Sports

Brevis’ record-breaking 125* sets up series-levelling victory

Published

1 year ago

2025/08/13

Priyan

Dewald Brevis set a new South Africa record in a thrilling display [Cricinfo]

Dewald Brevis scored South Africa’s highest individual T20I score, their second-fastest T20I hundred off 41 balls and became the youngest South African to hit a century in this format as they put on their best score against Australia to square the series at 1-1 in Darwin with the decider to come in Cairns on Saturday.

Brevis, who already holds the South African domestic record for the highest T20 score of 162, put on a mesmerising display in only his ninth T20I. He hit 12 fours and eight sixes for a total of 96 runs in boundaries and was excellent down the ground. More than half of his runs – 66 – were scored in the ‘V’, including six sixes and all but single-handedly built South Africa’s total. Brevis, who was dropped on 56, scored 91 of the 126 in a fourth-wicket partnership with Tristan Stubbs.

Four of Australia’s five bowlers conceded at 11 runs an over or more with Ben Dwarshuis the exception. His four overs cost just 24 runs but it was not enough to keep South Africa to a reachable total, despite their strength in chasing.

This was the first time in nine matches that Australia had lost batting second, ending a record run of nine wins in a row, and the first time they had lost to South Africa in seven meetings. They would have required the highest successful chase in Australia to avoid that.

There were moments when Australia were threatening, most notably at 104 for 3 in the 10th over, but were always behind the required run-rate. Tim David’s half-century was the only individual score over 26. Teenage left-arm seamer Kwena Mapjaka, who was expensive, and allrounder Corbin Bosch were the most successful of the wicket-takers and finished with three apiece. South Africa’s 53-run win was their biggest margin of victory over Australia.

Brevis led South Africa’s recovery from 57 for 3 in the seventh over. He was on 12 off eight balls when Lhuan-dre Pretorius walked down the pitch and was stumped off Glenn Maxwell but had already sent the offspinner over long-on. Much more was to come. Brevis made his way to 44 off 24 balls by the time Maxwell was brought back on, in the 12th over. South Africa were 99 for 3, Brevis’ partnership with Stubbs had grown to 42 and he was dominating proceedings but then he really stepped it up.

Stubbs gave him strike after the first ball and Brevis brought up his fifty when he swung Maxwell over long-on for his fifth six. He barely had time to raise his bat before he lined up a Maxwell full toss and smashed it over cow corner for six more. Maxwell pulled the length back for his next ball and Brevis tried to force it for another six but miscued. Substitute fielder Matt Kuhnemann, on the field for David, was a long way off the rope at long-on and couldn’t hold the catch above his head.

Brevis still hadn’t had enough. He sent the next ball over long-on again for a third six in the over. In four balls, Brevis moved from 44 to 66 and Maxwell’s over cost 24 runs. In total, it took Brevis just 16 deliveries to go from fifty to a hundred. He brought it up off Dwarshuis, who he swivel-pulled for four in the 15th over, which also gave Brevis plenty of time to add to his tally.

At 179 for 3 after 16 overs, South Africa were in sight of a score in excess of 220 but Australia dragged them back a touch. Stubbs was a minor partner in the fourth-wicket stand with Brevis and keen to get going. He reverse-swept Adam Zampa for his third four but then sliced him to backward point where Kuhnemann took a simple catch. In the next over, Rassie van der Dussen holed out off Dwarshuis, whose back-of-a-length deliveries made him the pick of the bowlers. In the over after that, Bosch was castled by a Josh Hazlewood full toss that he tried to send into the stands but dismantled his middle stump. South Africa lost three wickets for 14 runs in 13 balls and had to rely on a strong finish from Brevis in the last 10 balls. They added 21 runs to finish two short of 220.

Australia put down two chances, Pretorius on 1 and Brevis on 56, with the latter proving costly, but South Africa just about learnt from their mistakes in the first match, where they dropped four. Pretorius had the first opportunity when Travis Head could not clear deep midwicket off Aiden Markram and he judged the catch well on the rope.

Two overs later, Cameron Green sent Maphaka for back to back fours and was looking for a hat-trick. He pulled Maphaka to midwicket, where Nqabayomzi Peter dived forward to pluck the ball off the ground although lost his grip as he started to celebrate. The catch was checked by the third umpire who determined it was taken cleanly and Peter was in control.

Stubbs is earning a reputation he will not like after he spilled a second chance in as many matches. He was at deep square leg when David toe-ended Lungi Ngidi to him but despite making good ground, could not hold on. David was on 18, and he was also dropped by Stubbs in the first match, on 56. However, Stubbs made up for it when he got under a Mitchell Marsh skier off Bosch and pouched it safely at long-on. Brevis took another impressive catch when he ran to his left at deep midwicket as Maxwell mistimed a slower ball and was dismissed for 16.

David was injured when he landed heavily on his right shoulder as he unsuccessfully attempted to stop a Brevis drive from going for four and was unable to field for the latter part of South Africa’s innings. However, he had few problems swinging the bat. His first runs came unconvincingly when he gloved Maphaka to fine leg for four but he middled the next two balls and sent them both for boundaries.

David brought up a third fifty-plus score in four innings and second successive one in the series headlined by his second six which went all the way out of the ground. It was against legspinner Peter, whose third ball David hit into the crowd, that David launched the ball over deep midwicket and over the stadium’s roof. David put Australia in a promising position on 104 for 3 in the 10th over but was caught at cover off Rabada in the moment that turned the game South Africa’s way.

Brief scores:
South Africa 218 for 7 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 18, Ryan Rickelton 14, Lhuan dre Pretorious 10, Dewald Brevis 125*, Tristan Stubbbs 31; Josh Hazelwood 1-56, Glenn Mazwell 2-44, Ben Dwarshuis 2-24, Adam Zampa 1-46) beat Australia 165 in 17.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 22, Tim David 50, Glenn Maxwell 16, Alex Carey 26, Ben Dwarshuis 12; Kagiso Rabada 1-21, Aiden Markram 1-09, Lungi Ngidi 1-19, Corbin Bosch 3-20, Kwena Maphaka 3-57, Nqabayomzi Peter 1-35) by 53 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Latest News

Sri Lanka Cricket Draft Bill to be gazetted

Published

6 hours ago

2026/09/23

Priyan

Approval has been granted at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 08.06.2026 to prepare a draft bill for restructuring Sri Lanka Cricket.

Accordingly, the Legal Draftsman has formulated Sri Lanka draft bill providing legal provisions for the administration of Sri
Lanka Cricket, control, regulation, promotion, establishment of Sri Lanka Cricket for the development and administration, through the concepts of better governance, integrity, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and providing equal opportunities for the betterment of the cricket sport, establishment of Sri Lanka Cricket for securing the wellbeing of all participants and securing cricket from corruption and other mal practices.

Clearance of the Attorney General has been received for the said draft bill. Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has been received for the resolution furnished by the Minister of
Youth Affairs and Sports to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

Latest News

Will Jacks five-for seals comfortable England defence of 265

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/23

Priyan

Will Jacks dismissed Kusal Mendis on the way to a five-wicket haul [Cricinfo]

England are finally on the rise again in ODIs, after a long period of stagnation and decline. They pulled off their lowest successful defence in four years as they cruised past Sri Lanka at the Riverside in Durham, and have now won five matches out of seven since the start of this year under Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum.

The first ODI was more competitive than any of the three T20Is last week, as England wobbled against Sri Lanka’s debutant legspinner Sachindu Colombage in the middle overs. They failed to hit a six on a two-paced, end-of-season surface, and Brook – who threw his head back in frustration when he carved to deep point – was the only batter to find any real fluency.

But Sri Lanka’s run chase never got going. Captain Kusal Mendis made 42 on his return from a hamstring injury and Dunith Wellalage landed a few late blows, but their middle order went missing against Jamie Overton’s cross-seamers and Will Jack’s offbreaks. This was an unglamorous and forgettable win, but England have not had enough of those in recent years.

Jacks took three wickets in four balls to finish things off, giving him outstanding figures of 5 for 22 – the second best in an ODI by an England spinner. It meant that Adil Rashid, ruled out of the series with a hand injury, was hardly missed, and completed an impressive all-round performance by Jacks after he cracked 46 not out to drag England to 265.

England’s ODI results have tailed off sharply since they won their first World Cup under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy, with 50-over cricket slipping to the bottom of the ECB’s list of priorities. Across the six years after their 2019 triumph, they won 33 and lost 40 in ODIs and suffered humiliating group-stage exits in both the 2023 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

They started 2026 ranked eighth in the world by the ICC, and with players and management anxious to secure automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup, but things have started to click for them. They have come from behind to win series against Sri Lanka (away) and India (home) this year, and will now target wins at Headingley and The Oval to seal a whitewash.

It has been a turbulent summer for McCullum, who lost his job as Test coach after England’s chaotic, self-sabotaging series defeat to New Zealand. But his partnership with Brook has been a revelation: England’s white-ball teams have won 10 completed games out of 11 this summer, and are finally starting to develop a clear identity.

Brook cited strike rotation and playing longer innings as two areas for England’s batters to improve before this series, and their new mentor Kevin Pietersen led a “spin masterclass” at Monday morning’s training session. They showed in this match that there is still plenty of scope to get better, stumbling against Colombage as they lost 4 for 29 in 7.5 overs through the middle.

A legspinner with an idiosyncratic action, Colombage spent last summer playing club cricket for Downham Stow in the East Anglian Premier League, but won his call-up after impressing in the recent Lanka Premier League. He was picked ahead of Wanindu Hasaranga in Chester-le-Street and made Joe Root his first victim in taking 3 for 44 on international debut.

England lost Tom Banton early to an Asitha Fernando outswinger – which trimmed the off bail – after choosing to bat, but Root started brightly. He pinged two early cover drives for four to take England to 64 for 1 after the initial powerplay, before they lost Ben Duckett lbw as he tried to sweep Wellalage’s left-arm spin.

Root had an early scare when he survived an lbw review off Colombage’s third ball, but was busy with Brook through the middle overs. They scampered between the wickets, though perhaps slightly too enthusiastically: Brook very nearly ran Root out on 42 with an optimistic single, though Colombage did for him an over later, finding just enough turn to beat the bat.

It ended a 404-run, five-innings stretch between dismissals for Root in ODIs, and when Brook miscued a charging slap to deep point off Dusmantha Chameera, it set a wobble in motion: Buttler was lbw to Colombage, Charith Asalanka’s direct hit did for Rehan Ahmed, and Overton played around a straight one from Colombage.

Jacks offered some resistance from No. 6, hitting four fours in a row off Chameera when the field came up due to Sri Lanka’s painfully slow over-rate. But the impressive Dilshan Madushanka pegged back Gus Atkinson’s off stump, and two Fernando yorkers accounted for Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue to leave Jacks stranded on 46 not out.

England’s 265 proved far more than enough. Kamindu Mendis fell tamely plinking Atkinson to midwicket, and Pathum Nissanka edged behind flashing at Tongue, while Banton held an excellent low catch at cover to get Pavan Rathnayake. Jacks had Asalanka and Mendis lbw sweeping, and Overton’s hard lengths did for Janith Liyanage.

When Rehan’s googly did for Colombage, Sri Lanka were 133 for 7 and the game was up. Wellalage smeared Archer for the game’s first six, clearing Duckett on the rope, and cracked Rehan for 4-4-6 to put a dent in the margin. But he picked out mid-on for 45 off Jacks, who finished the game by having Fernando caught at long-on then cleaning up Madushanka.

It was Jacks’s second five-wicket haul as an England player and his first since his Test debut four years ago, and he won the match award after a stellar all-round effort. He is Brook’s vice-captain for this series in Jacob Bethell’s injury-enforced absence, and is becoming an increasingly important player.

Scores:
England 265 in 48.1 overs (Joe Root 44, Harry Brook 67, Will Jacks 46*; Asitha Fernando 3-53, Sachindu Colombage 3-44, ) beat Sri Lanka 176 in 37 overs (Dunith Wellalage 45, Kusal Mendis 42; Jamie Overton 2-21, Will Jacks 5-22) by 89 runs

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Sri Lanka settle for silver as India strike gold in cricket

Published

11 hours ago

2026/09/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka’s women had to settle for silver at the 2026 Asian Games after India proved far too strong in the cricket final, romping to a 147-run victory.

India produced a commanding batting display after taking first lease of the wicket, piling up 216 for three from their 20 overs before dismissing Sri Lanka for just 69 in 15.4 overs.

Smriti Mandhana laid the foundation for India’s imposing total with a sparkling 79 off 45 balls before Richa Ghosh applied the finishing touches with an unbeaten 49 off only 22 deliveries.

Sri Lanka struggled to contain the Indian batting onslaught, with Chamudi Praboda and Kavisha Dilhari claiming a wicket apiece.

Faced with a daunting target of 217, Sri Lanka needed a flying start but instead found themselves tied down by a disciplined Indian attack.

Captain Chamari Atapattu attempted to lead the resistance with 29 off 21 balls, but there was little support around her. Kaushini Nuthyangana was the only other batter to reach double figures, making 14.

Once Chamari departed, Sri Lanka’s challenge quickly faded as wickets tumbled at regular intervals.

Deepti Sharma was the pick of the Indian bowlers, returning outstanding figures of three for six, while Shafali Verma chipped in with two for three as Sri Lanka were bundled out well inside their allotted 20 overs.

The emphatic victory handed India the gold medal, while Sri Lanka ended their Asian Games campaign with silver.

Caption: Chamari Atapattu couldn’t see her side through in the cricket final of Asian Games as Sri Lanka had to settle for silver medal.