Sports

West Indies seal consolation win in ten-over shootout

Published

2 months ago

2026/02/1

Priyan

File photo: Gudakesh Motie claimed three quick wickets [Cricinfo]

West Indies claimed a consolation win in a match reduced to 10 overs a side at the Wanderers, to hand South Africa defeat in their first T20I in pink. With no ODIs scheduled in South Africa this summer, the annual fixture to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer treatment took place in the shortest format, and was made even shorter after prolonged delays for lightning.

Still, the sell-out crowd got their money’s worth in an entertaining encounter as both teams left everything on the field in their final competitive fixture before next month’s T20 World Cup.

With the series already won, South Africa may not be too unhappy with the outcome, especially as their middle order, untested in game one and two, had a hit out while West Indies’ ability to hold their nerve under pressure will stand them in good stead ahead of a major tournament. They secured a narrow win after two heavy defeats to leave South Africa with something to smile about.

West Indies’ innings started 75 minutes later than the scheduled 6pm start time after lightning strikes were spotted by the pilot in the flyover just before play. The match was reduced to 16 overs a side at that stage and West Indies came out swinging.Shai Hope carved the first ball through the covers for four and Johnson Charles also tried to take it on but Aiden Markram put a short over in place and Charles hit Ngidi straight to him for a three-ball duck.

Hope kept driving but it was Shimron Hetmyer, who arrived at the crease with neither a helmet nor a cap, who turned it on. He sent Ngidi into the stands and onto a spectator’s forehead for six (sidenote: the fan received a medical check-up) and then cleared deep backward square for six more. Hope hit Keshav Maharaj’s opening over for 18 but Markram kept faith in spin and brought himself on in the firth over. Hetmyer cut his first ball for four, then sent him over deep square leg for six and then Hope, off the last ball of the over, pulled Markram into the stands.

Linde delivered a tight second over but West Indies were in a strong position on 66 for 1 after six before the players were forced off again, as more lightning was spotted. Another hour’s delay reduced the match to 10 overs a side, which meant West Indies had just four overs left to bat when play resumed.

Corbin Bosch’s death-bowling was on display early with an over of good length deliveries before Hetmyer and Hope took on Maharaj again. His second over cost 20 but had some success when Hope hit him to Bosch at long-off. Rovman Powell sent Kwena Maphaka’s first and fifth ball for six and then gave Brevis a catch at deep cover before Hetmyer finished off. He ended the innings with his sixth six to finish on 48* off 22 balls. West Indies scored 114 for 3 in 10 overs and South Africa’s target was adjusted up to 125.

Quinton de Kock, fresh off of century at SuperSport Park, got South Africa to a perfect start with 19 runs off the opening over but Markram couldn’t get going in the same way. He top-edged Akeal Hosein straight up and Hosein did well to take the catch as Hetmyer ran in from extra cover and the pair were fortunate to avoid a collision. South Africa sent in Dewald Brevis ahead of Ryan Rickelton at No.3, and it was almost an early mistake. Brevis was dropped on 2 by Romario Shepherd at midwicket – making it West Indies’ third big-name drop in as many games (Markram in match one, Rickelton in match two) – and they would have wondered how costly it would be.

At first, they got rewarded at the other end. De Kock could not clear long-off and was caught on the rope by Powell to give Gudakesh Motie his first wicket of the series. Then, Rickelton and Brevis then combined for a 28-run stand off 11 balls, with two sixes each, but neither could sustain the momentum. Rickelton picked out Holder at long-on to become Motie’s second and Brevis, on 17, got a taste of his own medicine when he fell to a relay catch between Powell and Holder in the same over. South Africa were 63 for 4 after six overs, and needed 62 runs to win off the next four.

Jason Smith, picked as a finisher for the T20 World Cup, made his case with 20 off the first seven balls but did not get any strike in the penultimate over. South Africa needed 27 off 12 balls and Tristan Stubbs reduced that to 15 off the last five balls before he gave Smith strike to try and finish off. Shamar Joseph, in his first appearance in this series, was tasked with the final over. He went yorker length and took out Smith’s middle stump with his third ball, to leave South Africa needing nine runs off two balls. Bosch was dropped off the second last ball of the match when he skied Joseph to Powell at long-on and broke his bat in the process. He also didn’t ground the bat as he ran so South Africa were one-short, had to score eight off one and lost by six runs.

Brief scores:
West Indies 114 for 3 in 10 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 48*, Shai Hope 48, Rovman Powell 13; Lungi Ngindi 1-19, Keshav Maharaj 1-38, Kwena Maphaka 1-12) beat South Africa 118 for 6 in 10 overs (Quinton de Kock 28,Dewald Brevis 17, Ryan Rickelton 15, George Linde 17, Jason Smith 26, Tristan Stubbs 10*; Jason Holder 1-30, Akeal Hosein 1-25, Gudakesh Motie 3-17, Shamar Joseph 1-23) by 6 runs – DLS

[Cricinfo]

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Sooryavanshi blitz, Jurel 81* help Rajasthan Royals take down Royal Challengers Bengaluru with ease

Published

13 hours ago

2026/04/11

Priyan

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi struck at 300.00 [Cricinfo]

Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi equalled his own record for the fastest half-century, off 15 balls, in a six-fest on a flat Guwahati deck as Rajasthan Royals walloped Royal Challengers Bengaluru for their fourth straight win.

RCB hit seven sixes through their 20 overs in an innings where they went all out, seemingly mindful of the challenge Sooryavanshi would pose. And pose he did, hitting seven sixes off his own blade, in a scarcely believable exhibition of brutal hitting.

Reputation counted for little. If it was Jasprit Bumrah the other night, it was Josh Hazlewood’s turn to come under Sooryavanshi’s wheel on Friday. By the time he was dismissed for a 26-ball 78, toe-ending a flat-batted hit to long-on off Krunal Pandya, RR’s asking rate in a 202 chase was just over six with 11.5 overs remaining.

Sooryavanshi’s uninhibited hitting was matched by Dhruv Jurel’s scintillating stroke play, the pair effectively snuffed out RCB’s hopes in the powerplay itself as they plundered 97 – the highest of the season. Although RR lost a couple of wickets in a rush thereafter, the result was never really in doubt.

RCB’s defence was given an early lift when the returning Hazlewood struck in the second over to remove Yashasvi Jaiswal. After conceding a couple of sixes off the short ball, Hazlewood responded smartly by going cross-seam and into the pitch to induce the edge. But the delight at having struck early dissipated quickly as Sooryavanshi seized control by rattling off three boundaries and a six in succession in his next over.

Each of the four boundaries pierced a different arc. The short ball was carved behind point, the hard length into the pitch was muscled over mid-on, the fuller one driven crisply between cover and mid-off, and when tested with the bumper, Sooryavanshi fetched it from outside off and nailed the pull over deep square for six.

And remarkably, it wasn’t just Hazlewood under the pump. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – who had nearly dismissed him first ball with a late-curving inswinging yorker, only for the teenager to dig it out and shovel it straight back for four – was also taken apart. In the fifth over, Sooryavanshi swatted him for back-to-back sixes to bring up his half-century.

Keeping pace with Sooryavanshi stroke for stroke can’t be easy, but Jurel managed it seamlessly, without ever looking like he was trying to. He capped off the powerplay by hitting rookie Abhinandan Singh for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 0, 6, 4 to end an extraordinary passage.

Jurel’s fast hands were the defining feature of that over – whether it was picking length early to pull or using his wrists to whip the ball into the top tier over deep square. He would later take charge of the innings, tightening his approach after a flurry of wickets, and finishing unbeaten on 76 off 36 balls.

Jurel’s 68-run fifth-wicket stand with Ravindra Jadeja then guided RR home comfortably, steadying things after Krunal briefly stirred RCB’s hopes with back-to-back strikes of Sooryavanshi and Shimron Hetmyer in the ninth over.

RR went through a quiet passage of four overs without a boundary, but the early onslaught from Sooryavanshi and Jurel meant they could afford to play out a few quiet overs fully knowing RCB were a spinner short, as they activated Venkatesh Iyer as an impact player for batting firepower in place of Suyash Sharma.

The match had a blockbuster opening act, with Jofra Archer’s vicious, rip-roaring bouncer sending back Phil Salt for a golden duck. But Virat Kohli fought fire with fire, hitting him for three boundaries in his next over, before Archer struck back to remove the in-form Devdutt Padikkal.

This didn’t affect Kohli, though, as he shredded a much-talked-about matchup with Sandeep Sharma (who had dismissed him seven times in 18 innings) by thumping him over the infield for two fours. But trouble soon came RCB’s way as Ravi Bishnoi struck two quick blows to leave them 73 for 4.

In his first two outings, Rajat Patidar went crash-bang-wallop from the get-go. But a top-order wobble forced him to dig deep. He played himself in, getting to 20 off 22 balls at one stage. And then, three overs later, he brought up a half-century off 35 balls. One of the reasons for this surge was his surety in stroke-making.

The two sixes he hit off Nandre Burger in the 15th had that stamp of authority. A gentle extension of his arms to loft one cleanly over long-off laid down the marker, but the hop back to whip a short ball aimed at his ribs over deep square leg was the blockbuster.

With none of Romario Shepherd or Tim David coming off with the bat, RCB brought in Venkatesh Iyer as their Impact Player, leaving Suyash on the bench. And Venkatesh gave an excellent account of himself on RCB debut, finishing the innings off with a cameo 29 that pushed them past 200.

As it turned out, it was nowhere near enough.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 202 for 4 (Yashasvi Jiswal 13, Dhruv Jurel 81*, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Ravindra Jadeja 24*; Josh Hazelwood 2-44, Krunal Pandya 2-30) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli32, Devudutt Padikkal 14, Rajat Patidar 63, Tim David 13, Romario Shepherd 22, Venkatesh Iyer 29*; Jofra Archer 2-33, Sandeep Sharma 1-47, Ravi Bishnoi 2-32, Ravindra Jadeja 1-14, Brijesh Sharma 2-37) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Brazil bowler Laura Cardoso takes 9 Lesotho wickets in record-breaking T20 win

Published

1 day ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

Laura Cardoso has taken the best bowling record in a T20 Women's International following her nine-wicket haul against Lesotho [Aljazeera]

Brazil are the unlikely candidates to have claimed two cricket records as one of their bowlers took a record nine wickets – including five in a row – in their 189-run T20 Women’s International victory against Lesotho in Botswana.

Having won the toss on Thursday, at the BCA Kalahari Women’s T20 International Tournament, Brazil posted a daunting 202-8 with wicketkeeper Monnike Machado hitting 69 off 41.

The fun, for the Brazilians, was only just beginning, though, as Laura Cardoso claimed a hat-trick with the last three deliveries of her first over – the second of the Lesotho innings – to set in motion the incredible feat that eventually saw the Africans bowled out for 13.

The 21-year-old then continued her wicket-taking achievement with a Women’s T20 International first of five dismissals in a row as she struck with the first two balls of her second over. This was all part of claiming the first nine Lesotho wickets to fall, but being denied the chance to take all 10 after a change of bowling following her third over. Her final wicket was Ret’sepile Limema, who fell to the fifth ball of the fifth over, with Cardoso replaced for the following over at that end. Her nine wickets, nevertheless, is the best return in either men’s or women’s T20 internationals.

The right-arm seamer did, indeed, come close to another hat-trick, when she claimed wickets with the last two balls of her second over, which itself totalled four victims.

Cardoso, who has has taken 55 wickets in 48 T20 matches for Brazil, replaces Indonesia’s Rohmalia Rohmalia at the top of the Women’s T20 best bowling rankings, as she finished with figures of 3-2-4-9.

Rohmalia had claimed seven wickets in 2024 in a match against Mongolia in Bali. Only three other women have claimed seven in a T20 international.

The men’s record, and the overall in the format, had been held by Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey after ⁠he took eight wickets for seven ⁠runs against Myanmar ⁠last year.

The previous record for the number of wickets in consecutive deliveries was four, and was jointly held with the most prominent occasion in women’s cricket being when Shakera Selman pulled off the feat for the West Indies against Pakistan in 2018. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga are among the most notable bowlers from the men’s game to have claimed four consecutively in the format.

Although a huge winning margin, Brazil’s overall win does not compare with Argentina’s record after they beat Chile by 364 runs in 2023. The Argentinians had struck 427-1 to set up their victory.

Lesotho’s part in the record extends to no further than Cardoso’s haul, with the record-lowest total belonging to Mali, who were bowled out for 6 in 2019 by Rwanda.

Brazil, ‌who lead the six-team tournament with five straight wins, play ‌Mozambique ‌on Friday.

[Aljazeera]

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Zimbabwe Women set for maiden tour of Pakistan

Published

1 day ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

Pakistan and Zimbabwe will play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is [Cricbuzz]

Zimbabwe Women are set for their maiden tour to Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20Is.

The ODIs kick off on May 3 and will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2025-29. The T20I series will be played from May 12. All six matches will take place at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi.

Pakistan are currently placed fifth on the Women’s Championship table after a 2-1 series loss to South Africa. Zimbabwe are placed seventh after a three-match series loss to New Zealand.

Zimbabwe are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on April 29.