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CSA drops Faf du Plessis from central contract; Heinrich Klaasen earns contract for 2021-22

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has not been awarded a central contract by Cricket South Africa for the 2021-22 season. His place in the 15 member squad of centrally contracted players has been taken by Heinrich Klaasen who led the Proteas in the last T20I series on the tour of Pakistan.

Du Plessis will be available for selection in the ICC events, but at the same time, the absence of a contract from CSA will give him the freedom to chose his preference in terms of playing in the T20 leagues such as the IPL, PSL, Big Bash and CPL, or international cricket for the Proteas.

The cricket board has also awarded a central contract to Lara Goodall from the Women’s team for his match-winning contributions on the tour of India.

"On behalf of CSA, I would like to congratulate Lara Goodall and Heinrich Klaasen on their newly awarded contracts. Their performances on the field of play as well as the way they have carried themselves off the field has done the talking for them and we are pleased to reward the hard work that they have put in,”  Pholetsi Moseki, CSA's acting chief executive, said in the CSA’S  statement.

South Africa are due to host Pakistan next month in a return series after touring the country earlier this year.

CSA’s Men's contracted players

Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen

CSA’s Women's contracted players

Dané van Niekerk, Trisha Chetty, Nadine de Klerk, Mignon du Preez, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Lizelle Lee, Suné Luus, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloe Tryon, Laura Wolvaardt

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Virat Kohli equals Kane Williamson's record

India captain Virat Kohli scored second half-century on the trot against England during the on-going series in Ahmedabad. With his 27th T20I fifty, Kohli has equaled New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s record of scoring most number of half-centuries by a skipper. Both Williamson and Kohli now have 11 fifties to their name while leading the respective sides in the shortest format of the game. Kohli remained unbeaten 77 on Tuesday against England in the third T20I. Though, the right-handed batsman’s efforts went in vain as the visiting team went 2-1 up in the series after beating India by 8 wickets riding on some fine batting from Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow. Buttler scored 83* off 52 while Barstow notched up 40* off 28. The Indian captain talked about his innings after the match and did admit that it was a bit difficult to bat with the new ball. “You don't want to play knocks which don't help the team in any way. It was a bit difficult to bat against the new ball. It was a bit tacky and the bowlers were getting a bit of assistance. Their pacers were hitting good areas. We got one little partnership and then towards the end with Hardik as well. It was important for me to bat deep into the innings because I knew that it would be easier for the set batsman to read the pace and bounce of the wicket. The case was to get set and try and get a decent total,” he said. The fourth T20I between the two teams is slated to take place on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

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KL Rahul has been our best batsman in the T20 format: Vikram Rathour

India opener KL Rahul is going through a lean patch with just scoring one run in three T20I matches against England in the on-going series in Ahmedabad. While Rahul hasn’t been among runs for sometime, batting coach Vikram Rathour has put his weight behind the right-handed batsman. "Anybody can have a lean phase. Last one year, I think KL has been our best batsman in the T20 format. He's averaging more than 40 with a strike rate of 145 (Rahul had an average of 44.70 with a strike rate of 141.52 since January 2019 till the start of this series). "So three failures does not change that fact, that he's maybe the best batsman we have in that format, and he's done really well for us in the past year," he added. Rathour further went on to say that the opener needs to be backed by the team. "I think this is the time that, as a team, we need to support him. Absolutely sure he will come out of this lean phase that he's going through," the batting coach said at the presser. England went 2-1 up in the five-match series on Tuesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium after chasing down a target of 157 by 8 wickets. Riding on an emphatic performance from Jos Buttler who scored 83* off 52 and Jonny Bairstow who notched up an unbeaten 40 off 28, England went over the line in the 19th over. Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli scored his second fifty on the trot in the series and remained not out at 77. The fourth match of the series will take place on Thursday at the same venue.

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IND vs ENG | 3rd T20: Jos Buttler's firepower overshadows Virat Kohli's masterclass

Riding on a splendid knock of 83 from Jos Buttler, England beat India comprehensively by eight wickets chasing down 157 runs with 11 balls to spare. England have taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series after India could post only 156 runs board on the back of Virat Kohli’s innings of 77 runs. England were dominating the game right from the start and in the end, the win was always on the cards as Jos Buttler rediscovered his mojo with the bat to never allow India any opening to come back in the game. Man of the Match made sure England were never behind the curve in pursuit of 157 runs although his partner Jason Roy, who has been outsourcing him and other England batsmen in the previous two games, struggled to time the ball initially. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has started to get the swing going for him since the last game and was cramping Roy for room before the man from Surrey adopted his methods of using brute force while reaching near to the pitch of the ball to take the attack to the opposition. Kohli was proactive in bringing Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack as early as in the fourth over to challenge Morgan on the game of match ups. However, before Chahal could get to Roy, whom he had all over the place in the last game, Buttler launched an attack against him to show he was coming back to his best. But, in the same over, Kohli’s move to bring leg spinner ratified as Roy attempted yet another reverse sweep— a shot he had conceded in the pre-match conference that was attempted going out of his own order of batting. India got an opening from the one end as Malan, for the best of his consistency, has been a grafter who takes time and pace his innings while others put opposition bowlers’ to the sword. While Kohli and company would have hoped from some respite after the departure of Roy, Buttler extended the display of his full-range of shots hitting two sixes and as many fours off the next six balls he faced off Shardul Thakur and Chahal. It was to be Buttler’s night and it was evident from the first shot he attempted of Chahal in his first over, and although the leg spinner could produce an absolute jaffa to beat him all ends up, the flamboyant batsman survived with a wry smile to take the game out of India’s grasp. Soon enough, Malan was off the hook and he started hitting boundaries to keep the scoreboard going from his side while Buttler was putting on a show and completed a 26-ball-50. Buttler’s amazing ease of hitting big shots probably lured Malan into attempting a big shot off Washington Sundar and Pant found an opportunity to whip the bails off while the opposition batsman was outside the batting crease just like he was stranded in the first innings. With Malan’s departure at the halfway stage, India though they had a decent chance to pick up wickets and bring the game towards equilibrium. However, Jonny Bairstow, who suffered enough humiliation against turning balls in white jerseys, has been a man on the mission of running away from his nightmare against the turning balls. He was severe against pacers and never really allowed India any sort of breathing space, and along with a perpetual dominant force at the order end in the form of Buttler, knocked the life out of the game and India to seal the deal comprehensively for the tourists. Earlier in the evening, the god of the toss kept on flickering in this game as well with Morgan winning the toss for the second time in the series after losing in the last game. There was no hesitation in asking India to bat first based on the evidence of life becoming easier for batsmen in the second innings. Kohli dropped a bombshell even before the start of the game when he announced that Rohit Sharma was returning for Suryakumar Yadav who did not do anything on his debut in the last game to be shown the exit door. However, Kohli’s options were limited from the outset with only KL Rahul as the probable to be axed for the retention of Suryakumar Yadav. Also, he vouchsafed that Kishan, who had started his international career with a bang were to bat at the number three following Rahul and Rohit at the top. However, Kishan was not kept far away from the field of action for a long time as KL Rahul’s miserable run at the top continued in the third game as well. Rahul walked off the pitch shaking his head just like in the last game after Mark Wood pierced through his defence in the second over itself. Rahul has three ducks in his last four innings for India and the effect of not playing games while being in under bubbles with the team is showing up on his lack of confidence and tentativeness in footwork. On the other hand, Morgan did not make life any easier for Indians as he carried on with his tactics based purely on match-ups. Statistically, Rohit Sharma has shown signs of weakness against leg spinner and express pace, and Morgan was at it with the trio of Adil Rashid, who came back to open the bowling, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer. Rohit looked hurried against the duo of Wood and Archer and offered an easy opportunity to Archer to send back to the pavilion. However, the generosity was not taken, and Wood made sure he will be the one to send the Indian vice-captain back. Rohit was getting beaten outside off stump against the back of length deliveries bowled at a rapid pace and decided to make room for himself. Wood was smarter and too quick for his liking as a cramped pull shot was snaffled up by Archer at short fine leg. Having tasted success and becoming the darling of Indian cricket due to the freshness he brought to the Indian top order, there was no point in holding back from Kishan and he was not too keen on that aspect anyway. He has been a brilliant puller of the short balls and attempted one against Jordan after the initial bursts from Archer and Wood, but only to be found out as the ball got big on him. The onus was on Kohli who was already in the eye of a storm following the unpopular call of dropping Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant to resurrect India. Both the men have had a fair shed of experience doing that in their career, with the left-hander catching up Kohli on that front in the recent months. Kohli was batting too well to be dismissed, but at the same time struggled to time the ball fluently. Pant tried to break free and hit some lust boundaries and the duo started putting pressure back on England bowlers. The jubilation for India however was to be short-lived as greed to steal an extra run and Kohli miscalculating Pant’s running speed resulted in the departure of the left-hander. There has been so much experimentation from the Indian side that Iyer, who has been batting at the number four position, been demoted to the number five and number six position tonight. His vulnerabilities against short balls have now become commonly known and England had enough of fire in their pace department to test his throat. With nothing to lose and India already reeling behind in the run rate, Iyer decided to take the short ball on over the off side, but the size of the boundary was too big for his timing and power and India were left to scramble once again with Kohli continuing to fight from the other end. Kohli saw his teammates getting trapped in the crease by extra pace, caught knuckled down by short balls, and the struggle was not any different for him as well. His first 29 balls yielded only 28 runs, although he was not looking only to get himself in, but batted with the intent he has publicly spoken of in recent times. With India languishing at 87/5 in 15 overs, Kohli had to do something about runs coring with Pandya struggling at the other end too. It was not going to be easy as England’s tormentors in the form of Archer and Wood were still going great on the speed guns. However, the different version of Kohli suddenly rose from the sluggishness and runs started to flow off his bat. He picked Archer’s eg cutter to hit him over mid-off while a full-paced delivery went over the fine leg in the rare occasion of India getting the run of the green. A 29-ball-28 improved to 33-ball-39 by the end of Archer’s over and Kohli was back to his best of picking length early and picking his spots which have been a feature of his best with the bat. He carried on with the hard-found momentum against Jordan in the next over and earned another six and a four off him to bring India in a position of some respectability by the end of the 17th over. Wood was the pick of England bowlers and Kohli emerged as India’s dangerman to set up a proper showdown in the last couple of overs in the first innings. Wood’s pace was consistent and he troubled all Indian batsmen, but by the time Wood returned with his fourth over of the night, Kohli was back with his best with the bat. Right from the start of the faceoff, Kohli was on top of his game, and he started picking up Wood’s brain along with his line of attack. He was proactive to judge Wood was planning to attack him as he did against Rohit, and hence he walked outside off his off stump to line him up for a big six over square leg. Wood tried to change his tactics and switched to fuller length, but was met with an even better shot from Kohli as he lifted him over long-off with a shot that might as well establish that he was never out of form as some have been suggesting. The brilliance of Kohli with the bat could well be established with the struggles Pandya was dealing with at the other end. He was labouring to get the balls out of square and ended up scoring merely 17 runs from 15 balls, but Kohi ensured India could have a total they could even dare to defend at the end of their batting efforts. It was a perfect game for Virat Kohli, the batsman on the back of a soul-defining innings to reclaim his supremacy in this Indian batting order. However, for skipper Kohli, there are problems aplenty which have been some sort of unravelling from the start of the series where he was to deal with the problems of plenty. He saw the top order getting blown away by raw pace from Archer and Wood, but tactically would be happier looking at the batsmen adopting the newer promised approach of batting with freedom. As stated earlier so many times, the move to bat with absolute freedom at the top is fraught with risk, and it was one of those nights it all fell apart for India right in front of Kohli at the other end. For Morgan, it was back to business as usual with pacers bringing results picking up wickets at crucial junctures starting from the top and the batting order crowded with fearsome batsmen who could make any sort of chase look like a seamless affair. Although, the series is being used as an option to experiment with different playing combinations in order to find out a perfect mix of players for the World T20, Kohli and the team management will have to be careful about opening up more cracks in the set up then they would have liked to attempt to solve, or can solve in coming months leading up to the big T20 World Cup.