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Megan Schutt’s career-best T20I figures, and a crisp half-century from Ellyse Perry opening the batting, spearheaded Australia to a convincing eight-wicket victory in the opening T20I against Pakistan as they began the final build-up to their T20 World Cup title in South Africa last month.Schutt became the fourth Australia bowler to take a five-wicket haul in T20Is and finished with their third-best figures behind Molly Strano (5 for 10) and current team-mate Jess Jonasssen (5 for 12).A target of 119 was always unlikely to challenge Australia and they eased home with 38 balls to spare. Perry, who earlier claimed 2 for 3 from two overs, opening with captain Meg Lanning as Beth Mooney managed what was termed a “niggle” although she had been able to keep throughout Pakistan’s innings.Lanning was beaten by an excellent arm ball from Sadia Iqbal but Perry, dropped on 3 when Iqbal missed a tough return catch, followed her rapid scoring in India – and prolific WNCL form – with a confident 57 off 40 balls which included a six pulled over wide mid-on against a free hit from Fatima Sana.Schutt’s first wicket came courtesy of a superb catch down the leg side by Mooney to remove Bismah Maroof although Australia needed DRS to confirm it had touched the glove. Three balls later Sadaf Shamas spooned to mid-on as Pakistan lost their way after a promising start.Schutt completed her maiden five-wicket haul when she returned at the death, getting Sana taken at cover then top-scorer Omaima Sohail and Tuba Hassan with slower deliveries.However, the single standout moment of Australia’s display in the field was the remarkable return catch snaffled by Alana King from a fiercely struck drive by Nida Dar. King, who barely had time to react, flung out her right hand and even appeared to surprise herself at holding on.King’s figures were only dented marginally in her last over when Ayesha Naseem launched her third six of an impressive counterattack, although King had her revenge.Naseem’s 20-ball innings was the highlight of Pakistan’s display as she showed a boldness that is not always on display. She launched Tahlia McGrath into the fig tree over long-on and played a ferocious pull off Darcie Brown onto the grass bank at midwicket.Brown had an off day which included consecutive no-balls in her opening over and the 34 she conceded was the most of what remains a T20 career in its infancy.It had been Perry, a player at the opposite end of the experience spectrum, who had opened the wicket-taking for Australia with a superb yorker to remove Muneeba Ali which ended a spritely opening stand of 27 in 4.2 overs.In her next over Perry added Javeria Khan via a bottom edge as Pakistan lost 4 for 5 but she wasn’t called upon to bowl again by Lanning who used seven options and that still left Annabel Sutherland not required.

England leaned on youth, South Africa on experience – of sorts – as Marizanne Kapp’s brilliant century rescued her side from near oblivion on an enthralling first day of their Test in Taunton.Kapp, who with Lizelle Lee represents the sum total of their team’s Test experience having both played in South Africa’s last one which ended in an innings defeat to India in 2014, played the flawless innings the tourists desperately needed to reach 284 by the time they were bowled out, ending the day’s play.Kapp came in with her side 45 for 4 after England’s two international debutants, Issy Wong and Lauren Bell, combined with the new, old hands of the side, Kate Cross and Nat Sciver, to reduce them to rubble in England’s first Test in 11 since 2008 without either of their retired seamers Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole.Kapp shared a 72-run stand with Anneke Bosch before Bosch gifted her wicket to left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclesteone, a veteran at just 23 years of age, cutting straight to backward point for 30. But it was a resolute stand with Sinalo Jafta, only worth 25 but during which Jafta faced 39 deliveries for her 4 runs which saw Kapp to her ton. Another stand worth 49 for the ninth wicket with Tumi Sekhukhune took Kapp to 150, making her the first woman since Mithali Raj in 2002 to reach the milestone.In the meantime, England took the second new ball as soon as it became available after 80 overs and Wong drew the first false shot of Kapp’s innings when she was beaten attempting to defend one on a length that jagged away from her.It’s facetious to suggest Kapp’s experience amounts to one previous Test. She has also played 210 white-ball games for her country and she exuded calm and authority to manoeuvre her side to a first-innings total that seemed incredibly unlikely earlier.She cruised to her fifty from 80 balls, including eight fours, and raised her century with the first of three fours in one Cross over, slashed over the slips cordon before carving the next through backward point and then edging over keeper Amy Jones to take her past the previous highest Test score for a South African woman.Kapp was prolific on the off side, scoring 100 of her first 135 runs in that area, though by the time she reached 150 she had scored 45 runs on the leg side as she continued to manipulate the field. It took a spectacular catch from Tammy Beaumont, launching herself to her right at mid-off to pull the ball down after Kapp had tried to flay Bell over the infield, to end her stay.”It looked like she’s been playing Test cricket for years,” Cross said of Kapp after she had bowled Nonkululeko Mlaba to claim her fourth wicket of the innings.Cross had made the initial breakthrough for England in the fifth over when she dismissed Andrie Steyn, who shouldered arms and left her off stump exposed to a line Cross had been probing throughout her opening spell.Wong, the 20-year-old quick promoted from her position as travelling reserve on Saturday to replace Emily Arlott, who is still recovering from the after-effects of Covid, was selected ahead of Freya Davies, who has played 24 limited-overs internationals but is yet to play a Test.Having been presented with her cap by Brunt, who travelled with the squad to continue her preparation for the white-ball portion of this multi-format series, Wong, struck with just her 12th delivery in international cricket. She lured the dangerous opener Laura Wolvaardt into an attempted cover drive with one that nipped back off the seam and shot through the gate to clatter into middle and off.It didn’t take long for Lauren Bell to pick up her first Test wicket for England•PA Images/Getty

Lara Goodall fell lbw to Sciver after England reviewed umpire Sue Redfern’s original not-out decision, with the DRS showing the ball right on target to hit middle stump.Bell returned after a solid four-over opening spell and secured her maiden wicket with her fourth ball back, rapping Lee on the pad with a fuller ball which struck seemingly just in line with off stump. Lee reviewed but her dismissal was upheld on umpire’s call on impact, meaning she departed for an eight-ball duck.Wong could have had a second in the final over before lunch when Sune Luus, the South Africa captain, split Sophie Ecclestone and Cross at second and third slip, the latter appearing to get a finger to the ball before it raced away for four. But when Cross removed Luus in the second over after lunch, with Sciver taking a sharp catch at third slip, South Africa were still struggling at 89 for 5.From there, Kapp set about her wonderful rebuilding effort with Bosch, then Nadine de Klerk, who was caught behind of another England Test debutant, Alice Davidson-Richards, a 28-year-old batting allrounder who provides another seam bowling option but who hasn’t played for her country since six white-ball games in 2018.It took a catch rivaling Beaumont’s effort which ended Kapp’s knock to remove Jafta and it was Wong who provided it, back-pedalling in the covers and flinging her right hand high and almost behind her to pluck a leading edge off Cross from thin air, holding on tightly as she tumbled to the ground.Cross ended with 4 for 63 from 17.4 overs to be the pick of the England bowlers who all ended the day satisfied with what they had achieved and having set up an intriguing second day’s play.

A regal half-century from Brandon King and three-wicket hauls from Fabian Allen and Nicholson Gordon thwarted favourites Barbados Royals and gave Jamaica Tallawahs their third – and first since 2016 – CPL title. Shamarh Brooks, who scored a sublime century in the second qualifier against Guyana Amazon Warriors, also contributed handsomely, with a 33-ball 47, as Tallawahs chased down 162 with plenty to spare at Providence.The odds were stacked against Tallawahs even before a ball was bowled in the final. Mohammad Amir, who had taken a chart-topping nine wickets in the powerplay this season, was ruled out after having suffered a groin injury during the second qualifier. Then, his replacement, Migael Pretorius, conceded 24 runs in his two powerplay overs and then jarred his back while attempting a catch in the outfield. In the absence of their overseas spearheads, local seamer Gordon, in his first CPL season, stepped up at the death with figures of 3 for 33.It was left-arm fingerspinner Fabian Allen who had launched Tallawahs’ fightback after Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall had slammed 63 off 35 balls for the first wicket. Allen got rid of the dangerous Cornwall with the last ball of the powerplay for 36 off 21, and proceeded to dismiss Mayers soon after, He later sent back Azam Khan, who had top-scored for Royals with 51 off 40 balls.It was déjà vu for the Royals franchise: they reached the IPL 2022 final but had fallen short at the final hurdle there as well.Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall gave Barbados Royals a rapid start•CPL T20 via Getty Images

Cornwall’s opening salvo
Despite variable bounce posing a threat to batters – some balls reared from a length while some shot low at shin height from a similar length – Cornwall stayed true to his role of maximising the powerplay. He whipped Pretorius over square leg for six and then went 6, 6, 4 against offspinner Chris Green in the fourth over. In the next, Cornwall picked a fairly blameless non-turning ball from Imad Wasim and launched it over midwicket for a massive six.Mayers, too, was aggressive from the outset and punished anything that was full and in his arc. However, both the openers fell either side of the powerplay to trigger a wobble.Fabian Allen was named the Player of the Match for his three-wicket haul•CPL T20 via Getty Images

Allen and Imad pin down Royals
Allen had induced that wobble by exploiting the variable bounce on offer. After defeating Cornwall with extra bounce, he bowled Mayers with a slider that kept low. He then returned in the end overs to have an advancing Azam stumped. Allen was also busy in the field, patrolling the hotspots.Imad Wasim, who was the Player of the Match when Tallawahs had won the title in 2016, bowled inswingers in the powerplay and didn’t let Azam get away either. Something had to give and that something was a promoted Jason Holder missing a slog and being castled by Imad for 17 off 19 balls.Azam went on to notch up a 39-ball half-century but couldn’t find a higher gear to hurt Tallawahs. Najibullah Zadran was also responsible for Royals’ slowdown, managing just six off 12 balls.Gordon thrives at the death
Gordon wasn’t even needed with the ball during the Eliminator against Kings, but in the final, Rovman Powell needed him to do the tough job of bowling at the death. He varied his pace cleverly and bowled into the pitch to best Najibullah, Devon Thomas and Corbin Bosch. Thrown in at the deep end in his first CPL season at the age of 30, Gordon repaid Tallawahs’ faith and proved that his chart-topping tally in the inaugural 6ixty that preceded the CPL was no fluke.Brandon Kings struck a regal 50-ball 83 to lead the Tallawahs charge in the chase•CPL T20 via Getty Images

King: Batting royalty from Guyana Jamaica
Before CPL 2022, Powell had been quite vocal about getting the local Jamaica boys together in their quest for unlikely success. King moved from Guyana Amazon Warriors and Allen from St Kitts and Nevis Patriots; it was quite fitting that the pair played starring roles for Tallawahs in the final.Mayers struck in the first over of the chase to york Kennar Lewis, but King repaired the damage with an 86-run second-wicket partnership with Brooks off 58 balls.After patiently seeing off the new ball – King was on a run-a-ball 25 at one stage – he cranked up the tempo to raise his half-century off 36 balls. Along the way, King also surpassed his West Indian opening partner Mayers to become the highest run-getter this season.Spin has been King’s nemesis in the past, but he found a way past Mujeeb Ur Rahman and left-arm fingerspinner Joshua Bishop, who had been picked ahead of legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr on the day. King took Mujeeb and Bishop for 44 off a mere 19 balls, including eight fours and a six. He iced the game with another six, off Obed McCoy, to spark wild celebrations in Tallawahs’ camp.

Different India teams for the different formats – that’s been discussed. Harbhajan Singh feels a different coach for T20Is, like England had with Matthew Mott in their run to the T20 World Cup title recently, is the way to go for India, and the man for the job, in his opinion, is Ashish Nehra.”He knows this [T20 cricket] better than” Rahul Dravid, the all-format India coach, Harbhajan feels.”In T20 format you can have someone like Ashish Nehra who recently retired from the game,” Harbhajan told PTI in Abu Dhabi, where he is a part of the Delhi Bulls line-up for the T10 league. “He [Nehra] knows this better than – with all due respect – Rahul.Related

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“We [Dravid and he] have played together for so many years; he has vast knowledge, but this is a tricky format. Someone who has played the game more recently is better suited for the coaching job in T20s. I am not saying you remove Rahul from T20; Ashish and Rahul can work together to build this team for the 2024 World Cup.”Dravid played his last representative match in T20s in October 2013, while Nehra finished up in November 2017. he has since turned to coaching, and was in charge of the back room at Gujarat Titans in the IPL earlier this year, when they won the tournament in their first season.”With such an arrangement [split coaching], it is easy for Rahul as well, who can take a break as well like he did for New Zealand tour and Ashish can do the job in his absence,” Harbhajan said. On the ongoing New Zealand tour, where India won the T20I series, VVS Laxman has filled in for Dravid.‘The approach has to change in the T20 format’
At the recent T20 World Cup, where India exited in the semi-finals after a ten-wicket loss to England, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, the openers, scored 116 and 128 runs respectively, scoring at strikes rates of 106.42 and 120.75. Virat Kohli, at No. 3, was much more impressive, topping the overall scoring chart for the tournament with 296 runs at a strike rate of 136.40. But he, too, failed to up the tempo at times, and there have been suggestions that India need to take a serious look at their top three.KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma failed to up the scoring rate consistently in the powerplay overs•Getty Images

“The approach has to change in the T20 format,” Harbhajan said. “The first six overs are important. If that doesn’t happen, you will be depended on Hardik [Pandya] or Surya [Suryakumar Yadav] for scoring 50 off 20. If they don’t fire, you will end up with a below-par total.”England changed their approach and they have won two World Cups [including the 2019 ODI World Cup]. T20 has to be played like T20 not like ODIs.”Talking specifically about the trio of Rohit, Rahul and Kohli, Harbhajan said, “All the top three need to do is increase their strike rate. It is tough when you bat at 110 or 120 strike and try to make 180. They have to score at least nine runs per over in the first 10-12 overs.”I am no one to comment whether they would want to play [T20Is] or not. They are quality players. If they can remain fit, why not, provided the approach is different. Players can’t be changed overnight, the approach has to change.”

South Africa ensured their first series win in India in 25 years by building on their lead for nearly five hours. While the declaration, setting India more than they have ever been set at home, seemed a touch conservative, the visitors went to stumps needing eight wickets on the final day to take away all 12 WTC points from this Test and consign India to their second whitewash at home in 12 months after 12 years of spotless series record.As it often happens in such match situations, the same pitch that South Africa batted on, looking untroubled for 70.3 overs, began to look unplayable in the 15.5 India got to play. Marco Jansen didn’t even bother with swing and seam, and began to bounce Yashasvi Jaiswal before getting him out on the cut shot. Simon Harmer, who has out-bowled the home spinners, continued his dream series with a dream offbreak to bowl KL Rahul through the gate, and came desperately close to getting B Sai Sudharsan out lbw.The day began with curiosity around how much South Africa valued the 12 full points from this match vis-a-vis ensuring they give India no chance to threaten their series lead. Turns out they were in no mood for adventure. Especially as the ball started to turn more consistently in the first session of the fourth day than it had done at any point before. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar got long spells in. Jadeja got Ryan Rickelton caught at extra cover, but then India did what they have struggled to do all Test: get wickets on defensive shots. Jadeja beat Aiden Markram’s outside edge and hit the off stump, Washington got one to bite at Temba Bavuma’s glove and settle in the hands of backward short leg.As three wickets fell for 18 runs, South Africa remained slightly cautious. Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi, though, managed to keep the threat of spin out with their sweeps and reverse sweeps. After Rishabh Pant missed a stumping off Stubbs, the No. 3 batter limited his options to just the sweeps whenever he wanted to force the pace.3:49

Can India’s youngsters grind out a draw?

Stubbs and de Zorzi added 101 for the fourth wicket, 41 of those in sweeps and reverse sweeps. Like Stubbs in the first innings, de Zorzi fell one short of a fifty, beaten on the sweep for a change. It was mid-afternoon and South Africa led by 466, but they still continued to bat at normal pace.Related

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Only after the lunch break did Stubbs get a move-on to try to complete a Test hundred, but even this charge was not frenetic. The team management gave him all the time as he scored 32 from the last 19 balls he faced, taking the lead past the 542 that Australia attained in Nagpur in 2004. He slog-swept Jadeja to go from 88 to 94, but Jadeja slowed the ball down to beat a repeat attempt. Stubbs still was the highest run-getter in the series (163), and would need a big effort from someone in the final innings to be eclipsed.That effort wasn’t coming from the openers. India have done this to many a visiting side – just when everybody thought they had been too conservative with the declaration, the pitch would magically change its nature and wickets would start falling.Something similar happened when Jansen ran in and started bowling short. In the first over itself, he had Jaiswal fending uncomfortably. One didn’t pop up, the other landed just short of second slip. While Jaiswal managed to ramp him once, he fell to his favourite cut shot again. Since Jaiswal’s debut, nobody has scored more Test runs with the cut off fast bowlers than his 291, but no one has got out as often as his seven times. Nobody has played as many false shots as he has on the cut to the fast bowler: 68. He averages 41.57 on the cut against fast bowlers, but has fallen to this shot four times in his last eight innings.3:19

Saba Karim: Spinners need long spell to set up batters

Rahul was more traditional in the route he took to fight for a draw. He scored just 6 off 30 balls, but the 30th was a bewitching dipping, drifting delivery, which had him playing well away from where he thought it would originally pitch. In panic, he turned his drive into a flick, but it wasn’t enough to plug the gap created between his body and his bat. Harmer was again level with Jansen for most wickets in the series: 12.Harmer came extremely close to taking the lead when he appealed for lbw against Sai Sudharsan. In all likelihood, the on-field call for not-out was down to an inside edge, but the replay showed the ball had hit the pad first. However, the ball tracking returned an umpire’s call on impact, saving Sudharsan to fight another day.India somehow survived the rest of the day but it looked like a wicket could fall anytime. South Africa now have six hours to take eight wickets because the light has consistently dipped by 4pm, not allowing any extra play.

Smriti Mandhana’s unbeaten 42-ball 63 against Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games has taken her one spot up to third in the women’s T20I rankings for batters.Mandhana’s power-packed half-century helped her go past Sophie Devine into the top three, and within two rating points of Beth Mooney, who is placed second. Meg Lanningis top of the pile.Related

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Mandhana has been No. 3 on the T20I batters’ list previously as well – first in 2019 and more recently in October last year.The rankings were updated after six T20Is at the Commonwealth Games. Suzie Bates, on the back of her 91 not out off 64 balls against South Africa, jumped two slots, leapfrogging Alyssa Healy and Chamari Athapaththu to move to sixth place.Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored a half-century in the CWG opener against Australia, moved four places to 14th position.Ashleigh Gardner, the Australia allrounder, was one of the biggest gainers, moving in all three T20I lists. Her match-winning 52 not out in the opening game against India propelled her five places to 11th on the batters’ list. She then shone with the ball against Barbados, returning 2 for 6 in a crushing nine-wicket win that saw her jump from 45th to 26th on the bowlers’ list. Gardner also moved to a career-best third on the allrounders’ rankings – a jump of four places.On the bowlers’ table, Jess Jonassen, who returned 4 for 22 against India, moved up two spots to fourth position, with Sophie Ecclestone still in the lead.Megan Schutt and Amelia Kerr have moved up one spot each to seventh and eighth respectively. Hayley Matthews is the lone new face in the top ten of the bowlers’ rankings, replacing Ayabonga Khaka.

Delhi Capitals have roped in former Surrey, Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire wicketkeeper-batter Jonathan Batty as their head coach for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL).Former India international Hemlata Kala, and Lisa Keightley, the former Australia cricketer with vast coaching experience, have been named the team’s assistant coaches. And Biju George, who has previously worked with the India women’s team, has been named the fielding coach. He is also the fielding coach of the Capitals men’s side.Batty has extensive coaching experience when it comes to women’s cricket. He coached Oval Invincibles to the title at the women’s Hundred in 2021 and 2022, and has also been head coach at Melbourne Stars in the WBBL and the Surrey women’s side.Related

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“It’s an incredible time to be involved in Women’s cricket and the WPL has the potential to transform the landscape of women’s professional sport globally,” Batty said in a statement.Kala played seven Tests, 78 ODIs and one T20I and has also been chief selector for women in the past. “I am looking forward to putting together our squad ahead of the inaugural edition of the tournament, which I am confident will be a gamechanger for women’s cricket,” she said of the player auction.Keightley, the current Sydney Thunder head coach, played nine Tests, 82 ODIs and one T20I in a decade-long career. She was at the helm of the England team when they made the final of the 2022 ODI World Cup, before stepping down in August last year. She has also been head coach of Perth Scorchers in the past.”I’m very excited to be involved with the Delhi Capitals and to be working with so many different players and staff from around the world,” she said. “WPL is a game changer for women’s sports around the world, and we have the opportunity to showcase cricket to a new audience.”The player auction ahead of the inaugural WPL will be held on February 13 in Mumbai, while the tournament will be played between March 4 and 26. All the matches will be held in Mumbai.

Tabraiz Shamsi will miss the men’s Hundred final to play for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL, in the latest blow to a competition that will be short on international quality in the knockout stages.Shamsi, the South African left-arm wristspinner, has taken five wickets in his six appearances in the Hundred this season, playing for Trent Rockets as a replacement for Rashid Khan.He was one of the few remaining overseas players in the men’s Hundred who is part of his country’s first-choice T20 side, but has left ahead of Guyana’s opening CPL game on Saturday and will miss the final at Lord’s as a result.Rockets will not be permitted to sign another replacement, as teams can only use players who were registered in the group stages during knockout games in the Hundred. Regulations were changed for this season after Tim David, a last-minute signing, made a game-changing intervention in the inaugural final.Marchant de Lange, the South African fast bowler, is available to fill Rockets’ third overseas slot alongside Colin Munro and Daniel Sams, but is yet to feature this season and Andy Flower may see Matthew Carter, the offspinner, as a more direct replacement for Shamsi.Related

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Shamsi’s departure continues a worrying trend for the competition as a whole, which has been shorn of its star names as the group stages have worn on. London Spirit, who will play in Friday night’s eliminator at the Ageas Bowl, will use only two of their permitted three overseas players in the knockout stages in Ben McDermott and Nathan Ellis.Kieron Pollard made six appearances for them before leaving for the CPL, Glenn Maxwell played four games before returning to Australia for an ODI series against Zimbabwe, and his replacement Josh Inglis made a single appearance before he was called up to Australia’s squad as injury cover.Spirit will play the winner of Manchester Originals’ game against Oval Invincibles in the eliminator, both of whom are without several of their first-choice overseas players.Originals have lost Wanindu Hasaranga (denied an NOC), Andre Russell (CPL) and Sean Abbott (Australia duty) at various stages and fielded Tristan Stubbs, Ashton Turner and Josh Little as their overseas trio in their last game against Birmingham Phoenix on Sunday.Invincibles, meanwhile, are without Sunil Narine (CPL) and Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan duty) and picked Rilee Rossouw, Hilton Cartwright and Peter Haztoglou in their win against Spirit at Lord’s on Saturday.

Big picture

It’s pretty straightforward, as Wayne Parnell put it: South Africa are in the knockout stages. They must beat Netherlands to go through to the semi-finals and if you’d said that pre-tournament, many would have thought the conclusion foregone, but this has been a World Cup of surprises and perhaps there’s one more?Netherlands looked to be steadily improving from the first round, when they nearly toppled Bangladesh in their Super 12 opener, but then they ran into India and Pakistan and came apart. Had they also lost to Zimbabwe, they might have considered this campaign something of a waste, but they rallied and now have the opportunity to bow out on a high – and do Pakistan a favour.If Netherlands beat South Africa in first of three Group 2 games on Sunday, Pakistan only need to beat Bangladesh to go through to the semi-finals. If South Africa win, the result of the second match between Pakistan and Bangladesh will dictate what India have to do to ensure they qualify. That’s a lot of ifs before we even get to wondering what kind of contest this will be.South Africa and Netherlands have only played one T20I against each other but they have some recent history. Netherlands were in South Africa for a three-match World Cup Super League ODI series last November, when the omicron variant of Covid-19 hit and they left the tour early, but not before taking 10 points off South Africa in a washed-out match. South Africa will host Netherlands again in April 2023 and those matches are crucial to ensuring their automatic qualification for the ODI World Cup so there’s some wider context to the clash. And there’s also the obvious niggle: Netherlands are coached by a South African – Ryan Cook – and have as many as four South African-born players in their squad. Even if South Africa may not know much about the Dutch approach in the shortest format, they will know plenty about the players involved.For South Africa, their blueprint has mostly worked but there’s still work to do in the batting department. They will view this game as a final opportunity to get the likes of Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs into form and a chance to make a statement about whether they can justify the favourites’ tag placed on them just a few days ago.Temba Bavuma’s batting form is still a concern for South Africa•Getty Images

Form guide

South Africa LWWWL(last five completed matches, most recent first)
NetherlandsWLLLL

In the spotlight

In a pace pack that seems to have it all, Kagiso Rabada has flown under the radar. He has taken only two wickets from four matches so far and has the highest economy rate of any of the South African bowlers. In dealing with swing from Parnell, pace from Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi’s slew of slower balls, line-ups have identified Rabada as a bowler they can target, which is unlikely to sit well with him. Although he has long shied away from being called the leader of the attack, Rabada is South Africa’s most experienced bowler, and he will want to turn in a big performance as the tournament approaches the business end.It had to be a South African expat and though Roelof van der Merwe is the headliner, Colin Ackermann is a player many will be interested in as he plays his first T20I against his home country. Ackermann made his name as a red-ball player in South Africa and, with a first-class average over 40, there was much consternation when it turned out that he was unavailable for national selection. He hasn’t had quite the same impact in shorter formats, with just 96 runs from his four ODIs and a T20I average under 25. He has had a fairly quiet tournament so far, apart from a 62 against Bangladesh, and should see this match as a final opportunity to go out with a bang.

Team news

David Miller sat out the match against Pakistan with lower back spasms and South Africa will be keen to get him up and running as soon as he is fit. If that’s in this game, Tristan Stubbs may miss out with Heinrich Klaasen retaining his place. South Africa may also bring back Keshav Maharaj at the expense of one of the quicks.South Africa: : (possible) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Heinrich Klaasen/Tristan Stubbs 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Keshav Maharaj/ Anrich Nortje, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Kagiso RabadaAfter a convincing win over Zimbabwe, Netherlands are likely to go in unchanged.Netherlands: 1 Stephan Myburgh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Tom Cooper, 4 Colin Ackermann, 5 Bas de Leede, 6 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 7 Roelof van der Merwe, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Fred Klaassen, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Brandon Glover

Pitch and conditions

An early start may prove challenging for the batters because the ball won’t skid on as it does at night. Expect inconsistent bounce and a slowish start, although runs may come from the short, square boundaries. The surface also won’t offer the quicks as much as some of the other venues, which could take the sting out of the contest to some degree. There’s been rain in the lead-up to this match but Sunday’s forecast is clear.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa and Netherlands have met once in a T20I before, at the 2014 World Cup. South Africa won by six runs.
• In four matches at this venue so far in this World Cup, the average first innings score is 164, and the chasing team has only won once.

Quotes

“It’s a crucial game for us. In T20 cricket, teams get closer. We still have to play well to beat them. They are a quality side. They’ve shown they can play good cricket. Hopefully it’s only in patches and if we bring our A game, I reckon we should have enough.”
“We do understand the significance of the game if we do beat South Africa. But obviously for us it’s just playing a game and beating South Africa, so we don’t think too far outside of that. But we just have to do what we’ve done well, and if we do that well against South Africa, you never know, we might have a good day against them.”

Glenn Maxwell is in line to make his return to first-class cricket after a gap of more than three years if he passes one more fitness test following his recovery from a broken leg.He has been included in Victoria’s 13-player Sheffield Shield squad to face South Australia but will need to come through an outing for his club side Fitzroy-Doncaster in Victorian Premier Cricket on Saturday and will then have one more fitness test before being confirmed in Victoria’s XI.Maxwell last played the Sheffield Shield in October 2019 and has been sidelined from all cricket since November when he suffered a badly broken leg when slipping at a friend’s birthday party.Related

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The injury ruled Maxwell out of being included for the Test tour of India, although there may remain the slimmest of chances of a late call-up depending on how he goes against South Australia. At the very least, though, he hopes to be available for the ODIs which conclude the tour in March.Maxwell was very close to a Test recall in Sri Lanka last year when there were injury doubts over Travis Head and the second season of documentary revealed out distraught he was at missing out. The last of his seven Tests came against Bangladesh at Chattogram in 2017.”To bring a player of Glenn’s calibre into the squad is exciting, he has a fantastic record in Shield cricket and it’s a shame he hasn’t been able to play more of it,” Cricket Victoria’s Head of Male Cricket, David Hussey said.