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South Africa go into semis unbeaten despite Raza’s heroics

Published

2 weeks ago

2026/03/1

Priyan

Sikandar Raza ended his tournament with a half-century and 3 for 29 [Cricinfo]

South Africa took an unbeaten record into the T20 World Cup semi-finals after overcoming an inspired performance from Sikandar Raza (73 off 43 and 3 for 29). Aiden Markram’s men successfully chased down a target of 154 in Delhi and will now travel to Kolkata to face New Zealand in the first of what they will hope are two knockout matches.

He scored 73 of the 98 runs that Zimbabwe got while he was in the middle. That included 12 of the team’s 13 boundaries. His strike rate was nearly 170. The other end’s was 86.

Between overs 4.3 and 16.3, Raza was all that mattered. He showed game smarts when he saw South Africa turn to their change bowler to get out of the powerplay and smashed Corbin Bosch for 15 runs. He showed a simplicity of method. Clearing the front leg was the only premeditation he afforded himself. From there, if the ball was pitched up, he would present the full face and crack it through the off side. If it was short, he would go horizontal bat and whack it over the leg side.

Kwena Maphaka19, was playing only his second game of the T20 World Cup. He was able to hit speeds in the low 140kph. He got movement with both the new ball and the old one. He signed off his spell – 4-0-21-2 – with a wicked offcutter that the batter just wasn’t ready for. And he took down the man who was taking down everyone else. Maphaka went around the wicket to Raza in the 17th over and got one to straighten on the batter, who, playing for the initial angle and closing the bat face, ended up popping a skier to David Miller at point.

With Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen rested ahead of the semi-finals, South Africa’s bench players had an opportunity to step up and they did pretty well. Left-arm spinner George Linde opened the bowling and came away with figures of 3-0-22-1. Anrich Nortje chipped in with 4-0-29-1.

Opening the bowling in the chase, he recorded the 41st instance of an off-spinner dismissing a left-hand batter in this T20 World Cup. Quinton de Kock was out for a duck.

Raza turned his sights on his opposite number then. He stashed the ball on top of a bent middle finger. The carrom ball grip. Markram didn’t clock it. He only responded to the length of the ball which was a touch short. Markram went back and wound up to hit it over the leg side. Next second, his middle stump was on the ground. Undefeated South Africa were 14 for 2 in the third over.

At the other end, Brad Evans produced a back-of-the-hand bouncer that hit Ryan Rickelton on the helmet and left him in the South Africa team doctor’s care for several long minutes. Eventually he was cleared of his concussion and he seemed set on showing he wasn’t too fazed by the blow, hitting three sixes off his next five balls. But when he tried to take on Evans’ short ball again, he toe-ended it and Ryan Burl on the deep-square-leg boundary took a great catch (after initially running in too far). Back playing a day game, Zimbabwe’s fielding mistakes vanished. They don’t play a lot of floodlit cricket back home and dropped several catches when they gave up 254 against West Indies and 256 against India.

South Africa finished the powerplay on 43 runs and lost three wickets in the process. That paired Brevis (42 off 18) with Miller and resulted in some of the most eye-catching strokeplay of the game, even if Brevis wasn’t particularly interested in following one of the balls he hit into the crowd at long-on. The fourth-wicket partnership steadied the chase with 50 runs in 25 balls.

Castle Corner was in the crowd in Delhi. Dancing all the way. Zimbabwe drew on those positive vibes to break the stand that was taking the game away from them, Blessing Muzarabani knocking over Miller to pick up his 12th wicket and go to No. 2 on the list of top wicket-takers in this tournament and Raza dismissing Brevis four balls later. South Africa were 101 for 5 in the 11th over chasing 154. They were still favourites but they had been pushed.

Brief scores:
South Africa 154 for 5 in 17.5 overs (Dewald Brevis 42, Ryan Rickelton 31, David Miller 22, Tristan Stubs 21*, George Linde 30*; Sikandar Raza 3-29, Blessing Muzarabani 1-32, Brad Evans 1-22) beat Zimbabwe 153 for 7 in 20 overs (Brian Benett 15, Dion Myers 11, Sikandar Raza 73, Clive Madande 26*; George Linde 1-22, Kwena Maphaka 2-21, Lungi Ngidi 1-29, Anrich Nortje 1-29, Corbin Bosch 2-40) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and Galle and Matara districts

Published

6 hours ago

2026/03/12

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre at 12.30 noon 12 March 2026 valid for the period until 11.00 p.m. 12 March 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts after 2.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:
The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav among ESPNcricinfo award winners for 2025

Published

6 hours ago

2026/03/12

Priyan

We're all winners here: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues won big in 2025 [Cricinfo]

India’s players swept all the women’s categories in ESPNcricinfo’s annual awards for individual performances in 2025, reflecting a year in which the team won their first World Cup title.

While Jemimah Rodrigues won the women’s ODI batting honours for her awe-inspiring, cramp-battling century that knocked Australia out of the World Cup. Deepti Sharma grabbed the ODI bowling award for her match turning five for in the final against South Africa. And Harmanpreet Kaur took the captain’s award for winning the world title and for sealing white-ball series (ODIs and T20Is) in England and winning her second WPL title with Mumbai Indians. Her title clinching 66in the WPL final against Delhi Capitals took the women’s T20 leagues batting award.

South Africa Women had to deal with the bitter heartbreak of losing yet another World Cup final, but the men, who for long fell agonizingly short of the big prizes, took home the World Test Championship, eating Australia by five wickets in the final at Lord’s. They were rewarded by our jurors too:Aiden Markram won the Test batting award for his epic fourth-innings hundred in that final, while Temba Bavuma, who made a vital 66 while nursing a hamstring injury during that chase, was picked as the men’s captain of the year for leading his side to the WTC mace, to a sweep of India in Tests in India, and for ODI series wins in Australia and England.

Fast bowler Marco Jansen, one of the bowling architects of South Africa’s 2-0 win in India, narrowly lost the Test bowling award to the incandescent Mitchell Starc, who decimated England with 7 for 58 in Perth on the opening day of the Ashes.

Another seven-for took the men’s T20 leagues bowling award: Taskin Ahmed’s 7 for 19 fro Durbar Rajshahi against Dhakar Capital in the BPL. The batting prize in that category went to Hobart Hurricanes opener Mitchell Owen, whose 39 ball century against Sydney Thunder – which equalled the tournament record for the fastest hundred – took his side to their maiden BBL title.

The women’s T20 leagues bowling award, like the one for batting, also came against Delhi Capitals in the WPL: 21-year-old UP Warriorz fast bowler Kranti Gaud, in her first season, took 4 for 25, including the wickets of Rodrigues, Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma.

The Champions Trophy was the headline event in men’s cricket in 2025 and the winning ODI performances came from that tournament: in Lahore, Ibrahim Zadran broke records for the highest individual score for Afghanistan in ODIs and for the highest score in the Champions Trophy overall with his majestic 177, which knocked England out of the tournament. The ODI bowling award was picked up by India legspinner Varun Chakravarthy who took 5 for 42 against New Zealand in Dubai, where a week later India won the Champions Trophy.

Six months later, at the same ground, India also won the T20 Asia Cup. In the final against Pakistan, the dismantler-in-chief was our men’s T20I bowling award winner, another legspinner, Kuldeep Yadav, who took 4 for 30, including three wickets in his final over.

The men’s T20I batting award went to England’s Phil Salt, whose 141 not out off 60 balls against South Africa at Old Trafford was not only England’s fastest T20I hundred, but also their highest individual score in the format; and it took them to their highest team total – 304.

Australian allrounder Beau Webster, who scored four half-centuries, including a series-sealing one in his first Test, in Sydney against India, and took eight wickets in seven Tests, was named the men’s debutant of the year. The women’s debutant award went to India fast bowler N Shree Charani who showed remarkable temperament at the age of 20 to pick up a four for on T20I debut in England. She went on to take 14 wickets in the ODI World Cup, second highest for India after Deepti.

Charani, like Harmanpreet, won two awards. Her other one, for women’s T20I bowling, came for her four wickets against England at Trent Bridge, in a match where opener Smriti Mandhana’s maiden T20I hundred played a vital role in setting up India’s win. Mandhana won the women’s T20I batting award for that performance.

The men’s Associate batting award went to Max O’Dowd for masterminding Netherlands’ 370-run chase – the third-highest successful one in all ODIs -against Scotland in Dundee. His 158 not out came off only 130 balls and trumped George Munsey’s 191 in the same match. The men’s Associate bowling award was picked up by seamer Harry Manenti, whose 5 for 31 against Scotland in the qualifier in The Hague, played a big role in Italy qualifying for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

THE JURY : Ian Bishop, Sambit Bal, Shane Bond, Aakash Chopra, Andrew Fernando, Andy Flower, Nagraj Gollapudi, Mohammad Isam, Isobel Joyce, Raunak Kapoor, Nick Knight, Farveez Maharoof, Andrew McGlashan, Andrew Miller, Sidharth Monga, Tom Moody, Firdose Moonda, Urooj Mumtaz, Vernon Philander, Matt Roller, Osman Samiuddin, Dale Steyn

[Cricinfo]

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Nasa spacecraft weighing 1,300lb due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere

Published

7 hours ago

2026/03/12

Priyan

The two Van Allen Probes were launched in 2012 [BBC]

A Van Allen Probe spacecraft weighing more than 1,300lb (600kg) is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after its launch, Nasa says.

The spacecraft is projected to re-enter around 19:45 EDT (23:45 GMT) on Tuesday the US Space Force predicted, according to Nasa, though there is a 24-hour margin of “uncertainty” in the timing.

The Van Allen Probe A, which launched in 2012, is expected mostly to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, though some components may survive.

The space agency said there is a one in 4,200 chance of being harmed by a piece of the probe, which it characterised as “low” risk.

The spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, were on a mission to gather unprecedented data on Earth’s two permanent radiation belts.

It was not immediately clear where in Earth’s atmosphere the satellite is projected to re-enter. The BBC has contacted Nasa for further detail.

Nasa and the US Space Force have said they will monitor the re-entry and update any predictions.

The mission, which was originally designed to last two years, went on for almost seven. It ended after the spacecrafts ran out of fuel and were no longer able to orient themselves toward the Sun.

The probes flew through rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field from 2012 to 2019, in order to study how particles were gained and lost, per Nasa.

Those rings, called the Van Allen belts, shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms and streaming solar wind, which are harmful to humans and can damage technology.

The mission made significant discoveries, including the first data that show the existence of a transient third radiation belt, which can form during times of intense solar activity, Nasa said.

Van Allen Probe B is not expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere before 2030.

[BBC]