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The pair smashed LPL records and Galle Marvels in front of a full house at Khettarama

Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Jul-2024Rilee Rossouw bludgeoned 106 off 53 balls, Kusal Mendis crashed 72 off 40 of his own, and together sent Jaffna Kings soaring to a target of 185, inside 16 overs. It was a record-breaking chase on at least two fronts. Their unbroken stand of 185 (Pathum Nissanka had been out first ball), was the highest for any wicket, across all LPL seasons. Kings’ chase was the highest in any LPL tournament.And their victory means that a Jaffna franchise has won four out of the five LPL tournaments staged, having only missed out in 2023.Rossouw and Mendis’ sublime hitting will rightly be admired as perhaps the greatest partnership this tournament has produced, given it came in a final in front of a full house at Khettarama. But Jaffna had dominated another key passage of the game. Through excellent bowling from Jason Behrendorff, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Fabian Allen, they had had Galle Marvels by the collar at 23 for 3 after seven overs.
They recovered through an outstanding innings by Bhanuka Rajapaksa, but clearly their 184 for 6 was not sufficient to deny Mendis and Rossouw in such form.

Rossouw’s monster hitting

Late in the chase, it felt like there were no ball Galle Marvels could produce that Rossouw could not thump into or over the boundary. But he was also the first batter to shake Kings into motion. He hit the first boundaries, one of them intentional, in the second over. But then really got into his work in the fourth, pummeling Isuru Udana over deep extra cover, then crashing him over deep midwicket.But it was in the middle overs, against spin, that he really hit his stride. He bashed Prabath Jayasuriya for a six and two fours in the seventh over and bullied Theekshana over long-on boundary to get to his fifty off 29 balls.Later he’d go back to smashing Udana, and then later reaped three fours and a six off Janith Liyanage’s seam bowling, which put him five runs short of a second century in this year’s tournament. By this stage, Kings were so utterly ascendant (they needed 21 off 42 balls, with nine wickets left), the only question was whether Mendis would run down the target before Rossouw had the chance to get to triple figures.But Rossouw got there with ease, rocked his bazooka celebration, and also hit the winning run and raised his bat towards the dugout.Earlier, while fielding, Rossouw had been involved with an aggressive altercation with umpire Kumar Dharmasena over an overthrow. Clearly he came to this game pumped up.

Mendis shines again

Mendis had cracked 105 not out off 54 balls in the semi-final, and was very quickly in wonderful touch again in this game, racing to 32 off 13 balls inside the powerplay. Nineteen of those runs came against the offspin of Sahan Arachchige, in the last over of the powerplay.But as Rossouw exploded, Mendis thrived too, finding boundaries square of the wicket while Rossouw slammed most of his in the arc between deep cover and dep midwicket. Between these two batters, there was no relent for Marvels. Mendis was dropped on 67 in the 14th over, but by this stage Jaffna’s victory was almost certain.Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit a boundary-laden 82 off 34 balls for Galle Marvels•SLC

Rajapaksa’s spectacular show

Rossouw and Mendis put him in the shade, but that Marvels set a target that seemed daunting was down to Rajapaksa, who showcased both his touch and power in his 82 off 34. Through the course of that innings he played some delightful late cuts, fine glances, and flicks off his toes, but also pinged balls down the ground, over midwicket, and over cover. He’d had some support from Tim Seifert, who hit 47 off 37 balls, and was part of a 62-run stand with Rajapaksa.But even Seifert had only raised his scoring thanks to crashing three leg-side sixes and a four off four consecutive V Viyaskanth balls. Many of the other Marvels batters struggled to find their timing on this pitch.

Kings bowlers tie up the top order

Teams have generally done well in the back end of the innings this season thanks to the power blast (two late overs in which only four boundary riders are allowed). But Kings had dominated the early overs, and this too was a key portion of the game. Behrendorff was the top performer here finding swing and conceding only five runs from his three powerplay overs, while removing both the Marvels openers.But the spinners were also good. Allen bowled two overs for 10 runs, and de Silva conceded six in the opening over. They largely bowled slow on a pitch that had some turn in it.

Hosts have the edge after a “fast food” red-ball feast at Lord’s

Vithushan Ehantharajah28-Apr-2023Sometimes, you can measure the importance of a fixture by the quality of play. It’s not always a direct correlation.There’s a lot on this one here at Lord’s between Middlesex and Kent, not least because these relegation candidates only play each other once this season. Taking points off each other, perhaps even landing a couple of psychological blows, is all the more important. As 16 wickets fell on day two, it was clear these historic counties have simply resorted to clawing clumps out of each other.This has not been pretty or particularly high-grade cricket. Both sets of batters deserve a lot better than this pitch – the closest you can be to the Tavern Stand for a first-class match – though their decision-making has left a lot to be desired. It speaks volumes that the main run-getters on either side have been a barnacle-like Ben Compton, with 52, and a brawler in Ryan Higgins, who made 71. A lot of the usual principles have been lacking.And because of that, it has been a lot of fun. Red-ball fast food for the soul, packed full of the bad stuff that’s actually good as you’re taking it all in. Regarding the bare facts: Middlesex are in the better spot for now, though not by much. They will go into the weekend with a lead of just three but with two of Kent’s second-innings wickets.Only in the last two hours of day two did the hosts take hold of this match. Higgins, a fourth half-century of the season in the bag from 93 deliveries, peppered the short boundary to the Tavern Stand, two sixes helping him fashion an extra 21 from 14 deliveries before he was caught well by Michael Hogan down at long-on. By then, the allrounder had added 126 alongside Luke Hollman, Tom Helm and Tim Murtagh, which took Middlesex ahead of Kent and onto a lead of 43. The real killer came when Zak Crawley was dismissed for a golden duck and then followed by Daniel Bell-Drummond lbw, as Murtagh took two in two at the start of the second innings.Those final flourishes with the bat were vital for Middlesex. And to be fair, “flourishes” probably undersells it. They were 90 for 6 when Hogan got one to pitch leg and seam to off from over the wicket to catch John Simpson’s edge through to Sam Billings. That brought an end to what at the time was the longest and most productive stand – 10.3 overs, 28 runs – which came in response to yet another top-order collapse from Middlesex. This one was 25 for 4, coming after a fifth-gear start from Mark Stoneman and Sam Robson, who raced to 22 after the first two overs.The manner of Stoneman’s demise – technically caught Jordan Cox at first slip, but parried his way by Crawley at second – spoke of how hard he was going. What seemed like an approach carried over from the remarkable run-chase of last week against Nottinghamshire on the other side of the square came to an end then and there. Wes Agar would end up with both openers on his way to a tidy four, with Grant Stewart nabbing Pieter Malan with a tame half-volley outside leg stump that was helped around the corner, before Max Holden presented the bat face to one well outside off stump. Stand-in captain Stephen Eskinazi was the last of those five to fall for just 62 runs when he feathered an edge off Matthew Quinn’s first ball of the match.It was broadly reminiscent of the fightback from Kent, 92 for 6 themselves before they re-emerged on Friday morning on 113 for 6. They managed 73 more, albeit from a source other than Compton, who arrived locked in on 38 not out.Having been the lone survivor from the top order, one expected much of the same perseverance. But when he was bounced out by Bamber, one of the friendliest bowlers on the circuit (for disposition; his manipulation of the Dukes borders on cruel), Stewart decided to take a short-cut to a respectable score on this surface via the smaller boundary.Unlike Higgins, Stewart didn’t quite have the support at the other end but he bettered him for power by hitting the top of the Allen Stand rather than just clearing the rope, as Higgins did when just evading Crawley at deep square leg. A 10th first-class fifty for Stewart looked certain, even when he skied Higgins over the wicketkeeper. Tom Helm, however, charged in and took a spectacular tumbling catch – the kind that makes you wince and check he’s okay before applauding – to clip his and Kent’s wings.That Crawley was dismissed as quickly as he was felt an inevitability, not only given the scrappiness of this match but the fact it means he has followed up last week’s 170 with 11 and 0. Streaky is as streaky does, but the delivery from Murtagh – lifting much higher than usual after urging the bat to come forward – was worthy of a dismissal regardless of batter.What bodes well for Kent is how seamlessly Jack Leaning ticked over on 19. His approach to the hat-trick ball was brave, advancing down the track to ensure he was not caught on the crease, offering a full face and keeping out Murtagh. He applied that clear head throughout. Compton, of course, quickly reacquainted with the grind and, together, they worked through to the bad light call that came after 17 overs with a degree of comfort, bar the odd vociferous appeal.This match could well be done with a day to spare, and the best you can say of what we’ve seen so far is it’s hard to say who will end up on top.

After becoming most expensive Indian bowler at an IPL auction, he says: ‘In 2018, I had met Srinivasan sir, and he said, ‘you will play in yellow always”

Sreshth Shah13-Feb-2022One day after Deepak Chahar was bought by Chennai Super Kings for INR 14 crore (USD 1.8m approx.), making him the highest-paid Indian bowler at an IPL auction, he has said that he always knew he would return to the four-time champions under MS Dhoni.He told Star Sports on Sunday that in 2018, franchise owner N Srinivasan had told him that he would have a long association with the franchise, and since then, Chahar said, he had never broached the topic of retention or auction plans with the team.He also said that he “could not imagine” playing for any other franchise. “I’ve never spoken about all this to Mahi [captain MS Dhoni] or CSK management,” Chahar said. “In 2018, I had met Srinivasan sir, and he has said, ‘you will play in yellow always’. So I took his word that day and since then I have never spoken about retention. I knew CSK would bid [for me].”We [India’s T20I squad] were travelling from Ahmedabad to Kolkata, and the whole team was watching the auction. Everyone was saying (what’s the bid price?) and all that.”I wanted to play for CSK because I haven’t imagined myself playing in other colour than yellow. At one point, I thought it [the bid price] was too much. As a CSK player, I also want to build a good team. So after they spent 13 crore, I actually wanted the bidding to stop so I can go to CSK quickly and then we can buy some other players [with the money saved].Chahar will represent the Super Kings for a fifth season in a row, having been bought by the franchise before IPL 2018 for INR 80 lakh. Before that, he had worked with some of the Super Kings personnel at the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise, where he played between 2016 and 2017 alongside Dhoni and current Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming as the Super Kings sat out their suspension in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal of 2013.Chahar also said that despite batting rather low in the Super Kings line-up in previous seasons, he hopes to score more runs in the upcoming IPL edition. Over the last 12 months, he has shown his usefulness with the bat for the Indian ODI side, with his unbeaten 69 in Colombo taking India over the line, a 54 against South Africa last month to almost rescue the team, and an important 38 against West Indies in Ahmedabad last week.However, Chahar does have one regret, and that is not having his cousin Rahul Chahar in the same franchise as him. The duo did share the dressing room at Pune, but never played together.”In Pune, I played first game, he played second, I played third, and he played fourth, but we never played together. I was thinking this auction we might play together, but may be some other time. I’ll ask Rahul to come from Punjab for next year (laughs).”

Squad members not involved in the IPL left Barbados on Tuesday, initially flying to London before further stops in Dubai and Auckland

Matt Roller30-Oct-2020West Indies have begun their two-week quarantine period in Christchurch ahead of their T20I and Test series in New Zealand, after a gruelling 54-hour journey from Barbados.Squad members not involved in the IPL left Barbados on Tuesday, initially flying to London before further stops in Dubai and Auckland. Having already played a three-Test series in England in July, West Indies are the only international team to have embarked on two overseas tours in the Covid-19 era.

The bubble life

• Days 0 – 3: No bubbles – individuals to stay in rooms, no contact with anyone else.
  Days 4 – 7: Maximum bubble size of 15 pax. Those in these respective bubbles will be able to train, gym and socialise together. Three bubbles during this period.
  Days 8 – 14: Maximum bubble size of 20 pax. Those in these respective bubbles will be able to train, gym and socialise together. Two bubbles for this period.
  

After passing their first health test on arrival, the touring squad will initially be based at the New Zealand high-performance centre at Lincoln University in Christchurch, where they will be able to train after day four of their quarantine period. The low incidence of Covid-19 in New Zealand means that players will be able to interact with society following their quarantine, unlike on the England tour when the squad was confined to a biosecure bubble.Speaking to the Mason and Guest radio show in Barbados, Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave said that the board had learned from the England tour that it was important to keep those players not picked for the Test side active, and as such, two four-day West Indies A fixtures have been scheduled: the first at Mount Maunganui to run alongside the first Test, the second at Nelson coinciding with the second Test.”At the end of the T20 series, about half the squad are going to fly back to the Caribbean, and about half the team – along with the six reserves, and probably the 14th and 15th members of the Test squad – will form an ‘A’ team,” Grave said.”For some of those T20 players who have played so much white-ball cricket for West Indies during the West Indies Championship over the last couple of years, it’s going to be the first opportunity they’d have had in probably two years to play some red-ball cricket.” While discussions are ongoing as to which players will stay on, Fabian Allen, Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran are expected to be among them.Grave also confirmed that players and support staff will continue to receive 50% of their salaries, as has been the case since July, though match fees will be paid in full. The backroom staff on the tour are largely similar to the group that travelled to England, with Monty Desai, Andre Coley and Trevor Penney added and Floyd Reifer – who is standing as an MP in Barbados – replaced.West Indies were winless on their last tour of New Zealand in 2017-18, losing both Tests, all three ODIs, and escaping with a 2-0 defeat in the T20I series thanks to a no-result in the second match. Roddy Estwick, one of the assistant coaches, admitted that New Zealand would be a “very, very difficult” side to play against, but said on arrival that he was optimistic about their chances.”I think we’ve got to win series now,” Estwick said. “We win the odd Test match – you can look at all the teams we’ve played in the last two years – we’ve won one Test match, but we haven’t won the series. It’s important that we put two or three performances together, not one good performance and we tend to fade away. We’ve got to win series and there’s no doubt about that, and we’ve got to start here in New Zealand by trying to win this series by playing good, positive, hard disciplined cricket.”New Zealand is a very, very difficult side playing at home. We’ve got to be up and we’ve got to execute properly. We’ve got to sit down, and we’ve got to plan. We know what it was like last time and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready because nobody goes to New Zealand and wins easily.”You’ve got to be prepared to scrap. Sometimes they can be very patient and you’ve got to match that patience as well. We’ve got to leave no stone unturned to make sure we can combat New Zealand.”

Contributions throughout the order, aided by some poor Leicestershire fielding, gave the home side a solid first innings in tricky conditions

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2019Alex Wakely made his first half-century since resigning the Northamptonshire captaincy to lead his side to a good opening day against Leicestershire at Wantage Road. Wakely’s 65 in testing conditions set Northants up to make 299 having been sent in before the visitors survived three overs to the close 6 for 0.Wakely’s 76 on the first day of the season was becoming a distant memory with a high score in the Championship since then of only 28. Stepping down as captain didn’t bring immediate reward with an eight-ball duck at Durham in his previous innings, but here he battled away to make important runs against the moving ball.He arrived in just the sixth over of the morning and flicked Mohammed Abbas through midwicket for his first boundary before imperiously pulling Neil Dexter’s first ball through the same region on his way to 36 not out by the lunch.After the break, another pull brought up a second half-century of the season in 102 balls with eight fours before he was tremendously caught at second slip in Abbas’ first over of a new spell 20 minutes before tea. Trying to force off the back foot, Wakely flashed an edge towards the cordon where Colin Ackermann stuck up a left hand to claim a fine catch.It ended a stand of 39 for the fourth wicket – one of several useful partnerships that Northants compiled. The ball moved all day on a green-tinged pitch and under heavy cloud and it was difficult to envisage the batsmen ever getting completely on top so to nudge the board along with good purpose – reaching 187 for 4 at one stage – was a solid effort.There were few cheap wickets. Rob Newton fell to the new ball for just 5 but everyone else got a start. Ricardo Vasconcelos worked hard for 25 before lazily driving to gully. Temba Bavuma was always scratchy but got to 20, then Dieter Klein found his outside edge with a good delivery. Rob Keogh looked in good touch, striking five boundaries but fell over a full delivery from Chris Wright to be lbw for 34.The theme continued on a day where it was hard to say any batsmen were really settled. Adam Rossington, now Northants’ Championship captain, made a breezy 45 – violently pulling Dexter over midwicket and repeating the trick against Klein to raise a first batting point. But Rossington was bowled by Will Davis and it began a slide from 210 for 5 to 250 for 9 as the second new ball claimed 3 for 7 in 13 balls.But just when Northants were about to be rolled over Matt Coles, in his second match on loan from Essex, swung 41 in 34 balls including two mighty sixes – one over midwicket and the second over deep square – to almost claim a third batting bonus point before No. 11 Ben Sanderson chipped a catch back to Abbas.But Coles should have been taken on the deep midwicket fence with the score at 265. It was one of at least seven catches that Leicestershire missed in a miserable display of fielding. Paul Horton at first slip, wicketkeeper Lewis Hill and Harry Dearden all missed two chances each as the visitors conceded an over par total given the conditions.

Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan aced the chase of 188 with no fuss to knock Delhi Daredevils out

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu10-May-2018
On top of the world: Rishabh Pant scored a century off 56 balls•BCCI

Delhi Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant smoked an unbeaten 128 off 63 balls – the highest score by an Indian in T20s – but another Delhi boy Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson stole his thunder and ensured Sunrisers Hyderabad became the first team to progress to the playoffs.The result also pushed Daredevils a step closer to the precipice. Their chances of making the playoffs are now exceedingly slim.On another night, Pant’s blistering assault may have been match-winning. After being part of two run-outs, he single-handedly took on Sunrisers’ attack like an action hero would treat a bunch of villains. A 36-ball half-century made way for a 56-ball century. By the time he finished, Daredevils had smashed 135 off their last 10 overs to swell the total to 187 for 5.On a typically slow Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, the chase ought to have been a challenging one, but Dhawan scored his second half-century of the season and Williamson hit his sixth to make light work of it. They added an unbroken 176 for the second wicket – the highest stand for Sunrisers – to usher their team home with nine wickets and seven balls to spare.Daredevils’ go-slow
Sunrisers’ sensational attack had limited Mumbai Indians to 52 for 3 – the lowest 10-over score this season – while defending 118 against Mumbai Indians last month. They repeated the feat again, against Daredevils on Thursday night. Shakib Al Hasan found grip and turn with the new ball to dismiss Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy off successive balls. Pant denied Shakib a hat-trick and instead went onto hit a hat-trick of off-side boundaries to greet Siddarth Kaul into the attack. Shreyas Iyer, at the other end, laboured to three off eight balls, before he became the victim of a terrible mix-up with Pant.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Don’t mess with the angry Pant
Harshal Patel, who was promoted to No. 5, ahead of Glenn Maxwell and Vijay Shankar, injected some urgency into the innings with a brace of sixes off slower balls. Another piece of sloppy running, however, resulted in the run-out of Harshal for 24 off 17 balls. It was the fourth time in four games that Pant was involved in a run-out. Having turned his back on his partner for a second time on Thursday, a fuming Pant unleashed his pent-up frustration on Sunrisers’ attack. The first ball he faced after the Harshal run-out was banished over the midwicket boundary. It brought up his fifty off 36 balls; he then needed only 20 more for his next fifty.Pant’s ferocity put Maxwell in the firing line at the non-striker’s end. He then stretched out, met the pitch of a wrong’un from Rashid Khan, the No.1 T20 bowler right now, and disdainfully reverse-swatted it away to the backward point boundary. Pant, however, hit his peak when he flipped Bhuvneshwar Kumar over short third man not just once but thrice. Pant had Maxwell, a master of trick shots himself, punching his gloves and Williamson smiling wryly.Bhuvneshwar had Maxwell holing out with the first ball of the last over, but Pant carted the remaining five balls to the boundary, the pick of them being a one-handed six over long-on. All told, Pant took Bhuvneshwar for 43 runs off 11 balls at a strike-rate of 390.90.Nailing the chase
The popular opinion was that bat first and bat big would apply pressure on Sunrisers. Their only two losses this season have come while chasing 180-plus totals against Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings. Against Daredevils, Sunrisers had an early setback when Alex Hales was pinned lbw by Harshal’s offcutter in the second over. The next over bowled by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was the only over in the chase without a boundary.Dhawan, who had managed only 68 runs in five innings since sustaining an elbow injury, was severe on anything that was remotely short and wide outside off. Williamson, however, was just doing his thing. He kept manoeuvring the balls into the gaps and kept putting the bad balls away.Dhawan moved to his fifty off 30 balls, when he swatted Harshal over midwicket for four, in the 12th over. Williamson, meanwhile, brought up a fifty of his own, three overs later, off 38 balls. Daredevils dug deep into their reserves, with Liam Plunkett and Trent Boult bowling a variety of slower balls, and Nadeem even venturing a legbreak, but nothing worked against Dhawan and Williamson.Masters of the defence: check. Masters of the chase: check.

The decision to use a stand-in coach for the India ODI tour is a mirror of Australia’s plans in 2013, when Lehmann remained in Australia ahead of the home Ashes series

Daniel Brettig10-Mar-2017Australia’s assistant coach David Saker will stand in for Darren Lehmann on the ODI tour of India that takes place later this year, but admits the fact that he has not played international cricket will count against him in calculations to replace Lehmann after the head coach’s contract expires in 2019.Lehmann has previously indicated that the conclusion of his current deal, following the double of the World Cup and an Ashes tour both in England, is highly likely to be the end of his tenure as coach of the national team. Saker returned to Australia from England and coached Victoria to the Sheffield Shield in his first season before being named as Lehmann’s assistant last year.While not shying away from saying that he would be more than capable of being Australia’s head coach, Saker conceded that a first-class career as a swing bowler for Victoria that did not feature any international cricket would likely count against him in Cricket Australia’s calculations.The Western Australia coach Justin Langer and the Adelaide Strikers coach Jason Gillespie – both of whom stood in to mentor the Australian Twenty20 team last month alongside Ricky Ponting – are commonly considered the most likely successors to Lehmann.”It’s a huge honour to be even considered to be a coach of an Australian team and to be given the opportunity is fantastic. I’m going to look forward to it a lot,” Saker said. “My ambition is to coach Australia but I know not playing cricket for Australia makes it a little bit harder. But I think I’ve been involved in Test cricket, one day cricket and Twenty20 cricket a lot. I’ve seen a lot of cricket so I think I could do the job without a doubt.”Saker’s frank assessment of international cricket being a factor in his chances is not mere opinion. Lehmann and by extension CA have emphasised the importance of international playing experience in the coaching staff over the past four years, to the point that playing the game at the top level as a player is believed to be a factor in areas such as coach’s contract length and level of remuneration.The decision to use a stand-in coach for the India ODI tour is a mirror of Australia’s plans in 2013, when Lehmann remained at home ahead of the home Ashes series alongside several members of the Test team including David Warner, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith. The touring team were instead led by George Bailey as captain and Steve Rixon as coach, and gave a good account of themselves until an in-form Mitchell Johnson was sent home ahead of the series deciding final game.India went on to win the last match to take a high-scoring series, but the result was to be little remembered in the aftermath of Australia’s subsequent 5-0 sweep of England on home shores. Saker was then a part of England’s support staff – he will be hoping this time to aid the hosts in regaining the urn, both by his guidance in India and in the Ashes Tests that follow.

The ODI series between South Africa and England will be decided by the final match in Cape Town after South Africa won an enthralling penultimate game by one wicket with 16 deliveries to spare

The Report by George Dobell12-Feb-2016 South Africa 266 for 9 (Morris 62, Rashid 2-38) beat England 262 (Root 109, Hales 50, Rabada 4-45) by one wicket

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe ODI series between South Africa and England will be decided by the final match in Cape Town on Sunday after South Africa won an enthralling penultimate game by one wicket with 16 deliveries to spare.After losing the first two matches in the series, South Africa have now won two in a row with Chris Morris justifying his recall for this match – and his lofty IPL price tag – with a match-clinching innings under pressure.By the time South Africa lost their eighth wicket, they still required 53 to win and looked as if they were going to succumb to the sort of defeat that would do nothing to rid them of the tag of chokers.The top three were all bowled by good deliveries – Stuart Broad, in his first ODI since the World Cup, persuading Hashim Amla to play on in the first over – but then AB de Villiers was run out responding to a panicky call for a single from JP Duminy – Chris Woakes capping a fine recall with a brilliant pick-up and throw off his own bowling – and the middle order were exposed for their lack of calm.While Farhaan Behardien and David Wiese could probably be forgiven their inexperience, Duminy – not for the first time, befuddled by a spinner – looked oddly unsettled for a man playing his 150th ODI. But then Morris, driving fluently and picking up the short ball with impressive power, thrashed a maiden ODI half-century in just 30 balls to set-up the finale at Newlands.Four times he seized on deliveries pitched fractionally short – one from each of England’s seamers – to pull enormous sixes and suggest that perhaps the management of Delhi Daredevils (who bid $1m for his services a few days ago) are a better judge of a player’s value than the South Africa selectors.When he fell, beaten by a fine googly from Adil Rashid, the scores were level and Imran Tahir was able to cut his first delivery for four to clinch the victory.In truth, South Africa should probably have won this game far more easily. At the halfway stage of the England innings, they had reduced them to 108 for 6 before a brilliant innings from Joe Root – and some far-from-ruthless captaincy – saw a partial recovery.On a decent batting surface, the only quality South Africa were required to demonstrate in their run chase was calm. But, despite their talent, they succumbed to 210 for 8 against some impressive England bowling before Morris intervened.AB de Villiers was left on his knees but South Africa stayed standing to level the series•Getty Images

Indeed, England may well feel they squandered a great opportunity to wrap up the series. They wasted two chances to be rid of Morris early – once on 14, when he was dropped by Adil Rashid off Reece Topley at mid-off, and once, on 16, when Eoin Morgan failed to hit the stumps from very close range.Duminy, on 1, was also reprieved by Alex Hales, at second slip off Woakes, while de Villiers, on 9, was put down by Jason Roy at point off Broad. Jos Buttler also missed a stumping off Rashid when the Behardien had 15.But England should reflect that they lost the game far earlier in the day. Having progressed to 87 for 1 in the 18th over, they suffered a dramatic collapse from which they never fully recovered.It was, ironic though it sounds, the quality of the batting track that played a part in England’s downfall. So aware were the top order of the need to push on and set a defensible total on a surface where something in excess of 300 might have been considered par that they were drawn into a series of highly aggressive strokes which cost them their wickets.The turning point was the wicket of Hales. For the fourth time in the series, Hales made a mature half-century with his natural positivity tempered by enough restraint to give himself the best chance of success. But then, despite the presence of a man on the midwicket boundary – by far the longer of the square boundaries – he played a slog-sweep off Tahir only to see the ball carry unerringly to the fielder.It precipitated a collapse that saw England lose five wickets for 21 runs in seven overs; a passage of play that defined the match.Perhaps, if we admire the boldness of an England side that can make 400, we cannot carp if they sometimes fail in pursuit of such targets. They have certainly developed into an entertaining side. But England have become, in Blackjack terms, the team that says “hit me” in every situation. Maybe the more experienced gambler realises that sometimes 17 is enough to beat the house. Had they eked out another 10 runs in their final overs – rather than going down fighting with 13 deliveries of their innings unused – it may well have proved enough.Defeat was poor reward for another masterful innings from Root. With his second century of the series and the eighth of his ODI career, Root added 95 for the seventh wicket with Woakes in 16.4 overs to resurrect England. With Adil Rashid also contributing a swift 39, England’s lower order more than doubled the score.Unafraid to hit in the air and skipping down the pitch often to enable him to get under the ball, Root put the quality of the surface into perspective with an innings that leaves only Kevin Pietersen (nine from 123 innings) and Marcus Trescothick (12 from 122) with more ODI centuries than him of England players. This was Root’s 63rd ODI innings.He survived being given out on 95 – his use of the DRS showed an inside edge on the ball from Tahir that that had been adjudged to have trapped him leg before – and a top-edge on 55 that fell between fielders but, those moments apart, this was another excellent performance from Root.Perhaps they benefited from de Villiers’ decision-making. With England apparently there for the taking, de Villiers used his support bowlers to get through some overs rather than calling on his new ball men to finish their job. It allowed England a recovery which almost – but not quite – proved enough to snatch the game.

Virat Kohli hit his 15th ODI century as India easily hunted down 229 to defeat Zimbabwe in the opening encounter

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran24-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu ensured a hassle-free victory for India•AFP

Usually, Indian cricketers ply their trade in packed and raucous concrete bowls and have to deal with a large media contingent. The Harare Sports Club, in contrast, features vast grass banks, rudimentary stands and is ringed by trees. Only a couple of Indian journalists have made the trip to Zimbabwe to cover the series.If that wasn’t enough to ease the pressure on an Indian squad filled with understudies, the cool weather on a sunny day, the toothless Zimbabwe bowling and a benign pitch made them feel all the more comfortable. With the schooldkids dancing in the stands and plenty of fans having a leisurely lunch near the pavilion, the match seemed more like a casual afternoon game in the park, rather than an international encounter.The intensity of the contest particularly dimmed once Virat Kohli took charge of yet another chase. Over the past three years, Kohli has developed into one of the leading batsmen in one-dayers, a reputation forged on the back of several big centuries when hunting down targets, but today’s hundred – his 15th in ODIs, drawing him level with Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Yousuf – could well have been his easiest in international cricket.The chase revolved around a 159-run stand for the third wicket between debutant Ambati Rayudu and Kohli. Rayudu first came to national attention a decade ago, when picked as a 17-year-old for an A tour of the Caribbean and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. However, a tussle with his state association and a dalliance with the unofficial Indian Cricket League combined to keep him out of the India team for years. The friendly conditions were the perfect setting for Rayudu to make his debut, and he helped himself to an unbeaten half-century.Rayudu and Kohli came together after India’s opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departed fairly early – Dhawan after failing to control a hook, and Rohit after nicking a wide, amiable delivery to the keeper. Kohli was fluent right from the start, highlighted by a controlled drive through extra cover and a superbly timed flick to the midwicket boundary. With the asking-rate well in hand, Rayudu took his time early on to settle any nerves, mainly dealing in singles – he hit just two fours till he reached his half-century.With the pitch having dried out, and Zimbabwe’s spinners not getting much purchase, Prosper Utseya’s late double-strike wasn’t much more than an opportunity for the crowd to cheer.The gulf between the two sides was clearly in evidence, though it was widened considerably by India winning the toss. The only time the pitch encouraged the bowlers was soon after the 9am start, and India’s new-ball bowlers, Vinay Kumar and Shami Ahmed, had the ball swerving around though they couldn’t separate the dogged Zimbabwe opening pair of Sikandar Raza and Vusi Sibanda. The openers, well aware of the early danger, concentrated on keeping wickets in hand, not bothering about the scoring rate which remained below three in the first hour.Raza, the Sialkot-born batsman, shrugged off an indifferent start to his international career with a watchful 82 that held the innings together. The camera frequently panned to a man wearing a ‘Team Raza’ t-shirt, and Raza didn’t disappoint his fans. The run-rate may have been wanting, and it wasn’t until the 32nd over that he reached his half-century, but he then showcased his repertoire of strokes, highlighted by two sixes in the Powerplay – one a stunning straight hit over Vinay’s head and the other a muscular swat over midwicket for six more.India’s spinners kept the pressure on Zimbabwe’s top order. Jadeja continued to be in top form, with his steady spin fetching him 10-3-33-0 while legspinner Amit Mishra, playing his first ODI in more than two years, got three wickets. His googly was going to be a big weapon against a team that hasn’t faced him too often, and it provided India the first breakthrough, as Sibanda was lbw in the 22nd over.The disciplined bowling meant that Zimbabwe struggled to lift the scoring rate. It was only around the batting Powerplay, when Raza and Brendan Taylor – Zimbabwe’s best batsman, who walked out as late as the 34th over – piled on 43 runs in five overs, that the home side finally got a move on. After Taylor departed, Raza followed, falling for 82 as he missed a short ball from Mishra. He walked off dejected, and though Elton Chigumbura reeled off a series of boundaries in an unbeaten 43 off 34 balls to lift the target to 229, it didn’t prove much of a challenge for India.

Varun Aaron, the India fast bowler, has suffered a recurrence of a back injury that had ruled him of India’s tour to Australia last year and is likely to be out of cricket till at least September

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012Varun Aaron, the India fast bowler, has suffered a recurrence of a back injury that had ruled him out of India’s tour to Australia last year. He told ESPNcricinfo that he was targetting a return during the Champions League T20 in October.Aaron, whose last international game was in December in an ODI against West Indies in Visakhapatnam, returned to competitive cricket during the IPL. He played eight games for his franchise, Delhi Daredevils, and picked up eight wickets.”There was a slight niggle, but I was still good enough to bowl at my best during the IPL,” Aaron told the . “But as soon as I experienced the pain again, I returned to the NCA some five weeks back.””The back injury must have relapsed after the IPL,” TA Sekar, Daredevils mentor, said. “He was 100% fit during the matches he played and he even bowled at 145 kmh-plus in them.” Sekar said it was only after putting Aaron through the franchise’s rehab schedule that Daredevils decided to play him; Aaron played his first game only midway through the tournament.”Ideally the board should have sent him to Australia for treatment in December itself, especially since they had a qualified physio in Evan Speechly with them,” Sekar said. “The two-month delay really cost him.” Aaron was sent to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for his rehab after he was ruled out of the Australia tour.Aaron, who has played one Test and five ODIs for India, has had a history of back trouble, having suffered two stress fractures soon after he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Jharkhand in the 2008-09 season. He first played for India during the ODI series against England last October and made his Test debut the following month against West Indies. He was picked in India’s Test squad for Australia, but once the stress reaction in his back was diagnosed, he was replaced by Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar.