The South Africa quick had suffered back and hip injuries last year

Hemant Brar16-Jun-20221:36

Nortje – ‘This series teaches us a lot of skills’

South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje is still some way away from being at the level he was before his back and hip injuries, which kept him out of action for almost five months.Nortje was cleared of any serious injury just before IPL 2022 and allowed to continue his rehabilitation with Delhi Capitals. He made his comeback in Capitals’ third game of the tournament but it took him almost one more month to play his next match and feature regularly in the playing XI. Nortje finished the tournament with nine wickets from six games at an economy rate of 9.71. In the ongoing T20I series against India, he has three wickets so far from as many games, at an economy rate of 9.50.Related

• Harshal Patel: 'My job is to stay one step ahead of the batters'

• India seek to extend fightback as de Kock return looms

“No, not yet,” Nortje said when asked if he was back to his best. “I am still working on it, still trying to find one or two things, and body-wise also I am not 100% yet there where I want to be. It’s just about slowly increasing and slowly building it up. I would probably rate myself from where I was last year in the IPL and at the start of the World Cup, so still trying to get there.”Some of the bowling is limited, you can’t always just go out and bowl eight or nine overs in a day. But so far it has been a good challenge. I think it’s something that will help me a lot if there are any other niggles or injuries going forward. But it has been a long time and [there are] some important things to remember and take out of this.”But could he pinpoint what was missing? “If I knew exactly what it was, I would have done it,” he laughed. “I generally keep it very simple, stick to the basics. So it’s just going to be a small, minor adjustment. I am working on something at this stage and will see how it goes. Hopefully, I am on the right path. It’s not like it’s completely out of shape. It’s just small margins for me.”Anrich Nortje has picked three wickets so far in the T20I series against India•BCCI

When fully fit, Nortje is one of the fastest bowlers in the world. In IPL 2020, he clocked 156.2kph, which was the fastest delivery in the tournament between 2012 and 2020. This year, Umran Malik, who is part of India’s current T20I squad, broke his record by bowling at 156.9kph, before Gujarat Titans’ Lockie Ferguson went one ahead with 157.3kph in the final against Rajasthan Royals. Nortje, though, is more focused on winning the matches for his team than being the fastest bowler around.”At this stage, I’m not bothered too much about who is the fastest and what the speed gun says,” he said. “It’s about what I can contribute for the team. When you train, when you are not playing, you obviously think about how you can crank it faster with your work, your training, your gym, or whatever you’re doing. So in the back of my mind, it’s something that I would like to keep on striving towards. But it’s not something I’m thinking about when I go onto the field.”Malik is a very good bowler, very fast bowler. He showed what he can do. And if he gets faster, great for him. If I get faster, great for me. But I don’t think we are at that stage where we are competing to try and just bowl the fastest ball. It’s about winning games and trying to contribute.”South Africa currently lead the five-match T20I series 2-1, and Nortje reiterated that the team is aiming to seal the series as early as possible, without giving India a chance.”I said at the last game as well that this was sort of like a final for us. We obviously didn’t perform well or anything to what we are capable of. So this would probably be like a final again for us. A second chance but we need to seal the series as soon as possible and not give them an opportunity or any sniff, that’s the main goal of this series as well.”

Visitors overcome top-order wobble to beat Netherlands 2-0 in three-match series

Ashish Pant02-Jun-2022West Indies 217 for 5 (King 91*, Carty 43*, de Leede 2-46) beat Netherlands 214 (Edwards 68, O’Dowd 51, Hosein 4-39) by five wicketsBrandon King and Keacy Carty’s career-best efforts of 91 not out and 43 not out, respectively, in an unbeaten 118-run stand for the sixth wicket, rescued West Indies from 99 for 5 and led them to a series win against Netherlands in Amstelveen. King backed up his unbeaten 51-ball 58* from the first ODI with another half-century, and found excellent company in Carty as the duo chased down a target of 215 with five wickets in hand.West Indies would have hoped for a much easier chase after Akeal Hosein’s career-best 4 for 39 helped bring about a Netherlands collapse of 10 for 113. However, fast bowlers Logan van Beek and Bas de Leede fashioned a collapse of their own to threaten an upset in the second ODI.King and Carty, though, resurrected the chase well. While King was more adventurous in his shot-making, Carty, playing just his second ODI, took his time to settle in before opening up his shoulders as the visitors eventually cruised home with 27 balls to spare.Earlier, opting to bat first, Netherlands openers Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd laid a solid platform in a 101-run opening stand. Both batters went toe-to-toe with each other in their run-making. Vikramjit got the boundary counter running for the hosts as he ramped Alzarri Joseph over the slip cordon in the fourth over before driving the same bowler through mid-off. O’Dowd, initially sedate, picked Kyle Mayers through the backward square leg region for a four and then drove him down the ground in his next over. It didn’t help that West Indies dropped both openers thrice inside the first 15 overs as Netherlands kept a steady run-rate going.Netherlands brought up their 100 in the 21st over, but it all went downhill for them thereon. As was the case in the first ODI, the spinners, Hayden Walsh and Hosein, brought about their downfall. Vikramjit was the first to depart when he pushed an innocuous, tossed-up ball straight back at Hosein for 46. While O’Dowd reached his fourth ODI half-century, he was soon undone by a short-of-a-length Hosein delivery that crept very low to bowl him.With both set batters dismissed, Netherlands lost their way. Hosein sent back de Leede for 0 before Nkrumah Bonner claimed Musa Ahmed for 7. Hosein then claimed his fourth wicket, getting rid of Teja Nidamanuru for 4, with Netherlands suddenly finding themselves 159 for 5.Scott Edwards, batting at No. 3, did his best to take his side to a respectable total but did not get much support. He struck 68 off 89 balls and was the last wicket to fall as the hosts failed to bat out their 50 overs. For West Indies, Hosein was the pick of the bowlers, while Joseph picked up two wickets at the end.West Indies’ chase got off on the wrong foot with Shamarh Brooks and Shai Hope falling inside the first ten overs. While van Beek had Brooks caught at first slip for 6, de Leede left Hope’s stumps in a mess with a stunning in-dipper for 18. de Leede then struck again, trapping Bonner for 15, while Nicholas Pooran dragged Aryan Dutt back onto his stumps, having hit him for a six a few deliveries earlier.King and Mayers forged a bit of a fightback for the visitors, but once the latter fell on 22, with the team score on 99, Netherlands would have a sniffed an upset. King, though, made sure he did not lose focus. At no stage did he let the Netherlands bowlers bowl too many dot balls, and even when Carty failed to rotate the strike, King kept the boundaries flowing. Netherlands fluffed a couple of run-out attempts, but apart from that, there was little the two West Indies batters offered in terms of chances.King, who smashed nine fours and three sixes during his knock, was named Player of the Match for his effort.

Rookie shows she’s ready to nail down role after guiding England’s chase in thrilling style

Valkerie Baynes11-Jul-2022If England had sent Emma Lamb in to bat at any position, she reckons she would have tried to grab her chance with both hands. That the opportunity came knocking in her favoured opener’s role and resulted in a century as England swept South Africa aside by five wickets in their opening ODI made it “amazing”.Making just her fourth international appearance, Lamb’s 97-ball 102 accounted for much of England’s successful pursuit of 219 in Northampton to take a four-points-to-two lead in the multi-format series, with two more one-day matches and three T20Is to play.A fortnight ago, Lamb made 38 on Test debut opening alongside Tammy Beaumont as the sides drew in Taunton. That followed a second-ball duck during the third ODI against Australia during the Ashes in February and she wasn’t required to bat as England opened with Beaumont and Danni Wyatt in their nine-wicket win against Pakistan at the World Cup.”You always want to prove yourself, don’t you?” Lamb said pitch-side at Wantage Road on Monday, when asked about those earlier ODIs. “I suppose that was kind of like a little drive, a little thought in the back of my mind but I feel like any opportunity that I got, even if it wasn’t opening, I would have taken it and tried to do the best I could with it.”Wyatt has moved up and down the order as England wrestled with an opening conundrum. She replaced Lauren Winfield-Hill at the top during the World Cup and scored a century in the semi-final against South Africa. Here she dropped down to No. 6 and struck the winning runs with an unbeaten 14 off five balls after Lamb had done the heavy lifting alongside an explosive 55 off 36 by Nat Sciver.Heading into the Test match, England head coach Lisa Keightley had said she was keen to see what Lamb could do as an international opener, having played the majority of her domestic and regional cricket there, and she acquitted herself well in a 65-run stand with Beaumont.Here Lamb took a lead role after Beaumont fell in the third over and she ran with it.”I felt pretty comfortable,” Lamb said. “I went in today knowing my role and having the coaches and my team-mates back me, I felt pretty happy with what I needed to do.Related

• Lauren Bell relishing chance to join generation next

• Lamb's maiden ton, all-round Sciver, fiery Brunt help England go 1-0 up

• Danni Wyatt set for return to middle-order despite World Cup semi-final century

• England challenge Emma Lamb to make her mark as an opener

“When you lose an early wicket there’s a little bit of pressure on me but I was still wanting to play my game and not change anything. When I got past the 50-mark, I was really happy but when I got to 100, obviously I was over the moon.”She played beautifully to the off-side and when she brought up her ton with an open-faced drive off Nadine de Klerk, Heather Knight, her captain was at the opposite end of the pitch, with a fist-pumping hug at the ready and looking almost as thrilled as Lamb until the latter removed her helmet and turned to the changing room with a beaming smile and arms raised aloft.”She was just so buzzing for me,” Lamb said of Knight. “It’s a little bit emotional. I think when anyone gets a hundred it can be like the best thing in the world and a little bit emotional but yeah, it was very nice to be out there with the skipper and get a hundred and hug her.”Heading into the second match in Bristol on Friday, Lamb indicated England were keen to ride a wave of positivity against a South African side which beat them in the group stages of the World Cup and had come into this match wanting to atone for their semi-final defeat.That the match wasn’t particularly close after Sciver and Katherine Brunt had combined to take seven wickets between them to contain their opponents did not come as a surprise to her either.”I’m not surprised because I think it was a big mindset thing for us,” she said. “We just wanted to be really positive and our bowlers did really well today on a very good wicket.”We just wanted to be positive with the bat and when we play our best cricket, we can easily dominate and win easily like we have done.”

Fast-bowler friendly conditions are likely to persist in Harare in the second ODI of the three-match rubber

Sruthi Ravindranath19-Aug-2022

Big picture

We may continue to wonder whether ODIs are still relevant but Shikhar Dhawan clearly loves the format. He said so before the series. He reaffirmed his love by scoring an unbeaten 81 in the first ODI on Thursday, his third half-century in four matches over last month. “It is a balanced format where you should know when to attack and when to defend, for both batters and bowlers,” he had said. On the day, Dhawan and his opening partner Shubman Gill started off cautiously against the moving ball and later turned on attacking mode as they took on the chase. Of course, it wasn’t a tall total (189) but it was a clinical performance from India nonetheless.It was not just India’s batting that stood out. Deepak Chahar produced a superb spell of swing bowling to decimate the Zimbabwe top order on his comeback, while Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel also chipped in with three apiece to dismantle the rest of the line-up. Gill opening the batting meant we couldn’t see much of the other returnee, captain KL Rahul. The win only further showcased India’s resources and depth in the format.Zimbabwe, however, were expected to perform a lot better. They came into the match with a resounding series win against Bangladesh and they were facing an opposition that wasn’t at full strength. Yet they still went down without putting up a fight. The only positive, apart from the decent opening spell by the quicks, was a brief counterattack from their ninth-wicket pair of Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava. This is also the fifth straight loss for them in a match that has Super League status.They will want more from their batting department, especially the likes of captain Regis Chakabva and Sikandar Raza – who was in splendid form in the series against Bangladesh. A comeback in this series will only give Zimbabwe confidence ahead of their ODI tour to Australia starting August 28.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WWWWW

In the spotlight

Sean Williams, who has been Zimbabwe’s backbone in the batting order for many years, hasn’t been in form of late. His most recent scores read 1, 2, 8, 33 and 28. On Thursday, he played his first ODI since January this year, after missing the games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh for personal reasons. With regular captain Craig Ervine out of this series with injury, Zimbabwe will want Williams to go back to playing more patiently and anchor the innings to help them to competitive totals.Shubman Gill has been making a strong case to be India’s back-up opener for the foreseeable future, and possibly even at the 2023 ODI World Cup. His 82 off 72 balls against Zimbabwe followed scores of 64, 43 and 98 not out against West Indies and the fact that he continued to open even when Rahul was in the XI suggests that perhaps, when the time comes, India see him taking over the role on a more permanent basis.

Likely XIs

Zimbabwe need a better performance from their top-order, but they are short of options. Even those on the bench right now – Milton Shumba and Takudzwanashe Kaitano – have struggled to make an impact.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 2 Innocent Kaia, 3 Sean Williams, 4 Wessly Madhevere, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Regis Chakabva (capt & wk), 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Bradley Evans, 10 Victor Nyauchi, 11 Richard NgaravaIndia are likely to go with the same XI, unless they want to give Ruturaj Gaikwad or Rahul Tripathi a chance.India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 KL Rahul (capt), 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Sanju Samson (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Pitch and conditions

The conditions in the first ODI helped the fast bowlers, who found movement in the air and off the pitch with the new ball. Expect more of the same on Saturday. The weather is set fair, with a maximum temperature of 28°C.

Stats and trivia

• Zimbabwe have lost their first wicket at an average of 8.42 runs across the seven ODIs in the current home season. The partnership of 25 in the first ODI against India was their highest opening stand in those seven matches.
• India’s bowling average in ODIs during the first ten overs this year is 24.32, their best in a calendar year since 2003 (23.68). This is a marked improvement from 2020 (169.33) and 2021 (95.00) when their first ten-overs average actually hit their lowest point since 2001.

Quotes

“I am enjoying batting with the youngster [Shubman Gill] and I feel like a youngster too. My rhythm with Gill has settled nicely. The way he bats and times the ball is lovely to watch. He has shown the consistency in converting fifties into bigger fifties”

Former members of coaching staff had previously won preliminary case for unfair dismissal

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2022Andrew Gale and Rich Pyrah have agreed compensation with Yorkshire after winning their case for unfair dismissal.Gale, the former captain and head coach, and Pyrah, who spent more than a decade on the Yorkshire playing staff before becoming bowling coach, were among 16 members of staff abruptly sacked last year in the wake of Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.They were subsequently part of a group of former Yorkshire employees who won a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in June.Yorkshire’s accounts revealed that the club had set aside £1.9 million for compensation and legal affairs, with Gale set to receive a six-figure settlement, according to the .A Yorkshire statement said: “On the December 3 2021, the Yorkshire County Cricket Club Limited took the decision to dismiss its coaching and medical staff. The club has acknowledged that its dismissals of that group of employees was procedurally unfair.”After meaningful dialogue between the club and the legal advisers acting on behalf of Andrew Gale and Richard Pyrah the parties can confirm that acceptable terms of settlement have been reached.”The financial terms of the settlements are confidential and no further public statement will be made about the terms.”Yorkshire have also reportedly agreed an out-of-court settlement with Ian Fisher, the club’s former strength and conditioning coach.

Maiden first-class five-for and eight for the match seal innings win against champions

ECB Reporters Network28-Sep-2022Lancashire wrapped up an impressive victory over County Champions Surrey inside three days as they signed off the season with a win by an innings and 130 runs.Left-arm slow bowler Tom Hartley did the damage with the ball, with the 23-year-old claiming 5 for 52 and match figures of 8 for 80 after nine sessions of cricket which were utterly dominated by the hosts who dismissed the visitors for 173 in their second innings.Resuming the first innings under bright autumnal sunshine, Will Williams and Tom Bailey began with the ball against Cameron Steel and Jordan Clark and it was Williams who made the breakthrough early when Clark played on to his stumps attempting to drive for five from 47 balls.Matt Parkinson, who went on to take 3 for 57, had earlier taken the Sky cameras through some of the skills of leg spin but neglected to demonstrate the type of long hop that Jamie Overton somehow hit straight to Dane Villas at midwicket to depart for nine as the slow bowlers took charge.Steel, who had shown a rare patience among the Surrey batters in compiling 47 off 163 balls, was next to go trapped in front by Hartley before Tom Lawes was bowled around his legs by the same bowler for 21.A nice cameo from Kemar Roach rounded things off with the West Indian seamer hitting an entertaining 26, including a towering straight six off Parkinson, before he skied one to Williams.With Surrey still trailing by 303 runs, Lancashire inevitably forced the follow on, and a three-day finish looked on the cards.Credit then to Rory Burns and Ryan Patel, who set about things in the second innings with a great deal more determination than they had shown earlier.Burns took the game to Parkinson and Hartley, regularly dancing down the wicket and displaying the kind of composure and dominance which has seen the ex-England opener enjoy such a fruitful season.The first-wicket pair had amassed 89 runs when Burns made his first mistake which proved lethal as he walked past a Hartley delivery and was bowled for 61.Patel suffered from a similar lack of concentration four overs later when he swiped Parkinson to a diving George Balderson at mid on for 36 to leave Surrey 107 for 2 and Lancashire beginning to dream of a day off.With Hashim Amla coming to the crease though, the hosts had a sizeable object to still remove, but Hartley did the trick with a sharply turning delivery that was given lbw despite pitching outside leg.With Amla gone for 15 all fight seemed to disappear from a Surrey side left with little motivation for the role of blockers and Steel certainly fumbled his lines when he hesitated mid-pitch and was run out by Vilas for 23.It was a nightmare spell for Surrey during which they lost six wickets for 24 runs in 15 overs with Tom Curran skying his fourth ball to Steven Croft for a duck before Jamie Smith was caught at short leg off Parkinson for 23.Overton was then bowled around his legs by Hartley for one with Lawes also opting unwisely to attempt the same shot to the same bowler minutes later to hand Hartley his first five-for in first class cricket.With end-of-term vibes suddenly the order of the day, Bailey came back on to bowl some off spin and immediately accounted for his old teammate as Clarke was trapped in front for nine.The last-wicket pair of Moriarty and Roach hung around until 5.45pm by which time everyone was ready for a title presentation and umpire Martin Saggers duly obliged when he raised his figure to dismiss Roach lbw off Parkinson.

Ellyse Perry made another half-century before the England spinner showed her value

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2022Sydney Sixers made it two from two early in their WBBL campaign after an all-round display led by Suzie Bates’ sizeable contribution with the bat, another half century for Ellyse Perry and a superb performance from Sophie Ecclestone.After Alyssa Healy fell in the fourth over, charging a slower ball from Darcie Brown having not found her rhythm, Bates and Perry added 131 for the second wicket in a stand that lasted until the penultimate ball of the innings.The pair never quite fully cut loose, but after Sixers ended the powerplay on 1 for 24 there was a steady build throughout the innings with the ninth over going for 15 and the 13th 16 runs. Bates had been 23 off 30 balls before latching onto Amanda-Jade Wellington’s second over.Perry’s 58 off 44 followed her 55 off 48 in the opening match against Brisbane Heat while Bates, against her former club, made her first major contribution with Sixers. Darcie Brown’s bowling stood with 1 for 20 from four overs including 14 dots. Ash Gardner faced just one ball and launched it for six.Deandra Dottin gave Adelaide Strikers a rapid start to the chase with 25 off 16 balls with three sixes before being well caught at mid-off against Ecclestone.Ecclestone then produced a direct hit from mid-on to run out the well-set Laura Wolvaardt and in her next over with the ball was rewarded for some nice flight when Tahlia McGrath drove to cover to swing the match decisively Sixers’ way.The asking rate continued to rise and the loss of Bridget Patterson and Mack in the space of three balls left far too much to do for the lower order.

Captain Ervine says the team is still positive ahead of the clash against Netherlands, but a lot of things need to go right

Himanshu Agrawal01-Nov-20222:24

Moody: Zimbabwe will look to maintain momentum and popularity

Big picture

It is not often that Zimbabwe stand a decent chance of qualifying for the semi-final of an ICC tournament. They were one win away from making the final four of the ICC Knockout – later renamed Champions Trophy – in 2000, but fell short against New Zealand; they made the Super Sixes in the 2003 World Cup, but fizzled out in the race to the last four.All these years later, a well-rated Zimbabwe unit led by an allrounder living a dream are two steps away from history. To begin, they will need to beat Netherlands, something they will surely fancy.Although they are still in contention, Zimbabwe need a collective performance to keep themselves afloat before the much-tougher challenge of India comes their way. Wessly Madhevere helped them rack up 79 in nine overs against South Africa but the rest of their batters hardly contributed, before the bowling was clubbed for 51 in three overs; but when they squeezed through a one-run win against Pakistan, it was their bowlers Sikandar Raza, Brad Evans, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava who helped defend a meagre 130; and come Bangladesh, only Sean Williams made a defining contribution as Zimbabwe fell short by just three runs in pursuit of 151.For Netherlands, four out of their six games so far in this World Cup – including the first round – saw tight finishes. They won two of those four matches, before India and Pakistan brushed them aside. But like their bowlers showed by dismissing four batters and making Pakistan work hard even in their chase of 92, Netherlands aren’t easy to push over.Although they are already out of the tournament after threatening to upset Bangladesh in their first game of the Super 12s, the Dutch have certainly left their mark. After all, Max O’Dowd is the World Cup’s fifth-highest run-scorer and Bas de Leede is its joint second-highest wicket-taker.Zimbabwe and Netherlands don’t meet often – they have played each other only seven times across formats so far – No. 8 will be on the biggest stage and both teams will be relishing it.Sean Williams is one of Zimbabwe’s most experienced players•Getty Images

Form guide

Zimbabwe LWWLW (Last five completed matches; most recent first)
Netherlands LLLLW

In the spotlight

Zimbabwe will seek more consistency from their captain Craig Ervine and Sean Williams, two of their most experienced members in the current set-up. They have fallen for a combined seven single-digit scores in 12 innings since landing in Australia, even as Zimbabwe hope they can deliver when it matters most. Both are in the twilight of their careers, and what better opportunity to ensure they walk away with sweet memories?Netherlands’ bowlers have conceded 160-plus only twice across six matches in this competition. The show has been led by Bas de Leede, who has nine wickets at 14.44, while Paul van Meekeren isn’t far behind with seven at 19.42 and an excellent economy of 5.66. De Leede will turn 23 in a few days’ time; van Meekeren will turn 30 next January but Netherlands will hope these two can serve them just the same way for the years to come.

Team news

Zimbabwe have used 13 players in the Super 12s stage, with tweaks only in their bowling line-up. They wouldn’t want to make too many changes to what looks like a settled unit, with the only decision being whom to leave out in case they decide to recall Luke Jongwe.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Craig Ervine (capt), 3 Milton Shumba, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Regis Chakabva (wk), 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Tendai Chatara, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing MuzarabaniPaul van Meekeren has picked up seven wickets at an economy rate of 5.66 at the T20 World Cup•ICC/Getty Images

Netherlands have nothing to lose now, so might give opener Stephan Myburgh another go, considering this could be his farewell tournament. De Leede was substituted against Pakistan after being hit under his eye while batting and might miss out on WednesdayNetherlands (probable): 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Stephan Myburgh, 4 Tom Cooper, 5 Colin Ackermann, 6 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 7 Roelof van der Merwe, 8 Tim Pringle, 9 Logan van Beek, 10 Fred Klaasen, 11 Paul van Meekeren

Pitch and conditions

It was cold and windy in the build-up to the game in Adelaide, and it might still be cold on Wednesday with up to 2mm of rain also expected. However, the game is unlikely to be affected.

Stats and trivia

• These two teams met at the highest level for the first time in the 2003 World Cup, where Bas de Leede’s father Tim was a part of the Netherlands’ side that lost to Zimbabwe. Side note: Bas’ cousin Babette also plays for the Netherlands women’s team.
• Sean Williams was in Zimbabwe’s squad for the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, where they beat Australia, and were eliminated in the group stages only on net run rate.
• Sikandar Raza’s strike rate of 150.56 is the second-highest for batters with at least 600 runs in T20Is in 2022.

Quotes

“The real highlight for us would be to make the semis. I think that would really put the icing on the cake. The guys are still very positive that we’ll get there. We’ve just got to come into these last two games with a lot of energy.”
“The novelty [of making it to Super 12s] has kind of worn off now after the first three games. We haven’t put in a complete performance in these three games, and so the guys are determined to change that when it comes to these last two matches and walk away with at least one win, but hopefully two wins.”

Next course of treatment and rehabilitation will be discussed by Dr Dishaw Pardiwala, who conducted the procedure, and the BCCI’s medical team

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2023Rishabh Pant has undergone a successful knee ligament surgery, conducted at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on Friday, BCCI sources have confirmed.”Rishabh Pant has successfully undergone a knee ligament surgery on Friday. He will be under observation. Further course of action and rehabilitation will be advised by Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala and followed by the BCCI sports science and medicine team,” PTI reported a BCCI source as saying.Pant was admitted to the hospital in Mumbai after being airlifted from Dehradun on Wednesday for intervention on one of two ligament tears in his knee. He was examined by doctors upon reaching the Mumbai hospital.Dr Pardiwala, the Head of Centre for Sports Medicine and Director of Arthroscopy & Shoulder Service at the hospital, had previously worked with Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja as well as with other athletes.