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Ruthless South Africa add to England’s woes
South Africa put their World Cup campaign back on track with a devastating 229-run win over England in Mumbai on Saturday (October 21). It was a performance reminiscent of England’s own revolutionary batting approach as South Africa went out all guns blazing to first post a humongous total of 399 and the defending champions then meekly capitulated to the scoreboard pressure to crash land in the chase.
While the target of 400 meant chasing history, Wankhede was easily among the grounds where it could have been done. However, the new ball did nip around a fair bit under lights and England’s haste meant that the game was done in the first Powerplay itself. Marco Jansen in particular got the ball to talk but it was always going to be a passing phase after which the runs would inevitably come. Unfortunately for England, they only had their tail left by that time. The Jonny Bairstow dismissal was a reflection of England’s nerves as he looked fidgety at the crease before holing out to a strategically placed deep backward square leg.
Strategy worked once again for South Africa as an unusual leg slip for Joe Root paid off with the England no.3 glancing it straight to the man stationed there. The procession of wickets continued and in a chase where England couldn’t have afforded to lose more than three wickets inside the first 30 overs, they ended up losing four in the first ten. Dawid Malan fell to the down-the-legside strangle while Ben Stokes’ handed the simplest of return catches for Kagiso Rabada. All the early carnage meant that the game was effectively over barring something unthinkable from Jos Buttler and Harry Brook
As gifted as both batters are, some challenges are simply not within the realms of probability and this task was one such. It was only a matter of time before they too fell prey to the scoreboard pressure. Both eventually departed in the same over, which was Gerald Coetzee’s second and the tearaway pacer celebrated in jubilation after being taken apart in his first over by Buttler. If it wasn’t over earlier, it certainly was at 68/6 and although the tail added more than 100 runs, it was obviously only going to limit the damage. The hitting from Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson showed how the pitch had returned to being true after the new ball spell.
England would regret their implosion upfront with the bat. As they would when they think about their bowling performance in the last ten overs of the innings. As many as 143 runs were leaked with Heinrich Klaasen and Jansen going full throttle against the English bowling. Some of the plans and field settings were also bizarre, although the conditions at Wankhede can do that to teams when the batting side is in overdrive. The Klaasen-Jansen partnership virtually put a huge question mark on England’s chances after the reigning champions had staged a fightback of sorts with the wickets of Aiden Markram and David Miller.
The carnage at the end ensured that South Africa made optimal use of the platform that was provided early on by Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen. Both batters overcame a cautious start before going through the gears and they made full use of the batting friendly conditions at the venue. Adil Rashid, England’s only impressive bowler in the innings, did get both batters in succession but Markram and Klaasen continued to up the momentum for the Proteas. Twice in the innings South Africa lost wickets in clumps and with the Markram-Miller dismissal, they would have been worried about a timid finish to the innings.
However, Klaasen put all that to rest with a blistering innings that was typical of the man’s reputation these days. He fought the heat, humidity and cramps to decimate England’s bowling and found an able ally to Jansen who also exploded after a slow start. Buttler’s men would have fancied to keep South Africa to a score of 350 or under when Miller fell but the slog overs masterclass dashed the English hopes.
Brief scores:
South Africa399/8 in 50 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 109, Reeza Hendricks 85, Marco Jansen 75*, Rassie van der Dussen 60, Aiden Markram 42; Reece Topley 3-88, Gus Atkinson 2-60, Adil Rashid 2-61) beat England 170 in 22 overs (Mark Wood 43*, Gus Atkinson 35; Gerald Coetzee 3-35, Lungi Ngidi 2-26, Marco Jansen 2-35) by 229 runs
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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, North-central, Southern, Uva provinces, and Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Batticaloa districts
Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 21 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 21 April 2026
Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, Northcentral, Southern, Uva provinces, and in Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Batticaloa districts after 1.00 p.m.
There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said Iran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after United States President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday without a deal.
The war of words comes as the second round of US-Iran peace talks scheduled to take place this week in Pakistan remains in limbo after the US and Iranian flagged vessel near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, angering Iranian authorities and provoking another surge in global oil prices.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said, “There is no official confirmation on whether Iran is going to take part in talks in Islamabad.”
“We know that Iran has tried to keep the door ajar to diplomacy, so there is still a possibility,” he added.
In an overnight post on X, Ghalibaf expressed anger at Trump for “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire”.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” he said.
This was a “mixed message”, according to Asadi, “saying Iran is ready for negotiations but not under terms imposed by the US”.
“There will be no easy negotiations, if, of course, they even happen, as there are still several complicated sticking points. Both sides have a long list of demands, including relating to the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions, war reparations, ballistic missiles and Iran’s regional relations,” Asadi said.
Meanwhile, Trump said he was confident that Iran would negotiate, adding that the country would otherwise “see problems”.
He told PBS News on Monday that if the ceasefire expires without a deal, then “lots of bombs start going off”.
[Aljazeera]
Two High Commissioners, three Ambassadors and an Apostolic Nuncio-designate of the Holy See presented their credentials to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (20).
The ceremony, held at 10.00 a.m., followed the formal order of precedence, with the envoys representing Papua New Guinea, Somalia, Luxembourg, the Holy See, Pakistan and Kuwait.
Accordingly, diplomats who presented their credentials were:
01. Vincent Sumale, High Commissioner-designate of Papua New Guinea (Based in New Delhi)
02. Abdullahi Mohammed Odowa, Ambassador-designate of Somalia (Based in New Delhi)
03. Christian Biever, Ambassador-designate of Luxembourg (Based in New Delhi)
04. Monsignor Andrzej Józwowicz, Apostolic Nuncio-designate of the Holy See
05. Major General (Retd) Nayyar Naseer, High Commissioner-designate of Pakistan
06. Saleh Mubarak Al-Sarawi, Ambassador-designate of Kuwait
Following the presentation of credentials, the President engaged in a cordial discussion with them. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, and the Secretary to the President, Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, were also in attendance.
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Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places of the island after 1.00 pm
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