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Mulder’s career-best ton puts South Africa in control as Zimbabwe face mammoth chase
By the second hour of the third day’s play in Bulawayo, the outlook had already turned bleak for Zimbabwe. South Africa’s third-wicket partnership between Wiaan Mulder and David Bedingham had grown to 72, scoring at over five runs an over. Zimbabwe’s spearhead, Blessing Muzarabani, was off the field due to illness. The field placements were defensive, and the home side looked out of answers.
Then came a breakthrough, with some luck. Wellington Masakadza, brought back to bowl the 33rd over, banged one in short to Bedingham, who should have dispatched it to the boundary. Instead, he mistimed it straight to midwicket and fell for a brisk 35. That dismissal triggered a mini-collapse, with South Africa losing 3 for 19 in five overs; the only passage of play that swung slightly in Zimbabwe’s favor.
Apart from that, it was a day of South Africa’s dominance. Mulder, who had added 63 with Tony de Zorzi for the second wicket, then had a partnership of 104 with Kyle Verreynne for the sixth. South Africa’s No. 3 ended up hitting a career-best 147 at a strike rate of 71.35, and put the match out of Zimbabwe’s reach. They were set an improbable target of 537 after South Africa were bowled out for 369 in their second innings, and ended the day at 32 for 1.
Mulder, who started the day patiently like the last evening, lost de Zorzi when the left-hander edged Tanaka Chivanga to second slip for 31. But each time the bowlers strayed in line or pitched too full, Mulder didn’t hesitate to drive at the ball for a boundary. Those occasional boundaries and Bedingham’s quick start kept South Africa chugging. Mulder brought up his fifty with a huge six off Masakadza over midwicket in the 24th over, by which time South Africa’s overall lead had passed 250 after they went 167 ahead on he first innings on day two.
Zimbabwe resorted to spin from that point, bowling nine consecutive overs, but the move didn’t stem the flow. Mulder and Bedingham added 44 quick runs during that phase. It was Bedingham’s miscue off Masakadza that gave Zimbabwe a window. Vincent Masekesa then exploited the rough outside off to turn one sharply into Lhuan-dre Pretorius, bowling him for 4. Masekesa struck again in the 38th over, removing Dewald Brevis for 3 when the batter attempted an ambitious hoick but missed.
With South Africa 155 for 5 and Zimbabwe in control, Mulder capitalised on the hittable balls. He drove, flicked and glanced for three boundaries in the next two overs, and reached his second Test hundred in the 43rd over with another boundary. Chivanga bowled short and wide, and Mulder punched it to the cover boundary in what was the last over before lunch. By then, South Africa were already ahead by 352.
Five overs after the break, Mulder and Verreynne kept finding boundaries regularly as Masekesa and Chivanga lacked control. With every run and boundary, Zimbabwe’s energy and confidence visibly dropped. Although the spinners were getting some turn, it wasn’t enough to trouble two well-set batters.
The century partnership was eventually broken by a short ball, as Wessly Madhevere had Mulder caught at deep midwicket. Three balls later, Masakadza found just enough turn to take the edge of Verreynne’s bat, with the catch taken at slip for 36. At 259 for 7- just as when they were 155 for 5 – Zimbabwe found renewed hope. But what do you do when you’re at the mercy of the opposition captain?
Keshav Maharaj and Corbin Bosch only deepened Zimbabwe’s woes, extending the lead beyond 425 with a quickfire 92-run stand. Maharaj began cautiously with three dots, but starting from the 61st over, the pair added 47 runs in just eight overs. Maharaj struck three fours and a six, including two consecutive boundaries off Masekesa, while Bosch contributed with two boundaries of his own, including a reverse sweep off Madhevere.
With the lead nearly 500, and Zimbabwe’s shoulders dropping, more pain came their way in the last over before tea. Muzarabani, by then back on the field and eligible to bowl after making up for his time off, had Bosch caught at first slip off a no-ball. Thus, Maharaj and Bosch continued to pile on the runs. South Africa’s captain got to a half-century off 64 balls in the 77th over, but in the next one, Masakadza bowled Bosch by turning one off the rough outside leg. As a result, Bosch’s average halved to 108.50.
Masakadza had his fourth wicket soon after, removing Maharaj, who missed one after skipping down the pitch. Muzarabani then cleaned up Kwena Maphaka to finally bring Zimbabwe’s ordeal to an end.
Set a daunting 537 to win and with stumps approaching, openers Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Prince Masvaure adopted a defensive approach. Only eight runs were scored in the first seven overs, as Codi Yusuf and Mulder probed with discipline. When the final over of the day began, Zimbabwe had reached just 32, and 15 of those runs were extras. The second ball of that over turned out to be the last of the day, as Kaitano edged Bosch to second slip, giving South Africa their first breakthrough in their pursuit of victory.
Brief scores:
South Africa 418 for 9 dec in 90 overs (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 153, Dewald Brevis 51, Corbin Bosch 100*, Keshav Maharaj 21, Codi Usuf 27 ; Blessing Muzarabani 2-59, Tanaka Chivanga 4-83) and 369 in 82.5 overs (Wiaan Mulder 147, Toni de Zorzi 31, David Bedingham 35, Kyle Verrynne 36, Corbin Bosch 36, Keshav Maharaj 51; Tanaka Chivango 2-56, Wellington Masakadza 4-98, Vincent Masakesa 2-117) need another 505 runs to beat Zimbabwe 251 in 67.4 overs (Sean Williams 137, Craig Ervine 36; Wiaan Mulder 4-50, Codi Yusuf 3-42, Keshav Maharaj 3-70) and 32/1 in 18.2 overs (Prince Masvaure 5*, Corbin Bosch 1-1)
[Cricinfo]
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Trump says he has ‘cancelled’ strikes against Iran and talks up possible agreement
Donald Trump says he has “cancelled” strikes against Iran saying negotiations with Tehran were “brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved”
“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved,” Trump says – elaborating further in remarks in the Oval Office.
However, Iran says a deal is yet to be finalised and earlier warned the US of an “endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years” about more strikes
[BBC]
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Taskin, Mustafizur set up famous series win for Bangladesh
Bangladesh secured their first ODI series victory against Australia after they won the second ODI by five wickets in Dhaka, chasing down a rain-adjusted target of 192 having earlier removed the visitors’ first three wickets before they had scored a run.
Australia reached 187 for 8 in 42 overs when rain came, but had done well to reach that far becoming just the fourth team in ODI history to be 0 for 3. Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman did the early damage and finished with three wickets each. Australia hung on through fifties from Marnus Labuschagne and Xavier Bartlett who rescued them with a 103-run seventh-wicket stand.
Buoyed by his maiden half-century, Bartlett bowled an inspired first over when play resumed. A big appeal off the first ball was followed by Tanzid Hasan giving a simple return catch. Bartlett then dropped Najmul Hossain Shanto off the fifth ball, although it was a tough chance, before the umpire raised the finger to an lbw appeal on the last ball but Shanto’s review saved him with the ball missing leg stump.
The recalled Soumya Sarkar got Bangladesh going with a lofted cover drive in the third over. He repeated the dose against Nathan Ellis in the next over then Shanto took consecutive boundaries off Bartlett in the fifth over.
Three more boundaries followed in as many overs, including Soumya hoisting Ellis over square leg for a six. Shanto survived a half chance on 21 when Labuschagne dropped a tough opportunity at short midwicket. Soumya then went after Adam Zampa, climbing into a high six over long-on.
It was the part-timer Matt Renshaw who got Australia the much-needed breakthrough in the 16th over. Soumya’s reverse paddle was poorly executed and he gave Bartlett a simple catch at slip. Shanto followed soon after, caught behind off Riley Meredith, who was returning to the ODI side after five years.
Cameron Green made a further blow when he removed Litton Das with a snorter that took the glove after a brisk 21. Mosaddek Hossain, Bangladesh’s batting hero from the first game, played his shots from the start before giving Cooper Connolly a simple catch at long-off.
At 144 for 5, with a only the bowlers to come, the game was not quite closed out. However, captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz withstood a blow to the side of the head to help Towhid Hridoy in the remaining part of the chase. The game ended up finishing in a rush as Hridoy hooked Meredith for a six followed by a pulled boundary then Mehidy sealed victory with another hook that cleared the boundary.
The opening exchanges of the match were remarkable. Taskin set off one of the most extraordinary starts seen in Bangladesh when he clean bowled Matthew Short for the second consecutive innings, this time the batter leaving the ball from a good length. It meant Short had fallen for a duck three innings in a row, starting from the third ODI against Pakistan in Lahore.
Connolly followed in the next over when he fell first ball to Mustafizur. The delivery was going slightly away from the left-handed Connolly who provided the thin edge. Renshaw fell in a similar way at the end of the same over, and Australia hadn’t opened their scoring.
They were reduced to 25 for 4 in the eighth over when Mustafizur got Alex Carey to drive one uppishly at point, where Shanto took the simple catch. Mustafizur picked up three wickets in the powerplay for only the second time in his ODI career.
Captain Josh Inglis tried to salvage the situation, striking five boundaries including a beautiful square-cut six off the Nahid Rana. He timed the ball well during his 34 but left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam neutralised his threat when Inglis’ miscued inside-out shot found deep cover. Tanvir wasn’t done, removing Green with a caught-and-bowled dismissal in the 22nd over.
Australia’s resistance came in the form of a seventh-wicket stand between Labuschagne and Bartlett. Labuschagne, who had been moved down to No. 7 and should have been run out on 1, struck three fours in his unbeaten 55 off 85 balls. It was just his second ODI fifty since the 2023 World Cup final.
Bartlett, who walked in at 81 for 6, was the aggressor and struck six boundaries including two huge sixes over midwicket in his 52 off 48 balls.
Taskin broke the partnership in the 41st over, cleaning up Bartlett with an in-ducker. Next ball he bowled a big off-cutter to fox Zampa. They were important blows because it meant the DLS target was more in Bangladesh’s favour after a two-and-a-half hour delay.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 195 for 5 (Soumya Sarkar 42, Najmul Hosain Shanto 42, Towhid Hridoy 40*; Cameron Green 1-09) beat Australia 187 for 8 in 42 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 55*, Xavier Bartlett 52; Mustafizur Rahman 3-27, Taskin Ahmed 3-33, Tanvir Islam 2-45) by five wickets [DLS method]
[Cricinfo]
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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the districts of Kalutara, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura
The National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] has issued landslide early warnings to the districts of Kalutara, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura effective from 0400hrs on 12th June 2026 to 0400hrs on 13th June 2026
Accordingly,
LEVEL I [YELLOW] landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Palindanuwara in the Kalutara district, Doluwa in the Kandy district, Ambagamuwa in the Nuwara Eliya district and Pelmadulla, Ayagama, Ratnapura, Godakawela, Kalawana and Nivitigala in the Ratnapura district
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