South Africa beat Namibia to reach tri-series final

The Tri-Nation T20 series match between South Africa and Namibia in Windhoek was a thrilling and historic one. South Africa broke its long losing streak against Namibia with a resounding 11-run victory. With this win, South Africa secured its place in the final, where it will face Zimbabwe on Sunday.

The biggest hero of South Africa’s memorable victory was young opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who scored the first century of his T20 International career. He displayed a brilliant display of aggressive batting, scoring a blistering 101 runs off just 53 balls. His century helped South Africa post a mammoth total of 228 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in their allotted 20 overs, proving to be a tall target for Namibia. Pretorius became the youngest batsman to score a century in T20 International cricket.

India to face Japan for the first time in cricket in a T20I match

The Indian and Japanese cricket teams will face each other for the first time in international cricket in a historic men’s T20I match. The Japan Cricket Association (JCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have confirmed in a statement that the men’s teams of the two countries will play a T20I match on September 22 at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.

The two teams will play this T20 International match as part of the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic relations. This initiative stems from an agreement reached during the summit between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kusal Mendis ruled out of T20I series against England

Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Kusal Mendis has been ruled out of the upcoming T20 series against England, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced on Friday. Mendis has suffered a right hamstring injury. The 31-year-old Mendis’ participation in the ODI series is yet to be determined. Charith Asalanka will captain Sri Lanka in the T20 series. Sri Lankan fast bowler Binura Fernando will also miss the T20 series due to ongoing rehabilitation from an injury. SLC said Fernando has suffered a back injury.

SLC has named Pavan Rathnayake and Dilshan Madushanka in place of Mendis and Fernando. The first T20I between England and Sri Lanka will be played in Southampton on September 15th. The second match will be played two days later in Cardiff on September 17th. The third and final match of the series will be played in Manchester on September 19th.

India’s Under-19 player Rohit Yadav banned for 2 years

India’s Under-19 player Rohit Yadav has been banned for two years. This action was taken after allegations of age fraud were confirmed. Leg-spinner Rohit was part of the Indian Under-19 team on the Sri Lanka tour in July. He has now been dropped from the squad for the upcoming matches against Australia Under-19.

According to Cricinfo , the discrepancy was discovered during the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) pre-season documentation drive. The CAB clarified that Rohit has represented Bengal in the age-group circuit, and the difference in his age was found to be around 27 months. The association has informed all the state units affiliated to the BCCI about this ban, which has come into effect immediately.

Siraj and Padikkal set for Duleep Trophy final

Devdutt Padikkal and Mohammed Siraj have been added to the South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2026 final against East Zone beginning in Chennai on Sunday, according to Cricinfo. South Zone captain Tilak Varma and East Zone pair Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan are also expected to play, unless the Indian team management makes a late request to rest them.

Varma, Sooryavanshi and Kishan are part of India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, beginning three days after the scheduled end of the Duleep Trophy final on September 10. Padikkal and Siraj have been brought in as part of the team management’s plan to keep Test players match-ready. It is not yet clear which two players they will replace.

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