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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

• Mondli Khumalo 'fit and strong' after successful final round of surgery

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.

All franchises have the right to challenge the promotions and demotions before finalising their eight retentions

Umar Farooq25-Oct-2022The PCB has upgraded Peshawar Zalmi’s Haider Ali from the diamond to the platinum category for the upcoming eighth edition of Pakistan Super League, while Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been moved down from platinum to gold and Peshawar captain Wahab Riaz from platinum to diamond. Hasan Ali, who left Zalmi for Islamabad United last year, has also been downgraded, from platinum to diamond.All six franchises, however, have the right to challenge the promotions and request for relegation of player category before finalising up to eight retentions for the 2023 season.ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB is now the sole authority for deciding player categories, with chairman Ramiz Raja directly involved in the process. On demotion requests – if any – all franchises will be given an opportunity to meet the players’ base category. “If the player’s base category is not matched, the player may be relegated to a category below his base category,” the PCB said in a statement.Haider played 26 T20s, including 17 internationals, this past year, and his performance has actually gone down. His career T20 strike rate is 135.65, but it has gone down to 119.33 in the last 12 months. He scored just 152 runs at a strike rate of 116.03 in his nine innings last season for Zalmi at a strike rate of 116.03. He has been upgraded despite that.Hasan, who is the PSL’s second-leading wicket-taker over the years with 81 strikes, had a poor 2022 season, and was even dropped from the national T20I team this year. Last season, he had a bowling average of 40.55 and an economy rate of 10.84 as he got nine wickets in nine games for United. He joined his team-mate Faheem Ashraf – diamond to gold – in moving down.Under-23 players cannot be classified as emerging for more than two seasons unless they have played nine or fewer matches in those two years, so both Zaman Khan and Syed Faridoun Mahmood, emerging players from Lahore Qalandars roster have their category retained, along with Mohammad Huraira and Mubasir Khan.Mohammad Haris, who was picked up in the silver category by Qalandars last season, has moved up to gold, as any player who has debuted for Pakistan is eligible to.Other key players with upgraded categories – and pay packets – were Mohammad Wasim (United, gold to diamond), Shahnawaz Dahani and Shan Masood (Multan Sultans, gold to diamond), Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah (Gladiators; Nawaz – diamond to platinum, Naseem – gold to diamond).The 2023 season, with Qalandars the defending champions, will start on February 9, and the final will take place on March 19. Four venues – Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Multan – will be hosting the matches, a change from the previous two seasons, when Covid-19 forced the games to be played in just two centres, Lahore and Karachi.

Local category player renewals

Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi (all platinum), Mohammad Hafeez (diamond), Abdullah Shafique (gold), Ahmad Daniyal Latif, Akif Javed, Imran Randhawa, Kamran Ghulam, Maaz Khan, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf (all silver), Syed Faridoun Mahmood and Zaman Khan (all emerging)Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (platinum), Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood (all diamond), Anwar Ali, Imran Khan Snr, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood (all gold), Rizwan Hussain (silver), Aamer Azmat, Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah (all emerging)Islamabad United: Asif Ali, Shadab Khan (all platinum), Hasan Ali, Wasim Jr (all diamond), Azam Khan, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Musa Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Zafar Gohar, Zahid Mehmood, (all gold), Athar Mahmood, Mohammad Akhlaq, Nasir Nawaz (all silver), Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan and Zeeshan Zamir (all emerging)Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Imad Wasim (all platinum), Mohammad Amir (diamond), Amir Yamin, Mir Hamza, Sahibzada Farhan, Sharjeel Khan, Usman Shinwari (all gold), Mohammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran Jr, Rohail Nazir, Umaid Asif (all silver), Faisal Akram, Mohammad Taha, Qasim Akram and Talha Ahsan (all emerging)Peshawar Zalmi: Haider Ali (platinum), Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz (all diamond), Aamer Jamal, Amad Butt, Arshad Iqbal, Hussain Talat, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Haris, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir (all gold), Ali Majid, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Umar, Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul, Tayyab Tahir (all silver), Arish Ali Khan, Sirajuddin and Yasir Khan (all emerging)Quetta Gladiators: Mohammad Nawaz (platinum), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah (all diamond), Ahsan Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (all gold), Ali Imran, Ghulam Mudassar, Hassan Khan, Khurram Shahzad (all silver), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ashar Qureshi and Mohammad Shahzad (all emerging)

The KKR mentor also termed Sunil Narine as the “best T20 bowler in the world”

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2020Kuldeep Yadav is at the “top of his game” this season, according to the Kolkata Knight Riders team mentor David Hussey. Statistically, IPL 2019 was the left-arm wristspinner’s worst IPL season, where he picked just four wickets in nine games at an economy of 8.66. This led to him getting dropped by the Knight Riders for the business end of the competition. At the time, Dinesh Karthik, his captain, stated that a break would serve Yadav well and they wanted him to “get back fresh”.”I personally believe after the last eight-nine days of training camp, he’s at the top of his game,” Hussey told PTI. “He’s fielding well, he is running well, he’s covering the ground very well. And he’s bowling has a nice rhythm, and with lots of revolutions on the ball.””Kuldeep is a very confident player. He knows what he can and can’t do with the ball. He spins the ball both ways and reads the game exceptionally well. I don’t think he will have any confidence issues throughout the tournament and I do say that without putting too much pressure on him. I think he would be a very good consistent performer for the Kolkata Knight Riders.”ALSO READ: Preview: Explosive batting KKR’s biggest strength in pursuit of third IPL titleHussey also touched upon the Knight Riders benefitting from Sunil Narine’s experience with the ball and Yadav’s combine with the experienced Trinidadian, who is coming into IPL on the back of a victorious run with the Trinbago Knight Riders at the CPL.Narine, who missed the final, had a mixed tournament, featuring in just five out of the ten matches after being treated for kidney stones at the start of the CPL. He finished with six wickets at an economy of 4.55.”He [Narine] will be one of the bowlers captain DK will throw the ball to whenever the opposition has the momentum,” Hussey said. “I’m sure Sunil Narine will win more often than not, those close battles. Narine arguably is the best T20 bowler in the world. In any conditions, he is one of the best players to have. Fortunately, he is at KKR, and he’ll be at his most difficult self to play and handle.”A burning question surrounding the team since the last season has been Andre Russell’s batting position. Russell himself has said he’d like to bat higher. The team management has confirmed that could be a possibility this time around. Yet Hussey wasn’t giving much away, merely hinting a formidable middle order gave them an embarrassment of riches.”First and foremost, it’s not my decision, but if he bats at No 3 for the team, it’s going to be the best decision for the team in order for us to win the games of cricket,” he said. “Our middle order, it’s probably the hardest place to bat in T20 cricket.”We have Eoin Morgan, who’s done it for England for many, many years. He is a great player, manipulates the field very well. We also have a captain in Dinesh Karthik who’s been a world class player for such a long time for India and for the many IPL teams he’s played…I expect him to lead from the front and heavily in the middle overs.”The Knight Riders will be among the last teams to open their campaign. They start on September 23 against the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, and will potentially have a full squad to choose from after the England and Australia players’ clearance to enter the bubble following a six-day quarantine upon landing in the UAE.

Chants of ‘show us your visa’ were a regular feature of the first two days, leading to a formal warning from CA to spectators in the bottom tier of the Great Southern Stand

Daniel Brettig at the MCG28-Dec-20180:12

MCG spectators chant “Show us your visa”

Spectators in the MCG’s famous Bay 13 were ejected and others warned after racially motivated taunting of Indian players and spectators raised multiple complaints over the first three days of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.Chants of “show us your visa” were a regular feature of the first two days, leading to a formal warning from Cricket Australia to spectators in the public area in the bottom tier of the MCG’s Great Southern Stand that if the chanting did not stop then the entire bay would be ejected from the ground. Monitoring of the crowd on day three led to several fans being evicted.Footage of the chant, obtained by ESPNcricinfo, was passed on to Cricket Australia, who in turn passed the video on to Victoria Police and stadium management.A CA spokesperson said: “Cricket Australia takes a zero tolerance stance against any form of abuse or racial vilification at any of our matches, whether it be towards fans, players, or staff. Fans are able to report this to stadium staff or security. Victoria Police and MCG stadium security monitored the behaviour of the crowd in a section of the stadium today and evicted several fans for inappropriate behaviour. They will continue to monitor the area for remaining days of the Test.”Other chants from the bay, such as “Kohli’s a wanker”, were the cause for some complaints from other spectators but not deemed worthy of a warning. Similar chants about opposition players have been part of the MCG atmosphere for some years, famously including New Zealand’s Sir Richard Hadlee among others.A view of the MCG on Boxing Day•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Crowd members are encouraged to report “anti-social behaviour”, while CA’s ticket and entry conditions expressly prohibit any sort of racist taunting, stating in part: “I will not engage in any conduct (whether through the use of language, gestures or otherwise) which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify any other person (including any player, match official, other official or other patron) on the basis of their gender, race, religion, culture, colour, sexual orientation, descent or national or ethnic origin.”If I fail to comply with this condition, I may be refused admission to, or evicted from, the Venue by any Authorised Person without refund or compensation of any kind; and I must deliver up any and all Tickets that I have in my possession at the request of an Authorised Person. In addition, I acknowledge that the failure to comply with this condition may result in the imposition of other sanctions (such as being banned from the Venue in the future) and possible further action including criminal prosecution.”Booing of various players has also been a feature of the match so far, including that of India captain Virat Kohli and also the Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh, who came into the side in place of Peter Handscomb. His teammate Travis Head stated his disappointment at the booing of Marsh on Boxing Day.”I don’t think it’s great,” Head said. “Obviously we’ve seen it with Kohli as well but for Mitch, who worked his bum off today, I thought he bowled exceptionally well. I thought he created pressure in tough conditions and fought really hard. I don’t think any Australian cricketer in Australia deserves to be booed.”I understand the Victorian crowd, Petey obviously missing out, but I think it’s pretty poor for Mitchy to cop that.”Crowds at the MCG so far for the Test have been 73,516 on day one, 36,524 on day two and 33,447 on day three, for a total of 143,487.

The Australia batsman says the level of on-field hostility could be brutal as Australia search for every possible advantage against England in the series

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide30-Nov-2017A ruthless Australia will keep pressing for every possible advantage over England by maintaining a level of on-field hostility that Pete Handscomb has no qualms in describing as “brutal”.The targeting of Jonny Bairstow with reminders of his ill-advised headbutt of Cameron Bancroft in a Perth bar on the first night of England’s tour has now passed into Ashes folklore, and Handscomb rated it among the “smartest” use of verbals he had seen in the game. It was Handscomb who instigated the attack on Bairstow at a pivotal moment of the Gabba Test, by asking whether he had headbutted Bancroft, before others, including David Warner, joined in.”I was just asking him a question, just wanted to get the facts before anything happened,” Handscomb said with a grin on Thursday. “We’ve just got to play it by ear and see what happens. It’s a bit of a spur of the moment thing. It’s how we’re feeling depending on what’s happening in the game and you’ve got to try and pick your right moments.”As far as sledging goes it was probably some of the smartest stuff we’ve ever come up with. Generally it’s just what the Aussie way is, it’s pretty brutal … but no, it was good to see that worked. It’s a part of the game. It has been for a long time and it will continue to be. If we can keep being smart with our sledges then if it opens up a weakness we’ll be pretty happy with it.”During Shield cricket we come pretty hard at each other even though we are team-mates in the Australian team. It’s something we’re used to and something we do, but we know it’s on the field. Once it’s off the field, relaxed, do whatever, but we’re trying our hardest to win games for this country and if that’s going to give us a slight edge, well we’re going to do it.”Australia have made no secret of deliberately targeting Bairstow as a potential point of English weakness, something that they also did when he was included in the team as wicketkeeper in place of Matt Prior in 2013-14. Handscomb emphasised that attempts to distract opponents from their own plans and zones of concentration would continue to be effective, provided they were allied, as was the case in Brisbane, with disciplined and sustained efforts with the ball and in the field.”It doesn’t work that often, I wouldn’t have thought,” Handscomb said when asked how often he had seen an episode of sledging reap the sorts of rewards seen in Brisbane. “It’s generally good bowling or good catching that gets guys out. But if you can get that 1% edge over an opposition, you’d be silly not to.”Getty Images

Personified by the prickly James Anderson, England have also been known to sledge liberally in the past, and he said the tourists were expecting more of the same in Adelaide. “It’s something I’ve always enjoyed. When someone is trying to get under my skin in all walks of life it makes me more determined to succeed,” Anderson said. “So from a personal point of view that excites me and will drive me on to do the best I can with bat and ball. From our point of view we know what they are going to come up with – they will go hard at us and we knew that from day one.”They were fairly quiet for the first few days when we were doing well. It was only on the fourth day when they became more vocal, now they are 1-0 up they are going to keep coming at us. But it is up to us individually and as a group to stick together and know that we are not just here to roll over.”For Handscomb, the verbals are likely to be turned against him provided Anderson can again find a way to pin him on the crease for an lbw, as was the case in the first innings in Brisbane. Nevertheless, Handscomb is committed to maintaining his unorthodox approach – backing himself to make plenty of runs despite opening himself up to more bowled and lbw dismissals than most.”I have batted deep in my crease for three years, I am not really that concerned. I batted deep last year and managed to hit balls on the stumps and made lots of runs,” Handscomb said. “Kyle Abbott was pretty good, Kagiso Rabada, good players, I am not concerned obviously I have got my plans, I just need to hit the ball, it’s as simple as that.”I knew way before [that England would attack his stumps], I know I get out lbw and bowled, that’s why I have tried to change a few things with my technique, that’s part of it, bat deep and all that to give myself more time, I knew the plans well before [Brisbane].”Confidence abounds in Australia’s squad after the Brisbane result, but vastly different conditions likely to be offered up by the historic day-night Ashes Test gave Handscomb reason to be cautious about what is about to unfold. “We are not looking too far ahead, we understand if we come out and play the game we want to, control our controllables, we come away with a 2-0 lead here,” Handscomb said.”I suppose complacency can set in, but that’s something we are obviously going to not try and do. We understand we have had a good game in Brisbane, but that’s gone now it’s completely different conditions as well, being a day-night test, pink ball, but we have got to make sure we do things right by our own team and play our own game.”

PCB chairman Shahrayar Khan has said that the decision to play India in a bilateral series rests with Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif

Umar Farooq & Nagraj Gollapudi20-Nov-2015PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has said that the decision to play India in a bilateral series now rests with Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. Speaking on the sidelines of the fourth ODI between Pakistan and England in Dubai, Khan pointed out that he had travelled to the UAE specifically to watch the match and not meet BCCI president Shashank Manohar.”I have come to watch this match,” Khan said. “I have come for no other reason. I heard that Shashank is also coming. He has not reached yet. If he asks me for meeting, I will hear him out.”Khan reiterated that Pakistan’s stance of not playing in India had not changed, but now the Pakistan government will take a final decision on the issue. “We have made it clear that we will not play in India and we have cited our reasons. But importantly the India-Pakistan series has now become political. So the directive that we have got from the Pakistan government and Pakistan’s prime minister is he would take the decision,” Khan said. “We have stated our stand in front of the prime minister as well as the BCCI. Our last hope is with the Pakistan government.”Khan also clarified that the BCCI had not yet told the PCB the exact reasons for not allowing India to play in the UAE. “He is coming here so you can ask him,” Khan said when asked about whether the BCCI had offered a reason. “But I would like to point out that, as all of you remember, last year they played the IPL here [in the UAE] and it was successfully conducted.”According to Khan, ECB president Giles Clarke, too, had tried to mediate between the boards, highlighting the importance of India-Pakistan series. “Giles Clarke spoke to me yesterday and said that the series should happen for the interest of cricket. He told me the Pakistan-India series are vital for cricket,” Khan said. Clarke had headed the ICC task force on Pakistan, which had looked into how the PCB could fulfill its commitments under the Future Tours Programme given the security issues following the Lahore attack on the Sri Lanka team bus. In his report, Clarke had stressed on the significance of India-Pakistan cricket, saying: “It [the severed bilateral ties] is hurting the sport, particularly in Pakistan and the PTT sees no reason why this great sporting rivalry should not be restored as soon as possible, even if on neutral soil.”However, Khan reiterated, the PCB would not go out of its way for the series to go ahead. “We have always wanted to play the series. But if India does not want to agree to the MoU signed [to play Pakistan in the UAE] we can’t do anything. To expect that we will bend down on our knees due to the existing deadlock, it is not right. They have not played us for many years now. If they don’t play for one or two more years, we will survive.”

One-day cricket in its familiar form could soon become a thing of the past after the Cricket Australia board gave the green light to a trial of split-innings state games next summer

Brydon Coverdale11-Jun-2010One-day cricket in its familiar form could soon become a thing of the past after the Cricket Australia board gave the green light to a trial of split-innings state games next summer. If the new format is successful, Cricket Australia will take the idea to the ICC as a plan to keep ODIs alive, meaning the 2015 World Cup could feature a split-innings format.Although there has been no decision on how many overs each innings would be – four innings of either 20 or 25 overs are the most likely – CA will finalise their concept in the coming weeks. The first four rounds of the FR Cup will be played under the existing rules before the new format is introduced for the remaining six rounds, which will start in February.By then, Australia’s World Cup squad will have departed, so their preparations will not be affected. James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the innovation was intended as a way to retain all three formats of the game, with the middle portion of 50-over innings having become largely predictable.”It provides a mechanism by which in the eyes of the consumer we can distinguish the one-day game a little bit more from the Twenty20 format of the game,” Sutherland said. “There’s no doubt that there’s some feedback there that suggests that parts of the one-day game are a little bit predictable. That’s certainly something that we are looking to address.”One of the things that’s come back as the feedback from fans and also from a television audience perspective is that by having a split innings, after the dinner break, no matter, you will get to see both teams bat in the evening. That is something that people who might be going to the game after work or coming home after work see as being a very significant plus for this format.”The popularity of Twenty20 cricket has left ODIs in a difficult position, somewhere between the dynamic shortest format and the traditional Test matches. England and South Africa have already reduced their one-day domestic competitions to 40 overs a side, in an effort to eliminate some of the less exciting middle overs.The ICC has been searching for ways to keep 50-over cricket relevant, and next year’s World Cup on the subcontinent could feasibly be the last one played in the existing format. Sutherland said it was hard to predict how one-day cricket would look by the time of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.”If you’re suggesting that the current playing conditions that one-day international cricket is being played under today is going to be the same in 2015, then I would suggest that it’s probably not the case,” Sutherland said. “There’s a question there about how radically the playing conditions may have developed or changed. I honestly don’t know the answer to that but what we at Cricket Australia are looking to do is to find a landing spot with a new format.”We have also been encouraged to innovate through the ICC cricket committee, who met not long ago. They were very, very encouraging of full members looking to explore innovations within the playing conditions and certainly that’s been raised at chief executive committee level in recent times.”Cricket Australia will now move to finalise the details, although it seems certain that teams will resume their second innings from the point where their first innings concluded. Sutherland said feedback from fans had played a major role in the split-innings concept, which has also been trialled this year in England’s county 2nd XI competition.

Rasooli’s maiden international half-century took Afghanistan to what was a match-winning 153

Abhimanyu Bose13-Dec-2024Darwish Rasooli’s maiden international half-century propelled Afghanistan to 153 for 6 before their bowlers delivered to help Afghanistan comfortably win the second T20I against Zimbabwe and draw level in the series with one to play.Zimbabwe won a last-ball thriller to post their first T20I victory over Afghanistan on Wednesday, but the visitors ensured there was no drama this time around, routing the home side by 50 runs with 14 balls to spare.Rasooli found support from Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib to prop up Afghanistan. Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan then picked up three wickets each, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman dealt a crucial double-blow in the middle overs.

Afghanistan stutter in the powerplay again

Afghanistan’s top order failed to fire for the second game in a row; they lost three wickets in the space of nine balls to finish the powerplay on 41 for 3 – a minor improvement on their 34 for 4 in the first T20I.Rahmanullah Gurbaz got going with a boundary punched through square in the first over, while Sediqullah Atal hit Blessing Muzarabani for two fours through the off side in the second.But Trevor Gwandu made an instant impact, striking with his first ball, Gurbaz spooning a catch to mid-off. Two balls later Zubaid Akbari was run out trying to pinch a single to backward point that was never there.Trevor Gwandu struck with his first ball of the match•AFP/Getty Images

Atal tried to keep Afghanistan’s momentum going, pulling Muzarabani in front of square for his third boundary off the seamer, but Muzarabani had the last laugh as he had Atal caught at cover point next ball.Afghanistan could have lost a fourth wicket in the powerplay thanks to another mix-up, but Azmatullah Omarzai survived. Rasooli got going with a pickup shot behind square off Gwandu, and then lofted Wellington Masakadza over extra cover in the first over without fielding restrictions.

Burl pegs Afghanistan back with a double-strike

Omarzai, who took some time to settle, pulled a Sikandar Raza half-tracker over midwicket for the first six of the match in the tenth over.He followed that up with another six down the ground in the next over but holed out trying to hit Ryan Burl in the same areas. Brian Bennett took an excellent catch running across to his left from long-on, catching it high and throwing it up before taking one step outside the boundary rope and coming back in to complete the catch.In his next over, Burl dropped one short and Nabi miscued a pull to deep midwicket’s left and Wessly Madhevere held on to a screamer at full stretch. Now Afghanistan had half their side back in the hut.

Naib fined for breaching ICC code of conduct

Gulbadin Naib has been fined 15% of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the second T20I. He breached Article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an Umpire’s decision during an International Match.”

Rasooli gives Afghanistan late surge

Rasooli slapped Gwandu over mid-off in the next over before going downtown again when Burl almost pulled off yet another fantastic parried-grab on the boundary, but replays showed he had made contact with the ground outside the boundary rope at the wrong moment.Naib then edged a four off Raza, as Afghanistan collected 22 runs from the two overs after Nabi’s wicket.The best was yet to come. In the penultimate over, Rasooli hit Ngarava for three fours on the trot, bringing up his maiden T20I fifty in the process. That was 17 for the over, and Afghanistan were in sight of 150. Gwandu got him in the final over and conceded just the six runs though, to keep Zimbabwe’s target down to 154.

Omarzai, Naveen deal early blows

Zimbabwe started to build momentum from the second over of their chase, with both openers hitting Mujeeb for a four each before Bennett dispatched Naveen over deep midwicket for six.But soon enough Naveen spotted Tadiwanashe Marumani coming down the track and pulled his length back and the batter ended up slashing it to deep backward point.Omarzai struck with another short ball, having Dion Myers caught at deep backward square.Brian Bennett could not carry on after getting a good start•AFP/Getty Images

Mujeeb derails Zimbabwe’s chase

Mujeeb came back in the attack immediately after the powerplay and had Madhevere hitting a drive straight to short cover.In his next over, he bamboozled Bennett as he got one to turn past his outside edge and just clip the off bail.Rashid then joined in the fun when he trapped Burl in front trying to sweep and at 57 for 5, Zimbabwe were on the ropes.

Naveen, Rashid close the game out

Tashinga Musekiwa, who hit the winning runs off the final ball of the first T20I, took Mujeeb on in his final over, driving him through extra cover and launching him over long-on off consecutive deliveries.But Musekiwa’s counterattack was short-lived; Naveen rushed him with pace in the next over and he miscued a simple catch to cover.Rashid then struck twice in an over and the game was all but done.Naveen had Raza caught at deep midwicket in the 17th, and Fareed Malik finished things off castling Muzarabani next over.

Rutherford and Motie put on a WI record ninth-wicket stand but it was in vain

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Oct-2024Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie put on a record-breaking 119-run ninth-wicket stand, before Motie and Alzarri Joseph struck once apiece inside the powerplay. Aside from these stretches of dominance though, Sri Lanka ran away with the game.Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Asitha Fernando had sent West Indies crashing to 58 for 8, before that ninth-wicket resistance came. Then, after the loss of two early wickets, Sri Lanka recovered through a 62-run partnership between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Nishan Madushka, before the in-form Charith Asalanka came in to produce a fluent half-century, and take Sri Lanka to a substantial victory, and another series victory under his fledgling captaincy.Though the pitch for this 44-over match – drizzle had delayed the start by two hours – was exceedingly spin friendly (it was the same track used for Sunday’s game), 190 was always going to be a challenge to defend. Where Sri Lanka’s spinners were able to be consistently menacing, often getting significant turn even off faster deliveries, West Indies’ slow bowlers did not quite have the same impact.Motie was their best slow bowler, conceding only 18 from his nine overs, and taking the wicket of Kusal Mendis. But legspinner Hayden Walsh was underwhelming, guilty of pitching far too short and being picked off – he went for 41 runs off his five overs. Roston Chase was also only moderately effective. In fact it was seamer Alzarri Joseph who collected the innings’ best figures of 2 for 30.Although Hasaranga would go on to get more wickets, it was Theekshana who was the best of Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers, and Theekshana who set the collapse in motion with a gorgeous offbreak that beat the outside of left-hander Alick Athanaze’s bat and clip off stump. The offbreak turned big on this surface, and he threatened both right-handers and left-handers with it, going to the carrom ball only occasionally. The lines Theekshana bowled were mostly impeccable.Later, a big offbreak would sneak between Keacy Carty’s bat and pad and rattle his stumps as well, before a slider beat the wild reverse-swipe that Walsh attempted off Theekshana in the 15th over. He collected figures of 3 for 25 off nine overs.Hasaranga’s googlies were doing their usual damage, with Chase suckered in by one that was flighted beautifully. Hasaranga had to work less hard for the wickets of Romario Shepherd, and Alzarri Joseph, who didn’t fancy picking him. He’d take the final wicket of the innings too, getting Jayden Seales caught and bowled, and took home the game’s best figures of 4 for 40.Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie put on a record 119 runs for the ninth wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Fernando’s 3 for 35 was especially impressive on a track that did not favour him. He dismissed Brandon King with a surprise bouncer that King played at too early, before bowling Shai Hope with a slightly back of a length delivery that the batter dragged on to his stumps. That he broke the big Rutherford-Motie stand was also significant, even if the wicket of Rutherford came off a low full toss.In fact, Rutherford had been struggling terribly before Motie joined him at the crease in the 16th over and provided the early impetus for their partnership. The No. 10 struck important boundaries, off Hasaranga especially, and by the end of the 25th over had 35 runs to Rutherford’s 33, though Rutherford had been there longer and faced more balls.This is the point at which Rutherford began to attack however, having earlier seemed bewildered by every spinner Sri Lanka employed against him. There were suddenly sixes down the ground and on the legside from Rutherford – one hoick over deep square leg off Asalanka’s bowling taking him to his half century, off 57 balls. He continued to hit out until he was caught on the deep square leg boundary in the 35th over, having hit four sixes and seven fours. His 80 off 82 was the highest score in the game.Later, after Samarawickrama and Madushka – both of whom made 38 – had lifted Sri Lanka out of immediate danger, Asalanka’s entry into the game sent them smoothly off towards the five-wicket victory that would eventuate with 34 balls remaining.The hallmark of a good Asalanka innings is his early boundary-striking ability, and so it was here – spotting a full delivery outside off from the opposition’s best seamer second ball, Asalanka creamed it through point for four. In Joseph’s next over, Asalanka crashed him through square leg and drilled him through cover for two more fours, having also slog-swept Roston Chase for a boundary in between. In a flash he was on 20 off 14.Though the tempo slowed, he got to his half century off the 48th ball he faced, and went on to shepherd Sri Lanka home, remaining not out on 62 off 61 balls.

Sydney Sixers have said they will file an appeal against the sanction

Tristan Lavalette21-Dec-2023England allrounder Tom Curran has been banned for four BBL matches after being found guilty of intimidating an umpire in a pre-match altercation, but Sydney Sixers will appeal the sanction.Curran was charged with a Level 3 offence under Cricket Australia’s Code of Conduct for an incident before Sixers’ match against Hobart Hurricanes on December 11 in Launceston.According to CA, Curran completed a practice run-up and ran on part of the pitch during the warm-up before being verbally instructed by the umpire not to do so again.CA said Curran moved to the other end of the pitch to complete another practice run-up forcing the umpire to take position next to the stumps in an attempt to block him.”[The umpire] gestured to Curran to move away from the pitch,” CA’s statement said. “Curran was seen in the footage gesturing to the umpire to move away from the pitch.”Curran then attempted to perform a practice run-up and run at pace straight towards the umpire who stood in the bowling crease facing Curran. The umpire stepped to his right to avoid the risk of collision.”