West Indies score their highest total in a men’s T20 World Cup match as they finished the group stage with a perfect record

S Sudarshanan18-Jun-2024It’s been a World Cup for the bowlers, but Nicholas Pooran set the tone early for a dominant batting display from West Indies as they thrashed Afghanistan to finish the group stage with a perfect record. He tore into Azmatullah Omarzai in the powerplay, who leaked a world record 36 runs in an over. And that was a blow Afghanistan never quite recovered from.Pooran’s 98 off just 53 balls helped West Indies to 218 for 5, which was 104 too many for Afghanistan in the last group match of the T20 World Cup 2024. The result had little bearing on the Super Eight seedings that were pre-decided with both teams already cementing their spots. Afghanistan were blown away in the chase to be dismissed for 114, with all the five bowlers the hosts used sharing the spoils.It was the highest total for West Indies in men’s T20 World Cups, and Pooran, who hit eight sixes in his stay, surpassed Chris Gayle to become the leading six-hitter for them in T20Is.

Edgy Charles sets the tone

He has a stand named after him at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, and Johnson Charles did not disappoint. He had two ducks and a 44 heading into the game, and understandably, was tentative at the start of his innings. Yet he started with a flurry of fours, mostly via outside edges – beating short third to either side in the second over and then getting one over point in the third.Related

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Anything with pace, he confidently dealt with. However, Naveen-ul-Haq’s change of pace was too much to contend with, and he chipped one to cover after a duel that saw a dropped chance.

Powerful Pooran raises decibels

Two balls were all Pooran needed to get his eyes in on a belter of a pitch in Gros Islet. He signaled his arrival with a record 36-run over against Azmatullah Omarzai, in which he hit three sixes and two fours, including one off a no-ball. Afghanistan generally turn to Mujeeb Ur Rahman for control in the powerplay. But with him out injured, Rashid Khan had to bring himself on in the powerplay for the first time this T20 World Cup. He was welcomed with a couple of fours as West Indies finished the powerplay on 92 for 1, the highest score in the first six overs in men’s T20 World Cups.

Afghanistan rein West Indies in in the middle overs

At 85 for 1 in five overs, West Indies looked set to bring back a template we were so used to in IPL 2024 – scores around and over 250. But Rashid and his spin-twin Noor Ahmad used the slight purchase from the surface to tie the batters down. Both varied the legbreak and googly, and also the lengths to keep the batters guessing. The bounce from the surface also came to their aid. As a result, only one four and three sixes – two of them by Shai Hope against Mohammad Nabi – came in the middle phase (overs 7 to 16), where West Indies scored only 66 and lost two wickets.

Deserving Pooran misses out on ton

The 17th over almost woke up the sleeping giant Pooran, who got his first four since the powerplay when Gulbadin Naib misfielded one at sweeper cover. He then tore into Rashid, who had figures of 0 for 21 heading into his last over, in the 18th. Pooran stayed deep in the crease and often cleared his front leg in a bid to convert the good length deliveries that Rashid generally bowls.Pooran’s leg side was the longer boundary, and Rashid bowling full only helped his cause. He struck three sixes and a four in the over to take 24 off it, decisively turning the tide in the hosts’ favour. He couldn’t do much damage to Naib, who bowled a couple of superb overs for two wickets, using the slower ones to trick the batters. When Pooran clobbered back-to-back sixes in the last over off Naveen, he looked primed to get to a century, only to be denied by a direct throw from Omarzai from deep cover.Obed McCoy’s three-for dented Afghanistan’s progress•ICC/Getty Images

Afghanistan no match in the chase

Coming into the match, Afghanistan’s middle order (Nos. 3 to 6) averaged a mere 19.71 with the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran doing the heavy-lifting in the big wins against New Zealand and Uganda. Gurbaz fell early trying to take on powerplay enforcer Akeal Hosein, exposing the Afghanistan middle order in a tall chase.Ibrahim managed to punish an erring Alzarri Joseph, hitting him for one four and two sixes in the first six overs. He also managed to get a few away from Hosein but could not keep down a languid flick off Obed McCoy – brought in for Romario Shepherd, who was home for the birth of his second child – to deep backward square leg.Playing his first match in this T20 World Cup, McCoy then dismissed Najibullah Zadran a couple of balls later before knocking Nabi over to reduce Afghanistan to 63 for 5 inside the tenth over. Omarzai managed to strike a few lusty blows but Hosein, Gudakesh Motie and Andre Russell never let them get away.As a result, West Indies registered their second-biggest win in T20 World Cups (by runs) and head into the Super Eight stage with a clean slate, as if to say, “talk now!”

Ben Mike claims key wickets as du Plooy, Roland-Jones resistance is unpicked

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2024Despite missing eight senior players through injury or unavailability, Leicestershire recorded their first victory of the Division Two season and inflicted a first defeat on Middlesex as their Vitality County Championship match ended in a 123-run win for Lewis Hill’s team inside three days.After being skittled for 86 in their first innings on day one, Middlesex were left to chase an unlikely 466 – a fourth-innings total they have bettered only twice in their history – if they were to leave Grace Road with a fourth success of their campaign after Leicestershire made 372 in their second innings.In the event, they were bowled out for 342, the decisive phase coming in the half-hour after tea, when Leus Du Plooy (60) and Ryan Higgins (41), their leading runscorers this season, were out in quick succession.On a pitch carrying much less menace than it had earlier in the match, Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones at least offered some late defiance, throwing caution to the wind with a 33-ball 59 that included eight sixes before he was last man out.Du Plooy had been caught by Ben Green off the bowling of Ben Mike, who were the two players who did most to influence the outcome of the match.On loan Somerset all-rounder Green hit 77 second-innings runs to go with his career-best four for 28 in Middlesex’s first innings, adding two more wickets today and taking the catch on the mid-wicket boundary that clinched the win for his temporary team-mates.Mike added 41 second-innings runs to his career-best five for 22 in the first innings, finishing with eight wickets in the match after his second-innings three for 88.Already 404 runs to the good when rain forced an early finish on day two, Leicestershire added another 61 in the dozen overs it took Middlesex to dismiss Mike and Green at the start of the day.Mike, who had clubbed leg spinner Luke Hollman for six and four in the same over, holed out to long-on after the ninth-wicket pair had put on 89.Yet Green was able to pick up another six boundaries while keeping last man Matt Salisbury away from the strike before he was caught at short third man.With a potential minimum of 186 overs remaining in the match, the required run rate for Middlesex was therefore a modest 2.5 per over.In the event, clearly keen to put pressure on the Leicestershire bowlers, openers Mark Stoneman and Sam Robson launched the pursuit at double that rate. Both, though, were out inside the first 11 overs. Robson edged behind off Mike for two. Stoneman, who got away with a difficult chance to third slip on five, numbered six boundaries in his 34-ball 30 but was caught at second slip when Green found some bounce and away movement.Du Plooy and Max Holden were relieved to reach lunch unscathed at 74 for two and were notably circumspect thereafter. On a surface that was still prone to variable bounce, it became a game of patience for both sides – one in which, by tea, Middlesex will have felt they were doing pretty well.At 167 for three, they still needed another 299 but Holden, leg before getting only half forward to an inswinging delivery from Salisbury, was their only casualty of the afternoon session, although there was concern for Du Plooy, who took a bang on the helmet when he ducked into a bouncer from Mike just before completing a 111-ball half century.Yet the pendulum swung Leicestershire’s way at the start of the final session, with the key wickets of Du Plooy and Ryan Higgins falling to Mike and Salisbury.Du Plooy, forced to take evasive action by another Mike bouncer, slapped the next delivery straight to backward point, ending what seemed like the key partnership after 78 runs. Then Higgins, dropped by Ben Cox standing up to Salisbury on 39, departed in the tall seamer’s next over as the Leicestershire wicketkeeper rapidly made amends.Josh De Caires led a somewhat charmed life against Scott Currie, who made the next breakthrough by having Jack Davies strangled down the leg side, but ultimately fell to the off spin of Louis Kimber for 36, caught at slip, a bonus wicket before the new ball, with which Green struck with the first delivery as Hollman was bowled offering no shot for 25.Mike picked up his eighth wicket of the match as Henry Brookes was leg before before Roland-Jones, as captain smarting most from the defeat, took his frustration out on the ball.

Unbeaten half-century from Harry Came sees hosts take charge in pursuit of rare home win

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2024Zak Chappell lifted Derbyshire’s hopes of securing an elusive County Championship victory at Derby by demolishing Glamorgan on the opening day of the Division Two match.The fast bowler took 6 for 47, his best figures for the county, as the visitors were bowled out for 168 with Timm van der Gugten top scoring with an unbeaten 46.Glamorgan were 32 for 6 before Dan Douthwaite and van der Gugten led a mini recovery but Derbyshire closed on 119 for 2 with Harry Came not out 58. It leaves them in a strong position to push for a first Championship victory at the County Ground since they beat Sussex in August 2019.On a morning more in keeping with October, Derbyshire’s decision to bowl first on a grassy pitch paid immediate dividends with three wickets falling in the first five overs.In blustery conditions, Glamorgan’s top order had no answer to Chappell’s relentless accuracy and Luis Reece’s swing as they slumped to 9 for 3. Ben Kellaway’s promotion to opener was short-lived and he followed a pair on his first-class debut last September by edging a ball from Chappell that moved away late to register another duck in his third red-ball innings.In fairness, his more experienced team-mates fared little better with Billy Root bowled by a Reece delivery that kept low before Sam Northeast pushed forward to Chappell and was caught at second slip.Kiran Carlson played across one from Chappell that appeared to be going down before Reece got some late swing to have Colin Ingram caught behind. When Chris Cooke was caught behind down the leg side off one of the few bad balls Chappell bowled, Glamorgan were in disarray and grateful for the rain which resulted in an early lunch.Chappell, who passed 50 wickets in all formats for the season, left the field with outstanding figures of 4 for 9 from 6.4 overs but after the resumption they were dented when Douthwaite hit him for three fours in an over.With van der Gutgen playing solidly, the pair added 55 from 97 balls in relative comfort before Pat Brown removed Douthwaite with a snorter that nipped away late to take off stump.Chappell celebrated his fifth wicket when Mason Crane fenced at one to give Brooke Guest his fourth catch but Fraser Sheat on his debut looked capable until he top edged a pull to midwicket.Ned Leonard marked the first match of his loan spell from Somerset by helping van der Gugten take Glamorgan past 150 and drove Jack Morley’s second ball for six before he tried again next ball and holed out to long-on.Van der Gugten matched Chappell’s discipline with a probing spell but Sheat and Leonard could not exert the same pressure. Reece and Came shared an unbroken treble-century stand against Glamorgan last season but this time they managed only 21 before Reece was defeated by a full-length ball from van der Gugten.Guest played a loose stroke, clipping Leonard to midwicket with the score on 41, and Came should have gone on 28 but Ingram at first slip dropped an edge of Leonard.Came took advantage, seizing on any width to reach an 84-ball fifty which contained 10 fours, and with Wayne Madsen motoring to an unbeaten 41, they added 78 before bad light ended play.

Rahul scored a patient 57 but could not prevent an India A defeat with Dayal, Saini and Mukesh sharing seven wickets between them

Shashank Kishore08-Sep-20244:05

Takeaways: Musheer shines, Akash stakes serious claim

For over three hours on the final day of the Duleep Trophy game in Bengaluru, KL Rahul’s discipline kept India B waiting. Victory had seemed a mere formality post lunch when India A stumbled to 99 for 6 chasing 275. Rahul, who walked into bat at No. 4, denied himself runs he would pocket on most days because he wasn’t willing to be lulled into driving on the up even with cover vacant.It meant the scoreboard came to a standstill. Rahul battled for 99 deliveries for a half-century, even going 55 balls without a boundary at one stage. But when he saw width from Mukesh Kumar, he couldn’t resist a cut. The ball gripped a hint onto the surface to take the edge as Rishabh Pant dived forward to complete the catch. Rahul’s 121-ball vigil that brought him 57 was over and India B went on to win by 76 runs.The margin of victory could have been a lot bigger if not for Akash Deep’s enterprising 43, which wasn’t the only highlight for him. His 5 for 56 earlier in the day ensured India B were bowled out for 184 after pocketing a 90-run first-innings lead. This included the wickets of Abhimanyu Easwaran, first-innings centurion Musheer Khan and Washington Sundar.Related

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Akash finished with a match haul of 9 for 116 to put himself in the frame for the Bangladesh Tests which begin in 11 days as the third fast bowler in the squad. Among the other quicks to make an impression was left-arm fast bowler Yash Dayal, whose 3 for 50 triggered India A’s second innings slide.He had Mayank Agarwal nicking to second slip in his first over when he got one to move away appreciably off the seam to square him up. Dayal had his second when Riyan Parag feathered a drive to Pant. He celebrated the wicket with a send-off after not taking too kindly Parag’s adventurous short-arm jab that flew over midwicket for six. Dayal’s third came shortly before lunch when Dhruv Jurel’s loose drive away from the body flew low to Yashavi Jaiswal.In between Dayal’s carnage, Navdeep Saini, who made quite an impression with his ability to bring the length ball back in, had Shubman Gill caught behind with a loose drive. The match seemed to be heading for a quick finish until Rahul’s obstinance took centerstage. This perhaps stemmed from wanting to make up for his first-innings lapse, when he was out attempting a cute paddle sweep off Washington Sundar after battling his way to 37.KL Rahul looked comfortable in what was a tricky time for his team•PTI

Losing a clutch of wickets left Rahul with two options: going for runs or looking to take the game into the final session. He chose the second option. It wasn’t necessarily entertaining, but his willingness to put a price on his wicket on a surface Akash felt was “getting more and more tougher” stood out.However, on the positive side, at least from an Indian standpoint, there was also perhaps no bigger endorsement of Rahul’s match fitness, considering he was playing his first red-ball game in over seven months. That said, it wasn’t all dour defence There were two on-drives that oozed class, a cut shot that sped to the fence. He hit seven fours in all.Akash’s slogs provided some late fireworks, but the fun ended when he was run out after losing his balance attempting to fend a bumper, with Musheer Khan at short leg flicking the ball back onto the stumps. India A were bowled out for 198 in 53 overs. Dayal apart, Saini picked up two wickets to go with his three from the first innings, while Nitish Reddy and Washington picked up a wicket apiece.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz takes over as captain, while Shahadat Hossain has been named Shanto’s replacement

Mohammad Isam10-Nov-2024 • Updated on 12-Nov-2024Najmul Hossain Shanto* and Mushfiqur Rahim have both been ruled out of Bangladesh’s upcoming two-Test series in the West Indies. While Mushfiqur has a finger injury, Shanto has a groin strain. The absence of Mushfiqur means Bangladesh will go into a Test series for the first time in 16 years without any of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal or him.Mushfiqur, a veteran of 94 Tests, has also been suffering from a shoulder injury since the Pakistan Test series in August. He suffered the finger injury during the first ODI against Afghanistan in Sharjah last week.Shanto, who will also miss the third and final ODI against Afghanistan in Sharjah on Monday, sustained the injury during the second ODI, a BCB statement said. He left the field, and scans later confirmed the nature of the injury.”We have received the team physio’s report and the scan report, which has confirmed a Grade II strain on his left groin,” BCB senior physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said in a statement. “This will require a period of rest and rehabilitation. We will reassess his condition after two weeks. He will return home from the UAE to continue his rehab.”Mehidy Hasan Miraz will captain the side in Shanto’s absence.Shahadat Hossain, the 22-year-old right-hand top-order batter, has been named Shanto’s replacement.He has played four Tests after debuting against New Zealand last year, and has an average of 14.75 with a highest score of 31. He was dropped for the home Tests against South Africa in October, and averages 26.33 in four matches in the National Cricket League, including a century in his last game. Possible alternatives could have been Amite Hasan, who has 466 runs at an average of 77.66 in the NCL, and Anamul Haque and Amit Majumder, who have also crossed the 400-run mark in the competition.Mushfiqur Rahim had hurt his shoulder during the Test series against Pakistan in August•AFP/Getty Images

Bangladesh have also left out Khaled Ahmed and Nayeem Hasan, but will welcome Litton Das back in the fold after the wicketkeeper-batter missed the second Test against South Africa in Chattogram, and the three ODIs against Afghanistan due to fever.The touring party has a strong pace attack, including Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam and Nahid Rana. Uncapped left-arm spinner Hasan Murad has been added to the spin department that includes vice-captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam.Bangladesh have kept faith in their regular top-order batters Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan. Shanto and Mominul Haque will bat at No. 3 and 4 respectively. Mushfiqur’s role could fall on Jaker Ali or Mahidul Islam Ankon, with Litton back with the gloves, and likely to bat at No. 7.Bangladesh will start the tour with a four-day warm-up game at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, followed by the first Test in Antigua from November 22. The second Test is in Jamaica, starting November 30. The visitors will then play three ODIs and as many T20Is, but their white-ball squad hasn’t been announced yet.Bangladesh Test squad: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Litton Das (wk), Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Hasan Murad

The third day ended with England only 64 behind Pakistan’s 556 with seven first-innings wickets in hand

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Oct-2024Stumps Responding to Pakistan’s mammoth first-innings score of 556 after the best part of two days in the dirt was always going to require something special from England. Not only did they respond emphatically to end day three of this first Test on 492 for 3, trailing by just 64, but they did so in historic fashion.Joe Root became England’s leading Test run-scorer, passing Sir Alastair Cook’s record of 12,473 runs on his way to a 35th Test hundred. It was typical Root, unassuming and busy with just 12 fours, set against Harry Brook’s boisterous 141* from 173 deliveries, picking up where he left off from a Player-of-the-Series performance on the 2022 tour of Pakistan, with his fourth century against them in as many matches.As it happens, this is Root’s first on these shores. And it has come after spending all day at the crease – he was the last England batter to achieve that feat, against Sri Lanka in Galle three years ago – meaning he has been absent for just eight deliveries of the 250 overs of this match so far.Related

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No wonder he struggled with cramps for the last half of the day. Having come to the crease on Tuesday following the dismissal of stand-in skipper Ollie Pope with just four on the board, resuming on Wednesday with England 96 for 1, he will mark his guard with 176 against his name on Thursday morning with his side holding all the aces.The Yorkshire duo of Root and Brook combined for 243 (and counting), a third successive century stand in the innings after Zak Crawley’s 78 and Ben Duckett’s 84 provided the guts for 109- and 136-run stands for the second and third wickets, respectively.As it has been for most of the last 12 years in English cricket, Root was the glue throughout. Starting day three with 32 to his name, he made the final ascent to the top of the England run-scorers’ pile 15 minutes before lunch when, on 67, he leaned into another compact drive for four to march along to 12,473 career runs, overtaking Cook as England’s most prolific Test batter, and the fifth overall, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid.Root was always going to mark the occasion with three figures, especially on a pitch that remains interminably dull, with just two wickets falling all day, and none in the final session. He moved to a crisp 100 with a reverse sweep off his 167th ball for a fifth century in 2024. It was the third time he has struck as many in a calendar year, after 2021 and 2022. Only Ricky Ponting (four) and Matthew Hayden (four) scored five or more Test centuries in more calendar years.Aamer Jamal was by far the most impressive of Pakistan’s bowlers on the day•Getty Images

Root was finding matters so easy that he even took to batting left-handed against legspinner Abrar Ahmed, who was hiding the ball outside leg stump as much to slow the game down as to protect himself. Two years after marking his Test debut with 11 wickets against England at this very ground, he currently nurses grim figures of 0 for 174 from 35 overs. That Root only struck one of his fours off Abrar – a full toss dispatched through midwicket off the opening ball of the 92nd over of the innings – spoke to the punishment meted out by Crawley, Duckett and, latterly, Brook.Indeed Crawley and Duckett should have got three figures themselves. But within the first hour of play, Crawley flicked uppishly across a full-length delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi and picked out Aamer Jamal at midwicket. Jamal’s second catch of the innings wasn’t a patch on the screamer with which he had dismissed Pope on the second evening, however. The ball looped straight to him, and he all but dropped it before scooping it up at the second attempt.Either way, Crawley was gone for his sixth score between 60 and 80 this year. Duckett strode in at No. 4 and motored on, showing no ill-effects from a thumb injury that prevented him from opening the batting. He had one life on 37, when Naseem Shah found his outside edge only for the ball to bisect keeper and a wide first slip. But with the ball reversing enough for Jamal to trap the left-hand batter on the crease from around the wicket, Duckett was dismissed for the fourth time between 70 and 90 since his third Test hundred back in February, against India in Rajkot.Brook, however, naturally assumed the mantle of aggressor immediately upon his arrival with the score 249 for 3. It was on the previous Pakistan tour that Brook announced himself to the world with 468 runs at 93.60, with centuries in all three Tests. A guided four to third from his second delivery showed he was back to inflict more upon the hosts two years on.Harry Brook continued his love affair with the Pakistan bowlers•Getty Images

Despite a hint of reverse swing on offer – first with Jamal, then Afridi – Brook’s speed out of the blocks could not be tempered. Afridi felt the full force of that when a short delivery was smashed back down the ground like a tennis forehand for the first of consecutive boundaries. Brook made it to his half-century in 49 deliveries, his fifth 50-plus score in six innings against Pakistan.Brook’s next fifty took a little longer – 69 balls – in part because the field was spread, the bowling lines negative, and his own battles with cramp, which meant neither he nor Root could push for singles or fully commit to attacking strokes that required extra stretching. But having consumed plenty of gels and isotonic drinks, he struck Abrar down the ground in the 83rd over for the first six of the innings, which took him to 98. A misfield for two cut to point brought up his sixth career century.He could have been on his way back on 75 when a block off the impressive Jamal – comfortably the pick of the bowlers – ricocheted off his grille and rolled on to his stumps without dislodging the bails. Root, similarly, could have been seen off on 168 had umpire Kumar Dharmasena raised the finger following a strong lbw shout from Naseem, after rare seam movement pinned the batter in front with the second new ball. Shan Masood opted to use Pakistan’s last review to double-check, which was retained after DRS came back with an umpire’s call on the impact into leg stump.It summed up a torturous time for Pakistan, who conceded 4.83 an over across today’s 82 overs, watching on powerlessly as their opening effort was made to feel under par. With a night’s rest for Root and Brook, and Jamie Smith waiting in the wings, a first innings lead of note feels inevitable.

There was enough time for Sri Lanka to strike four times before the weather opened up shortly before lunch

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Nov-20243:11

Takeaways: Right call by Sri Lanka to bowl first

Under dark Durban skies, Sri Lanka had very nearly their perfect first morning of a first Test, their captain inserting the opposition, before his seamers removed four South Africa batters.But only 20.4 overs were possible on the first day before rain arrived just before scheduled lunch. It stayed put over Kingsmead, until play was called off at around 3pm.Vishwa Fernando and Asitha Fernando had led Sri Lanka’s advances, zipping the ball around on a somewhat moist surface to frequently beat and occasionally collect the outside edges of South African bats.Vishwa, the left-arm quick, was especially disciplined, finding significant inswing in the air from over the wicket, as well as away movement off the deck. He took the wicket of Tony de Zorzi, who was caught by a diving Kamindu Mendis at second slip, soon after Asitha had Aiden Markram held in the cordon – both bowlers striking in their second over of the day.Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs scratched their way through to the drinks break, putting on 32 together, with many of those runs coming off the outside edge through deep third. But Lahiru Kumara, Sri Lanka’s fastest bowler, made amends for a wayward first over by having Stubbs fend one to third slip. Soon after, he nipped a ball through David Bedingham’s defenses to send his off stump cartwheeling – the most dramatic dismissal of a short day’s play.Sri Lanka could have had an even better morning but for two indiscretions. Bavuma, who survived 47 balls and ended the day on 28, should have been held by Dimuth Karunaratne for 1, but he grassed the low chance at second slip. That was off the bowling of Vishwa. Then, shortly before rain arrived to cut the session four minutes short, Bavuma edged a Kumara bouncer he was trying hook, but Kumara was found to have marginally overstepped. Bavuma was on his way to the dressing room when the umpires called him back. He was on 20 at that point.Bavuma, however, was perhaps the most restrained of South Africa’s batters. He covered the line of his stumps nicely as Sri Lanka’s opening bowlers plugged away in the channel, and though he frequently had his outside edge beaten, he did not appear especially eager to feel bat on ball. He had wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreyne for company when the showers came through.Though Kumara claimed two wickets, his four overs cost 35 runs. Asitha and Vishwa both went at less than three an over.The forecast for Thursday is for better weather. Sri Lanka will feel they did justice to the good bowling conditions they got by dint of having won the toss.

He was supported by half-centuries from debutant Ben Curran and Sean Ervine, as Afghanistan clearly missed Rashid Khan

Sreshth Shah26-Dec-2024With his family and well-wishers watching along from the Queens Sports Club balcony, Zimbabwe’s veteran batter Sean Williams celebrated his fifth Test ton in Bulawayo to give the hosts the upper hand in the Boxing Day Test against Afghanistan, as they finished on 363 for 4.Williams not only negated Afghanistan’s spin challenge comfortably but also dominated the other bowlers to finish unbeaten on 145. His control percentage of 90 on a surface that offered decent turn right from the start of play displayed just that, with the inexperienced Afghanistan bowling attack – the visitors were missing Rashid Khan for the Test owing to personal reasons – looking both deflated and bruised by the end of it.Walking in at the start of the second session to face his first ball with Zimbabwe at 92 for 2, Williams relied on his footwork to get on top of the bowling. Usually a frequent sweeper, Williams, on this occasion, took to the cuts, drives and pulls to shepherd the Zimbabwe innings. With Afghanistan not offering anything too full knowing Williams’ love for the sweep, he countered the bowlers’ lengths by rocking back or going on to the front foot with equal ease.When Williams charged down the track, he lifted sixes over long-on and long-off. When he hung back, he created the time to slap boundaries through the off side. Williams’ enterprising batting earned him a half-century off 58 balls, and a century off 115.But Williams’ innings wasn’t the only one to help Zimbabwe finish the day on a high. Opener Ben Curran, one of three Zimbabwe debutants and one of six across the two XIs, set the tone early with 68 off 74 balls. He welcomed fellow debutant Azmatullah Omarzai into Test cricket with a boundary off the allrounder’s first ball in the format, before unleashing ten more boundaries.Curran was the majority contributor in a 43-run opening partnership with Joylord Gumbie (9), and a 49-run second-wicket stand with Takudzwanashe Kaitano (46), but fell to teen debutant AM Ghazanfar in the last over before lunch after a wrong’un sneaked through his defence to knock his stumps back.