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Spinners demolish SA for their third-lowest total in ODIs before openers secure ten-wicket win

Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2025

Linsey Smith picked up 3 for 7•ICC/Getty Images

If anyone thought England were not serious contenders for this World Cup, think again. They stormed to the top of the points table with a massive victory over a hapless South Africa, who were dismissed for their lowest score against England, second-lowest at a World Cup and third-lowest score overall.England had to chase just 70 and did in 14.1 overs. The whole match lasted 34.5 overs, not even the duration of a full T20. After one game, England’s net run rate sits at 3.773 – more than double that of Australia, who are next best – and puts them in pole position in the early standings.South Africa’s total belied conditions which neither seamed nor spun substantially as they disintegrated against a smart England attack. They appeared surprised by the early use of spin in the form of Linsey Smith and lost their three biggest batters to her. Smith, playing in her first ODI World Cup game and opening the bowling, became the only bowler to dismiss all three of Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp in the same innings.At the other end, Lauren Bell and Nat Sciver-Brunt bowled good lengths to pluck another three wickets in the first 10.1 overs. At 38 for 6 just out of the powerplay, all South Africa could hope for was to crawl to respectability and they didn’t get there. They were bowled out in 20.4 overs and only Sinalo Jafta, promoted to No. 6, got into double-figures.The rest of the batters will need to look at their movement at the crease, which was all but absent, and their shot selection. There will be questions asked over their selection. Annerie Dercksen, who scored her maiden ODI ton in Sri Lanka earlier this year, was left out as South Africa opted for all their allrounders.South Africa could not have imagined how quickly things would fall apart after Wolvaardt got proceedings underway with a square drive and Brits carved Bell through point in an opening over that cost nine runs. Smith struck second ball when Wolvaardt played across the line and popped up a leading edge to give a simple return catch. The first ball of Smith’s next over drifted in to Brits from around the wicket and snuck through the bat-pad gap to bowl her.With both openers’ dismissed, Sune Luus at No. 3 had a big job on her hands but fell to a Bell inswinger that curled in to take out off stump. Three balls later, Kapp was also done by drift as Smith got the ball to squeeze past her inside edge and on to middle stump. All of Wolvaardt, Brits, Luus and Kapp will need to work on their footwork going forward.In the mess, there were some shots that suggested South Africa still knew how to bat. Jafta drove Bell through cover point for her first boundary and Anneke Bosch nailed a cover drive – but the moments where they were on top of the England bowlers were few and very far between.Jafta should have been out on 8 when she advanced down the track in an attempt to drive Smith and missed. Amy Jones could not collect quickly enough and fluffed the stumping. That was the only blip in an otherwise flawless England performance.Sciver-Brunt brought herself on in the eighth over and had success with her first ball, Bosch walking across her stumps to be hit on the knee roll in front of middle and leg. She didn’t review what was a correct lbw decision. Sciver-Brunt also struck with the first ball of her next over. Chloe Tryon tried to flick her into the leg side but got a leading edge and was caught by Alice Capsey at mid-on.Jafta entered double figures when she guided Sophie Ecclestone to third but she didn’t have any support. Nadine de Klerk edged Ecclestone to Heather Knight at slip and Masabata Klaas played for turn against a Charlie Dean ball that held its line and was bowled. Jafta herself fell when she tried to hit Ecclestone back over her head but missed and was bowled. Dean finished things off when she beat Nonkululekho Mlaba’s slog.England’s chase was all but academic despite the best efforts of Kapp, who found her rhythm with back-of-a-length balls that beat the batters consistently. South Africa reviewed an lbw shout against Tammy Beaumont, which nipped back in but still hit her outside the line. Beaumont and Jones were patient against a disciplined South African attack and chose not to rush the result. They were 39 without loss in the powerplay but put the foot down straight after.Jones threaded Mlaba through point as soon as the fielding restrictions were lifted and then sent her back over her head and swung Klaas over mid-on in a reminder that there’s not only one “Storm Amy” in England today. She was dropped by Klaas in her follow through later in the over and then took back-to-back boundaries off the usually miserly Ayabonga Khaka to put England one hit away. They finished things off with a boundary from Beaumont.South Africa have suffered similarly at the hands of England before in a World Cup in India, but in the pre-professional era. They were bowled out for 77 in Cuttack in 2013. Charlotte Edwards, the current England coach, was opening the batting for England then, while Kapp and Tryon played for South Africa.

It was a complete team effort by Nepal, who outplayed the two-time world champions in every facet of the game

Hemant Brar27-Sep-2025Nepal created history as they beat West Indies by 19 runs in Sharjah for their first-ever win against a Full Member across formats. They had beaten Afghanistan in a T20I in 2014, but Afghanistan were an Associate back then.Even if you keep the win aside for a moment, it was a historic occasion for Nepal. It was their first T20I against West Indies and the start of their first bilateral series against a Full Member. They made it even more special by outplaying the two-time world champions in every facet of the game. It was a complete team effort by Nepal: six of their batters hit at least one six, six of their bowlers took at least one wicket, and their fielding was top-notch.Leading a second-string West Indies side that featured four debutants, Akeal Hosein opted to field after winning the toss. Nepal did not start well and both their openers were back in the pavilion by 3.1 overs. Kushal Bhurtel was beaten by an arm ball from Hosein and was stumped. Aasif Sheikh stepped out to Jason Holder but miscued the lofted shot and was caught by a backpedalling mid-on.Until the final over of the powerplay, Nepal had hit just two boundaries. Their captain Rohit Paudel doubled that count with back-to-back fours off debutant Ramon Simmonds in the sixth over, but it was Kushal Malla who provided the real momentum. He first smashed Fabian Allen to the long-on boundary for a four and then, in the spinner’s next over, deposited one into the stands for the first six of the innings.Malla hit another six, off Obed McCoy this time, to take Nepal to 68 for 2 at the end of ten overs. He and Paudel added 58 off 45 balls before both holed out against debutant legspinner Navin Bidaisee. Gulsan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee tried to keep the momentum going, but Bidaisee struck again, getting rid of Jha to finish with 3 for 29 from his four overs. Then, in the 19th over, Holder picked up three wickets. But thanks to West Indies’ catching that oscillated from jaw-dropping grabs to face-palming drops, Nepal had a fighting 148 for 8 on the board.File photo: Rohit Paudel top-scored for Nepal with 38 off 35 balls•AFP/Getty Images

Kyle Mayers kicked off the chase with a first-ball four. But it all went downhill for West Indies from there. It started with Bhurtel’s direct hit to run Mayers out in the second over of the chase. Ackeem Auguste, another debutant, hit two delightful sixes but he too fell inside the powerplay.Still, West Indies were placed fairly well at 40 for 2 after six overs. But the Nepal spinners spun a web around the West Indies batters from which they could not come out. Paudel and Lalit Rajbanshi gave away only 16 in the next four overs while picking up a wicket each.With West Indies needing 93 from the last ten overs on a pitch where the shot-making was not easy, Nepal were the favourites. Three overs later, Airee’s brilliance in the field sent back Keacy Carty. Carty had set off for a non-existent single after pushing the ball towards covers. His partner sent him back but he could not beat Airee’s bullet through to the wicketkeeper.After that, West Indies depended heavily on Holder but he could manage only 5 before holing out to deep midwicket off Bhurtel. Bidaisee, Allen and Hosein tried to keep the fight on with their big hits but they could not keep up with the asking rate. West Indies needed 70 from the last five overs, and 49 from the last three.In the 18th over, the otherwise flawless Nepal fielders dropped Hosein twice in two balls. The first one went for a four and the second for a six. But Karan KC removed the West Indies captain in the following over, leaving Allen to score 28 from the 20th. He could not pull that off.

Bayern Munich legend and former CEO Oliver Kahn has opined on Vincent Kompany's decision to field Manuel Neuer in their Bundesliga match against Union Berlin last week. This comes after the German goalkeeper's mistake cost the side their 16th straight win from the start of the campaign, forcing them to play out a 2-2 draw, their first of the season.

• Neuer's howler almost cost Bayern the game

  Bayern were handed a tough start against Union Berlin, partly due to Neuer's goalkeeping error in the 27th minute when a shot from Danilho Doekhi slipped through his arms to find its place in the back of the net. This goal had a psychological impact, perhaps, as Bayern, despite equalising through Luis Diaz in the first half, again went down in the 83rd minute, courtesy of another Doekhi goal. However, in the 90th minute, it was English striker Harry Kane who bailed them out of this situation and helped the team settle for a point in this away fixture. 

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  Oliver Kahn slams Kompany's decision

  After a tough game against Paris Saint-Germain, which Bayern won 2-1, Kahn felt that Kompany should have rested Neuer and fielded Jonas Urbig. The backup goalkeeper joined the Bavarians in January from Koln and is yet to establish himself as the first-choice custodian, with Kompany keeping his faith on the 39-year-old Neuer, who is approaching the twilight of his career. Kahn defended Neuer to but felt the ex-Germany international should have been rested, saying: "That's perfectly normal. It doesn't matter if you're world-class or not. These moments just happen. A game like that is quite a mental strain after the match in Paris. The goalkeeper has to constantly anticipate. A game like the one against Union would have been a good opportunity for recovery. So instead, they let Urbig play."

  Kahn also provided references from his own playing career, where he rested himself in certain games to ensure a soothing recovery. He stated: "I actually did that quite often and would say that I needed a recovery break before the next game. It's different than when you're 25 or 35, 38 or 40. The recovery time is longer then."

• Neuer reflects on his performance

  A World Cup winner with the German national team and holder of multiple accolades for Bayern, Neuer is often regarded as one of the finest goalkeeper's in football. However, the veteran unhesitatingly accepted his fault for Bayern's share of points. He said: "I played a part in the first goal. My view wasn't perfect, and the distance wasn't ideal either. But I made the wrong decision. I made the wrong decision in the first goal, we lost the second ball in the second goal. It was tough today against this team, especially after Wednesday. But we believe we'll soon get back to winning ways. In the end I think it was a good point."

  Kompany too, defended his No.1, saying: "What do you expect me to say? That I'll say something about my number one goalkeeper? Of course not. It's a collective game. When you concede a goal, there are many things and sequences that happen before. We look at those moments too."

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  What comes next for Neuer?

  Neuer, a former Germany international with 124 caps, will be beaming to return to action after the international break. The Bavarians have important fixtures against Freiburg and St. Pauli when domestic football resumes later in November. However, their main focus will be on the Champions League tie against Arsenal. The two teams are level on points at the top of the table A win will fuel Bayern's ambitions of finishing the round as league winners. 

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