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• Imlach puts Harpy Eagles’ West Indies Championship success down to togetherness- “We had different players stand up at different times”

  Togetherness was the main reason for the Guyana Harpy Eagles successful defence of their West Indies Championship title according to skipper Tevin Imlach.

  The Harpy Eagles recovered from a draw and a loss in their first two games to win their final five games on their way to winning their second straight title.

  “We had different players stand up at different times which is very important,” Imlach said in an appearance on the Mason & Guest radio show on Tuesday.

  “You never want to rely on one or two players. We have a lot of depth in our batting and we have three very good spinners that would’ve played for the West Indies already in Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul and Kevin Sinclair,” Imlach added.

  Sinclair and Imlach finished third and sixth on the top run scorers list with 508 and 485 runs, respectively.

  Sinclair made one hundred and two fifties and finished with an average of 63.50 in his seven games while Imlach, who missed the first two rounds of the tournament while on West Indies duty, made two hundreds and three fifties in his five games and finished with an average of 53.88.

  The Harpy Eagles also had two more batsmen cross the 300-run mark in Kevlon Anderson (332) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (323). Kemol Savory narrowly missed out on joining this club after finishing with 289. Chanderpaul and Savory also both scored a century, each, this season.

  It was also a collective effort with the ball for the champions. Permaul led the way with 29 wickets in seven games followed by pacer Nial Smith who finished with 20 wickets from four matches.

  Motie and Isai Thorne followed with 19 wickets from five and six matches, respectively, while Kevin Sinclair took 13 wickets in seven games and Ronaldo Alimohamed took 12 wickets in six outings.

  This season was also Imlach’s first captaining the Harpy Eagles in the four-day format after taking over from the retired Leon Johnson who led Guyana to six regional four-day titles.

  “It was challenging,” Imlach said about filling Johnson’s shoes.

  “Big shoes to fill obviously with Leon Johnson retiring but it was good. It is much different when you play with these guys and when you’re in a leadership position because you have to be the one making the calls that they may not necessarily always like. These players want the ball in their hands at all times and want to make a difference so sometimes it is difficult. It’s a good learning experience. I’m learning about them and they’re learning about me as well,” he added.

  Imlach was also a member of the West Indies Test squad to Australia in December last year. He said that despite not getting a game, he took some things from his net sessions down under into this first-class season.

  “It was very good. It was different to what we are accustomed to in the Caribbean. The pitches are a lot bouncier and the ball tends to seam around a bit more. I didn’t manage to play in the games but I spent some time in the nets and it was good. It was fruitful. I learned a lot that I took into this season,” he said.

  Imlach's next assignment could be as part of the regional side to take on England in three Tests from July 10-30.

   

   

   

   

• Nortje makes international return for South Africa's T20 World Cup squad

  Anrich Nortje earned a recall to South Africa's fold as he was included in the Proteas' 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup.

  Nortje has been in action in the Indian Premier League, but has not played for South Africa, who will be captained by Aiden Markram, in nine months.

  While he has taken seven wickets in six matches for the Delhi Capitals, Nortje has gone at 13.36 runs per over, but has been given the nod due to his pace.

  "Anrich has got another month before the World Cup starts so I have no doubt he'll hit his straps," South Africa coach Rob Walter said.

  "It's good to see that his speed is up. The one thing Anrich has that separates him from others is raw pace. There's not many guys who can bowl 150kph and he can. Pace is an X-factor."

  Lungi Ngidi has missed out, though he is a travelling reserve. 

  Quinton de Kock has not not been in good form, but has made the cut due to historical performances. He is no longer under contract at Cricket South Africa (CSA) and retired from ODIs last year.

  "Quinny, we've seen him do it time and time again for us," Walter said.

  "Reeza [Hendricks] has been a star performer for us in T20 cricket, was a standout in this domestic CSA T20 challenge again, and Ryan Rickelton has had two outstanding competitions really where he's played the brand of cricket that we're looking to play.

  "And then we're going to have Markram and that'll be the top order. It's mostly a performance-based decision and from Quinton's point of view is just a real knowledge of what he's capable of."

  Rickelton and Ottniel Baartman have been standout performers in the SA20 this year, and could earn their maiden T20I caps.

  South Africa did not make it out of the Super 12 stage at the last World Cup in 2022. 

  Three big players, Temba Bavuma, Rilee Rossouw and Wayne Parnell, have missed out compared to the squad for that tournament.

  The Proteas start their World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 3, after playing a warm-up series against West Indies.

  South Africa squad:

  Aiden Markram (capt), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.

• West Indies trump Pakistan in thrilling final-over finish to take unassailable 3-0 lead

  A stunning death-overs implosion from Pakistan amidst more all-round heroics from Hayley Matthews helped West Indies take an unassailable 3-0 series lead over Pakistan in the T20I series at the Karachi National Stadium on Tuesday.

  Another commanding half-century from Matthews - 68 off 49 balls - guided West Indies to the series' highest total of 132 - but Pakistan were cruising at 115 for 2, spearheaded by Sidra Ameen's 63 off 58, needing 18 off the last 23 balls.

  Matthews then took two wickets in as many deliveries to kickstart a stunning collapse and Pakistan lost six wickets for 10 runs in 20 deliveries. The hosts fell apart spectacularly, with West Indies sneaking home by two runs.

  Pakistan won the toss and put West Indies in to bat. Fatima Sana struck early to remove Rashada Williams, but the hosts ran into the familiar brilliance of Matthews and couldn't find a way to stem the dazzling stroke making that followed. The best they could do was work around her, and although taking wickets was a problem, Pakistan's success in keeping one end relatively quiet ensured West Indies did not get up to the 150 mark, something Matthews said the side had been aiming for.

  Once Tuba Hassan managed the wicket of Matthews in the 16th over, the hosts wrested momentum back. Shemaine Campbelle edged one off Nida Dar to the keeper in the following over, and Pakistan ground the visitors down. The last six overs saw just 30 runs scored on a wicket that looked good enough to offer more, and at the halfway mark, Pakistan had the momentum.

  They rode on that momentum in the second innings with a blistering opening partnership dominated by Ameen. Five boundaries in the first four overs, all struck by Ameen, saw Pakistan gallop to 39, instantly reducing the target to below a run a ball. West Indies found ways to stop the bleeding, but Pakistan never really fell behind the asking rate, ensuring they had wickets in hand and never got bogged down for too long.

  A pair of tight overs from Afy Fletcher saw Ayesha Zafar hole out trying to go over long-on, but Ameen once more eased the pressure with a big 13th over, taking 11 off it and bringing up a 42-ball half-century. Pakistan appeared to have timed their push perfectly when Ameen and Dar targeted Karishma Ramharack's 16^th over, plundering 13 and bringing the equation down to 20 needed in four remaining overs, with eight wickets still in hand.

  But having not won a game all series and fallen short by narrow margins a couple of times, the psychological scarring was palpable, and it made its presence felt in a frenzied final half hour. Aaliyah Alleyne cleaned up Nida Dar in the 17th over to keep West Indies alive, but Pakistani panic properly set in when Ameen missed an expansive inside out drive and Matthews knocked back the top of off. The next ball saw Fatima Sana spoon one to short cover-point, and two more wickets fell in the following over, including a needless run out that revealed the nerves that had clouded the hosts' thoughts.

  The three overs before the final one saw just eight runs scored, meaning another 12 were required in the final one. The hosts never looked like getting there, and by the time the final ball was helped away for a boundary, the game, and the series, was already beyond Pakistan.

  West Indies women 132 for 5 (Matthews 68, Campbelle 31, Sana 2-22) beat Pakistan women 130 for 8 (Ameen 63, Fletcher 2-20, Matthews 2-22) by two runs