Sri Lanka series to give Proteas perfect preparation: Bavuma

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa will use their limited-over series in Sri Lanka as preparation for the Twenty20 World Cup as conditions in the United Arab Emirates are expected to be similar, captain Temba Bavuma said.

South Africa will play three One-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals during the Sept 2-14 tour, though a number of their frontline players have either been rested or are injured for the 50-over series.

Key wicket-keeper/batter Quinton de Kock and seamer Lungi Ngidi will stay at home, while hard-hitting middle-order batter David Miller is recovering from injury. All are expected to be available for the T20 matches, which begin from Sept 10.

“There is the opportunity and challenge for us to be successful in those conditions,” Bavuma told reporters before the team’s departure on Monday. “It is an ODI series [first], but it is still a build-up to the World Cup in terms of giving us confidence to master our style of play.”

South Africa have traditionally struggled in spinner-friendly conditions but have won their last two limited overs tours of Sri Lanka in 2014 and 2018.

“It is ideal for us to be put under that type of pressure, especially the batters. If I look at our performances lately, the bowling group has been very good,” Bavuma remarked. “Now the batters will also be put into that space where they will have to test their skills. When we get to [the World Cup] we expect the conditions to be similar to Sri Lanka.

“We know it is not an easy task to play there, whether it be red or white ball cricket. So we take confidence in the fact that we have had success there as a team.”

All games in the series will be staged in Colombo.

South Africa made one change to their squad before departure with seamer Lutho Sipamla replacing Junior Dala, who tested positive for Covid-19.—Reuters

Zone-VI crowned CCA Sindh region champions

KARACHI: While Ammad Alam and Usman Khan both struck fine centuries, left-arm pacer Ghulam Mudassar grabbed seven wickets as Karachi’s Zone-VI clinched the Sindh region senior title of the newly-instituted City Cricket Association tournament after defeating Zone VII by an innings and 66 runs here at the UBL ‘B’ Ground.

Zone-VI amassed 473-4 declared in 75 overs with Ammad contributing 107 (16 boundaries and two sixes) and Usman taking his tally of runs in the competition to 770 by making an unbeaten 100 (nine fours and three sixes).

Summarised Scores:

CCA KARACHI ZONE-VII 179 in 65 overs (Hamza Ghanchi 33, Qadir Khan 36, Pervez Ali 26, Shehzar Hassan Khan 22; Ghulam Mudassar 3-39, Mohammad Makki 2-51, Ahsan Ali 2-10) and 132 in 42.2 overs (Shehzar Hassan Khan 39, Mohammad Waqas 23, Qadir Khan 23; Ghulam Mudassar 4-35, Mohammad Makki 2-15, Hasan Mohsin 2-33, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-37); CCA KARACHI ZONE-VI 377-4 declared in 63.4 overs (Ammad Alam 107, Usman Khan 100, Ahsan Ali 75, Saim Ayub 43 ,S.M. Tahami 23; Rahman Ghani 2-98).—Sports Reporter

Dawood Sports triumph

KARACHI: Dawood Sports crushed Shameel CC by 130 runs as two more matches were decided in the final round of the All-Sindh Prof Ejaz Ahmed Faruqi Invitation Cricket Tournament here on Monday.

Summarised scores:

Dawood Sports beat Shameel CC by 130 runs at TMC Ground.

DAWOOD SPORTS 211 in 39 overs (Ahmer Bin Nasir 57, Noor Wali 38 not out, Zakir Malik 35, Kashif Iqbal 26, Mubashir Nawaz 24; Hammad Khan 6-31, Isam Hanif 2-13); SHAMEEL CC 81 in 21 overs (Isam Hanif 22, Ali Meher 21; Ziaullah 4-13, Nadir Shah 3-25).

Nazimabad Gymkhana Blues beat Baqai Dolphins CC by 158 runs at RLCA Gulberg Ground.

NAZIMABAD GYMKHANA BLUES 209 in 41.1 overs (Zubair Dilawar 87, Irfan Khan 32, Syed Mehmood Shah 29; Khafid-un-Nabi 3-30, Uzair Ali Khan 3-54, Akhtar Ali 2-49); BAQAI DOLPHINS CC 51 in 24.1 overs (Zafar Ali Khan 4-19, Rehman Ghani 3-4, Irfan Khan 2-5).

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2021