Echoes of the past abound in re-run of 1999 and 2007 semi-finals, with South Africa sweating on Temba Bavuma’s fitness

Andrew Miller15-Nov-20231:55

Cummins: Recent record against SA ‘doesn’t count for too much’

Big picture: Baggage handlers

Can you feel the ghosts in the machine yet? Creeping out of the nooks and crannies of Eden Gardens, the most perfect venue imaginable for a contest that can barely move for historical baggage. It’s Australia versus South Africa in a World Cup semi-final. And if the mere thought of what’s to come hasn’t got your spine tingling in anticipation, then you’re surely dead inside.Forget everything you think you know about form and fortune, and the fallacy that the best team will always win on the day. Embrace instead a scenario in which every twitch of South Africa’s muscle memory (because, let’s face it, this is all about them) will feel as though it is attached to invisible strings, dragging their efforts backwards through space and time … through 2015, through 2007, through 2003. Through 1999 and 1992 … and back into the formless void from whence all of their World Cup agonies first sprung.It’s grotesquely unfair. It is history written as premonition. It’s a thousand “I told you sos” chanting in unison at the inevitable moment when South Africa’s dream of World Cup glory dies another ugly and undignified death. But make no mistake, that’s the baggage that Temba Bavuma’s team will be obliged to drag with them to the middle on Thursday. In this contest, of all contests, they don’t get the luxury of tuning out the doubts and the doubters.Related

• SA desperate to lift the trophy but accept there is 'no dishonour in losing'

• The complex reality of Bavuma's World Cup semi-final

• Business as usual? Contrasting histories prompt different semi-final views for SA, Australia

• Kagiso Rabada: 'We want to win and we'll fight tooth and nail for it'

• Tactics board: Why Starc and Jansen should be in the firing line

For facing them down will be cricket’s most storied champions, Australia, the acid test that every contender seems obliged to pass if they hope to lay claim to the crown. With five titles to their name, and just four knockout losses in 18 such matches since the very first semi-final in 1975, Australia’s presence on these occasions comes almost to them as a birthright.Since 1992, no team has won a World Cup without eliminating them first – and even Pakistan’s group-stage victory that year proved to be a de facto quarter-final. Sri Lanka denied them in the 1996 final, before India and England dethroned them in 2011 and 2019 respectively. Come through this one and, notwithstanding India’s runaway form in the other side of the draw, South Africa will be entitled to believe that their name is on the trophy.That is not to say that South Africa should be considered rank outsiders, far from it. Uniquely among Australia’s opponents across the entire history of ODI cricket, they boast a positive win-loss record (55 to 50), which includes 15 victories in their last 18 meetings and a group-stage thumping in Lucknow, only last month.They won seven of their nine group games here (the same as their opponents) and racked up four totals in excess of 350 – more than any other side, including a market-leading 428 for 5 against Sri Lanka in Delhi, which is also the highest score ever made at a World Cup. And, if they win the toss and bat first, they will be able to lean into a formula for batting dominance that no team – not even India – has yet surpassed.South Africa wait on Temba Bavuma as he attempts to prove his fitness•AFP/Getty Images

They’ve got form, they’ve got confidence … but they’ve also got history, as their opponents will be only too happy to remind them. Even South Africa’s happiest memories of Eden Gardens – from their redemptive tour in November 1991, when Clive Rice released doves into the Calcutta air to mark South Africa’s return from sporting isolation – seem to have been man-marked by Australian one-upmanship. Four years prior to that occasion, and almost to the day, Allan Border had been hoisted onto his team-mates’ shoulders and paraded across the same turf, after laying claim to the first of Australia’s five titles.What South Africa would give for their first … instead, their barren cabinet is feeling all the more sparse right now, in light of the knockout magnificence that took place in Paris only last month. Since their own return to the international stage, South Africa’s rugby team has endured none of the angst that has stalked their cricketers – winning four World Cups in eight since victory at the first attempt in 1995 – and in holding their nerve across three consecutive one-point wins in this year’s quarter, semi and final, they proved with unhelpful clarity just what it takes to show bottle in the clutch moments.As with so many other aspects of this unfeasibly vast occasion, the dream for South Africa is only ever a tick away from becoming a living nightmare. All things being equal, Bavuma, their first black cricket captain, is two matches away from emulating his rugby counterpart Siya Kolisi, and providing the Rainbow Nation with the most joyous photo pairing since Nelson Mandela embraced Francois Pienaar at Ellis Park.But Bavuma, already under scrutiny due to a fallow run of form, is labouring with a hamstring strain that, through no fault of his own, raises agonising echoes of South Africa’s subplot in the 2015 semi-final, when an unfit Vernon Philander was forced into the line-up ahead of the in-form Kyle Abbott. And as if that spectre of past failings wasn’t enough to have weighing on the players’ minds, it might also rain on Thursday … it’s all a bit too spooky if you ask me.Usual suspects: Australia prepare for another semi-final•ICC via Getty Images

At this point, it’s only polite to point out that there will, in fact, be two teams competing for progression to Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad, and such is Australia’s enduring quality on the world stage, it might not be sufficient for South Africa to simply vanquish their internal demons.From a stuttering start, with two losses on the bounce, Australia’s march to seven wins in a row has been ominous in the extreme. David Warner has unfurled his full stage presence as he enters the final weeks of his one-day career, producing a body of work that matches up even to the four-times centurion Quinton de Kock, while Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell’s top notes of destruction have secured Australia each of the two highest individual scores of the tournament, and the fastest century too – trumping the previous marks set by de Kock and Aiden Markram.They carry an air of entitlement into this contest that is surely worth a hundred-run start, not to mention the sure knowledge that, in each of their two previous semi-final clashes, in 1999 and 2007, they marched past their bereft opponents and all the way to glory. As if they didn’t know it already, South Africa need to produce the game of their lives on Thursday, and then some. It may seem cruel, but those are the rules of this particular engagement. And they were written long before many of these players were born.

Form guide

Australia WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

South Africa WLWWW

In the spotlight: Heinrich Klaasen and Adam Zampa

Until it was trumped by the most extraordinary ODI innings of all time, it was hard to imagine how Heinrich Klaasen‘s blistering century against England at the Wankhede could possibly be bettered in this tournament. Much like the Maxwell masterpiece that surpassed it in the wow stakes, Klaasen’s 109 from 67 balls was characterised by riotous hitting in the face of physical debilitation, with the air in Mumbai that day thick enough to “eat” as Joe Root evocatively put it after England’s agenda-setting rout.More important than the runs he scored, however, was the statement that Klaasen’s display made. He had come into the World Cup as the most talked-about batter in ODI cricket, particularly after the smackdown he laid on Australia in Centurion in the weeks leading up to the tournament. His 174 from 83 balls that day included – alongside David Miller – an eye-watering 173 in the final ten overs of the innings. That Mumbai innings, and his follow-up 90 from 49 against Bangladesh, was early evidence that South Africa’s build-steady-charge-hard style would not be cowed on the big stage. If his returns have tailed off a touch since, the threat he poses has not.It’s easy to forget now, amid the stellar returns that have come Adam Zampa‘s way, that the Australia legspinner endured a deeply uncomfortable start to his campaign. After a wicketless opening match against India, he was belted for 70 runs in ten overs during South Africa’s group-stage victory in Lucknow, with the solitary scalp of Rassie van der Dussen coming in his 15th over of the tournament. Since then his returns have gone into overdrive – 21 further wickets in 61 subsequent overs across seven consecutive wins – with his superb control of line, length and variation making any attacking motive fraught with danger. Nevertheless, South Africa had his number once before. They’ll have to believe they can find it again.

Team news: Labuschagne over Stoinis, SA wait on Bavuma

Neither Marnus Labuschagne nor Marcus Stoinis made it to the middle in Australia’s crushing victory over Bangladesh in their final group game, but only one of them will feature in Kolkata, given the inevitable return of the game-changing Maxwell. The explosive success of their batting in recent outings means that Labuschagne’s Test tempo should be trusted to do a job, and offer ballast to the middle order alongside Steve Smith, thereby freeing up the men around them to keep blazing as they’ve seen fit.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Josh Inglis (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodLungi Ngidi will hope to be passed fit•AFP/Getty Images

A decision will be made on Bavuma prior to the toss, as he sweats on a hamstring strain that has quietly overshadowed his team’s entire build-up. Reeza Hendricks is a very capable understudy, of course, and made 85 against England when Bavuma was once again absent, but the optics of the captain’s potential absence from a World Cup semi-final transcend the nitty-gritty of mere sporting matters. The team’s equilibrium is not helped by similar concerns surrounding Lungi Ngidi, who twice failed to complete his overs against India and Afghanistan while struggling with an ankle issue. He has been passed fit, but could yet make way for Gerald Coetzee, with Tabraiz Shamsi seemingly inked in for what is expected to be a turning pitch, alongside Keshav Maharaj, whose ascension to the ICC’s No. 1 ranking is a pre-match vote of confidence. Andile Phehlukwayo is also in contention, potentially in place of Marco Jansen, whose devastating impact when on song has been offset by two notably off-days against Sri Lanka and India, in which he was twice taken for more than 90 runs.South Africa (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt)/Reeza Hendricks, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen/Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Lungi Ngidi/Gerald Coetzee, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch and conditions

Another black-soil surface at Eden Gardens promises turn for the spinners and sluggish but true bounce for the quicks, if the events of England’s group-stage win over Pakistan are anything to go by. The X-factor on this occasion could be the weather, with rain potentially entering the equation, depending on which app you use for your radar. There is, at least, a reserve day, so South Africa should be spared some of the permutation-based agonies that have chequered their World Cup history. “We’ll turn up expecting to play a 50-over match tomorrow,” Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, said. “If that shifts on us, we can adjust as needed. It feels like it hasn’t really rained here for the last couple of months, so to see the weather looking like that for two days is not ideal.”

Stats and trivia

• Australia and South Africa have played each other on seven previous occasions at World Cups, and their recent is, on the face of it, an even split. Three wins each and one infamous tie, at Edgbaston in 1999.
• However, in their two World Cup knockout encounters, the semi-finals in 1999 and 2007, Australia have come through on each occasion, and gone on to lift the trophy each time.
• In their overall head-to-head in ODIs, South Africa have a slight edge – with 55 wins to Australia’s 50, including their very first meeting at the 1992 World Cup, and 15 wins in their last 18 meetings, dating back to September 2016.
• Maxwell needs 108 runs to reach 4000 in ODIs, while Warner needs 104 to reach 7000.
• With 22 wickets to date, Zampa needs six more in a maximum of two games to set a new record for a single World Cup, beating the 27 that his team-mate Mitchell Starc claimed in 2019.

Quotes

“It’s hard to speak on their behalf, but I do know each World Cup, it does seem to be the story that South Africa haven’t quite achieved, obviously, what they set out to do.”
“There’s a sense of calmness within the team and obviously the normal level of anxiety that you would expect of going into the game tomorrow. But I think we’ll take a lot of confidence with our performances up until this point. But yeah, I don’t think I’ll be going around giving guys hugs.”

Chief Nick Hockley said South Africa sending a second-string side for Tests in New Zealand was a “wake-up call” for the format

Andrew McGlashan04-Jan-2024CA will push for series in the World Test Championship (WTC) to be of a minimum of three matches each amid the increasing debate about the health of the format.CA chief executive Nick Hockley admitted the situation with South Africa sending a severely weakened team to New Zealand had been a “wake-up call” and that Test cricket was operating in a “two-speed economy”, but he retained the belief there was a way to keep the game vibrant beyond the big three countries of Australia, England and India.Under the current WTC regulations, a series has to be a minimum of only two matches. The ongoing South Africa vs India series may finish at 1-1, while West Indies will shortly play Australia in two games, although the ongoing contest against Pakistan has included three matches. The last series of at least three Tests not involving Australia, India or England was when Pakistan had toured South Africa in 2018-19.Related

• India, Australia and England boards should do more for Test cricket – Johnny Grave

• No SA20 without South Africa's best – du Plessis and Markram okay with new reality

• De Villiers blames T20 cricket for short South Africa-India Test series

• T20 vs Tests: New year begins with a new reality for South Africa

• NZ vs SA: South Africa Test squad with just seven capped players

“The preference is a minimum three-Test series,” Hockley told SEN. “So we’ll keep advocating and championing that. I do think there is work to be done on the FTP (Future Tours Programme) going forward, and it’s really [about] cementing the World Test Championship, [and] really advocating for three-Test series as an absolute minimum.”And then as best as we possibly can, making sure that [when it comes to] domestic T20 competitions, we minimise the overlap for those countries where it is an important source of revenue, so that every country is prioritising international – and particularly Test – cricket.”Australian cricket has felt the effect of the emergence of the SA20, which has brought much-needed revenue to the South African game, with an ODI series being cancelled last home season. But South Africa’s decision to send a second-string Test side to New Zealand has taken the debate to a new level. Cricket South Africa have insisted they remain committed to Test cricket, and that they are working to ensure future clashes to not emerge.”That’s been a wake-up call for everyone,” Hockley said. “The role of T20 [in] bringing new kids and new people into the game can’t be underestimated. The belief is that the two can coexist. This was suboptimal scheduling.”I think we in Australia – it’s very clear that throughout the whole period the Big Bash has been around – have always prioritised international cricket. But this has shone a light. And certainly, we’ll be working with the ICC through scheduling groups to make sure those types of clashes don’t manifest and really champion the fact that people need to be prioritising international cricket.”Hockley was confident that nations outside of Australia, England and India were committed to the future of Test cricket, but acknowledged the financial side of the format brought challenges.”The challenge is the economics,” he said. “There are parts of the world where the revenue from the T20, ODI and a Test are the same, yet the costs of putting on a Test are significantly higher.”What we’ve seen over the last few years in Australia, what we’re seeing this summer, and what we saw in the UK over the English summer is that Test cricket is really thriving in certain countries. And in that sense, it is a bit of a two-speed economy. The challenge is that we continue to support those countries that are struggling a little bit more in terms of Test cricket.”

Oshane Thomas and Johnson Charles have been called into the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2023Shimron Hetmyer has been dropped from West Indies’ T20I squad for the final two matches against England while fast bowler Alzarri Joseph is rested.Hetmyer has struggled for form over the last few weeks with scores of 1 and 2 in the first two T20Is against England, and was left out for the third game in Grenada, which followed 32, 0 and 12 in the three ODIs. He is replaced by Johnson Charles who played the most recent of his 44 T20Is against India in August.Related

• Grenada hosts perfect no-contest as Sixes Kings outmuscle One-Run Wonders

• England get the result they needed – never mind the process

• Phil Salt and Harry Brook announce themselves as England's next gen

Joseph, meanwhile, has been given a break ahead of West Indies’ tour of Australia next month which includes two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is with the fast bowler likely to feature across all three formats. That tour begins with the opening Test in Adelaide on January 17.Joseph put in a key display in the second T20I with 3 for 39 – claiming the wickets of Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Sam Curran – as West Indies won by 10 runs but went for 50 in the third match when England pulled off a chase of 223.Fellow fast bowler Oshane Thomas comes into the squad for the final two matches of the series in Trinidad. West Indies currently lead 2-1 having claimed the ODI series by the same margin.West Indies squad for last two T20Is vs England Rovman Powell (capt), Shai Hope, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Oshane Thomas

The West Indies quick will now head home to recover before travelling to the PSL

Andrew McGlashan30-Jan-2024Shamar Joseph has been ruled out of his ILT20 stint with Dubai Capitals due to the toe injury he picked up during the Gabba Test.Although scans showed no fracture after he was clattered on the boot by a Mitchell Starc yorker, Joseph battled pain on the fourth day to produce one of the greatest spells in Test history as he claimed 7 for 68 to inspire West Indies to a famous eight-run win – their first victory in Australia since 1997. At the start of the start of the day, he had not expected to feature before he was dosed up on painkillers by the team physio.Once introduced into the attack, Joseph bowled unchanged to rip through Australia’s batting line and was still nudging 150kph late in the spell. “I’m not putting down this ball until the last wicket falls,” he told his captain Kraigg Brathwaite.Related

• 'He's created a good headache' – Sammy puts Joseph in T20 World Cup frame

• Steven Smith now 'comfortable' opening for Australia in Tests

• A fairy-tale day in the life of Shamar Joseph

• Cummins: Shamar was right up for it and we weren't good enough

• Shamar Joseph lands PSL deal with Peshawar Zalmi

He had been due to head straight to the ILT20 having signed with Capitals before the Australia tour but will now return home to recover before travelling to the PSL where he was signed as a replacement player by Peshawar Zalmi overnight.Joseph is unlikely to be short of offers from T20 leagues around the world after the stunning start to his career where he claimed Steven Smith with his first delivery and claimed two five-wicket hauls.However, in the aftermath of his Gabba heroics, Joseph committed to always being available for West Indies duty.”I will always be here to play Test cricket for the West Indies,” he said. “I am not afraid to say this live. There will be times when T20 might come around and Test cricket will be there … but I will always be available to play for the West Indies no matter how much money comes towards me.”It was a busy 24 hours for Joseph after the Test as he fielded various media requests while he was lauded back in the Caribbean with newspapers leading the front pages with the cricket result. Numerous leaders from around the region also posted their praise and congratulations on social media.Managing Joseph will now need to be at the forefront of West Indies’ selectors’ thoughts and balancing the offers he gets from overseas. During the spell in Brisbane, Ian Bishop expressed how he hoped money could be found to protect Joseph.”Important for the board, Guyana govt & cooperate bodies to find a way to allocate funds to compensate Shamar Joseph & 1 or 2 other fast bowlers to keep them in the Caribbean & control how much cricket they play,” Bishop posted on X. “Their pace is everything. Don’t allow burnout.”Although Joseph was never due to feature in the white-ball leg of the Australia tour, he could yet come into contention for the T20 World Cup in June which will be hosted in the Caribbean and West Indies. His next opportunity in Test cricket will come on the tour of England in July where West Indies will play three Tests.The ODI series against Australia begins in Melbourne on Friday. West Indies will be captained by Shai Hope and coached by Daren Sammy. Three T20Is follow, for which Rovman Powell will take over as captain.

One change to side that lost in Visakhapatnam, with Rehan visa issue resolved

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2024Mark Wood has been recalled to England’s attack at the expense of the offspinner Shoaib Bashir, as England confirmed their team for the third Test against India, which gets underway in Rajkot on Thursday.Wood played as a lone seamer in England’s victory in the first Test at Hyderabad but went wicketless on a surface that did not suit his express pace. However, he has been recalled to partner James Anderson, who impressed with five wickets at Visakhapatnam last week, on a surface that had been more green-tinged in the lead-up to the match.He is the only change to the starting XI, with Bashir sitting out after claiming four wickets on debut in the second Test. It means that England will be playing two seamers for the first time in the series, after fielding a spin-dominant attack in each of the last two matches.Related

• How Bazball alters one of the fundamental truths of Test cricket

• Kuldeep: Bazball has made bowlers plan how to restrict runs

• Rahul ruled out of third Test; Padikkal called up

• Crawley seeks his series-defining moment

• England wait on Rehan availability for third Test

Rehan Ahmed’s participation in this match had been in some doubt after he encountered visa issues on his return to India, following the team’s mid-series break in Abu Dhabi. However, that issue has been resolved.Stokes confirmed England were under no doubt that Rehan’s paperwork would be authorised in time for the third Test, and has backed the 19-year-old legspinner to pick up where he left off from the first two.Rehan Ahmed’s visa issue has been resolved•Associated Press

“It’s always an anxious period but thankfully we’ve got it through this morning. First of all, the guys at the airport did a great job at giving him his visa initially to get through and then everyone at the BCCI and the government to get the visa through quickly. We don’t have to worry about any more of those issues.”We were very confident we would get the visa for Rehan before the game started. There was no thoughts around not playing him this week. The great thing about youth is they just take everything in their stride and I thought he handled a situation that could have affected quite a lot of people in a different way very, very well for such a young kid.”The Test matches he’s played so far, he’s done very, very well and everything we’ve asked of him he’s gone out and tried to deliver. I’m looking forward to him getting another game this week.”Having gone into Wednesday with 12 names, Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum decided on the extra seamer in Wood after one last look at the pitch. They were swayed by cracks in the pitch which they believe will lead to uneven bounce as the Test goes on.Otherwise, they anticipate a surface not too dissimilar to the one that resulted in a high-scoring draw in the 2016 series.”I know it was a very long time ago when we played here, but it looks a good wicket,” Stokes said. “Yesterday it actually looked quite English. It’s a little bit different today. We weren’t quite sure what we were going to do with the team but today made us realise that we are definitely going to go with two seamers.”It just looks a good wicket. It’s a bit platey. Over the five days, those plates might become a little but uneven. There might be some reverse swing which brings Woody into the game – and Jimmy as well.”England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Tom Hartley, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James Anderson

No play possible on final day at Grace Road after heavy showers

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2024Frequent heavy showers killed off any prospect of a positive result from Sussex’s visit to Leicestershire in the Vitality County Championship, meaning no play was possible at all on the final scheduled day of their Division Two clash.Skipper John Simpson’s maiden double century had put Sussex in a strong position on day three, which ended with Leicestershire 270 in arrears at 86 for 1 in their second innings after Sussex had declared at 694 for 9 just after tea, a lead of 356 on first innings.But after a saturated outfield delayed the start on day four, the combination of more showers and the safety issues raised by trying to remove the covering sheets in winds gusting to gale force gave umpires James Middlebrook and Paul Pollard little option but to abandon the match as a draw shortly before 1pm.Related

• Johnson, Sadler question Kookaburra trial after high-scoring draw

• Simpson 205*, Lamb 134 as Sussex pile up 694

• Haines hundred leads strong Sussex response

• Sussex thwarted by bad light as Northants cling on for draw

“It’s disappointing, but looking at it another way, we’ve had three days of good cricket,” Paul Farbrace, Sussex’s coach, said. “The groundstaff did brilliantly to get us on considering the outfield is very soft and they’ve had a lot of rain here, like everywhere else… it was a shame for both sides that it couldn’t be finished in the way both sides would have wanted, but I guess that’s cricket in April.”We can take a lot of positives from the game. We played good cricket last week and couldn’t quite get over the line, and here we’ve bowled the opposition out for 330 and then batted ourselves into a position where there was only one side going to win the game. In both the first two games we’ve been in with a good chance of winning going into the last day, which is what we’ve talked about doing.”Alfonso Thomas, Leicestershire’s coach, said that his side’s bowling attack was “undercooked” with Josh Hull yet to return from injury, Rehan Ahmed on a pilgrimage and Chris Wright absent for “personal reasons”.Thomas said: “We knew it would be hard work for the bowlers. They stuck at it well for a long period of time but they were probably a little bit undercooked after the pre-season we have had, not the best of pre-seasons.He also called for the ECB to reconsider their decision to introduce the Kookaburra ball for four rounds of the Championship season. “There has been a lot said about wanting to get rid of average bowlers in the English game but what the Kookaburra has done when it has been in use here is make average batters look very good,” Thomas said. “Is that good for the game? Probably not.”Would you rather have a guy like [Chris] Rushworth taking 70 wickets with the Dukes, or average batters making hundreds? And in a Test match played in England in English conditions I would back a Rushworth to bowl a team out but I probably wouldn’t back a lot of the batters who’ve got runs against it here to go to Australia and score hundreds.It means both sides have two draws from two matches so far, with Sussex the more frustrated, having seen a winning position come to nothing against Northamptonshire at Hove last week, with weather again having the last word.Sussex take 14 points from this match, giving them 29 from two, with Leicestershire taking 12 to swell their early-season total to 25.

Scotland Women’s captain hopes T20 World Cup coup can “be a big kick-starter for cricket” in her country

Valkerie Baynes08-May-2024The silence told the story… not so much that it was there but where it was coming from.Kathryn Bryce, Scotland’s captain, had just removed dangerous Ireland openers Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis within the first five balls of the match and, by the time the favourites were five wickets down for just 25 runs at the start of the seventh over, Bryce had claimed four of them.It was a collapse from which Ireland would never fully recover and, needing just 111 to secure a first appearance for Scotland Women at any World Cup, opener Megan McColl and Bryce mowed down most of the target between them, the latter bringing up victory with a four – and making history.”There was probably a bit of silence almost and they can be quite vocal from the sidelines,” Bryce tells ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast in which she recalls the impact of taking those early Ireland wickets. “But we had a huge amount of support as well. When you get a couple of early wickets in a really important match like that, it can stun a team a little bit.”The way that Megan started off the second innings was absolutely incredible, so when I went out there to bat, it was literally just trying to finish off the game and I was just saying, ‘don’t think about what’s coming, don’t think about it, just score the runs’. So when we got those winning runs at the end, it was just, I think the relief and just hard to switch off from that emotion of trying to ignore what was coming and realising what we’d actually achieved.”