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The PCB’s official policy does not necessitate the provision of daily allowances when three meals and accommodation are provided

Danyal Rasool14-Sep-2024Pakistan women’s team have not received daily allowances during their ongoing training camp in Multan, which started on September 1. The women’s squad, which is at the camp ahead of Pakistan’s three T20I matches against South Africa next week, will receive allowances once the series starts.But the decision marks a change in policy from how the allowance structure was determined at previous camps, and is also in contrast to how it is handled for the men’s national team.In the past, ESPNcricinfo understands that the women’s team received modest daily allowances at training camps. This time, however, the PCB is providing accommodation as well as three meals to the members at the camp; at previous camps, three daily meals were not provided. A PCB official told ESPNcricinfo the board’s policy dictated that if three meals a day and hotel accommodation were made available, no daily allowances over and above that would be provided.Related

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In theory, that remains true for the men’s side, too, but is rarely, if ever, put into practice. During the most recent men’s training camp, held ahead of Pakistan’s Test series against Bangladesh, the players were offered daily allowances over and above the accommodation and any food provided. However, three free full meals were not made available free of cost, with the allowances considered compensation in lieu of that. At previous camps over the years, the men’s side have almost always been awarded daily allowances, often with up to two meals freely available.It is not clear why the change in meal and allowance structure has kicked in for the women’s side, which has effectively seen a reduction in the recompense offered at training camps. At the Pakistan women’s camp in early April in Karachi, before the start of their white-ball home series against the West Indies, three full meals as well as some monetary daily allowances were provided to all participants. Thereafter, though, the PCB has deemed offering financial recompense surplus to requirements if three full meals are being provided.ESPNcricinfo understands the change in policy has left a number of the women’s players disappointed, with some believing being away from home for a camp merits beyond merely meeting the basic daily needs of lodging and food. There were hopes this would improve at future camps, with the women’s side gearing up for the women’s T20 World Cup, to be held next month.The situation arises at a time when the PCB’s scale of expenditure in other avenues of the game is at an all-time high, particularly in the form of stadium upgrades believed to cost the PCB tens of billions of rupees. The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is being rebuilt almost from scratch, with the National Stadium in Karachi also seeing a significant overhaul. There is some construction work due at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium too, as the PCB prepare to host the Champions Trophy in 2025, the first ICC event they are scheduled to host in nearly three decades.Meanwhile, the ongoing Champions One-Day Cup, the domestic 50-over competition, has also seen a large financial outlay. The tournament will see the PCB offer prize money of around PKR 49 million, nearly ten times what was on offer last year, and almost half of what the PSL made available earlier this year. The mentors for the five sides – all former cricketers – are also being paid huge salaries – approximately PKR 5 million per month in three-year deals that will, all told, cost the PCB around PKR 900 million in mentor salary payments.The women’s central and domestic contracts are also yet to be finalised and announced. Last year, 19 women were awarded central contracts from August 1 2023, due to run till June 30, 2025. However, they were to be assessed at the end of the first 12 months, with six further weeks having passed since that assessment date, with any revisions to the contracts still pending. The men’s central contracts, too, are well past their assessment date, and though they are expected imminently, there is no official word yet on when any changes will be announced.

Australia’s stand-in captain previously had surgery on the same elbow in 2019

Andrew McGlashan21-Jan-20250:46

Smith: Missing the 10k-run mark ‘hurt a little bit’

Steven Smith was fearful he had done significant damage to his elbow when he felt pain throwing in the BBL last week in what would been a major jolt to Australia’s plans in Sri Lanka.But after advice from a specialist Smith was cleared to join the training camp in Dubai where he arrived on Tuesday and is planning on resuming batting in the next couple of days. He is Australia’s captain for the two Tests in Galle with Pat Cummins on paternity leave.Related

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Smith’s scare came to the same elbow he had ligament surgery on in 2019 – which required lengthy rehab – and it was memories of that which were at the forefront of his mind at the SCG last Friday.Outlining how the problem occurred, Smith explained he had taken a catch off David Warner, flicked it back inside the rope and was then throwing the ball in when he felt the pain.”Straight away I thought ‘oh jeez, that hurt’,” Smith said. “That was a similar sort of feeling to when I ruptured my ligament back in 2019, so I was a little bit worried for a little bit. But scans showed fortunately my ligament is still intact, the one that I got repaired. I’ve got a little bit of muscle damage, and it’s a small millimetre of the ligament on the bone that’s doing something.Smith added he believes the issue may have stemmed from a blow he took on the shoulder from Jhye Richardson earlier in the BBL which left a significant bruise on his right shoulder and led to him adjusting his throwing technique to compensate.Steven Smith will lead Australia in Sri Lanka•Getty Images

While he has been cleared of major problems with the elbow, Smith may be limited in how much he can throw in the field although as he will largely be a close catcher in a series where spin is expected to dominate that shouldn’t be a huge issue.”In terms of batting I’m pretty comfortable I’ll be able to get into it and play with some tape on it,” he said.Smith will start the Sri Lanka series on 9999 Test runs having twice been dismissed within touching distance of the 10,000 landmark during the final Test against India at the SCG.The full Australia squad, minus injured left-arm spinnerMatt Kuhnemann, is now in Dubai with Beau Webster and Mitchell Starc having arrived yesterday alongside Smith. They are preparing at the ICC Academy on bespoke pitches to replicate conditions they expect to face in Sri Lanka.”I was watching a bit there and there was a lot of variation in the spin and some bounce as well,” Smith said. “That’s the reason we are here in Dubai, we are able to do what we want to do with these wickets, try and help guys develop game plans when it does get extreme. Guys are going to learn over this week and hold us in good stead for the tour.”An update on Kuhnemann’s availability is expected in the next couple of days after he underwent surgery on a compound fracture-dislocation in his right thumb suffered in the BBL last week.

First win at Sophia Gardens since 1981 can’t make up for disappointment of missing out on promotion

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay26-Sep-2025Lancashire 374 (Wells 78, Jones 62, Balderson 51, van der Gugten 5-85) and 134 for 3 (Jennings 47) beat Glamorgan 265 (van der Gugten 53, Bailey 5-51) and 241 (Cooke 52, Balderson 4-75) by seven wicketsLancashire wrapped up their 2025 Rothesay County Championship campaign with a three-day win over Glamorgan thanks to a one-day style evening session.Stand-in captain Josh Bohannon oversaw his side’s first County Championship win at Sophia Gardens since 1981 against Glamorgan, whose promotion was confirmed last week. It was also Glamorgan’s first red-ball defeat since April, in departing captain Sam Northeast’s last appearance.After controlling the game from day one, Lancashire took eight wickets, including 4 for 75 for George Balderson before Keaton Jennings’ top-order blaze of 47 from 33 balls set the visitors on their way to chasing 133 inside 26 overs remaining in the day.The north-west county provisionally rise to third in an unsuccessful attempt to gain promotion from their first season back in Division Two while Glamorgan will play in Division One for the first time since 2005 next year.Resuming with the intention and requirement to bat all day, Northeast and Zain-ul-Hassan kept Lancashire’s bowlers at bay for a 58-run partnership before the former’s dubious lbw for 21 in his last Glamorgan innings, and Zain’s reckless reverse sweep on 45 chalked the hard work off.Balderson’s impressive stint of 25 overs all told gave a feel of him nagging at Glamorgan batters for the whole innings. On a varying pitch, his skiddy medium-pace with Matty Hurst stood up to the stumps for the majority saw Billy Root and later Mason Crane pinned, the latter putting up a good fight with half-centurion Chris Cooke before being undone by the new ball straight after tea.Despite single-figure scores prominent, every other wicket seemingly kept day four in contention for Glamorgan – Colin Ingram and Cooke held things together before the wicketkeeper’s hard-fought 50 came up with a counter-attacking six while in the company of No. 11 Ned Leonard.Lancashire made no changes to batting order, seemingly happy to see through day three on a pitch that provided plenty of turn for Tom Hartley – promising signs for Crane – as well as bounce variety for seamers. The assumption was wrong. Luke Wells together with Jennings in white-ball mode belted the new-ball around to take all the pressure off.Twenty from James Harris’ fourth over left wickets of no concern before Bohannon, George Bell and Hurst continued the momentum despite two consolation wickets for Crane.With five to win, Northeast stepped up to bowl as the final act of his four-year captaincy stint.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said it was “too early” to judge Konstas following his 25 and 0 in Grenada

Andrew McGlashan08-Jul-20250:31

Watch – Konstas chops on for a duck

Australia coach Andrew McDonald saw small signs of encouragement from Sam Konstas in the second Test against West Indies but has indicated there will “great opportunity” for players to push their case for Ashes selection early in the domestic season and in Australia A matches.Konstas made 25 in the first innings in Grenada before following that with a duck during a brief period of batting late on the second day. He will play the final match at Sabina Park, the ground’s first day-night Test, which provides an opportunity to finish on a high and leave himself near the head of the selection queue for the home Ashes series later in the year.”Four games in, eight innings, it’s probably early for anyone to judge, really,” McDonald said of Konstas’ early Test career. “I think the challenges in Test cricket aren’t necessarily always your skill level or your technique. It’s dealing with the moments, the pressure, all the other things that externally come with that as well. He’s a player finding his feet in the environment.Related

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“[It was] a small step forward in the last game with that first innings. I thought the way he structured up his first 20-odd balls, he had the positive intent, he was moving a lot better compared to the game before where it looked like he was stuck in the middle and didn’t know whether to play a shot and it was either ultra-aggressive or ultra-defensive.”Konstas will likely feature in the four-day matches on the Australia A tour of India in late September before being available for the opening Sheffield Shield matches in early October with four rounds expected before the start of the Ashes.”There’s great opportunity in domestic cricket at the start of the season, and there always is leading into any Test series,” McDonald said. “We saw with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, there was opportunity for players to put their hand up there. There’s also Australia A [against Sri Lanka A] in the Top End [Darwin] at the moment, so we’re watching that closely…so it’s really about the opportunity that presents.”First and foremost, we concentrate on what’s right here, right now. Everyone will be speculating around who can come in, what possibilities are, but we’re confident the players that we’ve got here can do the job.”Prior to the tour, McDonald said it may not be possible to draw huge relevance from this tour to the Ashes and it is a view he maintains despite it having been pace-bowler dominated rather than seeing a significant role for spin.”There’s been a lot of variable bounce and sideways movement, so it’s probably not similar to Australia,” he said. “Maybe some surfaces will be. I think Perth potentially, when it does crack a little bit, it can go up and down and a little bit sideways. But I think the first four rounds of Shield cricket will draw a better connection to the Ashes than what we’re seeing here.”What we are seeing here, though, is people getting exposed at Test level, and within that exposure, the mental challenges of Test cricket are real.”Usman Khawaja has been troubled from around the wicket•Associated Press

The continued scrutiny of the top-order was eased somewhat by Cameron Green’s half-century, but is countered by the struggles of Usman Khawaja. McDonald was keen to stress that Australia have ended as comfortable winners of both Tests. West Indies crumbled in both second innings – facing just 34.3 overs in Grenada and 33.4 in Barbados – having been on even terms after two days.”For every failure in the top-order, the middle-order’s been able to get us out of those situations and vice versa,” he said. “We’ve had times when the top-order’s prospered and the middle potentially hasn’t delivered what you’d probably expect.”Ultimately the game of cricket’s matching the bowling with the batting. At the moment we’re doing that. We’re finding ways through it. Would we like to have greater output from the top-order? There’s no doubt about that. And those players would want more runs. But they’ll come.”We’ve been able to find a way through the West Indies batting order…and they’ve been quite big victories.”McDonald added he did not foresee any changes for the final Test, which will be Mitchell Starc’s 100th, although they will assess players once in Jamaica.A decision on whether to release Marnus Labuschagne from the squad will be taken once play starts. There is an option for him to rejoin for Glamorgan in the County Championship or potentially head to Darwin for the second four-day game against Sri Lanka A which starts on July 20. However, giving him a break before the August ODI series against South Africa is also a possibility.

On his poor run with the bat, Rohit says, “Sometimes it doesn’t come off, and this series it hasn’t come off, which I am very disappointed with”

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-20245:00

Rohit: This will be a low point in my career

India captain Rohit Sharma has admitted after a forgettable and India’s first ever 3-0 whitewash at home that he was “not at my best” as both captain and batter, and that his team “failed as a unit” because they made “lots of mistakes.”Chasing 147 to get any possible WTC points from a series already conceded, India crashed and burned to 121 all out against the spin of Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips.”Definitely, you know, something like this will be a very low point in my career, you know, having lost three games at home,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference. “And, yes, we, I fully take the responsibility for that as a captain and as a leader as well. I have not been at the best of my abilities right from the start of the series. And yeah, with the bat as well, I’ve not been good enough.”Related

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For a while, when Rishabh Pant was counterattacking with a 57-ball 64, there was hope for the hosts. But before that it was 29 for 5, and after Pant fell, to a contentious third-umpire’s decision, it all unravelled quite quickly. Rohit looked back on the series as a whole and felt let down by his own decision making.”Right from the start, I said it. You know, I made a decision about batting first on that Bangalore pitch, which was not right,” he said. “And certain tactical errors also, which didn’t go my way. You obviously take chances with those decisions. Sometimes it comes off. Sometimes it doesn’t. And this time around, it didn’t come off, the certain decisions that I took. So, yeah, I was not at my best of my leadership. And probably cost us the series as well.”Rohit’s poor series coincided with an excellent one for Tom Latham – who assumed full-time captaincy of the team just last month – and his men.”New Zealand played better than us throughout the series,” he said at the presentation. “There were lots of mistakes that we made throughout the series, and we have to accept it.Virat Kohli has also been going through a lull•AFP/Getty Images

“The first and the second Test, we didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings. And we were very much behind the game. This game, we got that 30 [28]-runs lead and we felt that we were a little bit ahead of the game. That target was chaseable. All we had to do was a little bit of application, which we failed to do as a unit.”Questions about Rohit’s own batting form have been cropping up this series. Apart from a 52 in the second innings of the first Test in Bengaluru, he has managed scores of 2, 0, 8, 18 and 11. On ESPNcricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar also spoke about Rohit’s captaincy, and what he called T20 tactics in a Test match.In this chase in Mumbai, Rohit hit two fours in a run-a-ball 11, but fell when he couldn’t get his favourite shot – the pull – right against Matt Henry.”Look, when you’re chasing a target like that, you want runs on the board as well. And that is something that was there in my mind,” Rohit said. “It just didn’t come off. When it doesn’t come off, it doesn’t look that great. There are certain ideas, certain methods that I go into bat with. Sometimes it doesn’t come off, and this series it hasn’t come off, which I am very disappointed with.”The other senior batter in the side – Virat Kohli (93 runs in six innings) – has also been going through a lull, which has forced a need for serious introspection. India will be facing the reigning Test match champions Australia in just over two weeks’ time.”Obviously, it’s [his and Kohli’s lack of runs] a cause of concern without a doubt,” Rohit said. “If the batters are not performing, that is a cause of concern. But what’s done is done now. I think as a player, as a captain, as a team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn’t manage to achieve here. There is a good opportunity for us to go and do something really, really special in Australia.”But right now, it’s just trying to understand what we didn’t do right [against New Zealand], what are the things that we need to do better as a team. We made a lot of mistakes, so I think those mistakes need to be addressed and something that we will talk about. And then moving forward, when you land in Australia, I think it’s important to just focus on that particular series, the first Test match. You know, it’s a five Test match series, so it’s important to break down those Test series, those Test matches and focus on one Test and then just take it from there.”As always, there were positives. In the batting department as well, where the younger players – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, and Washington Sundar showed, at various points, that runs could be scored on tough pitches.”Those guys showed how to bat on these surfaces,” Rohit said about the younger lot. “You have to be slightly ahead, and be proactive when you’re playing on a pitch like that. Which we all know. Which we have discussed many a time in the last three or four years. We are aware of what we need to do. It’s just that, this was an unfortunate series where it didn’t come off. We tried to do certain things, it didn’t come off. Which is why we lagged behind in the series.”

Dan Lawrence also back in draft with Spirit hoping to sign Jamie Smith in central contract spot

Matt Roller25-Feb-2025Zak Crawley has suffered the latest blow of a challenging winter, losing his Hundred contract with London Spirit in a squad clearout by their new men’s coach, Justin Langer.Crawley missed the Hundred in 2024 after breaking a finger in England’s Test series against West Indies, and has struggled for form since making his comeback in Pakistan. He made 78 in his first Test back in Multan but scored 113 runs in his next 10 innings and was comprehensively worked over by Matt Henry in New Zealand, dismissed by him in all six innings of the tour.Last month, he went to South Africa in a bid to rediscover his form but was dropped by his SA20 franchise Sunrisers Eastern Cape after 88 runs in eight innings. Now, he has lost his spot as London Spirit’s designated central-contract player – a position worth £200,000 in 2025 – and will likely head into next month’s draft, with Langer hoping to sign Jamie Smith in that spot instead.Related

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The ECB will hold a mini ‘central contract draft’ later this week after Spirit and Welsh Fire opted for a reshuffle, with the two teams understood to have lined up Smith and Chris Woakes respectively. Crawley – along with Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed – is also available at that stage, though Fire have kept hold of several top-order batting options including Jonny Bairstow, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and new signing Steven Smith.Spirit have also released Dan Lawrence, who will be replaced as captain by Kane Williamson after overseeing three wins in the last two seasons, though have kept hold of Crawley’s England team-mate Ollie Pope. Langer will make the first pick in the men’s draft on March 12, with Jamie Overton, Reece Topley and David Willey among the leading domestic players set to be available.Men’s Hundred retentions, 2025•ECB/The Hundred

The ECB confirmed which players have been retained for 2025 on Tuesday morning, with each men’s and women’s team allowed to re-sign up to 10 squad members from last summer. Most teams have also used the new direct signing model to bring in a new overseas player ahead of the draft, though four women’s teams opted to retain the same overseas trio.Spirit have played the system in the women’s Hundred to bring back 11 members of their title-winning squad from last year. Heather Knight, their captain, has not officially re-signed but will fill their vacant £65,000 spot at the draft, with Spirit able to bring her back via the right-to-match (RTM) mechanism if another team tries to sign her first.Their biggest decision was to prioritise the retention of Australia’s Grace Harris – who missed last year through injury – ahead of her compatriot Meg Lanning. Lanning has instead crossed the Thames via a direct signing, and will link up with her Delhi Capitals coach Jonathan Batty at Oval Invincibles, the 2021 and 2022 winners.In the men’s Hundred, Overton’s late decision to leave Manchester Originals came as a surprise. He was expected to stay at Old Trafford on a £200,000 contract but a change of heart saw Originals offer him £120,000 in order to keep a top-end spot free for an overseas player. He has therefore opted to leave, with Spirit and Trent Rockets potential suitors.Women’s Hundred retentions, 2025•ECB/The Hundred

The three teams that reached the knockout stages last year – Invincibles, Southern Brave and Birmingham Phoenix – have retained the maximum 10 players, including the direct signings of Rashid Khan, Faf du Plessis and Trent Boult respectively. Fire have had the biggest clearout, keeping only six players – all of whom are predominantly batters.Trent Rockets, the 2022 champions, have also had an overhaul, with captain Lewis Gregory, Luke Wood, Alex Hales and Rashid among their departures. Topley is leaving Northern Superchargers, Rehan and George Garton are leaving Brave, and Invincibles have let Dawid Malan go.As ESPNcricinfo reported last week, several teams have leaned on their new investors in recruitment. After concerns over Nicholas Pooran’s availability, Originals signed Heinrich Klaasen, who represents their new co-owners’ SA20 franchise, Durban’s Super Giants. Rashid, du Plessis and Smith are also joining teams affiliated to franchises they play for elsewhere.

New Zealand captain believes the batting collapse on the third morning was the definitive portion of the match

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Sep-2024New Zealand tend not to do especially well in Galle. Of their five Test defeats from as many games at the ground, one has been by an innings, another by ten wickets, and one more by 202 runs. Their latest Test at the venue, which ended in a 63-run defeat to Sri Lanka on Monday, when they went into the fifth morning with an outside shot of victory – 68 more runs to win, with two wickets remaining – represents their closest result here.But two players, in particular, stuck out. In his first outing in steaming conditions, and on a dry deck, seamer Will O’Rourke was frequently menacing – often touching 140kph – while sending down short deliveries on a pitch not especially conducive to short bowling. Vitally, for a bowler in his third Test, there were also no hugely loose spells. His takings were 8 for 104. Six of those dismissals were of top- or middle-order batters. Captain Tim Southee was suitably impressed by the 23-year-old.”Will’s had a very short Test career so far, and he’s certainly announced himself,” Southee said after the match. “We saw in New Zealand how dangerous he can be. He’s got the skills to have a very good Test career. For him to come to his first Test in the subcontinent and walk away with a very impressive eight wickets for the match is nothing short of special. He’s got a great head on his shoulders, and he’s a big guy. So there’s a lot to like about Will O’Rourke.”Related

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On the batting front, 24-year-old Rachin Ravindra produced his second-highest Test score – a characterful 92 on a treacherous fourth-innings pitch – as New Zealand pursued a tall 275. Ravindra is not quite so new to internationals, of course, having lit up last year’s ODI World Cup in India. But he remains a batter still finding his feet at the top level, and the clear-headed approach he took on day four – pouncing almost unnerringly on errors of length, while endeavouring to keep the score ticking – was especially impressive in his third Test in Asia.”Rachin kept us in the hunt with that chase,” Southee said. “We knew it was [a] tough ask, and that it was going to take something special, with the wicket taking a lot of turn in these last couple of days. It was a great knock in those conditions.”It’s not easy to bat – the ball was spinning, and doing all sorts [of things]. For a young guy without a lot of experience in this part of the world to go out and get 90-odd was great signs for him as well. He’s another one that’s an exceptional talent, and he’s had a little taste of international cricket as well, and done exceptionally well. He’s a great young kid with a good head on his shoulders.”Tim Southee called Rachin Ravindra an “exceptional talent” after the Galle Test•AP

For Southee, it was New Zealand’s batting collapse on the third morning that was the definitive portion of the match. They had been 255 for 4 in their first innings overnight, only 50 runs adrift of Sri Lanka’s total. But they then lost six wickets for 71 runs, as the middle and lower orders succumbed to finger spinners Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis. In the end, their lead was only 35, when it had threatened to be much more.”I guess the position where we got ourselves in, in the first innings, was good. But the last four or five fell for not many, and there was an opportunity to get a bigger first-innings lead,” he said. “We knew that that second new ball was going to be tough given the nature of the wicket and the quality of the Sri Lankan spin bowlers.”If you look at those moments, if we were able to press on and get more of a lead, things could have been different. It was still a good Test match. There’s plenty of good things we can take into the next couple of days.”

Winner goes through to the final four, loser goes out

Firdose Moonda22-Jun-20241:26

Bishop: WI batters have to play freely against South Africa

Match details

West Indies vs South Africa
North Sound, Antigua, 8.30pm local

Big picture – Semi-final spots up for grabs

It isn’t actually called a quarter-final, but for all intents and purposes, it is. West Indies and South Africa meet in the T20 World Cup 2024 with the winner set to go through to the final four and the loser set to go out.

Tickets still available for crunch game

Additional tickets have been made available for the T20 World Cup game between West Indies and South Africa. They are priced at US$ 45 and can be purchased online at tickets.t20worldcup.com or at the counter at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

What may be lurking in the back of South Africa’s mind is how close five of their six games so far have been. They have snatched victories from the unlikeliest of scenarios and seem to be riding a wave of good fortune that they have failed to catch in tournaments past. They will be the first to admit that they are yet to put together the perfect game, but they boast a perfect record. Six out of six wins means they are once again being spoken of as champion material. Could this be the year South Africa finally win a T20 World Cup? West Indies might have something to say about that.The co-hosts were unbeaten through the group stage too. Though they lost to defending champions England in the Super Eight after that, they are still on track to achieving what they set out to: re-establish West Indies as a powerhouse by competing strongly and (hopefully, for them) winning a third T20 World Cup. If they score 160 and win by 52 runs, they could even go past England and top Group 2. For now, it all hinges on how they do in this match and though West Indies may take heart from sweeping South Africa 3-0 before the tournament, it’s worth remembering that that was a second-string South Africa side. The real test is now.

Form guide

West Indies WLWWW
South Africa WWWWW1:44

How can West Indies contain Quinton de Kock?

In the spotlight – Alzarri Joseph and Marco Jansen

Alzarri Joseph has the same number of tournament wickets as Anrich Nortje – 11 – at a slightly higher average (13.81 compared to 12.90) but a slightly better strike rate. Joseph has taken a wicket once every 11 balls at the tournament – and Nortje once every 13 balls – and is rightly seen as West Indies’ biggest threat with the ball.Joseph has only played two T20Is against South Africa, and in the last one took a series-winning 5 for 40 to seal a seven-run win. Four of the five batters Joseph dismissed in that match – Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen – have been part of South Africa’s XI in every game at the World Cup thus far. On his home ground, Antigua, he will have even more motivation to attempt to repeat the feat.Related

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With Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Ottneil Baartman all shining at different stages of the competition, Marco Jansen has flown under the radar despite being an important part of South Africa’s progress. The economy rate of 5.90 includes bowling mostly in the powerplay and is South Africa’s second-lowest after Baartman (though Jansen has played one more game). Though he has gone wicketless in all but one match, Jansen has been match-winning in other ways. Against England, he was tasked with the game’s penultimate over and conceded just seven runs, leaving Nortje 13 to defend. Crucially, he has adapted to conditions when some of his team-mates have not, and he is yet to be given a chance to show what he can do with the bat.

Team news – West Indies have choices to make

Shai Hope’s unbeaten 39-ball 82 opening the batting against USA may mean West Indies do not have immediate cause to bring in Kyle Mayers, who has replaced the injured Brandon King in their squad. It’s an interesting call to make because Mayers has the advantage of knowing the South African players well, from his time at the SA20, and of being West Indies’ second-leading run-scorer in the pre-World Cup series played against South Africa last month. Their other decision will be in the make-up of the bowling unit – whether to include an extra seamer in Romario Shepherd or stick to the offspin of Roston Chase.West Indies (probable): 1 Shai Hope/Kyle Mayers, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Rovman Powell (capt), 5 Andre Russell, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Romario Shepherd/Roston Chase, 8 Obed McCoy, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Gudakesh MotieThe last time South Africa played in Antigua, they opted for two spinners and left Baartman out, and may consider that combination again. However, Tabraiz Shamsi was expensive against USA, which could open the door for the other left-arm spinner in the squad: Bjorn Fortuin, who has not had a game thus far. It’s more likely South Africa will stick to what they like best, with an unchanged batting line-up and one of Shamsi or Baartman.South Africa (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi/Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich Nortje1:43

Will Kyle Mayers open against SA?

Pitch and conditions

From South Africa’s match against USA earlier in the week, North Sound seemed good for run-scoring. That was a day game and this is a night fixture, though, so there may be a slight difference. There have been two night games played at this venue in the tournament: Australia chased down 73 against Namibia inside six overs and scored 100 runs inside 12 overs when they beat Bangladesh in a rain-affected game on Friday. Rain, in fact, may be the biggest concern for the teams with the forecast not great during the day on Sunday, but the precipitation probability decreases to 17% in the evening.

Stats and trivia

• The head-to-head record between these two teams is equal: Played 22; West Indies won 11; South Africa won 11. In T20 World Cups, they have met four times, and South Africa have won three. West Indies’ only victory came in 2016
• There have only been three totals of over 200 at the T20 World Cup so far and West Indies have one of them. They scored the highest total of the tournament with their 218 against Afghanistan in the group stage. South Africa have batted first four times in six matches and average 146
• Nicholas Pooran is the tournament’s top run-scorer at the moment with 227 runs; Quinton de Kock is in third place, 40 runs behind

Quotes

“It’s important for us to continue in this vein because we see what’s at stake now.”
“This team believes that we can be really great as a unit. Obviously, with the last World Cup [in India] bowing out in the semi-finals… it’s both the character and there’s a lot of hurt. So, we just take it one game at a time and focus on trying to get the results to go our way and not looking at the negatives, just trying to highlight the positives as much as possible.”