Sports
Marco Jansen star turn gives South Africa a come-from-behind series win
In what is their last series before the ODI World Cup in India, South Africa gave themselves a massive morale boost as they came from a 0-2 deficit against Australia to seal the series 3-2 in Wanderers on Sunday. Marco Jansen led the way with a stunning all-round performance as he followed up his blitzy 23-ball 47 with a five-wicket haul that included each of Australia’s top-five to derail their run-chase early and lead to South Africa’s 122-run victory.
Chasing South Africa’s 315/9, Australia began in typical gung-ho fashion as David Warner and Mitchell Marsh took them to 34/0 in 3 overs. In came Jansen to put the brakes on that as Warner fell on the second ball of the fourth over, playing a cut shot to a ball angled into him from round the stumps. Aiden Markram did well to take a low, sharp catch at point. Three balls later, Jansen bowled a short ball that new batter Josh Inglis chopped on to his stumps. Mitchell Marsh didn’t let that deter Australia in the chase as he and Marnus Labuschagne set about resurrecting the innings.
Jansen kept bowling short to Marsh and was duly punished on numerous occasions. In the 20th over, Marsh pulled the tall left-arm pacer for two sixes before Jansen bowled a steep bouncer on the off-side which Marsh upper cut towards the third man fence. Lungi Ngidi covered a lot of ground near the boundary to complete a catch to end the Marsh juggernaut on 71 off 56 balls – an innings that included six fours and six sixes. Jansen then dug his heels into Australia’s line-up as he pulled off another double-wicket over, dismissing Labuschagne – a miscue off a short ball well taken by Andile Phehlukwayo at long leg – and Alex Carey – who nicked an attempted pull shot to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. With that, Jansen had five of the five Australian wickets to fall, with only 136 runs on the board.
There was just no scope for Australia to make a comeback from this point on, even as Cameron Green and Tim David attempted it very briefly. Their ambitious endeavour was thwarted by Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj first cleaned up Tim David with a peach that turned away from the right-hander and rattled his stumps and then got rid of Cameron Green with a caught and bowled. Phehlukwayo added to Australia’s woes with the wicket of Michael Neser before Maharaj mopped up the chase to finish with a four-wicket haul.
South Africa didn’t quite start as strongly as they finished, as Temba Bavuma fell to a run out in the first over and Quinton de Kock – in his last ODI on home soil – was sent packing in the 12th over. Australia, who oped to bowl in the decider, were far more disciplined than they were two days ago in the fourth ODI where they conceded 416 and gained an upper hand by the halfway stage as Rassie van der Dussen and the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen were sent packing by Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa.
A measured fifth-wicket stand between Markram and David Miller laid out the platform for two of their allrounders to walk and blaze away. Jansen took the cue and smashed his way to an exceptional 23-ball 47 that saw him tear apart the likes of David and Abbott. His assault took South Africa to 273 for 6 in 46 overs, keeping them on track for a 300-plus score.
Zampa and Green however, picked three quick wickets to put doubts over those expectations, until Phehlukwayo too threw his bat around with great success in another cameo. Phehlukwayo’s unbeaten 39 off 19 included four sixes – two of which came in the 24-run final over that pushed South Africa to 315/9 – a total more than sufficient to earn the hosts a sensational series win.
Brief Scores:
South Africa 315/9 in 50 overs (Aiden Markram 93, David Miller 63, Marco Jansen 47; Adam Zampa 3-71, Sean Abbott 2-54) beat Australia 193 in 34.1 overs (Mitchell Marsh 71, Marnus Labuschagne 44; Marco Jansen 5-39, Keshav Maharaj 4-33) by 122 runs
(Cricbuzz)
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has issued a statement approving the members nominated for the new Selection Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
The appointments have been made by the Sports Minister in accordance with the powers vested under Section 39 (1) of the Sports Law No. 25 of 1973 and the Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2437/24 dated May 21, 2025.
The members of the new selection committee are:
Kapila Wijegunawardena – Chairman
Amal Silva – Member
Brendon Kuruppu – Member
Waruna Waragoda – Member
Vanessa De Silva – Member
The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.
Preparations have been moved to Belgium amid the upsurge, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”, but said it was not at pandemic level.
Jerry Kalemo, a spokesperson for the national football team, told international media that pre-tournament games in Europe would go ahead as planned, as the squad gears up for their first World Cup since 1974.
DR Congo are due to play friendly matches against Denmark, on 3 June in Belgium, and Chile, on 9 June in Spain, ahead of the World Cup finals.
A spokesperson for the DR Congo team told the Reuters news agency that the squad’s training camp had been cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed by the US, who are hosting the World Cup this summer, along with Mexico and Canada.
The US’ public health agency has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak
All DR Congo’s players, as well as the team’s French coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based outside the central African country and will therefore not be affected by the restrictions now the training camp has been cancelled.
The high-profile event in Kinshasa was supposed to have been attended by fans, along with DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, according to Reuters.
Kinshasa is roughly 1,800 km (1,120m) away from the eastern Ituri province, the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak. There have not yet been any reported cases in the city.
On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people were thought to have died, out of 600 suspected cases. However, on the same day, Congolese health minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.
(BBC Sports)
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