Sports
Wyatt-Hodge, Sciver-Brunt hammer England to series-sealing victory
A powerful batting performance underpinned England’s 36-run victory in Benoni, sealing the T20I series against South Africa with one to play. Danni Wyatt Hodge and Nat Sciver Brunt both hit half-centuries, with their 112-run stand for the third wicket setting up England for their joint-third highest total in T20 internationals, before Sarah Glenn’s four-wicket haul strangled the South Africa chase.
Having won while batting second in the first match of the series, in East London, this time around England were asked to put up a score. They hit an early speed bump, when Ayanda Hlubi struck twice in her opening over to reduced them to 15 for 2 – but Wyatt-Hodge and Sciver-Brunt simply floored the accelerator in response to put England in the driving seat.
Wyatt-Hodge was particularly aggressive, hitting 66 of her 78 from 45 balls in boundaries and doing the bulk of the scoring during her stand with Sciver-Brunt, England’s second-highest in T20Is against South Africa. Sciver-Brunt then added 54 off 35 in partnership with Heather Knight, before Amy Jones took them past 200 with back-to-back scoops in the final over.
Asked to pull off what would have been only the second successful chase of 200-plus in T20Is, South Africa needed to come out firing. But they lost Tazmin Brits in Sciver-Brunt’s first over, pulling tamely to midwicket, and had edged along to 30 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. Glenn took out the middle order as the asking rate rose, and although some late hitting from Chloe Tryon and Nadine de Klerk made the final margin respectable, South Africa were well short.
England were already going at 10 an over when Hlubi struck with her third and fifth legitimate balls, Maia Bouchier following up consecutive boundaries with a tame chip to midwicket, before Sophia Dunkley played on for a duck. Wyatt-Hodge responded by taking five fours from the next three overs, either side of a tough chance to Sinolo Jafta off de Klerk, as England ended the powerplay in buoyant mood on 48 for 2.
She might have been dismissed from the first ball with the restrictions off, but Nonkululeko Mlaba misjudged a swirling top edge to deep third from Annmari Derckson’s first ball. Two more boundaries came in the same over, followed up by Wyatt-Hodge hitting Mlaba for six and then four to bring up her half-century from 31 balls. She continued to find the ropes thereafter, taking Tryon for back-to-back boundaries and doing the same to Nondumiso Shangase, whose sole over went for 16.
Wyatt-Hodge finally departed in the 13th over, defeated by a dipping de Klerk yorker (having hit the previous ball for four), for a career-best T20I score against South Africa – and having become the first Englishwoman to pass 3000 runs in the format along the way.
Although she was comfortably outscored by Wyatt-Hodge during their stand, Sciver-Brunt eased into another telling display, having been the driving force behind England’s successful chase in the first T20I. She was also dropped, on 32, top-edging a sweep off Mlaba, but kept the momentum of the England innings going, frequently using her feet to manipulate the field while picking off boundaries along the way. Two in a row off Eliz-Mari Marx took Sciver-Brunt to a 33-ball fifty, and she then demonstrated her power with an 88-metre six off Mlaba to end the 18th over.
Knight departed at the start of the next, chipping a return catch to the persevering de Klerk, but England were well on track to breach the 200-mark. Across the course of the innings, 11 overs went for double-figures, and all of South Africa’s bowlers took punishment during a wayward effort that left them too much to do with the bat.
Although South Africa avoided losing more than one wicket in the powerplay, the top order struggled to combine laying a platform and scoring at the required rate. Faye Tunnicliffe, in her first international appearance in three-and-a-half years, made 22 off 28 on the way to becoming Glenn’s first victim, and Laura Wolvaardt had just got her innings above a run a ball when she fell to Charlie Dean.
Dean’s third over was an eventful one that went for 18 as well as seeing the back of Wolvaardt, but although Annerie Dercksen had got going with back-to-back sixes off Freya Kemp, the requirement was getting out of hand. Dercksen survived being bowled off a no-ball by Lauren Filer but when she and Shangase were bowled off consecutive Glenn deliveries, the jig was up for South Africa, needing 119 off the last eight – even though Tryon, de Klerk and Jafta all cleared the ropes in the closing stages to give the scoreline some respectability.
Brief scores:
England Women 204 for 4 in 20 overs (Danni Wyatt-Hodge 78, Nat Sciver-Brunt 67*, Heather Knight 26; Ayanda Hlubi 2-19, Nadine de Klerk 2-36) beat South Africa Women 168 for 6 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 25, Nadine de Klerk 32*, Fay Tunnicliffe 22, Annerie Dercksen 24, Chloe Tryon 30; Nat Sciver Brunt 1-32, Charlie Dean 1-27, Sarah Glenn 4-20) by 36 runs
[Cricinfo]
Olympian Yupun Abeykoon’s 60 metres Indoor National record is among several national indoor records under threat when Sri Lanka’s top sprinters vie for honours at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing China from today.
The country’s athletes do not get many chances to take part in indoor competitions. Most of the current national indoor records are owned by athletes who were based in Europe or USA when the records were established. Italy based sprinter Abeykoon established the current national indoor 60 metres record of 6.59 second in 2021.
With a world class field around him and a faster track providing support Chamod Yodasinghe is looking forward to improving his personal best (6.63secs) which is just four milliseconds behind Abeykoon’s national record. “Events in the magnitude of World Championships are conducted on tracks that support faster performances. We look forward for several record breaking performances,” Yodasinghe’s coach Sanjeewa Weerakkody told ‘The Island’ before the team’s departure to Nanjing.
Weerakkody is also the coach cum manager of the Sri Lanka team for Nanjing.
Former Royal College hurdler Kaveesha Bandara is the current national record holder in the 60 metres hurdles. His outdoor record mark of 7.80 seconds is faster than Chaminda Fonseka’s 1998 indoor record of 7.90 seconds.
Similarly Kalinga Kumarage too will be eager to lower legendary Sugath Thilakaratne’s indoor record mark of 46.70 seconds.
With this competition offering high points for top performances all three will be aiming at improving their rankings as well in a World Championship year.
The men’s 4×400 metres indoor national record is another record that is under serious threat. The current national indoor record of 3:11.29 established at the Asian Indoor Championship in Macau in 2007 will be on the back of Kumarage’s mind when he anchors the event in the final.
It will be the first time the country’s women’s 4×400 team will be running at an indoor championships. Whatever the time produced by the quartet anchored by Nadeesha Ramanayake will become a national record.
The Sri Lanka women’s 4×400 team will vie against the US, Poland, China, India and Australia teams. The US team is the undisputed favourites. According to World Athletics USA’s squad features three of the four women that earned 4x400m silver in Glasgow last year – Alexis Holmes, Bailey Lear and Quanera Hayes – along with Rosey Effiong, Karimah Davis and Maya Singletary.
by Reemus Fernando
Bangladesh’s veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has finally been cleared of suspect action after suffering months of negativity regarding the same. The 37-year-old had failed the test twice but the latest results suggest that Shakib has finally managed to clear the air around his bowling action.
The development comes as a huge sigh of relief for Shakib who had been excluded for Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy squad as the selectors didn’t want to pick him as a specialist batter. Having been suspended to bowl meant that the all-rounder couldn’t take part of the ICC event which had been earmarked as a farewell tournament for him in international cricket.
The phrase third-time lucky proved right for Shakib who cleared his latest bowling action test in England. When contacted by Cricbuzz, he confirmed the news with an understandable air of happiness.
“The news is right (passing about the bowling test) and I am cleared to bowl again,” Shakib said.
Shakib’s bowling action first came under scrutiny during a County Championship match for Surrey against Somerset in September 2024. Subsequently, the England and
Wales Cricket Board [ECB] suspended him following an independent evaluation that declared his action illegal.
Shakib then underwent two separate reassessments, first in England and then in India, failing both attempts, following which he was suspended from bowling.
Sri Lanka at World Indoor Athletics Championships
In the absence of Aruna Dharshana, Kalinga Kumarage is shouldering an extra burden in living up to the reputation of Asian Champions in the 4×400 metres relay when the World Indoor Championship commences in Nanjing China on Friday.
The men’s 400 metres is Sri Lanka’s biggest strength in track and field events though two javelin throwers currently dominate world athletics top lists for the 2025 season. With the track and field season still in its start, the country’s top sprinters were yet to flex their muscles when the opportunity arose for the 400 metres sprinters to compete at the World Indoor Championships.
Kalinga Kumarage
Kumarage is the only experienced campaigner in the men’s 4×400 metres relay team scheduled to compete against world leading USA, Jamaica, Hungary, Nigeria and China in the men’s 4×400 metres final. Both Aruna Dharshana and Kalinga Kumarage had been involved in some of the fastest relay performances for Sri Lanka at international arena including the Asian Games, Asian Championship and Asian Relays. But Dharshana is not available for the event as he is currently competing in Australia. Kumarage is the only member from the gold winning team at last year’s Asian Relays competing in Nanjing. However, it will be a huge opportunity for Randima Madushan and the two juniors Sadew Rajakaruna and Omel Shashintha when they brush shoulders against top sprinters in a global final.
Apart from the relay, Kalinga will also compete in the men’s 400 metres where he will look to produce a top performance in a bid to improve his rankings.
Sri Lanka is fielding its biggest contingent to a world indoor championship this year. The team is inclusive of sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe who will compete in the 60 metres, hurdler Kaveesha Bandara (60 m hurdles) and the men’s and women’s 4×400 metres relay teams.
***
Rajakaruna clarifies on behalf of Dharshana
Asanka Rajakaruna, the coach of leading 400 metres specialist Aruna Djarshana said that his charge was unaware of the 4×400 metres relay invitation extended by World Athletics to Sri Lanka for this week’s World Indoor Championships.
He said this with reference to our article on Tuesday which quoted a Sri Lanka Athletics official as having said that Dharshana had decided to stay in Australia to complete his commitments and was not available for the World Indoor Championships.
“We were not informed about the World Indoor Championships. We have always given priority to national duty. Dharshana would have taken the opportunity with open arms had he been informed of the opportunity to compete at the World Indoor Championship,” Asanka Rajakaruna told The Island.
Sri Lanka received the invitation to include relay teams for the World Indoor Championships well after Aruna Dharshana left for Australia.
by Reemus Fernando
Showers above 50 mm can be expected at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts.
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