Henriques describes the decision as ‘sad for cricket’ after Smith was deemed ineligible to play having not been initially contracted

AAP and ESPNCricinfo staff21-Jan-2022Sydney Sixers have scolded the banning of Steven Smith from the BBL finals as a nonsensical move that is “sad for cricket”.Smith’s application to play for Sixers in Saturday night’s qualifying final against Perth Scorchers has been rejected by Cricket Australia. Other BBL franchises voted against allowing Smith to play in the qualifier, a decision rubber-stamped by the CA.Related

• Peter Siddle calls for shorter BBL window

• 'Once it hit, it hit so hard' – keeping the BBL going through Covid

• How the BBL finalists stack up as Ashes stars return

• Scorchers penalised for using central replacement player incorrectly

Smith, who captained Sixers to a title in their inaugural season, wasn’t on the franchise’s playing list this tournament given the star batter was expected to be unavailable due to international commitments. The postponement of Australia’s limited-overs series against New Zealand opened the BBL door for Smith.But the CA says allowing Smith to play for Sixers would have breached rules put in place two weeks ago regarding replacement players for squads hit by Covid-related withdrawals.CA introduced a local replacement player pool (LRP) from which all franchises must pick any fill-in – had Smith been placed in that pool, he would have been available for any BBL franchise. Scorchers have already been docked a competition point for breaching this rule.”In creating the central LRP pool, it was agreed that clubs would not be able to contract LRPs from outside the pool for the remainder of the season,” CA said in a statement on Friday. “This request was denied … noting that other players returning to the BBL from international duty have been retained on club lists throughout the competition.”Steven Smith won’t be allowed to play in the BBL•Getty Images

Several of Smith’s Australian Test team-mates, including Nathan Lyon, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Scott Boland and Jhye Richardson, have returned to their BBL clubs and will play in the finals – but they were all contracted by their franchises for the tournament.Sixers captain Moises Henriques says the ruling defies CA’s desire for the BBL to feature the best Australian players.”You have got a former Australian captain, one of the best players in the world,” Henriques told reporters on Friday. “You have got IPL teams who pay multi-million dollars just to have this guy as part of their franchise. Advertising, bums on seats, eyes on TV’s – I mean, you do the math.”And we’re saying no because of a rule that is two weeks old in some Covid bubble hub. To me, I don’t get it. We’re in the top two without him … so I have got absolute belief in our domestic talent and local talent to do the job. I think it’s sad for cricket, that’s all.”Henriques understood “how those mistakes were made initially two weeks ago” when drawing up the replacement player rules.”What I do respect is that they [CA] have kept rolling with the punches – and I just can’t see why they don’t keep rolling with the punches now,” he said. “Mistakes are going to be made and the wrong calls are going to be made, but sometimes we also have to keep moving forward and stay flexible.”

His penalty has been reduced from a three-match ban to a fine of 75% of his match fee and three demerit points

Mohammad Isam09-Feb-20221:08

Ravi Bopara: My attempt to bowl a knuckle ball was mistaken for ball-tampering

Sylhet Sunrisers captain Ravi Bopara has had his penalty for “changing the condition of the ball” reduced from a three-match ban to a fine of 75% of his match fee and three demerit points.The incident had occurred during Sylhet’s game against Khulna Tigers on February 7, and, initially, match referee Debabrata Paul had imposed the ban. But following Bopara’s appeal on February 8, the BPL technical committee reduced the match referee’s ruling.Later, at a press conference* after the match against Comilla Victorians, Bopara claimed that his grip for the knuckle ball was mistaken for ball-tampering. Bopara brought a ball to the press conference room anticipating the question. Showing how he bowls the knuckle ball, he explained that he grips it in a particular way if the ball is wet.”I bowl a knuckle ball where I run in hiding the ball,” he said. “Sometimes I run in holding it like this and that . It is not easy to get this grip, especially with the wet ball. You have to find the best part of the ball to put it. Otherwise, if the ball is wet, it can fly and you can bowl no-balls [for height].”I think there was a mistake there. It is disappointing but this is life.”Related

• Sylhet docked five runs for changing the condition of the ball

Bopara was caught on camera running his finger over the ball during the ninth over of the Khulna innings. The on-field umpires Mahfuzur Rahman and Prageeth Rambukwella duly stopped play and changed the ball during the over, and docked Sylhet five runs. They had brought the charge against Bopara to the match referee, relating to changing the condition of the ball which is a breach of clause 41.3 of the BPL’s match playing conditions.A BCB statement on Friday read: “The technical committee reversed the suspension and executed the fine in accordance with the authority awarded to it in Article 8.2.3.4 of the [tournament’s] code of conduct which states that ‘the Technical Committee shall have the power to increase or decrease, amend or otherwise substitute a new decision on the appropriateness (or otherwise) of the sanction imposed at first instance’. It is further confirmed as per Article 8.2.3.6 that, ‘Any decision made by the Technical Committee under this Article 8.2, shall be the full, final and complete disposition of the matter and will be binding on all parties’.”If Bopara gets another demerit point during this tournament, he will get a one-match suspension. Every four demerit points translate into a one-match suspension as per Article 7.5 of the code of conduct.*1740 GMT The copy was updated after the press conference

Uncapped left-armer Ben Dwarshuis has been added to a squad already missing a host of first-choice names

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2022Kane Richardson has been ruled out of Australia’s limited-overs tour of Pakistan due a hamstring injury and will be replaced by New South Wales left-armer Ben Dwarshuis.Richardson, who was the most experienced pace bowler in an already depleted squad, aggravated the injury during training in Melbourne ahead of the team’s departure to Lahore.”Although the injury is considered minor it was decided the long trip to Pakistan along with four games in eight days and short turnarounds it was in Richardson’s best interests to remain home,” a Cricket Australia statement said.Dwarshuis, who also plays for Sydney Sixers, is uncapped at international level but was previously part of Australia’s T20 squad during a tri-series in 2017-18 and has been part of the IPL. If he features in the ODI side during the three-match series, it would come after just nine List A matches for New South Wales.Richardson’s absence leaves the pace attack to be led by Jason Behrendorff and Sean Abbott alongside Nathan Ellis, supplemented by allrounders Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis.Multi-format quicks Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been rested for the white-ball portion of the tour. Hazlewood and Cummins are both part of the upcoming IPL.Captain Aaron Finch was confident the squad still had the depth to compete in Pakistan.”One thing that will help is the guys have played a lot of T20 cricket,” he said. “They’re quite inexperienced for Australia but I think playing T20 cricket will help them in that regard. There’s a lot of skill in the group and guys that have been around one-day cricket for a long time domestically as well.”Having a lot of a lot of faith in their own ability is really important. When you have got guys like Abbott, he’s been around for a long time [and] Behrendorff. They’ve played a lot of state cricket, so I think it’ll be fine.”Australia only played three ODIs last year – on the tour of West Indies – with home matches this season against New Zealand postponed due to Covid-19 border restrictions. They have won all three of their series in the ODI Super League with 2-1 victories over England (away) and India (home) alongside the West Indies success.

Knight Riders will come into this game with confidence, having displayed their bowling might in their season opener

Shashank Kishore29-Mar-2022

Big picture

Brendon McCullum in purple. Mike Hesson in red and gold. Two men who orchestrated New Zealand’s rise as a white-ball force during their inspirational run to the 2015 ODI World Cup final will find themselves on opposite sides as Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers Bangalore.Then there’s Dinesh Karthik, who will be plotting against the very guys he was playing with six months ago. From deciding when to bowl Sunil Narine and when to unleash Andre Russell, he will now be giving his Royal Challengers mates a blueprint on how to counter those very players.Knight Riders displayed their bowling might in beating Chennai Super Kings in their opener. They covered so much ground that the batters simply had to turn up and play sensibly to seal the deal, which they did.

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Royal Challengers ran into two unknowns in Odean Smith and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, whose ball-striking and fearlessness stood out as Punjab Kings pulled off a coup. With Devdutt Padikkal gone, young Anuj Rawat has been given the opportunity to play freely at the top. Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli held the innings together before teeing off, while Karthik found his finishing gears.With Glenn Maxwell set to join the side later this week, their batting seems solid. The bowling will need some sorting, and very quickly, for a string of wins in the first half sets teams up nicely.Knight Riders, who beat Royal Challengers in the Eliminator last year, during their bull run to the IPL final, may have a slight edge on the back of a roaring start. It is Royal Challengers’ chance to prove Sunday was an aberration.Andre Russell put up an all-round performance in Knight Riders’ season opener•BCCI

Possible XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 David Willey, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Sidharth KaulKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sam Billings/Mohammad Nabi, 6 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Shivam Mavi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Strategy punt

Last season, Kohli’s strike rate against spin was the lowest among the 20-plus players to have scored over 100 runs. In the opening game two nights ago, he struck at 142 against spin in a sign of him possibly trying to correct that. Knight Riders would want to try and apply the spin-strangle with the introduction of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy when Kohli comes on. Both spinners, in addition to operating in the middle overs, can bowl with the new ball, too. So coming on early shouldn’t be a problem.Since IPL 2020, Knight Riders are one of three attacks that have conceded 10+ runs an over in the death overs. Shivam Mavi, Russell and Pat Cummins, who isn’t here yet, have been a constant. They would do well to space overs out in such a way that they have one or two of Narine and Chakravarthy at the end to mix things up. In the opening game against Super Kings, they conceded 11.6 runs per over in the last five; the final three went for 47.

Stats that matter

• Only Deepak Chahar (42) and Trent Boult (27) have taken more wickets than Umesh Yadav in powerplays since IPL 2018
• du Plessis (1170) is only one of three players to have tallied a combined 1000-plus runs in the tournament since the 2020 season. KL Rahul (1296) and Shikhar Dhawan (1248) occupy the top two spots
• Russell’s 75 sixes are the second most in the tournament since 2019. KL Rahul leads the pack with 78 sixes
• Ajinkya Rahane needs 15 runs to become the ninth Indian to score 4000 IPL runs. If he gets there, he will be the fifth-fastest to do so

The Commonwealth Games have also agreed to grant accreditation to Bismah’s infant daughter

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2022Pakistan have announced a 15-woman squad for the tri-series in Ireland and the upcoming Commonwealth Games, with Bismah Maroof to captain the side through both assignments. The squad is unchanged from the one that achieved a clean sweep against Sri Lanka in a T20 series last week, with Player of the Series Tuba Hassan rewarded with a retention. Three reserve players – Ghulam Fatima, Sadaf Shamas and Umme Hani – have also been included.In another development, the Commonwealth Games agreed to issue accreditation to Bismah’s infant daughter Fatima and her mother, who will now stay in the Commonwealth village. The Games had initially declined to issue accreditation for the two, asking the PCB to remove two members of their original travelling squad to accommodate them. ESPNcricinfo understands the Games have backtracked, and will issue the accreditations without requiring a reduction in personnel elsewhere.”I want to thank the Commonwealth Games for accepting our request to accommodate our captain Bismah Maroof’s family at the games village which will allow her to focus on the task at hand without any worries about her young infant daughter,” head of women’s cricket Tania Mallick said.”Following a successful series against Sri Lanka, we have decided to retain the same winning combination,” chief selector Asmavia Iqbal said. “Not only our senior cricketers in the side displayed great cricketing acumen also our youngsters were outstanding and have raised their hands whenever the team needed them to.”We are delighted with the start Tuba Hassan has had to her international career and feel her leg-spin will be a potent weapon for us in the days ahead. Ayesha Naseem produced a match winning innings in the second match of the T20Is against Sri Lanka and proved her big-hitting ability.”The tri-series in Ireland and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will test the abilities of our players and I have all the belief in them that they will live up to the expectations and show consistent results.”Pakistan will take on T20 world champions Australia and hosts Ireland in a tri-series in Belfast from July 16 to 24 and play Barbados, India and Australia in the Commonwealth Games on July 29, 31 and August 3. They will leave for the UK on July 12, before which they will have a training camp in Islamabad.Squad for the Ireland tri-series and the Commonwealth Games:Bismah Maroof (capt), Aiman Anwer, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza (wk), Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal and Tuba Hassan.

Commanding innings sets up comfortable victory in challenging conditions at Canterbury

David Hopps05-Jun-2022Before Joe Denly set his T20 season to rights in startling fashion at Canterbury, the nationwide batting averages in the Blast did not make attractive reading. Of the players who have made 100 runs or more in this season’s tournament, nobody had scored more slowly.If Kent’s defence of their T20 crown was going badly, with defeats in their first five matches, Denly was feeling the pain more than most. For a player with 44 England appearances across three formats, a strike rate of 93.60 per 100 balls was not the sort of outcome he was used to.He will be feeling a lot better now. His uninhibited 110 from 58 balls on a gripping, used surface, was totally divorced from the difficulties experienced by virtually every other batter in the match, a focused attempt to hit his way into form, and to carry the fight, which paid off handsomely. It swept Kent to the unlikely riches of 192 for 8 and an eventual 55-run win as Middlesex never remotely came to terms with an extremely exacting chase. It was their first win this season in any format.One win in six is no sort of start in a search for a top-four place, but Kent have too many attributes to be written off with the season not yet at its mid-point. They will want to follow this up against Essex Eagles in Chelmsford on Tuesday as they begin a run of fixtures away from Canterbury.When form is lost, and the years are creeping by, the wisdom of crowds is best avoided – certainly the sort of crowd that types questions into Google. Enter Denly’s name into the search engine and it offered: “People also ask: Is Joe Denly retired?” Ouch, not what you want to hear at 36 when your season has been disrupted with hamstring trouble, you still don’t have a run to your name in the Championship, and you are wondering whether you will ever get things on the road.He put that right by blazing the ball to leg with utter conviction as he registered his fifth Blast hundred. Eighty-nine of his runs flew over the leg-side, including all his six sixes and the majority of his nine fours. He was particularly harsh on the Sri Lanka-born spinner, Thilan Walallawita, and the debutant seamer, Toby Greatwood, who had won an opportunity after five wickets against Surrey 2nds earlier in the week. Luke Hollman was also seen off in a single over of mayhem.”It’s been long overdue – both some runs for myself and obviously that win,” Denly said. “It did feel really good. It was nice to go out there and try and play quite freely, try and stay as relaxed as I could. I got a couple out of the middle early on and just kept going. The other night we never really threw a punch against Surrey. Today was just about putting it on their bowlers.”Jordan Cox is another Kent batter who has been struggling for impetus, but he provided able support in a record Kent second-wicket stand of 157 in 14.3 overs, Daniel Bell-Drummond having fallen lbw to the third ball of the match. Any assumption that conditions were easy was scotched the minute that Denly departed, slog sweeping Chris Green to deep midwicket with 18 balls remaining, and Kent lost three more wickets to catches in the deep against Martin Andersson in the space of five balls. Even so, when Jack Leaning was run out for 6, chasing a second off the final ball of the innings, it would have been quite a pessimist who feared that Kent had thrown it away.As it happened, Kent’s spin bowlers proved vastly superior. The South African George Linde and Qais Ahmed, a young Afghan, bowled well enough to suggest they can be at the centre of a Kent challenge that can now gather force.Stephen Eskinazi briefly threatened before Qais caused him to play on for 30; Linde, who found marked turn at times, had Joe Cracknell caught at deep midwicket and then held a return catch in a deceptively relaxed manner when Andersson drove fiercely back to his right. There were three wickets, too, for Leaning, as Kent made good use of Sam Billings’ decision to take first use of a worn surface. Only one batter came to terms with it. As Richard Johnson, Middlesex’s coach remarked, it was Joe Denly’s day out.

The visitors were 81 for 5 at one stage, with Roman Walker bagging five wickets and Prasidh Krishna bowling with menace

Sidharth Monga23-Jun-2022Jasprit Bumrah bowled to Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna got the wicket of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant caught Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara chased after Rohit Sharma’s drives, but it was a player yet to play first-class cricket for Leicestershire who stole the show on day one of the Indians’ warm-up match. Roman Walker, the 21-year-old right-arm seam bowler who moved from Glamorgan to Leicestershire first on loan last year and then signed with them this year, took the wickets of Rohit, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja while achieving figures of 5 for 24.India found a way to give almost all of their players game-time in the only practice match available to them by having four of them play for Leicestershire. It robbed the match of first-class status, but gave their batters a thorough working-over, reducing them to 81 for 5 on a day when Bumrah didn’t even get into his work properly. Prasidh was menacing in partnership with Walker during the second hour of the match, during which the ball nipped around more than in the first.However, a few previously-seen scripts might worry India a little. Rohit once again got out on the hook, Gill and Iyer edged while playing away from their bodies, Kohli’s outside edge looked suspect before he was beaten on the inside edge, and Hanuma Vihari got stuck and didn’t look like he had scoring options, before reserve wicketkeeper KS Bharat top-scored for them in a lower-order revival to take them to 246 for 8 at stumps.It will please them that Bumrah got overs under his belt, Prasidh presented himself as an option for the Test XI, extracting both seam and bounce, and the batters, including Pant in the middle session, spent time in the nets.File photo – KS Bharat was batting on 70 when rain brought play to an early close•Andhra Cricket Association

Rohit began the day with the watchfulness that was the bedrock of his success in the four Tests last year, but the short ball – which he scores heavily off – continued to get him out. This time he hooked Walker straight up to be caught at midwicket. Before that, Gill got off to a flashy start before playing a defensive shot to a wide, bouncing delivery.This was around the time when, after a 35-run opening stand, the ball began to do things. Vihari, in an audition for the No. 3 role, had defended for 22 balls for three runs when he got a half-volley but his stuck feet meant he couldn’t cover the swing and he edged to slip. Iyer bagged an 11-ball duck, playing a loose drive well away from the body against a red-hot Prasidh, who troubled both him and Kohli.Jadeja was caught on the crease to an inswinger, trapped right in front. Shardul Thakur, known for his attacking play, will be annoyed that he was bowled shouldering arms.Kohli got through an uneasy initial period, playing a square drive, a trademark extra-cover drive and hooking Prasidh for six, but he was far from his best during his innings of 33. At one point it looked like he had edged straight to third slip, but the umpires ruled it a bump ball. Equally confounding was his eventual dismissal. He was given out lbw to a full ball, but it seemed the ball might have missed off stump and in fact might even have taken his edge to the keeper. Kohli looked in disbelief for a second when given out, but had to walk off. It was only later confirmed that he was given out lbw.As the pitch began to ease out, Bharat made the most of it with impressive stroke-play. He found support from Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami in stands of 66 and 32, and ended the day unbeaten on 70 when rain forced an early end. Bharat and the lower order ruined the figures of Prasidh and Walker, which had at one time read 5.1-2-9-1 and 8.1-4-13-5 respectively.

Meanwhile, Ashwin believes Kohli has been “batting beautifully” despite what the numbers say

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2022BCCI president Sourav Ganguly believes Virat Kohli “has got to find his way” to score runs again, while former India quick Ashish Nehra, who worked with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bangalore, says there is no harm in him taking a break to come back fresh later.Kohli has already been rested for the ODIs and T20Is in West Indies, which means he will be out of action for nearly a month.”Yes, he has had a tough time and he knows that,” Ganguly told ANI. “He himself knows by his own standards it has not been good and I see him coming back and doing well. But he has got to find his way and become successful, which he has been for the last 12-13 years or more and only Virat Kohli can do that.Related

• Gavaskar on Kohli: 'There is this anxiety to play at every delivery'

• Kohli, Bumrah, Chahal rested for T20Is in West Indies; Kuldeep, Ashwin return

• Kohli's nine-ball buy-in shows India's new way is here to stay

• Kapil Dev: 'If Kohli isn't performing, you can't keep youngsters out'

• Problem of plenty: How do India fit Kohli in their T20I XI?

“These things will happen in sport. It has happened to everybody. It has happened to Sachin [Tendulkar], it has happened to Rahul [Dravid], it has happened to me, it has happened to Kohli. It is going to happen to future players. That’s part and parcel of sport and I think as a sportsman you just need to listen, be aware of what it is, and just go and play your game.”Kohli has been in a lean patch across formats in the last few years, with his last international century coming in November 2019. After a below-par run in IPL 2022, he scored 11 and 20 in the Edgbaston Test earlier this month, followed by 1 and 11 in the second and third T20Is against England. A minor groin strain ruled him out of the first ODI and it’s unclear whether he will play the second match on Thursday.Recently, former India captain Kapil Dev added to the growing chorus questioning Kohli’s place in India’s T20I XI, especially with a number of in-form players fighting for a place in the squad. Nehra said Kohli should keep such discussions out of his head and only focus on his game.”When you are not performing, there will be discussions even if you’re not a player of Kohli’s calibre,” Nehra said in a virtual interaction for Sony Sports Network. “When you are doing broadcasting, newspaper, it is being printed every day and when you are playing, you try to focus on your game and not listen to so-called outside voices from people outside the dressing room. It is important how you are in the dressing room and how your team-mates, management and selectors are backing you. We are talking about a guy like Virat. Yes, it is not written anywhere that Virat Kohli will keep playing for India even if he doesn’t score runs. That will not happen, but when you have done so much in the past, you will always get extra chances.”While many former players, including former India coach Ravi Shastri, suggested Kohli needed a break from cricket, Kohli said he could take some time off to rejuvenate himself. He was rested for the first T20I against England following the Edgbaston Test and will not be part of the limited-overs series in West Indies from July 22.Nehra agreed a break was much needed and hoped to see a “different Virat Kohli” turning up for the Asia Cup.”Everybody knows what you have done and the talent you have. At the age of 33-34, fitness isn’t a problem for him. Everybody is hopeful that Virat Kohli will come good, the quicker the better. Let’s hope we see a different Virat after the West Indies series. If he rests for a month or five weeks, it will be helpful for him and any player will be under pressure if you do not score runs, especially the kind of player Virat has been. It has not been just 1-2 series, it has been, you can say 12 months.”Rest is not a bad thing, you just played the IPL and then you played the Test, white-ball cricket, so it is good to see that Virat is getting a break. A break does not mean one week break or a three-day break. When you come back to Asia Cup, you come back fresh.”From closer quarters, India offspinner R Ashwin said Kohli has been “batting beautifully” in the last few years despite what the numbers say, calling his energy on the field “infectious”.”The more he is in the game and the more and more charged up he is, he bats so much more better,” Ashwin said on podcast. “And I believe even for the last two and a half or whatever considerable period of time, even though he might not have got the hundreds, I still believe he’s batting beautifully. The way he’s batting it looks like he’s probably got a double-hundred in the last one. It sometimes can happen, as a batter or as a cricketer you might be bowling well but the wickets are taken by somebody else.”His energy is very infectious. Sometimes bowling in India – like recently we had a couple of Test matches I can’t remember exactly – he wasn’t playing those games and I actually missed him on the field. The kind of energy that he brings to the table. The man standing at short midwicket, stopping those singles, looking for those catches … that’s exactly what makes him. He loves that, and when he does that he definitely bats better as well, and that’s my view of him.”

Lorcan Tucker and George Dockrell gave Ireland hope with 86-run stand but couldn’t prevent seventh consecutive T20I defeat

Firdose Moonda03-Aug-2022Ireland have run India, New Zealand and now South Africa close, but not close enough, as they slumped to their seventh successive defeat in T20Is. This time, they were asked to complete their highest successful chase and fell 21 runs short, though they were closer than that margin would suggest for much of their innings.On a ground with short straight and square boundaries, bowlers across both sides had expensive outings. South Africa posted their highest score against Ireland, though they may have wanted it to be higher still. After slipping to 45 for 2, a 112-run third-wicket stand between Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram put them in a position to push for a score of 220-plus.Gareth Delany removed the pair in successive deliveries, and Ireland had the chance to pull South Africa back. But Tristan Stubbs’ 24 off 11 balls and Dwaine Pretorius’ 21 off seven deliveries helped South Africa post 53 runs off the last four overs.South Africa were helped by an indisciplined effort from Ireland with the ball. They bowled 13 wides – and more than two extra overs as a result – and only three of their seven-bowler attack conceded at under ten runs an over.South Africa’s spinners were the only ones who did not travel, and in the absence of the injured Kagiso Rabada and the rested Anrich Nortje, will be reasonably pleased with their effort. Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi took 4 for 66 in their combined eight overs and were complemented by clever use of slower balls from Lungi Ngidi, and yorkers by Dwaine Pretorius and Wayne Parnell.Ireland were in the chase until the 17th over when Lorcan Tucker was dismissed. He put on 86 runs with George Dockrell for the sixth wicket and built on a strong powerplay while brushing aside the loss of 3 for 12 between the eighth and the tenth over.De Kock’s curious run
Apart from a blazing undefeated 92 in the washed-out third ODI against England in Leeds, it has been a quiet tour for Quinton de Kock, especially in T20Is. He has scored just 24 runs in four innings, and hasn’t looked like his usual destructive self. He had a busy but unremarkable start against Ireland too, with ones or twos scored mostly on the leg side.That is when he tried to force things, and set off for a quick single after bunting Mark Adair down the ground. Harry Tector sensed an opportunity for an intervention, ran in from mid-off, and his direct hit found the stumps at the non-striker’s end, with de Kock short of his crease. The decision was confirmed on review, and South Africa were in early trouble on 23 for 1.Hendricks in the runs again
Here is one for your next sports quiz: what do Hendricks, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Gustav Mckeon and Rayyankhan Pathan have in common? They are the only five batters in the game to have scored four T20I fifties in succession, with Hendricks joining the list on the day.He topped up on his three against England with an easy-as-you-like-it 74 on Wednesday. Hendricks looked in control from the moment he lofted Josh Little over the covers for six, with what seemed minimal effort. He showed his power game with the pull and the cut, as also the smooth strokeplay he has built his reputation on with silken cover drives.Hendricks’ fifty came up off 32 balls, and he went on to equal his career-best of 74 from 53 deliveries.Going big on Little
Markam had come back into the XI for the third T20I against England after missing the first two games. He immediately scored a fifty in that match as well as this one. He took 13 balls to find his feet and then charged Gareth Delany and Barry McCarthy before taking on left-arm quick Josh Little.In four deliveries, Markram took 20 runs off Little, including two sixes over deep square leg, four over mid-on and four through midwicket. Markram went on to score his third successive T20I fifty, with a chance to join Hendricks in elite company if he manages as many in the next match.Lorcan Tucker swings for the leg side during an attacking 78•AFP/Getty Images

Punching in the powerplay
Ireland made as strong a statement as they could with a powerplay led by Tucker that put them much further ahead than where South Africa were at the same stage of their innings. Captain Andy Balbirnie set the tone with a four in each of the first three overs before he top-edged Wayne Parnell to Pretorius at mid-on.But despite the early loss, Tucker and Paul Stirling sent Lungi Ngidi’s second over for 17. Tucker went on to hit Parnell over mid-off for four, and over long-off for six, before taking on Pretorius’ slower ball. Tucker had scored 26 runs off the eight balls he faced in the powerplay as Ireland racked up 67, 20 more than South Africa’s total at that stage.Soon after, Tucker went on to his third T20I half-century off 25 balls and put Ireland in a position to provide South Africa with a serious challenge.Shamsi seals it
Tabraiz Shamsi went wicketless at this venue a week ago but had a much better outing today, and dismissed Ireland’s most dangerous player at a crucial moment. Tucker was Ireland’s best hope of scoring the 64 runs they needed in the last five overs and identified Shamsi as the bowler to target.He slogged a full delivery over long-on for six, and then pulled a shorter one between long-on and midwicket for four. But when he tried to slog-sweep a fuller ball, he top-edged towards short fine leg. De Kock had to make some ground but took a comfortable catch to leave Ireland’s lower order with too much to do.

Miller was snapped up by the franchise in August, along with Jos Buttler, Obed McCoy and Corbin Bosch

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2022David Miller has been named Paarl Royals captain for the inaugural season of SA20, South Africa’s T20 league, which is scheduled for January 2023.Miller was snapped up by the franchise in August, along with Jos Buttler, Obed McCoy and Corbin Bosch. All four players have worked with the owners before, having represented Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Miller is also part of the Barbados Royals – which was taken over by the franchise in 2021 – in the CPL and was named captain ahead of the 2022 season.”It makes me immensely proud to have been appointed as the captain of the Paarl Royals,” Miller said. “To be able to call it my home, gives me great joy. The people of Paarl and the Western Cape as a whole are great supporters of quality and entertaining cricket, and my ambition will be to lead the team in the right manner and give our fans countless memories to cheer their team on.”We already have some top cricketers on board with the likes of Jos, Obed and Corbin, and I am looking forward to working with an exciting set of players to start this SA20 journey.”In the ongoing CPL, Miller’s Royals are presently leading the points table with six wins in seven matches. Miller has scored 166 runs in six innings at a strike-rate of 155.14. He was also part of the IPL title-winning Gujarat Titans side this season, amassing 449 runs at a strike rate of 141.19. He was eighth on the list of leading run-getters this season – and second behind captain Hardik Pandya for the Titans. He also captained South Africa to a 2-0 win against England in July.Head coach JP Duminy, who is also Miller’s former South Africa team-mate, said: “David is one of the most passionate players you will meet, and his reading of the situations is something that will be very valuable to us. Over the last year or so, he has developed a killer instinct wherein he is finishing matches for his team – we’ve seen that in the IPL and for South Africa as well. Hence, we are delighted to have such an experienced player as our leader, and more importantly, someone who has a calm head on his shoulders. We will be closely working with him as well as other players of the leadership group including Jos (Buttler), who himself has a wealth of experience.”The SA20 auction is set to take place on September 19 in Cape Town. The franchises have an overall purse of USD 2 million and can buy as many players as they like, up to the maximum limit of 17. The money available to them at the auction will be based on what is left of the purse after the pre-auction signings.