Cricket news round-up – 24 May: South Africa Women win series, Kohli’s X-factor Archer

South Africa Women won the T20I series against Pakistan; Hampshire defeated Nottinghamshire in the County Championship; and Virat Kohli marked out Jofra Archer as an X-factor ahead of the World Cup.

Kohli backs Archer

The pre-tournament warm-up matches for the World Cup will commence on May 24. Star Sports is going to broadcast the same. The first day will witness Sri Lanka take on South Africa and Pakistan play Afghanistan.

Ahead of the World Cup, Virat Kohli Kohli shared thoughts on Jofra Archer: “I think he’s going to be the X-factor because he has all the skill sets and he’s very different from anyone else. He can generate a lot of pace which can be intimidating and you don’t really expect that from his run-up.”

South Africa Women Win Series

A low-scoring decider saw South Africa Women clinch a series victory 3-2 against Pakistan Women. Batting first, Pakistan put only 125/5 on board. There were some contributions in the twenties from the middle order although no one could lead with a big score.

South Africa chased down the target in just 15.1 overs with the loss of one wicket. Lizelle Lee (75) and Nadine de Klerk (37) guided the chase.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Final 2019

Matches 13 and 14: – The matches between Botswana and Kenya and Namibia Nigeria have been abandoned without a ball bowled.

Match 15: The Ghana middle order helped them post 113/6 as Henry Ssenyondo took 3 wickets. Uganda completed their chase in 15.1 overs. Riazat Ali Shah remained not out with 53 off 36.

County Updates

After a strong performance from their batsmen in the second innings, the Hampshire bowlers contributed to complete a massive win for them. Keith Barker, Kyle Abbott and Fidel Edwards took 3 wickets each as they completed a 244-run win over Nottinghamshire.

Kent held on to a draw against Surrey guided by Sean Dickson (91) and Heino Kuhn (81). The Surrey bowlers were put under under pressure after Sam Curran was out most of the day with a hamstring injury. Despite the best efforts from Morne Morkel and Rikki Clarke, they could only pick 8 wickets. An unbeaten 68 from Wiaan Mulder on his county debut ensured safety for Kent.

The Division Two match between Sussex and Northamptonshire also ended in a stalemate. Sussex declared early, after adding 47, but Northants batted through the day. Josh Cobb scored 68 and Adam Rossington an unbeaten 69. Despite 4 wickets from Mir Hamza, the match ended in a draw.