Defending champions lose three in three after South Africa allrounder returns five-for and then hits 42-ball 32

Firdose Moonda14-Mar-2022Marizanne Kapp starred with the ball and then had to do it with the bat, too, to give South Africa their first win over England at a World Cup in more than two decades – and only the second in the history of the tournament – to leave the defending champions winless and staring at an early exit after three matches.Kapp took her first ODI five-for to keep England to under 240 on a slow Bay Oval surface, and then scored 32 off 42 balls to leave South Africa at the doorstep of victory in a tense chase.After choosing to bowl first and restricting England to 235, South Africa were well-placed on 147 for 2 in the 35th over before losing three wickets for 22 runs. They then needed 57 runs off the last ten overs, 31 off the last five, and ten off the last ten balls after Kapp was dismissed lbw by Anya Shrubsole. Trisha Chetty and Shabnim Ismail, who only bowled half her overs after injuring her left big toe, completed the chase with four balls to spare.Undefeated South Africa have moved up to second on the points table with the result. England, on the other hand, have become the first defending champions to lose their first three matches. It is also their second major tournament defeat to South Africa, after losing in the T20 World Cup in February 2020.The match was a mini-summation of both teams’ journey through the tournament so far. While South Africa showcased their ability to handle pressure in the dying stages of a match, England’s fielding woes continued. They dropped three catches and missed a stumping chance, all off South Africa’s top-scorer Laura Wolvaardt, to take their tournament tally of missed opportunities to a dozen.Wolvaardt was put down on 4, 23, 50 and 62, became South Africa’s highest run-scorer at World Cups, and bettered her best score at a World Cup with 77, which set up South Africa’s chase. She shared in a 56-run second-wicket stand with Tazmin Brits, who notched up her highest score of the tournament so far, and a 73-run third-wicket partnership with captain Sune Luus at a run rate that hovered around four an over. Wolvaardt and Luus took South Africa to the 35th over with 89 runs needed off 96 balls and eight wickets in hand. On paper, a cruise home. But England had other ideas.Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont gave England a great platform with a century stand•Getty Images

After Amy Jones missed a stumping chance off Wolvaardt, she pulled one off when Charlie Dean drew Luus forward into a drive, and Jones dislodged the bails as Luus’ foot was in the air. Ten balls later, Wolvaardt attempted one big shot too many and pulled Kate Cross to midwicket, where Nat Sciver collected. And three overs later, Mignon du Preez’s lean patch continued. She got a thick outside edge as she tried to cut Sophie Ecclestone away and was caught behind to leave her without a score of over 20 in seven ODI innings this year.The pressure was transferred to the lower order where Kapp and Chloe Tryon had to see off Ecclestone, England’s best bowler on the day, and try to accelerate to the end. They put on 30 in 29 balls before Tryon became the fourth batter in the tournament to be run-out backing up too far at the non-striker’s end. It was up to Kapp, who hit the only six of the match when she flicked a low full toss from Katherine Brunt behind square on the leg-side to reduce the target to 23 off 27 balls. She didn’t see it to the end, though, as she was out lbw in the penultimate over, but the experience of Chetty and Ismail took South Africa home.In the end, they may reflect that they made heavy weather of a below-par total, with Heather Knight admitting England were 20-30 runs short in their first innings. They were rocked by a Kapp double-strike upfront before Tammy Beaumont and Jones shared a 107-run third-wicket stand. Both brought up half-centuries to give England a platform to build on, but Kapp prevented that from happening. She fired in the throw that ran Jones out and then returned for a strangling death-overs spell, in which she took three wickets in nine balls.On a pitch that was expected to have something in it for spinners – England even left out opening batter Laura Winfield-Hill to make room for offspinner Dean – Kapp adjusted perfectly. She bowled a consistent line outside the off stump and took pace off the ball, which made her difficult to get away and dangerous to attack, and was backed by a disciplined effort from the rest of the attack.South Africa were without Ismail from the 20th over but Masabata Klaas conceded at under three an over and the spinners squeezed England, complemented by sharp fielding. After two ordinary efforts in their first two games, South Africa did not drop any catches or miss any run-out chances, a stark contrast to England.

Series on the line in Gqeberha with the visitors desperate to set the record straight after their collapse in the first Test

Firdose Moonda07-Apr-2022

Big picture

It’s Gqeberha, with a hard click at the start and a guttural “gha” at the end, that’s the venue for the last dance of the South African summer. Where, you ask? The place with the oldest cricket ground in the country but the newest name.Formerly known as Port Elizabeth, the city was renamed last year, but not much else has changed. It’s still about life in the slow lane in this part of the country, with the whistling of a strong wind for company. It’s been blowing fiercely in the lead up to the match, almost enough to match the fury within the Bangladesh camp.The visitors are angry with everyone, from the umpires for the eight decisions that needed to be overturned in Durban to the hosts for what they called an unacceptable level of sledging throughout the tour. They’ve lodged an official complaint about both, but have since denied raising any issue about the verbals, which South Africa insist did not cross the line.Related

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• Mominul: 'Crime to give wickets to spinners on foreign soil'

• Donald says Bangladesh can exploit Gqeberha conditions

Bangladesh lost 14 wickets to spin on a surface that should have reminded them of home and were bowled out for their second-lowest total in Test cricket. This despite being so competitive for four full days of the match. After coups like their win in New Zealand and their ODI series victory here, Bangladesh know they are better than 53 all out and will want to use the second Test to show that.They could ask for no better place to play it than the home of their head coach, Russell Domingo, who successfully coached the Warriors franchise, based at St George’s Park, and never lost a Test here in his time with South Africa. It hasn’t hosted a Test match since January 2020, but it will return with all the usual bells and whistles. The brass band is back after their Covid-19 hiatus and a capacity of 7,500 is allowed. Although attendance is not usually that high, for South Africans who have been deprived of live sport for the last two years, it’s the perfect opportunity to see the national team up close before they head on away assignments over the winter.Bangladesh weren’t very pleased with the umpiring that was on show in Durban•AFP/Getty Images

South Africa can probably already call this Test season a success after a home series win against India and a drawn series in New Zealand but will not want to slip up after seizing the advantage in Durban. Speaking of, they’ve already had one accident this week. Dean Elgar fell when getting out of the shower a few days ago and hit his head badly enough to require stitches. The cut is above his right eye, roughly where his helmet might sit, but he batted on the eve of the match and “seems to be okay”, to lead the side.Even with an under-strength squad – five first-choice South Africa players are at the IPL – Elgar has managed to establish his style of play. “Ruthless,” was how he described it in Durban and he will want nothing less than to seal a series sweep.

Form guide

South Africa WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLWLL

In the spotlight

Simon Harmer surged back onto the international scene with a four-for in his first Test innings and showed the progress he has made as an attacking bowler since last playing Tests in 2015. He was humble in his success and said the return did not necessarily prove his worth but after finishing the match with seven wickets may have adjusted that opinion. Still, Harmer remains a support act to Keshav Maharaj, especially as South Africa seldom play two spinners in a Test XI and a big performance on his former home ground could go a long way to ensuring he is part of the squad that tours England this winter, and maybe even stakes a claim for the lone spinner spot, on occasion.Since he last played in South Africa in 2017 where he impressed with a score of 70 in Bloemfontein, Litton Das has become one of Bangladesh’s most dependable batters. He was the leading run-scorer for Bangladesh in 2021, with 594 from seven Tests at an average of 49.50 and is the top batter in 2022 so far, with 239 runs from three innings. His 41 at Kingsmead was a good mix of conservative batting and counter-attack and he shared in their most profitable partnership of the match, 82, with Mahmudul Hasan Joy, but will want to push on to bigger things in Gqerberha.Litton Das has been one of Bangladesh’s most dependable players recently•Getty Images

Team news

South Africa are unlikely to make any changes to the batting line-up but may look at one in the bowling department. Despite being the most experienced member of the pace pack, Duanne Olivier has failed to set the stage alight and could be benched for Lutho Sipamla, who is from this city and played his early years of domestic cricket here.South Africa (probable): 1 Dean Elgar (capt), 2 Sarel Erwee, 3 Keegan Petersen, 4 Ryan Rickleton, 5 Temba Bavuma, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Simon Harmer, 10 Lizaad Williams 11 Lutho SipamlaTamim Iqbal has recovered from the stomach ailment that kept him out of the first Test and is expected to replace Shadman Islam at the top of the other. With both Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam out of the series with injury, either Abu Jayed or Shohidul Islam will play.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Yasir Ali, 7 Litton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Abu Jayed/Shohidul Islam, 10 Khaled Hossain, 11 Ebadot Hossain

Pitch and conditions

Never mind the surface – which had a healthy grass covering two days before the Test match but will get a trim before the first ball – it’s the air that’s a major factor in Gqeberha. Westerly Winds of around 50kph have been blowing in the lead-up to the match. That’s the drying wind, which usually means it will be good for batting, but the direction will change from the first day of the match, bringing moisture but, with autumn temperatures hovering in the low 20 C, there’s unlikely to be the humidity for swing. Rain is forecast for the first three days, with the third day the most likely to be severely affected. There’s an 80% chance of showers on Sunday but by early next week, conditions are expected to clear so this Test could go the distance.

Stats and trivia

“Initially when I started the tournament, I wasn’t over-thinking, I was just going and batting, like I used to do”

Shashank Kishore11-May-2022Ishan Kishan admits having “lost focus” in trying to deviate from being an early enforcer to a finisher. Having gotten into a rut, he’s trying to revert to his original style that has brought him T20 success.Currently, his strike rate of 117.15 is the fourth lowest among batters who have faced at least 150 balls in IPL 2022. There has been some improvement though over the past three games, with Kishan contributing scores of 51, 45 and 26. Kishan’s struggles have mirrored Mumbai’s struggles.”What worked well for me was, initially when I started the tournament, I wasn’t over-thinking, I was just going and batting, like I used to do,” Kishan said. “My focus was on giving a good start to the team. But I think later, somewhere I was trying to finish the game and do the job for others who were supposed to do it, and maybe I lost my focus in the first six overs.Related

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“I had a chat with the coach and captain also, and they just said, ‘If you can give us a good start, it will be helpful for the team, so you don’t have to think about finishing the game. If you are set there in the middle, you will anyway do that.’ So right now, my focus is just on giving good starts and making sure that I don’t get out easily. And if I’m the set batsman in the middle, I’m making sure that I have to be there to finish the game.”Much of Kishan’s focus lately has been inwards. Known to be a prankster around the team, he hasn’t let the fun element dry out. He insists key lifestyle changes and an improved focus towards diet and fitness have helped him make wholesome changes that he hopes will pay off going forward.”During the earlier seasons, I didn’t follow diet plans and stuff a lot, but now I’m following it,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of senior players around me do that. I’ve also had chats with trainers as to how the body helps you with your cricket, something I hadn’t realised until now. Like, while wicketkeeping, my movements are still good because a lot of it is liked to diet and how you train and form your routines.”In the IPL, matches keep coming, sometimes you tend to miss the training bit outside of the game. But now I have a proper plan in place that I’ve formed in discussion with the trainers. And we’re following it to ensure fitness is maintained and we feel good at the same time. Most of the guys who are in the Indian team are also following the same plan.”Players feel quite nice about it. In a bubble, we’re only looking at how we can utilise the time. The body is used to the bubble life now. We’ve got all the facilities given to us by the Mumbai management – gym, trainers – three of them who are always behind us. So, we’re focused on how to keep the body in best shape and how we can perform at our best.”Kishan’s lack of form has invariably been linked to IPL auction pressure. He was the season’s costliest signing at INR 15.25 crore. He admits while it did play on his mind early on, he has moved on and chats with senior players around the subject have helped bring clarity.”Price tag pressure lasts for a certain time,” he said. “Maybe on auction day, or maybe a day or two after that. But at the level you’re playing and having played for a while, I know what is most important. Do I keep that pressure on your mind or do I focus on how you can win matches for the team? Obviously, price tag pressure will be there for a while but if you have good seniors around you, if a player around you feels that way, a lot of seniors are around you.”Rohit, Virat, Hardik – all of them said the same thing. ‘Don’t be worried about the price tag pressure, it’s not something you have asked for. Instead of thinking about that, think of cricket and be in your zone. That is important.’ It’s possible they would’ve also faced such a situation before. How have they handled it then? These are things I’ve spoken about.”I feel very light now, I don’t even think about it. Price tag is secondary. The focus – whether you’ve been sold for 1 crore, base price or 15 crores – what matters is how you make the team win. Or if you’re not in form, how you’re helping others bring out their best. The focus has been on that.””Rohit, Virat, Hardik – all of them said the same thing. ‘Don’t be worried about the price tag pressure’•BCCI

Has he been affected by the external noise and chatter about his form, auction price? Not at all, if Kishan is to be believed.”I don’t really check who is saying what,” he said. “I know that they aren’t in our situation. If I was sitting on the outside, maybe I would have also written a lot of things about everyone. It’s the easiest thing to pick your phone and type away.”I saw some players, new to the team, who were checking the comment sections after the match. I told them, ‘There’s nothing to be gained by reading this. Those people aren’t playing, and they don’t know what pressure we have gone through.’ It’s easy for them to write that there should have been a six hit, they might want 36 runs in six balls. But cricket isn’t so easy.”What the situation is in the middle, what the team requires at that time… every player likes to play shots, but sometimes you will see several big-hitting players also playing on the merit of each ball, for 25 balls. Because that is a situation where you need a partnership.”It’s easy for the public to write. But yes, there are some fans who know what you’re going through also and who will back you. If you see on social media, or get to see through your manager, you’ll see you get backing also in your down time.”But I don’t get affected by the other comments people make, and I don’t think anyone else does either. People will talk. If you have fans, you’ll have haters too. They’re getting fun while writing, it’s okay. It doesn’t affect us, and we don’t even see those messages.”

Weighty opening stand between Lewis and Paul paves way for rare Irish success

Firdose Moonda03-Jun-2022Ireland, led by the youngest captain in their history, Gaby Lewis, beat South Africa for only the second time in 11 T20I meetings to stun the fifth-ranked side and take a lead in the three-match series. Ireland are ranked 12th in T20s and their only previous victory over South Africa came in August 2016.Five South Africa and three Ireland players from that match were involved in this one, including Lewis. Together with Leah Paul, she broke her own record for Ireland’s highest opening partnership against South Africa, set Ireland up for a famous win and claimed a slice of history herself. Lewis is the first daughter of a former Ireland captain to lead the national side, after her father Alan Lewis captained the men’s team.Starting strong
Lewis and Paul took advantage of a lacklustre South African effort in the first half of their innings and raced to 83 without loss in the first 10 overs. In doing so, they also posted the highest first-wicket partnership for Ireland against South Africa, beating the 78 shared between Lewis and Clare Shillington in Ireland’s previous 2016 victory. None of the six bowlers South Africa used up to that point threatened at all, as they struggled to adjust to the slow pace of the pitch. They offered many deliveries that were too short and both Lewis and Paul were strong on the pull in response. The pair went on to share in a stand of 98, 16 short of Ireland’s highest opening stand against any team.South Africa claw back
None of South Africa’s bowlers could remove Lewis, who notched up her sixth T20I half-century, but some commitment in the field did. She was run-out at the non-striker’s end to bring an authoritative knock to a close. But it was only in the next over, when Shabnim Ismail was brought back on and used the slower ball to have Paul caught at mid-on, that South Africa were able to properly apply the brakes.Ireland were 107 for 2 after 14 overs and could only manage 36 runs off the next six overs, while also losing five wickets. Tumi Sekhukhune, whose first three overs cost 27 runs, came back well to take three wickets in her final over and ensure no one outside Ireland’s top four got into double-figures. Still, Ireland achieved their highest total against South Africa in T20Is, three runs more than their previous highest of 140 for 4 in a losing cause in 2016. Ireland strike immediately
South Africa opted to experiment with a new opening pair – Lara Goodall and Tazmin Brits – and it backfired. Offspinner Rachel Delaney was asked to open the bowling against the left-handed Goodall and had her caught behind off the first ball of South Africa’s reply, in the course of delivering a maiden first over.And then get the big wicket
South Africa held Laura Wolvaardt back to No. 4 and she provided some stability, but her attempt to add impetus to the innings in the ninth over failed. She tried to cut Cara Murray but Celeste Raack took a good catch, low at backward point, to send the Ireland players into wild celebrations.Cat-and-mouse to the end
With 48 runs needed off the last five overs, Chloe Tryon had the ideal opportunity to show off her finishing skills. She took 15 runs off the 16th over, bowled by Murray, including a casual-as-you-like six over midwicket to ease the pressure on her captain Sune Luus. But Lewis had a trump card up her sleeve. She tasked Paul, whose first two overs went for 16 runs, with bowling the 18th over. Tryon was well outside her crease when she went for a slog, missed and was bowled. Luus was South Africa’s last real chance but she was bowled by debutant Arlene Kelly in the penultimate over. South Africa needed 18 runs to win off the last over and neither Nadine de Klerk nor Ismail could get them there.

Playing for Leicestershire, the India wicketkeeper scored a rollicking 76 off 87 balls

Sidharth Monga24-Jun-2022From the moment he came out wearing the big gloves for Leicestershire, Rishabh Pant against India’s Test seam bowlers was a juicy prospect. Pant has his own method of playing seam bowlers. He can often look clueless, but he can also be dismissive and ruthless as is evident in his centuries in England and Australia, and the two scarcely believable innings in Sydney and Brisbane at the start of 2021. How was he going to tackle his own bowlers, who are among the best seam-bowling units going around?The Leicestershire batting, not all of them first-choice players, made sure Pant was out there answering the question as early as the 14th over, at 44 for 3, one of the wickets being Cheteshwar Pujara, playing on trying to cut Mohammed Shami. And he lit up a gloomy afternoon at Grace Road as the Indians continued a second fruitful day of practice. Pant came out the better in his exchange with Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur (Jasprit Bumrah played for Leicestershire), playing shots both orthodox and innovative, to score 76 off 87 balls to cancel out the Indians’ first-innings score of 246, declared overnight.With two days and an hour still to go, there was enough time for a grandstand one-innings shootout. We might still get it come the fourth day, but the immediate pursuit was quality practice more than the competitiveness: Rohit Sharma didn’t open the innings, sending in KS Bharat instead after his first-innings half-century, nor did Jasprit Bumrah bowl. As a result, Navdeep Saini got a chance to bowl, removing Shubman Gill through a second loose, in-between shot of the match.The highlight of the day remained Pant, who took on all of the seamers, scoring 26 off 30 balls from Shami, 20 off 23 against Siraj and 13 off 12 when facing Umesh. He went from 45 off 72 to 70 off 82, unleashing extra-cover drives, paddle sweeps off the quicks, and nonchalant short-arm jabs. He brought up his fifty with an audacious sweep off Umesh.In the end, though, Pant fell to what is his natural strength: spin, that too left-arm. He tried to slog-sweep Ravindra Jadeja, but the lack of turn took the outer edge for a high catch at long-on. If there ever was any doubt around Jadeja getting a place in the first XI, he laid it to rest with three wickets in just eight overs.Bharat’s impressive batting continued into the second innings as he and Gill got off a flying start. The first real mistake from them came in the 11th over by which time they had reached 59. Gill looked imperious in his early stroke-play, but was caught on the crease, pushing away from the body, falling to the extra bounce for Saini. The Indians ended the day at 80 for 1, a lead of 82.

He had not played a 50-over game since November 2020, but took 3 for 31 on his comeback

Shashank Kishore13-Jul-20222:38

Giles: This defeat will leave scars

Mohammed Shami’s first ODI since November 2020 was a memorable one. Against England at The Oval on Tuesday, he became the fastest to 150 ODI wickets for India – in his 80th match – breaking Ajit Agarkar’s record of 97 games.While Jasprit Bumrah’s career-best performance of 6 for 19 in the first ODI vaulted him to the top of the rankings for bowlers, Shami also bowled a crucial spell in the series opener. His 3 for 31 in seven overs included the wickets of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler as the hosts were shot out for 110, paving the way for India’s first ten-wicket victory in an ODI against England.”The ball was stopping a bit, seaming a bit, so it was important to bowl in the right areas and keep our line in check,” Shami told India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey during an interview for BCCI.tv.Related

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“If your [bowling] areas are good on a surface where it seams and swings, it’s difficult to get away. We kept it simple and got rewarded with wickets. The more you run behind wickets, the more it doesn’t happen. I kept it simple, and the results are there to see.”Shami set the tone in the first over after Rohit Sharma chose to bowl. He hit Jonny Bairstow on the thigh with his second delivery, beat him with extra bounce two balls later, and ended the over with one that squared up the England opener.When Bumrah struck twice in his opening over, dismissing Jason Roy and Joe Root, it was the resumption of a bowling partnership that India had not seen in an ODI for more than 18 months.”It was a long break. But once you get comfortable, you know your responsibilities” – Shami•Getty Images

“We’ve been playing together for so long that in two overs you understand what’s happening and what you have to do,” Shami said of his partnership with Bumrah. “When I bowled the first over, you could see the ball was seaming around; there was swing on offer. Bumrah also then tried to incorporate the same length and got wickets also.”I was away for three years [18 months] – it was a long break – but once you get comfortable in this environment, you know your responsibilities. It’s important to have a clear mind. What to do, what lengths to bowl, how to use your variations everyone knows, but you need to be clear about it from within.”After the defeat in the Edgbaston Test, Shami was not part of the T20I squad that won the series 2-1, and he now has the chance to help India seal the ODI series at Lord’s on Thursday.”Personally, my plan is to just keep it simple. That is my mantra,” he said. “You only have to think if the wickets are different. Otherwise, if you repeat the same things over and over again, chances of success is that much more. Only if the wickets are slow and dry, there’s scope for you to change plans, else just carry on doing the same things.”

Head coach Walsh believes that the tour will give West Indies an opportunity to test their depth ahead of the 2023 T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2022West Indies Women are set to host New Zealand Women for the first time in eight years, for three ODIs and five T20Is in September-October. All the games will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.”I am very happy that we will be hosting New Zealand in the West Indies,” Courtney Walsh, West Indies head coach, said in a CWI release. “They are a very competitive team, and this will make for a great series for our team. As it comes just after we’ve had the Women’s regional tournaments and the Women’s CPL, it will be a great fillip for our players.

Fixtures (all games in Antigua)

1st ODI: September 16
2nd ODI: September 19
3rd ODI: September 22

1st T20I: September 26
2nd T20I: September 28
3rd T20I: October 1
4th T20I: October 4
5th T20I: October 6

“We will also have an eye on the T20 World Cup [to be played in South Africa in February] around the corner. So, this will give the squad a chance to showcase all their skills, and also give us, the coaching staff, a chance to look at what depth we have.”West Indies are currently holding a specialist camp that includes some new players. There will be another camp in Antigua after the Women’s CPL.”In addition, the lead selector was with the West Indies U-19 Women’s team for their series in Florida and has identified some exciting prospects to consider,” Walsh said. “So, we should have enough cricket before the New Zealand series starts.”The last time New Zealand toured the West Indies was in 2014. The visitors lost the ODI series 4-0 before bouncing back to clinch the T20I series 2-1, winning the final game in Super Over.

International players will have a couple of windows to appear in the tournament this season

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2022Meg Lanning will continue her break from the game as the Australian domestic season gets underway with the expanded WNCL, but a host of international players will be on display during the opening rounds which take place ahead of the WBBL.Even though they are missing Lanning, Victoria can still call on Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland from their contracted Australia names when they face South Australia while Sophie Molineux will captain the side having taken over during the winter.Related

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South Australia, meanwhile, are stocked with international names. Megan Schutt has been named captain while the side could feature Tahlia McGrath, Darcie Brown and Amanda-Jade Wellington.New South Wales will be captained by Alyssa Healy who will be joined by Ash Gardner against Queensland at North Sydney Oval. Others with international experience include Hannah Darlington and Erin Burns, while pace bowler Maitlan Brown has featured in squads without yet making a debut.

Opening WNCL fixtures

September 23 SA vs VIC, Karen Rolton Oval; WA vs ACT, WACA; NSW vs QLD, North Sydney

September 25 SA vs VIC, Karen Rolton Oval, WA vs ACT, WACA; NSW vs QLD, North Sydney

September 30 NSW vs WA, North Sydney

October 1 QLD vs ACT, Bill Pippen Oval

October 2 NSW vs WA, North Sydney

October 3 QLD vs ACT, Bill Pippen Oval

October 4 VIC vs TAS, Junction Oval

October 6 VIC vs TAS, Junction Oval

Queensland will be captained by Jess Jonassen and their squad features Grace Harris who was a key part of the Commonwealth Games success. Georgia Redmayne has been a regular reserve player for Australia.Western Australia will be able to call on Beth Mooney, who made the big off-season move by switching from Queensland, and breakout bowling star Alana King. Their first opponents, ACT, are the only side without an Australia-listed player.Tasmania, who begin their title defence next month, have Nicola Carey as a current Australia representative while Heather Graham has also featured in recent squads.From the players in Australia’s contracts list announced earlier this year, Rachael Haynes won’t feature having announced her retirement along with the Victoria pair of Tayla Vlaeminck (foot) and Georgia Wareham (ACL) who remain long-term injuries.The WNCL has increased to a 12-game tournament this season with each side playing each other twice before the final. The competition begins on Friday with six sides in action with the fixtures repeated on Sunday. Tasmania and South Australia will play twice in these opening rounds while the other teams have four games.The tournament then resumes in mid-December when Australia will be in India for T20Is, but there should be another opportunity for those players to appear after Christmas before the visit of Pakistan in January. The latter part takes place in February when the T20 World Cup is on in South Africa.

Despite never playing top-flight cricket in Australia, both players are working hard to perfect their game plans in time for the T20 World Cup

Shashank Kishore09-Oct-2022Suryakumar Yadav and Harshal Patel are among five members of India’s T20 World Cup squad who have not played top-flight cricket in Australia. The others are Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda.Suryakumar was in contention to make the trip in December 2020, following a prolific IPL for Mumbai Indians in the UAE, but narrowly missed out. Harshal last played in Australia in 2009, on an India Under-19 tour. Now, as they gear up for India’s T20 World Cup campaign, the pair is excited and nervous at the same time.Related

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“I was really looking forward to come here and attend the first practice session,” Suryakumar told the BCCI website on Sunday. “Just to get on to the ground, have a walk, have a run and feel how it’s like here. The first net session was really amazing.”Obviously there were few butterflies and a lot of excitement, but at the same time you also have to see how you put yourself in that atmosphere and how you peak at the right time. Yes, there’s excitement but it’s also important to follow the processes and routines.”The Indian team will play two warm-up games against a Western Australia XI at the WACA ground, the venue of their training sessions, starting Monday. Since arriving on October 6, the 14-member playing squad, along with India’s net bowling contingent, had a day off to recuperate and have since held two skill-based training sessions.Suryakumar, currently No. 2 among T20I batters in the ICC rankings, wants to start “a little slow.” Foremost on his checklist is adjusting to the pace and bounce and adapting to ground dimensions significantly bigger than what he’s used to in India.Suryakumar is coming off a prolific home season and the Asia Cup. In the home T20I series against South Africa, he was the highest run-scorer across both sides, hitting 119 runs in three innings.”I just wanted to see what the pace of the wicket [is] and bounce, so I’m starting a little slow,” he said about playing in Australia. “Ground dimensions, people say grounds are very big, so it’s important to ready your game plan [accordingly], how you’re going to score runs, all those things are important. There’s cold breeze here, but otherwise conditions are mostly like in India. I’m really looking forward to it.”Harshal Patel – “In these two weeks, the idea is to acclimatise weather and skill-wise, adapt quickly”•BCCI

Unlike Suryakumar, who featured in last year’s T20 World Cup, this will be Harshal’s first such tournament. The next two weeks will be crucial for Harshal, given he’s just recovered from a rib injury that kept him out of action for six weeks. His returns during the recent T20I series against Australia weren’t prolific, but the team management isn’t worried yet.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo in August, Harshal had spoken about how the prospect of playing on bigger grounds had got him to work on subtle changes in the length of his slower variations.”I’ve explored a little bit in terms of the lengths I can bowl with the slower ball,” he had said. “Usually when I bowl the slower balls, it’s mainly fuller or at the good length. But now I’ve started bowling more shorter slower balls which are working out very well for me.”After two training sessions in Australia, Harshal believes it’s important to rev up slowly. “It’s obviously quite cold,” he said. “We’re slowly acclimatising. The atmosphere is amazing with the team and we’re looking forward to building up to the first game [against Pakistan in Melbourne on October 23]. In these two weeks, the idea is to acclimatise to the weather and skill-wise, adapt quickly and by the time our first game comes around we should be in our peak physical and mental condition.”After the Perth leg, India play two warm-up games against Australia (October 17) and New Zealand (October 19) in Brisbane, before flying to Melbourne for their tournament opener against Pakistan. The other teams in India’s Super 12 group include South Africa, Bangladesh and two qualifiers.

Inglis’ departure leaves Matthew Wade as the only wicketkeeper in Australia’s 15-member squad

Andrew McGlashan19-Oct-2022 • Updated on 20-Oct-2022Cameron Green has been called into Australia’s T20 World Cup squad after Josh Inglis, the reserve wicketkeeper and a spare batter, was ruled out due to a hand injury he suffered playing golf in Sydney on Wednesday.It means that Australia will not have a back-up wicketkeeper in their 15-member squad, and while a replacement could be added if Matthew Wade was injured, that would not cover a problem emerging on the day of a game which would leave them scrambling within their ranks for someone to take the gloves.In that – albeit unlikely – scenario, the job would probably go to David Warner, who once previously kept with during a Test against Pakistan in 2014, although captain Aaron Finch has also done it briefly in the BBL. Coach Andrew McDonald even floated Mitchell Starc as an option.Related

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Australia have previously gone into World Cups without another frontline wicketkeeper, including the 2015 ODI event on home soil where Brad Haddin was the only option.”If you look back over World Cup squad selections, there have been plenty of times where Australia have gone in with only one frontline keeper in the squad,” McDonald said. “And that is to give greater flexibility to batting and bowling structures in the team. It’s a conversation about how we want to give ourselves the most options, rather than potentially covering the small risk that is there.”Inglis was assessed in hospital yesterday after his right hand was cut when a golf club snapped, and although the timeline for the recovery is not long – and there is no tendon damage – he will now miss the tournament.The selectors spent the day weighting up their options for a replacement which also included a like-for-like in Alex Carey, Josh Philippe or Ben McDermott, alongside a call-up for pace bowler Nathan Ellis, but in the end opted for Green who had been part of Australia’s T20I set-up in the lead-up to the tournament.Green had impressed on the tour of India with two rapid half-centuries opening the batting, but did not enjoy the same success against West Indies or England at home. However, before Green’s call-up was rubberstamped, McDonald had confirmed that Green would not come straight into the XI.”Does it create a headache if we bring him in? No, it probably just gives us more options,” he told reporters at the SCG. “If Cameron Green was considered in the starting XI before the tournament started, then he would have been in the 15; and he’s not, so if he was to come in, there’s no way – unless there’s another injury – that he would come into the starting XI.”Inglis, who has played nine T20Is so far, was anyway unlikely to feature in Australia’s starting XI during the tournament unless there was an injury to Wade, or a concussion substitute was required.He was also part of the squad for the previous men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE. However, he featured in just three of Australia’s games leading into this tournament: two matches on the tour of India and then the warm-up game against same opponents at the Gabba on Monday.”The whole group is flat,” McDonald said. “Even though he hasn’t played a lot of cricket, he’s an important member of the squad, [and] was part of the last World Cup campaign as well. He’s obviously gutted; it’s a tight-knit group and any time something like this happens you feel for that person.”Inglis has made a good impression in his limited opportunities, with a strike rate of 141.02 from his inventive batting. He is viewed as the natural successor to Wade whenever he retires.Also, England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of the tournament due to a golf mishap too, when he suffered a badly-broken ankle caused by slipping on a tee box on the day the squad was announced.07.24GMT This story was updated after Cameron Green was confirmed as Josh Inglis’ replacement