Sports

Tim David, Josh Hazlewood star as Australia make it record nine T20Is wins in a row

Published

9 months ago

2025/08/11

Priyan

Tim David was left needing to repair the damage, which he did magnificently [Cricinfo]

Australia extended their T20I match-winning streak to a record nine games and pulled off their lowest successful defence against South Africa despite losing six wickets inside the first eight overs. Amid an explosive start, Australia stumbled to 75 for 6 before Tim David’s superbly-constructed 52-ball 83 and seventh-wicket stand of 59 with Ben Dwarshuis took them to a match-winning total. Michell Marsh has now won 22 out of 25 matches as T20I captain.

As much as South Africa were blown away by Australia’s ultra-aggressive batting approach they also have themselves to blame for letting their hosts get away. South Africa dropped four catches – including David on 56 – though they bowled Australia out for the first time in 26 T20I meetings. The biggest positive was the performance of left-armer Kwena Maphaka who, at 19 years and 124 days old, became the youngest bowler from a Full Member country to take a T20I four wicket haul. It was not enough to limit Australia to a chaseable score.

South Africa’s downfall was their lack of power hitting. They struck only two sixes compared to Australia’s 13 (and David was responsible for eight on his own) and appeared to be specialist batter short. By the time George Linde arrived at the crease at No. 6, South Africa needed 59 runs off 33 balls and Josh Hazelwood had broken the game’s best partnership of 72 between Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs. He would also end Linde’s stay to finish with 3 for 26.

Adam Zampa took two wickets in two balls and South Africa lost four wickets for three runs in the space of 10 balls to all but end their chase. Rickelton batted until the last over, when South Africa needed 21 runs to win, and was stunningly caught by Glenn Maxwell on the boundary. Dwarshuis also picked up three wickets as South Africa finished 17 runs short.

Australia batted first for the first time in seven T20Is and wasted no time showing their intent. Marsh slammed Lungi Ngidi over long-off to mark only the second time Australia have started a match with a six. Ngidi’s opening over cost 14. Their big test was always going to come against Kagiso Rabada, who only conceded one run off his first four balls, then had Head dropped at point and caught at short third to win the opening exchange. Josh Inglis was out for a duck as he tried to slice a square drive over point off Linde, who was then taken for 14 runs off three balls. The best was yet to come.

When Marsh skied Rabada to deep backward square, David hit him for six down the ground. Corbin Bosch’s first over was the most expensive of his short T20I career so far and Ngidi was taken for 10 in two balls before he took pace off and removed the in-form Cameron Green off the penultimate ball of the powerplay. Australia had accumulated 71 by then: their secon highest in a powerplay against South Africa and the highest in their last six matches, which includes the five in West Indies.

Maphaka quietened things down after the powerplay with an over that went for four and brought the wicket of Mitchell Owen and had excellent support from left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy. Maxwell, batting at No. 7, tried the reverse sweep, the flick and drive before he sliced Muthusamy to deep cover where Linde took an excellent running catch. Muthusamy’s second over was just as good as he maintained a tight line to Dwarshuis and David and conceded only one. After two overs, his analysis read: 2-0-2-1 and he finished with 1 for 24 off four overs.

At 75 for 6 in the eighth over, Australia were in danger of not batting out the innings but David not only ensured they did but that they got to a defendable score. David’s six-hitting against the short ball was particularly impressive, from his flat-batted pull off Maphaka in the ninth over to the swivel-pull off Bosch in the 13th, which came two balls before he smoked Bosch through the covers to bring up 50.

But it was the way he made South Africa pay for dropping him that stung most. David was on 56 when Stubbs put down a skier at long-on and went on to hit Muthusamy for massive back-to-back sixes followed by another against Ngidi’s slower ball. Seven of his eight sixes were scored in front of square and four in the ‘V’. David added 27 runs after he was put down. He was in sight for a second hundred before he was caught at long-on with 10 balls left in the innings.

From opening in West Indies, Maxwell found himself at No. 7 but played a vital role in the field. He shared the new ball as a match-up against the left-handed Rickelton and caused problems. He convinced Marsh to review an lbw call against Rickelton off his fourth ball when he beat the outside edge but the batter survived on umpire’s call.

When Maxwell changed ends, Rickelton still could not get him away (two runs off six balls against him) and he also had a plan against another left-hander, Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Maxwell had a long-off in place and dished it up full, Pretorius went inside-out and picked out the fielder. Maxwell bowled his full quota of four overs, finishing with 1 for 29, and took two decisive catches to cap off a good performance.

Hazlewood, back in the side after missing the West Indies series, took the first wicket when Aiden Markram, who hit three boundaries off his first five balls, drove him to cover and then made the breakthrough that all but won the game. He was brought in the 15th over when South Africa needed 60 runs to win and with a partnership that was threatening.

Rickelton and Stubbs had put on 72 off 52 balls when Hazlewood bowled a cross seam delivery to Stubbs, who tried to pull but bottom-edged through to Inglis. Australia inserted a slip and three balls later, Hazlewood ended a game-changing over when he bowled it back of a length, Linde played across the line and got a thick edge. Maxwell completed the catch at slip but something far more spectacular would follow in the final over.

Maxwell was on the long-on boundary when Rickelton, who had given South Africa a glimmer despite battling for fluency, tried to hit Dwarshuis for six but jumped over the rope, parried the ball back in and completed the catch without touching the boundary or breaking a sweat.

Brief scores:
Australia 178 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 35, Tim David 83; Lungi Ngidi 1-34, Kagiso Rabada 2-29, George Linde 1-26, Kwena Maphaka 4-20, Senuran Muthusamy 1-24) beat South Africa 161 for 9 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 71, Tristan Stubbs 37; Ben Dwarshuis 3-26, Josh Hazlewood 3-27, Glenn Maxwell 1-29, Adam Zampa 2-33) by 17 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Sports

Rabada and Sudharsan crush Chennai Super Kings

Published

4 mins ago

2026/04/27

Priyan

Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets in the fourth over [Cricinfo]

A powerplay burst from the best new-ball attack in the IPL broke Chennai Super Kings [CSK]. Kagiso Rabada picked up 3 for 25 to spearhead an eight-wicket win for Gujarat Titans and push them up to fifth place on the points table. CSK had held that position and now drop to sixth.

There seemed to be a misconception about the pitch. At the toss, Rutraj Gaikwad spoke about it being dry and not minding defending a total, the implication being spin might come into play later. What happened was the exact opposite. GT bowled Rabada and Mohammed Siraj right through the powerplay and CSK were unable to cope with the pace and bounce on offer. CSK even brought in Sarfaraz Khan as the Impact Player at the four-over mark but it didn’t work out as he fell for a golden duck.

They were 28 for 3, the third-lowest six-over score this season. Rabada was magnificent, as he usually is when someone ticks him off. Two boundaries by Sanju Samson in his first over made him mad. Two wickets in his second over, including Samson’s, made him happy. Siraj and Jason Holder went at less than run a ball. Rabada picked up 3 for 25 from four overs. GT’s spinners though leaked 43 runs in four overs. Rashid Khan bowled only six balls and gave away 21 runs.

This was an under-strength GT attack too with Prasidh Krishna not playing. Still, they denied CSK a boundary for 31 balls between overs 3.5 and 9.1. They made them wait 11.6 overs to bring up fifty, making it their second-slowest in the IPL. Gaikwad was out there for all of it. He got off the mark with two boundaries. But with all the help the quicks were getting and wickets falling at the other end, he set his stall out to play the full 20 overs. Gaikead scored 74 of CSK’s 158. He played out 30 dot balls, the joint-second highest in an IPL innings.

A crowd of 31,506 came to Chepauk. They roared for the fifty coming up even though it took 72 balls. They go gaga for Dewald Brevis’ entry, when he takes the knee just as he enters the field. He’s made 64 runs in 53 balls this season. He’s flattering to deceive. MS Dhoni isn’t attending a single match day but his disembodied voice keeps ringing out over the loud speakers saying “start the whistles”. And they do start. There is belief in Chennai but it started to fade around the 14th over of the chase when people started heading for the exit.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 162 for 2 in 16.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 87, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 39*; Akeal Hosein 1-46, Noor Ahmed 1-29) beat Chennai Super Kings 158 for 7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 11, Rutraj Gaikwad 74*, Shivam Dube 22, Kartik Sharma 15, Jamie Overton 18; Mohammed Siraj 1-23, Kagiso Rabada 3-25, Manav Suthar 1-22, Arshad Khan 2-43) by 8 wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sports

New Zealand edge Tuskers in Racecourse arm-wrestle

Published

8 hours ago

2026/04/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

A spirited performance by Sri Lanka’s Tuskers saw them putting up a tough contest against New Zealand Under-85kg at Racecourse on Saturday.

Sri Lanka’s Tuskers showed bite but not quite enough teeth as New Zealand’s Under-85kg side edged a bruising 27-16 win in the opening leg of their two-match series at Racecourse on Saturday.

Under lights for the second straight year, the visitors rode pressure, precision and a late sucker punch to take first blood in a contest that swung on momentum and discipline.

New Zealand struck early at the breakdown, forcing a turnover penalty with Sri Lanka pinged for holding on. Taine Cordell-Hull made no mistake from the tee to open the scoring.

The hosts hit back with purpose. A knock-on gifted them a scrum platform and the pack went to work, grinding through tight phases. Scrum-half Harsha Maduranga pulled the strings before releasing Mursheed Zubair, whose inside ball sent centre Akash Madushanka on a hard, direct line to crash over for the opening try.

But just as Sri Lanka found their rhythm, New Zealand pounced. Maduranga’s clearance was charged down by Josh Gellart and the ricochet sat up kindly for Simon Sia to dot down, restoring the visitors’ lead.

The Tuskers’ forwards continued to carry with intent, their rolling maul chewing up metres before the ball was shifted wide for winger Janindu Dilshan to finish in the corner. Any momentum, however, was short-lived, Dilshan was sin-binned moments later for foul play, leaving the hosts a man down.

New Zealand wasted little time exploiting the overlap. Kicking deep and setting up camp, they drove a clinical maul, with number eight Pasia Asiata peeling off the back to power over and swing the contest again.

It remained a tight arm-wrestle. Cordell-Hull added another penalty on the stroke of halftime after Sri Lanka strayed inside their own 22, while a potential home try was chalked off for offside. Thenuka Nanayakkara slotted a penalty from advantage to keep Sri Lanka within touching distance, the visitors taking a slender 16-13 lead into the break.

New Zealand resumed with the same clinical edge, winning an early breakdown penalty that Cordell-Hull converted to stretch the margin. Sri Lanka refused to fold, upping the tempo and earning a lifeline when Asiata was shown yellow for a high tackle on Madushanka. Nanayakkara kept the scoreboard ticking, trimming the deficit once more.

But the visitors held their nerve. After soaking up sustained pressure, they forced penalties of their own and Jarred Percival stepped up to bisect the uprights, giving New Zealand breathing space heading into the final quarter.

The killer blow came late. With Sri Lanka chasing the game, a loose clearance towards touch was snapped up quickly by Ben Kelt, catching the defence napping. The move opened up broken field, Pieter Swarts slicing through before sending Matt Treeby over in the corner to seal it in the 77th minute.

New Zealand finished with three tries and four penalties to Sri Lanka’s two tries and two penalties, a late flourish settling a contest that had been on a knife edge for long periods.

The Tuskers will take heart from a far sharper display, but it is New Zealand who carry the upper hand into the second leg in Kandy next week.

by Carlos Van de Berg

Sports

Wins for IPD Colombo, Brandix Apparel, VS Information Systems, Pyramid Wilmar, Future Life Holdings, and LOLC Insurance on Saturday

Published

8 hours ago

2026/04/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

15TH STAFFORD MOTORS – MCA G DIVISION T20 LEAGUE CRICKET TOURNAMENT

IPD Colombo, Brandix Apparel, VS Information Systems, Pyramid Wilmar, Future Life Holdings, and LOLC Insurance won their league stage games in the Stafford Motors sponsored MCA G division which resumed on Saturday [25]

IPD Colombo beat Union Bank by five wickets in the morning game played at the Nalanda College grounds while in the afternoon game, Brandix Apparel powered by a half ton from Dayan Indunil registered their third win to lead group G undefeated.

At the Royal College grounds, VS Information System’s Adeesha Bandaranayake captured five wickets for thirteen runs to restrict Swisstek Ceylon to 101/7 which his team chased down in 10 overs with nine wickets in hand. VS Information Systems lead group F winning five wins in six outings. In the afternoon game played at the same venue Sahas Vihanga [50] and Upeksha Lakshan [43] powered Pyramid Wilmar to a seven wicket win over AIA.

At the Thurstan College grounds, In a game reduced to 18 overs per side, Future Life Holdings defeated Ceyline Holdings by 3 wickets in the morning, while in the afternoon game LOLC Insurance beat Sri Lanka Telecom by six runs

At Nalanda College grounds:

IPD Colombo beat Union Bank by 5 wickets

Union Bank

163/6 in 20 overs [Gavin Fernando 31, Ayeshan Perera 18, George Banushanth 35, Nishan Maduranga 57, Rushin Dulanjaya 10*; Kavinda Sudeshka 1-22, Masood Mursheed 2-36, FredickWendt 1-18, Kasun Wijerathna 2-32]

IPD Colombo

167/5 in 19 overs [Sachithra Shanika 24, Masood Mursheed 40, Aravinda Bandara 35, Sajiv Dharmasena 33, Rajitha Dihan 10; George Banushanth 1-20, Gavin Fernando 2-20, Sasika Chathuranga 1-27, Ayeshan Perera 1-13]

Brandix Apparel won by 7 wickets

Sitecore

112/8 in 20 overs [Pramodh Maduwantha 29, Thanuja Senevirathne 28, Dineth Sathkumara 25*; Janaka Prasanna 1-25, Dayan Indunil 1-26, Sasitha Ashan 2-18]

Brandix Apprarel

115/3 in 7.2 overs [Dayan Indunil 51, Sampath Jayalath 22, Sasitha Ashan 16; Pramodith Maduwantha 1-36, Dineth Sathkumara 1-32, Risitha Dilshan 1-09]

At Royal College grounds:

Adeesha bowls VS Information System to 9 wicket win

Swisstek Ceylon

101/7 in 20 overs [Daminda Perera 21, Nadeera Liyanage 27, Gamini Wanasinghe 13*, Lahiru Piyumal 21*; Adeesha Bandaranayake 5-13, Nimnada Kirindage 1-32, Ayesh Lakmal 1-12]

VS Information Systems

102/1 in 10 overs [Shamilka Wickremathilake 31, Kisal Ranathunga 42*, Shan Aniketh 19*; Lahiru Piyumal 1-23]

Pyramid Wilmar win by 7 wickets

AIA

120/6 in 20 overs [Nuwan de Silva 55, Madhura de Silva 16, Malindu Kalishka 24; Bdhdhuka Herath 1-20, Upeksha Lakshan 1-23, Udesh Nishan 4-12]

Pyramid Wilmar

121/3 in 16 overs [Sahas Vihanga 50, Upeksha Lakshan 43, Malintha Pieris 13; Anuja de Silva 1-23, Malindu Kanishka 1-22, Nimesh Rodrigo 1-19]

At Thurstan College grounds:

Future Life Holdings win by 3 wickets

Ceyline Holdings

126/8 in 18 overs [Tharindu Munasinghe 43, Sasindu Prarthana 40, Anushka Fernando 11, Dilushan Peter 21; Prabath Wujesinghe 1-08, Sahan Ranasinghe 1-42, Tharuka Sooriyarachchi 2-15, Neluka Dilshan 2-22]

Future Life Holdings

128/7 in 17.3 overs [Kavindu Ranahansa 23, Neluka Dilshan 19, Savindu Rodrigo 24, SahannRanasinghe 23* Purna Ranasinghe 11; Anushka Fernando 2-25, VKS Kithmina 1-22, Chameera Manamperi 1-30, Devindra Fernando 1-16, Tharindu Munasinghe 1-14]

LOLC Insurance win by six runs

LOLC Insurance

119/9 in 20 overs [Malith de Alwis 57, Panduka Madumal 14, Chamara Thennakon 19; Hashan Baramane 2-16, Viduranga Fernando 4-18, SandunWijayarathne 1-29, Sandakelum Fernando 2-17]

Sri Lanka Telecom

113/8 in 20 overs [Namal Dissanayake 14, KasunnSachitra 11, Thaveesha Gunawardena 46, Malinda Perera 15, Viduranga Fernando 11; Chamara Thennakon 1-16, Deneth Nissanka 3-19, M Z Osman 3-25, Tharindu Mohan 1-17]