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18-year-old Kwena Maphaka is the only uncapped player in the squad that will play Pakistan in three ODIs

Firdose Moonda12-Dec-2024South Africa have selected their strongest available squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan in order to make full use of their last opportunity to play together ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy.Though South Africa will play a tri-series in Pakistan, which also includes New Zealand, in February next year, those matches will take place too close to the conclusion of the SA20 on February 8 for a first-choice squad to be available.There are nine additions to the squad that last played the format, against Ireland in the UAE, including the return of Kagiso Rabada, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, who last played an ODI almost a year ago.

South Africa vs Pakistan ODI series

Dec 17 – 1st ODI, Paarl
Dec 19 – 2nd ODI, Cape Town
Dec 22 – 3rd ODI, Johannesburg

Eighteen-year-old quick Kwena Maphaka is the only uncapped player in the squad, Maphaka was the leading wicket-take at this year’s Under-19 World Cup, which is played in the 50-over format, and has impressed with speeds of up to 152kph in the T20I series against Pakistan. He also gets an opportunity thanks to the absence of several injured quicks. None of Anrich Nortje (broken toe), Lungi Ngidi (hip injury), Gerald Coetzee (groin injury), Wiaan Mulder (broken finger) and Nandre Burger (lower back stress fracture) could be considered for selection.The squad will be led by regular captain Temba Bavuma, who was injured when playing an ODI against Ireland in October but has since returned to form in the Test arena. It is likely he will be partnered by Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order with Reeza Hendricks, who did not cross 20 in his last five ODIS, dropped. Tony de Zorzi is another top-order option. Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Klaasen and Miller all give South Africa an experienced and strong batting line-up.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two seam-bowling allrounders in Andile Phehlukwayo and Marco Jansen have been selected, while one other specialist seamer, Ottneil Baartman, and two frontline spinners – Maharaj and Shamsi – have come in at the expense of Bjorn Fortuin and Nqaba Peter. Shamsi’s return is significant because he opted out of a national contract in October in order to have flexibility for league performances and was not included in the T20I series to play India last month. He has since been recalled for the Pakistan matches.”The bowling line-up features one of the fastest in the game in KG, and this series offers another great opportunity for a young talent like Kwena to come in and learn first-hand from the best,” Rob Walter, South Africa’s white-ball coach, said. “In the batting department, we are thrilled to welcome back David and Heinrich, two of the most destructive players in the game. Overall, we are very pleased with this squad.”Bavuma, de Zorzi, Jansen, Maharaj, Markram, Rabada, Stubbs and Rickelton will have a four-day turnaround between the end of the ODI series and the start of the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. South Africa need one more Test win to guarantee themselves a place at next year’s World Test Championship final.

South Africa squad for ODI series against Pakistan

Temba Bavuma (capt), Ottneil Baartman, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen

Allrounder eclipses previous best by 69 runs as Surrey run out comfortable winners

David Hopps26-May-2023Sean Abbott’s first thought about a glorious night he could never have envisaged was that he is no Andrew Symonds with the bat. That made his intervention at the Kia Oval all the more remarkable. He now shares with Symonds the joint-fastest T20 hundred ever made in England and the fourth fastest in T20 history after his 34-ball romp for Surrey in front of 17,000 spectators. He is no mean cricketer, but he just kept smiling at the absurdity of it all.Kent had been pleasantly stunned by Symonds’ hundred in their colours that night in Maidstone back in 2004 as the potential of T20 began to dawn. This time they were the fall guys, their control of Surrey’s top-order abruptly surrendered to one of those nights when a recognised lower-order batter simply discovers a power within themselves that has never previously been witnessed.Nigh-on two decades have followed since Symonds’ revelation of T20’s potential. Then the game invited scepticism and suspicion even in the country that had been daring and forward-thinking enough to present it to the world. As Abbott underlined once more, it has since become a game where anything is possible.”I don’t think people should be thinking about me and ‘Roy’ in the same breath,” Abbott said, moments after his unbeaten 110 from 41 balls with four fours and 11 sixes (all but one between long on and deep square) became just the latest tale of the unexpected. “But it was a lot of fun. Batting records could not be further from my radar. I was just grateful to find the middle of the bat.”He found it so often on his debut T20 appearance at Kia Oval that he now stands only four balls adrift of Chris Gayle’s all-time record. He achieved the feat in the penultimate over with a muscular, short-arm shovel down the ground against his fellow Australian, the veteran seamer Michael Hogan. This from a seam bowler whose average in T20 was 10.91, who had never made more than 41 in 76 previous innings in this format, and who made only 51 runs as an afterthought in Sydney Sixers’ 2022-23 Big Bash campaign.Nobody doubts that he can bat – he has made good runs for Surrey in the Championship this season and has a first-class average of 22 – but this was only the second hundred of his professional career. Inspiration fell upon him. If his maiden half-century brought professional satisfaction, the realisation that he might actually make a hundred became a bit of a lark.It was Kent Day, the Feast of St Augustine, which celebrates the patron saint of Kent and first Archbishop of Canterbury. But this time the chomping was left to Abbott, whose saintly qualities are not even known in Windsor, New South Wales. He came in with Surrey 64 for 4 in 8.2 tentative overs. Sam Curran had just departed to a bit of catching practice at mid-off and the pitch cried out for somebody who would just give it a slug.Thanks to Surrey’s uncommon reliance on a bowler-heavy side, Abbott had that opportunity. He said later that he just didn’t want to use up too many balls. With six overs remaining, Surrey were 118 for 5, Abbott on 28 from 17, and there was talk of how 170 would surpass Kia Oval’s par score. But Surrey added 105 in the last five overs. First Kent’s bowling fell apart then their fielding followed. They began like the side that finished top of South Group in 2021 and finished like the side that ended up bottom a year later.Abbott first took a liking to the left-arm spin of George Linde – too short, six; too full, another six. He might have holed out during that over on 47, but Joey Evison, who had watched those two balls sail many miles over his head, could not make ground at long-off to the mishit.Kane Richardson, another Australian in the firing line, then went for 30 (6-4-6-4-4-6) on the 18th over. Richardson opted for wide yorkers, but never nailed them, and Abbott, by now discovering his full repertoire, mixed delicate steers and extra-cover drives with lean-back heaves into a warm South London sky.When one of those heaves malfunctioned against Evison, Linde, who had a bad night, leaned forward to fumble a sitter. With the century achieved against Hogan, there was time for laughter, too, in the crowd as Richardson and Jack Leaning combined to pat-a-cake another blow into the boundary boards. It was all a far cry from the impressive way Kent had started, exemplified by a brilliant run out of Tom Curran by Jordan Cox at mid off.It was good to see Sam Curran back in Surrey’s side, batting at three and captain, too, so soon after an IPL season in which he had been charged with living up to a record £1.85m price tag. “A season of many ups and downs, lots to learn from and come back stronger,” he had tweeted. He can relax into a tournament where IPL price tags are rarely a staple of crowd conversation.Another of Surrey’s IPL contingent, Jason Roy, was again absent with a minor calf injury, quite a coincidence after a fraught and highly-publicised week in which he abandoned his England incremental contract to sign for the MLC’s inaugural tournament in the United States. The suggestion remains that he will see out Surrey’s Blast season, and will miss the start of the MLC tournment if they reach the final stages, but cricket is in flux, Roy is one of the players at the centre of it, and nothing can be assumed to be set in stone.In the meantime, Surrey’s medical team will see rather more of him than Surrey supporters which is a common state of affairs that county cricket is finding increasingly hard to live with.It was hard therefore not to recall the words of Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket – and seemingly a contender to replace the late Mystic Meg – who remarked a week or so earlier about top English players attached to counties: “They go away and play elsewhere and when they come back they want time in the indoor school with the best coaches just to get ready to go off and play in another franchise competition. ‘Oh and by the way I’ve got a little calf injury so can I get treated by the physio, the doctor, the medical staff and can I get rehab as well?’ “Sunil Narine stood in as opener during Surrey’s victory against Middlesex at Lord’s 24 hours earlier – a match when Abbott was not one of the eight batters who reached the crease. This time Surrey promoted Laurie Evans and opted for make-do-and-mend with Abbott at No. 6. It all went rather well.When Symonds made that format-defining hundred, Kent’s coach, Matt Walker, had watched with wonder from the non-striker’s end. This time he was about 100 metres away and could be forgiven if he did not find things quite as uplifting.Kent made a spirited start with the bat as Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tawande Muyeye repeatedly peppered the boundary to reach 75 in the powerplay. Both reached half-centuries – Muyeye’s first – but after Sunil Narine had Bell-Drummond caught in the deep, Kent crumbled. The last over was left to Abbott, the game won, his face full of smiles, but no wicket to add the final touch to his evening.

Hyderabad’s nervy draw courtesy captain Badrinath, Sachin Baby’s mammoth double ton and Himachal’s draw the highlights from the final round of Group C matches

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2016Hyderabad held on after being aided by a fog delay to draw their match against Andhra in Lucknow and seal the second knockout qualification spot from Group C.Hyderabad had gone to stumps on the third day on 13 for 1 after a bold declaration by Andhra – who would have qualified with an outright win – had set them a target of 219. However, the entire first session was lost due to fog on the fourth day and only 40 overs were possible after that. It wasn’t enough for Andhra to force a result even though they made a match of it. by picking five wickets. Hyderabad then shut shop and walked away with the one point they needed to qualify. They were reduced to 36 for 5, but captain S Badrinath and wicketkeeper K Sumanth batted together for nearly 20 overs, and added as many runs, to avoid further damage and take them through.Himachal Pradesh‘s spinners, led by offspinner Gurvinder Singh, took eight wickets between them to dismiss Goa for 286 and set up a seven-wicket win on the last day of the group stage in Mumbai.Gurvinder took four wickets, including that of Darshan Misal (119) who scored his second century of the match. Sumiran Amonkar (55) was the only other batsman to make a significant contribution, but he had fallen in the second over of the day that Goa had begun on 99 for 2. They lost regular wickets as Bipul Sharma (2-36) and Mayank Dagar (2-77) joined Gurvinder in bowling 60.4 of the 84.4 overs Goa batted before being bowled out for 286, setting HP 139 to win.HP went about the chase in similar batting fashion to their first innings – striking at over five runs per over – and chased it down in the 28th over. Paras Dogra led their chase with an unbeaten 55 off 69 balls.Amandeep Khare scored his second century of the match as Chhattisgarh ended their debut season with first-innings points against Jammu & Kashmir in Gwalior. Khare, who was also making his Ranji debut this season, finished as Chhattisgarh’s top-scorer.Chhattisgarh had ended the third day on 101 for 1 having taken a first-innings lead of 128. Their overnight pair of Khare and Manoj Singh (85) extended their partnership to 161, before Manoj was dismissed by Parvez Rasool. Chhattisgarh struck at nearly five runs per over in their bid to set J&K a decent target. Khare completed his century off 79 balls and was unbeaten on 117 off 91 when Chhattisgarh declared on 264 for 3.
Set 393, J&K held on for 78 overs, thanks mainly to half-centuries from Shubham Khajuria (72), Pranav Gupta (65) and Rasool (66), three of only four batsmen to score in double digits. Left-arm spinners Sumit Ruikar and Ajay Mandal took three wickets each for Chhattisgarh.Kerala batted through all 64 overs of the day without losing a wicket to secure first-innings points against Services in Delhi.Kerala began the day on 271 for 5, needing 52 more to get past Services’ first-innings total of 322. Overnight batsmen Sachin Baby and Akshay Chandran put on an unbroken 257-run sixth-wicket partnership as both notched up career-best scores. Baby, who had begun the day on 112, was unbeaten on 250 at, while Chandran (102*) raised his maiden century just before Kerala declared on 518 for 5 and stumps were drawn.

James Anderson only arrived in India on Tuesday night but he retains hopes of being fit to play in the second Test against India

George Dobell in Rajkot09-Nov-20161:11

Ganguly: No Anderson even if he is fit

James Anderson only arrived in India on Tuesday night but he retains hopes of being fit to play in the second Test against India.Anderson has not played a game since August having suffered a stress fracture in his right shoulder. But, having been cleared to join the tour last week, he is now keen to prove himself in the nets over the coming days and stake a claim for selection for the Test starting in Visakhapatnam on November 17.”I had a good week at Loughborough last week, bowling to get some overs under my belt,” Anderson told Sky Sports. “Hopefully I can keep that going this week and get some miles into my legs to make sure I’m as fit as I can be and maybe be fit for the second Test.”It is still over a week away so it is hard to say for sure right now. It all depends how the week goes, but I’m sure in the next two or three days we’ll have an idea of whether that is a possibility or not.”At the tender age of 34 I’ve got enough experience to get into match mode quite quickly. Obviously it is not always easy without having any games under my belt, but I think I am able to do that.”While it remains more likely that Anderson will return to the side for the third or fourth Tests, he has been encouraged by the speed of his recent recovery.”We initially thought maybe the fourth Test was a possibility, but the way I’ve progressed over the last three or four weeks has been positive,” Anderson said. “I had a stress fracture of the shoulder blades at the back of my shoulder. It was a bit weird. I think it was just workload thing. I injured the muscle against Sri Lanka in May. The stress fracture has healed now and hopefully that will last.”I bowled 30 overs last week and now it is just about carrying that on and maybe upping the intensity a little bit. The rest is just standing around and getting those miles in the legs and being used to being on your feet for seven or eight hours a day.”Despite being unable to take part in the first Test – Anderson was given Wednesday off and will bowl in the nets in Rajkot on Thursday – he was delighted to be at the ground to see Stuart Broad awarded a silver cap by Andrew Strauss to mark his 100th Test.”I thought I was going to miss it but it is great that I got out here in time and saw him get his cap from Straussy,” Anderson said. “It’s an amazing achievement. He’s been a fantastic bowler for years and I’ve been fortunate enough to play in the majority of his Tests as well. We talk a lot about the game, we know each other’s game inside out and we talk a lot on the field.”We’ve developed a great friendship on and off the field and I’m just delighted that I’m here.”

Former England and Yorkshire batter leaves the game after successful return to native country

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2023Gary Ballance, the former Yorkshire and England cricketer who recently relaunched his career with his native Zimbabwe, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect.Ballance, 33, made four centuries in 23 Test appearances for England between 2014 and 2017, a record that compared favourably with many other players to have debuted in a similar period.However, he was heavily implicated in Azeem Rafiq’s explosive testimony during the DCMS parliamentary hearings in Westminster last November, after his use of the racial slur “P**i” had been deemed to be “banter” in the initial report into allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire.His career within English cricket ended amid the controversy, and after several months of open-ended leave on mental health grounds, Yorkshire released him from his contract at the end of the 2022 season, shortly after he was charged by the Cricket Discipline Commission alongside six other Yorkshire cricketers, including Michael Vaughan (who was subsequently cleared) and Matthew Hoggard.His move back to Zimbabwe – whom he had represented at Under-19 level prior to his England call-up – had been a bid for a fresh start, and it was initially a successful one too. He signed a two-year contract with ZC in December and played a total of eight international matches between January and March, including a one-off Test against West Indies in Bulawayo in which he scored a memorable 137 not out.The feat made him only the second Test cricketer to score centuries for two different nations, after Kepler Wessels, the former Australia batter and South Africa captain. However, after signing off with an unbeaten 64 to seal last month’s ODI series against the Netherlands, Ballance has now decided to call time on his relaunched career.”After much thought, I have decided to retire from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect,” he said in a statement.”I had hoped my move to Zimbabwe would provide me with a new-found happiness for the game and I will always be thankful to Zimbabwe Cricket for providing me with an opportunity to return to international cricket and welcoming me into their team.”However, I have reached the stage where I no longer have the desire to dedicate myself to the rigours of professional sport and this would do Zimbabwe Cricket and the game itself a disservice, should I carry on. I wish them every success going forward.”I have been fortunate to have some incredibly memorable moments in cricket, winning County Championships with Yorkshire and gaining the ultimate honour of representing England and Zimbabwe. I want to thank all of my clubs, coaches, support staff, teammates and supporters for their guidance and encouragement over my career, it has been a privilege.”It is now time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life. I will be making no further comments on my decision at this time.”He retires with a total of 1653 runs at 40.31 from his 24 Tests, and 12031 first-class runs at 47.74 all told, including 42 centuries and a further eight in List A cricket.

South Africa demonstrated the ruthless instinct that has brought them seven straight series win at home, rounding up the seven Pakistan wickets they needed before lunch

The Report by Alan Gardner14-Jan-2019South Africa demonstrated the ruthless instinct that has brought them seven straight series win at home, rounding up the seven Pakistan wickets they needed before lunch on day four at the Wanderers. Duanne Olivier made the early inroads, taking his wicket tally for the series to 24, before Kagiso Rabada scythed through the tail to help confirm a 3-0 whitewash.Pakistan did manage to breach the 200-mark for the only the second time in six innings, but that was small consolation as they fell to another heavy defeat. Asad Shafiq top-scored with 65 from 71 and there was some devil-may-care hitting lower down, though little to suggest the tourists ever harboured serious hopes of chasing 381 for a consolation victory.While the efforts of the top order on the third evening declared that Pakistan were not willing to run up the white flag in their last act of the series, it did not take long for them to buckle once play had resumed. For the second time in the match, Olivier found himself on a hat-trick and when Shafiq’s punchy innings was ended by Vernon Philander a few overs later, the bulk of South Africa’s hard work had been done.Babar Azam is one player who has left a mark on South Africa – just ask Dale Steyn – but he could do little about the Olivier throat ball he received in the third over of the morning, a pawing, snorting delivery worthy of the Bullring that flicked the bottom glove on its way through. Sarfraz Ahmed was then bluffed out first ball, hanging back for the short one only for Olivier to hit the top of off stump as the bat came belatedly into line.There was a second fifty of the series for Shafiq – although 185 runs at 31.00 was an underwhelming return for one of Pakistan’s senior batsmen – and a few more retaliatory boundaries before he walked down at Philander and diverted tamely to second slip.With Pakistan now 179 for 6 little more than half an hour into the morning session, and the target a hazy dot on the Highveld horizon, the rest was mostly formality. Shadab Khan had negotiated Olivier’s hat-trick delivery by sending a compact drive back down the ground for four, and he added 25 in partnership with Faheem Ashraf, before the latter’s fun was ended by an excellent diving catch at gully from Aiden Markram.The same combination of Markram and Rabada removed Mohammad Amir two overs later, bat dangled apologetically in the channel, and although Hasan Ali made merry while hitting two fours and a six in 22 of 14, he soon sent up a steepling caught-and-bowled chance for Rabada to swallow.Shadab demonstrated a correct technique and some enterprising strokes, hitting seven fours to move within sight of a fourth Test fifty. However, having put on 31 for the last wicket with Mohammad Abbas, forcing the lunch interval to be pushed back, an impetuous call by the No. 11 ended Pakistan’s resistance via a run-out.

Avishka Fernando hit his second century in consecutive matches as Sri Lanka’s Under-19s completed a 3-0 whitewash in the Royal London one-day series with a 24-run win in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network17-Aug-2016
ScorecardAvishka Fernando hit 138 off 134 balls•Getty Images

Avishka Fernando hit his second century in consecutive matches as Sri Lanka’s Under-19s completed a 3-0 whitewash in the Royal London one-day series with a 24-run win in Canterbury.But England went down fighting, as Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman Ollie Pope hit a defiant 88 from 78 balls with good support from Gloucestershire’s George Hankins and Somerset’s Dom Bess.Fernando followed the 117 he scored at Chelmsford on Saturday with 138 from 134 balls, sharing an opening partnership of 149 with Dilan Jayalath.England fought back well later in the Sri Lanka innings, with three wickets for Ben Green and two each for George Panayi and Ben Twohig as the tourists slipped from 256 for one to 300 all out – the last five wickets falling for nine in the space of 17 balls.England struggled to 66 for 3 in reply but Hankins followed the 98 he made in Chelmsford with a composed 79.His departure after a stand of 69 with Pope seemed likely to end the chase at 178 for five. But Pope and Bess had other ideas, putting on 80 in eight overs for the seventh wicket to give the Sri Lankans a few jitters.It took a sharp piece of fielding which was typical of the high standards Sri Lanka have set throughout the series to run out Pope as he tried to complete an ambitious two, and the innings lost momentum after that with Bess left unbeaten on 33 from 22 balls.

The BPL franchises were supposed to pay the first installment of the players’ contracts before the start of the season

Mohammad Isam02-Jan-2025BCB president Faruque Ahmed has assured the BPL players will receive their payments after it was reported several franchises hadn’t paid the players their first installment on time. The franchises are scheduled to pay half of a player’s payment before the start of the tournament, 25% during the tournament, and the rest after the tournament ends. The seven-team competition began on December 30.Faruque, the former Bangladesh captain who was elected BCB president in August, said that he is in talks with the BPL franchises about the clearing of payment, but didn’t want to elaborate on why the franchises (except Fortune Barishal) haven’t provided the BCB with the prerequisite bank guarantee.The board keeps a bank guarantee from franchises, as per rules, to ensure that the players get paid by the BCB in the event of franchises failing to make the payments. The BCB has paid from the bank guarantee in the past. However, the lack of bank guarantee this time puts the players’ payment in uncertainty.”We have communicated with the BPL franchise owners since day one,” Faruque said. “I told them that they will have to pay the money. If you ask me to answer in black and white why (franchises didn’t pay guarantee money), I won’t be able to provide a clear answer. You have to see the overall situation from everyone’s perspective over the last four months.”It doesn’t however mean the players will not get their payments. We have taken different steps for the franchises. I have spoken directly with the franchise as board president so that they feel that we are partners. They are also spending money for Bangladesh cricket.”This issue emerged just days after a ticketing fiasco that saw irate fans break the main gate of the Shere Bangla National Stadium on opening day of the competition.

Matt Henry is available for the second Test against England; Ish Sodhi and Jacob Duffy have been released from the squad

Vithushan Ehantharajah20-Feb-2023Kyle Jamieson is set to be out for at least “three to four months” after undergoing back surgery this week.Jamieson was originally on a comeback from a stress fracture of the back, sustained in England last June, and was primed for a return to action in New Zealand’s first Test against the same opponents in Mount Maunganui. However, a suspected recurrence of the injury ruled him out of the series, before subsequent MRI scans and consultations with a back surgeon confirmed the need for surgery.No specific timeline has been put on 27-year-old Jamieson’s recovery. Blackcaps head coach Gary Stead hoped the operation and necessary rehabilitation would serve him well in the long term.Related

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“It’s been a challenging and difficult time for Kyle and a big loss for us,” Stead said. “He’s been fantastic around all of our sides when he’s been part of them. We just wish him well and hope we’ll know more in three to four months of what that end prognosis looks for him as well.”A number of world-class players have had surgery in the back and it’s different periods of time they recover. We just want Kyle [to get] the best chance of recovery because we know what a star he’s been for us.”Surgery provides a quicker return to play and that’s the encouraging thing for him.”The loss of the tall and fast Jamieson, who has taken 72 wickets at 19.45 in his 16 Tests so far, was felt profoundly at Bay Oval, where New Zealand suffered their biggest runs loss to England in the first Test. England’s victory by 267 was completed on the morning of day four in the day-night opener, putting them 1-0 up in the two-match series. It was Tim Southee’s first defeat as captain.Southee, however, would be boosted by the return of Matt Henry, availability for the second Test in Wellington. Henry, the 31-year-old, would be rejoining the squad following the birth of his second child. With 55 dismissals at 41.09 in 18 caps, Henry would almost certainly come into the XI for the match, which begins on Friday at Basin Reserve. Jacob Duffy and Ish Sodhi have been released from the squad to play Plunket Shield cricket later this week.Without Jamieson or Henry, the Blackcaps went into the pink-ball Test with an inexperienced attack, featuring debutants Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn, and found themselves chasing the match from the start despite winning the toss.Though England only posted scores of 325 for 9 and 306, the manner of their scoring – at 5.57 and 5.06, respectively – allowed them to dictate the flow of the match. That in turn gave them two opportunities to bowl at New Zealand’s top order under lights, reducing them to 31 for 3 and 28 for 5 on nights one and three.Matt Henry is likely to slot into the playing XI for the second Test•Getty Images

Reeling England in is easier said than done. This was victory number ten out of 11 under the watch of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, carried out in a manner that underlined their ability to overawe their opponents by moving matches along at will. But Stead acknowledged that the focus ahead of the final match of the series was on using cues from the past weeks to somehow apply the brakes on their opponents.”I think there’s a couple of things that stood out to me during the Test. The way England are playing isn’t a surprise to us at all, but they are playing very, very well,” Stead said. “And I guess for us it’s finding ways we can counter that and I guess slow them down and the pace at which they’re playing the game.”Look, they play at a pace that allows them to take key moments of that last match, as well. When I look at the positives, we bowled them out [nine wickets fell] in 58 overs in the first innings, and we bowled them out in the second innings. It’s just how do you slow them down from the run rate they’re going at. They were 230 for 6 in that second innings, so if you take four wickets for the next 40 runs you’re batting for that period in the daylight as well and it could have been very different then as well. But they are the small margins that we work with.”As I said, we don’t try and get too high or too low around our wins or our losses, we just try and keep getting better and keep tuning up our performance.”

Rebecca Burns replaces the batter in New Zealand’s T20I squad, with Georgia Plimmer retained as cover for ODIs

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2022Batter Brooke Halliday has been ruled out of the remainder of the limited-overs series against Bangladesh due to a hand injury. Opener Rebecca Burns has been called into the squad for the remaining two T20Is. Georgia Plimmer, who was originally selected for the T20Is only, will remain with the squad as batting cover for the three ODIs that follow.Halliday was struck on the hand during Northern Districts’ Hallyburton Johnstone Shield loss to Canterbury Magicians last weekend, and a scan this week revealed a fracture that will require four to six weeks of rehabilitation.New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyers said they had initially thought her knock was a “minor one”, and that the team was hoping for her return for the third T20I and the ODIs. However, the scan on Friday “showed up worse than first expected”.”We’re clearly disappointed for Brooke,” Sawyer said. “She’s a big part of this team – and the batting group in particular – but we know she’ll be applying her hard-working attitude to her rehabilitation, and will be available as soon as possible. There’s a lot of cricket coming up over the next few months – most notably the T20 World Cup next year – and we’re confident she’ll be back in time.”With the replacement Burns’ reputation being of an aggressive opener in domestic cricket, and with the T20 World Cup scheduled for February 2023, Sawyer said that Burns is someone “they want to have a look at” in the lead-up to the global event.”Rebecca possesses strength and power at the top of the order, and we want to see if she can work within our plans leading into the World Cup,” he said. “She’s shown over the past few seasons that she has the ability to score runs quickly in the powerplay, and can swing momentum rapidly in her team’s favour.”Meanwhile, wicketkeeper Jess McFadyen, who was unable to take part in New Zealand’s thumping of Bangladesh in the first T20I due to illness, is still being assessed.The second T20I takes place in Dunedin on Sunday, with the final game scheduled for Queenstown for Wednesday.