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St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, who had been depleted by injuries in the opening week of CPL 2024, have now been bolstered by the return of Wanindu Hasaranga* and signing of New Zealand’s big-hitting allrounder Josh Clarkson. Hasaranga had been ruled out of the tournament only last month because of a hamstring injury, and was replaced by Tabraiz Shamsi at the time, but he now comes in for the injured Sikandar Raza. Clarkson, on the other hand, will slot in for Tristan Stubbs, who will return to South Africa for national duties.Shamsi is also headed home for CSA commitments for a week, and he will be temporarily replaced by the Pakistan-born USA wristspinner Mohammad Mohsin. Mohsin, 28, has played 14 games for Stephen Fleming’s Texas Super Kings in the MLC, picking up 15 wickets at an economy rate of 7.43.Clarkson is arguably the hardest hitter of a cricket ball in New Zealand and can also bowl at brisk pace. On Tuesday, Clarkson was awarded his first New Zealand central contract, but he is not in the Test scheme of things yet, so he has signed up for his first franchise T20 league stint. Clarkson has played 89 T20s so far, scoring 1673 runs at a strike rate of 147.40 and taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 9.15.Related

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Patriots head coach Malolan Rangarajan, the former Tamil Nadu allrounder who also works with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, rued the injuries, which have disrupted the balance of their side. “Obviously, we started off the tournament with an unfortunate injury to Sikandar Raza, who was a well-thought out and important pick for us,” Malolan said on Tuesday before Patriots had announced Clarkson as their new signing.”We’ve scrambled and we’ve tried to sign a replacement and we’ve had a few hiccups at the start of [the season], with Sherfane [Rutherford] missing out the first game and Rilee [Rossouw] getting injured in the first innings of our fielding. But I think the boys have responded brilliantly to all the challenges that’ve been posed at them.”While Patriots began the season with a thrilling last-ball win against Antigua & Barbuda Falcons in Antigua, they suffered back-to-back defeats at home against Trinbago Knight Riders and St Lucia Kings. They posted 200-plus totals in both innings, but their bowlers came in for heavy punishment in both games. Their fielding has also come into sharp focus: they have dropped at least seven chances so far. Patriots captain Andre Fletcher has called for a stronger response from his team.”Well, it’s all about execution,” Fletcher said. “We’ve been working hard as a bowling unit, I must say. Even before the tournament started, we had a camp here in St Kitts and then we played a practice game in Nevis. We’ve been working hard as a bowling unit. The guys have been putting in the effort as to bowling with the wet ball and bowling [at the] death and bowling actually to one side of the field, thinking about whether this batter from the other team is playing and how we’re going to bowl to this batsman. The effort is there and the practice as I mentioned we put in a lot, but it just boils down to execution. We haven’t been executing as well as we ought to but, I’m confident.”

Fletcher: ‘I’m big on players being comfortable and enjoying themselves’

Losing and losing on the bounce might result in an unhealthy dressing room – Patriots have just won two out of their 12 games across the past two seasons – but Fletcher said that they have stuck together and blocked the outside noise.”As a leader, I try to be not under pressure,” Fletcher said. “Yes, I know a lot will be going around, especially when you lose a game. The first game we win…spectators and fans will be like: ‘good leader and great leader’ and two games lost ‘you’re the worst’.”It’s expected and they always want a win. For me, I just try my best to see where maybe I can improve as a leader. I wouldn’t doubt myself; I’ve done it before and it’s just a matter of getting the guys together. One thing I don’t want is pointing fingers and we’ve responded well after the two losses, so we are gelling really well as a team and for me that’s important. When teams lose people start segregating and the vibe of the team tends to go down, so I’m big on players being comfortable and enjoying themselves.”A chain is as strong as its weakest link, so for me as a leader I will continue to keep the guys together and ensure that they’re comfortable. People would love to see us go out there and entertain them, but it doesn’t make sense to entertain with a loss. We have to entertain with a win and it’s straightforward.”*0315hrs, September 5, The story was updated after the CPL sent a release about the replacement players

Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee has been ruled out of South Africa’s upcoming Test series against West Indies because of a side strain, which he picked up during the USA’s T20 franchise league, Major League Cricket (MLC). Migael Pretorius, uncapped at Test level but with the experience of 64 first-class games to his credit, comes in as Coetzee’s replacement.Coetzee, playing for Texas Super Kings, returned home to undergo assessments on his injured left side by South Africa’s medical team. Cricket South Africa confirmed on Thursday that he was not passed fit to play the Test series, which begins on August 7.Pretorius was last named in a South Africa squad in March 2021, for a T20I series against Pakistan, but he didn’t get a cap. He also got a national call-up in December 2020 for a Test series in Sri Lanka, but then injured his shoulder and could not debut.In 64 first-class games, Pretorius, 29, has 188 wickets at 27.50. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for Somerset in this season’s English County Championship, with 23 wickets, albeit at an average of 39.43.South Africa kick off the Test series in Port-of-Spain, before moving to Providence for the second Test. Three T20Is follow, from August 24 to 28.

Updated South Africa Test squad

Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne, Migael Pretorius.

Match details

Afghanistan vs Papua New Guinea
Tarouba, 8.30pm local

Big picture

Afghanistan have had a dream start to their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. Having brushed past Uganda in the opening fixture, they dealt a killer blow to New Zealand and are comfortably placed to make the Super Eight.In the previous edition in 2022, Afghanistan were part of Super 12 but couldn’t register a single win, losing three games and the other two being washed out.Much of their success so far this year has been down to their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. They added 154 against Uganda and 103 against New Zealand, with Gurbaz hitting fifties in both games. The flip side is that the middle order has not had enough time in the middle. It could hurt them as it almost did when they lost 6 for 55 after their opening stand against New Zealand.It could well be their achilles heel against nearly-men PNG. They are yet to win a match but defending 136 in their opening game, they had West Indies in a spot of bother. In their next outing, they made Uganda work hard for a target of 78.The sluggish conditions in Tarouba could level the playing field, even though Afghanistan have the skills suited for those. PNG’s plethora of medium-pacers and spinners would want to leave a mark at the Brian Lara Stadium. And the team will have a whole bunch of New Zealand fans cheering for them, as their hopes of making the Super Eight hinge on, among other things, PNG beating Afghanistan.

Form guide

Afghanistan WWWWL (last five T20Is, most recent first)
PNG LLLWW

In the spotlight

Over the last two years, Ibrahim Zadran’s consistent performances saw him cement his place at the top of the batting order across formats. He has turned out to be the perfect foil for Gurbaz, improving his range of shots as well as his T20I strike rate (117.91 in 2024, up from 102.91 in 2023). That has meant the scoreboard did not come to a halt when Gurbaz wasn’t on strike. He finished the Qosh Tepa National T20 Cup, Afghanistan’s domestic competition, as the leading run-scorer, and has carried his form into the World Cup.Can Norman Vanua help PNG to their first win of the tournament?•ICC/Getty Images

Seamer Norman Vanua is PNG’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. The team felt his absence in the opening game of the tournament. But he made a successful return against Uganda, his 2 for 19 keeping the side in the contest. With PNG harbouring hopes of their maiden win in the competition, all eyes will be yet again on Vanua.

Team news

Mujeeb Ur Rahman missed the last game with a hand injury. If fit, he could come in for Noor Ahmad, who bowled just the one over against New Zealand.Afghanistan (probable XI): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Azmatullah Omarzai, 4 Gulbadin Naib, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Karim Janat, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Noor Ahmad/Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq FarooqiExpect PNG to field an unchanged team.PNG (probable XI): 1 Assad Vala (capt), 2 Tony Ura, 3 Sese Bau, 4 Lega Siaka, 5 Hiri Hiri, 6 Charles Amini, 7 Kiplin Doriga (wk), 8 Chad Soper, 9 Norman Vanua, 10 Alei Nao, 11 John Kariko

Stats and trivia

• Sese Bau needs 54 runs to become the fourth from PNG to a 1000 mark in T20Is.
• No opening pair has added more runs than Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in T20Is in 2024.
• Among those who have bowled at least 50 overs in T20Is since January 2023, Rashid Khan and John Kariko are the second- and the fifth-most economical bowlers.

Pitch and conditions

The surface in Tarouba played true to its sluggish nature during the game between West Indies and New Zealand. Because of rain in the lead-up to the match, some deliveries from the good-length area outside off stump kept alarmingly low, and it was not easy to hit through the line. There isn’t any rain on the forecast – though that might change – but captain winning the toss is likely to bowl first because of the dew around.

Tess Flintoff’s clutch, late hitting cut the tension as Melbourne Renegades toppled Melbourne Stars in the WBBL’s derby on Sunday at Junction Oval.Chasing 142 for victory, Flintoff (17 in nine balls) held her nerve with a six, four and four off Annabel Sutherland’s penultimate over to clinch the win with four wickets and seven balls to spare.Stars had given themselves every chance with some tight bowling after Courtney Webb (37) and Sophie Molineux (32) had put the defending champions on track.Needing a-run-a-ball in the final four overs, both Deandra Dottin and Georgia Wareham holed out to heap the pressure on the lower order. But, needing 12 off ten balls, Flintoff was up to the task against her former club.First she split two leg-side fielders with a swipe that hit the rope before hammering a back-foot drive over cover to level the scores. Victory came courtesy of a sweetly-timed drive over mid-off to put Renegades (3-1) into second behind the unbeaten Hobart Hurricanes (3-0).Earlier, Meg Lanning (3) recorded a rare failure, leaving Sutherland (29) and Marizanne Kapp (22) to pilot Stars’ innings before Kim Garth’s (29 off 19) late hitting. Dottin, with 3 for 20 in three overs, took the last three wickets and was later named the Player of the Match.

Devine three-for takes Scorchers past Strikers in rain-hit game

Sophie Devine’s intervention took Adelaide Strikers apart before the heavens opened up to hand Perth Scorchers a dominant WBBL win in Melbourne on Sunday.