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The decision to tour hinges on security assessments which will be partly determined by the government

Mohammad Isam09-Dec-2019The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will know later this week whether the Bangladesh government will allow them to send the men’s team to Pakistan for a full tour in January, according to chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury. The decision to tour hinges on security assessments, which will be determined by the government, apart from the board’s own security team which has submitted a report recently.Chowdhury was responding to a question posed about the Pakistan Cricket Board’s proposal to play a day-night Test during the tour. He said that the decision to play the day-night game is secondary for them currently.”Before discussing the proposal to play day-night Test, we are awaiting the government directive because of the security issue in Pakistan,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by . “We will need the government’s permission. We have to first see if we can go on this tour. We don’t have much time as the tour is scheduled for next month. We are hopeful that we can clear our position on the tour this week. We will know if we are going to Pakistan or not.”ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the BCB are not quite keen on playing another day-night Test without giving the players enough match practice with the pink ball under lights. The current schedule would not allow the senior team time to prepare separately for pink-ball cricket, as the BPL ends on January 17.The tour is scheduled for three T20Is from January 23, and the Test series has to finish before the PSL that is scheduled to begin on February 20, so like their maiden pink-ball Test in India last month, Bangladesh are unlikely to get an extra practice match before the proposed Pakistan day-night Test.On the other hand, the PCB has been experimenting with day-night first-class cricket for the last eight years starting with the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 2011, which was played with an orange ball in Karachi, and their Test side has played four day-night matches.

Manchester United employees have been left "angry and hurt" after some were cut from the club's pre-season tour at the last minute.

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Ratcliffe axing jobs in bid to cut costsStaff left upset and fearing for the futureUnited about to fly out to U.S. for pre-seasonWHAT HAPPENED?

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been busy cutting costs since taking a minority stake in Manchester United and is set to axe 250 jobs at Old Trafford. Staff have already been informed about the forthcoming redundancies with some even pulled from the club's pre-season tour of the United States at the last minute, according to . More job cuts are set to follow, leaving staff "angry and hurt" and morale at the club at a low ebb ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

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Ratcliffe is eager to restructure the club and bring down costs to make operations more sustainable. Yet staff believe Manchester United's poor recruitment of players in recent years is more to blame for the club wasting money than work carried out by loyal staff. The Red Devils have certainly splashed out heavily on players who have failed to impress including such big-money buys as Antony, Jadon Sancho, and Donny van de Beek.

WHAT MAN UTD HAVE SAID

Chief operating offer Collette Roche told a fan forum earlier this month that 250 roles would be cut and attempted to explain why, as reported by The Telegraph. She said: “Significant transformation is required to meet the challenges we face to be successful on and off the pitch. We believe greater efficiency can lead to better outcomes. The cost review has identified ‘non-essential’ activities we can stop, and we therefore believe we have more people than we need to deliver future club priorities. We have not taken this decision lightly and would not be doing it if we didn’t feel it was necessary for the long-term health and success of the club."

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GOAL WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD

United are due to fly out to North America for their pre-season tour shortly. The Red Devils are due to take on Arsenal, Real Betis and Liverpool before returning for a Community Shield clash against Manchester City.

There has been a sense of doom and gloom surrounding Manchester United for large parts of the current season.

This was a campaign in which Erik ten Hag was supposed to take the Old Trafford club to the next level. They'd qualified for the Champions League and were coming into 2023/24 having won a trophy last time out.

Sadly, despite the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co, they haven't been able to shake the negative hoodoo surrounding the club.

There have been positives though. Ratcliffe's emergence has provided a glimpse of a brighter future, as has Kobbie Mainoo's growing influence.

The 18-year-old has been nothing short of superb and capped off a wonderful few weeks in which he earned his maiden England cap by scoring a sumptuous curling effort in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

It was a great result for United, one that was not just poignant for Mainoo but also for central defender Willy Kambwala and left-back Harry Amass. The former made his first Premier League start while the latter was in the senior squad for the very first time.

Why Harry Amass was in the squad

To his credit, Ten Hag hasn't been afraid to give opportunities to young players since becoming the man in the dugout at Old Trafford. The clash with Liverpool served as a reminder of that.

But why, we hear you ask, was a 17-year-old with no first-team football in his career on the bench?

Well, United's dire injury situation in defence will serve as the biggest reason. Over the weekend, they had to field their 26th different combination in the back four with Diogo Dalot, Kambwala, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka lining up alongside each other.

Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof both missed Sunday's game, as too did Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.

Subsequently, it was a wonderful opportunity for Amass to gain experience on the biggest of stages.

Just a teen, he has been a "standout" for the U18s this term – according to reporter Laurie Whitwell – who after signing from Watford in the summer of 2023 has featured on 19 occasions for United's youth sides, registering three assists.

Amass will no doubt get a chance for senior minutes at some stage but even if he didn't play, Kambwala did. Boy did he take his opportunity with both hands.

Kambwala's performance in numbers

The likes of Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez will have been licking their lips when they saw United's backline announced on Sunday.

Salah may have scored a late penalty but it's safe to say they didn't take full advantage of the injury situation plaguing United.

In short, Kambwala was exceptional, notably hailed as the player of the match in some quarters after the game. There was also fine praise from Ten Hag.

Perhaps the finest example of what the 19-year-old is about came in the first half. The DR Congo-born defender initially looked as though he'd got caught out in behind by Nunez but showed great recovery pace to get back and make life difficult for the Liverpool striker.

It was an exemplary display for someone so inexperienced as he left the field having won 100% of his aerial duels and two of his three ground duels.

Minutes played

90

Touches

46

Accurate passes

29/36 (81%)

Long balls

2/5

Fouls

1

Interceptions

2

Tackles

1

Ground duels won

2/3

Aerials won

1/1

That said, United have another fine youngster who could soon be ready for first-team football. Let's meet Shea Lacey.

Why Shea Lacey is so exciting

Lacey's progress has been hampered significantly by injury this season, missing the last four months of action.

However, he has now made his return and like the aforementioned Amass, was on the bench for the draw with Liverpool on Sunday.

There have been rave reviews for the young talent over the last year or so with the teenager, who is remarkably just 16 years of age, making waves at youth team level.

There have already been comparisons to Lionel Messi and Phil Foden but even if the first example is a tad extreme, the second certainly isn't.

A winger by trade, the teen is capable of playing off either side, although it's his performances from the left which see so many similarities with Foden, who is potentially on course to win the PFA Player of the Year this season.

Similar to the Manchester City gem, Lacey is slight in frame, has neat close control and regularly surges towards the penalty area to find goalscoring positions.

He has only appeared eight times this term but has scored twice, registering four assists in the process.

Said to possess a "left foot made of gold" by scout Jacek Kulig, he's also been described as a "very special" talent by journalist Alex Turk.

Both Kambwala and Amass' emergence in the first-team picture has been rather sudden but once Lacey gets his chance, it won't be sudden. This is a player who is showing all the qualities to be a high-level player and it won't be a surprise when he finally picks up some minutes under Ten Hag.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast's In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

Players and team management can assess situation in Pakistan during the T20I series, Nizamuddin Chowdhury says

Mohammad Isam24-Dec-2019Despite the tough stance adopted by the PCB on Bangladesh’s unwillingness to play Test cricket in Pakistan, the BCB has reiterated that as things stood, it could only give the go-ahead to a T20I series in the country. In what could be seen as a slight softening of its position on the Tests, though, chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that Bangladesh would decide on the longer series after the T20I tour.Speaking to a few reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday, Chowdhury said that while the BCB understood the sentiments of the PCB, it needed to take into account the views of the Bangladeshi players and the team management.ALSO READ: ‘Great injustice’ – Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali unhappy with Bangladesh decision”Pakistan will definitely try for the full return of international cricket to their country. We have to take into account the views of our players and members of our team management, who are foreigners,” Chowdhury said. “The match environment is also important to us. Relevant stakeholders’ view is also important, regarding a longer tour to Pakistan.”Our primary proposal is to play three T20Is in a shorter period so that players and team management can do a proper assessment of the situation there.”Recently, Sri Lanka became the first team to play Test cricket in Pakistan since 2009. That tour was always going to be in two parts, with the Tests first and then the white-ball matches. But the PCB swapped the formats around, with many major Sri Lanka players expressing their apprehension about touring, and the limited-overs matches were played first, in October. Once that tour was conducted without incident, Sri Lanka agreed to tour in December for a two-Test series with their first-choice players.As such, since the T20Is are scheduled for January 23, 25 and 27, the PCB has a very small window to host the Bangladesh Tests, with the PSL scheduled to begin in the third week of February.On Monday, at the end of Pakistan’s Test series against Sri Lanka, Ehsan Mani, the PCB chairman, had adopted a particularly defiant tone, saying there was “absolutely no doubt” Pakistan would play all home series within the country going forward.”No one should be under any misapprehension as to where Pakistan’s home Tests will take place,” Mani said at a press interaction. “All of Pakistan’s matches, against Bangladesh or anyone else, will take place in Pakistan. I still hope the BCB will reflect on the matter and accept there is no reason for them not to visit Pakistan.”If Sri Lanka can come – and bringing them was very high-risk – then it is safe. If anything even minor had happened, people would have said it isn’t safe to come. But they trusted the people here and came and they [the ones that opted out] said they wished they had come for the limited-overs series as well, because what they’ve been told and the ground realities are very different.”

Jose Mourinho took a dig at his former club Tottenham while speaking about Fenerbahce's Champions League qualification draw.

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Mourinho took a dig at Spurs'Forgot' about his former clubFenerbahce take on Lille in UCL qualifiersWHAT HAPPENED?

The Portuguese manager was addressing questions from the media regarding Fenerbahce's journey in the qualification rounds of the Champions League 2024-25 season when he subtly took a dig at his former employers. Fenerbahce learned their potential fate for the play-off round of qualifying when the draw was made on Monday, with a clash against Slavia Prague or Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on the cards if they can get past Lille in their third-round tie.

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Mourinho managed Spurs for 18 months before being unceremoniously sacked on the eve of the League Cup final against Manchester City in 2021. The legendary coach was in charge for 86 matches across all competitions at the north London club, out of which he won 44.

WHAT JOSE MOURINHO SAID

Speaking to reporters, the 61-year-old said: "This is not the first time for me, it is the second time. I sometimes forget about Tottenham, that I played with them in the qualifiers. This is the second time this has happened to me, but it's the first time I'm starting the season in a summer month when there is a European Championship and a World Cup.

"This makes our job twice as difficult. It is difficult because you are playing official matches and the players from the European Championship return to the team in different periods. We have now carried out 40 training sessions, maybe we were able to work as a full squad in a maximum of ten. They joined the team step by step, which made our job difficult. But this is the situation we are in."

He added: "I don't like making excuses, I always prefer to concentrate on the next match. Tomorrow, our team and the players will be better off except for Fred's absence. We are motivated for this match. Sometimes they ask, 'What is your motivation for the season, being in the Champions League or winning the league?' I always say the same thing: 'My motivation is always the next match.'"

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR FENERBAHCE?

The Turkish giants will next be seen in action on Tuesday night as they take on Ligue 1 side Lille in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie.

Tottenham have been left "hugely impressed" by a £30 million forward's performances this season, which has lead to interest in signing him this summer.

Spurs set sights on new attackers for Ange Postecoglou

Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou already has a wealth of attacking options at his disposal, but widespread reports indicate that the Australian wishes to add further goals and assists.

Double Tottenham exit on the cards if Ange signs £50m "leader" – pundit

Their futures could be far away from N17.

ByEmilio Galantini Apr 6, 2024

Timo Werner's deal includes an option to buy him permanently from RB Leipzig for around £15 million, but it is rumoured this won't affect Tottenham's search for another new forward to bolster Postecoglou's ranks.

Many names have been linked with moves to north London in this respect, with Genoa star Albert Gudmundsson among Spurs' priority targets this summer, according to widespread reports.

Two players are already into double digits for goals this season at Spurs. Son Heung-min's bagged a brilliant 15 in the league alone, while Richarlison boasts 10 in what has been a rejuvenating season for the Brazilian.

Son Heung-min

15

Richarlison

10

Dejan Kulusevski

6

Brennan Johnson

5

James Maddison

4

However, reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano is among those to have backed the club's chase for a fresh attacking outlet to provide that extra bit of cutting edge in the final third.

“Look, a player they appreciate for a long time is Raphinha from Barcelona. We know the financial situation at Barcelona is not easy, so he could be one of the names. They will look at that kind of player," said Romano to JD Football last month.

"Another player they appreciate is Pedro Neto, but he has this issue with his injuries, so I’m not sure Liverpool, Tottenham or the other clubs following the player will be prepared to play big money for Pedro Neto this summer. That kind of player is the priority for Tottenham, I see them going for that kind of winger, a quality player to help with goals and assists."

The Championship could be a fairly solid pool of talent to look at from a Spurs perspective, as it's also feasible they could depart for fairly affordable fees.

One of the league's best players, Leeds United star Crysencio Summerville, is now rumoured to be attracting attention from Tottenham.

Tottenham looking at Summerville with scouts "hugely impressed"

According to HITC, Tottenham are looking at signing Summerville after being left "hugely impressed" by his Elland Road performances this season.

The winger has bagged 18 goals and nine assists in all competitions, leading to Leeds slapping a £30 million price tag on his head. He's been described as the Championship's "best player" by Tom Cleverley, while Whites boss Daniel Farke has called him "outstanding".

"He is playing an outstanding season in terms of performances," said Farke.

"End product and also his willingness to work for the team, to be there and deliver on a daily basis even in training, otherwise you can’t deliver consistency in this league."

South Africa coach in a quandary after fast bowler’s fiery nature gets him in hot water again

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth17-Jan-2020Mark Boucher, South Africa’s coach, is in a quandary. He needs to find a way to ensure his premier strike bowler, Kagiso Rabada, does not lose his instinctive aggression but also that Rabada does not use it beyond the parameters of the ICC’s Code of Conduct, as he did to his cost at St George’s Park.After bowling Joe Root with a delivery that beat the England captain for pace, Rabada continued in his followthrough all the way to the edges of Root’s crease, where he let out a rip-roaring scream while squatting almost to his haunches and holding the outsides of his legs.Match referee Andy Pycroft deemed that to be a breach of clause 2.5 which forbids send-offs that make use of disparaging or provoking language, actions or gestures, and charged Rabada with a Level 1 offence which he did not contest despite Boucher seeing “nothing wrong,” with the celebration.Rabada will miss the series finale in Johannesburg as a result of accumulated demerit points (this was the fourth in the last 24 months) and though Boucher has accepted Rabada’s fate, he now faces the challenge of trying to keep him both fired up and disciplined.”KG bowls at his best when he is nice and aggressive,” Boucher said. “It’s trying to find a balance of keeping him nice and aggressive and not boxing him in with regards to that. But just understanding the laws of the game and trying to stay on the good side of it, rather than the flip side. It is going to be tough but it is something we will have to address.”In theory, Boucher disagrees with Pycroft’s decision, which he communicated at Thursday’s post-play meeting. “We did voice our concerns over the rule that he quoted to us and a couple of variations of the rule,” Boucher said. “It’s a tough one because the talk is about excessive celebrations in the area of the batter and making contact with the batter, I don’t feel he made any contact with the batter whatsoever. He wasn’t even looking at him. Yes, he was in his space but there are probably different ways you can look at it. It doesn’t really matter what we feel about it. The match referee has made up his mind.”ALSO READ: Dobell: Superlative Stokes approaches batting fulfilmentBoucher regards the Level 1 sanction as a “slap on the wrist”, and not something “really bad”, but acknowledged that he is not entirely familiar with the demerit system which came into effect in September 2016. In getting to know it a little bit more, Boucher’s disappointment is split between the severity with which the code was applied and Rabada’s lack of control over his own conduct.”You don’t want to take all the aggression out of the game of cricket,” he said. “You’ve got two countries playing hard cricket against each other. In a heated situation, guys are trying really hard and sometimes the emotions overflow. From that side, maybe I am a little bit disappointed in the rules and regulations but if you know the rules and regulations, you have got to stick to them. KG knows what he can and cannot do and he maybe just pushed a little it too far.”KG is a team man as well so he will feel very disappointed. It’s something that we have to address and get a good balance. In our days, we didn’t have to deal with this stuff because we could say pretty much we wanted and get away with it. It is a bit of a learning curve for me with all these new rules and regulations that have come in, to try and get the best out of him with his aggression but also try and monitor him in the discipline side.”While the confrontational exchanges of Boucher’s playing days are unlikely to return, wars of words continue to take place. If they are audible through the stump mic, they are punished, which was the case with Jos Buttler at Newlands. Buttler was heard calling Vernon Philander a ‘f****** knobhead’ and was given the same sanction as Rabada – a 15 percent match-fee fine and one demerit point. It’s instances like that that Boucher thinks shows the intensity of the moment and that should not be taken out of the game.”I am a little bit worried,” Boucher said. “There’s been quite a few things happening in world cricket, we saw it last game, where sides are going for a win, they are pushing hard for a win. England had been in the field for a long time and the swear words weren’t great, but it’s aggression. In our day, we’d push very hard for a win and try make batters feels uncomfortable if we are on top. The laws have changed. I understand where the ICC want to go with it. Hopefully they find a balance where they don’t take emotion out of the game. I still think there is a very big place for that in cricket.”South Africa had not forgotten Buttler’s remarks and greeted him with a volley of insults in a short-lived innings, which was one of their brighter moments in an otherwise flat day. Asked whether news of Rabada’s sanction affected the fielders, Boucher said he didn’t think so. “I don’t know if most of the guys actually know,” he said. “We weren’t 100 percent sure how many demerit points he had but then we found out this morning. I don’t think it affected the guys too much. They still feel they’ve got a big chance to do well.”That will be South Africa’s focus for the next three days, during which they will still have Rabada in their ranks. Then, they will move to the series-decider in Johannesburg, where they will either be in a must-win situation to save the series or a must-not-lose to avoid squaring it. Whichever it is, they will have to do it without Rabada, who Boucher said will be sorely missed.”He is a world-class performer, especially at the Wanderers, where I think he would be very effective. So yes, very disappointing but we’ve got a Test match to try and save over here. We’ll have to have a look at our options once we get to the Wanderers.”South Africa have three options in the current squad: allrounders Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo and left-armer Beuran Hendricks who could be brought in but may cast the net wider ahead of the match.

Teenage Brazilian starlet Gabriel Mec has secured a big-money move to Chelsea, with the Blues set to pay up to £20.5 million ($26m).

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Chelsea sign Gremio's Gabriel Mec16-year-old Brazilian follows Estevao WillianCosts the Blues €24mWHAT HAPPENED?

Not content with the £56m ($71.5m) signing of Palmeiras' Estevao Willian, the west London club have splashed a further £17m ($22m) on his compatriot, a young attacking midfielder who is yet to make a professional appearance in Gremio's Mec, according to . That fee could rise to £20.5m with add-ons. The Under-20 international player is set to remain in Brazil until he turns 18 in 2026, at which point he'll depart for London.

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Mec is the latest young talent to join Chelsea as they look to build for the future and invest in players they expect to grow and develop significantly in the coming years. The price tag they've slapped on this youth player is an indication that they've got high expectations, and the club hierarchy will be keeping a keen eye on his movements as he looks to break into the Gremio first team before the Chelsea move in April 2026.

DID YOU KNOW?

As Chelsea continue splashing cash on youngsters, they look set to lose one of their more experienced midfielders, England international Conor Gallagher. According to reports, the 24-year-old is set to travel to Spain to complete a transfer to Atletico Madrid.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

Future-oriented signings like this will not sort out the immediate situation at Chelsea, which is uncertain to say the least. The club have had a disappointing pre-season, with new boss Enzo Maresca struggling to implement his playing style so far. They have two more friendlies to play, against Real Madrid and Inter, before their 2024-25 campaign kicks off with a tricky fixture against Manchester City.

Tottenham have been tipped to offload a member of Ange Postecoglou's squad who's played nearly every Premier League game this season.

Spurs players linked with summer exits

A number of names are facing very uncertain futures at Spurs as we slowly approach the summer transfer window.

Talks already underway as defender now hopes to quit Tottenham this summer

He’s set his sights on another club for 2024/25.

ByEmilio Galantini Apr 13, 2024

In the last few days, some reports have suggested that midfielder Giovani Lo Celso is pining for the exit door at Tottenham after being given precious few chances to impress this campaign.

The Argentine has contributed well on occasion, but James Maddison's presence has kept him out of Postecoglou's starting elevens on a very regular basis. As well as Lo Celso, another player struggling for minutes is young winger Bryan Gil.

Bryan Gil

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Manor Solomon (injured for large period)

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Giovani Lo Celso

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Oliver Skipp

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Rodrigo Bentancur (injured for large period)

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The former Sevilla star, signed by Fabio Paratici in 2021, elected to stay at Spurs in January and fight for game time – but his efforts have been in vain thus far. Gil, though, only wants to leave Tottenham in the event of a permanent project – with a loan very unappealing given the amount of temporary spells away he's already been on.

There are also the contingent of Spurs players out on loan who must be considered. Japhet Tanganga will have just a year remaining on his deal when he returns from Millwall, with young striker Troy Parrott likely to attract interest following a brilliant season at Excelsior in the Netherlands.

Postecoglou has apparently decided Djed Spence is not part of his future plans, and the same can be said of left-back Sergio Reguilon (Alasdair Gold). Club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele is very, very likely to be transfer listed as well, as Spurs look to part company with one of the biggest flops in their recent history.

Leeds want to make Joe Rodon's deal permanent this summer after his excellent Championship campaign, while closer to home, uncertainty surrounds the future of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Alan Hutton tips Hojbjerg exit from Spurs

The Denmark international has actually played nearly every league game this season, amassing 31 top flight appearances, but the vast majority of them have been off the substitutes' bench.

Speaking to Tottenham News, BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Alan Hutton says Hojbjerg's "time is up" at Tottenham and he'll be gone this summer.

“Hojbjerg, there has been a conversation for a while now that maybe his Tottenham career was over," said Hutton. Ange has brought him back in from time to time and he has played minutes but not as regularly as he would want.

“I genuinely believe he would have left before now but with a new manager coming in, he probably thought he had an opportunity to force his way in, but it has not quite happened. Again, if they’re going to bring in a midfielder who is relatively similar then you’re thinking maybe my time is up here so he’s somebody who will be looking at his options again come the summer.”

New Zealand’s innings folds in just 38.1 overs as Luus picks up second six-for of ODI career

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2020For the third time in this ODI series, New Zealand had first strike, and for the third time this series, South Africa came up trumps. This time it was on the back of innings-wrecking 6 for 45 from legspinner Sune Luus, who spun the hosts out for 149 and secured South Africa direct qualification into the 2021 ODI World Cup.New Zealand’s innings folded in just 38.1 overs, with Suzie Bates their only performer of note, scoring 51 of their runs. They had been inserted by South Africa and looked on course for a decent total at 96 for 3 in the 23rd, with Bates set at one end. Then, Luus struck her first blow: Katie Perkins stumped by Trisha Chetty for 11. The wickets – including two more stumpings – came quick and fast thereafter, with Luus racing to her second-best figures in ODI cricket. The innings ended with No. 11 Rosemary Mair’s run-out.None of South Africa’s batters really got going, but then the target of 150 was never really going to stretch them. They eased home in the 38th over, on the back of 30-somethings from captain Dane van Niekerk and Mignon du Preez.”I was really happy with how the girls handled the pressure in today’s match and how we went about our job with a sense of confidence,” van Niekerk said after the match. “We started really well in the field. Kappie (Marizanne Kapp) and Shabnim (Ismail) managed to put pressure on and didn’t concede a lot. The six-for from Sune (Luus) was the key and really proud of her- that’s initially what started it off and created a big buzz in the field. It is a great feeling to come out with a 3-0 win over a very strong New Zealand side.”The teams will now play five T20Is, which gain extra significance as it is their last chance to fine tune plans for the Women’s T20 World Cup that kicks off in Australia on February 21.