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Jansen too hot for India as South Africa start dreaming of series sweep
Marco Jansen all but ensured the world Test champions South Africa a rare series win in India by bowling the hosts out for 201 and securing a first-innings lead of 288 on day three. On a pitch still hard to beat the defensive bat on, India collapsed from 95 for 1 to 122 for 7, losing all hopes of coming back to win and level the series. They were on the back-foot anyway after conceding 489 to South Africa, who also hold an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series.
Things happened quickly in the second hour of the day as the odd ball turned or bounced more than usual for spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav then batted together for nearly 35 overs without trouble to show it was just the early moisture that helped the odd ball turn.
But Jansen rose above the pitch with aggressive short-pitched bowling to take his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests to go with his momentum-shifting 93 and an excellent catch to get rid of India’s only half-centurion in the series, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Nobody has ever taken as many wickets with bouncers in a single innings in India since the advent of ball-by-ball records. Those nasty bouncers took out Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Jasprit Bumrah on an otherwise placid surface. On Ian Botham’s birthday, Jansen’s six-for went a long way towards emulating the greatest all-round performance by a visiting player in India a century and 13 wickets in 1980 in the Jubilee Test.
Before Jansen broke the game open with a spell of 8-1-18-4 with a fairly old ball either side of the first session break, South Africa benefitted from some luck and possible panic in the young Indian batting line-up. Not since the 1960s have India had Nos. 3 and 4 with just one hundred and fewer than 1000 career runs between them. That this is being played in the east, that we have lost 10 overs on the first two days because of the early sunset, might have had something to do with some of the frenetic batting from India, who need a win in this match to prevent a second home series defeat in 12 months after 12 years of none.
Only four balls jumped or turned more than usual in more than an hour after the fast bowlers operated for the first half hour. India looked solid in getting to 65 without any loss, but then two of those four balls that did more than usual ended up in the wickets of openers. One long hop settled with short midwicket, and two batters fell trying to force the pace when only one batter has been able to dominate the bowling in this Test: Jansen.
KL Rahul got the first of the good ones, bowled by Maharaj at 79kmph, well slower than any of India’s fingerspinners. Harmer, who has been excellent – sharp turn or not – then bowled the second one. Jaiswal had looked in control both when defending and attacking, but he checked a back-foot shot when this delivery stopped and stood up. Jansen, who had already denied him six runs on the cut with his long levers at backward point, took the catch diving forward. Not many could have even got to this on the full.
B Sai Sudharsan, back as the No. 3 after being left out in Kolkata, was conscious to not get caught back to full deliveries, which has been his undoing in the past. He played two lovely cover-drives, but ended up pulling a short ball from Harmer to the left of short midwicket, where Ryan Rickelton took a rebound while diving.
It was all Jansen after this – plus a little bit of chasing the game. Jurel was kept runless for 10 balls when he tried to hook a wide bouncer from Jansen. It was too high and too wide for him to be able to control. That this came about in the last over before tea made it worse.
Post-tea, captain Rishabh Pant tried to counterattack by charging at Jansen. All he managed was an edge to the keeper. Reddy and Jadeja got brutes. Reddy had to throw his hands in front of his face in self defence, and Aiden Markram took a catch to match the earlier two, diving from second slip to gully. Jadeja tried to sway out of one’s line, but it followed him, hit the shoulder and then took the periscope on the way to second slip. On average, Jansen could bowl a metre fuller than Siraj for the ball to be a bouncer, giving them less time to adjust. He also bowled when the pitch had lost pace and bounce.
With Jansen done, the moisture drying out and the push for a comeback win dissipating for India, Washington and Kuldeep defended with ease. No. 3 in the last Test, Washington came close to scoring only the second half-century for India this series, but was outdone by a lovely offbreak from Harmer just before the second new ball became available. Kuldeep registered his longest Test innings, turned down a single to protect Jasprit Bumrah, but couldn’t keep Jansen out. Not that Bumrah could be protected anyway: Jansen ended the innings with another nasty bouncer.
Without even a full day’s rest, India’s bowlers were back on the park again. Bumrah created a chance in the first over of the third innings, but it flew wide of second slip. South Africa went into stumps 314 ahead, only a couple of sessions away from batting India out of the series.
Brief scores:
South Africa 489 in 151.1 overs [Senuran Muthusamy 109, Mzrco Jansen 93; Kuldeep Yadav 4-115] and 26 for 0 inn8 overs (Ryan Rickelton 13*, Aiden Markram 12*) lead India 201 in 83.5 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 58, Washington Sundar 48; Marco Jansen 6-48, Simon Harmer 3-64) by 314 runs
[Cricinfo]
Torrential rains have killed more than 100 people across Southern Africa, forcing mass evacuations and rescue operations as authorities warn that more destructive weather may still be to come.
Weeks of heavy rainfall have battered South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, overwhelming rivers and infrastructure and leaving entire communities cut off. Weather services across the region have issued further alerts, raising fears of additional flooding.
In South Africa, officials said on Friday that flooding in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga had killed at least 30 people.
Army helicopters have been deployed to rescue residents trapped on rooftops and in trees as swollen rivers swept through towns and villages. Security personnel were also evacuated from a border checkpoint with Zimbabwe after floodwaters surrounded the area.
President Cyril Ramaphosa toured affected parts of Limpopo on Thursday, saying the province had received about 400mm (16 inches) of rain in less than a week. In one district, he said, “there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the earth.”
Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba said more than 1,000 homes had been damaged across the province. “It’s so terrible,” she said.
In neighbouring Zimbabwe, the government’s disaster management agency reported at least 70 deaths since the start of the year, with more than 1,000 homes destroyed, and schools, roads and bridges collapsing under the force of the floods.
Mozambique has been the hardest hit. Its disaster management authorities said 103 people had died during an unusually severe rainy season since late last year. The figure includes deaths caused by flooding, lightning strikes, infrastructure collapse and a cholera outbreak linked to contaminated water supplies.
More than 200,000 people have been affected nationwide, with thousands of homes damaged and tens of thousands facing evacuation, according to the World Food Programme. The agency warned that flooding has submerged more than 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of crops, deepening food shortages for small-scale farmers in a country already struggling with poverty and repeated cyclones.
The United States Famine Early Warning System said flooding was reported or expected in at least seven Southern African countries, possibly linked to the La Nina phenomenon, which often brings heavier rainfall to the region.
South Africa’s Kruger National Park has also been hit, with about 600 tourists and staff evacuated from flood-affected camps. Park authorities said no deaths or injuries had been reported, but large areas remain inaccessible after rivers burst their banks.
Southern Africa has endured a series of extreme weather events in recent years, from deadly cyclones to severe droughts, exposing the region’s vulnerability to climate-driven disasters and fragile infrastructure.
A 119-run partnership between MegLanning and Phoebe Litchfield set up a second successive win for UP Warriorz (UPW) against Mumbai Indians (MI) as they continued their bounceback after starting the season with a hat-trick of defeats.
Put in to bat, Lanning and Litchfield hit fifties before MI managed to restrict them to 187 for 8. However, a rejigged batting line-up faltered in the chase as the defending champions succumbed to their third defeat of the season in their last game in Navi Mumbai. UPW became just the second team to do the league double over MI in the WPL, after Delhi Capitals last year, also led by Lanning.
Nicola Carey, opening the bowling with Shabnim Ismail rested, continued her great form in WPL 2026 as she cleaned up Kiran Navgire for a golden duck with an inswinging yorker that beat the batter all ends up. But Lanning ensured a good powerplay for UPW.
After Litchfield picked up her first boundary courtesy an inside edge through backward square, Lanning got going with a pick-up flick off Carey that went all the way as 12 runs came off the third over. She then swept Nat Sciver-Brunt through square leg before picking up two more boundaries off Carey.
When Hayley Matthews was introduced in the sixth over, Litchfield first drove her through cover before Lanning hit back-to-back boundaries to take UPW to 56 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
After a quiet eighth over bowled by Amelia Kerr, Litchfield was on 18 off 16 and needing to pick up the tempo. Next over, she square drove Amanjot Kaur for four before skipping down the track to loft her over long-off.
Lanning reached her half-century off 35 balls in the next over, hammering Kerr over long-off to get there. Litchfield, who Kerr had dismissed eight times in T20s, also lofted her over her head for a boundary as the two Australians started to pick up the pace. A quiet over followed, courtesy Sciver-Brunt, which also saw Triveni Vasisht drop Litchfield, but Litchfield and Lannning both picked up a boundary each off Sanskriti Gupta.
In a two-over period of frenzy that followed, UPW racked up 34 runs but lost both their set batters. Litchfield first just beat Carey running to her left at deep midwicket as she swept Amanjot for six and then brought up a 33-ball half-century with a cover drive. When Amanjot went short, Litchfield pulled her for another boundary through midwicket. She then chipped one to cover, where she was given another life, this time by Harmanpreet Kaur. Litchfield picked up another six off long-off to make it a 20-run over before a pick-up flick found deep backward square, where Sanskriti held on this time.
Lanning didn’t want to release any pressure and took on Matthews next over, putting away a couple of short balls for back-to-back fours. She swept the spinner for another boundary before picking out deep square leg to finish on 70 off 45.
After a period of 12 balls without a boundary after Lanning’s departure, Chloe Tryon launched a six over long-off. Tryon and Harleen Deol kept the boundaries coming as they picked up 23 runs off the next two overs.
But, MI’s star overseas allrounders then dampened the finish for UPW. First, Sciver-Brunt started the 19th over with back-to-back wickets. Tryon sliced a full toss to cover, where Harmanpreet made amends by holding on to the catch before Shweta Sehrawat was caught behind first ball. She got a thin edge that popped up off G Kamalini’s gloves but she did well to grab it in the second attempt.
Deol hit another boundary before missing a legbreak from Kerr in the final over to be out stumped. Kerr then also had Sophie Ecclestone stumped and Deepti Sharma caught behind to give away only two runs in the final over and restrict UPW to 187 for 8.
MI came into the game with the second worst average for the opening partnership and the worst run rate. On Saturday, they tried their fourth different combination of the season, with Sajeevan Sajana partnering Matthews. Matthews started well, with a three boundaries through the off side off Kranti Gaud and Shikha Pandey.
Sajana got into the action in the third over, pulling Gaud for six over midwicket before getting an outside edge for four. But, Gaud came back strong by trapping her in front to give UPW the first breakthrough.
Ecclestone then nearly had Matthews lbw, choosing not to review after the batter missed a sweep, even though it looked close. But it didn’t matter as Matthews chipped the next ball back to Ecclestone, who went on to bowl a wicket maiden.
Sciver-Brunt then got a couple of boundaries off Gaud and Harmanpreet was crafty in gliding one between backward point and short third off Ecclestone, but they only managed 38 runs in the first six, continuing their trend of slow starts.
Sciver-Brunt, who was looking in great touch, hit Pandey straight to Lanning at cover in the first over after the powerplay as MI’s job got harder. Then Deepti, who bowled a quiet first over, had Carey miscuing one down the ground and Deol took a good catch running back from mid-on.
Harmanpreet, who was struggling to get going, pulled Tryon for a six over midwicket but fell in the same over trying the same shot. Having lost half their side and needing to score at over 13 runs an over, it was effectively game over for MI.
Kerr and Amanjot tried to mount a comeback, with an 83-run stand that saw the latter hammer three sixes, but they could not keep up with the asking rate. Amanjot offered a return catch to Pandey in the penultimate over and MI ended up 22 runs short.
Brief scores:
UP Warriorz Women 187 for 8 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 70, Phoebe Litchfield 61, Harlene Deol 25, Chloe Tryon 21; Nicola Carey 1-38, Amelia Kerr 3-28, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-22, Hayley Maththews 1-40, Amanjot Kaur 1-38) beat Mumbai Indians Women 165 for 6 in 20 overs (Hayley Maththews 13, Sajeevan Sajana 10, Nat Sciver Brunt 15, Harmanpreet Kaur 18, Amelia Kerr 49*, Amanjot Kaur 41; Kranti Gaud 1-38, Shikha Pandey 2-30, Sophie Ecclestone 1-33, Deepti Sharma 1-35, Chloe Tryon 1-18) by 22 runs
[Cricinfo]
President Yoweri Museveni has been declared the winner of Thursday’s election extending his four decades in power by another five years.
He gained 72% of the vote, the election commission announced, against 25% for his closest challenger Bobi Wine, who has condemned what he described as “fake results”.
Wine has called on Ugandans to hold non-violent protests.
Museveni, 81, first came to power as a rebel leader in 1986 but since then has won seven elections.
The election process was marred by violence and Wine, a 43-year-old former pop star, says that at least 21 people have been killed.
The authorities have so far confirmed seven deaths.
Access to the internet has been cut in the country since Tuesday, making it hard to verify information.
The authorities say the blackout was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence – a move condemned by the UN human rights office as “deeply worrying”.
Wine has demanded that the internet be restored.
[BBC]
Floods kill more than 100 across southern Africa as rains intensify
Lanning, Litchfield and Pandey help UP Warriorz do the double over Mumbai Indians
Ugandan leader to extend 40-year rule after being declared winner of contested poll
Iran supreme leader blames US for deadly protests
Trump names Tony Blair, Jared Kushner to Gaza ‘Board of Peace’
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