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WTC 2025: Markram and Bavuma put South Africa in sight of glory

Published

11 months ago

2025/06/14

Priyan

Aiden Markram brought up his eighth Test century [ICC]

South Africa can dare to dream. With Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma playing the most significant innings of their careers, the latter while carrying a hamstring injury, they closed with 69 runs of claiming the World Test Championship, which would be the finest hour for a cricket nation steeped in history but short on silverware.

The second-wicket pair combined to add 143 in 38 overs of wonderfully controlled batting, a partnership that will go down in South Africa folklore barring extraordinary events on the fourth morning, with Markram reaching his eighth Test century from 156 deliveries in the closing moments of the day. They repelled everything Australianthrew at them on a pitch that, with the sun out for most of the day, was at its friendliest for batting in the Test. The way Australia’s last-wicket pair of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood had earlier been able to add 59 in 22 overs had foretold what was to come.

Still, Australia felt favourites when they set about defending 282. Despite the early loss of Ryan Rickleton, edging a very full delivery from Starc which was confirmed by the third umpire, there was a notable urgency to South Africa’s batting. In the first innings it took until the 20th over to reach 30 (and cost them three wickets) whereas this time they were 47 for 1 after 10.

Starc struck again to have Wiaan Mulder caught low at cover, but then came a vital moment when Bavuma, on 2, edged to Steven Smith at first slip. Smith was stood so close – he was wearing a helmet as the carry off the surface continued to die – and the chance burst through his hands, leaving him with a compound dislocation of his right little finger. The agony was clear on his face as he immediately left the field. By the end of the day, it was likely shared by his team-mates.

Shortly before tea, Bavuma joined the injury list when he picked up a hamstring injury but he defied the pain, mixing hobbling between the wickets with some crisp stroke-play. It was going to take much more than a tweaked muscle to stop Bavuma. There was, however, a question to be asked as to whether Australia could have squeezed an injured batter hard in the field. The closest Bavuma came to a mistake was when he top-edged Nathan Lyon towards deep square leg on 43 but Sam Konstas, on as a substitute, couldn’t quite make enough ground with a full-length dive that left him with a mouthful of grass.

Meanwhile, Markram was all but faultless. He kept the scoreboard ticking – Australia sent down just three maidens in 56 overs – alongside a selection of handsome boundaries, none better than the back-cut off Starc which bisected deep third and deep point with precision and left the bowler waving his arms in frustration. He would then move to 97 with the sweetest of straight drives against Hazlewood. As the close neared, and it appeared he may have to wait for the morning, his crowning moment arrived with a whip through the leg side.

Pat Cummins went through all the options at his disposal, but nothing could conjure the moment to create an opening. Lyon caused some problems out of the rough and came very close on a few occasions while Travis Head’s first delivery ragged sharply at Markram. They will need a miracle on Saturday.

It was South Africa’s surge with the ball on the second day that had kept them in the game after conceding a lead of 74, but Alex Carey had pushed the advantage over 200. When Lyon was lbw to Kagiso Rabada in the third over of the day – his ninth wicket of the match – it appeared Australia’s innings would end swiftly, but the last-wicket pair had other ideas.

It was not the first time Starc and Hazlewood had combined in such a fashion, surviving 18 overs together against India in Perth last year, while Hazlewood has also previously shown his ability when helping Cameron Green add 116 against New Zealand in Wellington earlier in 2024.

There was rarely anything expansive about the partnership but for large stages the duo were untroubled which was a hint at the changing batting conditions. Starc shielded Hazlewood on occasions, particularly against Rabada and Marco Jansen, but Hazlewood produced one of shots of partnership when he ramped Jansen over the slips.

Starc has always had batting pedigree and at times has under delivered for his talent in Test cricket. This half-century, coming off 131 balls, was his first since Old Trafford in 2019 and it ended as the second-most deliveries he had faced behind the career-best 99 (a Test high score he shares with wife Alyssa Healy).

At times South Africa seemed strangely flat but so, too, did the pitch for the first time in the game. In the end it was the sixth bowler used in the session, Markram, who ended the resistance when Hazlewood drove off the back foot to cover. And so the final question was posed: was 282 chaseable? The answer, historically so for South Africa, would appear to be in the affirmative.

Scores:
South Africa 138 in 57.1 overs and 213 for 2 in 56 overs (Aiden Markram 102*, Wiaan Mulder 22, Temba Bavuma 65*; Mitchell Starc 2-53)need 69 runs to beat Australia 212 in 56.4 overs and 207 in 65 overs (Marnus Labuschang 22, Mitchell Starc 58*, Alex Carey 43; Kagiso Rabada 4-59, Lungi Ngidi 3-38)

[Cricinfo]

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Taskin, Mehidy, Taijul, Mahmudul put Bangladesh well in front

Published

12 hours ago

2026/05/17

Priyan

Mohammad Rizwan was among the three wickets taken by Taijul Islam [Cricinfo]

Bangladesh ruled the second day of the Sylhet Test, going to stumps with a healthy 156-run lead and only three wickets down in their second innings. The home side were 110 for 3, losing Mominul Haque on what turned out to be the last ball of the day. Before that, it was a strong showing from their bowlers who combined to restrict Pakistan to 232 for a lead of 46 runs in the first innings, before Mahmudul Hasan Joy led the second innings with a half-century to follow his duck in the first innings.

Babar Azam top-scored for Pakistan with 68 on his return to the playing XI following an injury. Bangladesh’s bowling attack once again combined wonderfully, with Nahid Rana and Taijul Islam taking three wickets each. This, after Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan Miraz shared the first four wickets in the morning session.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was unbeaten on 13 at stumps after Mominul fell for 30. Mahmudul reached a quick half-century off 58 balls, as Bangladesh sped out of the blocks on the second evening despite an early setback. Khurram Shahzad removed the debutant Tanzid Hasan for 4 with a delivery that squared up the left-hand batter, who edged the ball to Saud Shakeel at gully.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 278 and 110 for 3 in 26.4 overs (Mahmudul Hasan Joy 52, Mominul Haque 30;Khurram Shahzad 2-19) lead Pakistan 232 in 57.4 overs (Babar Azam 68, Saijd Khan 38; Taskin Ahmed 2-37, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-21, Nahid Rana 3-60, Taijul Islam 3-67) by 156 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Pakistan name Iram Javed in Womens T20 World Cup squad

Published

17 hours ago

2026/05/17

Priyan

Fatima Sana recently scored the fastest fifty in women's T20Is [PCB]

Fatima Sana will lead Pakistan at a T20 World Cup for the second consecutive edition after the PCB announced the squads for their upcoming T20I tri-series in Ireland, as well as the World Cup.

The squad features a blend of continuity and fresh inclusions, with 34-year-old batter Iram Javeed retaining her place despite a difficult recent run. Eyman Fatima, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Saira Jabeen and Tasmia Rubab will travel to their maiden T20 World Cup.

Pakistan will look to overturn a run of indifferent performances at recent ICC events. At the last T20 World Cup in 2024, they exited in the group stage with one win in four games, while in 2022, they finished bottom of the pile with six defeats in seven. At last year’s ODI World Cup, Pakistan propped up the table again and were the only team in the tournament to end winless, though three of their games were washed out.

Pakistan will first travel to Ireland, where they play a tri-series that also includes West Indies from May 28 to June 4 in Dublin. Their first game at the World Cup is on June 14, against India in Birmingham. They play South Africa, the finalists from the 2024 edition, next, followed by Bangladesh, Australia and Netherlands. They will also take part in two warm-up fixtures against Sri Lanka and Scotland.

Pakistan’s most recent T20I series was a dominating 3-0 win over Zimbabwe at home, which included Sana scoring the fastest half-century in women’s T20I cricket, taking just 15 balls.

Pakistan squad for Ireland tri-series and T20 World Cup

Fatima Sana (capt), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba Hassan

Reserves Amber Kainat, Momina Riasat, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Umm-e-Hani

[Cricinfo]

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Allen, Raghuvanshi and Green thump Gujarat Titans to keep Kolkata Knight Riders alive

Published

1 day ago

2026/05/17

Priyan

Matheesha Pathirana left the field two balls into his first match of the season [Cricinfo]

After five successive wins in conditions that weaponised their bowlers and masked their limitations with the bat,Gujarat Titans [GT] found their kryptonite at Eden Gardens. In near-perfect batting conditions, Kilkata Knight Riders [KKR] ran away to 247 for 2, the highest total anyone has ever scored against GT.

Finn Allen set the tone, hitting 10 sixes in 35 balls on his way to an awe-inspiring 93, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Cameron Green carried the baton with impressive unbeaten half-centuries. GT had their chances to minimise the punishment they took, but they put down four mostly straightforward catches, including two off Allen.

Everything needed to go right for GT to be able to get to 248; the highest target they had previously chased down was 204. But after a frenetic start in which they rushed to 42 for no loss in three overs, they simply couldn’t keep up with the required rate.

B Sai Sudarshan, who provided much of that early impetus, retired hurt after taking a blow to the elbow, and returned to bat in the 17th over. In between Shubman Gill and Joss Buttler scored half-centuries and put on a 128-run stand for the third wicket. But by the time Sai Sudharsan returned, the match was done and dusted, with GT needing an absurd 71 off 22 balls.

The one man at the ground who could have pulled off that task was relaxing on KKR’s bench: Allen, subbed out at the change of innings. The only sore point of the match for KKR, in the end, concerned the man who came on for Allen. Matheesha Pathirana made his first appearance of the season, but went off the field with a hamstring issue having bowled just 1.2 overs.

At the toss, GT captain Gill suggested that the pitch might start out “sticky” before easing out, and he proved spot-on with his assessment. In the early overs, KKR’s batters couldn’t quite find their timing with Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada extracting a little bit of seam and a little bit of spongy bounce. The first two overs produced just eight runs.

Allen got going with back-to-back fours off Siraj in the third over – one was off the inside edge – but could have fallen next ball had Jason Holder been able to cling onto a one-hander at extra-cover. Allen was on 14 at that point.

The ball continued to do a little bit through the powerplay, and KKR ended it at 56 for 1, with Allen on 31 off 15 and Raghuvanshi, new to the crease, having shown his intent with a scooped six over his own head off Rabada.

Neither team would have believed they were on top at this stage. The match shifted decisively in KKR’s favour towards the end of the seventh over. Holder got a hard-length ball to climb awkwardly at Allen, and he swatted it straight to long-on, where Siraj put down a sitter. Next ball, Raghuvanshi whipped Holder for a big six over backward square leg.

That was the first of ten sixes that KKR hit over the next 23 legal balls they faced. Allen hit eight of them, and it didn’t matter if he was facing pace or spin. If the ball was remotely in his arc, he used his reach and launched it straight and clean with the purest of bat-swings. If it was remotely short, he rocked back and pulled anywhere in the arc from fine leg to wide long-on.

That frenetic period of play completely cancelled out KKR’s somewhat slow start, and the disadvantage they may have had of batting in the trickiest conditions of the match.

R Sai Kishore, bowling his left-arm spin from over the wicket, got Allen to hole out to deep midwicket in the 12th over, seven short of his second hundred of the season. If GT thought they could breathe a little easier, though, they were wrong, because Green and Raghuvanshi continued to find the boundary regularly.

And GT continued to be generous on the field. Arshad Khan dropped Green on 23 in the 16th over, and Washington Sundar put down a low but eminently catchable chance at deep backward square leg to reprieve Raghuvanshi on 52.

As the innings went deeper, Raghuvanshi began to show his range, hitting Siraj for three sixes in the 19th over – an inside-out loft over extra-cover, a scoop over fine leg, a sweep over backward square – as well as a reverse-swipe for four. Having taken 33 balls to get to his fifty, he scored 29 off his last 11 balls.

Green, meanwhile, reached his fifty off 26 balls, getting there with a slog-sweep off Rashid Khan in the final over, which ran away to the boundary via a misfield. A last-ball overthrow completed GT’s woes, as Raghuvanshi and Green walked off having put on an unbroken 108 off 53 balls.

GT made as good a start as they could have hoped for, but when Sai Sudharsan went off injured at the end of the third over, their momentum began to deflate. First, Pathirana – bowling for the first time this season, and bowling in the powerplay for the first time in his IPL career – sent down a seven-run fourth over. Then Sunil Narine, playing his 200th IPL game, came on and struck first ball, getting Nishant Sindhu – who had been promoted above Buttler to keep the left-right partnership going – to hole out to long-off.

Narine conceded just two runs off that over and bowled four straight balls to Gill without conceding a run off the bat.

Gill hit two sixes off Narine’s next over, but by then GT were already falling well behind the required rate. And this story continued. The good overs – such as the 18-run ninth over bowled by Anukul Roy – were surrounded by not-so-good ones – such as the eighth over, from Varun Chakravarthy, that went for just five. Green and Kartik Tyagi were able to extract bounce and a bit of grip by bowling cutters into the surface, and Buttler struggled for timing against both of them.

When Allen had been at the crease, KKR had four straight overs – from the eighth to the 11th of their innings – that brought them 15 or more runs. GT only had two such overs in the first 14 overs of their innings. Gill hit Varun for two sixes and two fours in that 14th over, but KKR immediately responded by bringing back Narine and bowling out his last two overs.

His first one went for 11, and that was still well short of the 16 an over that GT now needed. And his second – the 17th of the innings – pretty much sealed the game: five runs, and the wicket of Gill, caught on the boundary looking to sweep one of those fast, into-the-pitch, stump-to-stump Narine deliveries that generations of IPL batters have tried and failed to master.

Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 247 for 2 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 14, Finn Allen 93, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 82*, Cameron Green 52*; Mohammed Siraj 1-50, Sai Kishore 1-38) beat Gujarat Titans 218 for 4 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 53*, Shubman Gill 85, Jos Buttler 57; Saurabh Dubey 1-23, Cameron Green 1-25, Sunil Narine 2-29) by 29 runs

[Cricinfo]