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South Africa knock West Indies out to enter semi-final with nervy win
Now, they’ve (almost) done it all. After an undefeated streak of six matches, five of them far too close for comfort, South Africa have survived a rain-reduced match and successfully chased a tricky target to book the spot in the semi-final of the men’s T20 World Cup 2024. They knocked co-hosts West Indies out in the process and have topped their Super Eight group, which means they are also likely to avoid India in the final four. We’ll say it again: is this their time?
All the evidence points to a change of fortunes for a team that has so long coveted an ICC trophy and equally long, been denied. South Africa are now winning games they should be losing, scrapping like their rugby counterparts, the Springboks – who won the quarterfinals, semifinals and final, each by one point last year – and finding ways to overcome pressure. There’s a new-found tenacity to them and it’s seen them get to a T20 World Cup knockout for the first time in a decade.
Incidentally, when they got to the final four in the 2014 tournament, Aiden Markram had just led the Under-19 team to the World Cup. Now, he finds himself captaining the senior side and he is doing differently and to great success. Markram took the new ball in this match, and bowled himself for a full quota of four overs. He decided to rely on a non-traditional strength: spin. South Africa had never bowled this many overs of spin in a T20 World Cup match (and only bowled more twice before against Sri Lanka in 2021) and the change of tack worked a charm. Between them, South Africa’s spinners took 5 for 79 in 12 overs.
They were largely responsible for keeping West Indies quiet and for several of the 57 dot balls West Indies faced in their innings – the equivalent of 9.3 overs – and the most at this T20 World Cup. Only an 81-run stand between Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase kept West Indies in the game, and they were the only two batters to get an individual score of more than 15.
And once the tears have dried, West Indies will look to their batting as the major reason they were unable to advance. Their bowlers worked with what they had and had South Africa 15 for 2 in two overs, before the rain came down. They kept at and removed all the recognised batters. Chase’s 3 for 12 and Joseph’s 2 for 25 meant South Africa were always on tenterhooks but at seven down, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen took it home.
An eventful first 10 overs saw South Africa drop four catches and Markram become just the second South Africa spinner to bowl four successive overs after opening the bowling in a men’s T20I, and that was with two specialist spinners in the XI. Markram shared the new ball with Jansen, and got a wicket with his first ball, as South Africa won the early exchanges with West Indies 5 for 2 early on.
They should have had a third in Jansen’s next over, when Chase, on 12, swiped across the line and hit it straight up. Anrich Nortje had all the time in the world and got under it but could not hold on. Chase added eight more runs and then slog swept Keshav Maharaj to deep midwicket where David Miller could not contend with the aerial ball and the wind and let a difficult chance slip.
Then, Maharaj was at square leg when Mayers, on 13, swept to him and he put it down. But the worst of the lot, from a visual perspective, was when Mayers hit Markram down the ground, Rabada and Jansen converged on the ball and didn’t call and collided into each other. Jansen had to leave the field but returned and Markram finished with 1 for 28 from his four overs.
The success of South Africa’s spinners meant Markram had no use of Rabada until the 18th over, making it the latest he has ever bowled in this format. Rabada had played 62 T20Is before this one and had bowled in the first four overs in 61 previous instances. The latest he has bowled before was in the fifth over – also against West Indies – in 2021. He has once before been introduced after the halfway stage, in the 11th over in IPL 2021.
So this was different but still, he had an almost immediate impact. Rabada had seen enough to know pace off was the best option and his first delivery, to Akeal Hosein, could only be dabbed to short third. Hosein and Andre Russell ran but Anrich Nortje picked up and threw quicker and Russell was run-out. Later in the over, Hosein hit a cutter straight back to Rabada, who took a simple catch. His first over cost only one run and held West Indies back from a late surge. He closed out with an over worth 11 runs to keep West Indies to 135.
Yes, yes, you did. And it delivered. Quinton de Kock took 12 runs off the opening over to get the chase underway but then Russell got hold of the new ball. He strangled Reeza Hendricks down the leg side with his first ball – though the decision needed to be reviewed and reversed after Snicko confirmed the edge – and the had de Kock well caught by Sherfane Rutherford at deep backward square. But that was not where the early tension ended. At the end of that over, the heavens opened and an almighty shower came down, bringing with it memories of… 1992, 2003, 2015 and many other rain-affected matches that South Africans would prefer to forget. The delay lasted 75 minutes and three overs were lost, reducing the target to 123.
We all know T20 matches can change in an over but in a rain-reduced match, that is even more amplified. Heinrich Klaasen provided the game-changing passage of play when he took on Gudakesh Motie and broke the back of the chase to put South Africa on course for victory. Klaasen hit Motie’s first ball into the stands and the last three for successive fours, albeit risky. He stayed on the back foot and hit Motie aerially towards Chase, who could not reach the chance despite a full-stretched dive at backward point, then glanced him past short fine and edged it past Nicholas Pooran to leave South Africa needing 53 runs off 10 overs and clear the path to the semi-finals.
Brief scores:
South Africa 124 for 7 in 16.1 overs (Tristan Stubbs 29, Heinrich Klaasen 22, Marco Jansen 21*; Andre Rusell 2-19, Alzarri Joseph 2-25, Roston Chase 3-12) beat West Indies 135 for 8 in 20 overs (Roston Chase 52, Kyle Mayers 35; Marco Jansen 1-17, Aiden Markram 1-28. Keshav Maharaj 1-24, Tabraiz Shamsi 3-27, Kagiso Rabada 1-11) by three wickets via DLS method [DLS target 124 in 17 overs]
The UK has said it will contribute drones, fighter jets and a warship to a joint mission aimed at safeguarding shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Defence minister John Healey announced the package at a virtual summit of defence ministers on Tuesday. It includes autonomous systems to detect and clear naval mines, drone boats and Typhoon jets for air patrols.
More than 40 other nations are involved in the mission, which Healey said would begin when conditions allow.
For months Iran has been controlling the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s busiest oil shipping channels – in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks.
The US, for its part, has been enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports to exert pressure on Tehran to agree to its terms – a move that has infuriated Iran.
Some 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas uses the crucial waterway, whose blockage has sent prices soaring globally.
A ceasefire has been in place between the US and Iran since April, but US President Donald Trump has said it is on “massive life support”.
Both sides have accused the other of launching attacks in the strait.
There is already more than 1,000 British personnel deployed in the region as part of existing defensive operations, including counter-drone teams and fast jet squadrons, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Defence said the multinational mission – which was announced last month by the UK and France – is strictly defensive and aimed at restoring confidence for commercial shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.
It said the contribution is backed by £115m new funding for mine-hunting drones and counter-drone systems.
“With our allies, this multinational mission will be defensive, independent, and credible,” Healey said in a statement.
Under the plan, HMS Dragon – the air defence destroyer that is already on its way to the Middle East – will also “be ready for any mission” to secure the strait, the MoD said.
It added that another British ship, the RFA Lyme Bay, continues to be upgraded by with new equipment, if required for operations in the strait.
The announcement comes as Healey offered his support to Sir Keir Starmer, as dozens of Labour MPs called on the prime minister to resign.
[BBC]
Jess Phillips, a high-profile Labour minister, has quit in protest as Prime Minister Keir Starmer refuses to heed growing calls to resign, according to Sky News. Hours earlier, Miatta Fahnbulleh, a junior minister, was the first politician to leave government over the issue.
Starmer has promised to “get on with governing”, defying calls from about 80 MPs who are urging Starmer to leave imminently or set out a timetable to do so after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections.
As Labour was hammered, the hard-right Reform UK party surged in the local elections.
The UK’s fourth prime minister in five years, Starmer also faces pressure over the Labour Party’s vetting process to approve Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the United States, given Mandelson’s relationship with the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
[Aljazeera]
Bangladesh’s bowlers combined to trounce Pakistan by 104 runs in the first Test in Dhaka. Nahid Rana struck decisive blows while Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam were among the wickets as the home team put together a rare triumph on the fifth day. This is now Bangladesh’s third consecutive win against Pakistan, after they won the 2024 series by 2-0 margin.
Rana removed Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan in a fiery spell, before he took down Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi to finish with figures of 5 for 40 from his 9.5 overs. Taskin and Taijul took two wickets each while Mehidy, who took a five-for in the first innings, took one wicket.
For most of their fourth innings, Pakistan were kept together by debutant Abdullah Fazal. He initially overcame Pakistan’s early loss of Imam-ul-Haq before lunch, when he struck Mehidy for consecutive fours just after lunch. Rana then went for three fours in a row; Fazal edged twice through the slips before driving hard down the ground.
Mehidy brought back Bangladesh immediately when he bowled Azan Awais next over. The opener was undone by a delivery that held its line before sliding into the stumps. Awais, who made a century in the first innings, fell for 15 this time.
When Rana removed Masood soon after, Pakistan were 68 for three staring at trouble. Fazal reached his half-century with an upper-cut off Ebadot Hossain. He is now the sixth Pakistan batter to get fifties in both innings of his debut Test.
Fazal however fell in the first over after tea when Taijul got the ball to spin sharply into the left-hander’s defensive prod, with the TV umpire confirming the dismissal through a review. Fazal made 66 off 113 balls, with eleven fours.
Soon after, Taskin had Salman Ali Agha caught at second slip. Shadman Islam however had to walk off after the catch hit his chest, although he held on to the chance.
Earlier in the day, the home side jumped into action in the fifth morning, adding 88 runs in 20 overs. They lost six wickets in the process, but Bangladesh made a laudable approach to keep the game alive. The morning however began with Hasan Ali removing Mushfiqur Rahim, caught at mid-off for 22.
Hasan then took an excellent catch at the fine-leg boundary after Litton Das top edged a hook off Shaheen Afridi after making eleven runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck couple of fours and a six before Noman removed him for 24. It was his 100th wicket.
Shanto fell to Noman too, lbw for 87 while trying to play a reverse sweep. Shanto missed out on becoming only the fourth batter, after Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting and David Warner, to score twin hundreds in a Test on three occasions.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 413 [Monimul Haque 91, Najmul Hossain Shanto 101, Mushfiqur Rahim 71; Shaheen Shah Afrid 3-113, Mohammad Abbas 5-92] and 240 for 9 dec [Mominul Haque 56, Najmul Hossain Shanto 87; Hasan Ali 3-52, Noman Ali 3-76] beatPakistan 386 [Azan Awais 103, Abdullah Fazal 60, Salman Agha 58, mohammad Rizwan 59; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-102] and 163 [Abdullah Fazal 66, Salman Agha 26; Nahid Rana 5-40] by 104 runs
[Cricinfo]
UK promises jets, drones and warship for Strait of Hormuz defence mission
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Animals Act No. 29 of 1958 amended
Cabinet approves establishment of a ‘Trust’ to carry out the management of the Jaffna Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre
Prime Minister Keir Starmer under pressure as ministers quit, 80 MPs urge him to resign
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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