Month: June 2019

5:58 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Following the report on ESPNcricinfo that AB de Villiers wanted to come out of retirement for the World Cup but was turned down by the South African management, Cricket South Africa’s selection panel convenor, Linda Zondi, issued the following statement. “I pleaded with AB de Villiers not to retire in 2018. Although there was a perception that he was picking and choosing when to play…

Close Assistant editor Daniel Brettig had been a journalist for eight years when he joined ESPNcricinfo, but his fascination with cricket dates back to the early 1990s, when his dad helped him sneak into the family lounge room to watch the end of day-night World Series matches well past bedtime. Unapologetically passionate about indie music and the South Australian Redbacks, Daniel’s chief cricketing achievement was to dismiss Wisden Almanack editor…

2:49 AM ET George Dobell Nagraj Gollapudi AB de Villiers made a remarkable last-ditch offer to come out of international retirement for this summer’s World Cup, but was rebuffed by the South Africa team management on the eve of their final squad announcement. ESPNcricinfo understands that the offer was made in May, just 24 hours before South Africa’s selectors unveiled their final 15-man squad for the World Cup. De Villiers…

1:23 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff June 6 Yuzvendra Chahal‘s 4 for 51 against South Africa played a big role in India’s first win of the World Cup. What was most impressive about Chahal’s performance was the quality of the batsmen he dismissed: Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo. After the match, Chahal was asked by his spin partner Kuldeep Yadav on bcci.tv on his…

6:11 PM ET Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza defended Mushfiqur Rahim after he hit the stumps with his elbow when trying to run out Kane Williamson. The incident took place in the 12th over of the New Zealand innings when the Ross Taylor – Williamson partnership was at an embryonic stage. As the two batsmen got involved in a mix-up, Tamim Iqbal threw the ball from mid-on with Williamson still well…

Play 01:15 New Zealand 248 for 8 (Taylor 82, Williamson 40) beat Bangladesh 244 (Shakib 64, Henry 4-47) by two wickets Kane Williamson is not a man who telegraphs his emotions too readily. But the look of self-recrimination and fury in the eyes of New Zealand’s captain was unmistakable after the most fleeting moment of arrogance in a supremely humble career managed to turn a calm and collected victory cruise…

SA players ‘angry’ after third straight loss – Morris (1:19) South Africa bowler says his side now need to win their remaining games to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup. (1:19) 4:24 PM ET “Stranger things have happened,” allrounder Chris Morris said. Following three defeats to begin the 2019 World Cup, this is what South Africa have to cling to, if they are to progress to the semi-finals….

‘Rohit played a perfect innings considering the conditions’ – Kohli (1:11) The India captain rated the unbeaten century by Rohit Sharma better than any of his three double-centuries (1:11) 4:16 PM ET Rohit Sharma‘s century against South Africa in Southampton was the slowest of his ODI career. Yet, the timing, the composure and the manner in which he scored his runs prompted his captain Virat Kohli to label the century…