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Only once has a West Indian bowler struck more than the 13 times he did in a single Test match, and that was back in 1976

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2018He took a few wickets with pace. Then a few more with bounce. Even some with lateral movement. Shannon Gabriel was so good in St Lucia that he vaulted into the record books. Only once has a West Indian bowler struck more than the 13 times he did in a single Test match. And that was back in 1976, when Michael Holding wrapped England up and put them in his pocket.”It’s a great feeling,” Gabriel said after the game. “If someone told me, ‘Shannon, you’ll play Tests and take 100 wickets’, I would’ve told him, ‘you’re crazy!’ I’d like to thank family and friends for supporting me.”I was prepared well for this series, getting myself fit. As long as you get wickets, pains and aches go away. I was supported well by Kemar (Roach), he was unlucky. Miguel Cummins kept coming at the batsmen. (Jason) Holder was also very good. Anything other than a loss is good. We can take plenty of positives from this Test.”There was only one clear star though, at least in captain Holder’s eyes. “Shannon was absolutely outstanding. I don’t think words can describe the spell he bowled in both the first and second innings. He was aggressive. His pace was up. He caused trouble with every spell he came in and bowled and he stood up. He put us in a position to draw this Test match.”West Indies had won the first Test of the series and were fighting to protect their 1-0 lead at the Darren Sammy stadium. Gabriel was a key part of that, picking up 5 for 59 and then bettering it with 8 for 62. Only three times in the last 23 years has a West Indies bowler taken five wickets in each innings. On the back of that, Gabriel has leapt 11 places up to No. 12 on the ICC Test bowlers rankings.The other saviour for West Indies was opener Kraigg Brathwaite. He soldiered on for 60.3 overs even as the top order crumbled – they were 64 for 4 chasing 296 – to shut down Sri Lanka’s hopes of levelling the series. The hosts had a little help from a timely spell of rain as well.”Congrats as well to Kemar [Roach] and Kraigg, both reaching milestones in this Test match,” Holder said. “Three-thousand Test match [runs] as an opening batter is remarkable and obviously Kemar getting 150 wickets. Very very pleasing to see our guys getting some landmarks and hopefully they can keep pressing forward.”The other major talking point from the Test match was a ball-tampering issue that broke out on the third day. The umpires laid a complaint against Sri Lanka’s methods at maintaining the red-ball, following which they refused to take the field for two hours. Eventually, their captain Dinesh Chandimal was charged by the ICC for breaking the code of conduct.Holder would not be drawn into talking about the incident, but he did feel aggrieved that there was little communication between the officials and the West Indies team. “To be honest I wasn’t aware of what was going on early in the morning. Then we got some information of what was going on. Obviously we’ve seen what has transpired and what has come of it. I choose not to get involved with it. The game is in the control of the match referee. Just a bit disappointed with how it was handled. We basically sat around for two hours with not much information.”Holder was far more open in talking about the final Test of the series, starting on Saturday. “Its obviously a special occasion, the first day-night Test in the Caribbean. I guess the people of Barbados – I’m from Barbados as well – will come out and support us. They’re really avid cricket fans and it should be a really good spectacle at the Kensington Oval.”

Gloucestershire have announced that their Australian quick Andrew Tye will not be joining them for this season’s NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2017Gloucestershire have announced that their Australian quick Andrew Tye will not be joining them for this season’s NatWest T20 Blast.Tye signed to return for a second year but injured his left shoulder playing for the Gujarat Lions in the IPL and his recovery takes him beyond the timetable for the tournament, which starts in early July.Head coach Richard Dawson said “Andrew went home to Australia and had surgery and now he’s got to rehab his shoulder so that he can come back to full fitness. It’s disappointing for us because he performed well last year, and for him because he was doing well in the IPL. We obviously wish him a speedy recovery.”The Champions Trophy and the Caribbean Premier League complicate recruiting a replacement but we’ll get our heads together and put a plan in place. If we go for a bowler to replace Andrew it helps to manage our bowlers through a tough period, and if we register a batsman it changes the balance of the team. We’ll look at all the available options and do what is best for the squad.”Dawson also confirmed David Payne would not feature for the immediate future after having an operation to correct a niggle from a hernia.

James Pattinson summoned a frightening spell that cut deep into New Zealand’s batting and helped bring about the end of Brendon McCullum’s storied international career

The Report by Daniel Brettig21-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Pattinson’s pace cut deep through New Zealand’s top order•Getty Images

As much as this series has packed into two Test matches, one element missing was high pace. James Pattinson changed all that on the third evening at Hagley Oval, summoning a frightening spell that cut deep into New Zealand’s batting and helped bring about the end of Brendon McCullum’s storied international career.On a day when Neil Wagner’s persistent short-ball attack had already been rewarded with a flurry of wickets after lunch, as New Zealand restricted Australia’s first-innings lead, Pattinson showed how speed can transcend conditions. His hostility and reverse swing left the hosts 14 runs in deficit with only six wickets remaining ahead of day four.Always a rhythm bowler, Pattinson had not quite found his form on day one and also bowled the fateful no-ball that cost Australia McCullum’s wicket. This time his pace and seam position were very much in sync, accounting for Martin Guptill, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls before boring in at McCullum.While he did not take the wicket, Pattinson gave McCullum plenty to think about and on 25, the batsman slogged at Josh Hazlewood and was wonderfully caught by David Warner at midwicket. He and Steven Smith shook the departing McCullum’s hand but both know that victory and the world No. 1 Test ranking is now within reach.Adam Voges and the nightwatchman Nathan Lyon had played serenely in the early part of the day, but Voges’ departure to the pull short, after the fashion of Joe Burns and Smith, heralded the loss of quick wickets. In all, Australia’s last six wickets tallied only 67.Wagner’s energy and commitment to banging the ball into the pitch was not sophisticated, but over time it worked wonders on a surface given to the occasional bout of variable pace. His celebrations grew in exuberance at each wicket, as Australia’s advantage was limited.For Voges, it was another instance of applying the sturdy, calculated approach that has brought him runs at a scarcely believable rate in recent times. Momentarily his Test batting average again cleared 100, the only man to occupy that rarified air above Sir Donald Bradman.There had been more ambitious hopes for New Zealand when play began, following up on last evening’s dual dismissals. Wagner resumed with a similar line of attack, peppering Voges and Lyon with short stuff.Partly through determination and good technique, partly due to the docile character of the pitch, the batsmen were able to stand up to this examination, as Lyon repeatedly covered the bounce and dead-batted it near his feet.Runs flowed a little more freely after those early overs, though neither batsman played with extravagance. Voges offered a neat cut shot here, a checked drive there, while Lyon worked the ball around with the earnest intent of a man who would like to bat further up the order more often.Trent Boult had one concerted lbw appeal and review against Voges, but video evidence had the ball not swinging back enough to hit the stumps. It was telling that McCullum was reduced to bowling himself with the nightwatchman at the crease, and the Hagley Oval crowd raised a cheer when he beat Lyon’s outside edge.At the other end, Williamson would tempt Lyon into following a ball angled across him, and McCullum swooped nicely for the catch. Mitchell Marsh had a 21-ball sighter before the interval, and had the potential to lift the scoring rate dramatically when play resumed.Instead it was Voges who tried to push things along, and departed when Latham timed his leap to catch a flat pull shot at midwicket. Marsh also tried to take on Wagner, and likewise arrowed a catch to the inner field on the leg side.Pattinson broke the sequence with a sliced drive to point, before Peter Nevill’s attempted upper cut settled into BJ Watling’s gloves. Josh Hazlewood offered a simple catch to McCullum at slip to hand Wagner his sixth wicket, a deserved analysis.It was immediately apparent that Pattinson was bowling with good pace and a hint of movement, and the ball was still new when he found Guptill’s outside edge. Latham and Kane Williamson endured for a while, and Australia briefly pondered a review when Jackson Bird hit the No. 3 on the back pad.Smith brought Pattinson back and he soon had Latham’s wicket when some extra bounce resulted in a glove down the leg side. Nicholls was tightened up by a disciplined line and some pronounced reverse swing, before Pattinson angled one wider and was rewarded with a waft, an edge and a catch for Smith.McCullum’s arrival was warmly received, and for a while he seemed to be building something. He eschewed the extravagance of day one, instead mixing defence with calculated attack, but Pattinson did not give him a moment’s peace as Smith allowed the spell to stretch into a seventh over.There was one raucous lbw appeal denied, and one catch turned down after replays showed the ball had gone from bat to ground to boot – shades of Marsh’s ODI dismissal in Hamilton. Eventually Pattinson was spelled, and when McCullum hoisted Hazlewood over the midwicket fence New Zealand still dreamed.Next ball, however, Warner swooped, ending a glittering career and putting the prize of top spot well and truly within Australia’s sights.

Left-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf’s five-wicket haul demolished Ireland Women’s chase to help Pakistan Women complete a 89-run win to take the series 2-0.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2013
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf’s five-wicket haul demolished Ireland Women’s chase and helped Pakistan Women complete a 89-run win to take the one-day series 2-0.Chasing 249, Ireland suffered an early loss but an 84-run partnership between opener Clare Shillington and Cecelia Joyce kept the innings going. Yousuf got the big breakthrough for Pakistan when she had Shillington caught behind for a steady 39 in the 19th over, bringing an end to the only substantial partnership in the Irish innings. Yousuf struck again to dismiss Joyce for 49 in the 21st over and Ireland’s chase seemed to lose steam thereon, as they kept losing wickets regularly. Having dismissed three of Ireland’s top-order batsmen, the left-arm spinner came back to clean up the tail and the Irish innings folded for 159, 89 runs short of the target.Pakistan, who chose to bat, followed a similar trajectory in their innings. The openers began steadily, adding 49 runs, before a 94-run partnership between Javeria Khan and Nain Abidi built a solid platform for Pakistan to attack in the last 10 overs. Abidi fell for a 69-ball 50, while Javeria scored 81 off 105 balls with eight fours. In-form batsman Bismah Maroof hit a few attacking shots and looked good to take Pakistan to a big score. However, the side managed to lose their last five wickets in the last three overs, and three of those wickets fell to run-outs. From the relative strength of 237 for 5, the Pakistan innings ended on 248, with Bismah the last batsman out.The win caps off a successful series for Pakistan ahead of their Women’s T20 World Cup qualifiers against Thailand, Zimbabwe and Netherlands, which will be played on on July 23, 25 and 27.

A half-century for Gareth Rees and an all-round contribution from Jim Allenby helped Glamorgan to a comfortable CB40 victory over Scotland

29-Jul-2012
ScorecardA half-century for Gareth Rees and an all-round contribution from Jim Allenby helped Glamorgan to a comfortable Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B victory over Scotland in Cardiff.Scotland, who had beaten Bangladesh in a T20 international on Tuesday, were restricted to 151 for 9 in their 40 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat. Glamorgan then reached their target of 152 without too many scares and with 12 overs to spare.Rees finished on 60 not out from 81 balls and Allenby, who also recorded figures of three for 16, hit the winning runs to end on 39 not out.Allenby and John Glover (3 for 34) were the main destroyers as the Saltires struggled to recover from being reduced to 54 for 5 in the opening 16 overs. They made a decent enough start through their openers Josh Davey and Calum MacLeod, who put on 27 for the first wicket.But when Davey was caught low down by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace off Simon Jones the wickets began to tumble on the slow pitch. Three wickets fell in the space of 23 balls including the key wicket of Jean Symes, who was caught one handed by Allenby off his own bowling.But just when the visitors feared they might be bowled out for less than 100, skipper Preston Mommsen and Ewan Chalmers did their best to rebuild the innings. The sixth-wicket pair added 60 in 19 overs as they tried to get Scotland to a respectable score.Glover returned to take two wickets in three balls, bowling Mommsen middle stump and trapping Ryan Flannigan leg before. New-ball bowler James Harris returned at the end to take the wickets of Ewan Chalmers and Craig Wallace.Glamorgan’s openers – Rees and Wallace – made their intentions known as they raced to 63 within the first eight overs. They were helped in their task by Davey, who conceded 30 runs in his opening two overs.The momentum was halted briefly when Wallace was caught at midwicket from Richie Berrington’s first ball. Berrington then struck again to remove Chris Cooke, who made a century in a losing cause against Somerset yesterday.That left Glamorgan 91 for 2 in the 14th over, but there were no more blemishes as Rees and Allenby saw their side home with 72 balls to spare.

Ed Joyce’s 89-ball century kept Sussex on course for a Clydesdale Bank 40
semi-final spot with an eight-wicket win against Group A strugglers
Worcestershire at New Road

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Ed Joyce’s 89-ball century kept Sussex on course for a Clydesdale Bank 40
semi-final spot with an eight-wicket win against Group A strugglers
Worcestershire at New Road.A two-month break since their last match in the competition proved to be no
handicap as Sussex chalked up a fifth straight victory to edge past Middlesex at
the top of the section.Although Worcestershire’s total of 217 for 7 was the best in three 40-over
matches on the ground this season, it proved hopelessly inadequate when Ed Joyce
and Chris Nash responded in a stand of 153. Nash was dropped at mid-on off Jack Shantry before he had reached double figures and the Royals were made to pay a high price as they slumped to a comprehensive defeat, their fifth in six completed CB40 games this summer.Sussex’s openers reached their fifties at better than a run a ball and it was
almost a surprise when Nash got himself out for 61, failing to clear mid-on off
Daryl Mitchell.The next over brought another wicket with Lou Vincent bowled by Saeed Ajmal
after taking two boundaries from the first three balls he faced, but Joyce
carried on much as he pleased with 10 fours and a six in a clinical exhibition.Murray Goodwin chipped in with an unbeaten 39 before a spanking off-drive took
Joyce to 101 not out and won the match with more than 10 overs to spare. Worcestershire also benefited from a good start as Vikram Solanki (51) and Jack Manuel, with a competition-best 48 from 44 balls, put on 97 for the second wicket, but Sussex were able to apply the brakes thanks to their trio of slow bowlers.Monty Panesar, Chris Nash and Michael Yardy shared four wickets in bowling 22
overs for 102 runs. Until then Worcestershire had scored freely against the seamers after losing
Moeen Ali to Naved Arif in the third over of the innings.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan felt the pressure in conceding 16 runs in an over and then
reacted with some petulance when umpire Jeff Evans turned down his agitated
appeal for a catch behind the wicket off Manuel.Left-hander Manuel and Solanki were both caught by Goodwin at midwicket and the
batting errors continued as Alexei Kervezee and Gareth Andrew perished in their
efforts to disturb Yardy’s control.Rana was easily the most expensive bowler with his eight overs costing 57 runs,
but there was belated compensation when he bowled James Cameron (33) and
Mitchell.

Kevin Pietersen’s ongoing struggle for form remains England’s single biggest concern following a thumping 354-run victory over Pakistan at Trent Bridge

Andrew Miller at Trent Bridge01-Aug-2010Kevin Pietersen’s ongoing struggle for form remains England’s single biggest concern following a thumping 354-run victory over Pakistan at Trent Bridge. The match was wrapped up with five sessions to spare as James Anderson dismissed the visitors for 80 in their second innings, but having contributed scores of 9 and 22 to the contest, Pietersen has now gone 22 innings without a Test century, with the most recent of his 16 hundreds coming against West Indies at Trinidad in March 2009.Pietersen has not been entirely devoid of form in that time. He made 99 against Bangladesh at Chittagong in March before claiming the Man of the Series award for his flamboyant performances in England’s triumphant World Twenty20 campaign. But the consistent dominance that he showed against all opponents up to and including the time of his removal as England captain in early 2009 has deserted him, and shows no sign of returning in the immediate future.England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, repeated a familiar team refrain when he declared that Pietersen’s determination to succeed was as absolute as ever, and while there was little to show for his contribution in the scorebook, Strauss singled out his second-innings effort of 22 as a vital factor in enabling England to pull away from Pakistan in the latter stages of the third day. Having come to the crease early following the loss of both openers, Pietersen added 48 for the third wicket with Jonathan Trott, before Kamran Akmal clung onto an outstanding one-handed catch to dismiss him via an inside-edge.”KP is fine,” Strauss said. “He wasn’t able to make a telling contribution in this game, although he batted better in the second innings and made a very important contribution because both him and Trott had to dig deep. The contributions maybe don’t look all that good in terms of the figures they finished up the game with, but the first 30 overs of every innings was very tough work for batting, and there were more contributions than just the guys who got the big runs.”All the same, Pietersen has had a variety of distractions in recent weeks – both on the home front, where he recently became a father for the first time, and perhaps more significantly, down at his county Hampshire, where he is now persona non grata after declaring his intention to seek a new base closer to his London home. As a consequence of that, he was recently snubbed for a CB40 fixture against Kent, after the ECB requested that he play to gain match practice ahead of the Test.Strauss, however, was confident that that row had not impacted significantly on his cricket. “KP has always been very clear in his mind what he needs to do practice-wise, and that’s not changed on the back of him not getting a county game with Hampshire,” he said. “He’s done a lot of work with Gooch, and the most important thing is he feels well prepared. Not playing in that game hasn’t made him feel less prepared.”We’re all hopeful he does find a club for next season, because it’s important for there to be that relationship between the counties and the England team, and that it’s a healthy relationship. On the one hand, England players can go there to get form, on the other, those England players can pass on their experience to the younger guys in the county dressing room. That’s how it works.”

Australia have shown their depth over the first two matches and will be favourites to clinch the series in Durham

Andrew McGlashan23-Sep-2024

Big Picture

Australia have played like world champions, England have played like a team that has only just come together and are trying to figure out their next style of one-day cricket. Which is exactly the position of both sides.What will (or at least should) frustrate Harry Brook and Marcus Trescothick – stand-in captain and coach – is that England have had their opportunity in both games: at Trent Bridge they were 213 for 2 in the 33rd over before falling away to Australia’s collection of spinners and at Headingley they had the visitors 161 for 6 and 221 for 9 before Alex Carey swung the momentum.Related

• Could more crushing ODI failure be just what England need?

• Carey takes his chance to silence hostile Headingley

In both matches, Australia have found key performances from potentially unlikely sources, firstly with Marnus Labuschagne’s three wickets then Carey’s superb 74 off 67 balls from an opening that only presented itself due to Josh Inglis’ injury.With Australia struck down by illness ahead of Trent Bridge, it always felt as though that was going to prove a big missed opportunity for England and so it proved as Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell returned at Headingley and combined to take 7 for 119. With an eye to the future, Aaron Hardie’s performance was also significant with 2 for 26.England have some of the building blocks to make their attempts at rejuvenation a success. Ben Duckett is in excellent form, Jamie Smith is a high-class batter whatever colour ball he is facing, Brydon Carse could yet replicate the Liam Plunkett role – even if Carse says it’s never been spoken about – Adil Rashid remains world-class (although replacing him is a concern) and there is a collection of quicks with genuine pace.However, at the moment they seem unable to quite find their groove, especially with the bat, with Brook’s comments about not caring whether batters are caught attempting to clear the boundary not yet carrying the weight of when Eoin Morgan backed his team’s ultra-aggressive mantra in 2015. There is time yet for the rebuild to come together; Chester-le-Street would be a good place to start to at least ensure this series remains undecided for a few more days.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LLLWL
Australia WWWWW4:07

The Huddle: Smith recalls his battle with Archer in Ashes 2019

In the spotlight: Phil Salt and Steven Smith

Phil Salt appears to have the task of playing the ultra-aggressive opener but he hasn’t looked entirely convincing in the first two matches. At Trent Bridge he seemed somewhat perplexed when bowled as he gave himself room against Ben Dwarshuis then at Headingley he was given a working over by Josh Hazlewood. He survived a review for a caught behind and was dropped at slip as he flayed at Hazlewood’s relentless short-of-a-length line around off stump before edging through to Carey. He will, no doubt, be fully backed to continue in the same vein but Australia’s quick bowlers are not easy to smash off their lengths.Back home, Steven Smith is at the centre of the key debate in Australian men’s cricket – or at least as much as these things raise attention during the September football final season – about where he will bat when India arrive for the Test series. For now he’s been at No. 3 and 4 in this series and would no doubt like a decent score. He looked in good touch in the opening game before offering a return catch to Liam Livingstone then was beaten by a superb delivery from Matthew Potts at Headingley. There is a good chance of a second rematch with Jofra Archer which always makes for compelling viewing.

Team news: Archer in line for return, Australia hopeful illness has passed

Archer would appear likely to slot back in having been given his expected rest at Headingley. Who he replaces will be interesting: Olly Stone bowled with good pace in Leeds, Potts was excellent and Carse adds some batting depth at No. 8. England felt potentially a seamer light in the last game, but without a true pace-bowling allrounder it’s hard to squeeze another option in.England: (possible) 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Matthew PottsBen Dwarshuis has flown home after picking up a pectoral injury which restricted him to just four overs on debut in Nottingham. However, other than that Australia are hopeful of having a full squad to select from for the first time in the series. If Inglis is fit it creates an interesting call to make after Carey’s success in the last match. Inglis could play as a specialist batter, but there isn’t room for that, either, unless there’s some rotation. The north of England in September may require an extra pace-bowling option with Cameron Green and Sean Abbott available.Australia: (possible) 1 Travis Head, 2 Matthew Short, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Steven Smith, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Aaron Hardie, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

Teams were forced to train indoors on Monday but the forecast for game day is a little better, albeit with the chance of showers. To say it will be mild might be stretching things. Overhead conditions could assist the bowlers although pitches at Chester-le-Street are usually pretty good for batting in one-day cricket.

Stats and trivia

• Starc needs one more wicket to move into fourth spot alone in Australia’s ODI tally. He equalled Mitchell Johnson on 239 during the previous game.
• England have two ODI centuries in the XI which played at Trent Bridge – one apiece for Duckett and Salt – while Australia had 28.
• England have a 3-1 winning record at Chester-le-Street against Australia. In 2018, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh struck centuries but England comfortably chased 311 as Jason Roy made 101 off 83 balls. Only three players from that game will likely appear this time: Carey, Travis Head and Adil Rashid

Quotes

“There have been big changes, new batters, new bowlers. It will take time. It will always take time when it is a rebuilding process. We have got every base covered in terms of bowling, batting, keeping. Everything is there for us.”
Adil Rashid on England’s new era“There’s been a big emphasis on being flexible, being adaptable, there’s so many players who have cemented their spots – Travis at the top, Mitch [Marsh] through the middle then you’ve got Smith, Labuschagne – so it’s just about filling the roles as they pop up, whether it’s with the bat or ball, just being adaptable, jump up and down the order, and be able to contribute wherever possible.”

The second season to have an extra game; each team to also sign a rookier player, aged 22 or under, who has never played in SA20 before

Firdose Moonda14-Jun-2023The second season of the SA20 will see one additional match – a mirror of the IPL’s knockout phase – and a salary purse increase of R5.1 million (USD 276,000 approx) – per team. That takes the total number of fixtures to 34, with each side playing the other five teams both home and away before the knockout stage. Instead of two semi-finals and a final, as was the case in the inaugural edition, the SA20 will have two qualifiers and an eliminator before the final.Each of the six teams can contract an additional player, bringing the total squad size to 19. The additional player must be a South African rookie, who is 22 or younger and has not played in the SA20 previously.These changes have been made after what league commissioner Graeme Smith told ESPNcricinfo was a debut season that “exceeded expectations across the board,” and with a view to growing the league “in a way that benefits South African cricket.”Related

• SA20 2024 starts on January 10, will clash with Test series in NZ

• SA20 2024 mini-auction to take place in Johannesburg on September 27

• T20 leagues: ICC mulls hard cap of four overseas players in XI

• Justin Ontong named head coach of Paarl Rocks

Smith envisages a “mini-auction” towards the end of September 2023 and no major changes to the franchises, most of whom contracted local players on two-year deals. “The position around that was that we wanted the fan base to get to know their teams,” Smith said. “And that was one of the major successes we had in season one – how fast fans got behind their teams. But with teams also getting to know South African cricket, you want a bit of space to manoeuvre and so we expect some South African players will move between franchises.”To accommodate that, an official trading window for South African players opened on June 1. Teams can pre-sign, trade, buy-out or retain players until the end of July when the SA20 will have a full audit of the squads and plan for the auction.There is a mixture of one and two-year deals for international players contracted to the SA20 and there is also expected to be some movement in that area, albeit likely before the auction. Teams will be allowed to pre-sign four overseas players in their squad, an increase by one from the last edition. This means that players who were unavailable previously can be contracted even before the auction. There will also be the opportunity to contract a wildcard player as was the case last season.The inaugural SA20 was a roaring success•SA 20

With some player movement likely, teams will need to dip into the extra salary allowance, which has gone up from R34 million (USD 1.84 million approx) last season to R39.1 million (USD 2.1 million approx) for the edition. The organisers feel the extra incentive will allow squads to “attract the best talent” and help assemble “powerhouse squads”. Smith foresees another big auction ahead of the third season.In total, each of the six teams is required to have a minimum of 11 South African players in their squads. On match day, the teams can field a maximum of four overseas players and a minimum of seven local players.The inaugural SA20 season was a roaring success in South Africa, which saw Sunrisers Eastern Cape crowned as champions. The second season will be played in the same January window in 2024 and could also see some changes to the playing conditions.After the SA20 became the first league to allow teams to name 13 players at the toss and whittle that down to 11 afterwards, it is now mulling whether to keep that or explore an IPL-style Impact Player Rule instead. “The committee will debate strategies on how we think the game can move forward,” Smith said. “The regulations today are related to squad composition and how teams can build their squads and we will look to other matters in the months to come.”

On Thursday, the opener will face Sunrisers Hyderabad for the first time since leaving the franchise

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2022David Warner has emphasised the need for the top three to contribute big runs as Delhi Capitals look to escape the lower half of the table and secure a playoffs spot in IPL 2022. Capitals are currently seventh among the ten teams with eight points from nine matches, but could move up as far as fourth, potentially, if they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.Given the sheer number of teams still in contention to finish among the top four, Warner believes Capitals may have to win all their remaining games to qualify.”Moving forward from where we are, we’ve obviously got to win every game to make it to the finals,” Warner said in an official Delhi Capitals release. “There’s strong competition, two teams we have got to come up against – Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are pretty much similar points to us.”We could get that upper hand if we beat Sunrisers. We then go into the top four, but obviously, we need RCB [Royal Challengers Bangalore, who face Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday night] to start losing as well. It’s quite a congested table, but exciting for the rest of the tournament.”Warner is Capitals’ highest run-getter this season, with 264 runs at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 156.21. His opening partner Prithvi Shaw is just behind him, with 259 runs at 28.77 and 159.87. Both fell for single-digit scores in Capitals’ last match, a narrow defeat to Lucknow Super Giants.”We’ve got off to a good start,” Warner said of his partnership with Shaw. “In the last match, we’ve fallen cheaply, both of us, and that can happen in this game because we have to play that high-level brand of cricket in the power play.”He emphasised, however, that he, Shaw and No. 3 Mitchell Marsh would need to make big scores and win games for Capitals.”I think the most important thing is myself or him [Shaw] or Mitch scoring an 80 or 90 or even a hundred if we can, to post good totals or chase down big totals, and that’s the key,” Warner said. “I think that’s the focus for every other team. The teams who are doing well are scoring big runs at the top of the order. And, two players are actually scoring big in the games, they are the ones that you really need to shine to win these games.”Thursday’s match will be Warner’s first against Sunrisers since leaving the franchise at the end of a difficult 2021 season. Warner remains Sunrisers’ highest run-getter in the IPL, with 4014 runs in 95 matches at 49.55 and 142.59, with two hundreds and a whopping 40 fifties.”My thoughts are like every other game,” Warner said, “just keep going through your processes till you have to do it, training and just get ready for the game.”