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Gayle admitted that the constant travel does takes its toll and added, hinting at the resolution of his defamation case, that he was hoping for things to get easier for him personally

Liam Brickhill03-Dec-2018Chris Gayle said it was “good to be back” in South Africa, having jetted back to the country and into Jozi Stars’ Mzansi Super League squad after missing the last five matches while he was away playing for Kerala Knights in the T10 League.Gayle was in Sharjah in October for the Afghanistan Premier League, and had played in Jozi Stars’ Mzansi Super League opener before leaving for the UAE. Yesterday he flew back from the T10 league, to a T20 tournament in another country, South Africa. Gayle admitted that the constant travel does takes its toll and added, hinting at the resolution of his defamation case, that he was hoping for things to get easier for him personally.”In the future, I’m looking forward to things being a bit more simpler for me, from a personal point of view,” Gayle said. “It’s not so easy, to be honest with you. Especially at this age as well. You jump on a flight, and then you jump on a cricket field. But in a way you manage yourself, and I have a great team that keeps the body ready to perform up to standard and I’ve been doing this for years.”You make the necessary adjustment as quickly as possible, and take it from there. It’s not a big issue. It’s not a big concern for me at this point in time to be honest.”Stars had lost the opener, but have since won three out of five games thanks to Reeza Hendricks’ back-to-back centuries, and are currently in third place on the points table. “I think the Jozi Stars are starting to peak at the right time. It’s good to have a win under our belt last night. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, up against the top guns. Hopefully we can continue the winning ways.””I’d love Hendricks to make it three in a row,” added Gayle. “That would be nice to see. Two centuries back to back is always good, and coming in in such good form as well. He knows the conditions well. I’m looking forward to opening the batting with him.”With his form, maybe he can actually take a bit of pressure off me. You guys keep mentioning my name, but it’s Hendricks you should be wary of. I’ll try and get a good start with him. Just enjoy the moment with him as well.”Stars coach Enoch Nkwe welcomed Gayle back to the squad. “He’s our international marquee player and a very important member of the squad,” said Nkwe. “We’re very happy to have him back. I know the dressing room is very excited. We’re looking forward to having him on the field.”

The outfield of the Shere Bangla National Stadium has been rated “poor” by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe who oversaw the first Test between Bangladesh and Australia last month

Mohammad Isam14-Sep-2017The outfield of the Shere Bangla National Stadium has been rated “poor” by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe who oversaw the first Test between Bangladesh and Australia last month in Dhaka. Crowe, in accordance with Clause 3 of the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, submitted his report to the ICC in which he “expressed concern” over the quality of the outfield.The report has been forwarded to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which now has 14 days to provide its response. Once they respond, it will be reviewed by ICC’s General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, and Ranjan Madugalle from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees.”The grass was their main concern and we understand why they found it to be poor,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. “The weather this year was the worst in the last decade, but the groundstaff gave it their best.”The matter will be dealt by Clause 4 of the process in which the first occasion of such a rating is dealt with a warning and/or a fine not exceeding $15,000 given together with “a directive for appropriate corrective action”. If it happens again within five years of the first finding, the fine goes up to $30,000.Although the Test was held during Bangladesh’s off season, the BCB’s grounds committee was preparing the Dhaka outfield for months in advance. After the 2016 BPL final was completed, the outfield grass was completely taken off and the surface was relaid. But ESPNcricinfo had learned a week before the Dhaka Test, there were serious concerns about the quality of the outfield. There was even talk of the Test match being shifted elsewhere as most of the ground didn’t have full grass covering, giving it a brownish look.So much so that on the day before the game, Crowe was seen having long discussions with the stadium’s curator Gamini Silva and BCB’s grounds department staff. Reportedly, the ground wasn’t handed over to the match referee in time as the groundstaff needed more time for last-minute touch-ups.During the Test itself, the outfield seemed slow and some players privately spoke about the poor quality of a normally fine ground. This is the first time the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s outfield has come under such scrutiny.

Ben Stokes is hopeful that his international season is not over despite the calf injury that has ruled him out of the third against Pakistan and appears likely to keep him out of the final Test as well

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2016Ben Stokes is hopeful that his international season is not over despite the calf injury that has ruled him out of the third against Pakistan and appears likely to keep him out of the final Test as well.Stokes pulled up during his sixth over in Pakistan’s second innings at Old Trafford and subsequent MRI scans confirmed a tear. He will undergo further assessment when the England squad meet up at Edgbaston on Monday but the fourth Test at The Oval, which begins on August 11, will almost certainly come too soon for him.Stokes tweeted about his frustration having just returned from knee surgery after he pulled up during the first Test against Sri Lanka in May. The Old Trafford Test was his first match back for England.”Devastated about the injury especially with all the hard work put in by myself and others to get me back to FULL fitness,” he posted. “Another couple weeks of rehab and hoping to finish off what has been great summer so far for @ECB_cricket.”Following the Tests, England’s five-match ODI series against Pakistan starts on August 24 before a one-off T20 on September 7 completes the international season.England will be reluctant to rush Stokes back given the crammed period of cricket they have to finish the year. Pending security assessments they leave for the tour of Bangladesh at the end of September – a trip that includes three ODIs and two Tests – before a five-match Test series India.Stokes will be vital to the balance of the side on the subcontinent where England will likely want to field two spinners. The performances of Chris Woakes since his comeback against Sri Lanka mean that they are not without another all-round option, but their combined skills mean England could at some stage field a six-man bowling attack with Stokes considered a good enough batsman to play in the top five.In the short-term, for Edgbaston next week and at The Oval, England are likely to turn back to a frontline quick to fill Stokes’ place with both Steven Finn and Jake Ball in the 13-man squad. Adil Rashid is also in the party, and will be an option if the pitches look like favouring spin, although having seen how Pakistan handled the quicks at Old Trafford England will probably opt to hit them with pace.

Glenn Maxwell finally found form for Yorkshire with an unbeaten 92 but Andrew Hodd, a late replacement for England call up Jonny Bairstow, deserved a share of the acclaim

ECB/PA19-Jun-2015
ScorecardGlenn Maxwell hammered an unbeaten 92 off 48 balls•Getty Images

Glenn Maxwell finally found his form for Yorkshire with a blistering unbeaten 92 as the Vikings beat Nottinghamshire Outlaws by 40 runs in front of an 8,500 crowd at Headingley.But the Australian wasn’t Yorkshire’s only star performer on the night because wicketkeeper-batsman, Andrew Hodd , came into the side at the last minute as a replacement for Jonny Bairstow, called up by England as cover for Jos Buttler, and he also blazed the trail with a sweetly-struck 70.Maxwell, whose previous eight innings in all competitions for Yorkshire had brought him just 73 runs, included many audacious strokes in his 48-ball knock which contained eight fours and five sixes.And the more orthodox Hodd was in tremendous form himself, his runs coming from 39 balls with six fours and five sixes.

Insights

Yorkshire, having lost three consecutive matches, were in desperate need of a win, and it is appropriate that in a match laden with quality they were hauled back to winning ways by a return to form of their star overseas signing Glenn Maxwell. His unbeaten 92 followed more than a year of patchy form, going back to the last IPL. Maxwell had scored just 73 runs in his eight innings so far this season and this innings was most timely. It is also intriguing to note that Maxwell was ably assisted by Andrew Hodd, who was only drafted into Yorkshire’s squad as a replacement for Jonny Bairstow.

The third wicket pair flogged 101 together from 58 deliveries to set Yorkshire up for a victory which brought to an end a run of three consecutive defeats in North Group which had seen them plunge next to the bottom of the table.”I was plastering a wall, doing a bit of DIY, when I got the call around 4pm to come to Headingley and replace Jonny,” Hodd said.Put in to bat, Yorkshire lost the out-of-touch, Aaron Finch, in the second over when he chopped Jake Ball into his stumps but skipper, Andrew Gale, and Hodd rushed the total on to 49 inside six overs before Gale fell to a beautifully judged catch at long-on by Samit Patel off Luke Fletcher.The scoring rate soon got up to around ten an over as Hodd and Maxwell delighted the crowd with their contrasting brands of strokeplay. Hodd straight drove Luke Fletcher for six and in the same over Maxwell cut him high over the rope before Hodd walloped Dan Christian for a huge six on the Australian’s debut appearance for Outlaws.Hodd, having reached Yorkshire’s highest individual score so far in this season’s competition, departed in tame fashion by gently driving Patel to James Taylor at short extra cover, but Maxwell continued on his merry way, reverse shovelling a couple of consecutive boundaries off Harry Gurney to the amazement of the fans.Gary Ballance was bowled by Gurney in the final over and Maxwell signed off with a six and a four, his last 47 runs being thrashed from 17 balls.Nottinghamshire needed a flying start if they were to get anywhere near Yorkshire’s 209 for 4, their highest score against the Outlaws, but Michael Lumb gave a return catch to Maxwell in the first over of the innings while at the other end Tim Bresnan produced a brute of a ball which Niki Wessels could not avoid edging to Hodd.It became 10 for 3 as Matthew Fisher, replacing the rested Jack Brooks, had Brendan Taylor caught behind and a rally by Patel and James Taylor was ended by James Middlebrook who dismissed Taylor and Christian in consecutive overs.There was no way back from 82 for five but Patel and Mullaney made a spirited attempt with Patel reaching a 36-ball half-century by blasting Bresnan high for six.Maxwell’s great performance continued as Mullaney drove him to Ballance at long-on but Patel gained some revenge by smacking him for two successive sixes on his way to a career-best 90 not out from 59 balls with five fours and five sixes.

Brendon McCullum has been appointed New Zealand’s captain in all three formats after Ross Taylor declined an offer to stay on as leader of the Test side in a split-captaincy scenario

Brydon Coverdale06-Dec-2012Brendon McCullum has been appointed New Zealand’s captain in all three formats after Ross Taylor declined an offer to stay on as leader of the Test side in a split-captaincy scenario. Taylor has also chosen to make himself unavailable for the upcoming tour of South Africa, although New Zealand are hopeful he will be back in the side for the home series against England early next year.The confirmation of the change came at a press conference in Auckland on Friday morning where David White, the New Zealand Cricket CEO, said he regretted the way the captaincy debate had played out in the public spotlight. McCullum, who has previously led New Zealand in eight ODIs and 12 Twenty20s, will become the country’s 28th Test captain when the series against South Africa begins on January 2 in Cape Town.There had been much speculation this week about the future of Taylor since the squad returned from Sri Lanka despite their impressive series-leveling victory in Colombo. In that match Taylor, who took over as captain in 2011 after being preferred to McCullum for the role, scored 142 in the first innings, but it was one of few highlights in a disappointing year for New Zealand, whose only other victory came in the first Test of the year against Zimbabwe.They lost Test series against South Africa, West Indies and India before the draw in Sri Lanka while they have slipped to ninth in the one-day rankings below Bangladesh. They were also knocked out in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20. It was after the review of that tournament, as well as the tours of India and Sri Lanka, that the coach Mike Hesson recommended splitting the captaincy.”Mike Hesson proposed a split captaincy that was endorsed by me as CEO and agreed by the board,” White said. “The original recommendation was for Ross Taylor to be retained as Test captain and Brendon McCullum to be short-form captain. We regret that Ross Taylor has declined the opportunity, therefore Brendon McCullum has been appointed as Black Caps captain for all three forms of the game.”I met with Ross … for about three hours yesterday and we considered a number of different options. One of them was … for him to go to South Africa and even just play the Test matches if he wanted to do that. But he thought about it long and hard and he said that he would like a break and to spend time with his family and we’ve agreed with that and we respect that. It’s not ideal and we would be a stronger team with Ross Taylor in it.”Despite the change in captaincy, White said he did not believe Taylor had lost the support of his players. “I don’t believe he lost the dressing room,” White said. “He is well respected.”Hesson, who took over from John Wright as New Zealand’s coach in July, said he wanted Taylor to stay on as Test captain and his main concern was that the leadership in all three formats was a lot for anyone to take on. Hesson said split captaincy had worked for other countries and he believed McCullum would have been the best man for the job in the shorter formats.”Brendon certainly reads the one-day game well and is very adaptable and changes quickly,” Hesson said. “The one-day game and the T20 game move very quickly. I think Brendon McCullum has attributes to really add value to our team in that area.”Split captaincy is something that works and with the high volume of cricket around the world at the moment, for one person to take on all three forms of the game is an extremely difficult task. It’s very difficult for anybody to be up to that.”We play ten months of the year. In terms of planning from series to series it’s extremely difficult, to look after your own game and worry about that of the team. Therefore my recommendation was for Ross to stay on as Test captain and focus on that, and also focus on his batting in all three forms, and for Brendon to come in as leader of the one-day and T20 squads.”

A car that was carrying Enamul Haque and Johan Cloete, the on-field umpires of the third ODI on Tuesday, was hit by a stone

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2011A car that was carrying Enamul Haque and Johan Cloete, the on-field umpires of the third ODI between Bangladesh and Pakistan on Tuesday, was hit by a stone in Chittagong’s Akbar Shah locality. The umpires were returning to their hotel from the at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium when the incident happened.The Bangladesh Cricket Board media manager Rabeed Imam told ESPNcricinfo that nobody was injured in the incident and the umpires reached their hotel in central Chittagong safely.”An incident has been reported,” Imam said. “An object was hurled at the vehicle carrying the match officials that had the board’s security escort. It damaged part of the window, but nobody was hurt. Everyone reached the hotel safely. The BCB condemns the incident and are taking the matter seriously. The investigation is being conducted in consultation with local police. We are awaiting a report from them.”Bangladesh were beaten by Pakistan in the third and final ODI by 58 runs, completing a 3-0 series sweep.Chittagong does not have a record of crowd attacks but during the last World Cup the West Indies team bus was pelted with stones after Bangladesh were bowled out for 58 and lost by nine wickets in Mirpur.

Ricky Ponting rates himself “a good chance” to play with his broken little finger on Boxing Day, but won’t be too proud to stand down if he’s not fit

Peter English at the WACA19-Dec-2010Ricky Ponting rates himself “a good chance” to play with his broken little finger on Boxing Day, but won’t be too proud to stand down if he’s not fit. Ponting has learned from last year, when he went into the biggest game of the summer with a serious elbow tendon problem, and expects to wait until the morning of the fourth Test to decide whether he can lead.The injury ensures another bumpy lead-up for Australia and means Michael Clarke will be on standby for his first Test as captain. Greg Chappell, the selector, said yesterday Clarke, the current deputy, was not ready for the top job but changed tack today.Ponting, who will not pick up a bat until later in the week, did not field on the final morning as Australia raced to a 267-run victory that levelled the series at 1-1. “I have to have treatment and look after it for a few days and rest it,” he said. “I think I have a really good chance of playing, it is only a small fracture. It is a bit sore and angry at the moment, but I’ll be right.”He suffered the break when he spilled the edge of Jonathan Trott at second slip on the third afternoon, with the rebound popping up to Brad Haddin. X-rays last night showed a small crack and he spent the morning of his 36th birthday in the dressing room to protect the injury. He walked out after the victory had been secured to congratulate his team-mates while keeping his left hand out of everyone’s way.Ponting was in a similar fitness race this time last year as he battled to be ready for the start of the series against Pakistan. His right elbow had been hit by a Kemar Roach short ball at the WACA, and the problem disrupted his batting for the rest of the summer.He was determined to play on despite the discomfort, but this time he will consider a different approach if the injury hasn’t healed. “I honestly think with it being a little finger on my left hand, I don’t think it’s as significant as being the top elbow last year,” he said”I’m not going to be silly and put myself ahead of the team. If I don’t think I can function well, I won’t play. If I feel like I can function and play somewhere near – I won’t say how I’ve been playing, better than I have been playing – then I will play the game.”Ponting not only has a hurt finger, but he also hasn’t been in form with the bat, scoring 83 runs in six innings in this series, and averaging 38.95 in 24 Tests since the start of last year. The lack of output has resulted in increased pressure on his leadership, although that has eased with the strength of this victory.Clarke, 29, has also struggled for runs and been facing scrutiny as the captain in waiting. Chappell attempted to back-track today after telling Channel 9 yesterday that nobody was in the right frame of mind to step into the captaincy. The comments came before Ponting was hurt.”In that discussion I was being very careful not to make suggestions against Ricky and I didn’t speak clearly to get that message across,” Chappell told the ABC. “Michael is our next captain, whenever that might be. We’re very happy, he’s done the job before, and we have no doubt he’s ready for it.”What I was trying to say was that when the handover comes we’d love him to be in peak form. I’m not trying to suggest there was a problem there.”Yesterday Chappell said: “If we’re going to replace Ricky, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got someone that we’re confident has the right frame of mind who can take over and do a good job,” Chappell said. “And I don’t know that we’ve got somebody that we feel we want to rush Ricky Ponting out the door at this moment. There is nobody absolutely ready for it. I don’t think there are too many other players I’d want to put that pressure on.”Chappell said today that Ponting will be given time to turn around his batting form, just like Michael Hussey was at the start of this series. “In the nets he’s batting well,” Chappell said. “Perhaps the pressure of this series, he built it up as a very important series, perhaps he hasn’t had the mental freedom to bat. Hopefully the win here might give him the freedom in Melbourne.”

Nathan Hauritz experienced the greatest pain he had felt on a cricket ground when he caught and bowled Mohammad Yousuf, but soon was enjoying five-wicket hauls in back-to-back Test wins

Peter English07-Jan-2010Nathan Hauritz, one of Australia’s final-day heroes at SCG, must have felt like he was meeting with his doctor.How’s your chest? “No bruise, just a small mark.”And your thumb? “It’s okay. It’s still a bit sore but I’ve had all the medical checks and everything like that.”And your head? “Not too bad, we had a few beers with the boys, but unfortunately the finger stopped me having too many more. I’ve just got to look after it.”The nail of Hauritz’s left thumb was ripped off when Mohammad Yousuf charged at the offspinner and muscled a thumping drive that also crunched into his chest. “I didn’t really catch it in the end, it just hit my body and stayed there,” Hauritz said. “I hardly saw it, to be honest, it was just lucky that it hit my body because it would’ve went for four.”There were many moments on the final day that changed the course of the game, but Hauritz’s chest take ensured Australia’s stunning comeback and led to a 36-run win and a 2-0 series success. Yousuf, the captain, had taken Hauritz for three fours in his previous over and was looking dangerous, but when he departed the threat had gone and Pakistan were quickly on the way to being dismissed for 139.In the moments after Yousuf’s thunderball Hauritz was more worried about the pain in his thumb. His team-mates weren’t. As Hauritz lay on the pitch after being forced to the ground by the ball, Ricky Ponting mockingly rolled Hauritz on his side to put him in the recovery position. The ribbing continued during the night of celebrations.”Every time they had a beer they opened it and called me hard as nails,” Hauritz said. “It’s pretty soft, I guess, in the end. It’s one of those things that happens.” Blood from the cut had seeped through the bandage and was still visible the morning after the game.He said the pain was the greatest he had felt on a cricket ground, but he was soon experiencing the most extreme pleasure after taking 5 for 53 and bowling Australia to victory in back-to-back Tests. “The agony went pretty quickly,” he said after watching Misbah-ul-Haq cut to gully and then mopping up Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul. The haul was responsible for concluding Australia’s dramatic turnaround, which started with Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle’s partnership of 123 for the ninth wicket, leaving Pakistan needing 176 to win.”It’s something I always wanted to be part of, on a fourth- or fifth-day wicket at the SCG, spinning the team to victory,” Hauritz said. “The celebrations last night were proof of that.”Usually a bowler who has taken 12 wickets at 24.08 in two Tests would be given more respect at the next meeting, but Hauritz is not expecting any relief in Hobart from Thursday. “Every time I come on to bowl they look to absolutely take me everywhere,” he said. “It’s definitely a big challenge. I don’t expect any different in Hobart and Hobart is one of the most difficult wickets to bowl spin on.”What the wickets have done is provide him with confidence and a belief that he belongs in the Test team. The five-for in Melbourne was his maiden collection in first-class cricket and he has always been worried about his place. In between times he has picked up groin and heel complaints but providing all his ailments are taken care of, he can enjoy the feeling of having a secure position.

Player-turned-pundit says comments over fitness caused team to give her ‘cold shoulder’

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2025Alex Hartley, England’s former World Cup-winning spinner, has claimed that Sophie Ecclestone “refused” to be interviewed by her on TV and that she has been “given the cold shoulder” by England players since criticising their fitness following their T20 World Cup exit in October.Hartley, who has worked extensively as a broadcaster and pundit since retiring from professional cricket, had said that a handful of players were “letting the team down” with their fitness levels after their shock defeat to West Indies in Dubai. Heather Knight and Jon Lewis, England’s captain and coach, both denied that it had contributed to their group-stage elimination.Following England’s 57-run loss in Monday’s first T20I in Sydney, which put Australia 8-0 up in the Ashes and ensured they will retain the trophy, Hartley said she had been frozen out. “Sophie Ecclestone refused to do a TV interview with me today,” she told the BBC’spodcast. “I’ve been hung out to dry by the England team: none of them will talk to me on the boundary edge.”The reason I said that they were not as fit as Australia is because I want them to compete with Australia, I want them to be better than Australia, and I want them to win Ashes and World Cups. I’m giving my opinion, and I’ve been given the cold shoulder from the England team ever since.Related

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“Not all of them have given me the cold shoulder. I don’t want to say that they’ve all been the same, because they haven’t. Some of the players have been absolutely outstanding: I’ve spoken to them in the street, at the ground, wherever. But a few individuals – coaches, players – they literally haven’t looked at me.”England’s fielding has been a problem throughout the Ashes. Beth Mooney was dropped early in her match-winning 75 in Sydney on Monday, while a series of errors contributed to England’s three ODI defeats at the start of the tour. It prompted Hartley to reiterate her view that England have struggled to match Australia’s “athleticism” across the series.”I’ve upset them, clearly,” she said. “Jon Lewis has come out and said there isn’t a problem with fitness in his squad, there isn’t a problem with fitness in the England environment. They obviously think I’m completely wrong in my opinion – which is fine, absolutely fine. I’m entitled to my opinions, and they’re entitled to theirs.”It’s my job to say if I see something that needs to be better, and I did, but the way that I’ve been treated since I think is totally unfair. But they will say that my comments were unfair, so if that’s the way our relationship is going to be moving forwards, then so be it… If fitness isn’t a problem, then it’s athleticism from a few, isn’t it?”An England team spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo.

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

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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.”