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Rashid Khan’s MI Cape Town have been crowned the new champions of the SA20, after they denied Aiden Markram’s Sunrisers Eastern Cape a three-peat and decimated them for the third time this season, in front of a packed crowd at the Wanderers.After opting to bat, MICT felt at home – all of their top five play for Lions at the Wanderers – and sent the ball flying over the boundaries in the Highveld. The rarefied air suited their style of play: despite losing wickets, MICT kept attacking and posted 181 for 8 on the back of electric cameos. Three of their batters passed 30 and all of them struck at 150 or above. It was Dewald Brevis who truly brought the crowd alive with his 18-ball 38. Brevis, 21, capped the season as its rising star.MICT’s older stars Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada then wrecked Sunrisers’ chase by sharing six wickets between them. Boult, in particular, hooped the new ball both ways in the powerplay, and ended with 4-0-9-2. Rashid and George Linde, the left-arm fingerspinner, then ramped up the pressure in the middle overs before Rabada wrapped up the victory. Sunrisers folded for 105 in 18.4 overs.MI have now ticked off title wins in every franchise T20 tournament they’ve been part of. IPL, CLT20 (now defunct), WPL, MLC, ILT20, SA20.

Rickelton fires opening salvo

Ryan Rickelton threw the first punch at Marco Jansen, the best bowler of the competition, taking him for 29 off nine balls at an eye-popping strike rate of 322.22. When Jansen pitched it up, Rickelton pumped him over his head and then, when he shortened his lengths, Rickelton used the rarefied air of the Highveld to his advantage and hooked him away over the leg side.However, when Craig Overton took pace off, Rickelton couldn’t manufacture his own pace and ended up chipping a catch to mid-off.As for Rassie van der Dussen, he also showed attacking intent on the occasions he manufactured swinging room, but his execution wasn’t as good as Rickelton’s. Van der Dussen made 23 off 25 balls before Liam Dawson had him stumped in the ninth over. By then, Reeza Hendricks had also fallen to Richard Gleeson for a duck.

Brevis intervention

When it seemed like Sunrisers had seized control, Brevis intervened and put MICT back on track for a tall total. He walloped Dawson for back-to-back sixes down the ground and proceeded to line up Andile Simelane, who had replaced the injured Ottneil Baartman. Playing only his second SA20 game, Simelane wilted under pressure and leaked 14 in the only over he bowled.Kagiso Rabada struck in his first over and claimed four wickets in all•SA20

Brevis then brought the roof down at the Wanderers when he launched a one-handed six off a slower variation from Overton in the 15th over. Linde, who had been promoted to No.5 to counter Dawson’s left-arm fingerspin, also did his job, hitting him for two sixes. When he attempted another six, he failed to clear long-off.After having been taken to the cleaners in the early exchanges, Jansen bounced back to cut Brevis’ innings short.Markram didn’t want to risk Similane at the death and hence decided to take matters into his own hands in the 17th over. Though he got rid of Connor Esterhuizen, the batter had already done the damage with a sequence of 6,6,4 in an 18-run over.Delano Potgieter and Rabada then ensured MICT breached 180.

MICT’s bowling masterclass

That total looked a whole lot bigger when Boult, especially, made Sunrisers’ batters look silly in the powerplay. After he softened David Bedingham with inswingers, Rabada made the incision by having the batter chipping a catch to short cover for 5. Boult got his first wicket of the evening when he drew a leading edge from Jordan Hermann for 1.Boult had scarcely believable powerplay figures of 3-0-4-1 before he returned at the death to trick Tristan Subbs with a slower variation. Tom Abell briefly countered MICT’s strikes before Linde had him stumped for 30 off 25 balls. Linde continued to keep it tight along with his captain Rashid, who pinned Tony de Zorzi lbw for 26 in a boundary-less spell. During their chase, Sunrisers went without a boundary for 45 balls.Dawson ended the drought when he sent a thick outside-edge flying to the boundary off Rabada but the quick sunk the Sunrisers’ lower order with his nifty variations.From finishing bottom of the table in the first two seasons of the SA20, MICT clinched their first title on Saturday and celebrated under firework-filled skies.

Kane Williamson has paid tribute to the “incredible” career of his close friend Tim Southee after the pace bowler announced he would retire from Tests after the England series.The careers of Williamson and Southee have run side-by-side from junior and Under-19 level through domestic cricket into to all formats for New Zealand with the pair playing their 100th Tests together against Australia earlier this year, although Williamson made his debut two-and-a-half years after Southee.Related

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Williamson is New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in Test history while Southee is second only to Sir Richard Hadlee on the wickets list with 385 so remains a chance of reaching 400 against England.”Playing so long together, you just go through so much,” Williamson told reporters in Hamilton ahead of his first game for Northern Districts since 2019 where Southee will also line up. “Both doing stints in leadership roles and you go through different turbulent times, then you have some good ones as well and they are all part of the experience. To do it as long as Tim has is incredible as a fast bowler, there’s not many in the history of the game who have been able to achieve what he has. Such a huge member [and] leader of our side and a close friend as well.”While New Zealand’s historic 3-0 victory in India suggests there could be plenty of good times ahead for the current team, Southee’s retirements marks the latest departure from an era of players that brought considerable success following the likes of Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme and Neil Wagner while Trent Boult no longer features in Tests after stepping away from a central contract and has also retired from T20Is.”It’s life, isn’t it. You do realise you are closer towards the end than the start which is a certainty,” Williamson said. “It’s [about] navigating those periods because you feel slightly different when you play your first game to when you play your 100th and there’s different levels of excitement, your life changes a little bit, whether that’s family, extra dogs, whatever it is you are into, so the picture does take a slightly different shape and your motivation does adjust.”There’s sadness, but excitement as well for Tim because the end of your time in a sporting professional environment is scary but there’s so much more to come.”Williamson, who will return from a groin injury against England after missing the whole series in India, also turned down an NZC contract this year but remains committed across formats. He termed the victory in India one of New Zealand’s “all-time cricketing memories” although added missing out on being part of it was challenging at times with his fitness assessed on a Test-by-Test basis before it was decided he wasn’t ready.”It was a lot of internal temptation [to try and get there], for sure, then after a few discussions it was keep taking that time to get it right so that’s what I did,” he said. “Suffered a little bit of FOMO, which is a good thing, but just admired it really. To go over and play the way they did, so special, one of our all-time cricketing memories.”Williamson’s groin injury was picked up running between the wickets in the second innings of the second Test in Galle and he admitted the body needed more looking after in the latter stages of his career.”It’s not major, which is good,” he said. “Think post knee [injury] there’s always little curlys that bob their heads so actually making sure I keep putting that time in. For so long you feel invincible, and I’ve certainly had a few reminders that’s not the case recently and making sure that I’m staying on top of all those things and keeping the body in check.”

Pakistan offspinner Sajid Khan has found a number of ways of getting under England’s skin, from the moustache twirling to the thigh thumping that accompany borderline invasion of personal space. Much of it has involved bamboozling them with the angle of his spin or the flight of his deliveries, but on Friday, he found another avenue for English befuddlement: their spin bowlers’ bilingualism.After the fourth ball of the 86th over, once Saud Shakeel had flicked Shoaib Bashir away to turn the strike over to Sajid, the pair met to discuss how to manage the strike, and didn’t appear to bother if the stump mic picked them up. Sajid, presumably, was to see off the final two balls, but he danced down the wicket and launched Bashir over midwicket into the Javed Miandad stand.It could hardly have been the plan, but according to Sajid, the intended audience for the conversation wasn’t each other but Pakistani-origin spinners Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir.”We were only doing that [speaking loudly in Urdu] to deceive the bowlers. Rehan and Shoaib understand Urdu, so to fool them, we wanted them to hear we were only looking for the single. When we did that, they brought the field up and the bowlers flighted it. Saud told me once they do, no half measures: just go for the big shot as hard as you can.”And Sajid did. The next over Bashir bowled, Sajid plundered two sixes and a boundary in much the same way, swinging towards the midwicket boundary, finding the middle of the bat with regularity. 19 came off that over, and though Rehan kept him quieter, he was stung once when he spread the field out. Sajid took the men at long-off and long-on, comfortably clearing the rope. The wheels, by now, had begun to come off England’s bowling effort, and Pakistan’s lead had ballooned.Rehan acknowledged the quality of the innings, but was having none of Sajid’s claims. “He didn’t fool me at all, he just said it for the media,” he laughed “I didn’t even hear him. He said something like he’s going to run down this ball and I knew he was going to try and scoop me, and it didn’t really work. I think he batted well, and he hit some big blows, but he didn’t really fool me or Bash.”

Babar Azam has quit as Pakistan captain for the second time in less than a year, citing a desire to lessen his workload and focus on his batting. In a lengthy post on X, Babar said he had notified the PCB of his decision to quit the white-ball captaincy last month in an interest to “prioritise my performance, enjoy my batting, and spend quality time with my family”.”I have decided to resign as captain of the Pakistan men’s cricket team,” part of the statement said. “It’s been an honour to lead this team, but it’s time for me to step down and focus on my playing role. Captaincy has been a rewarding experience, but it’s added a significant workload.”By stepping down, I will gain clarity moving forward and focus more energy on my game and personal growth. I’m grateful for your unwavering support and belief in me. Your enthusiasm has meant the world to me. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together and excited to continue contributing to the team as a player. Thank you for your love and support.”

Sri Lanka have been on an unprecedented high. The team hasn’t looked in a better shape than they are currently, having come off a historic first-ever series win in England followed by the Asia Cup triumph.There’s boisterous energy around the group that stems from “having walked the talk” in the words of Rumesh Ratnayake, their head coach, ahead of their women’s T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan in Sharjah.In February 2023, weeks before the previous T20 World Cup in South Africa, Ratnayake was summoned from the academy to steer a team that appeared to have been stuck in a rut of insipid results and lack of direction within the leadership. Ratnayake wasn’t sure if he’d continue for long, but a week of being with the team convinced him there was enough to work with.Related

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Sri Lanka’s upset of South Africa on the opening night in Cape Town was mere validation of his intuition. It set the ball rolling for a fruitful association that has seen several successful mini-chapters along the way. Like the Asia Cup and England triumph.The SLC mandate when he took over was “do it your way.” Ratnayake explains he was big on inclusivity. “By that, I mean involving everyone in decision making, not merely me giving instructions and them following,” he explains. “This included all staff as well as playing members. It was never like ‘this is my way of doing.'”Everyone had to show the same level of commitment and fit into the culture we wanted to create. We’ve come a long way since, but it’s an ongoing process. We made them believe first that they could grow. For that, along with skill enhancement it needed a commitment to fitness. We’ve worked towards achieving that.”Ratyanake had to hit the ground running, having little time to familiarize himself with the group. It wasn’t ideal, but he had the complete backing of Chamari Athapaththu, the captain, and SLC. The women’s setup, in a way, has been a deviation from the norm: of coaches coming and going. And recent results are merely a byproduct of that faith and continuity.”We have a good leader in Chamari. I also had the backing of the board, which was huge,” he says. “The entire group also quickly bought in to the direction we wanted to take. And it was to be fearless, and not take the safe way. Not being intimidated by the bigger teams.”A team like New Zealand for example, anyone would be overawed by their build. But we knew cricket’s not a game of physicality. It’s about skills, execution and mindset. You can win with smart options. We spoke about what those smart options were. Mind you, it was a hard road. It certainly wasn’t as easy as people picture it to be.”Taking good decisions in the middle when you have little time to decide involves training in a certain way. We’ve tried to take fear out of the minds. After almost two years now, I can say that it certainly happened in a way which now makes it seem like a picture-perfect walk.”Ratyanake’s primary goal in his time as coach is to develop players. It annoyed him that the team’s chances were always dependent on Athapaththu. “When I came into the system, when Chamari did well, Sri Lanka did well. There’s truth to it no doubt, but it sort of ignited me to make sure others elevate their standards to get to where Chamari had.”When I came into the system, when Chamari did well, Sri Lanka did well. There’s truth to it”•Sri Lanka Cricket

“So, in every aspect, especially in batting, we made plans, specific scenarios we worked on at training. We worked on what we wanted to achieve and how we were going to. I’m not saying we’re fully close to it yet, but yes, we are somewhat there, where we can say, even if Chamari fails one particular day, there are others who can win games for us.”Ratyanake exudes cautious optimism around Sri Lanka’s chances. He knows they’re in the “stronger group.” And the only way to think they can progress is by thinking “every game is a final.””We want to win those moments,” he says. “We want to concentrate on building a set of small moments together. We’ve tried to instill that into our thinking. This is a very happy bunch of players. They’re united and looking after each other. That’s something you can’t instill; it has to come naturally. Aa coaches we’re fortunate to have that culture.”It’s huge for us. I believe they know their tasks to deliver at the right moment. But there’s no guarantee. And when we get the small things, we hope that we’ll do well to string them together to win the big moment.”

India’s red-ball players are scheduled to begin their training at Chepauk on September 12 ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will start training at the same venue on September 15.The BCCI is yet to name the squad for the Two-Test series against Bangladesh. The announcement is likely to happen after the first round of the Duleep Trophy, to be played from September 5 to 8 in Bengaluru and Anantapur. In action will be Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and KS Bharat, among others.Many other Test hopefuls, such as batters Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, B Sai Sudharsan, and bowlers R Sai Kishore, Saurabh Kumar and Yash Dayal, will be in action in the domestic season-opener.Related

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India are set to begin their long Test season, all part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, with two matches against Bangladesh, with the second Test in Kanpur. The series concludes on October 12 after three T20Is. Following this, India will play three Tests against New Zealand at home before travelling to South Africa for five white-ball matches and then go on to Australia later in the year for five Tests.India’s last Test series was against England in February-March at home which Rohit Sharma’s men won 4-1. Since then, there has been the IPL and the T20 World Cup, in the USA and the Caribbean, which India won, and white-ball series in Zimbabwe and in Sri Lanka.Bangladesh, meanwhile are coming off a historic Test series sweep against Pakistan in Rawalpindi and will be keen to take this confidence forward to Chennai.The 2-0 scoreline in Pakistan has lifted Bangladesh to No. 4 on the WTC table with 45.83 percentage points. India, meanwhile, are at the top of that table with 68.52 percentage points and will be hoping to strengthen their position in the series against Bangladesh.

India’s new T20I era under Suryakumar Yadav began on a winning note, even if it was jittery at various points in their defence of a big score. A spirited Sri Lankan batting unit, spearheaded by Pathum Nissanka and his free-stroking 79 left an Indian team playing with just five bowling options hanging onto crumbs of hope. One of them was scoreboard pressure. Sri Lanka had nine wickets in hand but they still needed 74 off 36.Nissanka, reprieved a ball earlier by Ravi Bishnoi at deep midwicket, fell to Axar Patel to open the floodgates. India converted that opening into a double-strike when Kusal Perera fell four balls later. It would be the start of a sensational meltdown; Sri Lanka losing 9 for 30 in all to concede a game they would’ve backed themselves to win.

Gill and Jaiswal lay down a marker

On match eve, Shubman Gill had acknowledged the need to improve his T20I batting template. On Saturday, he walked the talk, cutting and pulling anything fractionally short to put pressure on the bowlers during the powerplay. Yashasvi Jaiswal was equally aggressive, as India’s new opening partnership turned into a healthy contest of one-upmanship.Jaiswal’s intent upset Sri Lanka and their plans to introduce spin early. He welcomed Maheesh Theekshana with a clean hit for six over long-off and followed it with a ferocious slog sweep for four. In all, India scored 11 fours and three sixes in the powerplay during a 74-run first-wicket stand before Dilshan Madushanka had Gill miscuing a lofted shot to mid-on for a 16-ball 34.

SKY offsets Sri Lanka’s double-strike

Gill’s wicket was followed by Jaiswal’s off the very next ball for a 21-ball 40, Wanindu Hasaranga having him stumped off a ripping googly. But Suryakumar was quickly into his element, moving inside the line to play the pick-up flick for six from just his fourth ball. He offered a chance on 15 when he top-edged a Madushanka bouncer in the eighth over, only for Asitha Fernando to drop the catch at fine leg. It would prove costly.Suryakumar peppered different arcs on the legside boundary with his plethora of sweeps, punishing Hasaranga and the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis to raise a half-century stand for the third wicket; Rishabh Pant’s contribution to it a mere 11 runs. Suryakumar soon brought up his half-century off just 22 balls, his second-fastest in T20Is, but fell in an attempt to take on Matheesha Pathirana, who was held back till the 12th over to close out the innings.Matheesha Pathirana got rid of Suryakumar Yadav•Associated Press

Pathirana leads Sri Lanka fightback

It took Pant a dropped catch – by Asitha at deep square leg – and 15 balls to find his first boundary. His next one, a helicopter shot over midwicket in the 16th over broke a 14-ball boundary-drought following Suryakumar’s dismissal. In fact, Pant barely managed to get out of second gear for much of his innings. Prior to his first six, he scratched his way 20 off 23. He made 29 off the next 10, eventually falling 49 while attempting to takedown Pathirana for a third boundary in a row.Pathirana stuck to a simple mantra of bowling straight and fast, relying on a slight tail in to clean bowl Hardik and Pant, while dismissing Riyan Parag in the same way he did Suryakumar – lbw to a low-arm slinger as they missed full balls. Pathirana finished with 4 for 40 as India finished with 213 after being 135 for 2 after 12 overs.

The Nissanka-Mendis turbocharge

Sri Lanka kickstarted their chase in the third over as both batters got stuck into Axar’s drifters into the stumps. Nissanka cranked it up a notch when he hit Mohammed Siraj for two sixes in the fourth over, ramping him first over third man and then clubbing him over deep midwicket. Sri Lanka raised their fifty off 31 balls.Hardik was welcomed with a bludgeon through point, Ravi Bishnoi swept and reverse-swept with disdain as he kept firing deliveries down leg. When Mendis got inside the line to mercilessly flick Arshdeep Singh into the grass banks in the ninth over, India were nervy. But off the next ball, the batter’s attempt to repeat the shot had him holing out to deep midwicket.Sri Lanka’s counter-punch forced mistakes from India, Nissanka raising his half-century off 34 balls with an overthrow that gave him five runs. Nissanka’s exhibited his full range soon after, reverse-sweeping Axar, pouncing on anything dragged down and even improvising to get inside the line of length balls and swatting them over the ropes. But at 140 for 1, Nissanka chopped on attempting to cut. The slow walk back signalled a job unfinished.

Parag justifies selection

Siraj and Arshdeep had two overs apiece. With four overs left and India needing to defend 56, it seemed obvious Suryakumar would turn to his two frontline pacers. Instead he threw the ball to Parag, who had been picked ahead of Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar. And unlike Bishnoi and Axar, Parag slowed it down and gave it a rip.After India got lucky with Dasun Shanaka’s wicket courtesy a run out made possible by Siraj’s athleticism at short third, Parag bowled Kamindu and gave away only five runs at a crunch moment. Then with Sri Lanka in a freewill and all but out needing 44 off six, he was given a second over, when he picked up Theekshana and Madushanka off successive deliveries to seal victory.