Sports

South Africa’s lead swells despite Williams’ 137

Published

6 months ago

2025/06/30

Priyan

Sean Williams hit his sixth Test hundred [Zimbabwe Cricket]

Since 2020, Zimbabwe have had ten individual hundreds in Tests. Sean Williams alone has scored five of those. One of those centuries came against South Africa in Bulawayo on Sunday, and formed the centerpiece of Zimbabwe’s innings.

South Africa declared their first innings on their overnight score of 418 for 9, and in reply, Zimbabwe were struggling at 23 for 2. Williams walked in at No. 4, and Zimbabwe’s woes were further compounded when Brian Bennett walked back due to a delayed concussion. Bennett was struck on the helmet by a Kwena Maphaka short-of-a-length delivery and while he faced three more balls, he decided he couldn’t continue any further and walked off.

From thereon, it was almost all about Williams. He found a little help from captain Craig Ervine, with the duo adding 91 runs. They got together with Zimbabwe 390 runs behind, and with Maphaka and debutant Codi Yusuf in good rhythm. Yusuf had Takudzwanashe Kaitano caught at backward short leg off his fifth ball in Tests, and Nick Welch edging behind to the wicketkeeper in his third over.

Both of South Africa’s new-ball bowlers were extracting plenty of bounce and carry. South Africa may have opted to bowl on the second morning in anticipation of exactly that after they saw Zimbabwe’s quicks getting a lot of help from the surface in the first session on Saturday.

Despite the early wickets and assistance for the seamers, Williams counterattacked. He got two early boundaries off Maphaka: one an outside edge flying past gully, and another a short-arm pull to deep-backward square leg. While Maphaka was taken for runs, Yusuf was much tighter: his in-between lengths drew the batters forward, and his line around the off stump checked the flow of runs.

Zimbabwe however, ended the morning session without any further damage. Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch replaced the new-ball bowlers, and continued to test the batters with accurate lines and lengths. Ervine was especially cautious, managing just nine runs off his first 44 balls. But he dispatched his second boundary when he cut hard at a short and wide delivery from Bosch in the 19th over, and that seemed to have injected some momentum into Zimbabwe’s innings.

Both Ervine and Williams found success by punching or slashing the ball behind – and in front of – square on the off side. Zimbabwe were chipping away with that partnership before Keshav Maharaj made things happen. He beat Williams after tossing one up at him in the 24th over, and could have had him stumped on 40 had Kyle Verreynne not fumbled on the first attempt.

After lunch, with the ball turning into him, Williams decided to use the sweep against Maharaj. One of those attempts saw the ball pop up off his forearm, and just behind the slip fielder. Finally, it was Maharaj who broke through. Ervine skipped down the pitch to Maharaj, who floated one full and wide of off. Ervine, on 36, missed, and this time Verreynne flicked the bails off in time.

Thereafter, it was all about the remaining batters playing a supporting role for Williams. Wessly Madhevere confidently swung Maharaj for six over long-on early in his innings, with the South Africa captain being attacked by Williams as well. Williams faced 52 balls from the left-arm spinner and scored 43 runs – a strike rate of 82.69 – including five boundaries.

Twice Williams advanced down the pitch to convert potential length deliveries into full tosses, and heaved them away to the deep-midwicket boundary. Mulder trapped Madhevere for 15 in the 43rd over, but Williams remained firm. Four overs later, Williams got to his sixth Test hundred – the joint second highest by a Zimbabwe batter – but next ball, saw Prince Masvaure, the concussion substitute for Bennett, edge Mulder behind.

Wiaan Mulder finished with figures of 4 for 50 [Zimbabwe Cricket]

Mulder got his third when he had Tafadzwa Tsiga balloon a leading edge to point in the 49th over. Yusuf bagged his third wicket soon after when Wellington Masakadza got a faint tickle behind to Verreynne. At that stage, Zimbabwe were 217 for 7, still two runs short of avoiding the follow-on. But Williams comfortably got them past that mark in the company of Vincent Masekesa, who blocked and dabbed much to South Africa’s frustration.

Williams’ stay ended at 137 when Maharaj had him stumped for Verreynne’s fifth dismissal of the innings. Masekesa, Blessing Muzarabani and Tanaka Chivanga added only two more runs from that point, as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 251, leaving South Africa 167 runs ahead in the first innings.

Despite falling behind by a huge margin, Zimbabwe hit back early. Chivanga had Matthew Breetzke edging to gully for 1 in the second over, but Tony de Zorzi and Mulder kept South Africa on track. They survived the evening despite some help for the Zimbabwe seamers, and took the score to 49 and the lead to 216 without any further damage.

Brief scores: day 2 stumps
South Africa 418 for 9 dec in 90 overs (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 153, Dewald Brevis 51, Corbin Bosch 100*, Keshav Maharaj 21, Codi Usuf 27 ; Blessing Muzarabani 2-59, Tanaka Chivanga 4-83) and 49 for 1 in 13 overs (Wiaan Mulder 25*, Toni de Zorzi 22*) lead Zimbabwe 251 in 67.4 overs (Sean Williams 137, Craig Ervine 36; Wiaan Mulder 4-50, Codi Yusuf 3-42, Keshav Maharaj 3-70) by 216 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Sports

Sri Lanka Under 19s pull off two wickets win against Afghanistan

Published

11 hours ago

2025/12/16

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka Under 19s scored back to back victories as Mahanama College batsman Chamika Heenatigala anchored the tail with an unbeaten half century to seal two wickets victory over Afghanistan U19s in their second group match of the Under 19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Monday.

‎Chasing 236 runs to win Sri Lanka U19s were eight wickets down for 217 runs in the 48th over but Heenatigala with Rasith Nimsara kept their cool to seal the victory with four balls to spare.

‎In their chase, Viran Chamuditha top scored with 62 runs and put on a first wicket stand of 55 runs with Dimantha Mahavithana (27).

‎While Kavija Gamage (34) and Dulnith Sigera (22) made vital contributions with the bat, Sethmika Senevirathne and Sigera took three wickets each.

‎It was Sri Lanka Youth team’s second consecutive win in the tournament after registering their first win against Nepal.

Sports

Dasun Shanaka’s all-round effort can not hold Vipers

Published

11 hours ago

2025/12/16

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sam Curran bagged two wickets before scoring an unbeaten fifty. (ILT20)

Dasun Shanaka scored an unbeaten 29 and took two wickets but that could not hold Desert Vipers becoming the first team to seal a playoffs spot as they made it six wins out of six on Sunday (December 14) halfway through the league stage of the ILT20 2025-26.

‎Sam Curran produced an all-round effort as Vipers chased down Dubai Capitals’ 166/4 with five wickets in hand and a ball to spare.

‎Asked to bat, Capitals lost Shayan Jahangir to Naseem Shah in the third over and were kept on a tight leash by the Vipers pacers in the powerplay, reaching 35/1. Gulbadin Naib and Leus du Plooy then added 39 at close to a run-a-ball before Noor Ahmad removed his Afghanistan teammate. Capitals were 68/2 at the halfway mark and in need of momentum through the second half of the innings.

‎Du Plooy injected some urgency with two fours off Lockie Ferguson in an over, followed by a six off Naseem Shah to bring up a 38-ball fifty. But Curran turned the innings again with a double-wicket over, dismissing du Plooy and Rovman Powell off successive deliveries. Jordan Cox and Dasun Shanaka, however, ensured a strong finish, striking six fours and three sixes in an unbroken 72-run stand off 40 balls.

‎Max Holden set the tone in the chase, accounting for six of the seven fours Vipers struck in the powerplay. Fakhar Zaman fell to Mustafizur Rahman in the fifth over but Vipers still reached 50 in six overs. Holden was dismissed for 34 by Haider Ali while attempting a slog sweep, and although Hasan Nawaz struck three sixes, he fell to Waqar Salamkheil to leave Vipers at 88/3 after 10 overs.

‎Dan Lawrence and Curran steadied the chase with a 32-run stand before Lawrence was dismissed by Shanaka for 20 in the 14th over. In the same over, Shimron Hetmyer struck a four and a six and was later reprieved by Shanaka. A couple of tight overs followed, but Vipers remained in control, needing 31 from the final four overs.

‎Curran took them closer with two fours off David Willey and a six off Muhammad Jawadullah. With three required in the final over, Hetmyer fell to Shanaka, but Curran finished the chase with a six off the fourth ball, completing a 33-ball fifty to cap a fine all-round performance.

‎‎Brief scores:

‎Dubai Capitals 166/4 in 20 overs (Leus du Plooy 54, Jordan Cox 49*; Sam Curran 2-17)

‎Desert Vipers

171/5 in 19.4 overs (Sam Curran 52*, Max Holden 34; Dasun Shanaka 2-19)

Sports

Akbar Brothers crowned MBSA A-Division champions

Published

23 hours ago

2025/12/15

Priyan

Akbar Brothers Ltd delivered a commanding all-round performance to clinch the ‘A’ Division title at the 33rd MSBA League Basketball Tournament, defeating defending champions Fairfirst Insurance 70–60 in a thrilling final held recently.

Despite a group stage loss to Fairfirst, a revitalized Akbar Brothers team returned for the final with renewed focus, executing a strategic and disciplined game plan with some excellent passing and defense. Akbar Brothers came in with all guns blazing right from the outset. The first quarter was all Akbar’s that stacked up a 13 to 4 lead. Fairfirst mounted a strong challenge in the second quarter, narrowing the margin, but Akbar’s momentum secured a 35–28 lead at halftime, a margin they maintained with composure through to the final whistle.

Dasun Mendis led the charge for Akbar Brothers with 18 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Chenura De Alwis added 17 points to the tally, while Shehan Udayanga posted a valiant 22 points for Fairfirst. Dimitri Grebe anchored Akbar Brothers with strong leadership, with Hiran Wijesooriya captaining Fairfirst.

Earlier in the tournament Akbar Brothers beat Sampath Bank (82-71), Seylan Bank (91-68) David Pieris (110-78) and Seylan Bank in the semi final (83-60)

The final, held at the Royal College Indoor Sports Complex, saw a vibrant turnout of supporters as Akbar Brothers proved their championship mettle with teamwork, resilience, and clinical execution.

Akbar Brothers – Dimitri Grebe (Captain), Dasun Mendis, Chenura De Alwis, Randil Henry, Taher Akbarally, Selvam Savarimuttu, Franklyn Morais, Sanketha Jayarathne, Jeewan Priyankera , Praneeth Udumalagala, Ajith Kuruppu (Coach), Adrian Gabriel (Asst. Coach)

Fairfirst Insurance – Hiran Wijesooriya (Captain), Shehan Udayanga , Lakshan Kulathunga, Roshan Randima, Arnold Brent, Isuru Perera, Denzil Nicholas, Nimesh Fernando, Keshawa Perera, Charaka Anuhas, Asanga Perera (Coach)