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At a time when the loss of South African players to Kolpak deals has returned to the spotlight, a review into the state of the game in the country has picked out retaining talent as one of the key areas that needs to be addressed

Firdose Moonda09-Jan-20173:14

‘I respect Kyle’s decision, but don’t agree with it’ – du Plessis

At a time when the loss of South African players to Kolpak deals has returned to the spotlight, a review into the state of the game in the country has picked out retaining talent as one of the key areas that needs to be addressed.On Monday it was confirmed that David Wiese had followed the path of Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw into English domestic cricket joining Stiaan van Zyl, Simon Harmer, Hardus Viljoen who signed for counties last year.One of seven recommendations made in the national team review, which was implemented last year after collective struggles of the various South Africa sides, said CSA needed to “formulate and execute a strategy to minimise or stop the loss of ‘players of national interest’ in our setup.”After the confirmation of Abbott and Rossouw quitting international cricket last week, Test captain Faf du Plessis appealed for CSA to address all the issues that may have played a part in their decisions.

Key recommendations from the review panels

• Appointing a director of cricket to oversee the performance of the national men’s team

• Appointing the convener of selectors in a full-time role and make talent identification at lower levels part of his role

• Create a strategy to prevent the loss of players in the national set-up

• Consider the option of contracting franchise coaches to CSA

• Encourage ex-players to contribute

• Ensure the South Africa A team and High Performance Centre produce a calibre of players that can make the step up to international cricket

• Build a strong culture for the national team

• A seventh franchise at domestic level and the limiting of each franchise squad to 15 members

“It’s a red flag and we have to address it. It’s important that we look at how we can learn from this and make sure that this isn’t something that two years from now, has meant we’ve lost 10 or 15 players and we say, ‘oopsie’,” du Plessis said. “We need to make sure we get better at it. There’s too much talent in South Africa to lose guys like that.”Responding to the review, CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat said significant investment in players and coaches at all levels was about to be made. “We are already in the process of rolling out new coaching structures and individual player performance plans after the Board approved funding in excess of R100 million over the next four years,” he said. That amounts to US$7.3 million, which will see a substantial amount of money being invested in South African players.Player retention was just one point of a wide review conducted into South African cricket. Revamping the coaching structures and expanding the domestic scene to include one more franchise were also among the most important recommendations presented to CSA by the review panels.Two panels – one to look into national issues and one domestic – were convened by CSA last year after a summer of discontent on the South African circuit. In April, when South Africa had tumbled from No.1 to No.7 on the Test rankings and were booted out of the World T20 in the first round, CSA set up a four-person independent review panel to look into the under performance of all national teams.CSA felt they needed a comprehensive dissection of the issues which also saw the women’s team also struggled at the T20 and the under-19s appear hapless in defence their 2014 World Cup title. They also put in place a domestic review to determine whether that system was serving the international game as best as it could.But, in June the national review panel was abandoned after CSA and some of the members failed to agree terms. Still, the domestic review went ahead and in the months since then the national review panel was reconstituted despite the upturn in South Africa’s fortunes and completed its work. CSA’s board will now consider the suggestions before deciding which ones they would like to implement.Coach Russell Domingo’s role does not appear to have been scrutinised – as was initially the plan – perhaps because was already been given a contract extension until the end of the England tour in August this year. However, the suggestion to employ a director of cricket indicated the panel believes Domingo does need to be accountable to someone other than the board and that South Africa needs a more centralised coaching structure. CSA already has a general manager of cricket, former national coach Corrie van Zyl, but may look at other options.The other significant point was made around involving former internationals, something South Africa have started to do. This season, Mark Boucher and Ashwell Prince have taken up franchise coaching roles, Jacques Kallis was invited to a South Africa training session at Newlands and Graeme Smith was part of the review panel. Having these players, who were all part of the generation that won the Test mace, involved in some capacity is thought to be key to building the culture known as Protea Fire, which Smith cultivated.Although there were no recommendations around transformation – CSA already has targets in place at both national and domestic level – both panels stressed the importance of embracing a commitment to change. In a statement, the review panel encouraged a change in mindset as cricket sought to offer opportunities to all South Africans.”It should not be a numbers game which leads to a focus on the numbers instead of the root causes of the problem. Rather, it should be something that is tackled holistically throughout the system – and this calls for a deep-seated mind shift for all involved in cricket for it to be sustainable. Essentially, we will only know that we have the strongest team possible on the field if there has been equal access for all,” the statement read.The biggest domestic issue tackled was the size of the franchise system. More than ten years ago – in the 2004-5 season – CSA abandoned their 11-team provincial in favour of six franchises, effectively almost halving the number of professional cricketers in the country. This has resulted in a narrowing of opportunity, with only around 90 contracts available per season.In a bid to stem the talent drain and seek out a deeper talent pool, the panel recommended the addition of one more franchise to increase player number to 105. A possible location for this franchise was not revealed but the Eastern Cape – the heartland of black African cricket – is a likely possibility.

Litton Das, who had missed the second Test against SA last month due to fever, also returned to action

Mohammad Isam19-Nov-2024Rain couldn’t completely dent Bangladesh’s only practice match on their tour of the West Indies, as the visitors had a pretty good outing against the West Indies Select XI in Coolidge.After the four-and-a-half-hour delay on the second day, Bangladesh reduced the hosts to 87 for 9, with rookie left-arm spinner Hasan Murad bagging a hat-trick. Murad removed Daniel Beckford, Navin Bidaisee and Chaim Holder back-to-back in the 28th over, after which Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons immediately signaled the end of the match.The Bangladesh bowlers had a moderate workout on the second day. Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud took two wickets each, while Shoriful Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz also got one apiece.One of Mahmud’s strikes, which came on the first evening, included that of the West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who was also leading the West Indies Select XI. That might end up boosting his confidence ahead of the first Test against West Indies, which starts in Antigua on Friday.Earlier in the game, Bangladesh had batted for 73.2 overs on the first day, before declaring on 253 for 7. Jaker Ali and Mahidul Islam had retired on 48 and 41, respectively. Litton Das, who had missed the second Test against South Africa at home last month due to fever, retired on 31 to kickstart the West Indies tour.Mominul Haque, Bangladesh’s most experienced cricketer on tour, also made 31. Bangladesh’s concerns, though, will continue to revolve around the opening batters Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan, who both got out cheaply.For the West Indies Select XI, Jair McAllister and Holder had taken two wickets each, while Kimani Melius top-scored with 23 when they batted.

Sussex comfortably overhauled on home patch despite Ravi Bopara efforts

ECB Reporters Network20-Jun-2023Jordan Cox led Kent Spitfires to their fourth Vitality Blast win in a row as they beat Sussex Sharks by six wickets at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.Cox hit an unbeaten 82 off just 44 deliveries, with six fours and five sixes. And he was well supported at the end by Jack Leaning, who made an unbeaten 28 from 26 balls. Spitfires needed 12 runs from the final two overs but Cox saw his side home with eight balls to spare when he hit the otherwise impressive Ari Karvelas to leg for successive sixes.Both the Sharks and the Spitfires had to win this match to sustain their ambitions in the Vitality Blast and both sides had shown some encouraging form in recent weeks after generally disappointing campaigns.The Spitfires, chasing 170, got off to a good start with 25 from the first two overs but then Karvelas came on to bowl the third, bowling Tawanda Muyeye with his first delivery and then having Joe Denly caught behind with his fourth ball. When Tymal Mills came on to bowl the fourth over he had the Spitfires captain Sam Billings caught behind for just 2 and suddenly Kent were on the back foot at 28 for 3.But Cox put Kent on top once more with a fourth wicket stand of 70 in seven overs with Daniel Bell-Drummond. The pair looked in total control before, in the 11th over, Bell-Drummond attempted to work Ravi Bopara to fine leg and got a top edge. Cox, though, carried on, reaching his half-century from 31 balls with five fours and a six. He then celebrated the landmark by hoisting Brad Currie over square-leg for six, before reverse scooping George Garton over third man for another maximum before his final flurry of strokeplay against Karvelas.Sussex had been guided to a total of 169 for 7 by their captain, Bopara, who hit a typically fluent 53 from 39 deliveries, with four fours and two sixes. They must have hoped for more after reaching the end of the 15th with a score of 133 for 3, but they were frustrated at the end of their innings by some fine death bowling from Michael Hogan and Wes Agar, who had come into the side for Kane Richardson, who had a side strain.Harrison Ward had got the Sharks off to a fine start, as they crashed 44 runs from the first five overs. But from the last ball of the fifth over the in-form Ward, who is often overlooked for these matches, was caught on the square-leg boundary off Hogan for a 21-ball 32.Tom Clark again made a good start without progressing, and Oli Carter looked in the mood after lifting Grant Stewart onto the pavilion roof for six. When he was out, well caught by Cox at extra cover, the best chance of a big total rested with the experienced pair of Bopara and Tom Alsop.They added 43 in four overs but then Alsop was caught at long-on by Bell-Drummond off Fred Klaassen and even Bopara was unable to give the innings a gloss finish against some tight bowling and fielding from the Spitfires.

It was hard to avoid a sense of deja-vu as Alastair Cook accepted that England’s batting had let them down in Mohali

George Dobell in Mohali29-Nov-2016It was hard to avoid a sense of deja-vu as Alastair Cook accepted that England’s batting had let them down in Mohali.He was quite right, of course. By failing to take advantage of winning the toss here, England surrendered their best opportunity to control the game. On a surface that Cook described as “400 par” – and it was at least that – England instead succumbed to 283 all out and surrendered the pitch at its best to an India side who were determined to utilise it.Whereas four England batsmen had scored centuries (three in the first innings, one in the second) on what Cook described as a similar surface in Rajkot, here Jonny Bairstow was the only man to make 50 in the first innings.”You need a big score on a wicket like that,” Cook said, “and we weren’t good enough to make one. Jonny Bairstow made a good 80, but we need hundreds. The pitch wasn’t too different to Rajkot, maybe slightly harder to score on, but it was 400 par and we were below it. We just weren’t good enough.”While Cook’s candour is welcome, England have now lost four of their most recent six Tests with batting failures a recurring theme. If the collapses in Dhaka (where they lost 10 wickets for 63 runs) and Visakhapatnam (where they lost 10 for 63) were especially eye-catching, the batting at The Oval (England were 110 for 5 on the first day having won the toss) and here (where they were 87 for 4 before lunch on the first day) was equally culpable.And while they seem to have found the answer to their problem at the top of the order in Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali was not convincing at No. 4 (or No. 3 in the second innings) and Hameed is now unavailable for the rest of the series. Moeen and Jos Buttler both picked out the fielder after trying to hit over the top in the second innings – victims of good bowling, for sure, but also a lack of patience – underlining the suspicion that England were still trying to find a way to blend their naturally positive approach with the discipline required for Test cricket.Their struggles against spin are familiar, too. While the pitches in this series have deteriorated and turned a little, there has been none of the extravagant assistance that some anticipated. Instead, on perfectly reasonable surfaces, England have struggled to deal with an accurate, disciplined spin attack who have exposed some flawed techniques and uncertain temperaments.Cook was criticised for his “they’re no supermen” comments after the Visag Test (some even suggested he was “taunting” India), but he came very close to repeating those remarks here.”There were not magic balls,” he said of England’s second innings struggle. “Maybe Jonny Bairstow was the only one that was a good piece of bowling, but apart from that there wasn’t a huge amount misbehaving from the pitch. It was good accurate bowling, as you expect from India in these conditions, but not unplayable. You can talk all you want but the top order have to go and deliver.”While the phrase “the only one that was a good piece of bowling” in unfortunate – and almost certainly a reflection of a lack of eloquence more than a lack of grace – there is a valid point in there somewhere. Cook, for example, missed a 46 mph delivery that turned about one degree. Moeen and Buttler fell to sucker punches. It was soft cricket that was thrown into its proper perspective by a 19-year-old with a badly broken finger. His teammates were, quite rightly, proud of his performance: one or two of them might have felt it contrasted with their own.Ultimately, professional players have to take responsibility for the way they play. They have to make their choices and live by the results. But these are the times that coaches also earn their keep and there have been times of late when it has been unclear what England’s approach is meant to be: are they blocking their way to safety – as they attempted in Visag – or trying to counter-attack to success, as they showed, in fits and starts, here. Both options are reasonable, but a lack of confidence in their defence has been a feature of several of these batting failures. England have usually preferred aggressive players to defensive ones – consider the selections of Ben Duckett, for example – and here picked an excellent limited-overs players (Buttler) who had played just one first-class game in the previous year. There is not a lot of evidence to suggest this aggressive approach is working.Perhaps the brief holiday they will have now is well-timed. Several of the squad will travel to Dubai for a few days, with no formal training planned. “It will mentally give us a break from cricket,” Cook said. “We can come back more refreshed.”Cook also admitted England may have erred in their selection for Mohali. The presence of a third spinner – and a second off-spinner, in particular – was superfluous, with Cook suggesting the option of a fourth seamer would have been more beneficial.”All of us probably misread the pitch,” Cook said. “we thought it was dry and would spin more. If we had known what we do now, we would have gone four seamers two spinners. The seamers were always in the game with reverse and the way we bash length, we can control the scoring rate very well.”That does not necessarily mean that England will play four seamers in Mumbai. As well as injury concerns over seamers Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, England hope to have Zafar Ansari, the left-arm spinner, available for selection again and expect that surface may provide more assistance to spinners. The last time England played a Test there, in 2012, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann shared 19 wickets between them.

Tim May, an architect of the first collective agreement between Cricket Australia and the players, has challenged the board to provide better justification for ending the fixed revenue percentage model

Daniel Brettig19-Apr-2017Tim May, one of the architects of the first collective bargaining agreement between Cricket Australia and Australia’s cricketers, has challenged the board to provide better justification for its desire to end the fixed revenue percentage model that has remained in place over the past 20 years.In an exclusive ESPNcricinfo column, May took issue with CA’s contention that the model had “done its job” of ensuring international male players were the best paid in the country while domestic players are paid competitively relative to other sports. While lauding movs to raise pay for women, he questioned why it had been determined that domestic players in particular must now be locked into a wage.He did so while noting that every major sport in the United States – where May has been based for more than a decade – makes use of revenue sharing models, invariably offering the players a far higher percentage of revenue than the figure of around 26% Australia’s cricketers have been entitled to since that first deal was struck with the Australian Cricketers Association in 1998. May wondered why CA wished to break it up at a time when domestic players were about to provide a greater share of the game’s revenue – via the Big Bash League- than ever before.”For the past two decades CA and ACA have built a culture of players and administrators working together to grow the game and share in its success – but now with this success moving to a new level, one party no longer wants to play ball,” May wrote. “The stakes here are high. CA’s position threatens to set back by decades the relationship between players and administrators.”To change the system so radically, it needs to provide a valid and compelling argument. The onus is on the board, not the players. CA needs to explain why, for 20 years, the revenue-sharing model has worked so successfully and yet now it suddenly can’t work. It’s a tough one for it because, as far as I can see, there really isn’t a valid argument.”In 1998, May worked alongside James Sutherland, then commercial manager at what was then the Australian Cricket Board, to sort out the finer details of the deal that has remained in place with minimal changes over the past two decades, most of which have seen Sutherland in place as CA’s chief executive.Having observed the way the game is changing, particularly via the emergence of Twenty20 leagues across the globe, May argued that the model is now more valuable than ever, providing the players with a genuine stake in the game down under that helps to dissuade some from simply pursuing T20 competitions year-round. At the same time it means the cost to CA rises or falls depending on the total amount of money being raked in, rather than putting pressure on the board in the event of a tour cancellation, or the boycotts like the one threatened by India in early 2008.”The uncertainty of projected revenues was one of the main reasons that the ACB agreed to the introduction of the revenue-sharing model in the first place,” May wrote. “It’s of massive benefit for them. Ask any business if they would like to make their largest expense variable and I suspect they would jump at the chance. For CA to imply that the shared risk-and-reward ideology is outdated is nonsense. Far from being obsolete, it is more relevant now than perhaps any time in the past 20 years.”Scheduling disputes, unforeseen circumstances and uncertainty around ICC distributions can play havoc with projected revenues, placing CA in danger of not being able to meet other obligations, such as development of the game. In 2008, when the Indian team threatened to go home after the Sydney Test, CA faced a revenue black hole amounting to tens of millions in TV rights.”Uncertainty to do with global issues is a genuine concern. These days we have heightened security challenges and the spectre of terrorism. There is the possibility the international cricket schedule could be affected, leaving Australia in a bind. These are valid and sensible current arguments to keep player expenses in line with the fluctuations of revenue.”

The left-arm spinner underwent remedial work under CSA’s head of High Performance, Vincent Barnes

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2023Aaron Phangiso, the South Africa and Joburg Super Kings’ left-arm spinner has had his bowling action cleared following a re-test, the SA20 league announced via a press release. The league has also lifted the suspension previously imposed upon the spinner.Phangiso was reported for a suspect bowling action during Super Kings’ game against Pretoria Capitals on January 17 in the inaugural SA20. He was deemed to have a non-compliant action after undergoing a number of laboratory tests and subsequently suspended from bowling in the league.Related

• Aaron Phangiso suspended from bowling in SA20 due to illegal action

• Phangiso's bowling action found illegal

The 39-year-old has since undergone bowling action remodelling and remedial work under the guidance of CSA head of High Performance, Vincent Barnes. He undertook a test at an ICC Accredited Testing Centre at the University of Pretoria, which “noted an improvement in his action, and cleared the way for him to return to bowling.” The Independent Assessment report on Phangiso’s bowling action was presented to SA20’s Independent Expert Panel, which consisted of Zama Ndamane, Gerrie Pienaar, Russell Domingo and Vernon Philander.Phangiso played six matches at the SA20, picking ten wickets – including two four-wicket hauls – and finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker for his team. Super Kings made it to the semi-final of the tournament, where they were beaten by eventual winners Sunrisers Eastern Cape by 14 runs.This was the second time in his career that Phangiso’s action was deemed illegal. He was first reported during Lions’ win against Warriors in the semi-final of the Momentum One-Day Cup in 2016 and was cleared after undergoing remedial work on his action.Phangiso has played 21 ODIs and 16 T20Is for South Africa and last donned the national jersey in a T20I against India in 2016.

Sultans make PSL final for third straight season after bowling out the defending champions for 76

Danyal Rasool15-Mar-20231:00

Wiese: We let ourselves down during certain moments in the chase

Earlier this week, Lahore Qalandars coach Aqib Javed told ESPNcricinfo about how other teams in the PSL prioritised power hitters, while Qalandars wanted to go for the best bowlers. Here, Multan Sultans demonstrated to them the value of power hitters lower down the order, as Kieron Pollard and Tim David dug deep against an imperious Qalandars bowling showing to post 160. Sultans then went about taking apart the defending champions’ batting line-up in astonishing fashion, with Sheldon Cottrell blowing away the top order as Qalandars folded for 76, the third-lowest total in PSL history. It sealed Sultans’ place in the PSL final for the third successive season – the first team to do that – while Qalandars drop down into Friday’s eliminator to keep their title defence intact.Chasing a total down against Qalandars’ bowling line-up has become the most daunting challenge in the PSL, and Sultans were sensible enough to be flexible. They won the toss and batted first for the first time this season, and just the fifth time in their history. But they tend to pick these moments well; they won three of the previous four.Related

• Aqib Javed: 'We wanted the best bowling unit, everyone else is after the best hitters'

• Miller: 'I've really enjoyed challenging myself against the PSL death bowlers'

That victory seemed anything but assured for much of the first innings, with Qalandars at their imperious best with the ball, stifling Sultans in the first 15 overs. The average first innings score this season here was 193, but it became obvious fairly soon the Sultans wouldn’t get anywhere near that. They managed just 46 in the powerplay, and while Qalandars hadn’t picked up any wickets, it didn’t seem as if they needed to.Haris Rauf, at his fearsome fastest, struck the first blow, though the ball he cleaned Usman Khan up with was a slower one. Zaman Khan got rid of a scratchy Rilee Rossouw cheaply, a huge wicket, particularly given Rossouw’s imperious record against Qalandars. Rashid Khan prised Mohammad Rizwan out with a wrong’un to reduce the Sultans to 90 for three, and Qalandars only tightened their grip on the game.Sheldon Cottrell celebrates with his signature salute after a top-order wicket•PCB

It was a sensational lower order counterattack from Pollard that dug his side out of a hole, though it wasn’t without its chances. Sam Billings dropped a skier fairly early on in the onslaught, with Shaheen Afridi and Hussain Talat missing chances to get rid of him. In the meantime, he was grinding through the gears, pushing up Sultans total to a defensible level, never more so than when he powered three sixes off Shaheen in the penultimate over; the 20 the Qalandars captain conceded made it his most costly PSL over. It also brought up a 33-ball 50 for Pollard, winning him the Player-of-the-Match award.Haris hit back with a scintillating final six balls, hitting speeds in excess of 150 regularly and cleaning up both Pollard and Khushdil Shah. It saw just six runs scored and clawed a bit of momentum Qalandars’ way, turning the task over to the batters.But Cottrell, newly arrived at the PSL, wrenched the game out of Qalandars’ hands before they’d even had the opportunity to get the chase off the ground. A double-strike in his second over, making prodigious use of inswing to the right-handers, put paid to both Mirza Baig and Abdullah Shafique, while Anwar Ali from the other end seamed one beautifully to knock back the top of Fakhar Zaman’s off stump. Cottrell wasn’t done with the ambush yet, returning to dispatch Shaheen with a wild swing off the second ball he faced finding Usman Khan at cover.There was more trauma about to be inflicted on a shell-shocked Qalandars. Pollard, their tormentor in chief with the bat, saw two wickets fall in his first over, sloppy running catching Talat out before a sensational running catch from Abbas Afridi brought the curtains down on Sikandar Raza.Qalandars’ thoughts were already turning to Friday’s eliminator. Billings and Rashid fell in quick succession, before a few lusty blows from David Wiese and Rauf gave a packed, partisan home crowd something to cheer for. It was to be ephemeral, however, with Abbas Afridi delivering the knockout blow as Haris feathered one through to the keeper.Sultans were thrashed in last year’s PSL final by this very opposition. But this was a step towards ensuring they might not even need to meet them at that stage one more time.

Madhya Pradesh wrapped up the chase in a single over – after they were gifted five wides

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2019Nine all out. And nine ducks. Mizoram had a day to forget in the Senior Women’s T20 league in India, but at least it was short. Only 14.5 overs of a possible 40 were needed to decide the result as Madhya Pradesh won the game with ease. In fact, more than half their target – much as the target itself – was gifted to them, in the form of five wides.Tarang Jha had a day to remember though. The new-ball bowler for Madhya Pradesh bowled 24 deliveries – 23 of them were dots – and picked up four wickets. On the back of her efforts, Mizoram were 2 for 5 in the fifth over. Apurwa Bhardwaj, batting at No. 5, made six runs off 25 deliveries, striking the only boundary of the innings. But then again, she was the bowler who gave away the five wides in the chase. In all, MP needed just six deliveries to wrap up the chase.Earlier this year, in a T20 international, China slumped to 14 all out against UAE, recording the lowest score in women’s T20Is.

The first four-day match between Pakistan A and Zimbabwe A ended in a draw at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2016

ScorecardFile photo – Peter Moor stood out with 157 in Zimbabwe A’s strong first-innings batting performance•AFP

The first four-day match between Pakistan A and Zimbabwe A ended in a draw at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, as the hosts got some valuable match practice ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka.Zimbabwe A, fielding a full squad of Test players, opted to bat first and were reduced to 193 for 5 before Peter Moor took charge of the game and scored 157, studded with 11 fours and eight sixes. Contributions from Richmond Mutumbami (38) and Graeme Cremer (54) helped Zimbabwe put on 251 for the last five wickets and reach 444. Legspinner Shadab Khan took 4 for 114 and left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar took 3 for 112 for Pakistan.Pakistan’s response started with the loss of two quick wickets, but opener Zain Abbas scored his second first-class century as he set up partnerships with Shohaib Maqsood (54) and Saad Ali (62) to take them out of trouble. He scored 137 before falling to Cremer, who ended with 4 for 82. Allrounder Fahim Ashraf scored an unbeaten 61 to take Pakistan to 358.Malcolm Waller scored an unbeaten 87 in the second innings that lasted 75.2 overs before Zimbabwe declared on 219 for 5. Sikandar Raza (40) and Craig Ervine (38) managed to get some time in after veteran Hamilton Masakadza got out without scoring. Asghar had an impressive outing once again, taking four of the five wickets that fell.Fakhar Zaman (40*) and Zain Abbas (39*), the Pakistan openers, took them to 72 for no loss before play ended.

The pair added an unbroken 141 to ensure their team finished top of the group with a convincing victory

Valkerie Baynes03-Aug-2022An unbroken third-wicket partnership worth 141 between Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney rescued Australia from a shaky start against Pakistan to secure a third win from as many matches at the Commonwealth Games.Australia – already assured of a place in the semi-finals – had slumped to 19 for 2 inside the first six overs before McGrath hammered her way to 78 not out off 51 balls and Mooney reached an unbeaten 70 off 49 at Edgbaston. It was the fourth time McGrath has gone unbeaten in her six career T20I innings. McGrath also took 3 for 13 from three overs as Pakistan’s pursuit of 161 faltered.Pakistan were bundled out of the tournament after going winless from their three matches, meaning that the winner of the evening match between India and Barbados would progress to the knockout stages with Australia from Group A.Dream start for PakistanPakistan couldn’t have hoped for a better beginning after restricting the gold-medal favourites to 22 for 2 in the powerplay, having claimed the prized wickets of Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning, both for just four runs each.Healy was dropped off the bowling of Diana Baig in the first over when she sent a thick edge to first slip, where Omaima Sohail failed to hold on. The damage was limited, however, when Healy fell without adding to her score in the next over edging an excellent delivery from Fatima Sana which angled in, found the inside edge and clattered into leg stump.Sadia Iqbal, playing her first match of the Games, then struck in the sixth over with a gem to beat Lanning and pegged back off stump. After six overs, Australia had found the boundary just three times and were scoring at a run rate of 3.67.Omaima Sohail lost her leg stump off Alana King’s first ball, much to the delight of Alyssa Healy•Getty Images

McGrath, Mooney issue wake-up callMcGrath and Mooney began to regain control, adding 36 runs in the next four overs to recover to 58 for 2 at the halfway point of the innings. After reaching 30 from 24 balls, McGrath was adjudged lbw to Iqbal when she was struck on the back pad attempting to reverse sweep, but overturned the decision on review with replays showing the ball had brushed her glove on the way through.McGrath’s shot-placement was sublime. She stroked two fours in three balls off Sohail, muscled over cover and swept through backward square leg before moving to a 37-ball fifty in the next over with a powerful drive to the rope at long-off from the bowling of Iqbal.Mooney brought up her fifty in 42 balls with a single off Aiman Anwer to also raise the century stand. The 19th over, bowled by Sana, went for 21 runs, including a six each to Mooney, launched over deep square leg, and McGrath finer but with plenty of power behind it. Twelve runs off the final over, by Anwer, including four from McGrath through cover off a full toss to close the innings, had Australia in command.Pakistan’s pursuit falls flatPakistan were 8 for 2 after just two overs with Megan Schutt removing Muneeba Ali with the third ball of their reply, slashing straight to Darcie Brown at backward point. Brown then chimed in with the wicket of Iram Javed in the next over, skying an attempted pull to Grace Harris at short midwicket.After six overs Pakistan were ahead of the curve at 32 for 2 but needed something massive from captain Bismah Maroof. She enjoyed a let-off when she spooned Ash Gardner straight to mid-off where Harris shelled a simple chance.Alana King, who took a career-best 4 for 8 in Australia’s nine-wicket victory over Barbados, entered the attack immediately afterwards and struck right away, bowling Sohail with a beauty that brushed the pad and hit leg stump two-thirds of the way up. When Aliya Riaz was run out, effectively sacrificed by Maroof who sent her back halfway through a second run, Pakistan slumped to 47 for 4 in the 10th over.McGrath shines with the ball tooMcGrath capped a wonderful all-round effort with three wickets, includuing two in two balls. She had Ayesha Naseem well caught by King, running round to long-on to take a high one just inside the rope.Then she ended Maroof’s laboured innings of 23 from 32 balls when a miscued drive sailed to Jess Jonassen at mid-on and, next ball, trapped Tuba Hassan lbw playing across a straight one. When Baig left the hat-trick ball alone outside off, Healy shot a smile from behind the stumps at first slip, where Lanning stood once more, having dropped a catch there which would have given King a hat-trick in the previous match. Sana finished unbeaten on 35, but her team fell well short.