No end of turmoil in Cricket South Africa, on brink of losing country's Cricket governing body

There is no end in sight of turmoil in South African cricket Cricket South Africa is staring at losing the status of governing body of the game in the country after failing to agree on a Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI).

The move to not accept the MOI in principle could bring a long-threatened intervention from the government and sports minister Nathi Mthethwa under the National Sports and Recreation Act. According to an ESPNcricnfo report, the act gives the sports minister power to withdraw funding and recognition from CSA as the governing body of cricket.

Earlier this year, the government had imposed an interim board on CSA and established communication with the member council of CSA to implement the MOI that would have brought a majority independent board. Reportedly, the member council had stated that they had reached an agreement with the interim board on the issue of the MOI and the majority independent board on April 10.

However, on Saturday, April 17 when the member council of CSA were to vote on the matters, only six of the 14 members voted in favour of the MOI and the majority independent board while five members voted against such move and three members abstaining.

Minister Mthethwa though has not made clear his intentions on the process the government will follow.

Notably, if the sports minister supersedes the CSA as the governing body, it will face sanction from the International Cricket Council and South Africa will be banned from international cricket.

However, the sports minister had written to ICC explaining the need to intervene and seek exemption from the game’s global governing body.

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IPL 2021: Kedar Jadhav could make the difference for SRH feels Pragyan Ojha

For the first time in the history of IPL, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have lost the first three matches of the competition and they have to change their plans in order to force their way back into the competition. If they don't start winning from now it could become a monumental task in the second half of the competition. They lost their third consecutive game against the Mumbai Indians and yet again they surrendered the match from a winning position. They were comfortably placed at 67/0 but the wicket of Jonny Bairstow triggered a collapse and they could never recover from that. Some lusty blows from Vijay Shankar towards the death overs got them closer but in the end, they fell well short by 13 runs. Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha feels that the experienced all-rounder Kedar Jadhav could solve their problems. He believes that Kedar should be given an opportunity in the next game and he can offer the much-needed experience in the middle-order. "He (Jadhav) has the experience of playing in Chennai. He has played for CSK, which was his home venue. He has practised a lot," Ojha was quoted as saying by Sports Today. "If he gets a chance, he is a quality player, and he has got that experience. When you see the middle order not doing that well, why not give Kedar a chance? He has the experience, and he has been there and done that," Ojha further added. Over the years, Kedar Jadhav has emerged as an integral part of the Indian limited-overs set-up. However, injuries have been a regular part of his cricketing journey and that has substantially limited his chances in national colours. Jadhav was previously part of the CSK set-up and his experience of playing at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai might solve some of SRH’s woes.

I take massive amount of responsibility: Mark Boucher on loss against Pakistan

The South African team had a forgettable run against Pakistan in the limited-overs fixtures at home. The visiting team first defeated the Proteas 2-1 in a three-match ODI series and then thumped them 3-1 in the four-match T20I series. Head coach Mark Boucher took the responsibility of the loss on himself. "I take a massive amount of responsibility and I should. I don't shy away from it. I am hurt, I am extremely hurt at the moment, as is the rest of the management and coaching staff. We put a lot of hard work and effort into this. But there's no panic from me yet because I do understand that we have been given some trying circumstances over the last period of time and we will continue to put in hard work," ESPNcricinfo quoted Boucher as saying. South Africa were without the services of the senior players. Talking about the same, the former wicket-keeper batsman insisted that there have been some positives. There have been a lot of positives. With the opportunities that have been given, a couple of guys have come through with flying colours," he said. Pakistan were ahead 2-1 in the series when they came out to face South Africa in the final T20I. Chasing 145 in 20 overs, they lost an early wicket in Mohammad Rizwan but a fine innings from Fakhar Zaman who struck 60 off 34 steadied the ship for the visitors and eventually handed them a win by 3 wickets.

IPL 2021: It’s a new challenge the fact that it’s a day game: Simon Katich

It has been a dream start for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Vivo IPL 14 as they are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far after the completion of the first week of the extravaganza. They started off with a nail-biting victory against the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the curtain-raiser. In the second encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, they looked down and out for the major part of the match but the RCB bowlers held their nerves and delivered a killer punch in the last few overs as run-scoring became pretty difficult in the final phases of the second innings. This has been the trend in this tournament so far and it will be interesting to see if it remains the same in the afternoon match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the lead-up to the mouth-watering clash, RCB posted a video of their last-minute preparation on their Twitter handle where one can see all the RCB outfit practicing hard ahead of the match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Meanwhile RCB head coach, Simon Katich feels that although KKR lost their previous game against the Mumbai Indians from a winning position, they are still a very dangerous team and they will have to be on their toes to come out on the winning side. “We know that KKR played two very good games. They didn't quite get the result in the second game. But they did a lot right, and they are a very dangerous team. "We know they have a lot of quality with both bat and the ball. They will be keen to bounce back. We are keen to stay on a roll. We know there's still a lot of hard work that needs to be done in this tournament,” Katich said in the video posted by RCB on their Twitter handle. Given that this will be the first day game of the season, both teams need to get their plans right and execute them well in the match. Katich feels that it is important for both teams to get acclimatised to the conditions. It won’t be easy for both teams to play a day match in the Chennai heat. “It’s a new challenge the fact that it’s a day game. We know that the wicket has been hard work for the batsman at times. There's spin. It's been slow. It's a new challenge, but I know this group is truly hungry.” Katich further added.

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best death bowlers in the world: Trent Boult

Mumbai Indians fast bowler Trent Boult lavished praise on his teammate Jasprit Bumrah for his skills especially in the death overs. MI etched yet another win from the jaws of defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday in Chennai after bundling them out for 137 while chasing 151 in 20 overs. “It’s great to see a guy (Bumrah) like that operate. How clear he is with what he is doing with the ball throughout his whole spell,” Boult said after the contest. Bumrah just picked up on wicket during the clash against SRH but his economical bowling kept the David Warner-led side on the backfoot. Bumrah eventually returned with figures of 1/14 in his 4 overs. Talking about the death bowling, Boult hailed the Indian pacer. “I personally believe, he is one of the best death bowlers in the world. He makes my job a heck of a lot easier,” he added. The New Zealand cricketer himself picked up three wickets during the course while leg-spinner Rahul Chahar too scalped a three-wicket haul as MI won the match by 13 runs. SRH openers Jonny Bairstow and David Warner had a decent start to the chase. Riding on Barstow’s onslaught, SRH put 67 on the board for the first wicket before the England batsman departed for 43 off 22. But Bairstow’s departure saw a fall of wickets at regular intervals and they were soon left struggling at 130/7 and were eventually bowled out. Earlier, MI managed to score 150/5 in 20 overs, courtesy a quick-fire 35* off 22 from Kieron Pollard.