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AB de Villiers said that the inability of South Africa’s bowlers to deal with Colombo’s sapping heat played a major role in the 180-run loss on Saturday, after the attack conceded 320 for 5

Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Jul-2013AB de Villiers said that the inability of South Africa’s bowlers to deal with Colombo’s sapping heat played a major role in the 180-run loss on Saturday, after the attack conceded 320 for 5. South Africa prevented Sri Lanka from achieving a quick start after electing to field first, but were woeful at the death, conceding 137 in the last 12 overs.Sri Lanka’s total was propelled by a 134-ball 169 from Kumar Sangakkara, who built steadily alongside Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene before embarking on a manic pace in Lahiru Thirimanne’s company. He hit 103 in his last 46 deliveries, and was bowled by Ryan McLaren in the 46th over, only for the delivery to be called a no-ball because too many fielders had been stationed on the fence.”I don’t think we started badly,” de Villiers said. “Going at four or five runs an over was a good effort on that wicket. There’s a lot of heat out there and I think the bowlers took a lot of strain. We let it get to us. I tried to keep their spells nice and short, which we managed to do. Unfortunately we lost a bit of momentum when Sanga and Jayawardene got that partnership going. There was another partnership after that and then the no-ball and the wickets – things didn’t go our way there.”South Africa continued to bowl short throughout the innings, with little reward on a slow surface, but de Villiers said it was not the bowling strategy, but the attack’s indiscipline that spurred their downfall. Pinpoint yorkers were scarce in the latter overs of Sri Lanka’s innings, with both Sangakkara and Thisara Perera succeeding in hitting over the top in the final flourish.”I think execution was the problem at the death, when the bowlers were tired. The fields were set and the balls kept flying, and then you add Sanga’s class to that. He manipulated the fields really well. Once you brought the fine leg up, he’d play the lap shot and if we had limited men on the off side he’d manipulate there. I don’t think our plans were bad.”South Africa’s chase was effectively scuttled by the 17th over, as the visitors continued to lose quick wickets in pursuit of quick runs. They succumbed for 140 in the 32nd over, but were missing three top batsmen, with Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith not with the squad and Hashim Amla sitting out the match with a neck injury.”We lost wickets early on, which was a problem,” de Villiers said. “I thought they executed their skills well. We tried too many big shots and tried going for boundaries instead of working it around and getting into the game. We didn’t have a pattern of play with the bat in hand. There were no partnerships and we kept losing wickets at the wrong time.””We definitely missed Hash [Hasim Amla] today. He’s a world-class player and the number one batter in the world. We’d have liked more stability up front. Without him, our order looks a little light but there are still no excuses to be four or five down with 60 or 70 runs on the board.”De Villiers also defended his decision to bowl first, with his team then having to chase under lights. The Premadasa surface has in the past become noticeably slower in the second innings of an ODI, but de Villiers suggested that conditions remained good for batting throughout the match, despite his side’s collapse.”We looked at the past statistics and eight out of the last ten games had been won by the team chasing. Also, when I looked at the wicket this afternoon, I realised it wasn’t going to change much over 100 overs. At night, with maybe a bit of dew and having cool conditions to bat in, I thought it was a very nice chance for us to chase. But 320 was a bit much and we were under pressure.”

Rahul Dravid said he was happy to see Sreesanth bounce back during Rajasthan Royals’ six-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab after an expensive spell against Pune Warriors

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2013Rahul Dravid said he was happy to see Sreesanth bounce back during Rajasthan Royals’ six-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab after an expensive spell against Pune Warriors. Sreesanth picked up the wickets of Kings XI openers – Adam Gilchrist and Mandeep Singh – in his first over and was economical giving away 20 runs in his spell.”You have to realise that in T20, you will have bad games,” Dravid said. “It’s part and parcel of the game. Out of four games, Sreesanth’s had three good games. If 75 per cent of the time in the tournament you have good games, then I’ll take it happily. He did really well today and it was good to see him bounce back from the previous game.”Sreesanth drew consistent movement off the Jaipur pitch that offered help to the seamers and, along with James Faulkner and Siddharth Trivedi, helped Royals to limit Kings XI to 124. The Royals had lost four wickets with 46 needed to win, but an unbeaten stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson took them over the line in the last over.”Chasing 125 was not going to be easy on this surface because it was offering movement,” Dravid said. “All wickets should not be of 170-180 runs. 140-150 run wickets can also have exciting games. We are happy with the wicket and don’t interfere with the job of curator. We need to learn to bat better on such wickets.””[Shane] Watson played beautifully to add quick runs and release some pressure. But we got stuck in the middle with fall of couple of wickets but Ajinkya Rahane stood there till the end to steer us home. Sanju Samson also batted beautifully and has shown a lot of promise. All in all, it was a fine team effort.”He also brushed aside any concerns regarding the form of his batsmen, while stating that Brad Hodge’s position in the batting order would depend on the situation the team faces. “As far as the matter of Hodge batting up the order is concerned I feel he has been very good in accelerating at the end overs,” he said. “If the need arises, he can be promoted up the order. The good is thing is that we now have enough cover and options for all positions and can shuffle to meet the demands of situations.”

Auckland will decide the Test series after the final day at the Basin Reserve was abandoned without a ball bowled

Andrew McGlashan18-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt was nice weather for ducks at the Basin Reserve on Monday•AFPAuckland will decide the Test series after the final day at the Basin Reserve was abandoned without a ball bowled. The final decision, which had looked likely from early morning as steady rain fell, came shortly after 2pm.The tail-end of Cyclone Sandra had arrived on cue during the fourth day and the weather was worse on the final morning, with low cloud and rain meaning that players from both teams returned to their hotels when it was clear there would be no action before lunch. Although the skies brightened around midday, the outfield had taken a lot of water and there was never really a big effort to clear the area.The umpires, Asad Rauf and Rod Tucker, had a couple of inspections during the afternoon and some of the players prodded around on the outfield without anyone looked particularly keen to get out there. Further rain then made the decision easy.In a flip of the situation in Dunedin, this time England will be frustrated and New Zealand relieved. Alastair Cook had enforced the follow-on on the third evening but his bowlers only managed two wickets in the second innings on a docile surface. Even without the assistance of the weather, the home side could have saved the match – their top-order put in a stubborn display in their second innings, led by Kane Williamson’s unbeaten half-century.England’s bowlers were not at their best second time around, having worked hard to remove New Zealand for 254, and the fast men were feeling the effects of back-to-back innings in the field. Monty Panesar, while steady, did not provide the wicket-taking threat that will have been hoped for although did create some difficulties out of the rough.Both teams will now travel north with an eager eye in the pitch, a drop-in, that will be prepared at Eden Park. Bowlers from both sides have been forced to labour during lengthy stints in the field and it is not inconceivable that some fresh legs will be needed for the final match.

Sylhet Royals finally ran out of steam as they lost their first match after five wins, to Dhaka Gladiators by 31 runs

Mohammad Isam29-Jan-2013
ScorecardSylhet Royals finally ran out of steam as they lost their first match after five wins, to Dhaka Gladiators by 31 runs. Royals had previously won four matches chasing more than 140 with ease, but fell comfortably below the target this time.Three Royals batsmen were run out, starting with Dwayne Smith, who slippedin the middle of the pitch in the second over. Mohammad Nabi and NazmulHossain Milon also ended up short of the crease, reducing Royals to 47 for 5 in the ninth over. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim made 41 off 37 balls, but couldn’t take the team past the three-figure mark. The team limped to 127 for 8 in 20 overs.After Smith’s run out, Gladiators captain Mashrafe Mortaza took his firstwicket of the tournament. Alfonso Thomas and left-arm spinner SaqlainSajib took two wickets each to stifle the middle-order further.Gladiators had put together a competitive total, though it wasshort of the scores put up the previous night in front of a full-house. They had some luck initially when Sohag Gazi dropped a simple chance at mid-on to let off Josh Cobb. But Mohammad Ashraful was the first to go, falling to Sulieman Benn in the fourth over. Shakib Al Hasan and Cobb also fell in the next four overs, before two fifty-plus partnerships rescued the Gladiators.Stevens cracked two sixes in his unbeaten 35-ball 55, adding 53 for thefourth wicket with Owais Shah and another 52 for the fifth wicket with theaggressive Anamul Haque, who smashed three sixes and a boundary in his18-ball 32.

Johnson Charles, the West Indies opener, who scored his second consecutive ODI century, against Zimbabwe in Grenada, has said his recent success owes to a change in approach over time

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2013Johnson Charles, the West Indies opener, who scored his second consecutive ODI century, against Zimbabwe in Grenada, said he owes his recent success to a change in approach over time. Charles made 130 in 111 balls to set up a massive victory in the first ODI for West Indies, together with Darren Bravo, who scored his maiden ODI ton.”People know me as ‘Johnson Charles the man who is a blaster’, but I wanted to show that it’s not about what you like, but what you have to do,” Charles said after West Indies’ 156-run win. “My role in the team as an opener is to give the team a solid start and look to bat deep into the innings, and I managed to achieve that today.”Charles made his ODI debut in March last year, got starts in his first few games and then slipped up. He joined the High Performance Centre in Barbados and said he was able to address his problems with the bat there. “I used to look to hit everything but I have realised there is a job to be done as an opener. If I get the ball to hit I will hit it, but I am more selective and I look to build a platform and build an innings. My time at the Sagicor HPC has been the turnaround in my career. The HPC has played a vital role in helping me to refine my game and I have a new kind of confidence that I can play and do well at this level.”I have increased my range of strokes and I now realise I have more scoring options – I look to work the ball into the gaps and pick off runs, not just blast everything out of the ground. This is a special knock for me and I want to dedicate it to the people of my country in St Lucia as we celebrate our Independence Day today.”The game was a significant one for Bravo too, as a century in the 50-over format had eluded him in 50 games before this. He added 80 with Charles for the second wicket in just 62 balls and his own unbeaten innings of 100 included nine fours and four sixes. “I never panicked. I soaked up a lot of balls at the start of the innings as I tried to get myself in,” Bravo said. “Johnno [Charles] was going great guns so my role was just to support him and turn over the strike, as it was a right-hand/left-hand combination. I knew that once I got in I could pick it up at the back end and that is what happened.”The batting Powerplay was just around the corner so it was just a matter of playing it smart. It was a good pitch and the ball wasn’t doing much, so I just had to make sure I kept my shape and played to my strong areas.”

Pakistan began their warm-up for the ICC World Twenty20 with a comprehensive win over Australia in Dubai, where their spinners flummoxed Australia’s long batting line-up

The Report by Brydon Coverdale05-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Raza Hasan picked up two wickets on debut•AFPPakistan began their warm-up for the ICC World Twenty20 with a comprehensive win over Australia in Dubai, where their spinners flummoxed Australia’s long batting line-up. Not since the second T20 international ever played had Australia scored as few in an innings as the 89 for which they were dismissed in this match, and although Pakistan lost three wickets in the chase they were never in danger of losing. They cruised to the target with 31 balls to spare.Statistics don’t always mean much in T20 but the story of this match could be summed up with a few numbers. It was the first time since another loss to Pakistan in Dubai in May 2009 that Australia failed to hit a six in a T20 innings. They struck only three fours in the 19.3 overs they faced; Pakistan had that many within four overs. The only time Australia scored fewer in a completed T20 innings was 79 against England in Southampton in 2005, back when the IPL was not even a glimmer in Lalit Modi’s eye. Never before had a team beaten Australia with so many balls to spare.But the figures don’t tell how Pakistan managed such a one-sided result. Sohail Tanvir finished with 3 for 13 but it was the work of the spinners, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and the debutant Raza Hasan that kept Australia from posting a competitive score. They picked up two wickets each and the regular breakthroughs and large boundaries starved the Australians.Again they found Ajmal difficult to pick, while Hasan’s clever variations showed that he can be a force at international level, while Hafeez was typically tidy. Pakistan also held their catches, which they had not always done during the ODIs, and only three Australians reached double figures, making it irrelevant that they had entered the game with eight batsmen.David Warner top scored with 22 from 25 balls, an innings that at the time looked scratchy but was solid when compared with the rest of the performances. Warner was the third man to fall when he pushed a catch back to the bowler Hafeez, after the innings had started shakily when Shane Watson was trapped in front by Umar Gul for 8.Smart stats

Pakistan beat Australia with 31 balls to spare. This is the highest number of balls remaining in a T20 defeat for Australia.

Australia’s total of 89 is their second-lowest in Twenty20 internationals. Their lowest total of 79 came against England in Southampton in 2005 (min seven wickets lost in innings)

Pakistan have the most wins in Twenty20 internationals (34). South Africa are second with 29 wins.

The win was Pakistan’s fifth against Australia in Twenty20 internationals. South Africa and Sri Lanka are second with four wins each.

The number of fours hit in Australia’s innings (3) is the second-lowest for a completed team innings in Twenty20 internationals. The lowest is two fours hit by South Africa against West Indies in Port Elizabeth in 2007 (major Test teams only).

Promoted to No.3, Michael Hussey chipped a catch to cover when he failed to pick Tanvir’s slower ball. Warner and George Bailey provided a slight recovery with a 33-run stand before Warner went, and that was followed soon after by Hasan’s first international wicket, which came when David Hussey failed to clear the man at long on.Bailey fell for 14 when he top edged a sweep off Hafeez and was caught at deep backward square leg, and it was up to Cameron White and Matthew Wade to attempt a recovery. But Pakistan’s spinners were too good for White and Wade, Ajmal’s variations especially deceptive, although it was Hasan who broke the partnership when Wade holed out to deep midwicket for 6 from 13 balls.Glenn Maxwell, who came in at No.8, was caught at deep square leg off Ajmal for 4 and next ball White failed to read Ajmal and was bowled for 15 off 22 balls. Xavier Doherty survived the hat trick ball but that was about all the Australians had to celebrate, as Tanvir finished off the tail to end up with 3 for 13.Australia’s bowlers had nothing to defend and their cause was hopeless from the start. Hafeez and Imran Nazir, playing his first international for two and a half years, gave Pakistan a solid start with their 30-run opening stand. They both found the boundary and Nazir showed a willingness to take on the Australian bowlers, despite the small chase.Hafeez (17) fell to a slower ball from Pat Cummins when he chipped a catch to midwicket and the Australians claimed a second when Ben Hilfenhaus bowled Nasir Jamshed for 10 with a good inswinger. Nazir eventually fell for 22 when he pushed a Watson full toss to cover, but Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik saw Pakistan home. Akmal struck the only six of the match and finished unbeaten on 31 from 24 balls. He hit more boundaries on his own than the Australians did for their entire innings.It was a clinical performance from Pakistan, but Australia did little to suggest their ninth place in the ICC T20 rankings is anything but accurate. Of course in T20 anything can happen on any day; Australia just need to make sure happens for them before this series is out. Because one day like this in the World T20 could be enough to send them home early.

New Zealand are in for a tough time in India in the Test series, according to Mark Richardson and Simon Doull

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2012New Zealand are in for a tough time in India in the Test series due to questions over their ability to take 20 wickets in a Test, the lack of world-class players, and some poor form coming in to the tour, according to former opener Mark Richardson and former fast bowler Simon Doull.Richardson and Doull, in conversation with Harsha Bhogle on ESPNcricinfo’s audio show , said the changes in structure, the appointment of a new coach and inconsistency from some of the team’s senior players added to New Zealand’s problems.”I think New Zealand are going to struggle,” Richardson said. “There’s no form behind them, they’re going to a very difficult place to succeed. The motivation will be there but I believe they are down on confidence.”I just can’t see this New Zealand team bowling out India. So draws, and one or two times that [Brendon] McCullum and [Ross] Taylor might come off may give them a chance in the shorter games.”New Zealand were beaten 0-2 in the Tests against West Indies before this tour, and they will be without Daniel Vettori, their lead spinner, due to injury. They have five seamers in the squad and two spinners, Tarun Nethula and Jeetan Patel. Doull, though, said a four-pronged pace attack – Chris Martin, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell – was the way to go for the visitors.”If they [spinners] are part of your four best bowlers, play them,” Doull said. “The flip side is, the Indians play ordinary spin a lot better. Our four best bowlers are our four quicks. There’s no point playing average spinners against very good quality Indian batsmen.”New Zealand’s lean run in recent times owed in part to their senior players, like Vettori and McCullum, not meeting expectations, Richardson said. Vettori picked up just four wickets in his previous four Tests, while McCullum got starts in five of his last eight innings, but went past 50 only twice.”McCullum is massively talented but massively overrated as well,” Richardson said. “He just doesn’t perform enough. When he does, it’s staggeringly good and sticks in people’s minds, but in the end it averages out to around about 30. Vettori once was a magnificent left-arm spinner. He is still very good but has lost the ability to take wickets. The key players have failed to be the catalyst for performance and the youngsters simply aren’t at the level to make up for that.”McCullum, Vettori and Taylor are among the New Zealand players with IPL contracts and there could be uncertainty over their availability for part of the tour of England next year as it clashes with the league. Doull said they were able to play in the IPL because they performed for their national team on the world stage. “I wonder if too many players around the world forget that that is where they were predominantly first seen [international cricket], and that’s where their loyalties should lie.”New Zealand are currently ranked No. 8 in both Tests and ODIs. When asked if they could only become a bigger force in the shorter formats, Doull said: “The stats are just not stacking up, to say we’ll be a better one-day side. There will be the odd good performance like there was in the World Cup, but remember South Africa [in the quarter-final] was the only side we had to beat in a one-off situation. To play [and win] three or four games in a row, we don’t seem to be able to do that.”Listen to the show here

Ajit Agarkar, the former India fast bowler, has been officially appointed Mumbai captain for the first time in his 16-year-long career

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2012Ajit Agarkar, the former India fast bowler, has been officially appointed Mumbai captain for the first time in his 16-year-long career. Agarkar has been stand-in captain before but has now been named captain of Mumbai for the whole of the league phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.The announcement marks a complete turnaround in relations between Agarkar and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). In November 2011, Agarkar had left the team in Cuttack as he was disappointed to not be picked in the XI for a Ranji Trophy match against Orissa. He consequently withdrew from the squad for the entire Ranji season but reconciled his differences with the board in a meeting with Milind Rege, Mumbai’s chairman of selectors, Ratnakar Shetty, the MCA vice-president, and Nitin Dalal, the MCA secretary, in February 2012.Agarkar was then named in the probables for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has now been named captain, replacing Wasim Jaffer, who stepped down as captain in February after holding the post for four seasons. Agarkar, 34, has got the job ahead of the younger Ajinkya Rahane, who has been named vice-captain, and Abhishek Nayar. Both Rahane and Nayar had been spoken about as possible future captains of Mumbai.Squad: Ajit Agarkar (capt), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Wasim Jaffer, Ramesh Powar, Suryakumar Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Iqbal Abdullah, Sushant Marathe (wk), Ankit Chavan, Kshemal Waingankar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (jr), Siddharth Chitnis, Shoaib Shaikh, Anup Revandkar

The bowling action of Jenny Gunn, the England fast bowler, has been proved to be legal for the second time in three years after independent tests undertaken on behalf of the ICC

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2012The bowling action of Jenny Gunn, the England fast bowler, has been proved to be legal for the second time in three years after independent tests undertaken on behalf of the ICC.The report was submitted by Jacqueline Alderson, a member of the ICC’s panel of human movement specialists, based at the school of sports science at the University of Perth in Western Australia.An ICC statement said: “The report indicates that during delivery, Gunn displays a high degree of hyperextension in her bowling arm which she is unable to control. On the basis that hyperextension does not count in the ICC extension threshold of 15 degrees, all of her deliveries recorded during testing were within the ICC tolerance threshold.”Her action will continue to be scrutinised by match officials to ensure it remains legal. However they will be made aware of the degree of hyperextension that is present in Gunn’s action.”Gunn, 24, was reported by umpires Derek Walker and Phil Jones after the first ODI between New Zealand and England at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln two months ago.She was previously reported in Australia ahead of the 2009 World Cup but retained her place in the England squad which went on to win the tournament, although she did not play in the final.Edited by David Hopps

Omari Banks, the former West Indies allrounder, has announced his retirement from cricket at 29

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2012Omari Banks, the former West Indies allrounder, has announced his retirement from cricket. Banks, 29, was the first Test cricketer from the island of Anguilla, and represented West Indies in ten Tests and five ODIs between 2003 and 2005. He continued to play for Leeward Islands till 2010-11, after a three-season spell with Somerset ended in 2009.One of the highlights of Banks’ international career was his unbeaten 47 against Australia in 2003 when West Indies famously hunted down 418, still the largest successful chase in Test history. He also captained Leeward Islands on the domestic circuit, and played 80 first-class matches after making his debut in 2000-01.Banks currently works as a physical education teacher in Anguilla, and has also been trying to build a career in music. He is the son of reggae musician Bankie Banx, and his first single ‘Move On’, will be part of his father’s upcoming album, ‘Just Cool’, due to be released on March 6.