Jean-Paul Duminy hit 90 and took three wickets with his off-spin as South Africa scored a comfortable 159-run win against Kenya in the first one-day international at Springbok Park on Friday.
South Africa made 336 for seven and bowled Kenya out for 177. The left-handed Duminy, 24, confirmed his reputation as one of South Africa’s most talented young players with an elegant innings. He made his career-highest score off 88 balls with eight fours, before he holed out to long-off with three overs remaining in the innings.
Duminy followed up his batting effort by taking three for 31, also a career-best, making his first strike with his fourth delivery when he ended an attacking innings by Alex Obanda, who top-scored for Kenya with 38. Fellow off-spinner Johan Botha, captaining South Africa in the absence of the injured Graeme Smith, also claimed the best figures of his career, taking four for 19 as the slow bowlers worked their way through Kenya’s batting.
Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher joined Duminy in hitting half-centuries for South Africa after they won the toss and batted on a true, but slow, pitch. Kallis, in his first international appearance since a disappointing tour of England, made a confident 71, while Boucher hammered an unbeaten 57 off 30 balls to give the innings late impetus.
Kallis was content to play a measured innings as he sought to recapture his best form after working with former Western Province and England coach Duncan Fletcher to eliminate flaws in his technique which were exposed in England. He faced 86 balls and hit five fours and a six.
Kenya were hampered by a muscle injury which forced the experienced Thomas Odoyo off the field four balls into his fourth over. It was Kenya’s first match against a major cricket nation since last year’s World Cup.
“We were outplayed. You need to play these bigger teams more often to compete at this level,” captain Steve Tikolo said.
South Africa’s pace bowlers were unimpressive, with Obanda, 20, hitting some powerful strokes off Monde Zondeki and Albie Morkel. But the Kenyan innings went into decline when Duminy and Botha bowled. Both spinners took two wickets in their first spells, as four wickets fell for 31.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946