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West Indies collapsed from 32 without loss to 67 for 6, as the hosts bounced back with a 44-run win after the loss to India

Srinidhi Ramanujam21-Jan-2023

West Indies’ batting woes continued as they went down to South Africa by 44 runs in the second match of the women’s T20I tri-series in East London. After Marizanne Kapp’s fifty propelled South Africa to 141, Masabata Klaas’ four-wicket haul helped them bounce back from the opening game defeat to India.Kapp lifts South Africa
A spin-heavy West Indies restricted South Africa to a competitive total on a slow and sluggish surface at Buffalo Park. After being asked to bowl first, Shamilia Connell dismissed Anneke Bosch early in the fourth over when she was caught by Britney Cooper while trying to heave it over the mid-off fielder. They ended the powerplay at 43 for 1, with Laura Wolvaardt playing a steady knock and bringing out her trademark cover drives.However, the opener was out for 25 in the ninth over, off Shamika Gajnabi when Wolvaardt tried to slice a full ball on the off stump, and was caught by the wicketkeeper. Lack of footwork cost her her wicket.It was Sune Luus and Kapp who lifted South Africa, as Kapp once again thrived at No.3. Walking in at 58 for 2 in the ninth over, the duo stitched together a key 63-run stand off 53 balls for the third wicket. Though the surface was conducive to slow bowlers, aiding them with turn and uneven bounce, Kapp played a cautious yet crucial knock to propel the team to an above-par total.The seam-bowling allrounder brought up the team’s hundred in the 16th over when she hit Gajnabi for a straight four, with the scoring rate hovering between six and seven during her innings. In her innings of 52 from 43 balls – her second half-century in the format – Kapp unleashed four boundaries, converting low full tosses and half volleys to fours, and also keeping the scorecard ticking.Her partner Luus struck 30 off 26 deliveries with three fours. The 18th over by Hayley Matthews saw both the set batters back in the dugout: Luus was run-out while Kapp was caught at long-off when she heaved a tossed-up delivery to try and up the scoring rate.West Indies used seven bowlers on Saturday, but eventually it didn’t prove enough to end their losing streak in T20Is since October last year.South Africa’s Klaas act
Scoring never looked effortless in East London, especially for West Indies, who had lost eight of their previous nine T20Is. That their star allrounder Stafanie Taylor had to miss out didn’t help their cause too. Taylor is still working herself back to full fitness after recovering from the injury she suffered while batting in the ODI series against New Zealand in September last year.West Indies had made six changes to the XI that played against England in their previous T20I in December, still trying to find a partner to open the batting with Matthews. If Aaliyah Alleyne had opened the batting for the home series against England, they tried Britney Cooper on Saturday. But Cooper perished while trying to clear the mid-off fielder, and became Klaas’ first victim.They never looked comfortable in the chase, as West Indies collapsed from 32 for 0 to 67 for 6. Three of those six wickets went to Klaas, who was on a hat-trick in the tenth over when she removed Matthews and Gajnabi off successive deliveries. While Matthews tried to slice and was caught at backward point, Gajnabi was trapped lbw.Matthews tried to hold fort by scoring a patient 35-ball 23 before being dismissed. Cooper, Shamilia Connell and Shemaine Campbelle got to double figures but the target was far out of their reach.Klaas, who came back in the 19th over to finish her quota, removed Afy Fletcher with a toe-crushing yorker to finish with a career-best 4 for 21.

Eddie Howe has sent a message to Arsenal by revealing his frustration at rumours linking Alexander Isak with a move from Newcastle.

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• Arsenal sent Isak message
• Gunners keen to sign striker
• Howe reveals speculation frustration

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Gunners have been linked with a move for the Swede this summer as they search for a new centre-forward but Newcastle are not under pressure to sell and Howe has stated the stories are "a source of frustration".

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  WHAT HOWE SAID

  Howe told reporters: "It’s a source of frustration because I don't see why our players are getting linked, here, there and everywhere with other clubs. I'd like to think the players are happy here. I'd like to think again that they're seeing us grow and develop into a team that hopefully can compete at the top end of the division. Our ability financially to compete during the last few years has been hampered by profit and sustainability rules, but those issues aren’t there for the coming transfer window. So I don’t see any reason why we can’t strengthen, not weaken, ourselves.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Newcastle could beat Arsenal for the fourth time this season when the two sides meet at the Emirates on Sunday and have made huge progress this term, including ending their 70-year wait for silverware in the Carabao Cup. In that context, Howe expects to be able to keep his best players this summer.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR NEWCASTLE?

  The Magpies would all-but secure their place in next season's Champions League by winning that Arsenal clash. They then face Everton at St James' Park to finish the campaign next week.

Head coach says players got ahead of themselves in the match against Netherlands and “seeds of doubt” crept in

Hemant Brar02-Nov-2022After being “outplayed” by Netherlands in Adelaide, Zimbabwe head coach Dave Houghton said his players got ahead of themselves given the significance of the match and had “seeds of doubt” in their minds.Had Zimbabwe won, and then beaten India in their next game, they could have been in with a chance, although an outside one, to make the semi-finals of the men’s T20 World Cup. However, yet another batting failure meant they could put up only 117 and lost by five wickets, the defeat pushing them to the brink of elimination.Related

Netherlands seamers, O'Dowd all but knock Zimbabwe out

Cricket might not love Zimbabwe, but the game would be poorer without them

How Zimbabwe prospered by practising less, not more

“We’ve been quite fragile with our batting throughout this tournament,” Houghton said after the game. “It has been our bowling, really, and fielding and catching, that has kept us in. Unfortunately, it [the batting] let us down in a game like this, which would have been huge for us if we had won, because then we’ll go on to the next game with just that outside possibility. I think we just got a little bit in front of ourselves thinking of what the possibilities might be.”One of the things I’ve tried to encourage to the team, even if our batting is a bit fragile, is to still be positive and play with fearlessness. There was a bit of movement in that wicket, and we needed to do something about it. We needed to be batting a bit more positively, using our feet going down the wicket at the seamers, but we didn’t. The seeds of doubt just kept us stuck to the crease, and unfortunately, it cost us.”Since I’ve been in charge of the side, the last four-and-a-half months, we’ve had an incredible journey; we’ve played some really good cricket. This is probably the first time that I’ve seen a bit of doubt creep into our game. Hopefully, it’ll be the last time for a while as well.”Earlier in the tournament, Zimbabwe had beaten Pakistan in a last-ball thriller but the high didn’t last long as they lost to Bangladesh in dramatic fashion, also on the final ball of the game.

“If you’d told me in June, when I started, that we would end up being sort of two games away about with the possibility of getting to a semi-final, I would have bitten your hand off for it”Dave Houghton

Houghton was asked if the result against Bangladesh played a part in today’s game.”Oh, no, I don’t think so,” he said. “I think we just had the doubt here. I think it was because of a new surface [this was the first match in Adelaide this World Cup]. We took a couple of days off between the two games, because our guys were so tired. I just couldn’t make them practice again. So that might have sown a little bit of the doubt that they hadn’t actually been to the ground.”And the occasion – we knew we needed to win one of the games against Bangladesh and Holland [Netherlands]. We lost closely to Bangladesh, so we thought, well, we need to beat Holland. That extra bit of pressure on them [the players], plus the fact that we hadn’t been down here beforehand, might have sown the seeds of doubt.”Regis Chakabva’s sub-par returns with the bat played a part in Zimbabwe not putting up challenging totals. In seven innings, the wicketkeeper-batter has scored only 45 runs at an average of 6.42 and a strike rate of 77.58.Chakabva started the tournament batting at the top of the order but was moved down to No. 6 in the last two games. Against Netherlands, he came in at No. 3, was offered two lives during his 16-ball stay but could score only five.”The biggest reason for moving batters around is that we’re not getting enough runs out of various players,” Houghton said. “I mean, we’ve been literally living on some runs from Sean Williams and [Sikandar] Raza for the last short while and one or two contributions from Wessly [Madhevere] and occasionally from Craig Ervine. So it has been difficult. We’re having to move people around to see if we can adjust the order a bit to make life a little bit easier so hopefully we get bigger contributions from everyone. As I said, our batting has been brittle throughout this tournament. So we’ve done incredibly well to get where we’ve got to.”Sikandar Raza has been, arguably, the prime reason for Zimbabwe’s run of good results•ICC via Getty ImagesOverall, it has been a positive tournament for Zimbabwe. After a dominant show in the qualifying event in Bulawayo, they topped their group in the first round in Australia and then almost threatened a semi-final spot. Houghton said that the performance has “brought the game back to life” back home.”It has meant a hell of a lot to people at home, and not just people at home, but Zimbabweans all around the world,” he said. “The messages that we get on a regular basis from everybody have been unbelievable. We’ve had quite a few night games in this tournament, after which get back to the hotel at half past 11 and I’m still answering messages at 4-5 in the morning. It has been phenomenal and we know because we have been getting the videos posted [of the celebrations] as well.”We know how it has been taken at home. The thing is they’ve enjoyed the way we play. They’ve enjoyed the fact that we are able to come out and stand toe to toe with some of the best. And even though we have lost today, they will still have enjoyed watching us and they will still be proud of us. I said to the guys after the game that win or lose, our crowd is behind us, and you guys have brought the game back to life in Zimbabwe.”If you had told me in June, when I started, that we would end up being sort of two games away about with the possibility of getting to a semi-final, I would have bitten your hand off for it. But it has been a positive journey for us all the way through. It’s just a pity we chose this game to have our worst game.”

Former England striker Eni Aluko says her "career has taken a hit" in the midst of her ongoing civil legal case against Joey Barton.

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• Aluko in legal battle with Barton
• Currently winning High Court libel claim
• Says this has hurt her punditry career

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Former Newcastle United player Barton was charged with alleged malicious communications towards ex-Chelsea forward Aluko last year, who has has been in a legal battle with the 42-year-old since then. As a result, Aluko says the amount of work she has been hired for over the past 18 months is the "least TV" she's ever done.

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  WHAT ALUKO SAID

  She told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour: "This happens in lots of industries – when women stand up for themselves, their career takes a hit. I've been doing broadcasting for 11 years. I'm not new to it. And in the last 18 months I've done the least TV I've ever done. That's just a fact. That's not a feeling, that's an opinion. That's a fact. So I think people can draw their own conclusions from that. There is a double standard where there is still a limited amount of opportunities for women, female broadcasters, both in the men's and the women's game. We're still competing for two or three seats maximum, which includes the presenters. What the Joey Bartons, and some male football fans, want is for women to get off the TV."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Aluko claimed she faced threats of violence and abuse on social media off the back of Barton's tweets – something a judge ruled was defamatory. The ex-Juventus attacker has also accused Arsenal legend Ian Wright of blocking opportunities for female pundits in women's football.

  She said on Women's Hour: "I’ve worked with Ian a long time and, you know, I think he’s a brilliant broadcaster, but I think he’s aware of just how much he’s doing in the women’s game. I think he should be aware of that. The fact of the matter is, there is a limited amount of spaces available. If we had a situation where there was an equal opportunity in the men’s game for broadcasters and coaches that there is in the women’s game, it’s a free for all. But that’s not the case. I can’t dominate the men’s game in the way that, you know, you used Ian as an example."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Aluko and Barton will wait to see what comes of this ongoing legal battle. The latter is yet to respond and could appeal the initial verdict.

A round-up from the opening day of the WNCL which produced a number of standout innings

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2022Tahlia McGrath produced an astonishing finish at Karen Rolton Oval as she struck three consecutive sixes to both bring up her century and carry South Australia to victory after they had needed 15 from the last over. It meant that the earlier centuries from Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland, the latter’s first in domestic cricket, which formed an unbroken stand of 209 proved in vain.

A Tahlia McGrath special

South Australia needed 15 off the final over against Victoria. Here's what she did

(via @cricketcomau) pic.twitter.com/1YaLlBOgMp

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 23, 2022

McGrath and Emma de Broughe set the chase up with a second-wicket stand of 83, but Victoria stayed in the game by chipping through the middle order as Sophie Molineux and Sophie Day shared four wickets. But while McGrath was there her team were in the contest although needing 15 off Sutherland appeared a tall order until McGrath did it in style. Earlier, Perry had come to the crease in the first over after Molineux was given caught behind and batted throughout the innings although the final result did leave some questions about the tempo of Victoria’s innings. Perry ended on 117 from 143 balls while Sutherland reached her hundred with a six off McGrath at the start of the last over – McGrath would later repay the favour.Queensland 9 for 307 (Voll 145, Hoskin 3-39) beat New South Wales 196 (Wilson 65, G Harris 3-24) by 111 runsGeorgia Voll’s 145 was the centrepiece of Queensland’s victory•Getty ImagesNineteen-year-old Georgia Voll dominated at North Sydney Oval with a superbly-constructed 145 as Queensland secured a huge victory over New South Wales. Voll’s innings came in three stages: she led Queensland’s early momentum as the major contributor in an opening stand of 51, consolidated through the middle as she lost partners at reasonably regular intervals, then accelerated at the death with the scoop shot a regular option. The next-highest score was Laura Kimmince’s 35 which came off just 15 balls including three sixes and powered a mid-innings surge. Jess Jonassen (16) and Courtney Sippel (19 not out) then played useful cameos while Voll continued to lead the way. New South Wales were poor in the field and lost the services of Maitlan Brown in her fourth over after she was pulled from the after bowling three big full toss. The one bright spot was debutant Ebony Hoskin who claimed a wicket were first ball in WNCL – Georgia Redmayne smartly caught down the leg side by Alyssa Healy – and in all took the first three wickets to fall. NSW’s chase started promisingly as Healy and Tahlia Wilson added 54, but Healy nicked to slip – a leading edge as she aimed to the leg side – and when Wilson was run out in the 26th over the home side fell away.Western Australia 2 for 147 (Piparo 75*) beat ACT 143 (Carter 65, King 5-12) by eight wicketsAlana King celebrates with Beth Mooney•Getty ImagesAlana King started her season in the form she has shown for the last 12 months, taking 5 for 12 as Western Australia demolished ACT by eight wickets at the WACA. After an opening stand of 55 between Rebecca Carter and Katie Mack, ACT lost all ten wickets for 88 with six batters going for ducks – four of then against King. Carter, who struck ten boundaries in her 65, was the seventh wicket when she fell to Amy Edgar who claimed 2 for 23 from nine overs. Although Beth Mooney fell for 17 in her first innings for WA the chase was completed with ease as captain Chloe Piparo finishing unbeaten on 75.