Latest news with #SA20
Daily Maverick
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Temba Bavuma leads Proteas in essential warm-up match against Zimbabwe before WTC showdown
South Africa will play their first Test match in five months this week as they prepare for the World Test Championship final against their neighbours. The Proteas face Zimbabwe in a four-day one-off Test match from 3 June 2025 in Sussex, England, which will serve as a warm-up match for their World Test Championship (WTC) contest against Australia next week. The warm-up match was squeezed in retrospectively, and not on the Future Tours Programme as a means for players to shake off their rust before the big showdown at Lord's Cricket Ground from 11 June. The last time the Proteas donned all white and ran out for a Test match was when they beat Pakistan by 10 wickets in the New Year's Test at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. Since then there has been a white-ball focus, first with the SA20, then South Africa flying over to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates to play in the Champions Trophy in February at the start of March, before the Indian Premier League (IPL) got under way shortly after. Solid run A few of South Africa's WTC squad members had a solid run at the IPL, displaying some of their best form. Among them were Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton. Other members like Kagiso Rabada, Corbin Bosch and Lungi Ngidi played more sporadically for their sides in the T20 competition, due to various reasons. The rest of South Africa's WTC squad have played very little cricket across the last few months, this warm-up match is especially important for them. Skipper Temba Bavuma, for example, last took to the field in a competitive match in the Proteas' Champions Trophy defeat to New Zealand at the semi-final stage at the start of March. Although the captain was set to play two first-class matches for the Lions towards the back end of the domestic season, a recurring elbow injury kept him sidelined at the time. Left-arm orthodox Keshav Maharaj played two 50-over matches for the Dolphins in March and as well as a first-class match, in which he tweaked his groin and has not played a professional cricket match since. Tony de Zorzi and Senuran Muthusamy are in a similar position, having played a few first-class matches before enjoying an extended break away from the oval field. Kyle Verreynne, David Bedingham and Dane Paterson meanwhile have been busy since the end of the South African summer, playing for various teams in the UK in the County Championship. Zimbabwe prep For neighbours Zimbabwe, it's their second hit-out in England after suffering an innings-and-45-run defeat, within three days, of another four-day Test against the hosts. Zimbabwe's performance thus raises the question of the quality of preparation South Africa will receive outside of just getting some of the rust off. The wicket at Trent Bridge on that occasion, against England, was placid with the hosts setting a massive first-innings total of 565 for six — with their top three all registering centuries — before captain Ben Stokes declared. England then bowled Zimbabwe out twice in less than two days for 265 and 255. Brian Bennett scored a century in the first innings, and there were contributions by Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza, but nothing that should realistically challenge the WTC finalists too much. With the ball, fast-bowler Blessing Muzarabani went on a bit of a tear — collecting three-wickets — right before Stokes declared. Hampering Zimbabwe's strength even further is the fact that Raza and Muzarabani are unavailable for the warm-up clash at Arundel Castle Cricket Ground in Sussex. Nonetheless, South Africa's warm-up match is more than the preparation Australia will have for the WTC final. The last time their Test team played together was at the start of February when they beat Sri Lanka and sealed their qualification for the final. Australia have no warm-up matches scheduled and, barring their players currently in the County Championship in England, they are just as likely to be undercooked. DM
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
‘Life moves on': Rabada looks ahead to World Test Championship final after drug ban
South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said life moves on and he will never be 'Mr I-Apologise-Too-Much' after serving a one-month ban for testing positive for recreational drug use at this year's SA20 competition. The 30-year-old Rabada can resume playing for his country in June, after being named in South Africa's squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's from June 11 to 15. Having already apologised for his actions in May, Rabada said he wanted to move on from the incident. 'I'm just glad to be playing again. The process was handled really well ... I think, as a player, and a man, people will have their different opinions. I can live with that,' Rabada told media on Saturday before leaving for London. 'There are some people who would have been disappointed and to those people I'm deeply sorry ... The people closest to me are the ones I felt I let down. 'But life moves on. I'll never be 'Mr-I-Apologise-Too-Much'. But I'll never condone that action.' Also read | Karun Nair hits double hundred for India A, records fourth 200-plus score of First-Class career Rabada said he has been speaking with teammates, adding that he plans to do more in the coming days to mend any rifts the incident may have caused. 'I think I owe it to them (to talk about what happened),' he said. 'They're my teammates. We've come from so far. 'I've already spoken to them and I guess we can do so in more detail when we get together for an extended amount of time.' Rabada is likely to lead the fast-bowling attack in the WTC final with seamers Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Dane Paterson also in the squad. Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy are the two specialist spin options.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
'Life Moves on' Rabada Looks ahead to World Test Championship Final after Drug Ban
South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said life moves on and he will never be "Mr I-Apologize-Too-Much" after serving a one-month ban for testing positive for recreational drug use at this year's SA20 competition. The 30-year-old Rabada can resume playing for his country in June, after being named in South Africa's squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's from June 11 to 15. Having already apologized for his actions in May, Rabada said he wanted to move on from the incident. "I'm just glad to be playing again. The process was handled really well ... I think, as a player, and a man, people will have their different opinions. I can live with that," Rabada told media on Saturday before leaving for London, Reuters reported. "There are some people who would have been disappointed and to those people I'm deeply sorry ... The people closest to me are the ones I felt I let down. "But life moves on. I'll never be 'Mr-I-Apologize-Too-Much'. But I'll never condone that action." Rabada said he has been speaking with team mates, adding that he plans to do more in the coming days to mend any rifts the incident may have caused. "I think I owe it to them (to talk about what happened)," he said. "They're my team mates. We've come from so far. "I've already spoken to them and I guess we can do so in more detail when we get together for an extended amount of time." Rabada is likely to lead the fast-bowling attack in the World Test Championship final with seamers Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Dane Paterson also in the squad. Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy are the two specialist spin options.
India Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
Kagiso Rabada looking to move on from drug ban: Won't be Mr-I-Apologise-Too-Much
Kagiso Rabada is ready to move on from his one-month drug ban and claimed that he won't be someone who will keep on apologising for the incident ahead of the World Test Championshop final against Australia. Rabada served a one-month ban for the use of a recreational drug and had returned home mid-way through the IPL, where he was playing for Gujarat Titans. The South African pacer was tested positive during the SA20. advertisementRabada was cleared of wrongdoing and is part of the South Africa squad for the clash against Australia, which will start on June 11 at Lord's. As quoted by Daily Star, Rabada said that he is glad to be playing for the Proteas again and the process was handled well. The pacer said that while he won't dwell too much on the past, he will never condone the action. "I'm just glad to be playing again. The process was handled really well ... I think, as a player, and a man, people will have their different opinions. I can live with that. There are some people who would have been disappointed and to those people I'm deeply sorry ... The people closest to me are the ones I felt I let down."advertisement"But life moves on. I'll never be 'Mr-I-Apologise-Too-Much'. But I'll never condone that action," said Rabada. Rabada on talking to teammates about incidentRabada said that he has been talking to his teammates about the incident and will continue to do so in the coming days to mend any rifts that may have been caused due to the incident. "I think I owe it to them (to talk about what happened)," he said. "They're my team mates. We've come from so far.""I've already spoken to them and I guess we can do so in more detail when we get together for an extended amount of time."Rabada will likely lead the South African pace attack with the likes of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Dane Paterson also in the squad. Must Watch
Mint
3 days ago
- Sport
- Mint
Cricket-Life moves on Rabada looks ahead to World Test Championship final after drug ban
May 31 (Reuters) - South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said life moves on and he will never be "Mr I-Apologise-Too-Much" after serving a one-month ban for testing positive for recreational drug use at this year's SA20 competition. The 30-year-old Rabada can resume playing for his country in June, after being named in South Africa's squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's from June 11 to 15. Having already apologised for his actions in May, Rabada said he wanted to move on from the incident. "I'm just glad to be playing again. The process was handled really well ... I think, as a player, and a man, people will have their different opinions. I can live with that," Rabada told media on Saturday before leaving for London. "There are some people who would have been disappointed and to those people I'm deeply sorry ... The people closest to me are the ones I felt I let down. "But life moves on. I'll never be 'Mr-I-Apologise-Too-Much'. But I'll never condone that action." Rabada said he has been speaking with team mates, adding that he plans to do more in the coming days to mend any rifts the incident may have caused. "I think I owe it to them (to talk about what happened)," he said. "They're my team mates. We've come from so far. "I've already spoken to them and I guess we can do so in more detail when we get together for an extended amount of time." Rabada is likely to lead the fast-bowling attack in the World Test Championship final with seamers Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Dane Paterson also in the squad. Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy are the two specialist spin options. (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
