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Afghanistan continued their fairytale rise in international cricket with a tense victory over tournament favourites Ireland in the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai

Cricinfo staff09-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Mohammad Nabi produced a magnificent allround display to continue Afghanistan’s fairytale rise in international cricket with victory over Ireland, in a gripping match at the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai.In a fluctuating contest, neither side were separated for long until Afghanistan surged to victory with four wickets from the final four legitimate deliveries of the match. The day began with William Porterfield winning the toss and inserting Afghanistan on a lively pitch in the International Stadium. Trent Johntson, Ireland’s evergreen opening bowler, made the most of the bounce available, getting his side off to an ideal start with two quick wickets. Karim Sadiq was bowled in Jonhston’s first over before Shafiqullah, lashed out after a couple of dot balls to be caught smartly by John Mooney.It could have been worse for Afghanistan as a number of chances were spilled before Noor Ali and wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad steadied things with a 47-run third-wicket stand in just under seven overs. At 57 for 2 at the half-way stage the foundations had been laid for a decent total but Shahzad was run out by Mooney for 12 before Ali fell soon after. He was dismissed by a full-length diving catch by Paul Stirling as he tried to flick Andre Botha into the leg side. It left Afghanistan reeling at 69 for 4 with just over seven overs to go.Nabi immediately arrested the momentum with successive sixes off young left-arm spinner George Dockrell, which was followed by another captain Nowroz Mangal. Though Mangal was stumped the next ball, trying to repeat another heave, the damage had been done with 23-runs from the over. As wickets tumbled around him, Nabi’s blend of quick running and occasional boundary swiping lifted the total to 139 and he finished unbeaten on 43 from 25 balls.As a captain opening the innings, Porterfield had an important role in calming the nerves and setting the tone for the run chase. With a four in the first over and successive, massive sixes over midwicket off Shapoor Zadran in the third, he got off to a flyer. Zadran held his nerve, however, and removed Niall O’Brien off the final ball of the third over. Having already taken 14 from the first five legal deliveries, there was no need for O’Brien to try and smite another boundary, it proved his undoing as he was caught by Ali for 2.Stirling, Ireland’s most promising young player, joined his captain as the two calmly lifted the total to 49 off just six overs. At that stage Ireland looked like they could coast home but Sadiq made up for his earlier disappointment with the bat with a crucial double-strike in the seventh over. First Porterfield was bowled by a sharply-spinning offbeak and then Andre Botha was bowled through that gate from one that came back at him for a duck. Kevin O’Brien and Stirling soon followed as Afghanistan took charge to leave Ireland at 98 for 7, still 41 needed from 33 balls.Johnston and Mooney then wrestled back some of the momentum, putting on 27 in four overs to keep Ireland in the hunt, before Johnston holed out off a full toss from Nabi to leave Ireland needing 14 from the final six balls. They didn’t get close as Hamid Hasan ran out Peter Connell from the first ball and castled Mooney off the second to secure Afghanistan a sensational start in their quest to reach a global tournament.Speaking after the game Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan was delighted with his side’s performance. “It is very heartening to beat a top side like Ireland on a consistent basis. This reflects that we are learning and learning fast,” he said. “It is certainly a jump start for my side as Ireland is the best side in the tournament. The victory has given us a tremendous boost and confidence.”Porterfield, meanwhile, was very disappointed with the way his side imploded today. “We lost it all round really. I don’t think we deserved anything from the game, the way we went at it,” he said.”We didn’t bowl badly but we probably gave them 20 or 30 runs with the amount of dropped catches. But even walking off the field, I would have taken 140, I wasn’t too disappointed to be chasing that. Just the way we went about it with the bat wasn’t good enough. The way we’ve been preparing for the last two weeks has been nowhere near that standard, and it wasn’t good enough.”

Big names are missing due to the Asia Cup and India A’s multi-day series against Australia A

Ashish Pant10-Sep-2025

Big picture: Big names missing in final

With a host of big names either playing the Asia Cup or getting ready for India A’s red-ball series against Australia A, the Duleep Trophy 2025-26 final at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru is expected to be a low-key affair. Both South Zone and Central Zone have brought in reinforcements after their respective semi-finals.Central Zone have made four changes, with Vidarbha seamer Nachiket Bhute, Madhya Pradesh’s Kumar Kartikeya and Kuldeep Sen, and Rajasthan’s left-arm spinner Kukna Ajay Singh getting into the mix. They come in for Yash Thakur, Harsh Dubey, Khaleel Ahmed and Manav Suthar, who have departed for the four-day series against Australia A in Lucknow.South Zone, meanwhile, have brought in Karnataka’s R Smaran and Tamil Nadu’s C Andre Siddarth in place of Devdutt Padikkal and N Jagadeesan.Related

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• Danish Malewar's bright start and big ambitions

Central Zone’s batting looks formidable. Three of the four highest run-scorers in the tournament belong to them: Danish Malewar (294), Rajat Patidar (268) and Shubham Sharma (252). The bowling, however, is severely depleted, with four of their frontliners out of the final.The onus will be on offspinner Saransh Jain, who got a match haul of 8 for 205, and, with that, the Player-of-the-Match award in the semi-final against West Zone, to continue his form. Central Zone will also hope for Deepak Chahar to get back among the wickets. The seamer has had a lukewarm Duleep Trophy so far – two wickets in three innings at 58 – and hasn’t found much movement with the new ball.South Zone have an inexperienced batting unit, and will bank on Tanmay Agarwal, Ricky Bhui and captain Mohammed Azharuddeen to get some runs. The bowlers, led by quick Gurjapneet Singh, were impressive in the semi-final against North Zone, and will hope to continue their wicket-taking form.Central Zone have only played at Ground B, which has a black-soil pitch, while South Zone have previous experience of playing at Ground A, which will host the final, and has a red-soil pitch. Both teams dominated their respective semi-finals, qualifying by virtue of a first-innings lead.The Duleep Trophy final will be live streamed on the JioHotstar app.Rajat Patidar has a strike rate of 106.34 in the Duleep Trophy this season•PTI

In the spotlight: Rajat Patidar and Mohammed Azharuddeen

With scores of 125, 66 and 77, Rajat Patidar has been in impressive form in the Duleep Trophy. He is third on the run charts, while his strike rate of 106.34 is the highest for any batter to have played more than six balls in the tournament. Patidar’s captaincy has also stood out in both games, but with many of his frontline bowlers missing, it will be tested in the final.South Zone captain Mohammed Azharuddeen missed out on an excellent batting pitch in the semi-final. He will want to make amends. Azharuddeen, who will also keep wicket with Jagadeesan away, had a terrific Ranji Trophy 2024-25, scoring 635 runs at 70.55 in Kerala’s run to the final. He also entered the Duleep Trophy on the back of a decent Kerala Cricket League, where he recorded 253 runs in eight innings.

Team news: Central’s new bowlers

South Zone could send Shaik Rasheed to open alongside Tanmay, while Smaran could come into the middle order. Salman Nizar was struck on the knee during the semi-final, and had to be carried to the dugout. If he fails to recover in time, they could bring Siddarth into the XI.South Zone (probable): 1 Shaik Rasheed, 2 Tanmay Agarwal, 3 Mohit Kale, 4 R Smaran, 5 Ricky Bhui (vice-capt), 6 C Andre Siddarth/Salman Nizar, 7 Mohammed Azharuddeen (capt, wk), 8 Tanay Thyagarajan, 9 Gurjapneet Singh, 10 Vasuki Koushik, 11 MD NidheeshDeepak Chahar has two wickets at an average of 58 in this season’s Duleep Trophy•PTI

Central Zone are unlikely to tinker with their batting order, but will have to field almost a fresh bowling unit. While Chahar is likely to hold on to his place, Kartikeya, Kuldeep and Aditya Thakare could all come into the side.Central Zone (probable): 1 Aayush Pandey, 2 Danish Malewar, 3 Shubham Sharma, 4 Rajat Patidar (capt), 5 Yash Rathod, 6 Upendra Yadav (wk), 7 Aditya Thakare, 8 Saransh Jain, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Kumar Kartikeya, 11 Kuldeep Sen

Pitch and conditions: Runs galore

The surface at Ground A has been excellent for batting. Neither of the two Duleep Trophy games played there had a fourth innings, with only 45 wickets falling across the quarter-final and the semi-final. According to the weather forecast, there could be a mix of cloudy skies and rain showers throughout the five days of the final.

Quotes

“There was something for the fast bowlers, especially when they were hitting the seam – it was moving in and out. But we need to be really patient for that one ball. We know that it is a flat wicket, but we also know that there will be something in between.

The left-arm spinner is relishing his role in the Titans attack, and the prospect of batters playing out Rashid Khan and coming after him

Shashank Kishore25-Mar-20241:18

McClenaghan: ‘Mohit’s experience really shone through’

As a spinner, dew can be your biggest nightmare. And when the opponents are cruising at 107 for 2, needing 62 off 48, the challenges are that much greater.R Sai Kishore had bowled three wicketless overs for 19 up until this point. Rohit Sharma was set on 43, and another few overs of him would have all but closed the door on the Gujarat Titans. It’s at this point that Sai Kishore made his mark.”I was actually expecting dew to play a major role,” he said later. “The ball was wet, but for some strange reason, the ball was still holding on the wicket. Usually it slides on, but I was surprised by the amount of purchase I was getting. So I tried to go into the wicket and mix my pace, and go slower through the air.”Related

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Sai Kishore hadn’t featured for Titans all of last season due to team-combination considerations. Even his five appearances prior to that, in 2022, had been staggered. He needed to conjure something special to keep Titans alive, and he did, by simply pulling his length back a touch, and getting the ball to dip.Rohit fell over attempting a sweep and was trapped plumb in front. Sai Kishore had brought the game back on an even keel. His figures of 1 for 24 played a key part in Mumbai’s slowdown, particularly in the second half of their chase, where Titans varied their lengths and bowled into the pitch to deny the batters.”Because the wicket was two-paced, we tried to go into the wicket a lot more, trust our length a lot more than directly going for yorkers,” Sai Kishore said. “That resulted in getting a lot of wickets. It was attacking bowling even if the situation was otherwise.”At Titans, Sai Kishore has had to adapt to being the second spinner to Rashid Khan. In the TNPL or for Tamil Nadu, he’s used as a trump card in the Powerplay. This change of role can be tough, but for someone longing for opportunities, it was the opening he needed.”In the other teams where play I usually do the lead role. To do the second role makes it even more exciting,” Sai Kishore said. “Most people are going to play off Rashid and come after me. That makes the challenge more exciting.”That sync [with Rashid] is there, we discuss the game very well. One of the strengths of this team is everyone sticks together. Jayant [Yadav, the offspinner] also used to come in [as a reserve player] and say ‘do this, do that, it’s going good.’ The communication is always there, which is superb.”Sai Kishore picked up the all-important wicket of Rohit Sharma•BCCI

Sai Kishore felt Titans were at least 10 short of where they’d hoped to be with the bat. The plan all along was to remain in the game for as long as they could and then seize key moments, like they did in the death overs with Mohit Sharma and Rashid building on Sai Kishore’s work.”We felt we were 10 short, but the thing about this whole team and how it has been run over the last two years is we give a lot of emphasis to competing. Whether we win or lose, we’re proud of the way we play. We competed really well. That was the talk given by [head coach] Ashish Nehra as well.”All credit to the culture he has set up over the last two years. People are not thinking about the result [alone], they’re focusing about competing and staying in the game.”Sai Kishore is coming off a sensational Ranji Trophy season, which he finished as the highest wicket-taker. He left his imprint as a captain too, backing young players who thrived because of role clarity.At Titans, Sai Kishore is relishing any opportunity he gets to play, prepared to do the tough job without fearing the consequences. “When you bowl four overs on the trot, it’s like a one-day game, you can be in rhythm a lot easier.”With the Impact Player rule, we’re playing six bowlers. I’m getting the role where I’m bowling four overs on the trot in the middle. I’m open to bowling one-over spells. In [the Syed] Mushtaq Ali [Trophy] or TNPL, that’s how I use my overs but with the quality of bowlers we have, am getting to bowl four overs which I’m enjoying.”

During the chase, 16-year-old debutant Aayan Khan gave them a scare but the visitors held their nerve

Mohammad Isam25-Sep-2022Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz led Bangladesh out of trouble an occasion each as they beat UAE by seven runs in the first T20I in Dubai. In front of a sparse crowd mostly made up of expat Bangladeshis, the visitors picked up their first T20I win in the country.After being put in, Bangladesh recovered from 47 for 4, then withstood Chirag Suri’s fiery start with the bat, before 16-year-old debutant Aayan Khan gave them a final scare in the last three overs of the 159-run chase.Afif top-scored with an unbeaten 77 while Miraz took three wickets and two superb catches, one of his own bowling, before Shoriful Islam’s two wickets in the last over sealed the game for Bangladesh.Opening woes continue for Bangladesh
Sabbir Rahman and Miraz walking out to open the innings for Bangladesh laid to rest all the speculation about the opening pair since their curtailed training camp in Dhaka a couple of weeks ago.Their stand, however, lasted just nine balls when Sabbir struck Sabir Ali down to Basil Hameed at deep square leg. Miraz also didn’t look too comfortable, falling for 12 off 14 balls with two fours, top-edging one back to the fast bowler Zawar Farid in the fifth over.In between, the returning Litton Das also fell for 13, although he did start with a lot of intent, hitting three boundaries.Meiyappan’s double-strike
Bangladesh got into further trouble when legspinner Karthik Meiyappan removed Yasir Ali with his first ball. The delivery held its line, sending the visitors into a tail-spin at 47 for 4 in the eighth over. Meiyappan has been a revelation since his debut last year, having now taken 16 wickets in ten T20Is. When he lured Mosaddek Hossain out of the crease, and had him stumped for three, it looked like UAE were on the ascendancy.Afif to the rescue, again
Afif, though, stood firm amid a flurry of wickets. He has already been Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in T20Is this year, so there was a bit of consistency expected of him. He dominated the 30-run stand for the fifth wicket with Mosaddek, before adding 81 in an unbroken stand with captain Nurul Hasan.Luck was also on Afif’s side. He was dropped at deep square leg twice, on 2 and 63. But he struck the ball well through the leg side, regularly hitting it behind square, which seems to be one of his favoured areas this year. He missed a few scoops and ramps, and the straighter bat shots yielded more runs. He finished with three sixes and seven fours – Bangladesh will be happy that they have at one batter who is showing good form.Suri lights up UAE’s chase
Suri started with a boundary spree but Bangladesh had a lucky break in the middle. In the fifth over, a shot from Suri brushed bowler Shoriful’s fingers on its way to the stumps at the non-striker’s end to find Muhammad Waseem out of his crease. Waseem had struck a four and a six in his run-a-ball 15, but the home side needed a harder push.Suri then struck the ball brilliantly against Mustafizur Rahman in the last over of the powerplay. He timed the ball behind square on the off side for two fours before adding a third with a swivelled pull when Mustafizur came around the wicket. The 14-run over took UAE to 43 for 1 after six overs.Miraz comes to the party
The chasing, however, fell flat when Miraz got into the act. He had Suri stumped in the eighth over for 39 off 24 balls. In his next over, he had the dangerous Aryan Lakra for 19.After that, it was the turn of Miraz the fielder. UAE captain CP Rizwan tried to crack Mustafizur through point, but Miraz dived to his left to complete an excellent catch. Shoriful then removed Basil Hameed, before Miraz took his second brilliant catch of the game. Off his own bowling, he dived full length, once again to his left, to intercept Vriitya Aravind’s leading edge.Aayan’s near miss
Afif ran out Farid with a direct hit from deep before Mustafizur bowled Meiyappan in the 17th over. At that point, UAE required 35 from three overs with just two wickets in hand. It looked like the game was all but over before young Aayan struck three fours in the next two overs. He and Junaid Siddique took 14 and 10 off the 18th and 19th over respectively, which also featured Mosaddek dropping a sitter in the deep. Mohammad Saifuddin dropped an even easier chance at cover, but both fielders redeemed themselves by taking a catch each to complete the win.

The tournament will be played in Abu Dhabi, despite speculation in recent days that it was going to to be moved to Sharjah

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2021The sixth season of the PSL will resume from June 9, with a final set for June 24. The tournament will after all be played in Abu Dhabi, despite speculation in recent days that it was going to be moved to Sharjah. The compressed schedule means there will be as many as six double-headers, with the early games starting at 5pm Abu Dhabi time, and the evening matches at 10pm local time. Single matches will start at 8pm.The remaining league games will be played from June 9 to 19, the Qualifier and first Eliminator on June 21, the second Eliminator on June 22 and the final on June 24.*The fate of the tournament had been hanging in the balance for the last two weeks with several challenges around logistical arrangements and more crucially pending approvals from Abu Dhabi government. One of the main roadblocks was getting the necessary exemptions for the production crew from India and South Africa to land in the UAE. The delay in their visas and then clearances for chartered flights caused a delay as they are meant to undergo 10 days in quarantine on arrival.The seven-day isolation period for players and staff who arrived in the UAE via chartered flights from Pakistan ended on June 2 but a delay in the arrival of the production crew forced the PCB to rejig the schedule. The tournament was earlier meant to start not later than June 5 and they had considered Sharjah as an alternative where the quarantine rules are not as strict as in Abu Dhabi.Related

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• How the PSL plans to beat the Abu Dhabi heat

“Since its inception in 2016, the HBL PSL has embraced and overcome numerous challenges, only to emerge as a stronger and competitive league year-on-year,” Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive, said in a statement.”The enhancement and credibility of the brand remains critical to the PCB and I am pleased that we have continued to take decisive actions in the face of ongoing pressures and major challenges outside of our control over the last 10 days. Everyone has worked tirelessly to find solutions and way forward, and I am delighted that we are now in a position to announce the complete schedule.The schedule for the PSL’s resumption in 2021•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“There was a consensus between the PCB and the franchises that it was imperative to complete the remaining matches in 2021 so that we have a clean 2022 [for the next season]. Now, after overcoming all obstacles through due diligence and careful planning, I believe we have collectively achieved the desired objective that was set in March following the postponement.The PCB has had lengthy negotiations with the Abu Dhabi government to stage the tournament in the emirate, and got clearances too recently, but the resumption has not been as smooth as it was expected. Over the last 15 days, the PCB even came close to postponing the event further, but the board has now managed to put most of the pieces together and finalise on June 9 as the resumption date.One of the biggest challenges was to wrap up the league before June 22 as the Pakistan squad was set to fly to England on June 23 which was later changed to June 25 after the ECB agreed to delay the start of the bilateral tour to accommodate the PSL. But there will be no change in the dates of the matches with the first game of the tour, an ODI in Cardiff, set to be played on July 8.The squad will land in Manchester from where they will be transported to Derby for the mandatory 10-day isolation period and training session. They will then move to Cardiff on two days before the first ODI.”We are grateful and thankful for the support and backing we have received from the UAE and Pakistan governments. I would like to thank the England & Wales Cricket Board for their flexibility, the Emirates Cricket Board, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, as well as all the franchise owners for backing our approach and supporting our decision-making.”Overall, over 300 personnel – both from Pakistan and overseas – are in Abu Dhabi and a majority of them (other than the ones from India and South Africa) have already completed their quarantine. Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars completed their quarantine and started training on Wednesday, while the other four sides will start training from today. Players and player support personnel, who have completed the mandatory seven-day room isolation and returned three negative tests, are allowed to integrate with their sides and participate in training sessions.The PCB had arranged chartered flights for arriving in the UAE but those who were left behind due to visa glitches were made to fly through commercial flights, including Quetta Gladiators’ Sarfaraz Ahmed, who, along with a few other individuals, was not allowed to board a commercial flight from Lahore and Karachi to Abu Dhabi via Doha on last Sunday. They flew a day later to take a different route via Bahrain. There are still over seven personnel, including players and support staff, waiting fo their visas.*1230 GMT: The story was updated after the PCB announced the fixtures on Thursday

Senior batsman says South Africa must “find a combination and stick with it” as new World Cup cycle begins

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2020Quinton de Kock will bring calmness and “a great understanding of the game” to the role of South Africa ODI captain, according to team-mate David Miller. De Kock will take charge during the upcoming series against England, and has been tipped as the long-term successor to Faf du Plessis.South Africa’s players have convened this weekend to prepare for the three ODIs, starting in Cape Town on Tuesday. Five members of the 14-man squad are uncapped, with regular captain du Plessis and senior quick Kagiso Rabada rested, but Miller said he expected de Kock to set a positive example for the rest to follow.”Quinny and I have come a long way. I’d never met him before playing for South Africa, and our relationship has got stronger and stronger,” Miller said.”As everyone knows, Quinny is Quinny. He’s an unbelievable performer, thinks about things very simply, but at the same time, I genuinely think as he’s got older – he’s 27 now, he’s not a young whipper-snapper, he’s actually a mature, proper senior player, and I really feel he’s got a great feel on the ground, during the game he’s got a great understanding of the game. There’s a calmness to him that comes with that. He oozes enjoying the game and I think that’s a great asset that he has.”At 30, Miller is one of the oldest players in the group – and the most experienced, having played 126 ODIs. He has just returned from a stint in the Big Bash League with Hobart Hurricanes, and said he was keen to get involved after the revamp of South Africa’s coaching structure, which now features several faces that Miller played alongside at the start of his international career.”It’s very exciting,” he said. “I saw the squad come out and it was not the normal squad that everyone’s used to seeing. It’s refreshing, seeing it from Australia, and thinking it’s a new start. Teams go up and down … I personally don’t enjoy the fact we’re just building for something. At the end of the day, international cricket you need to perform, regardless of going through youngsters, and so on. Guys need to come in and learn as quick as possible.”I mentioned it before, when we played the T20s in India, we’re here to win. We’re not here to see how things go. It’s an exciting time to be in South African cricket, there’s a lot going on, but the guys have got a lot of energy, they’re willing to learn, and having the management we do, that have played a lot of cricket, it’s a good combination.”In keeping with South Africa’s disappointing 2019 World Cup, Miller had a middling run in England last year, batting four times and making scores of 38, 31, 36 and 31. However, as a senior batsman who made his ODI debut a decade ago, he is keen to carve out a central role for himself in the run up to the 2023 tournament in India.”The first World Cup [in 2015], for me, I came into a side where there were experienced senior players, and I felt like I was there and I had to do my job, fitting into the experienced players; and the last World Cup was much of the same. This build to the next World Cup is a different one for me, in the sense that there’s new players. It’s just a fresh crop. So it’s a very different experience compared to the last seven-eight years.”That’s why I’m really excited. We have to take responsibility for our performances but it’s about winning now, as well as building, about trying to find the best combination as early as possible and sticking with that.”England, too, have an experimental look about them, with World Cup winners such as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler rested ahead of the T20Is – which have assumed greater importance in a T20 World Cup year – and Miller said South Africa would be out to cause an upset.”We are playing the world champions at the end of the day,” he said. “But cricket is cricket and everyone’s beatable. If we come with the right approach and mindset, and we nail down what we need to do – which is take wickets and score runs – I think it’s going to be a really good competition.”

Set 149 for victory, the home side got there before tea on the third day to take an early lead in the three-Test series

The Report by Liam Brickhill28-Dec-2018An unbeaten 63 from Hashim Amla – his first fifty in 11 innings – helped South Africa to a 1-0 series lead over Pakistan with a six-wicket win in the first Test in Centurion. Alongside Dean Elgar, who contributed 50 to a 119-run stand, Amla weathered an intense first hour on Friday morning and then slowly but surely reversed the pressure to gain control of the innings after the early dismissal of Aiden Markram to the second ball he faced. Amla and Elgar’s partnership set a new South African record for the second wicket against Pakistan in Tests, and secured a win inside three days in a fast-moving match.Both men enjoyed slices of luck during a thoroughly absorbing morning session, and in the early exchanges, every ball was an event. Elgar was kept on nought for 18 deliveries and Amla wasn’t able to score until his 14th, and even once they started to score the chances kept coming.Elgar was off the mark with a thick edge that flew directly between the third slip and gully fielders, and in Hasan Ali’s next over, Amla flashed a thick edge hard and straight to Fakhar Zaman at third slip, the ball bouncing off his chest and dropping to the ground in front of the sprawling fielder.That was just the slice of luck Amla needed, and Elgar too had a huge piece of good fortune soon afterwards. Shaheen Afridi hustled through his first over and found the edge of Elgar’s bat with his fifth delivery, the ball flying low to Azhar Ali’s right at first slip. He appeared to have taken a sharp catch cleanly, but the on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and S Ravi asked TV umpire Joel Wilson to have another look. The soft signal was out, but Wilson saw enough on the replay – the fingers of Azhar’s right hand having not quite got under the ball – to offer Elgar a reprieve.Coach Mickey Arthur protested animatedly from the change-rooms, and Pakistan had lost two clear chances in consecutive overs. Frustrated, Pakistan gambled a review when Amir returned to the attack and caught Amla’s forward press pad first, but replays showed the ball missing off stump, and with every run scored thereafter, Elgar and Amla strengthened their grip on the match.Elgar took the partnership to 50 – and the requirement to under 100 – with a neat little clip to the midwicket boundary in the 19th over of the day. He didn’t flinch despite repeated blows to the body, and when spin was introduced he immediately swept Yasir Shah to the fine-leg boundary. At the other end, Amla was into the 40s with a pair of trademark shots off Hasan and batted with increasing assurance despite conditions remaining challenging throughout the day.Amla was first to his fifty, caressing a short ball from Afridi to the point boundary in his first over after lunch. Elgar took his time grinding his way to his own fifty, but also allowed himself moments of flamboyance along the way, lifting Hasan back over his head to move to 45.Elgar raised his fifty with his 10th four, easing Shan Masood back down the ground, but wafted tiredly at the next ball to present an edge to Sarfraz Ahmed and give Masood his maiden Test wicket. In a scrappy finish, Theunis de Bruyn over-egged his attempts to get after Yasir and was stumped, while Faf du Plessis emulated his opposite number Sarfraz in bagging a pair: the first time in Test history both designated captains have failed to score across four innings in a Test. South Africa slipped to 137 for 4 within touching distance of victory, but Temba Bavuma entered and displayed similar form to the first innings, leaning into a cover drive at Afridi and then sweeping Yasir through square leg to seal the result.While Pakistan’s quicks bowled admirably, this was South Africa’s Test: starting with Dale Steyn’s record 422nd wicket on day one, through Duanne Olivier’s maiden five-for (and 11 in the match), Kagiso Rabada’s 50th Test wicket in the calendar year, and a welcome return to form for Amla in testing conditions, the hosts will head to Cape Town as very much the happier team.

New Zealand have used 11 different players between No. 5 and 7 since the 2015 World Cup. India, in the same period, have tried just as many players at No. 4 alone

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu21-Oct-20172:22

Chopra: Dhawan must open; use Pandya as the sixth bowler and batting option

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You will remember the last team to go down in the Champions Trophy earlier this year: India, shellacked by Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Amir in the final. But, do you remember that New Zealand were the first to be ousted from the tournament? They have a rejigged squad for the series against India, but the old troubles remain. The Brendon McCullum-shaped hole at the top of the order. The middle-order that is a revolving door. New Zealand have used as many as 11 different players between No. 5 and 7 since the 2015 World Cup. And the one with the best numbers – allrounder James Neesham (557 runs in 22 innings) isn’t even with the team now.Instead, New Zealand have tasked Tom Latham with a dual role: hold the middle order together and keep wicket. Opening the batting in each of the five ODIs in India last year, Latham had accumulated 244 runs in five innings. In the first ODI on a seamer-friendly pitch in Dharamsala, he became the first New Zealander to carry his bat through an ODI innings. Glenn Phillips, Henry Nicholls – who did not even manage a single win for New Zealand A against India A in the lead-up to this series – and Colin de Grandhomme – who did not get a game in the Champions Trophy – are the other middle-order aspirants.Since the Champions Trophy final, India have secured dominant series wins in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka, and at home against Australia. They have gone from ignoring wristspin to lapping it up with both Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal lending a fresh edge to the bowling attack. But the hosts have middle-order concerns of their own: they have used 11 different players at No. 4 since the 2015 World Cup.

Form guide

India: WLWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand: LLLWW

In the spotlight

The last time New Zealand were in India, Hardik Pandya was just making his ODI debut. A year later, he has established himself as the team’s premier allrounder. His six-hitting prowess – he has smashed 28 of them in 2017, just one below the leader of the list – has eased India’s middle-order worries and set them up better for the final flourish. The batting brawn is complemented by the bowling smarts – he has added the fast offcutter and the knuckle ball to his repertoire.Trent Boult was singled out by India’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma as a major threat, two days before the series opener. That the left-arm quick scooped 5 for 38 in the first warm-up match, and took 16 wickets in seven games against India last year adds more weight to Rohit’s comments.

Team news

Ajinkya Rahane struck at least a fifty in each of his four most recent ODIs, but with Shikhar Dhawan returning to India’s squad, he appears set to partner Rohit at the top. Dinesh Karthik might have to tussle with Manish Pandey for a middle-order spot.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Kedar Jadhav, 5 MS Dhoni(wk), 6 Manish Pandey/Dinesh Karthik, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit BumrahNew Zealand captain Kane Williamson confirmed that Colin Munro will open the batting with Martin Guptill. The visitors might also have to make a choice between Nicholls, Phillips, and George Worker.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Henry Nicholls/Glenn Phillips, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Tim Southee

Pitch and conditions

The pitch in Mumbai wore a brownish look on Saturday, amid fairly dry conditions. The Wankhede surface is noted for its batting-friendly nature – the last ODI here saw South Africa amass 438, and the same trend could follow. Mumbai has received some erratic rains in the last few weeks, which means Sunday is likely to be hot and humid.

Stats and trivia

• Rohit needs 98 runs to become the second batsman after Virat Kohli to reach 1000 ODI runs in 2017.
• Kohli is set to feature in his 200th ODI on Sunday. He will be the 13th Indian to the landmark.
• South Africa and India are both on 120 points with Faf du Plessis’ men ahead on decimal points. If South Africa beat Bangladesh 3-0, India will have to beat New Zealand 3-0 to regain, and retain, the No. 1 ranking.
• Munro has never opened in 57 matches across formats in international cricket so far.

Quotes

“We have got a relatively new middle order – some guys with injuries, some guys with some good opportunities that certainly they all deserve, and it’s exciting. These guys were here on the A tour and experienced these conditions for a while coming into the series, which is always good.”
“We always had in mind to bring wristspinners into play. We honestly didn’t think of playing two together but they (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal) are so good together that it is very tempting to play them every game.”

Hampshire’s attempts to pull off Great Escape 2 started well as they moved towards a formidable first-innings score on a sandy pitch at the Ageas Bowl

Will Macpherson at the Ageas Bowl20-Sep-2016
ScorecardJames Vince found form at the right time•Getty Images

Hampshire’s pursuit of the 22 points they began this game needing to guarantee safety, and a second consecutive Great Escape, could barely have started better. By day’s end, on a pitch already turning with some venom, four of those points were in the bag. A fifth – they need 30 runs in 13 overs – seems there for the taking. Events at Edgbaston are going their way.There was, it seems, a masterplan in place. The players have been agonising over this pitch since their last game, against Surrey at the Oval, finished in a draw 11 days ago. Then James Vince, the captain, had hinted that they wanted, perhaps needed, the ball to turn and that Mason Crane, Liam Dawson and even Will Smith would have substantial roles to play with the ball. Spin-bowling, as Hampshire had suspected and Vince subsequently proved in his fine hand of 92, is not Durham’s forte.Smith, who made 90, seemed pleased with Hampshire’s day. “It’s a wicket where we don’t think it’s going to get any better so getting as many runs as we can first up is great,” he said. “To be 370 on day one is great, with some bonus points – get that final one and we have done well.”Paul Collingwood looked up (on a cold, cloudy morning), not down (at a dry, straw-coloured surface with a small ridge running down it that apparently had umpire Nick Cook smiling before play), and invited Hampshire to bat without so much as the flick of a coin.In trying to play to his strengths – seam and swing, he was unwittingly playing his part in the masterplan. Hampshire wanted to bat first, bat big, and then let the pitch disintegrate under Crane and Dawson’s watch. The sight of Ryan Pringle’s off-breaks coming on – and immediately finding turn – to try and break in the game’s 12th over reaffirmed this.Pringle would bowl 31 overs by the end of the day and take three wickets – the first and third, left-handers Tom Alsop and Ryan McLaren, both lbw, with notable turn – but at the significant cost of a daddy ton of runs. The other wicket, Sean Ervine caught behind trying to cut a ball too close to him, came a ball after the batsman reached 50 (his fifth in six innings), just as he was looking to cut loose.There was plenty of spin, but even more loose balls. “We have played the turn well,” said Smith, “trying to put pressure onto their spinners. It will be interesting what happens once we bowl because it should turn consistently and more and more as the game goes on.””It was a disappointing day,” said Collingwood, “the amount it is turning on day one you would expect to take more wickets. I knew it was going to turn for day one, there is a lot of sand on that wicket which is the same tactic Somerset seem to be using as well. But we didn’t quite get it right and to only get six wickets on day one is pretty disappointing.”Vince, particularly, mauled Pringle, to the tune of 52 from 45 balls. Having walked to the crease a ball after lunch, he instantly looked at ease, exploiting the vast gaps for twos and threes from dabbed sweeps and late cuts. There was that cover-drive, which felt so much safer to the spinners but was played with control to the seamers too, while a single Pringle over yielded two swept fours and a skip down for six over long-on. In the blink of an eye he had a 48-ball 50, brought up with his first false stroke, an edge over the keeper as Ben Stokes found pace and bounce.By tea he had 89, having added the backfoot drive and pull to the repertoire, but he was run out by Ervine shortly after the break. The left-hander pushed to cover point, and called Vince through, failing to note the presence of Stokes. Vince hesitated, and Stokes had the wherewithal to forgo the direct hit, knowing the keeper had time to finish the job. Despite the careless ending, this was the Vince the selectors picked – achingly elegant and, as in last season’s Great Escape, doing it in a jam, too.Jimmy Adams and Smith, with whom Vince shared 102 before the opener skewed to point, had laid the foundations for Vince’s knock. They put on 111 for the first wicket until Adams chopped on to Scott Borthwick’s second over, his eighth half-century of the season curtailed before a first ton was reached. Nevermind, it had been a punchy, platform-building innings full of pleasant off-drives and dainty cuts. Survival would mean more to Adams than most; he is as Hampshire as the hills around the Ageas Bowl and, in 2016, it is odd to think he played a full season with Robin Smith all those years ago.Will Smith ploughed on, sweeping the spinners and cover-driving Hampshire into a fine position against the county he captained to the title (and won two others with) before his abrupt release. He knows better than anyone, however, that games are not won on day one. “There is so much ebb and flow to come,” he said. “Sure, we are ahead, but Durham are a side who have fought back incredibly well in games like this. We will have to be incredibly wary of that.”

Steady rain all day threatened to cause an abandonment without the Australians even leaving their team hotel

Daniel Brettig in Northampton14-Aug-2015Steady rain all day threatened to cause an abandonment without the Australians even leaving their team hotel. They spent much of the day watching the Women’s Ashes Test at a sunnier Canterbury, before the coach Darren Lehmann and his opposite number David Ripley brokered a late start.The plan was for a toss at 4.30pm and then 30 overs from 5pm, but the rain returned just as the Australian team bus turned into Wantage Road. So it was that a three-day fixture was trimmed back to two, coincidentally the same length of the match between these two sides in 2013. Steven Smith must wait one more day to toss a coin as Australia’s full-time captain.