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Former South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Nic Pothas has been appointed Sri Lanka’s fielding coach, and will begin the role on August 8, a board release said

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Jul-2016Former South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Nic Pothas has been appointed Sri Lanka’s fielding coach, and will begin the role on August 8, a board release said. Pothas had most recently been the academy director at Leicestershire County, and was the cricket director at Guernsey in the past.”Our last few outings are showing a marked improvement in the batting and bowling, however our fielding has been letting us down,” SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said. “Pothas joining the support team already in place will give the necessary boost to this important area.”We always believe in engaging the best professional advice and technical support for our national team, and this appointment is one such positive step.”Pothas is the Sumathipala administration’s third high-profile appointment to the coaching system, to follow head coach Graham Ford and high-performance manager Simon Willis. Both Pothas and SLC thanked Leicesershire county for releasing him from his county contract.”I will forever be grateful to Leicestershire County Cricket Club for the opportunity to join at an exciting time,” Pothas said. “But the opportunity to be involved in the game at the highest level is not one that I could pass up.”A long-time Hampshire player, Pothas scored over 11,000 runs and effected 659 dismissals in 218 first-class games. He also played three ODIs for South Africa in 2000.

Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz has been ruled out for two weeks after suffering a knuckle fracture to his bowling hand on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka

Umar Farooq26-Jun-2015Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series in Sri Lanka, after he suffered a hairline fracture on the knuckle of his bowling hand on the first day of the second Test in Colombo. With both Wahab and the injured Haris Sohail being withdrawn from the squad, the PCB has drafted in batsman Babar Azam and left-arm seamer Rahat Ali as replacements*.Azam, 20, made his international debut during the historic series against Zimbabwe last month, scoring 54 in the third ODI. Rahat last played for Pakistan in April before a hamstring injury ruled him out of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.Wahab is expected to be out of the game for at least two weeks and according to a PCB release, will return home after the conclusion of the ongoing Colombo Test. The release added that Azam and Rahat “will leave on Sunday early morning to Sri Lanka” and join the team.”We had sent him (Wahab) for an X-ray last night and the result shows a hairline fracture,” Pakistan team manager Naveed Akram Cheema told ESPNcricinfo. “We are not sure if he recovers ahead of the ODI series but he is at least out for two weeks. That means he can’t be the part of the Test series.”Wahab was struck on the gloves by a delivery from Sri Lanka fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera while batting on the first day. Wahab bowled nine overs during Sri Lanka’s innings in the last session on Thursday but he was seen struggling with his follow through and clutching his left hand between deliveries besides getting assistance from the physiotherapist at the boundary.He stayed in the field for two hours and bowled three spells before going off. “Despite the blow on his bowling hand, he was still willing to come out and bowl many overs,” Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said. “Hats off to him as he tried to give his best shot.”His injury is a significant setback to Pakistan, who were dismissed for 138 on the opening day at P Sara Oval. Pakistan, who are leading in the series after a win in the Galle Test, had opted to bat but imploded in the second session, losing eight wickets for 64 runs. With Mohammad Hafeez reported for a suspect action after the first Test, Wahab’s injury puts considerable pressure on pacer Junaid Khan and the spin pair of Zulfiqar Babar and legspinner Yasir Shah.The final Test of the series will be played in Pallekele between July 3 and 7.*17:10 GMT: This story was updated after Babar Azam and Rahat Ali were drafted into the squad as replacements

The Pakistani legspinner Fawad Ahmed, who was recently granted asylum in Australia, has joined the Melbourne Renegades for the Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2012The Pakistani legspinner Fawad Ahmed, who was recently granted asylum in Australia, has joined the Melbourne Renegades for the Big Bash League.Ahmed, whose application to remain in Australia was initially rejected, played ten first-class games in Pakistan from 2005 to 2009 and has been bowling to Australia’s Test players in the nets over the past couple of weeks to help them prepare for their series against South Africa.”Fawad has faced and overcome so many hurdles to arrive at this point of his life,” Stuart Coventry, the Renegades chief executive, said. “He’s now ready to explore the depths of his talent without the stress of hanging on for a decision to be made regarding his refugee status. We’re pleased to provide him an avenue to play high-level cricket in Australia and believe he is a genuine talent.”Ahmed will be joined at the Renegades by the Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan, who has also signed with the side. The eight BBL sides have until November 30 to finalise their full squads.

Stuart Broad has revealed there is “bad news” about the extent of the injury he picked up in against India, at Lord’s, on Sunday although exact details were still to be confirmed

Andrew McGlashan11-Sep-2011Stuart Broad has been ruled out of the remainder of England’s home season, as well as the five-match ODI series in India next month, after sustaining a muscle tear to his right shoulder. He suffered the injury while bowling during the tied fourth ODI at Lord’s on Sunday, and will now miss both the final match in Cardiff next Friday, and the two Twenty20s against West Indies, which he was due to captain.ECB chief medical officer, Dr Nick Peirce, said: “Stuart has a muscle tear within his shoulder and will require an initial period of rest and rehabilitation. Exact timescales will be determined in due course but he is likely to be ruled out of cricket for a number of weeks.”If his recovery goes to plan, there is a chance Broad could be fit to join the England squad and resume his captaincy duties for the one-off Twenty20 against India in Kolkata on October 29.Broad had earlier revealed there was “bad news” about the extent of the injury he picked up two balls into his final over of the Lord’s ODI. “Bad news on the shoulder, torn a muscle, I know which one, just can’t spell it. Gutted,” he posted on Twitter. He was subsequently dosed up on painkillers and ready to bat at No.11 if needed during England’s chase, which was ended seven balls early by rain.With Morgan, England’s Twenty20 vice-captain, sidelined due to a shoulder injury there is no obvious replacement for Broad as captain. One option would be to give the job to the 50-over captain, Alastair Cook, but he refused to think too far ahead, saying, “We’ll cross all those bridges when they arrive.”The fact that the one-day series is now safe for England takes pressure off the final match at Cardiff on Friday. Jade Dernbach was left out at Lord’s – England played Steven Finn instead – so he would be the logical replacement for Broad in Cardiff. However, the pitch can favour spin so it may be an opportunity to give Samit Patel another outing before the Twenty20s against West Indies and the tour to India.England have had been hit by far fewer injuries than India during the Test and one-day series, but had to contend with some problems nonetheless. Chris Tremlett (back) missed three Tests and Jonathan Trott (shoulder) two, while Morgan was ruled out of action following the first one-day international at Chester-le-Street.For Broad, meanwhile, it adds to an injury-hit 10 months which included the stomach strain that ruled him out of the final three Ashes Tests in Australia, and the rib injury which ended his World Cup campaign. He had been dropped from the one-day side after a lacklustre first half of the English summer against Sri Lanka, but enjoyed a superb second half to the season which included a Man of the Series performance in the 4-0 Test whitewash against India.

Chennai Super Kings need to win to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals, while Warriors can make it even if they lose by a small margin

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran21-Sep-2010

Match facts

Wednesday, September 22
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Davey Jacobs has been in top form for Warriors•AFP

Big Picture

First up the basics: Chennai Super Kings need to win to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals, while Warriors can make it even if they lose by a small margin. For example, if they are chasing 160, they can afford to lose by no more than 27 runs, while if Warriors score 160 batting first, they’ll have to ensure Chennai take at least 16.4 overs to reach their target.
The presence of two weak teams – Wayamba and Central Districts – in Group A means there’s a chance that a side can get knocked out from the Champions League for losing only one game in the tournament. Warriors have won all their matches so far, but a big defeat against Chennai Super Kings will mean there will be no home teams in the semi-finals. Similarly, Victoria have swept all before them after flopping in their opening game, but still have to nervously watch the Warriors-Chennai match to know their fate.The superb form of Warriors’ captain and opener, Davey Jacobs, is one reason why they are best-placed to progress but the top-order’s effectiveness has hidden a potential weakness – a shallow middle order. Johan Botha looks to be playing a position too high at No. 6 but Jacobs wasn’t too concerned by it. “We have Nicky Boje, who comes after Botha, and has scored couple of ODI hundreds,” Jacobs said. “So I am very confident about my team’s batting. We have done everything we could to get here. We shall continue to do those basics.”For Chennai, the department to worry about is probably the bowling. While they have two world-class performers in Doug Bollinger and Muttiah Muralitharan, their local bowlers, medium-pacer L Balaji and offspinner R Ashwin, need to bounce back from the pasting they received in the previous match.

Team news

One decision Chennai will have to make is regarding which Australian batsman to pick: Matthew Hayden was out of touch in his two outings in the tournament, while Michael Hussey scored at less than run-a-ball against Victoria. Albie Morkel’s fitness is also a source of worry.Chennai Super Kings (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Matthew Hayden / Michael Hussey, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 S Badrinath, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 S Anirudha, 7 Albie Morkel / Justin Kemp, 8 Doug Bollinger, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 L Balaji.Justin Kreusch has had little to do with bat or ball in the previous two matches but his ability to bat should win him a place in a team with a longish tail. Warriors may also toy with the idea of playing Garnett Kruger in place of one of the three frontline quicks.Warriors (probable): 1 Davey Jacobs (capt), 2 Ashwell Prince, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 Craig Thyssen, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6 Johan Botha, 7 Justin Kreusch, 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Rusty Theron, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Watch out for …

Colin Ingram will be celebrating his maiden call-up to the South African team, a reward for topping the run-charts in the Pro20 to lead the Warriors to the title. He has been off-colour in the Champions League, and Wednesday’s crunch match could be the one where he shows off his talent to a wider audience.As the leading run-getter after three seasons of the IPL, Suresh Raina’s importance to Chennai as a batsman is well-known. Against Victoria on Saturday, he showcased his talents as a spinner, taking four wickets and was even entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the tense final over of a tight game.

Key contests

Jacobs v Bollinger: Jacobs’ big-hitting has been pivotal to Warriors’ three consecutive wins, and he has also boldly spoken of how important he can be to South Africa in the Twenty20 format. He has been overlooked for South Africa’s Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and Pakistan. A confident performance against Bollinger, an in-form quick bowler in a high-pressure match, will give the selectors another reminder of his ability.
Makhaya Ntini v Chennai: From being one of the world’s leading bowlers, Ntini has regressed so much that not only does he not get a much of a look-in for South Africa these days, even his IPL team hasn’t given him an opportunity in two seasons. Wednesday’s match will be a chance for him to show Chennai what they are missing.

Stats and trivia

• The match features the two most economical bowlers (minimum five overs) of the tournament: Johan Botha (4.83) and Muttiah Muralitharan (5.38)
• Albie Morkel is mostly known in Twenty20s for his big-hitting lower down the order. With 104 wickets, he is also the second-highest wicket-taker in the format, behind Dirk Nannes

ESPNcricinfo understands the proposal emerged on Thursday after meetings between the new ICC chair Jay Shah and PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2024A likely breakthrough has emerged in the impasse over the 2025 Champions Trophy: the ICC and the PCB are believed to have reached an in-principle agreement to adopt the hybrid model for global tournaments being hosted in Pakistan or India until 2027. Such an arrangement would allow the two to play their games at ICC tournaments being hosted by the other at a neutral venue.Though the agreement has been confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by various sources, the PCB – official host of the 2025 Champions Trophy – has not commented on it, revealing only that discussions continue.It is not known yet whether the hybrid model would be applicable to both men’s and women’s tournaments. In the ICC’s current commercial cycle (2024-27), there are three global events scheduled to be hosted in either country: the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next February, the women’s ODI World Cup in India later in 2025, and the men’s T20 World Cup in 2026 co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.ESPNcricinfo understands the development emerged on Thursday after meetings between the new ICC chair Jay Shah and PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi. They met in Dubai, on the sidelines of a courtesy board meeting arranged by Shah, who was visiting the ICC headquarters in the city in his new role for the first time. A Board meeting to discuss the Champions Trophy has been scheduled for December 7.The PCB’s acceptance of a hybrid model for the eight-team Champions Trophy is believed to be contingent on a set of conditions. One of the those is that a hybrid model should be applicable for all ICC events, including women’s, hosted in India and Pakistan until at least 2027 if not the entire current events cycle until 2031.Other conditions are said to centre around compensation for a potential loss of commercial revenue from India’s Champions Trophy games being played at a separate overseas venue. If India were to make it to the knockout stages, then at least one semi-final and potentially the final are likely to be played outside Pakistan. The UAE and Sri Lanka are among the frontrunners for this.The PCB, it is understood, has suggested arranging a tri-nation series involving India, Pakistan and another country to offset any financial loss suffered by either board due to matches involving India and Pakistan being played elsewhere.There is likely to be more back and forth between the two boards and the ICC on the matter, with the final call likely to be taken at the Board meeting on December 7.PCB had planned for a February 19 start to the Champions Trophy, with Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi as the host cities. But, because of the impasse between the PCB and BCCI – the latter told the ICC last month that it could not travel to Pakistan for the tournament because it did not have the Indian government’s clearance – the ICC has not been able to release a schedule for the event.

Shah promises ‘new era’ for the world game

Shah, who was the BCCI secretary from December 2019 until December 1 this year, has officially taken charge at the ICC, becoming its youngest chair at 36. In his first media statement in the ICC role, Shah said the global body was embarking on a “new era” and his aim was to take the game to “unprecedented heights” collectively with the member countries. While the entire ICC Board was not present in person on Thursday, Shah said he discussed the “initial roadmap and strategies to shape the future” of the game with several directors.With Shah moving to the ICC, there has been intrigue about who will replace him as BCCI secretary. Since 2022 Shah had also been the BCCI’s representative to ICC Board, where he held influential positions including heading the Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee. While the BCCI has not made any statement on who will be the next secretary, the board’s joint-secretary, Devajit Saikia, was present at the ICC meetings in Dubai this week. Potentially, then, Saikia, could be the BCCI representative on the ICC Board.

India batter says the two players have shared great respect for each other ever since first meeting at the 2019 ODI World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-20230:45

Rahul Dravid: Would be ‘fantastic’ if India meet Pakistan three times in Asia Cup

Pakistan have long viewed Babar Azam as their biggest global sports star, and the admiration is shared across the border by Virat Kohli, who called Babar “probably the top batsman in the world”.In an interview with Star Sports last year, Kohli spoke of his relationship with the Pakistan captain, and revealed that they had always been on good terms, since first meeting on a rainy day in Manchester in 2019.”The first interaction I had with him [Babar] was during the 2019 [ODI] World Cup after the game in Manchester. I’ve known Imad [Wasim] since the Under-19 World Cup, and he said Babar wanted to have a chat. We sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him from day one, and that hasn’t changed,” Kohli said. “Regardless of the fact he’s probably the top batsman in the world across formats, and rightly so. Performs so consistently and I’ve always enjoyed watching him play.”Related

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The rivalry between Kohli and Babar has always formed part of the cultural intrigue of India vs Pakistan contest s over the past five years, and partisan comparisons in both countries have added to the spice. When the two met at that World Cup game in Manchester, Kohli was ranked the top ODI batter in the world. On that day, he scored a 65-ball 77 as India eased to an 89-run victory.Over the years, as Babar has entered the prime of his career, he has risen to the top of the game, particularly in the ODI format. Earlier this year, he became the fastest player in ODI history to reach 5,000 ODI runs, beating out Hashim Amla and Viv Richards. He’s currently the top-ranked ODI player in the world by some distance with 886 points. Rassie van der Dussen is a distant second with 777. Kohli also makes the top ten, coming in ninth with 705 points.Babar is also ranked third in T20I cricket and fourth in Test cricket, as he is the only batter to make the top five in all three formats.India and Pakistan play each other in Kandy in a group stage game of the Asia Cup on September 2. They are also likely to play at least once more in the Super 4 stage, and are scheduled to play a World Cup match on October 14 in Ahmedabad.

Both batters hit centuries as hosts complete 378-run chase at a scoring rate of almost five

Karthik Krishnaswamy05-Jul-20221:21

Dravid: Brand of cricket depends on your players and their form

England came to Edgbaston having gunned down targets of 277, 299 and 296 in their last three Test matches. On Tuesday they made it four in a row, pulling off their highest successful chase in Test cricket as Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow completed sparkling unbeaten hundreds, making India’s celebrated bowling attack look utterly bereft of ideas in near-perfect batting conditions.Root sealed victory with a reverse-sweep, a symbolic moment if there ever was one. He played the shot or variants thereof – including a reverse-lap off Shardul Thakur for a six over the slips – four times in the closing overs of the game, as England picked off the last 46 runs of their target in just 34 balls. Pure Bazball.This has been an unusual summer of relatively flat pitches and an exceedingly flat batch of Dukes balls, but this sequence of audacious chases has come against two of the best fast-bowling attacks in the world – attacks that came to England last year and went away with a 1-0 series win and a 2-1 series lead respectively. A remarkable achievement for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the new captain and coach, even if the long-term viability of their all-out-attacking philosophy will be put to test more rigorously in due course, when England play in more bowling-friendly conditons.England began the last day needing 119, and India needing seven wickets. England had never successfully chased a target of this magnitude, and India had never lost while defending one of this magnitude. Now, venomous early bursts from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were India’s only way back into the game.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A ball-change in the second over of the morning – two balls had gone out of shape in the first 59 overs of England’s innings, and the third would also be replaced by the time the match was done – brought India a brief window when the replacement Dukes moved around appreciably, but it didn’t translate into a wicket. Bumrah and Shami beat the edges of both batters, and on one occasion Root inside-edged the ball narrowly past his stumps, but the two fast bowlers were also erratic, drifting too wide or too straight, with Shami conceding eight byes in the space of two overs.These errors were ruthlessly punished, and often even reasonably good balls. Bairstow met an off-stump ball from Bumrah with a full face to punch it between mid-on and midwicket, and Root opened his bat-face late to routinely steer good-length balls in the corridor either side of gully.One such back-cut brought up Root’s 28th hundred in Test cricket, and England were rushing along by this stage, with Root hitting five fours in the space of just four overs. At one stage, it appeared as if Root could dash to the target all by himself; Bairstow had beaten Root to 90, but he was still in the 90s when Root had moved to 135.Bairstow wouldn’t be denied his second hundred of the match, of course, and his fourth in his last five Test innings, getting there with a scampered single after pushing Ravindra Jadeja into the leg side. He celebrated with three back-to-back boundaries in the next over – slapped through point, drilled down the ground, pulled through midwicket – with Mohammed Siraj at the receiving end.That over, the penultimate over of the match, left Siraj nursing figures of 15-0-98-0. He went for nearly six an over in the first innings too, though there were four wickets to go with it. Thakur, meanwhile, conceded 113 in 18 overs across the two innings while taking just the one wicket. These two were part of an India attack that created sustained pressure on England last summer. On this visit, the two of them and Ravindra Jadeja, who extracted very little from the pitch while bowling a negative line from left-arm over, left Bumrah and Shami carrying too much of a burden to manage by themselves.

At the 14th attempt, the unthinkable happened: the team asked to bat first managed to win a match

Matt Roller03-Mar-2021At the 14th attempt, the unthinkable happened: the team that lost the toss and were asked to bat first managed to win a match in the 2021 Pakistan Super League.Winless in their first four games of the season, Quetta Gladiators were unlikely candidates to break the infamous chasing streak, and it was an unlikely contender who fired them to a defendable total. Usman Khan, making his official T20 debut at the age of 25, hit 81 off 50 balls to lead them to 176 for 7, a total which could and should have been significantly higher but for a stumble in the middle overs.Related

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• Dale Steyn: PSL more rewarding, cricket can get forgotten at the IPL

With the ball, the wizardry of their two main spinners, Qais Ahmad and Mohammad Nawaz, was key, as Multan Sultans became the first side to fall short in a chase despite yet another half-century from Mohammad Rizwan – his third in five innings to date in this tournament.Usman Khan’s debut fireworksAll of the talk about Quetta Gladiators coming into this season revolved around their top-order batting, and specifically their two platinum picks at January’s draft. In Chris Gayle and Tom Banton, they had a ready-made opening partnership between the one of the GOATs in the shortest format and one of its brightest young talents.Things have not played out as planned. Gayle played two innings at No. 3 before departing for Antigua, winning a recall to West Indies’ T20I set-up at the age of 41, while Banton was dropped after making nine runs in two innings and watched Wednesday night’s game from self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19.In their absence, the unknown Usman was plucked from obscurity and played one of the innings of the season to date. He was last seen playing in the D20 tournament in the UAE in December, having made a couple of first-class appearances for Karachi Whites in October 2017, but was thrown in at the deep end alongside the 18-year-old Saim Ayub and got the Gladiators off to a flying start.Usman was strong all around the ground, but particularly square of the wicket, with a preference for the leg side. He was particularly punishing against Carlos Brathwaite, whom he hit for 27 in 11 balls including a four and two sixes at the end of the 13th, but his best shot was a clean strike over long-on against Imran Tahir.Sultans fight backTahir was making his first appearance of the season, coming into the side alongside Imran Khan and Shan Masood as Usman Qadir, Shahid Afridi and Chris Lynn were left out. It was an emotional night for him, as he dedicated his first wicket to his close friend Tahir Mughal, who passed away in January following a battle with cancer.And Tahir’s second wicket, which saw him trap Usman lbw when reverse-sweeping on 81, sparked a mini-collapse. Faf du Plessis had struggled for timing, making a run-a-ball 17 and playing on off Sohail Khan the ball after Usman’s dismissal, and it took a pair of cameos from Azam Khan and Mohammad Nawaz to drag the Gladiators to 176 for 7 after their 20 overs.Shahnawaz Dhani bowled some superb yorkers at the death, managing to extract movement from the old ball at high pace, but struggled for consistency and ended up conceding 44 from his four overs.Rizwan’s strong startRizwan and James Vince started the chase well, racing to 53 for 0 inside the powerplay to stay level with the required rate as they took advantage of a loose start from the Gladiators’ seamers and feasted on the legspinner Zahid Mahmood. Sarfaraz Ahmed also burned both of his side’s reviews early on.But Qais and Nawaz came on after the powerplay and immediately put the brakes on. Qais removed Vince in his first over, feathering an edge through to Sarfaraz, and pinned Shan Masood lbw trying to sweep in his second. The four overs immediately after the powerplay brought only 16 runs, leaving the required rate up at 10.8.Rizwan led the rebuilding job, surviving an optimistic stumping shout from Sarfaraz on 49 but batting with the fluency that has defined his tournament, but Qais struck for a third time as Rilee Rossouw spooned a catch to fine leg. Sohaib Maqsood holed out to long-on, leaving Khushdil Shah as the only real support for Rizwan, and despite an expensive third over from Dale Steyn, the rate continued to look beyond them.The curse is brokenMohammad Hasnain made two breakthroughs bowling at high pace in his third over, removing both Shah and Brathwaite, leaving Rizwan as the last man standing. He holed out off Mahmood, who had Sohail caught at long-on a ball later, and should have had a hat-trick but for Ben Cutting’s drop at mid-off. Tahir whacked a six over the covers off Hasnain, but the Gladiators managed to close the game out regardless.The Gladiators are still bottom of the pile on net run-rate, level on points with the Sultans. Both sides have identical records, having lost four games out of five, and are already in real danger of missing out on the play-offs.

The Namibia juggernaut notched their fourth straight win, while Singapore fell to their fourth straight loss to crash out

The Report By Peter Della Penna in Dubai27-Oct-2019Gerhard Erasmus struck four sixes off a 29-run over in the 13th to highlight a dominant night for the tournament’s hottest team as the Namibia juggernaut notched their fourth straight win, beating Singapore by 87 runs on Saturday night at Dubai International Stadium. Namibia captain Erasmus notched his second straight fifty to clinch a spot in the playoffs of the T20 World Cup Qualifier while Singapore fell to their fourth straight loss to bow out of the tournament, having struggled since the mid-tournament bowling ban placed on offspinner Selladore Vijayakumar.Singapore captain Amjad Mahboob won the toss and chose to bowl in the hopes of restricting Namibia to a total that would need to be chased down in roughly 13 overs, depending on Namibia’s exact score, in order to pass them on the net run rate tiebreaker with an equal six points in the event of a win. They had a reasonable shot of doing so at the seven-over mark after Singapore struck thrice in three overs to make it 55 for 3.Stephen Baard skied a flick off Sidhant Singh with the medium pacer calling off the infield to take a return catch at short cover in the fifth. Niko Davin fell into a trap hooking Janak Prakash to Singapore’s best fielder, Tim David, at deep backward square in the sixth. Craig Williams then became Sidhant’s second wicket slicing to backward point in the seventh to round out the sequence with another bow and arrow celebration.But Sidhant had nothing left in his quiver to deal with Erasmus. Taking on the captain in his final over, Sidhant repeatedly opted for length deliveries and Erasmus capitalized on the true bounce of the pitch by tonking him over square leg and midwicket on four consecutive occasions for six. Sidhant went around the wicket for the fifth ball and though he denied Erasmus the chance to emulate Garry Sobers and Yuvraj Singh, the Namibia captain still managed to slice a wide yorker over third man for four. A skier off the last ball was put down by David at midwicket with Erasmus on 39 and he continued to punish Singapore for the next six overs before finally perishing to a flat slog to deep midwicket off Mahboob in the final over.By that stage though, Erasmus had completed two devastating stands: 70 runs for the fourth wicket with JP Kotze and another 53 in five overs with JJ Smit for the fifth. Erasmus was one of three wickets in four balls to end the innings for Singapore captain Mahboob, but there were only faint smiles in the Singapore family box above the team dugouts.Needing to chase the target of 192 in 12.3 overs in order to pass Namibia on net run rate, Singapore tried their best to imitate Netherlands against Ireland at Sylhet in 2014, swinging hard from the first over. But instead of 24 runs off Andy McBrine, they lost two wickets in the first six balls to Jan Frylinck. Surendran Chandramohan was bowled off his pads with an inswinger for a golden duck before Aryaman Sunil skied a slog over point. Aritra Dutta fell skying Christi Viljoen to mid-on making it three wickets in the first ten balls.The big scalp of David was dropped twice in two balls in the third over but he only managed to last until the eighth over before charging left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz, waving through a skiddy arm ball to be stumped for 19. At 49 for 5, the match was effectively done before the halfway point of the chase. Singapore lasted until the 18th over before Viljoen and Frylinck finished off the tail.Namibia can finish no lower than third place in the group regardless of Sunday’s results on the last day of group play, guaranteeing them at least two chances to clinch a spot in the T20 World Cup for the first time.