New Zealand shed ‘tears’, hope for World Cup miracle after Bangladesh win

CApE TOwN

Agencies

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said New Zealand still had hopes of reaching the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals after they trounced Bangladesh by 71 runs at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.

She admitted it was a long shot but said they would seek to repeat Friday’s dominance when they play their final group match against Sri Lanka in Paarl on Monday.

Suzie Bates hit 81 not out in a New Zealand total of 189 for three – the highest of the tournament. Bangladesh replied with 118 for eight.

“That’s the way we want to play our cricket,” said Devine. “I’m really proud of this group but we’ve got a big game to go.”

New Zealand’s chances of progressing beyond the group stage looked impossible after they lost their first two matches by big margins. They were bowled out for 76 against Australia and 67 against South Africa – the low- est totals of the tournament.

Despite beating Bangladesh they have a considerable net run rate deficit and their prospects remain slim.

They will need Australia to defeat South Africa by a heavy margin in Gqeberha on Saturday and then New Zealand will need a big win against Sri Lanka.

Even then South Africa will have an opportunity against Bangladesh on Monday to make sure they remain above the White Ferns.

Bates, who became the first woman from any country to reach 1,000 runs in T20 World Cups, said the New Zealand players were “absolutely gutted” after their first two matches.

She said there had been “tears” and “a good look at ourselves” but the players came out on Friday with clear plans after two good days of training.

“We talked about how we wanted to play and we talked about hitting hard and straight down the ground. What pleased me most was that we stuck to exactly what we talked about.”

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said her team had conceded “too many runs in the bowling and we couldn’t get many runs in the power play.”

Bates and Bernardine Bezuidenhout (44) laid the foundation for New Zealand with a first-wicket stand of 77 in 8.4 overs, while Maddy Green thrashed an unbeaten 44 off 20 balls to help Bates add 73 in the last seven overs. Bates scored her runs off 61 balls and hit seven fours and a six.

Hannah Rowe struck for the White Ferns with two early Bangladesh wickets and off-spinner Eden Carson took three for 18 as the Bangladeshis slumped to their third successive defeat.

Brief scores: New Zealand 189-3 in 20 overs (S. Bates 81 not out, M. Green 44 not out, B. Bezuidenhout 44; Fahima Khatun 2-36) v Bangladesh 118-8 in 20 overs ( Shorna Akter 31, Murshida Khatun 30; E. Carson 3-18, H. Rowe 2-15). Result: New Zealand won by 71 runs

Toss: New Zealand

South Africa name Bavuma as first Black African Test captain

JOHANNESBURG

Agencies

Temba Bavuma was on Friday named the first black African captain of South Africa’s Test squad in what Cricket South Africa described as “part of a restructure within the leadership group of the national team”.

Dean Elgar was axed as captain, although he remains a member of the squad which starts a series against the West Indies on February 28. Chief selector Victor Mpitsang was another casualty of the shake-up, with CSA stating he had been “released” from the role.

Bavuma became the first black African to captain South Africa at cricket when he was named leader of the one-day international and Twenty20 international teams in March 2021.

At the same time Elgar was named Test captain. Elgar’s stint as captain started well with Test series wins against West Indies, India and Bangladesh and a shared series away against world champions New Zealand.

But they were heavily beaten in their two most recent series in England and Australia. Bavuma, meanwhile, came under criticism for his poor batting form in T20 internationals, notably in the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

According to Friday’s statement, Bavuma will remain captain of the oneday team but will relinquish his role in the

T20 side. The announcements were made by Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director of cricket, who said it had been decided to review the selection system. Mpitsang was relieved of his job.

As an interim measure, the new national team coaches, Shukri Conrad (Test) and Rob Walter (limited overs) will play a leading role in selection.

“Temba is a player that has vast captaincy experience both at domestic level and on the international stage,” said Nkwe.“We trust he will deliver on all our expectations and help carry the team forward after some excellent work by his predecessor Dean during the same period.

“At the same time I would like to sincerely thank Dean for all his commitment to the role over the past two years.

“He helped the team navigate through some stormy waters and put them in good position on the ICC World Test Championship table.” Nkwe named a 15-man squad for the two Tests against West Indies. Five players who played in the losing series in Australia in December and January – batsmen Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen and Khaya Zondo, wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and fast bowler Lungi Ngidi – have been dropped while Theunis de Bruyn has retired.

Uncapped Tony de Zorzi is likely to make his debut as an opening batsman, while Keegan Petersen and Ryan Rickelton return after missing the tour of Australia because of injury.