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Both Rizwan and Afridi also praise Zaman Khan who defended 12 in the final over to give Qalandars’ their second successive PSL title

Umar Farooq19-Mar-2023After his side lost the 2023 PSL final to Lahore Qalandars by one run, Multan Sultans captain Mohammad Rizwan has tagged Shaheen Shah Afridi’s unbeaten 15-ball 44 the “turning point” of the match. Rizwan also gave credit to Zaman Khan who defended 12 in the final over to give Qalandars their second successive title.In a game where the momentum swung from one side to the other more than once, Rizwan’s dismissal too played a big part in the result. Chasing 201, Sultans were 122 for 2, in the 13th over, when an excellent catch by David Weise at the long-on boundary sent him back.”Turning point was Shaheen’s innings that took away the momentum,” Rizwan said in the post-match press conference. “We did manage to make things easy for us at one stage. Unfortunately, my bat turned in my hand and I couldn’t get enough power behind the shot. But he [Wiese] took a brilliant catch and that’s why the game was with them.Related

• Shaheen and Zaman the heroes as Qalandars defend PSL title

• Stats – All-round Shaheen, Qalandars' turnaround, Rawalpindi run-fests

“You should give credit to Zaman Khan for the way he bowled that over. I have seen very few bowlers who have saved 13 runs from six balls, but he has been doing this a lot since the last two seasons, 11 from six balls, 15 from six, 13 from six.”In the end, you can’t blame anyone or nitpick the mistakes when it went so close. The difference of one run is maybe because they have slightly more passion than our team, a bit more effort. There was obviously something different that the result went their way. When you lose or win by one run, you can’t complain because it means both sides played good cricket, so sometimes we can safely put that on fate.”This season, Afridi surprised everyone with his batting. He spent a lot of time in the nets working on his big-hitting. In the league stage, he promoted himself up the order on a few occasions and did the same in the final as well.Afridi wasn’t even padded up when Sikandar Raza got out in the 15th over, leaving the side at 112 for 5. Weise was about to walk in next when Afridi emerged from behind and stopped him. The move paid off as Afridi’s knock helped Qalandars post 200.”Obviously we know Weise and Rashid [Khan] are someone who can score quickly even when there are only a few balls left. But in some games, I felt if I go in before them, it would be better for the team,” Afridi said. “And whenever I try something, I have the complete backing of [head caoch] Aaqib [Javed] and [COO] Sameen [Rana] .”In fact, I had only one pad on. But I stopped him [Weise] because since Khushdil [Shah] was bowling, I didn’t want to give away an extra wicket. I thought if I could connect a couple, we could put them under pressure. And that’s exactly what happened.”In the last two overs of the match, Sultans needed 35 runs. Haris Rauf went for 22 in the 19th but Zaman kept his nerve.”Haris is not just Pakistan’s best bowler, he is the world’s best bowler,” Afridi said. “He has always won the games for his team, be it for Pakistan, Lahore Qalandars, or in any other league or even county cricket. I have always had blind trust in him, he always does well in such situations. Going for 22 in one over doesn’t change that.”We were also lagging behind the over rate. But the way Zaman has improved, and the way he delivered in that last over, full credit goes to him because we only had four fielders outside the circle.”All that meant, Afridi became the first captain to win back-to-back PSL titles. For his growth as captain, he thanked Aaqib and Rana.”Aaqib and Sameen have played a big role,” Afridi said. “They guided me as a player, groomed me as vice-captain for two years, and then handed me the captaincy. At times, there were bigger names in the team, like [Mohammad] Hafeez , and I shouldn’t have been leading the side. So when you get it, you should grab it, and if the team has trust in you, then you should lead them to the best [of your abilities].”

It remains to be seen if new signings Shanaka and Roy will feature immediately for their franchises

Sreshth Shah08-Apr-20233:39

Moody: Narine and Chakravarthy are key for KKR

Big Picture

Sunday begins with consistency meeting chaos in the afternoon game. Both teams have started IPL 2023 in the manner they ended IPL 2022 – Gujarat Titans winning two on the trot and Kolkata Knight Riders struggling one evening and buoyant the next.The Titans have been a gun chasing side over the last two seasons and if they win the toss at home, they are likely to chase again. In both their wins, their batters and pacers were in great touch. Mohammad Shami, Alzarri Joseph and Josh Little provide pace, skid, bounce and swing between them, Rashid Khan is back to taking wickets regularly, Hardik Pandya has made confident moves as captain, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill are in terrific nick, and David Miller has brought his excellent form from South Africa to India. They start as clear favourites with home advantage on offer too.Related

• Dasun Shanaka replaces Williamson in Gujarat Titans squad

• KKR bring in Jason Roy as replacement player

• The rise and rise of B Sai Sudharsan

The Knight Riders will have to show that their 81-run victory on Thursday night was no fluke. Their three spinners have impressed but their Indian-heavy top order has crumbled in both games. A 103-run partnership between Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh bailed them out in their last match, but the lower order can’t always come to the team’s rescue, particularly against the Titans’ robust attack.

Team news

Titans signed Sri Lanka white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka as Kane Williamson’s replacement earlier in the week. He is supposed to arrive in India over the weekend, but there’s no word yet on his availability.Jason Roy is expected to join the Knight Riders before the match and could potentially boost their top order with a direct entry in the XI. Litton Das will not join until their next match, though. Lockie Ferguson has moved from practicing bowling with a short run-up to now doing so with a longer run. His match fitness is unknown.Varun Chakravarthy has begun the 2023 season in excellent rhythm•BCCI

Toss and Impact Player Strategy

If the Titans bat first, then the left-arm seamer Little could be the Impact Player at the innings break, with him replacing a batter like Sudharsan or Vijay Shankar. If the Titans bowl first, the opposite is likely to happen.Probable bat-first XI: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 VIjay Shankar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Yash Dayal, 11 Mohammed Shami.Probable bowl-first XI: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya, 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Josh Little, 10 Yash Dayal, 11 Mohammed Shami.If the Knight Riders bat first and suffer a collapse that needs them to lengthen their batting, they could risk bringing in Anukul Roy as a lower-order hitter who can also bowl some left-arm spin. Otherwise, they will prefer to replace a pure batter like Mandeep Singh at the halfway stage for Suyash Sharma. Mandeep’s own place in the XI is at risk with two poor returns and N Jagadeesan on the bench. If Knight Riders bowl first, Suyash is expected to exit for a batter at the end of his spell.Probable bat-first XI: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Mandeep Singh/N Jagadeesan/Jason Roy, 4 Nitish Rana (capt), 5 Andre Russell, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Tim Southee/Lockie Ferguson/Vaibhav Arora, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.Probable bowl-first XI: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Nitish Rana (capt), 4 Andre Russell, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Shardul Thakur, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Tim Southee/Lockie Ferguson/Vaibhav Arora, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Suyash Sharma.Alzarri Joseph is part of a potent Titans pace pack•Associated Press

Stats that matter

• With 96 runs in 40 balls, Russell has a strike-rate of 240 against Shami in T20s. But he struggles against Rashid: out four times in 38 balls with an average of only 13.50.
• Hardik has never been dismissed by Narine in six innings, scoring 56 runs with a strike-rate of 151.35.
• Rashid (533) and Narine (481) are the highest spin-bowling wicket-takers in T20 history.
• Since 2021, Miller has hit 59 sixes in the slog (last four) overs of T20s. Only Tim David (89) has hit more sixes than Miller in this phase.

Pitch and conditions

The Titans comfortably chased a target of 180 in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad, and a par score would be in that range given the big ground dimensions, which can convert mis-hits to dismissals in the deep. Ahmedabad has both red-soil and black-soil pitches, and the Titans may prefer playing on the red-soil pitch that typically provides less turn, against a spin-heavy Knight Riders attack. The weather is set to be hot and sunny.

Both players have signed three-year deals with their current clubs

AAP09-Jun-2023Reigning BBL player of the tournament Matt Short will remain with Adelaide Strikers for at least the next three summers after signing a long-term contract extension.It comes as Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques inks his own three-year deal that will likely see him through to retirement.Short was the first Strikers representative to earn MVP honours for his stellar BBL12 summer, during which he scored more runs than any other player.He notably recorded a new personal best score of 100 not out against Hobart Hurricanes, a century that helped Strikers pull off the highest successful run chase in tournament history (230).Short also found success opening the bowling for the Adelaide side, taking 11 wickets with his offspin.”It feels great to have re-signed,” Short said. “The Strikers showed the faith in me and gave me the opportunities and I am trying to pay them back with my loyalty.”Sixers foundation player Henriques will play into a thirteenth season this summer and will be 39 by the time his new contract expires.The three-time BBL champion is Sixers’ most-capped player and leading run-scorer and this summer will become the first player to captain a BBL side on more than 100 occasions. He has led Sixers 94 times to date.”To be able to play the whole time with one club and stay at the Sixers and have the opportunity to lead throughout that time is pretty special to be honest,” Henriques said.

Injury, as well as an abundance of caution, have seen him play just four Tests in the last two years

Andrew McGlashan14-Jun-2023History could be about to repeat itself for Josh Hazlewood as he waits to see whether his services will be required for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston. But while he accepts playing the whole series is unlikely given his recent injury record, anything fewer than three appearances would leave him disappointed.One of Hazlewood (222 Test wickets at 25.83), Mitchell Starc (310 wickets at 27.64) or Scott Boland (33 wickets at 14.57) will not make Australia’s side on Friday, with the decision likely to be between the two senior quicks after Boland’s impact in the World Test Championship final against India added to his fairytale start in Test cricket.Neither Hazlewood or Starc made Australia’s starting XI four years ago with James Pattinson and Peter Siddle joining Pat Cummins. Hazlewood, who had missed the preceding ODI World Cup through injury, would go on to play the remaining four games, taking 20 wickets at 21.85 in the 2-2 draw where Australia retained the urn.”If we go back a few years, I would have said [I expected to play] all six [Tests]. But I guess it’s a little bit different now, based on the last two years of history,” he said. “I think three would be nice pass and four is probably a tick. Any more than that is great. Any less then I am probably a little disappointed again.”But I think when you have that depth for each game you [can] really go as hard as you can and then reassess after the game because you always have someone of high quality sitting on the pine and ready to go. So it’s a great position to be in for the team.”

Two years, four Tests for Hazlewood

A very cautious approach was taken with Hazlewood for the Test Championship final after two years which has seen him play just four Test matches. He returned home from the tour of India with an Achilles injury caused by soft run-ups at the SCG in his previous comeback Test in January and was then withdrawn from the final after leaving the IPL early with side soreness.”I think if it was a one-off game I probably could have played,” he said. “[But] with what’s coming up now, it just would have been too big of a risk. This sets me up nicely if I’m selected for game one, then we have a nice rest after and we’ll take it from there.”Captain Pat Cummins has stated that he wants to play all six Tests on this trip. Meanwhile, Scott Boland believes that it will be tough unless a couple of the games have early finishes. Having missed so much Test cricket of late, Hazlewood is desperate to get his place back but also has tempered expectations.”Think having those [fast bowling] options helps that mindset,” he said. “No doubt you still want to play every game and it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and watch. No shying away from that.”But potentially if you [have] back-to-back Tests and you bowl 50 overs and you’ve someone [like] Boland, Starc or myself on the bench, fresh and ready to go for the next Test, it makes those conversations a little bit easier. The guys are a little bit more open to it to create that longevity. Perhaps the all-format guys are more open to it than others.”He also acknowledged the depth of Australia’s attack means that bowlers don’t push themselves beyond breaking point. “You might miss one or two games with a niggle rather than pushing it and missing three or four months,” he said.Josh Hazlewood presents Test debutant Scott Boland with his ‘Baggy Green’ cap•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Hazlewood’s outstanding English record

With 222 Test wickets and 36 at 23.58 in England, Hazlewood does not need to prove his credentials, although there are perhaps questions marks around his durability even though coaches and medical staff have been at pains not to link his run of injuries (four of the Tests he missed were also due to conditions in Pakistan and Sri Lanka).He admitted to wanting to make statement when he returned against South Africa in January where he bowled impressively and found reverse swing, only for his exertions as part of a two-man pace attack to sideline him again, but now the overriding emotion is one of anticipation.”I probably felt that maybe a little bit more in Sydney leading into that game. I think in England, my record is pretty good. Pretty confident in these conditions,” he said. “What’s exciting is probably what England have done the last 18 months. It’s what a few of us need to get the best out of ourselves.”

England still get out the same way

With India having been dealt with to secure the World Test Championship, Australia’s quick bowlers will sit down over the next 48 overs to map out their plans for England’s Bazballing batting line-up but they won’t be reinventing the wheel. They are familiar with the majority of the players, although the statistic about Ben Duckett only leaving eight deliveries so far in his Test cricket pricked Hazelwood’s interest.”That’s a quite amazing,” he said. “Obviously he likes bat on ball. So [we will] try and use that to our advantage as best we can.”While we are bowling at their batsmen it’s about sticking to that six to eight metre length. Think what we’ve seen through the numbers in the last 18 months to two years, they are still getting out in similar ways, they are just scoring more runs quickly in between. So it’s about sticking to that line and length. If they hit us off that for five Tests then that’s good for them.”

Shorey’s ton and Nishant’s unbeaten fifty helped North end the day on top while Murasingh’s five-for skittled Central for 182

Himanshu Agrawal28-Jun-2023

Murasingh gets five for East; Avesh hits back for Central

Tripura’s right-arm pace bowler Manisankar Murasingh led the way for East Zone with 5 for 42 to help them bundle Central Zone out for 182 on the first evening of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final game in Alur. Central lost 6 for 35 in a middle and lower-order collapse, four wickets out of which went to Murasingh. The fall for Central started when Murasingh had wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav caught for 25 in the 59th over, before removing Saransh Jain without scoring two balls later.All of Central’s top-six batters threw away settled starts with none scoring more than 38. At 86 for 4, Rinku Singh and Upendra got down for some repair work by adding 61. But before the pair could put up anything massive, Murasingh got Upendra to disrupt the opposition’s momentum. Before that, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed had struck twice to get Rinku, for 38, and Shubham Sharma for 13.However, Avesh Khan ensured that East didn’t walk away without any damage despite Central’s meagre total. Avesh trapped East’s captain Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw with the first ball he bowled, before going on to have Shantanu Mishra lbw for 6 in the tenth over. He bowled six out of the 12 overs and finished with 2 for 13. East, who ended the day at 32 for 2, had sent in Shahbaz Nadeem as nightwatcher after Mishra’s dismissal. Sudeep Kumar Gharami was unbeaten at the other end with three boundaries in his knock.Dhruv Shorey struck 135 on the opening day of North Zone’s Duleep Trophy clash•PTI

Shorey and Sindhu power North

Delhi opening batter Dhruv Shorey hit 135 and held North Zone’s middle order together, as North ended day one of their game against North East Zone at a comfortable 306 for 6 after being at a dicey 162 for 4 at one stage. North were also propelled by Haryana’s teenaged allrounder Nishant Sindhu, who ended unbeaten on 76, as they made an inexperienced North East attack work hard in Bengaluru.Shorey, whose innings came off 211 balls and included 22 fours, was involved in crucial partnerships during his stay. He first added 80 with fellow opening partner Prashant Chopra, before Chopra and No. 3 Ankit Kalsi fell to Pheiroijam Jotin off successive balls. Shorey then added 59 with Prabhsimran Singh for the third wicket and eventually another 80 with Sindhu for the fifth wicket.Kishan Sangha then nipped out Shorey and North captain Jayant Yadav in the space of three deliveries. But Sindhu ensured that his side ended the day without further hiccups, stitching a 64-run unbeaten stand in a little over 20 overs with Pulkit Narang.

Bangladesh captain and coach praise Marufa Akter for her early strikes with the ball

Mohammad Isam16-Jul-2023Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana has hailed her team after they secured their first win over India in ODI cricket. After scoring 152 in a rain-hit game, Bangladesh rolled India over for 113 in Mirpur.Bangladesh and India face each other more frequently in T20I cricket, but since their first ODI against India in 2013, they had lost all five ODIs against them until Sunday. This was also Bangladesh’s first ODI win since they beat Pakistan in the Women’s World Cup in March 2022.”We are very happy winning an ODI after a long time,” Nigar said. “It is a huge achievement for the team. It will help us play much better in the future. We have defeated India after a long time. Plus, it happened in Mirpur. It is definitely part of history. We want to create a little more history.”Marufa Akter had set up the victory by removing both Smriti Mandhana and Priya Puniya in the powerplay. Marufa went onto dismiss Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana as well.Related

• Marufa, Rabeya script Bangladesh's first ODI win vs India

• Nigar pushes Bangladesh to believe they can beat big teams

“We wanted to take early wickets,” Nigar said. “They are dependent on their batting department. The coach told us that we should look for wickets in the Powerplay. It will keep them under pressure. Smriti [Mandhana] and Harmanpreet [Kaur] are their key batters. When we got them out, the rest of their batters couldn’t quite do the job. But I think we could have bowled better to bowl them out for a cheaper score.”Marufa bowls well with the new ball and later in the middle overs. She doesn’t think about her bowling too much. She wants to bowl to the team’s requirement. She backs her own strength. It helps us. Batters have struggled against her natural inswing with the new ball.”Nigar said that she brought Marufa back into the attack in the 29th over when coach Hashan Tillakaratne sent her a message for the bowling change. Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur had added 30 runs for the sixth wicket after the visitors were reduced to 61 for 5. Marufa responded by dismissing both Amanjot and No. 8 Rana off successive deliveries.Tillakaratne noted that the spinners couldn’t break the partnership, so he wanted to shake things up by bringing back Marufa. “She is one of the top bowlers in the world right now,” he said. “Also the batters were handling the spinners very well, so we want to break the momentum. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to bowl Marufa.”Tillakaratne, however, wasn’t pleased with Bangladesh’s total and called for a better performance from his batting line-up. “We were looking at least a 200-plus score because the wicket was keeping low,” he said. “There’s no demons on the wicket. The wicket played really well. Unfortunately, our batters faltered and were short by 50-60 runs.”I think there are a few loose ends that we need to tighten up before the second one. So, we’ll have a discussion tomorrow, and we’ll come back strongly for the second and third one.”Nigar, meanwhile, urged her team to hold off any big celebrations and focus on achieving more in this series. “The girls were quite excited but I told them our job isn’t done yet,” she said. “Doing well raises our responsibilities. There are more expectations on us now.”We know that if we continue to play better cricket, we will take another step towards a bigger achievement. So I have kept them calmed down from a big celebration.”

Management of knee injury allows younger bowlers to shine at end of ‘exciting’ summer

Valkerie Baynes15-Sep-2023Nat Sciver-Brunt expects to return to England’s bowling attack for their winter tour of India after playing a curtailed role with the ball through the summer.The world’s top-ranked allrounder and batter in ODIs, Sciver-Brunt returned to England’s 50-over side against Sri Lanka purely as a batter having sat out the T20s to rest.After picking up a knee injury during the Ashes Test in June, Sciver-Brunt bowled six overs across the three T20Is and 24 overs in the three ODIs for five wickets in total. She still finished as England’s player of the Ashes, with 404 runs at an average of 57.71 and including back-to-back ODI centuries.The reasons given behind not bowling against Sri Lanka were a combination of giving others an opportunity – young seamers Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer were outstanding on ODI debut and beyond – and allowing Sciver-Brunt to recover from her exertions during the Ashes.”The plan is to be back for the India series in December,” Sciver-Brunt said at the post-match presentation after England won the third and final match, reduced to 31 overs a side by rain in Leicester, by a thumping 161 runs. The result sealed a 2-0 series win in the 50-over leg of the tour, and was built on Sciver-Brunt’s clinical 120 off 74 balls.”The decision not to bowl post-Ashes, I guess, was more to give the body a bit of a rest and to train without having to rush around and doing everything all the time, so it was quite nice actually.Charlie Dean claimed her maiden ODI five-for at Grace Road•Getty Images

“But I’m looking forward to picking up the ball again. When you’re playing games I want to influence as much as I can in every part of the game. That’s the best part of being an allrounder. Fielding and not being able to influence with the ball was a little bit frustrating but I was happy to have the body break.”Also getting an opportunity was off-spinner Charlie Dean, who took her maiden international five-wicket haul as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 112 chasing a target of 274. Dean and legspinner Sarah Glenn led the slow-bowling attack in the absence of world No. 1 Sophie Ecclestone, who was originally rested from the tour then dislocated her right, non-bowling shoulder during the Hundred.Jon Lewis, England’s head coach, told reporters after the match that the decision not to bowl Sciver-Brunt was also about team balance, and her longevity as an allrounder.”Nat’s a brilliant allrounder,” Lewis. “We’ve just made the decision with Nat to again prioritise when she bowls, not only to give other people opportunity, but to make sure that we have Nat as an allrounder for as long as we possibly can.”That’s really important for this team. The balance that she brings for the team makes it much easier for me to put Charlie in the team and for me, that’s fantastic, especially when we’re going to the subcontinent.”The fact that she can bowl seam in the Powerplay and do a really good job with the new ball makes it easier for me to select three spinners in the side, which is something that I really want to do in those conditions.”Mahika Gaur celebrates with team-mates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Anushka Sanjeewani•PA Images via Getty Images

Dean highlights the depth that is growing in England Women’s ranks. She announced herself as a highly skilled, dependable bowler who is also energetic in the field during New Zealand’s visit in 2021.Some 40 white-ball matches for her country on, Dean has clearly impressed Lewis, but she admitted that being overlooked for the Ashes Test squad, having made her Test debut during the last edition of the series in Australia 18 months prior, “hit me a bit hard”.She got over that disappointment by working with Gareth Breese, the former Durham allrounder and England Women performance coach, on improving “for the next opportunity that comes”, as opposed to focusing on her bowling stats.Lewis said: “She’s a fantastic bowler. We’ve had to make some really, really tough selection decisions around Charlie over the summer … really, really tricky, and probably nothing to do with what Charlie’s actually done on the field and more to do with the balance of the team and the fact that we’ve got another off spinner in [allrounder] Alice Capsey that we probably underuse as well. We are really, really blessed with the spin bowlers on our side.”Similarly, Maia Bouchier, pounced on her chance, making her ODI debut after 22 T20Is in the middle order during the first match in Durham before opening in Leicester after Emma Lamb suffered a back spasm. Bouchier scored a 65-ball 95 and shared a 193-run partnership with Sciver-Brunt.The performances of the likes of Player of the Series Filer, Dean, Bouchier and 17-year-old Gaur prompted Lewis to evaluate England’s summer, which included an 8-all draw with Australia in the Ashes and a shock T20I series defeat to Sri Lanka as “exciting”.”We’ve chosen different times to expose different players because it gives us really great opportunity to see how they do at different moments in games,” he said. “But also it’s more about the long-term planning towards making sure that we’re peaking at the right time for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and the 50-over World Cup in India the year after.”So we’ve got to make sure that whilst we’re exposing our players to good, high-pressure cricket, some of them are getting rested as well.”England players will enjoy an international break – with many likely to feature in the closing stages of the domestic 50-over competition – before heading to India at the end of the year for one Test and three T20Is.

South Africa record-breaker says “you can sleep a bit better at night knowing you stuck to your strengths”, referring to his move from top-order batter to middle-order power-hitter

Sidharth Monga07-Oct-20231:16

Steyn: Markram played good cricket shots and they travelled a mile

Aiden Markram is not the most expressive person on a cricket field at the best of times. He likes to keep it even. Rassie van der Dussen is not too different. On Saturday in Delhi, though, the duo and Quinton de Kock let their emotion pour out when they celebrated their hundreds. That show of emotion didn’t escape those watching, and for Markram it was not all about having just pulled off the quickest century in World Cups.”Yeah, it’s quite strange because you almost get this thing that just takes over your body at certain moments,” Markram said when asked about the unusual reactions on show. “I think there’s a lot of passion in this team to give our absolute all at this World Cup and see how far it can get us. We’re known to start pretty slowly, be it in a series or maybe world events and things like that, so we put a lot of emphasis on today’s game; to start well and play the same cricket we’ve been playing that’s managed to sneak us into this competition.”So I think it’s all of those emotions sort of mixed up and building up. That sort of just comes out and a lot of pride naturally for the three of us as well. When it’s your day, try to cash in and really make it count. So a mixture of quite a lot of things I would say.”Related

• Stats – Markram and South Africa smash World Cup records

• Monga: South Africa's rise between the World Cups of 2019 and 2023

For a while later in the night, Kusal Mendis threatened to make Markram’s the shortest-held record for the fastest century in World Cups as he blitzed his way to 76 off 42. That is why Markram is not getting ahead of himself and treating this as some sort of warning bugle for the rest of the field.”I’m actually not too sure,” Markram said when asked if they had sent a message to the others. “The way batters are playing nowadays, you wouldn’t be surprised if that record is broken in this competition as well. So it’s nice for us to be able to go through the gears as a unit.”This must be a cherry on top of what has been a satisfying year for him. He has now scored 683 runs at 68.3 at a strike rate of 127.4 in 2023, but what will be most satisfying for him is that he has had to reinvent himself after his promise at the top of the order didn’t quite translate into big runs in international cricket. He has now reinvented himself as arguably the best middle-overs power-hitter in white-ball cricket in the world.”Yeah, I think you do try to evolve as a batter and it’s weird when you bump your head a few times, maybe exploring options that are not your plan A and are not necessarily your strengths,” Markram said of the transformation. “But you try to explore them in the nets, sometimes get confidence from it, try to bring it out in the game and it doesn’t work out and you go back home and you think: ‘Why am I doing that instead of sticking to my strengths?'”But ultimately, that’s what it’s about. You have options as a batter, and each batter’s options will be quite different. But it’s about really committing to those options and backing them. And if it comes off, it’s fantastic. But if it doesn’t come off, at least you can sleep a bit better at night knowing you stuck to your strengths and to your options.”One potential drawback for South Africa was that de Kock didn’t take the field at all during the run chase, seemingly due to cramps after batting in the hot and humid Delhi afternoon. Heinrich Klaasen took the gloves in his absence. But captain Temba Bavuma was certain there was nothing to worry as such. “I think he’ll be fine,” he said at the post-match presentation. “He obviously didn’t take the field today. [But] I think Quinton will be fine.”

Head coach Jonathan Trott breaks down the reasons behind the change in Afghanistan’s batting approach

Ashish Pant02-Nov-2023Soaking up pressure and adapting their T20 skills to the pace of ODIs are the reasons for Afghanistan’s batting success at the World Cup, according to their head coach Jonathan Trott ahead of a crucial game against Netherlands in Lucknow.Coming into the tournament, Afghanistan’s middle order had the lowest average of all Full Member nations in ODIs since the start of 2021 – 26.44. That number has gone up to 36.93 in the World Cup, the fifth best in the tournament.Related

• Jonathan Trott: 'If people are going to have to play like Maxwell did to beat us, I can't complain'

• Clinical, risk-assessed, productive – Afghanistan's batting evolution unlocks new highs

• Rahmat Shah, the odd one out in Afghanistan's band of T20 stars

• Crafty Azmatullah Omarzai on his way to be Afghanistan's own Hardik Pandya

• Afghanistan turn to careful cricket for unprecedented success

“I think it’s a case more of just being better all-around, and thinking more about your all-around game,” Trott said in Lucknow on Friday. “Afghanistan [players] naturally grow up playing a lot more T20 cricket than any other format, so the skills for T20 are there. It’s about adding to that sort of base of T20 skills. As you see, 50-over cricket is a long time and you have to be able to, I think, ride the sort of ebbs, and flows of a game.”While openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran have been scoring consistently, it hasn’t gone bust when they have not fired. In their previous game against Sri Lanka, Gurbaz fell for a four-ball duck but Rahmat Shah stepped up and had half-century stands with Ibrahim and Hashmatullah Shahidi, who in turn put on 111 with Azmatullah Omarzai to finish the chase.”The thing I’m really happy about from the last game is we lost a wicket in the first over and Rahmat Shah was able to go into No. 3 and soak up that pressure but still kept scoring at a good tempo,” Trott said. “That shows the ability to soak up pressure at times, what you have to do in 50-over cricket, but also then accelerate at certain times.”Rahmat Shah has been unfazed even when Afghanistan have lost an early wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Trott also stressed on the importance of the batters who are in to stay till the end and finish the job, especially while chasing.”I think when chasing those targets, we saw just what is possible if you have a good solid start and you have batsmen in the last ten overs,” he said. “That’s happened for us, but it’s also happened against us in games where it’s been difficult to stop the opposition with set batters in the last ten overs.”Having that sort of vision, knowing that you can score quickly towards the back end of games, I think that’s the pennies we’re starting to see drop with the players.”Afghanistan have managed to walk the talk, especially in their previous two games, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka where they chased down targets of 283 and 242 with ease.”Obviously, there’s a difference between talking about it and actually going out and doing it. And we’re seeing players go out and do it now,” Trott said. “We’ve spoken a lot about it and worked really hard to try and achieve it, so it’s nice to see the players do well and have a smile on the face when they’re there batting at the end of the game, having chased in the last two games and won.”

The scoring rate barely touched two an over for most of the day against an depleted Queensland attack

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2023Victoria 201 for 4 (Harris 73, Handscomb 66) vs QueenslandVictoria battled their way through a slow first day of their Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland at the MCG.On a tricky, green pitch, they carefully went about their business after being sent in to bat by Usman Khawaja. Test contender Marcus Harris hit a patient, but important 73 in front of national selector Tony Dodemaide.Coming off a century on a flat pitch at the Junction Oval against Tasmania last week, this knock, from 212 balls, was arguably better as it was made in tough conditions.Harris, along with Cameron Bancroft, is in line to replace David Warner when the veteran opener bows out of Test cricket in January. He was eventually bowled somewhat unluckily as the ball rebounded from his pad into leg stump.Fellow Test prospect Peter Handscomb hit 66 before falling caught behind to Jack Wildermuth.Victoria’s run-rate is sitting at just above two-an-over and they will need to lift that significantly on Friday if they want to force a result in the four-day match.Queensland were rocked by the withdrawals of quicks Michael Neser and Mark Steketee ahead of the match. Coming off two agonising defeats in a row, the Bulls are without arguably their two most important bowlers.Neser returned to Brisbane to be with his partner giving birth, while Steketee woke up feeling ill and withdrew from the team.Former Western Australian bowler Liam Guthrie was brought into the Queensland team.Guthrie claimed the key wicket of Will Pucovski, who has been below his prolific best since returning to the Shield side this season, for 5.With Test spinner Todd Murphy resting, left-armer Doug Warren was handed a first-class debut for Victoria.Queensland and Victoria sit in the bottom two spots on the table with each state only having won one game from their first four matches to start the season.