after another interruption.”It isn’t very easy in those conditions and situations. I’m just happy that the team was able to go over the line for those two ladies who weren’t with us, and we’re just waiting on all the information that we can get,” Courtney Walsh, the West Indies head coach, said. “They have our full support and we’ll be riding with them as well.”Javeria Khan, the Pakistan captain, wished the pair a quick recovery.”The thoughts and prayers of the whole Pakistan team are with Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation,” she said in a statement. “We wish them a quick recovery and are hopeful that we will play against them in our next match on Sunday.”Such incidents are tragic and can shake whole dressing rooms. Hats off to the West Indies that they turned up and completed the match despite the grave incident.”

Second ODI shifted to Thursday before series concludes on Sunday in Jamaica

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2022West Indies and Ireland have agreed to reschedule the remaining two fixtures of their three-match ODI series, after a Covid-19 outbreak contributed to the second match being postponed. As a result, the one-off T20I scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled.The second ODI will now be played at Sabina Park on Thursday, with the series concluding on Sunday. West Indies won the opening game by 24 runs, with all three fixtures forming part of the ICC’s World Cup Super League.With three further members of Ireland’s touring party in Jamaica testing positive on Monday, Cricket West Indies and Cricket Ireland had agreed to push back Tuesday’s second ODI. Ireland were already without Simi Singh and Ben White, before Andy Balbirnie, the captain, Lorcan Tucker and David Ripley, the interim head coach, returned positive results.Related

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Ireland’s playing resources were further depleted by concerns over the concussion Andy McBrine suffered in the first ODI, and a foot injury sustained by Mark Adair.The teams were due to play a T20I fixture following the ODI series but that has been scrapped “to allow for this revised schedule and to avoid impact on the West Indies team’s travel plans and subsequent fixtures”, said a joint statement from the two boards. West Indies are due to play England in a five-match T20I series in Barbados, starting on January 22.Ireland’s tour of the USA and the Caribbean has been severely disrupted by Covid-19 infections. The ODI series against USA was cancelled after a number of positive tests among support staff and family members, before Paul Stirling and Shane Getkate were forced to isolate in Florida while the rest of the team travelled on to Jamaica.Both players have now rejoined the squad after testing negative, with Stirling named as stand-in captain in Balbirne’s absence.

The former U-19 bowler is hopeful of regular game time to secure a deal in South Africa for next season

Firdose Moonda12-May-2023Mondli Khumalo will travel to the UK on Friday to rejoin North Petherton Cricket Club in Somerset less than a year after an assault in which he suffered bleeding in the brain.The attack left Khumalo, a former South Africa Under-19 bowler, with his cricket career hanging by a thread. But he has now been cleared to play by a neurosurgeon and is hopeful of regular game time to secure a deal in South Africa for next season.He is no longer on the books of Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland, the provincial team based in Pietermaritzburg who were promoted to Division One for the 2023-24 season. “Getting game time under his belt in the UK is an important part of his preparation for the next SA summer,” Rob Humphries, Khumalo’s agent, told ESPNcricinfo. “He is buzzing to get back on the field.”Related

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Khumalo has been out of action since last May, when he was attacked while celebrating a team win outside a pub in Bristol. He was unconscious at the scene and received emergency medical treatment which required him to be put into an induced coma for four days. Khumalo’s brain injuries were serious enough to require four operations, three to relieve pressure on the brain and a final one to replace the piece of skull that had been removed to help with other procedures, and remained in the UK until November last year. A crowdfunding campaign was launched to assist with costs, including getting flights for his mother and uncle to travel from South Africa to be at his side.Throughout his time in recovery, Khumalo remained committed to making a comeback to the game. Ten days after being hospitalised, Khumalo was able to stand unaided and his club team-mate Lloyd Irish shared a video of Khumalo catching a sponge ball. On his return to South Africa, Khumalo was a regular attendee at Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland games. In February then, he suffered a seizure that threatened to set back his return, but he recovered quickly.Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland released their squad for the upcoming summer earlier this week and it includes the acquisition of left-arm seamer Mbulelo Buadaza from the Knights, who were relegated, and Thando Ntini from the Dolphins, which has left no room for Khumalo at this stage. ESPNcricinfo understands that if no opportunities arise in South Africa for the season ahead, Khumalo could look at playing club cricket in Australia, where several clubs have expressed interest in him after hearing his story.A 27-year-old man was arrested in connection with Khumalo’s assault and will go on trial in October.

Five defeats in six – and only their second by an innings – tests the patience of Yorkshire’s Festival crowds

Paul Edwards at North Marine Road22-Aug-2018
Before the start of the morning session on the final day of this game a father was walking round the boundary with his son. They were watching the Yorkshire squad warming up.”Dad, why are they playing football?” asked the lad.”Because they can’t play cricket,” came the reply.Yes, they are stern critics in these parts and a defeat such as this does not warrant the taking of prisoners.Worcestershire needed only 61 balls to become just the second side to beat Yorkshire by an innings at Scarborough. Moeen Ali continued to enjoy the turn offered by the North Marine Road pitch and removed David Willey and Matt Fisher with the 21st and 24th balls of the day. Dillon Pennington then trimmed Jack Brooks’ off bail even before the batsman could dole out some of his famous humpty and the game ended when Daryl Mitchell snaffled Josh Poysden at second slip, also off Pennington.The combination was apposite. Mitchell is a talismanic figure at New Road, revered by his team mates, when they are not ribbing him outrageously, and loved by the spectators. Pennington is a young cricketer of immense promise. His duel with Kane Williamson on the third evening is burned beautifully into the memory.Before long other records were tumbling out like surprise Christmas presents from a sack. For example, Yorkshire have now lost five of their last six championship games at Scarborough. On a happier note, Moeen, who bestrode this game with courteous majesty, is only the second Worcestershire cricketer – after Ted Arnold in 1909 – to score a double hundred and take five wickets in an innings. He finished with match figures of 8 for 89 and, rather remarkably, 1312 spectators watched him bowling on this final morning.But professionals are choosy about statistics. What matters to them is the standard of a performance and where it leaves them in a table. So let it be said clearly that Worcestershire’s cricket in this match has been of a very high quality and their superiority cannot be explained by Yorkshire’s inadequacies. Ed Barnard’s bowling on the first day, Mitchell and Fell’s batting later that evening and Josh Tongue’s spell late on the third day all suggested that Ali’s team are far from relegation favourites. This win takes leaves them five points behind Yorkshire and they play Lancashire at Southport next Wednesday. It is game on.As for Yorkshire, they must take some lessons from their opponents. There were times in this game when Willey’s side were abject and his players out of gas. That is to Worcestershire’s credit, of course, but it also something which the coach, Andrew Gale, must address very quickly. It is no good mewling about injuries or absentees. The championship summers are already a distant memory. Division Two beckons if both the batsmen’s techniques and the bowlers’ lines are not tightened up. But in September it often comes down to how much a team wants it.Worcestershire clearly wanted victory very much this week. Their head coach, Kevin Sharp was fairly bursting with pride as he spoke of his delight at returning to the county where he spent 25 years and showing the folk up here how four-day cricket should be played. “We came here to do a job and I’d say we’ve done it very well,” he said. “We’ve looked a very high-class team over these four days.”So they did. The journey home before Saturday’s T20 quarter-final should be a pleasant affair. And though one doubts they knew it, Worcestershire’s cricketers and their supporters were only the latest group of travellers to arrive on this coast hoping to profit from their visit. In the middle-ages Scarborough hosted a 45-day fair at which luxuries such as spices or fur were sought. By the early 18th century the town’s fame as a spa made it a resort of choice for fashionable Londoners and Sheridan set his play here.But rather than follow the intrigues of Lord Foppington and Sir Tunbelly Clumsy, supporters from Bromsgrove or Evesham have been lauding the young buck, Pennington, or the faithful servant, Mitchell. They have watched in delight – maybe a little disbelief – over the last four days and when the game was done they listened to one of the country’s best victory songs belting out from the away dressing room. Then they applauded the song and put the moment away until it is needed on drear January evenings.

England captains past and present named in Yorkshire and Durham squads for latest round

Andrew Miller04-May-2022Joe Root and Ben Stokes, England’s past and present Test captains, will both return to action for the first time this season in the latest round of LV= County Championship matches on Thursday.Root, who stood down last month during an extended break following England’s series loss in the Caribbean, has been named in a 14-man squad for Yorkshire’s trip to Essex, where he is set to come up against his own predecessor as Test captain, Alastair Cook, as well as Essex’s attack-leading spinner, Simon Harmer – a player he can expect to face again at Test level this summer following Harmer’s successful return to the South Africa set-up.Stokes, meanwhile, has been named in Durham’s squad for their trip to face Worcestershire at New Road, having sat out the opening rounds of the season while managing a knee injury that he aggravated while bowling 99 overs during the three Tests against West Indies – the heaviest workload among England’s seamers.Related

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He was officially unveiled as England’s 81st Test captain during a round of media interviews at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday, during which he confirmed that he would lean on Root’s support as he gets to grips with his new responsibilities.”Joe will be a senior player, he is a senior player in this group, and he always will be going forward,” Stokes said. “He will always be someone that I look to for advice, he’ll always be someone that players will turn to and look to for advice as well, because he’s captained the team for six years so it’d be stupid not to consider him as someone to go and ask for advice from.”Root himself returned to training last week, linking up with Yorkshire’s new batting coach, Ali Maiden, at Headingley during Yorkshire’s last home Championship game against Kent. After thriving with the bat in the Caribbean, with centuries in each of the two drawn Tests in Antigua and Barbados, Root may find Essex’s conditions similarly conducive to run-scoring after a pair of stalemates to open the season at Chelmsford.Maiden, who joined the club in February as an assistant to the new head coach, Ottis Gibson, told Yorkshire’s club website that he was already relishing the chance to work with Root, a man who was last month named as Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for 2021, following his immense haul of 1708 runs at 61.00 in 15 Tests.”I had one session with Joe last week, and he was amazing really,” Maiden said. “I threw at him for an hour and we chatted about his batting. Then we had a competition, which he set, and the loser had to make a brew for the other person.”It was first to 10. If he gets one wrong or miscues one, I get a point. If he executes his shot correctly, he gets the point. He smashed me. I lost, and we sat together for about an hour again and chatted about batting. He was fantastic and just as enthusiastic about it as I was. He’s a legendary bloke and a legendary player.”Root’s mindset will nevertheless be under close scrutiny in the wake of his England resignation, which came after he had indicated a willingness to carry on in the role, in spite of a run of results – one win in 17 Tests – that has left England with their lowest ICC ranking since 1995.His support for his friend, Stokes, will be unequivocal, however. After the appointment was confirmed, Root tweeted a picture of the pair in a post-match embrace, with the message: “Always got each other’s backs. Congratulations mate, I’ll be right with you every step of the way.”Yorkshire are set to be without their international pair of fast bowlers, Pakistan’s Haris Rauf – who sustained a niggle during the Kent fixture – and Matt Fisher, who debuted in the Caribbean but has been sidelined for four weeks with a stress reaction in his back. Essex, meanwhile, will once again be missing Dan Lawrence following his hamstring strain.Neither James Anderson nor Saqib Mahmood will feature this week for Lancashire, as they take on Warwickshire at Emirates Old Trafford. Anderson is rested after back-to-back games while Mahmood is undergoing treatment after a shoulder injury he suffered over the winter. Chris Woakes might return next week after injury, but Ben Foakes is back for Surrey after missing the draw in Bristol with a minor back injury.Ollie Robinson, the England seamer who missed all three Tests in the Caribbean following a back spasm, is also expected to make his first appearance since the Hobart Test in January, after being named in Sussex’s squad for their home fixture against Middlesex. That match will also be notable for the potential clash between the Pakistani pairing of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan.

“A player like him, who has won so many matches, needs only one or two good innings to bounce back”

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jul-20221:41

Rohit on Kohli’s form: ‘Why is this discussion happening?’

” (Why is this discussion happening. I can’t understand this)”India’s captain Rohit Sharma had a bemused expression just as a journalist started a question on Virat Kohli.Kohli’s form in the last few years has become a national debate, with some ex-players including former India captain Kapil Dev, wondering why the senior India batter could not be dropped. The debate will continue after Kohli once again failed to convert a start in the second ODI at Lord’s on Thursday.Having missed the first ODI due to a groin strain, Kohli took a batting fitness test of sorts on Thursday morning, before giving a firm nod to India coach Rahul Dravid indicating that he was good to play. But Kohli had already been in the news before his return to the eleven. About an hour before the Indian team arrived at Lord’s, the BCCI had announced the squad for the T20I series in the West Indies starting on July 29. It did not specify a reason for Kohli’s omission.Related

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At Lord’s, Kohli walked in to bat in the third over and his first runs came off a straight drive to the boundary. But before that shot, he had played seven dot balls, including a maiden over. Two consecutive fours followed against Reece Topley, but Kohli could not find fluency and ended up pushing away from his body and edging David Willey to the wicketkeeper.When asked if Kohli needed the support of the team during this difficult phase, Rohit said there was no need for a debate in the first place.”He [Kohli] has played so many matches. He is playing for so many years. He is such a great batsman so he does not need reassurance,” Rohit said after the game. “I pointed to this in my last press conference, too: form goes up and down, that is part and parcel of any cricketer’s career. So a player like him, who has played for so many years, who has made so many runs, who has won so many matches, he only needs one or two good innings [to bounce back]. That is my thinking and I am sure all those who follow cricket will think similarly.”This is the second time Rohit has backed Kohli publicly during the white-ball leg of the England tour. Rohit agreed that Kohli was going through a “slump” but said the team management still had firm belief in him.Virat Kohli walks back after nicking behind outside off•AFP via Getty Images

“We do have chats about this topic, but we should also understand and think when we talk about such things. We have seen that the performance of all players goes up and down, but the quality of the player never gets worse. That we all should keep in mind. That is very important. (he has made so many runs), check his average, how many hundreds he has made, he has [vast] experience of doing that. There is a slump in every player’s life. Even in the personal life it comes.”It wasn’t just Rohit, even the England captain Jos Buttler said Kohli was “due” a big innings.”I suppose in a little way it’s quite refreshing for the rest of us that he [Kohli] is human and he can have a couple of low scores as well, but look he has been one of the best players, if not the best player in ODI cricket in the world,” Buttler said.”So he’s been a fantastic player for so many years and all batters, it just proves, go through runs of form where they don’t perform as well as they can do sometimes. But certainly as an opposition captain, you know a player of that class is always due, so you’re hoping that it doesn’t come against us.”Like Rohit, Buttler also wondered why Kohli was facing criticism over his form. “Yeah, incredibly surprised, as I said, his record speaks for himself. The matches he’s won for India and yeah, why would you question that?”

He made a career-best 72 after replacing the injured Sean Williams

Andrew McGlashan29-Aug-2022Wessly Madhevere is eager to establish himself as Zimbabwe’s No. 3 in ODIs after making the most of an unexpected opportunity in the opening match against Australia in Townsville.Madhevere only found out shortly before the game started that he was in the team when Sean Williams was ruled out having taken a blow on the elbow at training on Saturday. An indication of how late the change was made came from the hasty scribbles on the team sheet.”To be honest I didn’t know I was going to play,” Madhevere said. “Was told [on Saturday] I wasn’t going to play but found out that Sean wasn’t doing too well with the elbow and that’s when the coach told me that I was playing.Related

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“I normally get nervous the day before, especially when I know I’ll be playing, but today I was kind of relaxed.”Madhevere went on to make his fourth ODI fifty and a new career-best of 72 to give Zimbabwe a platform from where they could have accelerated at the death, but after he gave a return catch to Adam Zampa’s final delivery they lost 6 for 15 to be bowled out for 200 with 15 balls unused.However, Madhevere wants to take on the No. 3 role in a more permanent capacity having made 5 and 2 in the position on the previous occasions he had batted there, in the recent series against India.”I see myself batting there, it’s one of the crucial positions when you want to be exposed to the pressure, so that’s one of the key areas and I quite like that challenge,” he said. “It also helps me grow as a cricketer if I get exposed to it right now, then it will be easier for me in the future.”Madhevere, who made his debut in early 2020, began his ODI career with a solid run of scores, making his first three half-centuries in the space of eight innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan, but after that he had only reached 20 once in 13 innings before facing Australia.He built steadily against seam and spin, reaching his fifty from 67 balls, and said he found the Townsville surface similar to those he had played on while at school in South Africa.”I quite enjoyed it,” he said. “Got exposed to those kind of conditions while I was at school so I knew what was happening.”Madhevere added that he felt 250-260 would have been a competitive total and Zimbabwe are hopeful that spin will be become more of a factor in the remaining two games. Sikandar Raza caused a few problems with his offspin while legspinner Ryan Burl collected three wickets as the Australians played aggressively against him.The second ODI takes place on Wednesday.

Holkar stadium’s small boundaries promise another run-fest

Shashank Kishore03-Oct-20223:44

Jaffer: ‘India won’t want to chop and change’ this close to the T20 World Cup

Big picture

From the far east in Guwahati, the caravan rolls to dead center in Indore. It’s a city that loves its cricket so much so that they packed the stands just to be able to watch Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh roll the clock back at a net session during the Road Safety Exhibition series two weeks ago.On Tuesday, they will make a beeline for the Holkar Stadium, to be able to watch Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma, and maybe Quinton de Kock and David Miller, when India and South Africa square off in the final T20I of the series.Related

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It may be a dead rubber, but that doesn’t mean much for India’s tier-two cities. They don’t get to see a lot of live cricket so every game is deeply appreciated. The (passion) is actually at an all-time high. Cricketers from the region are being recognised like never before. Two Indore residents – Venkatesh Iyer and Avesh Khan – have already made their India debuts. Next week, another one – Rajat Patidar – could well join the list. Madhya Pradesh, of which Indore forms a big part in terms of cricket, are also Ranji Trophy winners. So the interest couldn’t be higher. Throw in the backdrop of the T20 World Cup, and the lines between a dead rubber and a must-win get blurred even more.South Africa have been ambushed by India once with the ball and once with the bat. But they gave a good account of themselves in trying to scale Mount Everest when Miller’s breathtaking century took South Africa close to India’s 237 and Tuesday is an opportunity to get over the line and carry some confidence into Australia.India have continued to push boundaries as a batting unit, but with the ball, especially without Jasprit Bumrah, the pieces of their jigsaw aren’t yet fully settled. Tuesday is their opportunity to get the death-bowling spot on.Given the short turnaround time, the game will be as much a test of the player’s fitness as it will be of their skill. Over to the twenty-two players then. Can they put up another spectacle, less than 48 hours after the big bash in Guwahati?

Form guide

India: WWWWL (last five completed T20Is; most recent first)
South Africa: LLWWWTemba Bavuma is coming on the back of successive T20I ducks•Associated Press

In the spotlight

Four-ball duck in Thiruvananthapuram. Seven-ball duck in Guwahati. What does Indore have in store? Temba Bavuma’s T20 form and approach have been under much scrutiny. The debates rage on about whether he’s the best player to lead South Africa in this format. That he didn’t attract any bids at the SA20 auction last month has magnified his struggles even more. Some runs and confidence will be welcome heading into Australia. At Holkar stadium, a good pitch and small boundaries await. Can he turn the tide?Arshdeep Singh is just 13 T20Is old but has already seen different ends of the emotional spectrum. At the Asia Cup, he was at the centre of merciless trolling for a dropped catch in a tight game against Pakistan. He bounced back with superb final overs even though it didn’t translate into Indian victories. In Guwahati, he came in on the high of a three-wicket over that set up India’s win but got his radar wrong and was taken apart for 62 off his full quota. With a huge cloud over Bumrah, Arshdeep will want to do everything he can to stay in contention because there are a lot of options at India’s disposal.

Team news

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have been given a short break to head home and recuperate before departing for the T20 World Cup on October 6. This could mean an opportunity for Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer to get some batting time out in the middle. Shahbaz Ahmed, the batting allrounder, may also stand a chance of making his India debut.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Rishabh Pant (wk), 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Axar Patel, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Arshdeep Singh2:05

Rahul: ‘When batting first, we always try to be aggressive and take a lot of risks’

South Africa will want to win and may not want to experiment too much. Can they find a way to fit in Reeza Hendricks though?South Africa (probable): 1 Temba Bavuma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Rilee Rossouw/Reeza Hendricks, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Pitch and conditions

Indore is known to provide batting belters. It’s also one of the smallest grounds in India. Is there more to be said? Expect a high-scoring encounter. There could be a hint of dew in the second half that could make it easier for the team chasing.

Stats and trivia

• Arshdeep’s 62 were the second-most runs conceded by an India bowler in T20I cricket.
• In T20Is, South Africa haven’t conceded more than the 237 they did in Guwahati
• On Sunday, Rohit became the first Indian to feature in 400 T20s
• The Indore T20I will be India’s 31st in 2022, the most-ever by a team in a calendar year
• Quinton de Kock is 36 short of being the second South African to 2000 T20I runs; Miller became the first in Guwahati