All posts by csb10.top

Warwickshire 258 (Mousley 74, Barnard 48, Young 48, Hutton 4-46, Abbas 3-33) vs Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire are within 300 runs of securing the Rothesay County Championship crown after bowling out Warwickshire for 258 on day one at Trent Bridge.Needing to secure a maximum of 10 points from the final round of matches to lift the title for the first time since 2010 after their victory over holders Surrey last week, Nottinghamshire fulfilled their first requirement by taking all three bowling bonus points, led by Brett Hutton’s four for 46 and Mohammad Abbas’s three for 33.And Surrey’s failure to take any of the five batting bonus points potentially up for grabs in their match against Hampshire at Southampton, means they require just two more in this match to be certain of becoming champions.Put simply, if they can muster anything above 300 with the bat within 110 overs in their first innings, the title will be theirs even were they to lose this match and Surrey win theirs.They might have been on the field in pursuit of those runs already if Dan Mousley had not defied difficult batting conditions by scoring 74 after driving Warwickshire recovery from 127 for five.Mousley shared a 117-run sixth-wicket partnership with Ed Barnard, who exactly matched Will Young earlier in making 48 from 104 deliveries. Warwickshire, who began the day in fourth place, are keen at least to overtake Somerset and finish third.After choosing not to bat first, Nottinghamshire presumably would have hoped to send Warwickshire to lunch in a more precarious position than 70 for one. As it was, in an opening session limited to 25 overs after a wholly unforecast stoppage for rain, the visitors lost only Alex Davies, who was leg before to the 10th ball of the match as Hutton found some early movement through the air.Not that it was for want of trying by the Nottinghamshire attack. Abbas, returning from a minor back issue, bowled seven overs that on another day might have generated two or three wickets. Young and Rob Yates played and missed several times and edged other deliveries past the slips. Both executed some good shots, to be fair to them.More rain delayed the afternoon session by 50 minutes. It began with another early wicket, Yates well held at second slip by Freddie McCann in Abbas’s second over.Abbas has taken the place vacated by Josh Tongue, ordered to rest up by England after his match-winning performance against Surrey last week, which illustrates the depth of Nottinghamshire’s bowling resources. Their other centrally-contracted fast bowler, Olly Stone, though he missed the first tranche of matches through injury, will complete the season having not appeared in the Championship side.Though the sky cleared, batting remained a challenge, although patience and some nifty footwork appeared to be paying off for Young. Having saved himself on 35, managing to kick the ball away a delivery from Dillon Pennington squirmed under his bat towards the stumps, he was nearing a half-century against his former county.But then he unexpectedly wafted at a ball from Hutton outside off stump and paid the price. With Surrey already dismissed by Hampshire for just 147, a first bowling point for Nottinghamshire was enthusiastically applauded by the home crowd, fully aware that the requirement to take the title was already down to just four more points.Two more wickets before tea reduced Warwickshire to 127 for five. Sam Hain, pushing forward, and Zen Malik were caught behind in consecutive overs, the latter off a ball from Lyndon James that moved late to find the edge of his defensive bat.The middle session thus belonged to Nottinghamshire, yet Mousley and Barnard resisted and then fought back in the final session, Mousley becoming more confident and aggressive as the partnership grew, accelerating to a half-century from 62 balls, which he celebrated by going down the pitch to hit James back over his head for six.In the final half-hour, though, the pendulum swung back to Nottinghamshire, left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White claiming the second bowling point with a caught-and-bowled to remove Barnard before Abbas, bowling fast and straight with second new ball in hand, dismissed Michael Booth and Ethan Bamber in consecutive deliveries.Hutton wrapped things up by bowling Tazeem Ali before Mousley holed out to long off, leaving Nottinghamshire within touching distance of the prize.

Bharat Arun is the new bowling coach of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of IPL 2026, the franchise confirmed on Wednesday. Arun’s new role brings an end to his four-year tenure as a bowling consultant with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).Arun is likely to have an expanded role within the LSG set-up – responsible for scouting and overseeing the year-round development of their young quicks.”It’s an honour to join the Lucknow Super Giants, a franchise that reflects professionalism, ambition, and vision at every level,” Arun said in a statement. “My conversations with Dr. Sanjiv Goenka and the management were incredibly energizing – there is a clear intent to invest in young Indian talent and build a long-term legacy.”What excites me most is the vision for long-term development. LSG has invested in a young, talented, and dynamic group of Indian fast bowlers – Akash deep, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Akash Singh – and I see immense potential in each of them. My mission is to help shape them into a cohesive, fearless, and tactically sharp pace unit that can challenge the best batting line-ups in the world.”LSG are also set to bring in Carl Crowe as spin consultant. Crowe is credited to have helped Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine in their bowling reinvention during his time at KKR. LSG are likely to make a formal announcement soon.Arun’s role was previously managed by former India pacer Zaheer Khan, their team mentor in IPL 2025. LSG failed to make the playoffs and finished seventh.Related

• KKR and head coach Chandrakant Pandit part ways after three seasons

At KKR, Arun was originally contracted for three years, before he was offered an extension for another season that took him up to the end of IPL 2025, where KKR finished eighth.Arun’s exit is part of a wider support-staff overhaul at KKR. On Tuesday, the franchise had announced that head coach Chandrakant Pandit had chosen to part ways with the team. At the time, there was no formal announcement of Arun’s exit.Arun comes with a solid body of work, having had two fruitful stints with the Indian team, first from 2014-2015 and, more recently, from 2017 to 2021. In between, he was also part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) backroom between 2015 and 2017.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) head Tavengwa Mukuhlani has been appointed chairman of the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) after serving in the same role in an interim capacity since November last year. Mukuhlani was unanimously appointed by the 23 ACA member associations at their annual general meeting in Singapore on Friday.”We stand today at the threshold of a new era for African cricket – an era defined by stronger governance, broader opportunity and renewed ambition,” Mukuhlani said in a statement issued by ZC. “Let us continue building on the progress we have made, united by a common purpose and driven by a shared love for the game.”The ACA, which includes two Full Members in South Africa and Zimbabwe, has recently been through an administrative overhaul, which has included the adoption of a new memorandum of incorporation to ensure better governance.Related

• Zimbabwe give back the joy as long exile ends in heroic failure

• From poverty to plenty: 2025 a bumper Test year for Zimbabwe

Among the body’s next tasks is the establishment of an Africa T20 competition, which has been in the works for several years, the resumption of the Afro-Asia Cup, which was mooted last year, and the inclusion of cricket at the Africa Games in Egypt in 2027 after it debuted at the same competition in 2023.Cricket made its first appearance at the continental competition in Ghana, where Zimbabwe won both the men’s and women’s events (the men’s with an emerging side) as South Africa sent experimental sides instead of their full-strength teams.Mukuhlani is interested in extending cricket’s reach at the Africa Games, in part, with the hope of securing more funding for the ACA. “These engagements are crucial not only for visibility but also for opening new doors of investment, policy support and continental collaboration,” he said.Mukuhlani has been ZC’s chair since 2015 and has been re-elected three times. He also sits on the ICC’s finance and commercial affairs committee.In his tenure, ZC has worked its way out of debt, navigated an ICC suspension for government interference, and got the women’s team on the future tours programme.The men’s team, however, is not part of the World Test Championship and failed to qualify for the last two ODI World Cups and last T20 World Cup, but will play in the 2027 50-over World Cup, which Zimbabwe will co-host with South Africa and Namibia. Zimbabwe will also co-host the 2026 men’s Under-19 World Cup with Namibia.

Big picture – Pakistan vs New Zealand is the ideal final match-up

It’s rare for a tournament final to be a dry run, but that’s almost what this Pakistan vs New Zealand game will be. There’s a trophy on the line in Karachi, five days before another Pakistan vs New Zealand game in Karachi – that is the big one, the opening game of the Champions Trophy. In that sense, when this tri-series was planned, this was the final that would have made the most sense, if you’d asked anyone bar, perhaps, South Africa.New Zealand have comfortably been the team of the tournament so far, but Pakistan arguably come in on a bigger high, riding a wave after coming back from the dead to steal the second place on the table after an epic ODI chase against South Africa. The execution of the win was more satisfying than the fact that it happened. Two men in Pakistan’s middle order stringing together Pakistan’s third-highest ODI partnership – Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha put on a whopping 260 for the fourth wicket, masterfully pacing a chase while seemingly not playing a single shot in anger. Most notably, it will allay fears of an over-dependence on Fakhar Zaman up top if the middle order can find a way to stand up for itself more regularly, balancing Pakistan’s batting line-up ahead of the Champions Trophy.Related

• Stats – Pakistan's first 350-plus chase, Rizwan-Salman's record partnership

• Williamson hails 'outstanding' Conway after record partnership

But Pakistan’s death bowling remains a cause for concern. They conceded 98 in the final six overs against New Zealand, and 87 in the final seven on Wednesday against South Africa. On both occasions, one man in a purple patch took the attack to them – the fast bowlers in particular. It was Glenn Phillips one day, Heinrich Klaasen the next. It keeps New Zealand in the game till late, knowing they can catch up against a bowling line up that has revealed it it vulnerable.New Zealand have just about played two perfect games, with control the key feature of their performances. There is a calm this side exudes when it appears a passage of play is going against them. They didn’t panic when they weren’t quite at the run rate they wanted to be against Pakistan until deep in the innings, keeping their ammunition dry until the opportunity to use it presented itself. When Matthew Breetzke took them on at the death, they retained their composure, aware the target was still below par, and then made short work of it with a near faultless chase.Most notably, New Zealand have shown how to use spin as a leash for the opposition on these surfaces, and possess more experienced, more varied and, frankly, superior slower bowlers. Mitchell Santner has been in the middle of special run the last few months, and stifled Pakistan alongside Michael Bracewell, Phillips and Rachin Ravindra last week. They bowled 26 of the 47.5 overs through that innings, and while Pakistan’s spinners bowled a similar amount, they weren’t nearly as effective.It is a game with silverware up for grabs, and the group-stage rubber between the two next week inflates its importance rather than diminishing it.

Form guide

Pakistan WLWWW
New Zealand WWLWWKane Williamson’s form is a warning sign for Pakistan, as well every side he comes up against in the next few days•Associated Press

In the spotlight: Fakhar Zaman and Kane Williamson

Fakhar Zaman‘s fireworks at the start have been integral to Pakistan’s hopes. When Zaman fell for a 69-ball 84 against New Zealand, Pakistan’s chase fell apart in Lahore, and his 28-ball 41 saw Pakistan fly to 91 in the first ten overs – their third fastest ten-over score in ODI history – against South Africa. It has gone some way towards replacing the hole left at the top by Saim Ayub’s injury, and given impetus to a side whose middle order doesn’t quite have the explosiveness to make up for any dawdling up top. On flat wickets where big totals will have to be put up and chased down, and with Fakhar key to Pakistan’s success in international tournament knockout games, his performance and the game’s outcome may well be very closely aligned.Kane Williamson followed up a half-century against Pakistan with an unbeaten hundred to vanquish South Africa. New Zealand haven’t played too many ODIs since the 2023 World Cup, but he appears to have picked up where he left off, on surfaces that are perfectly suited to his immense ability. He showed in the first game he could grind it out on a “tackier wicket”, as he put it, while picking the pace up on the flatter surface against South Africa. His legendary unflappability has handled far bigger occasions, with his current form not just a warning sign for Pakistan, but every side he comes up against in the next few days.

Team news: Rachin Ravindra won’t be rushed back

With Haris Rauf unavailable, Pakistan are unlikely to tinker with the side that got them to the final barring injuries.Pakistan (likely): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Saud Shakeel, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), 5 Salman Agha, 6 Tayyab Tahir, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Abrar Ahmed*New Zealand coach Gary Stead said that Rachin Ravindra had experienced headaches after the blow to his head in the tri-series opening and though that has subsided, they don’t intend to rush him back into action, especially with his replacement Devon Conway filling in with aplomb. Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who had sustained a hamstring injury in the ILT20, has resumed training and is building up his intensity, with Stead saying that the team management will “look to have him playing in one of the next two games.”New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham/Mark Chapman, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Ben Sears/Lockie Ferguson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’RourkeThe Pakistan middle order came good on Wednesday, and will hope to cash in on the flat Karachi surface•PCB

Pitch and conditions

Karachi proved just as flat as Lahore on Wednesday, and the outfield was lightning quick, playing its part in the highest-scoring ODI in the previous game. It will be a warm, sunny day, with temperatures hitting up to 30 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• Fakhar has scored 57, 114, 91, 55* and 0 in the five semi-final/final games he has played in white-ball international cricket. The first three went towards wins. Pakistan lost the other two.
• Williamson became the fifth New Zealand batter to reach 7000 ODI runs on Monday, and is on the cusp of more run-scoring history: he is 148 away from becoming the first New Zealander to 19,000 international runs.
• New Zealand have been in 12 finals of multi-team white-ball tournaments since 2000. Of these, they have won four and lost eight. What’s worrying is that the last of those wins came way back in 2005.

Queensland have been left to rue a number of bizarre final-day dismissals, after falling to a 90-run defeat to Victoria.Resuming on day four at 58 for 3 chasing 329 for victory at the Gabba, Queensland were all out for 238 just before tea at the Gabba.Sam Elliott starred for Victoria, taking 4 for 43, while Todd Murphy also claimed 3 for 48  as he continues to push his case to be Australia’s second spinner in Sri Lanka.But the biggest challenge for Queensland came from within. The hosts looked in a position to hold on for a draw or push for a win midway through the first session, after Jack Clayton and Ben McDermott put on 59 for the fourth wicket.But their 18.3-over stand was ended when McDermott dropped a ball at his feet and took off for a quick single. Clayton gave up on the single and was run out while not pushing hard to make his crease on 43.The run out was superbly executed by bowler Xavier Crone with a back-handed flick, but still the wicket was gifted to the visitors.Crone’s run out was also his second such dismissal of the match after removing Mark Steketee in similar fashion in the first innings.Even after Clayton’s dismissal, McDermott and Jimmy Pierson put on 63 for the fifth wicket only for Pierson to be bowled for 31 trying to scoop Murphy.And from there the innings fell apart. Murphy also had McDermott caught at slip for 68, before Xavier Bartlett and Jack Wildermuth were both caught hooking Elliott at deep fine leg.Mitchell Swepson was then the last to fall, bowled by Murphy to become the offspinner’s third victim.The win leaves Victoria top of the table at the halfway mark, four points clear of Western Australia. Queensland remain last and are the only winless team after five games.

A week after George Bailey issued a call for Australia’s left-arm spinners to stand up, Western Australia’s Ashton Agar virtually said, “Don’t forget about me”.WA extended their lead at the top of the Sheffield Shield ladder with a comprehensive thrashing of Tasmania in Hobart, with left-armer Agar claiming 3 for 12 in 17.5 testing overs in the second innings.Related

• Cartwright catches lucky break as WA grind down Tasmania

• Cartwright's ton, late wickets set up Western Australia victory push

The visitors dismissed Tasmania for 98 to win by an innings and 45 runs, with paceman Brody Couch becoming the first bowler to take a Sheffield Shield hat-trick for Western Australia in their history.Couch had Jake Doran lbw, before Lawrence Neil-Smith chopped a ball onto his stumps and Couch clean bowled Sam Elliott. The three wickets came in the first over after tea, killing off any hopes of Tasmania hanging on for a draw after they started the final session at 89 for 6.Agar’s strong performance came after New Zealand left-arm spinners Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel played crucial roles in a historic 3-0 Test series win in India.Just last week Australian chairman of selectors Bailey said left-arm orthodox spin was “an incredible skillset in the subcontinent”, with a series in Sri Lanka next year on the horizon.”Realistically there’s not a huge amount of players in domestic cricket that are doing it, so it is something we are looking to expose,” Bailey said.Agar showcased great variety on the final day and dried up the runs, allowing the pace attack at the other end to also shine.WA, winners of the past three Shield titles, had earlier taken a 143-run first innings lead The hosts resumed at 10 for 2 needing one of their top order to dig in for a big score.It was not to be, as left-arm quick Joel Paris swung a pearler in to Charlie Wakim to trap him lbw without troubling the scorers to the fifth ball of the morning.Nightwatchman Gabe Bell was undone by a perfect left-arm orthodox delivery from Agar that curled in and spun away to hit the top of the off stump. Captain Jordan Silk was unable to get going and was trapped in front by an Agar skidder.Paris, 31, showcased why he is one of the leading exponents of left-arm pace bowling in the country. His 2 for 18 in the second innings complemented the 4 for 45 he claimed in the first. At times he was unplayable on a surface that offered very little.The WA performance was more meritorious considering strike bowler Matthew Kelly was rubbed out after suffering a hamstring injury in the first innings.

Australia began their T20 World Cup defence with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka, who slumped to a second defeat in less than 48 hours to leave their semi-final hopes hanging by a thread. Australia kept Sri Lanka to under 100, and knocked off the runs inside 15 overs. But their speed of run-scoring was not enough to put Australia on top of the group ahead of New Zealand on NRR, which could prove crucial in a pool where they have already been two upsets.While it was relatively straightforward for Australia, they would be the first to admit that they were not at their most clinical best. Their bowlers sent down five no-balls and two wides, and the 13 extras were the fourth-highest contributor on a sorry Sri Lanka scorecard. That continues a trend of Australia conceding the most number of extras since the start of last year, and is a discipline they would want to tighten up on.Nitpicking aside, Australia held the advantage early thanks to medium-pacer Megan Schutt, who finished with the best figures among the bowlers on a spinner-friendly track. Between them, spinners Ash Gardner, Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham bowled 12 overs, which cost only 55 runs while they shared four wickets.Sri Lanka’s only real resistance came from a 31-run fifth-wicket stand between Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva, and they were the only batters to get more than 20. Sri Lanka ended up well short of a par total, but initially made a fist of defending it. They had Australia 35 for 3 and were fielding excellently, but did not have enough runs to make a game of it.Beth Mooney hit 43*, and sealed the chase in the 15th over•ICC/Getty Images

Australia’s awesome start

If there was any thought that Australia would be anything less than their absolute best as their tournament got underway, that was swiftly dismissed as they got off to the perfect start. Schutt started proceedings with the tournament’s second maiden over, and Gardner followed up with a second, which immediately raised questions of Chamari Athapaththu’s decision to bat first.She got bat on ball in the third over, when she guided Schutt past backward point for two, but the over ended badly when Vishmi Gunaratne was given out lbw off the last ball, and reviewed to no avail. Schutt got the ball to tail in from outside off and pin Gunaratne on the back pad in front of middle and leg stump. Ball tracking confirmed her dismissal.Things got worse two balls later, as Gardner beat Athapaththu’s sweep shot and asked for a review after the on-field decision seemed to suggest it was sliding down leg. But ball-tracking judged it to be hitting leg, and Athapaththu had to depart for a second single-figure score to start the World Cup. Sri Lanka were 6 for 2 in the fourth over.

Sri Lanka fail to cross 100 second time

Sri Lanka’s batters can’t be blamed for trying to make something happen in their search for runs, but their attempts to be attacking were unsuccessful as they could not get the ball to clear the boundary. Samarawickrama, who battled hard to score 23 off 35 balls, was the first to play a poor shot when she swung at a full, wide delivery from Molineux without much conviction, and popped a simple return catch to the bowler.Hasini Perera only faced four balls for her 2, and was then given a gift when Wareham sent down a filthy full toss which she swiped at, but towards Gardner, who took a good catch over her right shoulder. And in the final over, with runs needed to put up a respectable total, Anushka Sanjeewani tried to lap Schutt but ended up scooping the ball straight to Wareham at short fine leg.Udeshika Prabodhani cleaned up Alyssa Healy in the first over of the chase•ICC/Getty Images

Alyssa’s aggression = Udeshika’s reward

Sri Lanka were under the pump when they conceded eight runs off the first three legal deliveries of the Australia innings, but Udeshika Prabodhani had the perfect response. Her fourth ball was on a length and angled in, and Alyssa Healy shaped up for the leg-side flick, but the ball held its line and beat her completely to find off stump. Prabodhani closed out the over without conceding another run, and from nowhere, Sri Lanka were in the contest.

Beth bosses it

When Wareham was run-out in the third over and Ellyse Perry was bowled, the match teetered on an upset. But then, there was Beth Mooney. Arguably the best chaser in the women’s game, she took her time upfront and found her first boundary after the powerplay, when Inoshi Priyadarshani offered a full ball down leg, and Mooney paddled it fine for four.She was into her work when she sent Sugandika Kumari over mid-on for four, which reduced the runs required to under 50. In typically responsible fashion, Mooney was there at the end, unbeaten on 43, and hit the winning run in the 15th over.

After two days lost to the weather, Leicestershire finished on 264 for eight after their season-ending Vitality County Championship with East Midlands neighbours Derbyshire at last saw some action.With Derbyshire’s 17th Championship wooden spoon confirmed by Glamorgan’s victory over Gloucestershire, this match has little at stake beyond local pride, although Leicestershire could overtake Northamptonshire to finish fourth in Division Two.Leicestershire opener Sol Budinger will remember it at least for a career-best 87. There was a half-century, too, for Liam Trevaskis.Derbyshire’s spinners prospered in the final session of an 80-over day. Mitch Wagstaff, in his sixth first-class match, finished with two for 24 from his leg breaks, his best figures so far, with skipper David Lloyd picking up three wickets from his offies.Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, similarly hit by the late-September rain, forfeited an innings each to facilitate a positive result in Cardiff. For there to be a winner here, it may need a similar arrangement.After the downpours of the first two days, the start of day three was delayed until noon. On a green-tinged pitch, Derbyshire opted to bowl first after the toss had gone their way and should have had early wickets to show for it.But catching has not been their strong suit this season – not much has, by the evidence of the table. Ian Holland, on three and again on nine, plus Budinger on 42 were given lives in the hour of play before lunch.All three chances were created at the pavilion end. Holland was spilled by wicketkeeper Brooke Guest off Zak Chappell, before Martin Andersson saw Aneurin Donald give Holland his second let-off at gully and Budinger put down by Lloyd at first slip in his next over.At the other end, Budinger had profited from five boundaries in the same over as the 17-year-old pace prospect Harry Moore struggled to find the right length and Leicestershire were 54 without loss at the first interval.Holland, his luck plainly in, enjoyed a third escape not long after the restart, Guest again unable to cling on down the leg side as the former Hampshire all-rounder top-edged a pull on 28, Moore having returned at the more favourable end.They were not inexpensive mistakes. Budinger, a left-hander with natural ball-striking talent, reached 51 from 40 deliveries with his ninth four and went on to pass his previous first-class best of 72 with his 14th boundary. A maiden century looked his for the taking until, 13 runs away from it, he shaped to drive the left-arm seamer Luis Reece but somehow managed to spoon the ball into the hands of the bowler.The wicket was all-rounder Reece’s 200th in all formats for Derbyshire to go with more than 8,000 runs. He is the first to achieve both those milestones for the county since Dominic Cork in the 1990s.Budinger’s partnership with Holland, which was worth four at the moment of the first dropped catch, had put on 120. Reece picked up his second wicket in the same spell when Holland cut straight to the man at backward point for 44.Lewis Hill, in his first appearance since announcing he would step down as captain at the end of the season, twice cut Chappell to the boundary before driving him handsomely down the ground for another but was adjudged leg before to Chappell – Derbyshire’s player of the year – just before tea.Harry Swindells, making only his second Championship appearance of the season, helped Trevaskis take the total beyond 200 but departed in comically dreadful fashion, ballooning an awful full toss straight to mid-on as Wagstaff took a wicket with his fourth delivery.Trevaskis completed his second half-century of the season before being bowled by Lloyd for 57, before Ben Mike and Ben Green were both caught behind to give the two spinners another wicket apiece, Lloyd picking up his third as Tom Scriven was leg before sweeping.

West Indies completed a clean sweep of the T20I series to underline a period of dominance against South Africa in this format. Since March 2023, they have played South Africa 10 times in T20Is and won eight matches, including back-to-back 3-0 series victories either side of the T20 World Cup. The last of those wins came in a shortened affair in Trinidad.A rain delay caused the series finale to start an hour later than the scheduled 3pm start but no overs were lost when play got underway. Another weather interruption, midway through the fifth over of South Africa’s innings, took 70 more minutes out of the game and reduced it to 13 overs a side.South Africa’s total of 108 for 4 lacked significant individual contributions, which was a concern for them throughout the series. They were kept quiet by two West Indies spinners, Akeal Hosein and stand-in captain Roston Chase, who conceded 22 runs in five overs between them. Only Tristan Stubbs scored more than 30 and West Indies’ target was adjusted to 116.The hosts were on the back foot early when Bjorn Fortuin had Alick Athanaze caught at mid-on in the first over but the rest of the batters grabbed the contest by the scruff of the neck. Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran shared a second-wicket partnership of 58 off 20 balls to put West Indies in a position to push for victory before an unbeaten 56-run stand between Hope and Shimron Hetmyer ended the match with 22 balls to spare.Shepherd’s double-strike

Romario Shepherd became the leading wicket-taker of the T20I series with two wickets in his first over, and South Africa’s tenth, to push the visitors back in their pursuit for quick runs. His first ball brought success as Aiden Markram went after a back-of-a-length ball and nicked it off. South Africa’s T20 captain has gone past 20 only once in his last seven T20I innings and only twice in his 12 knocks. Three balls later, Shepherd’s slower ball had Ryan Rickelton caught at mid-off to send South Africa from 61 for 1 to 66 for 3, with 20 balls left in their innings.Tristan Stubbs clubbed 40 off just 15 balls•AFP/Getty Images

Stubbs signs off on a high

After registering his first Test half-century in Trinidad earlier this month, Stubbs finished the T20I series as the highest run-scorer and displayed a level of maturity that bodes well for his future for South Africa. With South Africa in need of quick runs, he took on West Indies’ senior seamer Obed McCoy, bowling his first over of the series, to announce himself, even as he got his eye in. Stubbs had faced just four deliveries when he pulled McCoy over backward square leg for his first six, then hit a full ball through cover for four and finally smashed a short ball over deep midwicket for a 101-metre six. Stubbs took 16 runs off three balls and finished his innings on 40 off 15 balls to push South Africa over 100 and towards a competitive total.