De Bruyn, de Lange help Knights open with bonus-point win

A century from Knights captain Theunis de Bruyn and a four-for from fast bowler Marchant de Lange led their side to a 100-run win over Cape Cobras in Bloemfontein.De Bruyn anchored the Knights innings after opting to bat, scoring 132 off 117 balls to lead the side to 308 for 6. Having lost the openers in successive overs with 51 on the board, de Bruyn carried the innings forward by stitching partnerships of 85 and 98 with Pite van Biljon and Diego Rosier for the third and fourth wickets respectively. With de Bruyn falling in the 45th over, Knights scored 37 off the last five as Shadley van Schalkwyk took the score past the 300 mark.De Lange then cut through the Cobras top order, leaving them at 47 for 3 in the seventh over and by the 21st, Cobras were all but out of the chase at 102 for 5. Jason Smith and Aviwe Mgijima struck a 67-run partnership for the sixth wicket, with Mgijima taking the score past 200 before he was dismissed for 51, his second List A fifty and the top-score in the Cobras innings.De Lange, who had returns of 3 for 21 in his first spell of six overs, dismissed Mgijima in the 41st over, to finish with 4 for 35 as Cape Cobras were bowled out for 208 in the 42nd over.

Clarke urges caution in bringing cricket back to Pakistan

Giles Clarke, president of the England and Wales Cricket Board and chairman of the ICC’s Pakistan Task Force, has cautioned that bringing international cricket back to Pakistan will be an arduous process requiring “a lot of time and hard work”.Clarke arrived in Lahore on Saturday – his first visit to the country as head of the Pakistan Task Force – on a fact-finding mission to inspect security arrangements that can be put in place for visiting teams. During his visit, Clarke met with senior officials of the Punjab government, including the chief minister and the Home Secretary.Addressing a press conference at the National Cricket Academy at the Gaddafi Stadium, Clarke praised Punjab’s government for “significant investment” in safety and security arrangements for potential touring aides. He was quick to point out, however, that these observations were not to serve as a replacement for expert advice.”I have to receive a proper report from my experts,” Clarke said. “But speaking as a non-expert, I was deeply impressed by the size of the investment, and the passion of everyone I’ve met from the chief minister downwards, the desire and determination to see international cricket return to Lahore was absolutely there. It is a goal of the ICC that every Full Member plays international bilateral cricket in their own country. But for us to do that, we need everyone to be safe and secure.”Clarke referred to a bomb blast in a crowded park in Lahore last March that killed over 70 people. The PCB was in talks with the MCC at the time for the latter to send a cricket team to Lahore, but the terror attack put an end to that.”We don’t want to get it wrong,” Clarke said. “We all know one terrible incident can push things backwards again. What happened here in one of Lahore’s parks did make it impossible for us to send a team here last year. So we’re hoping to move forward, but this isn’t an easy road.”There’s a considerable amount of perception that needs to be changed [around Pakistan being an unsafe country] and information that needs to be shared. But I am most impressed by the efforts of the authorities to make Lahore a safe city.”Clarke, who has been on the Pakistan Task Force since it was set up in the aftermath of the Lahore terror attacks on the Sri Lanka team in March 2009, praised Zimbabwe for coming to Pakistan in 2015 to play two T20s and three ODIs, and said it was a “very well organised” tour. “We want to build on that and move forward in a sensible and measured fashion.” Even that tour, however, was the target of an attempted attack.Clarke didn’t comment on a recent statement by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) that “an acceptable level of participant safety and security cannot be expected or guaranteed” in Pakistan, saying he hadn’t discussed that statement with FICA, or read it in full. “I was far more interested in coming here for myself before I opened that conversation,” he said.That statement had come on the back of the PCB announcing that the final of the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) would take place in Lahore, whether or not international players travelled to Pakistan. Clarke expressed strong support for the PCB’s endeavours to hold the final of “their own domestic competition” in Pakistan. “I completely understand that desire, and will support their efforts to do that.”

Spinners Abhishek and Chahar seal title for India

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Himanshu Rana’s 71 off 79 balls was the highest score of the Asia Cup final•PTI

Half-centuries from opener Himanshu Rana and No. 3 Shubman Gill provided India Under-19s with a total of 273, which they were able to defend successfully thanks a middle-overs squeeze by their spinners Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Chahar. In the end, hosts Sri Lanka were beaten by 34 runs.At one point though, that result had seemed unlikely. With the momentum of picking up six wickets in the last 11 overs fuelling them, Sri Lanka went after the target with great vigour. Captain Kamindu Mendis and R Kelly struck fifties each to take the score to 158 for 2 in the 31st over. That brought the equation down to 116 off 118 balls with eight wickets in hand.India needed to re-establish control and their 16-year old captain Abhishek helped with that, dismissing Kelly for 63. He finished with figures of 4 for 37 in 10 overs of left-arm spin and claimed the Man-of-the-Match award. Sri Lanka had to deal with Chahar’s miserly legspin from the other end. With him bowling his full quota, giving away only 22 runs, and picking up three wickets as well, the chase unravelled. Sri Lanka lost three wickets in five overs between the 38th and 43rd, then another three wickets with the score on 225 and were finally bowled out for 239.It signalled the importance of first-innings runs in Colombo, and India were able to put up enough thanks to Rana’s 71 off 79 balls and Gill’s 70 off 92 balls. While their partnership of 88 for the second wicket was on, it seemed like India would get to a total of 300 or more, but seamer Nipun Ransika, who took two wickets in the 47th over, and left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, who dismissed both the half-centurions, ensured that did not happen. Sri Lanka would later realise that the damage had already been done.

Lodha Committee refuses to bail out state associations

The Lodha Committee has refused the BCCI’s request for directions on the release of funds to state associations despite the board’s warning that domestic cricket could come to a “standstill”. The Committee said the only remedy available to the state associations was to comply with the Supreme Court’s order of October 21.The court had asked BCCI to “cease and desist” from disbursement of funds for any purpose to the state units unless they submitted an affidavit stating they would adopt the Lodha Committee recommendations. Only three state associations – Vidarbha, Tripura and Rajasthan [the last not recognised by the board] – have adopted all the recommendations. The other units have been reluctant and have sought the BCCI’s guidance on the matter.”You have sought the Committee’s directions for release of payments to Associations in connection with players’ allowances, hotels, transport, hosting fees, etc.,” the Committee noted in an e-mail sent to BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke on Thursday. “Paragraph 20(i) of the order dated 21st October 2016 the of Hon’ble Supreme Court mandates compliance by the State Associations concerned before disbursement of any funds by the BCCI. Therefore the question of the Committee issuing any directions in that behalf does not arise.”Shirke had written to the Committee on October 28 stating the BCCI was facing issues with the release of payments to state units, and pointed out that allowances to players, match officials, umpires, hosting fees to states for using their cricket infrastructure, payment to hotels, airlines, ground transport agencies could not be carried out as a result. “The Committee may issue suitable direction in this regard failing which the domestic cricket season shall come to a standstill,” he said.According to Shirke, the state associations of Odisha, Hyderabad, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam had written requesting funds for their daily operations, failing which they would not be “able to operate and cricket in the region shall suffer and come to a standstill.”The Committee told Shirke that no exceptions could be made for these five states and they had no choice but to follow the court order. The Committee also asked Shirke to submit, within the next five days, the Deloitte report on Project Transformation, instituted by former BCCI president Shashank Manohar when he took over the role in October last year. Deloitte, the accounting firm, was appointed to strengthen “organisational and governing structure” related to accounting and “operating practice”.”With regard to the Associations of Orissa, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam mentioned by you, you are directed to furnish the Report obtained by the BCCI from M/s. Deloitte on State Associations, as well as any undertakings submitted by the State Associations pursuant thereto. This shall be submitted within 5 days from today,” the Committee said.

Upbeat New Zealand chase history in decider

Match facts

Saturday, October 29
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)1:30

Taylor ‘excited’ at prospect of winning series

Big picture

New Zealand have never won an ODI series in India. While the prospect of correcting such a record is daunting at the best of times, the whitewash in the Test series and the drubbing in Dharamsala only made it seem near-impossible. But after nearly two weeks, with the series at 2-2, they would rather look at Saturday’s game as a chance to create history. After the Ranchi ODI, every member of New Zealand’s team management has used elegant variations of the same theme.New Zealand’s greatest strength during their last visit to India, for the World T20, lay in their astute reading of pitches. Tim Southee put it down to effective information exchange between batsmen and bowlers. “Not every time we can get it right. We just give ourselves the best chance to read the conditions and adapt quickly,” he said on the eve of the match.One area where they have not adapted quickly enough is their middle order. Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi struggled in the first three ODIs and were subsequently dropped, but Ross Taylor has shown signs of form in the last two games. In a crunch game, they will need most of their batsmen to back what has generally been a competent bowling unit.India, on the other hand, will probably look at an opportunity missed after they could not close out the series in Ranchi. That means Jayant Yadav and Mandeep Singh will have to wait till at least the new year to make their ODI debuts, unless there is a last-minute injury or a left-field selection punt. For a young middle order, though, this is another chance to repay the faith that MS Dhoni has invested in them.

Form guide

India LWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WLWLW

In the spotlight

Axar Patel‘s record of two wickets from four games does not really indicate how well he has bowled this series. He has been Dhoni’s go-to holding bowler every time New Zealand’s batsmen have looked threatening, and in Ranchi he even contributed a gutsy 38 after being promoted to No.5. Axar’s niggardly bowling will once again remain crucial to bottling up New Zealand’s middle order.With seven wickets from four games, Tim Southee has quietly climbed to second place in the top wicket-takers’ list for the series. His late swing with the new ball and nerveless death bowling has given New Zealand all-round bowling cover. Southee’s knack of striking at the right time, like his dismissals of Dhoni in Delhi, and Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav in Ranchi, has proved to be game changing.

Team news

Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav were among those that did not feature in India’s optional training session. Dhoni had an extended hit in the spinners’ net and, along with Jadhav, practised the sweep for a considerable length of time. Jasprit Bumrah appeared to have regained his fitness and will likely take Dhawal Kulkarni’s place in the XI. India are unlikely to tinker with the side too much otherwise.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Jasprit BumrahIn Ranchi, New Zealand had replaced Corey Anderson and Matt Henry with two spinners in Ish Sodhi and Anton Devcich. Taylor felt the six-bowler dynamic gave captain Kane Williamson greater latitude. Williamson and Mike Hesson will probably have to choose between the extra batting muscle of Anderson and the extra spin option of Devcich.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 BJ Watling (wk), 6 James Neesham, 7 Anton Devcich/Corey Anderson, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Matt Henry

Pitch and conditions

The cyclone Kyant, which threatened to hit Visakhapatnam, has weakened into a deep depression, but there is forecast for showers on Friday and thunderstorm on Saturday. There were heavy showers on Thursday night as well, but the curator, K Nagamallaiah, said the ground staff had covered 80% of the outfield. On Saturday, the pitch appeared bald and devoid of any grass, even as the outfield remained lush. “The rain won’t have any effect on the pitch. It will remain good for batting and have good bounce,” he said.

Stats and trivia

  • Amit Mishra has taken 10 wickets in the series, three more than any other bowler from either sides.
  •  Tim Southee is the only New Zealand bowler to have taken three-wicket hauls in the series. He did it twice and both came in wins – Delhi and Ranchi.
  • India have a 4-1 win-loss record in Visakhapatnam. The lone defeat came in the last completed game here, against West Indies in November 2013.
  • India won the deciding match against New Zealand in the 1995-96 and 1999-2000 series.

Quotes

“We have been on the road for a long period of time but we have three more days to get ourselves up. You don’t often win series away from home, especially in the subcontinent. We know what we need to do to win.”
“Virat is a great player and it’s always nice if he scores. It makes life easy for the batsmen coming in. But, we have too many quality batsmen in the team and we need to deliver whenever we get the opportunity.”

Ali Khan re-injures hamstring, in doubt for Division Four

USA fast bowler Ali Khan is likely to miss at least the first two games of ICC WCL Division Four and could be out for the entire tournament after he re-injured his left hamstring in a USA training session earlier this week in Los Angeles. The Guyana Amazon Warriors pacer is an integral part of USA’s bowling plans but USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake tried to remain optimistic about Ali’s possibility to play a part in the tournament.”Ali Khan is one of the best that we have and he actually has the capacity to change a game on his own so we are really looking forward for him to get 100% fit and play for us,” Dassanayake told ESPNcricinfo. “Right now, he is around 80%, still need some more work to be done. I’m not sure about the first day whether he is going to be ready but I’m going to make sure that he’s going to be ready for the last three games where the crucial time comes in this tournament. Right now the target is for him to be ready for next Tuesday.”Ali initially suffered a left hamstring strain on September 20 at a USA national camp in Indianapolis which caused him to miss the Auty Cup against Canada earlier this month. According to a team source, Ali was 100% fit on arrival in Los Angeles on October 23 and bowled six overs without any problems at the start of the team’s training session on Monday. However, it was while running in to begin this second spell, after cooling down, that he re-injured the leg and pulled up.Dassanayake had initially planned to play Ali in USA’s warm-up match against a Southern California Cricket Association on Tuesday as a means of proving his match fitness after missing the Auty Cup. However, that plan was scratched on Monday and the tentative plan is for Ali to sit out USA’s first two games against Bermuda and Italy on October 29 and 30. A rest day follows on Monday before USA’s third match against Oman on November 1.According to a team source, an option has been discussed to possibly give Ali a cortisone injection in an effort to aid his recovery but that is seen as a last resort. Southern California medium-pacer Hammad Shahid, who took Ali’s spot for the Auty Cup and turned in figures of 2 for 36 and 1 for 18 in a combined 18 overs against Canada, is in line to be called up to the USA squad for Division Four if Ali is not passed fit by Monday night on the eve of the Oman match.”If he has to go beyond the Oman game, then we have to make that decision but I’m hopeful,” Dassanayake said. “He was doing some rehab stuff for the last three or four days and now our physio is here. Everything is pretty decently organised and we are putting that effort for him to get better. I’m confident that he’ll be ready for that game but if not, then still we have to make a decision around Monday night.”

Crowd trouble mars both ODIs in Dambulla

Substantial crowd trouble marred both Dambulla ODIs, as several thousand ticket-holders were either unable to take their seats, or – in some cases – even enter the ground. SLC has issued an apology, and condemned the actions of spectators who forced their way into the venue.This is the first series in which SLC has sold its tickets through BookMyShow – a ticket distributor of Indian origin. Tickets were sold at outlets in many of the main towns in the region, as well as online. However, the perception that a move towards online ticket sales marginalised a large portion of cricket fans is what is understood to have angered some of those who swarmed the gates of the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium last week. Wednesday’s ODI had even seen a large protest at the entrance, which led to severe congestion on the Colombo-Dambulla main road.”SLC has clearly advertised the selling points of tickets, and has sold their tickets prior to the match at 18 outlets island-wide, including in Dambulla, Matale and Anuradhapura,” an SLC release said. “Ninety per cent of the tickets were reported sold through the above network and only 10% via internet.”Public who did not purchase their respective tickets prior to the match behaved in an unruly manner, causing a situation outside the main gate. As a result, even the people who purchased the tickets could not come into the ground, due to the heavy traffic congestion caused by the unruly crowd who were blocking the main road in protest. Sri Lanka Police made several requests to the protestors to move out of the road to enable the genuine ticket holders to enter the ground. More than 2000 spectators who had purchased tickets complained that they could not get into the grounds within the first two hours of the play.”The standoff between the police and the “unruly crowd” had only been resolved after the gates were opened even to those who had not bought tickets, in order to clear the road.In the previous match, on Sunday, thousands were seen entering the ground illegally, which led to the 18,000-capacity stadium having to accommodate up to 45,000 people. The protesting crowd had pelted the police with stones on Wednesday, but there have been no reports of major injury as a result of either incident.”SLC would like to state that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and would like to denounce the violent behaviour of the protestors who pelted stones at the police and damaged property of the stadium. As a result, Sri Lanka Police had no choice but to use minimal force to curb the situation.”The new ticketing protocols have been in place right through the tour, but Dambulla is the only venue at which substantial crowd-control issues have emerged. Dambulla also has the lowest capacity of the three limited-overs venues.

Van Niekerk inspires Lightning to Finals Day

ScorecardDane van Niekerk’s 91 was the highest individual score of the competition (file photo)•IDI/Getty Images

Team and individual competition records were broken as Loughborough Lightning sealed their place in the finals of the Kia Super League by beating Surrey Stars.South Africa international Dane van Niekerk hit 91 off just 64 balls, including 13 fours and three sixes, beating the previous competition record innings of 90 not out by Surrey’s Natalie Sciver, as Lightning ran up 168 for 6. That too was a record, the previous highest innings score in the competition being the 164 made by Lancashire Thunder, also at Loughborough University’s Haslegrave ground.”I’ve been struggling with form, but I knew it was a really good track and I had to take my chance,” said van Niekerk, who came into the match having scored just 19 runs in her previous three innings. “Going into the finals it’s nice to have a few runs and for the team to have a bit of momentum.”Surrey skipper Sciver chose to bowl after winning the toss, but may have already regretting her decision when Lightning openers Georgia Elwiss and Van Niekerk brought up the 50 in the seventh over.Van Niekerk looked in good touch from the start. Consecutive boundaries stroked through the off side off the pace bowling of Marizanne Kapp, along with a huge straight six clubbed the left-arm spin of Alex Hartley, were the pick of the 23-year-old’s shots in a half-century made from 41 balls.Hartley, bowling with a nice loop, did pick up a wicket, Elwiss failing to clear long-off, but Van Niekerk appeared unstoppable. A reverse paddle was followed by a reverse scoop for boundaries before Rene Farrell was deposited over midwicket for another six.Sophie Devine edged a catch behind driving at a wide delivery, but just as the first century of the competition seemed Van Niekerk’s for the taking, she pulled Kapp hard to midwicket, where Sciver took a fine catch running in from the boundary.Inevitably, perhaps, van Niekerk then took a wicket in her first over of legspin, the third of the Surrey reply, courtesy of some sharp work behind the stumps by Amy Jones when Bryony Smith dragged her back foot. In her following over she had Cordelia Griffith caught and bowled, but the key wickets as far as Loughborough were concerned were those of Sciver and fellow England international Tammy Beaumont.Sciver had made just 12 when she top-edged Elwiss towards short third man, where Rebecca Grundy took the catch on the edge of the circle. Beaumont was beginning to threaten on 27 when she was run out by a direct hit – by van Niekerk, naturally. In the circumstances it came as no surprise when she added a fine boundary catch to her contribution.”It was a good score but we were never really out of it on that track, so of course we’re disappointed,” Sciver said. “It’s been a great competition, playing under pressure can only help develop our games. The crowds have been great and it shows how popular women’s domestic cricket is becoming. We just wish we were going to Finals Day!”

'We let ourselves down a lot' – Smith

Australia’s captain Steven Smith ranked a surprise hiding at the hands of Sri Lanka among the most deflating results of his career, after pledging his leadership would be focused upon improving the national team’s record in overseas territory.The 106-run defeat in little more than three days of actual playing time has put Australia’s No. 1 ranking at risk, being their seventh consecutive loss in Test matches in Asia and first to Sri Lanka in 17 years. Meanwhile a hamstring injury to the left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe means Smith will be relying on the ability of the Victorian spinner Jon Holland to hit the ground running when he links up with the squad in Galle for a match on what is expected to be an even sharper spinning pitch than that seen in Pallekele. A task considered well within the team’s capability ahead of the series now looks exceptionally steep.Familiar Australian weaknesses against spin bowling were laid bare by Rangana Herath and his wrist-spinning offsider Lakshan Sandakan, as they shared 16 wickets between them. At the same time batsmen like David Warner and Usman Khawaja were put to shame by an extraordinarily composed innings of 176 from the 21-year-old Man of the Match Kusal Mendis. Smith, too, had reason for self-recrimination, as his charge down the track at Herath’s first ball on day two had effectively swung the match.”It is disappointing,” Smith said. “I said before the game that we haven’t played well in subcontinent conditions for quite a while now. It’s something that under my captaincy I want to change. There were glimpses throughout this game that we’ve improved in some aspects but I think we just let ourselves down a lot as well.”I generally play spinners quite aggressively. I’ve hit that ball for four or six several times throughout my career. I got beaten on the inside of the bat. It’s just summing it up and making sure I play with a straighter bat if I’m trying to go over the top. I know it looked ugly and it probably didn’t look great. For me, it’s about making sure I still have that intent to score.”In expressing sorrow for O’Keefe’s exit, particularly after he had fought bravely alongside Peter Nevill to try to delay defeat on the final afternoon, Smith also spoke optimistically about the skills of Holland. The pair were fellow academy inductees nearly a decade ago, and will need to find quick rapport as captain and spinner to help bring Sri Lanka’s batsmen to heel.”Galle is the biggest spinning place here in Sri Lanka, or so we’ve been told so it’s going to play a big part again,” Smith said. “Jon Holland is a class bowler, he’s done pretty well in state cricket and having a left-arm orthodox bowler in these conditions is a must. He’s accurate, he hits a good area and hopefully we can see some of the same as what we saw from Steve and Rangana, with some balls spinning and some balls skidding. It’s incredibly hard to play against and I’m looking forward to him getting here and having a couple of days’ preparation with us.”He and I went to the academy together so we know each other reasonably well and I’m sure he’ll fit in well around this group. There’s always challenges when you’re playing international cricket, especially away from home. He’s going to have to get a game plan and the speeds that he needs to bowl together pretty quickly. We’ll be working with him to make sure he gets that in and I’m really excited for him to join us.”Holland for O’Keefe is likely to be the only change to the Australian side, with Smith looking for his team to atone for their missteps in Pallekele.

Rabada dominates CSA awards

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada became the first player to scoop six awards at CSA’s annual dinner, including the coveted South African cricketer of the year prize, surpassing AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, who had previously won five each. Not only is Rabada the only player to notch up that many awards, but he is also the youngest to win the main prize. The only major award Rabada did not win was the T20 cricketer of the year, which went to legspinner Imran Tahir.

Award winners

  • Cricketer of the year: Kagiso Rabada

  • Test cricketer of the year: Kagiso Rabada

  • ODI cricketer of the year: Kagiso Rabada

  • T20 Player of the year: Imran Tahir

  • Players’ Player of the year: Kagiso Rabada

  • Fans Player of the year: Kagiso Rabada

  • T20 delivery of the year: Kagiso Rabada

  • International newcomer of the year: Stephen Cook

  • Women’s cricketer of the year: Dane van Niekerk

  • First-class cricketer of the season: Heino Kuhn

  • One-day cup cricketer of the season: Alviro Petersen

  • Twenty-over player of the season: Albie Morkel

  • Domestic players’ player of the season: Heino Kuhn

  • Domestic newcomer of the year: Nicky van den Burgh

  • Africa T20 Cup player of the year: Lungi Ngidi

  • Coach of the year: Rob Walter

  • CSA Fair Play award: Cobras

  • SACA MVP: Dwaine Pretorius

In his first full international season, the 2015-16 summer, which was a largely underwhelming period for South Africa’s men’s team, Rabada racked up the second-best match figures by a South African in Test and ODI cricket. His 13 for 144 against England at Centurion in January has only been bettered by Makhaya Ntini, who took 13 for 132 in Port of Spain in 2005, while Rabada’s 6 for 16 on ODI debut against Bangladesh in July last year, a performance which also included a hat-trick, was only surpassed by Imran Tahir, who took 7 for 45 against West Indies in June 2015.That Rabada managed all of this in a time when South Africa were also without two of their experienced seamers – Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander were both injured for large parts of the previous summer – only added to Rabada’s achievement. “With injuries to our main fast bowlers during this past year, he has had to step up and lead the attack. How brilliantly has he done that,” Haroon Lorgat, CSA CEO said.Rabada’s performance also earned the players’ and fans choice awards. He shared speckles of the limelight with Tahir, whose 16 T20 wickets this year put him on top of the South African pile in the format, and batsman Stephen Cook. Despite only playing one international in the 2015-16 season, a Test against England, Cook won the international newcomer of the year award for his century on debut in the only Test South Africa won in the season.”This may not have been the best year for the Proteas in a team sense but there have been some great individual performances, especially from newcomers to the side,” Lograt said. “Temba Bavuma and Stephen Cook, who are other award winners this evening plus Quinton de Kock have all recorded their maiden Test centuries.”Bavuma won a sponsor award for his performance but de Kock went empty-handed, despite being the leading run-scorer in the domestic twenty-over competition. Albie Morkel, who led Titans to victory in that competition, was named T20 player of the year. Titans also had two other winners. Heino Kuhn, who became the sixth South African to score more than 1,000 runs in a first-class season, won the first-class award and outgoing coach Rob Walter, who will take over at Otago Volts, from September, was named coach of the year.The only trophy Titans did not win last season was the one-day cup, which Lions claimed. The leading run-scorer in that campaign Alviro Petersen was awarded in that category.

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