Blistering Rossouw ton helps South Africa to consolation T20 victory

 

    

INDORE: Rilee Rossouw hits his maiden Twenty20 International century to set up a 49-run consolation win for South Africa in the third match against India on Tuesday.

The left-handed Rossouw made an unbeaten 100 in 48 balls to steer South Africa to 227-3 after being invited to bat first in Indore.

South African bowlers then combined to bowl out India for 178 in 18.3 overs, but the hosts took the three-match series 2-1 — their first ever against the Proteas at home — after winning the first two matches.

It was the last match for both the teams ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia starting later this month and the 32-year-old Rossouw made it count for the tourists.

Quinton de Kock, who hit 68 off 43 balls, and Rossouw put on 89 for the second wicket after skipper Temba Bavuma, who got ducks in the two losses, fell for three.

Rossouw survived a dropped catch on 24 by Mohammed Siraj in the deep as the ball popped out of his hands for a six. De Kock made his second successive fifty with a hit over the fence off Umesh Yadav.

The pair hit eight sixes between them before the partnership ended with De Kock’s run out in his attempt to steal a second run.

Rossouw, who hit eight sixes, then got going with Tristan Stubbs in another big partnership of 87 and surpassed his previous best of 96 not out to reach his hundred in 48 balls.

Stubbs, who was warned by pace bowler Deepak Chahar for backing up too far at the non-striker’s end when on 13, made 23.

Rossouw finished unbeaten and David Miller, who hit a 100 in the second T20, smacked three straight sixes in the final over from Chahar to score an unbeaten 19 off five balls.

In reply, India lost two early wickets including skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck after the opener got an inside edge on to his stumps from pace bowler Kagiso Rabada.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant (27) and Dinesh Karthik (46) attempted to revive the chase in an attacking partnership of 41 off 20 balls.

The left-handed Pant got out after hitting three fours and two sixes in his 14-ball knock, but Karthik kept up the charge.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj denied Karthik his fifty after the batsman attempted a reverse scoop only to be bowled.

The rest of the batting, which missed Virat Kohli and KL Rahul who were rested, failed to challenge the bowlers apart from Chahar who made a valiant 31 of 17 balls.

Fast bowler Dwaine Pretorius, who came in for the rested Anrich Nortje, stood out with figures of 3-26 in his 3.3 overs.

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Australia’s Marsh to make batting return against WI

 

    

MELBOURNE: Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is set to return at number three in the first T20 World Cup warm-up against West Indies on Wednesday but will be spared bowling duties as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury.

Marsh’s return is good news for defending champions Australia in the lead-up to the Oct. 16 to Nov. 13 World Cup given Marcus Stoinis is still nursing a side strain.

Captain Aaron Finch said Stoinis remained on track to play against England in Perth on Sunday in the first of three T20Is.

“He’s at a level where we think that he’ll be fully fit for that first game against England,” Finch told reporters on the Gold Coast on Tuesday. “We were just conscious of the travel with a quick turnaround.

“It can be quite a high-risk game for some guys with some soft tissue injuries so he’s just still planning and preparing there.”

Should Stoinis and Marsh prove their fitness over the next couple of weeks, Finch said it was unlikely that exciting young all-rounder Cameron Green would play a part at the World Cup.

“I don’t think so. It’s just one of those things,” said Finch.

Green was not included in Australia’s experienced 15-man World Cup squad but travelled with the group to India where he scored half-centuries opening the batting in two out of the three T20Is.

“He had a really good tour of India. It was good for him to get an opportunity to open the batting so he’ll get more opportunities,” said Finch.

Opener David Warner, who was rested from the India tour, will return against West Indies but Green could still feature in the two-match series given the injury-hit bowling stocks.

“It’s never easy when you’re trying to balance up the side, particularly when the all-rounders aren’t fully fit at the moment,” Finch said.

“So that gives us an opportunity to keep tinkering with the squad.

“We feel as though we’ve got our best 11 in the back of our mind, but it’s just not everyone’s 100% fit at the moment.”

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Soccer Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables

Premier League preview: Man City, Liverpool title race again? Team-by-team guide, big questions for 2022-23.

It's finally here! The 2022-23 Premier League season begins Friday as Crystal Palace host Arsenal, and it's been a summer of quiet revolution up and down the table. From new signings to notable exits, from big clubs like Man City and Liverpool trying to reinvent themselves to the continuing projects at Arsenal and Tottenham, there's a lot to discuss. Who will win the league? How does every team look compared to last season?

With the big questions around the Premier League to a team-by-team guide, we'll get you ready for kickoff on Friday.

Jump to: Burning questions | Team-by-team guide

Burning questions

1. Will Manchester City and Liverpool keep the rest at arm's length?

When City sealed their fourth Premier League title in five seasons in May, their total of 93 points was the joint sixth-best mark in the competition's history. Liverpool finished just one point behind, 18 points clear of third-placed Chelsea. Of the eight biggest point hauls in Premier League history, six of them have been achieved by these two clubs in the past five seasons, including all of the top four. City's and Liverpool's respective goal differences of +73 and +68 put them both into the top five in league history. (City monopolise the top three.)

As if all of that wasn't ominous enough for the rest of the league, City have signed Erling Haaland, the hottest prospect in the world game who scored 86 goals in 89 games for Borussia Dortmund, as well as Julian Alvarez, the hottest prospect in South America who scored six goals in one Copa Libertadores match, which happened to be one of his final appearances for River Plate. Liverpool, meanwhile, have brought in Darwin Nunez, a striker who scored 32 goals in 38 games for Benfica last term, including strikes against Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Ajax, and his new employers.



    



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