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A round-up of the latest pro-50 matches from Zimbabwe as the tournament resumes

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2013
ScorecardA calm fifth-wicket partnership between Brian Chari and Sean Williams guided Matabeleland Tuskers to a comfortable five-wicket victory against bottom-placed Southern Rocks in Bulawayo. In a match reduced to 37 overs per side, they came together with the chase of 132 stuttering on 44 for 4 but added 79 to ensure victory with nearly 10 overs to spare.The win was set up in the field after they had put Rocks into bat. Glen Querl struck in his first over and Keegan Meth claimed two lbws to leave the innings in trouble on 25 for 3 in the 11th. Matthew Pardoe, the Worcestershire batsman, tried to anchor a recovery with 42 but when he was fifth out, bowled by Sean Ervine, the innings fell away. Ervine finished with 3 for 29.
ScorecardThe match between the top two teams, Mid West Rhinos and Mashonaland Eagles, was abandoned after less than 10 overs due to rain. Rhinos, having been put into bat, were 30 for 1. They remain top of the table by two points.

Vernon Philander has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth, which starts on Friday

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2013Vernon Philander has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth, which starts on Friday, after suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury that had him in doubt for the first Test. Rory Kleinveldt will replace him.Philander bowled 30 overs in the Cape Town Test and took seven wickets. His six overs in the first innings saw him claim his eighth Test five-for. He had to leave the field after his final five-over spell on the third day when he felt pain in his left hamstring.The same injury forced him to pull out of a first-class match two weeks ago and he required a two-week rest period but was ready for the first Test. With the second niggle coming so soon after the first, team management have decided not to risk Philander.”Vernon’s hamstring strain will require a seven to 10 day recovery period at the very least,” Mohammed Moosajee, South African team manager – who is also a medical doctor – said. “Although he is responding to treatment received over the past few days, we feel it’s unlikely that he’ll recover in time for this week’s Test match. With the Pakistan series less than a month away, it’s not worth the risk of aggravating the injury.”South Africa’s three Test series against Pakistan starts on February 2 and Philander will target that to make his return. He will have missed three of the 16 Tests since he made his debut in November 2011 through injury. He missed the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka in 2011 with a knee problem, the Adelaide Test against Australia because of back spasms and now this coming match with a hamstring problem.As a result, Kleinveldt will play his third Test for South Africa. Kleinveldt debuted in Brisbane where he was so nervous, he overstepped 12 times in the match and went wicketless. But he kept his place ahead of Philander in Adelaide and, despite another 11 no-balls in the match, redeemed himself by removing the Australian top three in one second-innings spell. He has only played two first-class matches at St George’s Park and this will be his first Test on home soil.

Australia fielded three spinners in the tour match against India A and, apart from Xavier Doherty, they did not have much success

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2013Australia’s final practice match, against India A, before the first Test in Chennai has brought a general assumption to public notice: that in the spin department, Michael Clarke does not have the pedigree that was available to Alastair Cook during England’s historic series win in India three months ago.Spinners Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon and the teenager Ashton Agar went for 244 runs in the 49 overs they bowled to the India A batsmen at the Guru Nanak Ground. It was a large chunk of India A’s first-day total of 338 for 4.In comparison, the quicks Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Moises Henriques’ conceded 86 runs in 41 overs. Despite being the stronger half of the Australians’ bowling unit, they did not opt for the second new ball when it was due. The focus was on working on the old ball to keep it reversing, a strategy they hope will help them take 20 wickets in every Test.Doherty said the Australians had come to India after studying how Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann had bowled at a quicker pace than the Indians spinners, slightly higher than 90kph. “It’s not always going to work,” he said. “A bowler like Nathan [Lyon], he’s not going to bowl that fast. That’s not his game and he’s not going to change his game just because it worked for someone else.”Doherty, the quickest of the spinners today – “it comes naturally to me, all the way through my career I’ve been faster than the average spinner” – was also the most successful, taking three of the four wickets to fall, and the most economical.Australia’s spinners, he said, had struggled in several departments – finding the lengths and the pace at which to bowl on slow turners, and when attacked by the India A batsmen. Doherty said there was a little more ‘skid’ in his bowling, when compared to that of the two taller spinners. He said he found his rhythm in his final spell, and hopefully that would “bode well for a Test selection at some stage, but I’m not so sure… we’ve got plenty more work to do, training sessions, two more days to go.”Rohit Sharma, who scored 77 for India A, was more sangfroid about his assessment of Australia’s slow bowlers and said they had attacked too much. “Their fielders were closing in – we could take our chances and score those runs quickly. It’s a different ball game when it comes to a Test match, they were trying a few things so we took advantage of that … I am not saying that they are not good bowlers. You cannot underestimate anybody.”Rohit came in at No. 3 and was involved in two partnerships, 128 with the centurion Gautam Gambhir for the second wicket and 71 with Manoj Tiwary for the third. Siddle and Starc had conceded only 12 runs in the first 10 overs and Rohit said they had “bowled tight lines” on a pitch with low bounce and a slow outfield. “In the middle we saw them bowling reverse and … in a four-over period, it was doing a lot. That period was very crucial and we didn’t give any wickets.”He said India A would take a call after the first five or six overs of the second day whether to declare early.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith felt ‘humbled’ after visiting his alma mater, and meeting a young wicketkeeper fighting odds after being struck by lightning

Firdose Moonda13-Mar-2013The two King Edward VII (KES) schoolboys on either side of Graeme Smith had to pull the South African Test captain up from the crouch position during the institution’s war cry. Like most alumni, Smith seemed to have forgotten a few parts of the traditional song and dance that he had performed a decade and a half ago, so he was happy to be led. But in every other way, Smith was the one giving direction when he paid a visit to his alma mater on Wednesday morning.Smith’s trip was planned around visiting the nine members of the school’s first team, who had been struck by lightning last month while putting covers on the pitch. He made a special trip to visit the one boy, Mphetho Bidli, who is still recovering in hospital.Bidli, a 17-year old wicketkeeper, is the only one of the students who has not returned to school. He suffered cardiac arrest after being struck and was resuscitated by a paramedic, who was the father of the one of the other schoolboys.Bidli lost his speech and mobile functionality in the accident. Although doctors were impressed with his progress – he has started to walk again – they cautioned that his recovery period will be lengthy. He sleeps with his cricket cap and bat close by and hopes to be able to play again.Smith wished nothing but the same. “I hope my visit today can instill some fighting resilience into Bidli during this difficult period for him,” he said. “From what I hear he has been incredibly brave and has improved quite a lot in the last couple of weeks, so that is very encouraging. He seems like a very motivated young man with a bright future ahead of him. It’s humbling for me to see how positive and determined he is.”Smith addressed the school assembly and had a short question and answer session but admitted to feeling more nerves than at any of his previous “press conferences, functions and even when opening the batting.” His main message was one of encouragement.”I hope to inspire the boys after the traumatising ordeal last month, and more importantly bring the school closer together as they try to move forward positively.”For the 1000 children who attend the school, being in the presence of the Test captain left them star-struck. KES has produced many national sportsmen including Smith’s former opening partner Neil McKenzie and Springbok winger Bryan Habana, all of whom have remained involved with the school after leaving. Smith is no different and spoke of the importance of going back to the place that “moulded” him into the person he is today.”It’s always a gratifying and humbling experience when old boys visit the school. That is the foundation that this school’s culture is based on,” David Lovatt, the school principal said. “The victims of the lightning accident were all budding cricketers so it makes it extra special that the support is coming from one of South Africa’s greatest cricketers.”

Peter Fulton’s twin centuries put him in rare company as he became the fourth New Zealand batsman to complete this feat

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland25-Mar-2013It has been an extraordinary few days in the life of Peter Fulton. A maiden Test hundred on Friday, then another century to make it back-to-back tons in the same match on Monday, then being included in a tweet by John Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister.His post had gone unnoticed by Fulton, until it was mentioned after play. “I’m not on Twitter,” he said. “I hadn’t heard that. I guess that’s one to cross off the list.”In front of his parents, and an increasingly large band of supporters, Fulton wrote himself a place in New Zealand’s history books with a crunching straight six off Stuart Broad, to become just the fourth New Zealand batsman – after Glenn Turner, Geoff Howarth and Andrew Jones – to score twin hundreds in a Test. Small boundaries or not, it was a mighty blow with which to reach a landmark.His second fifty took 41 balls, as the confidence and adrenalin surged through him. Gone was the understandable nervousness of his maiden hundred, during which he sweated on 99 for 10 balls, with his last 36 runs taking 143 balls. The situation had changed, and so did the batsman, which showed that Fulton is not just someone to grind out an innings. An over against Monty Panesar changed the tempo as he took the left-arm spinner for 14 off three deliveries. From then he was unstoppable, until clubbing to long-on for 110.”I thought if he [Broad] pitches it up, I’m going to try and hit it back over his head,” he said. “It’s just one of those things, I just wanted to get there and make sure we kept being aggressive. I didn’t want to slow down too much looking for a personal milestone.””The first innings was a bit nervy, and I’d decided when we came out after lunch that I’d just play the same way as I had before, regardless of what score I was on. It made for slightly less of a nerve racking time for myself anyway.”Early on during the onslaught, Matt Prior thought it was a decent time to mention the lack of runs Fulton had scored through the off side – in the first innings he made 107 of his 136 on the leg side, second time around it was a 64-46 split. There were not many words from the England team when he launched a skimming flat six over long-off against James Anderson.”I guess everyone would like to be able to score to all parts of the ground, but you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got,” he said. “I can play through the off side, but I guess I’ve already been out three times trying to play through the off side in the series. It’s probably a bit silly to keep trying to flog a dead horse. It was nice once I’d got myself in to play a few through the off side. I’m not really too bothered where they come, or what direction they go in, as long as I get them.””The situation of the game helped, it’s a bit tougher to play like that on day one. You hit one straight up in the air, and you get castigated for it. It was nice to show a few people, who don’t watch a lot of domestic cricket, that I can bat like that, and adapt to the situation.”Fulton has helped give the team stability in an area they had floundered for a long time. Hundreds by openers had become a collector’s item, and now there are three in a series for only the second time for New Zealand. Fulton’s part could so easily have not happened, at the age of 34, especially after a knee injury in South Africa curtailed his first attempt at a comeback late last year. “Hopefully it proves if you keep sticking at it, and you don’t lose faith in yourself, then good things can happen.”

Glamorgan go into the final at the SWALEC Stadium as favourites to win but half-centuries from Thilan Samaraweera and Moeen Ali ensured Worcestershire would not lose by an innings.

19-Apr-2013Worcestershire 123 and 186 for 5 (Samaraweera 71*, Moeen 55) lead Glamorgan 295 by 14 runs
ScorecardGlamorgan go into the final day in Cardiff as favourites to win but half-centuries from Thilan Samaraweera and Moeen Ali ensured Worcestershire would not lose by an innings and by the close they had reached a lead of 14.Glamorgan’s most effective bowler was Will Bragg. His part-time medium pace accounted for Moeen and Alexei Kervezee in the space of four balls either side of tea as he recorded figures of 2 for 7.Glamorgan resumed the third day on 235 for 7, a first-innings lead of 112 with Jim Allenby (71) and Dean Cosker (8). The duo moved the score onto 244 before a light shower forced the players off the field. When they returned Allenby’s 212 minute vigil ended when he edged Gareth Andrew to Daryl Mitchell at second slip. Allenby made 78 from 162 balls.Michael Hogan was dismissed three balls later when a ball from Chris Russell trickled onto his stumps. The last wicket of Cosker and Mike Reed produced some entertainment as they put on 36 before Russell brought the innings to a close when he yorked Reed for 15 with Cosker unbeaten on 44 from 88 balls with five fours. Gareth Andrew was Worcestershire’s best bowler ending with figures of 4 for 79.Glamorgan struck in the first over of the Worcestershire second innings when Graham Wagg bowled Matt Pardoe for 0 shouldering arms before the visitors reached 5 for 1 at lunch, still 167 runs adrift of making Glamorgan bat again.Worcestershire had reached 50 for 1 before Jim Allenby made the breakthrough to remove skipper Daryl Mitchell with Bragg making a fine diving catch at midwicket. Moeen went on to make 55 with nine fours in a stay in the middle of two hours 39 minutes before perishing in the final over before tea. Moeen’s defiance ended when he chopped a ball from Bragg on to his stumps.From 97 for 3 at tea, Worcestershire lost another wicket three balls after the break when Kervezee went for a duck – the second victim of Bragg’s medium pace after he was caught at slip by Allenby. But Samaraweera and Michael Johnson ensured a lead as well as no more scares for Worcestershire, putting on 48 for the sixth wicket by the close.

Tim Southee has praised his captain Brendon McCullum’s attacking mindset on the field

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2013Tim Southee has praised the leadership of Brendon McCullum, who took over the New Zealand captaincy late last year after the fallout between Ross Taylor and coach Mike Hesson.After a nightmare start to 2013 in South Africa, the team’s fortunes have steadily improved, most recently in March when they came within one wicket of a series win over England. One of the visible features of McCullum’s short captaincy has been his attacking mindset in the field.In a wide-ranging interview with Alison Mitchell for ESPNcricinfo’s Tea Break, Southee said McCullum’s attitude gave New Zealand the best chance to win.”He’s a born leader,” Southee said of McCullum. “He’s a thinker of the game. He’s a proactive captain. He’s willing to chance his arm to try and get his side ahead, and that’s not always going to work, but he’s willing to try something to get ahead in the game. He’s got a great cricket brain and [is] just a natural leader, so he’s got that respect in the changing room amongst most guys.”McCullum’s latest challenge is to lead the side in the return series in England, where New Zealand will play two Tests and three ODIs. After New Zealand’s performances at home there is a belief that they can push No. 2-ranked England close again. Southee said it is important that impressive performances, like the ones they produced earlier this year, are not exceptions if the team is to move up the rankings.”If we do well over here in their conditions it will show that what we did in New Zealand wasn’t just a one-off, and hopefully we can start to gain a bit more respect in Test cricket. Over the last couple of years we haven’t been where we want to be and if we do well over here I guess it will be a step in the right direction for us as a Test nation.”

Half-volleys hit straight to hand. A fielder found perfectly with a long hop. Crazy wide balls. A dropped catch to finally lose the match. Another night in the life of the IPL

The Report by Sidharth Monga24-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Dwayne Smith scored 62 off 44•BCCI

Half-volleys hit straight to hand. A fielder found perfectly with a long hop. Crazy wide balls. A dropped catch to finally lose the match. Another night in the life of IPL. After which Mumbai Indians made it to the finals. Chennai Super Kings have already made it to the final. Chasing 166, which was thanks to Lasith Malinga’s profligate last over, Mumbai were on their way with Dwayne Smith and Aditya Tare strolling through, but a spate of poor shots made for some late drama.Mumbai were 70 for 0 after nine overs when Tare played a chip straight down long-on’s throat. It was not an attempt at hitting a six. It was not an attempt to keep the ball along the ground. Nor was it a mis-hit. He was caught comfortably at long-on. While Smith continued to bat solidly, Dinesh Karthik cut a short and wide delivery straight to point. Mumbai were now 125 for 2 at the start of the 15th over, and Rohit Shamra was soon to make it 128 for 3 with a slog down the wrong line.In the 17th over, Smith timed a half-volley a bit too well and found deep midwicket to fall for 62 off 44. In the next over, the 18th, Pollard did the same, and this walk had now become treacherous. Ambati Rayudu was the last of the recognised batsmen, and he responded with a six to cow corner to make it 16 off 10 balls. Two balls later, keeping with the spirit of the match, Rayudu mis-hit a full toss, Brad Hodge ran in from deep square leg, got under it, but dropped it.In the last over, Shane Watson, who had had an ordinary time with the ball thus far, produced a moment of inspiration, an accurate legcutter to knock back Rayudu’s off stump. With six required off four balls, and two new batsmen at the wicket, it was game on again. Rishi Dhawan, the young Himachal Pradesh allrounder, produced the other moment of inspiration, ramping a length ball over short fine leg. Game over.Dhawan was one of the inspirational men for Mumbai with the ball. Brought in to replace Munaf Patel, who was ordinary when replacing the injured Dhawal Kulkarni, bowled ahead of Malinga, and kept it quiet. Harbhajan Singh came on and broke the sizeable but slowish opening stand when he bowled Ajinkya Rahane behind his legs. Harbhajan found a way to stay in the match. Of the six wickets that fell, he either took or caught five.The biggest of those wickets was Watson, who top-edged him to square leg. Royals kept losing wickets until Dishant Yagnik gave them a total to defend with an innovative 31 off 17. Unsettled by that, Malinga bowled two sets of big wides and conceded 18 runs in the last over. That wasn’t to be the last bit of ordinary cricket on the night.

Virat Kohli praised the Indian team for showing character by qualifying for the final of the tri-series, in spite of losing the first two matches of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2013Virat Kohli has praised the Indian team for showing character by brushing aside early losses in the tri-series to finish on top of the table and qualify for the final. India beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs under the D/L method and the two teams will play each other again in the final on July 11.”To bounce back like this and finish at the top of the table is a commendable effort. I am very proud of the team,” Kohli said. “We have shown a lot of character. When three good teams are playing in the tournament, anything can happen. We were never bothered about the rain delays. Our performance showed what happens when one executes their plans properly.”The match against Sri Lanka was a must-win game for India and they struggled early in their innings on a difficult pitch. Kohli, who shared a 49-run stand with Rohit Sharma for the second wicket, said the team had a game plan of conserving wickets. India were on 119 for 3 when rain ended their innings.”When Rohit and I were playing, we just wanted to play ourselves in. It paid in the end, because we had wickets in hand, and it worked in the D/L calculations in our favour,” Kohli said. “Then the bowlers responded beautifully. Full credit to them.”Rohit Sharma, who fought hard for his 48 not out, was pleased with his effort. “I took it up as a challenge. I know that I have a long way to go,” he said. “I am really not bothered about whether I am getting a big score as long as I am contributing and working on my mistakes.”Also crucial to India’s defence of 178 in 29 overs – a revised D/L target – was Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Making good use of the pitch after the long rain delay, he finished with career-best figures of 4 for 8 in six overs, and said the pitch at Queens Park Oval was the ‘most helpful one’ that he had bowled on so far.Sri Lanka’s captain, Angelo Mathews said the rain delay had made the pitch tougher for his batsmen. “We bowled well, but when we batted the pitch had been under covers and had sweated more. We had nothing to lose and went for the win,” Mathews said after his team was dismissed for 96. “It’s mentally and physically draining to play three days in a row. We have played some good cricket to get to the final, hopefully we can beat India on Thursday.”

A second, successive sub-standard performance with the bat saw South Africa undo their significantly improved showing with the ball to go 2-0 down in the series

The Report by Firdose Moonda23-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDinesh Chandimal ‘s 43 was crucial in Sri Lanka posting more than 200•AFP

A second, successive sub-standard performance with the bat saw South Africa undo their significantly improved showing with the ball to go 2-0 down in the series. On a slow surface, batting was laboured, and Sri Lanka’s attack was able to defend with ease, the spinners getting the opposition batsmen into a tangle, again.South Africa’s challenge was dealt a serious blow before it even began. Hashim Amla, who missed the first match with a neck niggle but recovered in time for this one, was injured in the field and could not open the batting. Amla slipped in the 43rd over while trying to field a ball at fine leg. He fell on his knee and was immediately taken to hospital for a scan.Having dropped Colin Ingram to make way for Amla, South Africa needed another makeshift opener and pushed Robin Peterson up the order. He became the first spinner to open both the batting and the bowling for the country, having been given the first new ball earlier, but it was not an occasion for celebration.Peterson watched as his partner, Alviro Petersen was dropped off the fourth ball of the innings but he had no such reprieve. He kept out one Lasith Malinga yorker but was comprehensively beaten by the next, which crashed into the stumps to see South Africa’s opening stand broken in the first over.Petersen and JP Duminy seemed to settle, with both hitting boundaries that showed their class, but they only had a 32-run stand to show for it. Thisara Perera managed some superb movement and got Duminy to feather an edge to Kumar Sangakkara.Rangana Herath struck in his first over again, getting Petersen lbw playing for turn to one that went straight on. Tillakaratne Dilshan removed AB de Villiers on review when the South Africa captain missed a sweep. When Faf du Plessis was caught behind in the next over to become Herath’s 50th ODI wicket, South Africa were 69 for 5 and defeat was imminent.With rain looming, David Miller and Ryan McLaren tried to keep up with the Duckworth-Lewis target but they had fallen too far behind. Form in the top order has been exposed as severely lacking by Sri Lanka’s wily attack. With none of Duminy, de Villiers or du Plessis posting a half-century in their last five innings, South Africa’s batting will have to improve even more than their bowling did in this match.Although the South Africa attack sent down 14 wides, they found their lines quicker than they had on Saturday. Morne Morkel struck the first blow when he had Upul Tharanga caught by Peterson at mid-wicket but South Africa would have shuddered to see the in-form Sangakkara stride out.He immediately added stability with the first boundary of the innings, a well-timed flick through the leg side off a wayward Chris Morris delivery. Sangakkara continued to place the ball well even as Dilshan grew frustrated but he was dismissed against the run of play, to a spinner. Sangakkara was tempted by Aaron Phangiso’s persistent flight and could not clear extra cover.Dilshan had to take on the role of anchor and played an uncharacteristically watchful knock. For 36 deliveries after Sangakkara departed, Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene could not find the boundary and had to content themselves with nudging for singles.In their 40-run stand, Jayawardene had one shot in anger, a back-foot punch through point, before missing a reverse-sweep and being cleaned up by Peterson.Dilshan’s vigil ended soon after. He got a thick edge off Morkel and de Villiers took a sharp, one-handed catch to his right to send the last of Sri Lanka’s senior batsmen on his way. It was up to the young captain, Dinesh Chandimal, to steady Sri Lanka.He survived a rain interval and the loss of both Jehan Mubarak and Perera but not du Plessis’ instincts. Chandimal was out to a superb catch but his 43 proved crucial to helping Sri Lanka post a competitive score on a surface where batting became more difficult, and he can now look forward to sealing the series on Friday.