All posts by h716a5.icu

ESPNcricinfo looks at the players India used during a largely disappointing series against England

Sidharth Monga18-Dec-20127Cheteshwar Pujara: A double-century, a century on a tough pitch, and a lot of promise. Young, energetic and one for the future. Good player of spin, good fielder at short leg, might need to get accustomed to carrying the Indian batting.6.5Pragyan Ojha: An accurate spinner. Claimed 20 wickets at an average of 30.85. Won’t run through sides, but he can keep bowling at the same spot from different angles and at different trajectories and pace. For good or for bad, the best spinner India have.Umesh Yadav: The best fast bowler on either side in the only Test he played before being sidelined with an injury. Took just four wickets but genuinely troubled batsmen with pace and reverse swing.5.5Virat Kohli: A century in the last innings, which was a reminder of the talent and the fight, should not take away from the fact that he played loose shots to get out in the first five innings of the series. Still never gave the impression there’s some place he’d rather be even as India kept losing. Will need to carry India’s fielding along with Pujara.5Virender Sehwag: Set up the first match with a typical century, reminding that he still remains a threat when the bounce is low and the ball doesn’t seam, but was disappointing in the field. Dropped Alastair Cook in Mumbai and Kevin Pietersen in Nagpur. More than the damage caused, what stood out was he was standing upright at slip not expecting a catch on either occasion.R Ashwin: Lack of patience and revolutions put on the ball a big minus, but the batting and the fight a big plus. Averaged 60.75 with the bat and 52.64 with the ball. Might not, on current form, be able to hold his place as a specialist bowler, but can be valuable as a No. 6 batsman who bowls more than just a bit. Needs to improve fielding, though.4Gautam Gambhir: Got off to starts, averaged 41.83, but failed to turn them into impactful innings. Clearly fighting hard, clearly putting a price on his wicket, but things not going his way. Not the sharpest in the field, and was involved in two crucial run outs.MS Dhoni: Two fighting fifties. Some special catches as a keeper. A few shockers too, especially in the first Test. Misunderstood for his demands of tracks that offer turn and bounce, regardless of the result. Still a leader of men, but not as inspiring as a tactician. Allowance needs to be made, however, for the lack of quality in the attack he manages.Ravindra Jadeja: Debuted ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, who has been waiting for a long time, under the premise that the pitch in Nagpur would turn square. That didn’t happen, but Jadeja stuck to it to the best of his ability. Brought a new life to the fielding unit. Got a red-hot James Anderson when batting. Stood no chance.Close to the end: Sachin Tendulkar looked awfully out of form throughout the series•BCCI3.5Ishant Sharma*: Came in to replace the injured Umesh Yadav in Kolkata. A trier as usual, was India’s best bowler in Nagpur, but needs numbers to reflect the effort. Has had catches dropped off his bowling, one of them by himself.3Piyush Chawla: Called up out of desperation despite a first-class average of over 50 this year. Took four wickets in the only Test he played. Nothing out of the ordinary, and not an answer to India’s spin problems.Harbhajan Singh: Got one match on a square turner, and took just two wickets. As good or as bad as the other offspinner but got only half the overs as Ashwin, and was discarded after that. Can’t complain, though: doesn’t have the wickets to show.2Sachin Tendulkar: One of the rare long series without a century, but the third such outcome in the last 18 months. Questions over retirement kept growing. Scored one fighting fifty, but otherwise continued with his worst phase.Yuvraj Singh: Brought back after a double-century in Duleep Trophy, but – like Tendulkar – managed just one good innings out of five before being dropped. Unlike Tendulkar, wasn’t great in the field. You wonder if this is the end of the Test road for one of India’s most valuable limited-overs players of all time.1Zaheer Khan: Not long ago, one of the most crucial members of the Indian side. Led the attack like Anil Kumble did. Got four wickets in three Tests in this series. Looked like running out of puff, and listless in the field.*02.40GMT, December 18: This article has been updated to include Ishant Sharma.

Every time Australia have caused India problems in this series, the hosts have somehow managed to turn their reversals around

Sharda Ugra17-Mar-2013India are doing to Australia what casinos do to patrons. Regardless of fleeting, joyful gains, the house always wins.No matter what Australia have produced so far in this series, it is India who have ended up converting reversals into advantage. The conditions have played their part, as has the difference in the skills needed required to handle them.Australia have won every single toss of the series and done what India would themselves have wanted to do. In Chennai, they scored 380 and had India at 12 for 2 and then 196 for 4. Then came Dhoni. They sent back Sehwag in Hyderabad, before M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara scored 300-plus together. In Mohali, they went from 251 for 7 to 408 thanks to a 99 from their No. 9. Then Shikhar Dhawan turned up to trample over their bowling. On Sunday, India lost all ten first-innings wickets for 210, scored at under three runs per over, and had their lead limited to 91. By stumps, though, India’s grip on the game was as strong if not stronger than it had been at the end of day three.Australia finished at 75 for 3, still 16 behind India, and Michael Clarke has a bad back. Given that this Test match is a shortened contest, and the quality of the Australian resistance in the series so far, India have done enough to stay ahead.Vijay scored his second century of the series and his third against Australia, a performance that will give both the batsman and the selectors much hope for the months ahead. In the morning, Vijay rolled along with Tendulkar, but during a period before lunch, India found their tyres stuck. For some reason, Australia didn’t take the second new ball when it was due, with Mitchell Starc and Xavier Doherty sharing overs between them until the 90th. In that period, India scored merely 21 runs in 10 overs. They lost Tendulkar at lunch, and when the new ball was introduced, the Indian innings began to fall apart. In a series dominated by Indian spin, it was swing bowling that came into play.Vijay’s own dismissal after his second consecutive exceptionally well-paced innings, padding up to an inswinger from Starc, came first delivery with the second new ball. Vijay said after play: “Actually I lost my concentration little bit for that period, I think with the new ball and stuff.” The Indian batting as a whole, it could be said, lost their concentration round about lunch time. It was their bowling that brought the game back.The original plan, Vijay said, “was to bat as long as possible and we just wanted to set up a big lead so that we can come back into the Test match and win it hopefully. That was our thinking and … there are 90 overs left tomorrow.” Regardless of how the second session panned out, he didn’t think India had tossed away the advantage. “I think we are in a pretty good position at this moment, considering the wicket and everything. There is nothing to be worried about.”Vijay was asked whether the lack of quality spinners for Australia had helped India to which his reply was a dead-pan, “I can’t comment on that but I think we are batting brilliantly and we are countering them better than expected.” Brilliant batting should not produce a lead of 91 from an opening partnership of 289, but never mind.On a pitch made for runs, a lead of 91 was going to shrink quickly, but then Sunday remained a bowlers’ day. Even though Phil Hughes took his chances, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s three wickets ate into the Australian batting with another performance that filled Indian hearts with joy and relief. This is probably the most batsman-friendly Mohali has been in ages, with spin its eventual intended preference. Still, it was Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle who breathed life into Australia’s hopes this afternoon, before Bhuvneshwar stepped in to stamp all over them in the course of his eight-over spell.Against Bhuvneshwar, David Warner will admit he was on a suicide mission and Ed Cowan can probably curse his fate. The ball that got Steven Smith, though, was a confection. Australia’s most composed first-innings batsman had the line well covered for what looked to be an in swinger. On pitching, though, like a drunken wasp, the ball changed directions and knocked out the off-stump.Subsequently, the Australian bowling effort in the afternoon ended up being not a match-altering passage of play but one of the “positives” that losing captains are always asked about. Vijay said that as much as the bite and the spit off the track, reverse swing had begun to play its part. “It has been swinging from day one and that is what we prepared for because it’s Mohali. It is happening, so hopefully we should wait for some [reverse] to happen tomorrow. It is getting lower and slower so it is going to be difficult for them to score runs.”This is standard practice in cricket, one side offering ominous pitch predictions in the hope of ensuring that seeds of doubt germinate among the opposition. But given Australia’s batting in this series, maybe Vijay is merely stating a fact.

From Philip and Alan Sutherland, Australia

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Australians do not have a great track record in watching cricket not played by their national team•Getty ImagesIn 1858, the talented allrounder Tom Wills was posed with something of a problem, namely, how to keep his fellow Victorian cricketers fit during the off season. The solution he helped find was the birth of a robust new sport in Australian Rules, said to be something of a mix of rugby, Gaelic football and the similar pastimes involving possum-skin balls of some of the indigenous peoples of the Western District of Victoria.Over a century and a half since, cricket and the sport it helped spawn, Australian Rules, are uneasy bed-mates. Together, they rule the sporting landscape in Australia’s four “southern” states – Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. Yet, despite sharing grounds they inhabit totally different environs. In 1997, Australia’s regular free-to-air broadcaster of cricket, Channel Nine, had something of a problem too. Its problem was how to keep viewers entertained during the 40-minute Test match lunch breaks. The answer was , a half-hour magazine-style programme hosted by former Australian allrounder, Victoria captain and Australian Rules footballer, Simon O’Donnell. As successful as it has been, however, perhaps will ultimately tell less about the state of the game in Australia than another programme from WIN TV, a Channel Nine affiliate in Victoria – .Of course, has nothing to do with cricket and therein lies the point. There is no country cricket show, nor will there ever be. Footy may have began partly as a means of keeping flannelled fools fit in the winter, but now cricket is more likely to be a way of keeping footballers entertained in the summer. Australia’s pre-eminent farming paper, , tells a similar story. Its sporting section is packed with country football ladders, stories and statistics for six months of the year. This includes a small column which looks at prominent people and families in the country game. When the cricket season comes around, the only bit that is left is this one, small column, now converted to the bat and ball. This different reporting only reflects the different perceptions of football and cricket. The situation is similar in the rugby states of New South Wales and Queensland as well.Football is the realm of club loyalties, whether to Melbourne FC in the AFL or South Sydney FC in the NRL and it is clubs that people are most passionate about. That cricket has survived so well Down Under has more to do with its long history of international rivalry, especially with the Ashes and in more modern times against the West Indies at their peak. How this support will transfer to a local IPL-style 20-over competition is difficult to say. This season of the IPL is not being telecast in Australia. In previous seasons, it’s unlikely to have attracted massive audiences here. Australians do not have a great track record in watching cricket not played by their national team. Only the short stuff of the Big Bash came close. To many Australians, the presence of the likes of Shane Warne in the IPL has probably more curiosity-value than anything else.The coming season is to have two 20-over teams in both Sydney and Melbourne, a radical departure from the strictly state structure that cricket has maintained. Club loyalties in the IPL are reshaping cricket and a similar process is beginning here. We cannot simply blame the IPL, however. Our own attitudes are at least equally responsible for the changes occurring. As a young footballer from the club we support was once reported as saying, “It was nice to be involved (briefly) with cricket again – you forget how much you enjoyed it.” As cricket is dwarfed by its back-sheets son, we forget too that cricket needs space, not just for grounds and deeds, but thoughts as well. When Australians stand at a cricket match and talk footy, do we ever stop to think that the reverse, irrespective of the different time-lengths involved, hardly ever happens.

Plays of the day for the match between Pune Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Pune

Kanishkaa Balachandran02-May-2013The dismissal
Over 66 balls in Bangalore the last time these teams met, Chris Gayle ransacked Pune Warriors with an unbeaten 175. Gayle is known to be a watchful starter, but in Pune, he appeared repressed on a slower pitch. He had inched – by his own standards – to 15 off 18 balls when T Suman began his second over. He smashed the spinner over the sightscreen for a high six, and signs of another ‘Gaylestorm’ looked ominous. Not so. Gayle charged Suman the following ball, looking for another big hit, but miscued it towards deep extra cover where Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the catch. Gayle walked back for a relatively ‘sluggish’ run-a-ball 21.The shot
Gayle’s departure was only temporary relief for Warriors as they were to find out towards the end of Royal Challengers innings. AB de Villiers, one of the game’s most dangerous finishers, played some jaw-dropping shots in the final over, but it was his first boundary in that over that stood out, more for its power. As Ashok Dinda ran in, de Villiers deliberately shuffled back and forth at the crease to unsettle the bowler’s rhythm. Dinda fired it full outside the off stump but de Villiers not only covered the line but also got under the bounce to slog it flat and quick over the rope at deep midwicket. What made the shot all the more impressive was that he picked the longest boundary.The near miss
Every new batsman would wish for an easy first delivery to begin with, a sighter before settling in for the innings. T Suman didn’t have it easy. After bowling Aaron Finch off an inside edge, Moises Henriques bowled a near unplayable yorker to Suman. The ball swung back in and Suman nearly lost his balance as he tried to dig it out. The ball was headed towards the leg stump but an inside edge to the pads saved the batsman from being dismissed.The fumble
Virat Kohli’s expressions and tense demeanour have made for interesting side shows in the IPL since he took over the captaincy. He was in full flow tonight as well when he reacted to an error from Vinay Kumar. Kohli had fumbled at mid-off and threw the ball to the bowler, but Vinay, in all the excitement, threw the ball to the keeper’s end, failing to notice that Arun Karthik was not behind the stumps. The wild throw just missed the helmet placed behind the keeper and fortunately for the bowler, the fielders in the deep prevented four overthrows. Either way, Kohli wasn’t pleased.

The indecision over the Tests between Sri Lanka and South Africa, in the wake of the SLPL’s cancellation, has robbed cricket of a interesting contest. The worrying thing is that it may lead Sri Lanka down a path of Test mediocrity

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Aug-2013The day after South Africa arrived in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Premier League’s franchise owners missed their second payment deadline, and slammed the door on the tournament’s second edition. Sri Lanka Cricket had not quite moved mountains to secure a window for their cash cow, but they had postponed the Test leg of South Africa’s tour to 2015. As a one-sided ODI series has helped make clear, SLC’s disregard for Tests has robbed Sri Lanka of a genuine chance at toppling Test cricket’s best team.Sri Lanka are now ranked seventh in the world in Tests. In 2012-13, they had an abysmal tour of Australia, losing all three Tests comfortably on the most high-profile tour they have had in years. They were uninspiring at home, throwing away a 1-0 lead against New Zealand, and allowing Bangladesh to muster a draw on a featherbed in Galle. Yet, despite the team’s shortcomings, Sri Lanka’s ranking has also been a victim of SLC’s contempt for the format.In 2012, four Tests were removed from the schedule: one against England, that clashed with the IPL’s schedule in March, and three against India, which were replaced by an ODI series that bordered on disastrous for the home side. The effects of culling the Test against England are yet to be felt in full. Sri Lanka’s reciprocal tour of England in 2014 will also now have only two Tests. In 2013, Sri Lanka were only too happy to acquiesce when the West Indies Cricket Board wished to free up its own players for the IPL, and sought to replace the scheduled bilateral tour with an ODI tri-series. When that tri-series and the window already set aside for the SLPL then made a full South Africa tour untenable, the Tests, predictably, were relocated to a vaguely defined period in the future.While it’s true that only a few men in the South Africa side that have been demolished in Sri Lanka also take their whites on tour (and perhaps they are better at red-ball cricket, anyway), there can be little doubt that a three-match series would have been more competitive than the teams’ disparate rankings suggest.South Africa’s troubles with playing and producing good spin bowling have been the most conspicuous contributors to their dismay in Sri Lanka and, in a country that presents a distinctive challenge to bowlers and batsmen, Sri Lanka are well placed to exploit the widest chink in South Africa’s cricket. Robin Peterson had been South Africa’s frontline spinner in their last Test series against Pakistan, but on pitches as helpful as any he might bowl on, the ease with which Sri Lanka’s batsmen played him might have caused particular worry in the South Africa side if Tests were to follow.Sri Lanka have also been something of a bogey team for South Africa in the past. South Africa have established a 15-Test unbeaten streak in the last 18 months, but Sri Lanka are the last side to have defeated them, in Durban in 2011. Their unbeaten streak in away series – which stretches all the way back to 2006 – is also a feather in their cap of dominance. Even then, the last side that had bested them was Sri Lanka, in a 2-0 win. Hashim Amla, AB de Villers and Dale Steyn are vastly improved players now, but even so, chasing leather for over two days as Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara amassed the largest partnership of all time in Colombo, must count among their least favourite cricketing memories.”We saw how much South Africa didn’t like our spinners, our climate and our pitches in the one-dayers,” Sangakkara said, after Sri Lanka completed a 4-1 victory in the ODIs. “If we had the chance to play them in Tests here, and if we had won, our ranking would have risen. There is a Test championship in 2017. If we had been able to play at home, where we have such an advantage, it would have been a great thing.”SLC offers up its financial disarray as justification for its policy of Test abandonment, but the same forces that drove the board into the fiscal abyss still make the plays at Maitland Place. The board will claim it is not at fault for the SLPL’s demise this year, but the tournament had failed to appear financially viable from the outset, and has now become the most high-profile victim of a regional cooling on Twenty20 leagues, following the IPL’s sixth-season scandals.The opportunity cost of postponing the Tests may not make a major difference to SLC’s ledger, but it has robbed the sport of what promised to be a fascinating battle, and has led Sri Lanka down a path of Test mediocrity.

Plays from the third day of the second Test between Pakistan and South Africa

Firdose Moonda25-Oct-2013Irfan takes the wrong steps
Before South Africa’s players were warned for their actions on the third day, Mohammad Irfan earned a reprimand from the umpires and was removed from the attack in the 149th over, the 15th of the day. Irfan bowled a penetrative morning spell, punctuated by pace and bounce, but his follow-through concerned the umpires, who had kept a close eye on it throughout the second day. Three balls after he won the mini-battle with JP Duminy, Irfan ran down the middle of the pitch, when delivering a ball to Faf du Plessis, and was warned for the final time. He could not bowl for the rest of the innings.The Younis Khan fan club
It’s not like Misbah-ul-Haq to get visibly irritable but he stopped play to complain to the umpires about two spectators sitting in the grandstand. Misbah spent a few minutes pointing the men out, before security guards removed the two men from their seats and escorted them out of the stadium to loud cheers. Misbah seemed satisfied with the outcome although the two evicted spectators were not. When interviewed by television reporters afterwards, the pair claimed they were goading Misbah to include Younis Khan in the ODI squad and claimed they had not done anything to merit being removed.Time-wasting tactics
South Africa wanted to bat for as long as possible to allow the pitch to deteriorate sufficiently before Pakistan went back in, but du Plessis took the task of lengthening their innings a little too seriously. After being hit on the hand by an Irfan delivery, du Plessis spent a few deliveries wringing his hand in pain before calling for new gloves. The umpires hovered nervously while Robin Peterson brought two gloves for the same hand and had to return to the sidelines to find a proper pair. The concern the umpires showed was quickly forgotten because the innings only lasted one more ball before Imran Tahir was dismissed.From hero to zero
Khurram Manzoor was brought back down a notch or two, after his century in Abu Dhabi, with a duck in the first innings. However, the opener followed that with a duck in the second innings. After surviving two Vernon Philander deliveries, one of which beat the outside edge, he hung his bat out to a regulation back-of-length ball that pitched just outside off and got a thick edge. Jacques Kallis had to react quickly but leapt to his right to end Manzoor’s Test with a pair.On collision course
After taking two early wickets, South Africa sensed a swift end to the match and did what they could to apply pressure. When Younis Khan fended off a Dale Steyn short ball to mid-wicket, Imran Tahir, not known for his fielding, collected and had a shy at the non-striker’s stumps. His under-arm throw was off target and Dean Elgar swooped in from mid-on to save the overthrows. Instead, Elgar – the man Steyn calls the “quarter chicken” because of his diminutive size – collided into Younis and his bat, and rolled onto the ground clutching his knee. Elgar appeared to be in some pain but received treatment from the physiotherapist and was fit to carry on.

Sean Ervine talks about his decision to leave Zimbabwe, growing up in a sporting family, and the ferocity of a Shaun Tait bouncer

Interview by Jack Wilson13-Feb-2014What was it like growing up playing cricket in Zimbabwe?
It was brilliant as a kid. All sports were compulsory: cricket, hockey, athletics and tennis. Everyone played everything and I was from a big sporting family, which helped.You and your brother Craig have both played for Zimbabwe. Your other brother Ryan has played first-class cricket too. How good was your back garden?
We used to have some great competitions between us. We were lucky to have the upbringing we had on a big farm in the sticks in north Zimbabwe. We used to have a net and a bowling machine and the dogs and the flower beds were fielders. There were lots of windows broken.At the age of 18 you made your Zimbabwe debut. Tell us about it.
It was a bit of a wake-up call. We were 3-0 down in an ODI series with England, which is probably why I got a chance in the fourth. Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick smashed me around everywhere and I ended up bowling seven overs for 54. I enjoyed the batting, hit a few fours but I was given out caught behind off Freddie [Flintoff]. I didn’t edge it, though. I didn’t get near it!You made half-centuries in your last three Test innings. Is it satisfying to know you were good enough for Test cricket?
It really is. Two of them were in the same game against Bangladesh and they couldn’t have been more different. The first one was really hard work in a partnership with Tatenda Taibu. In the second innings, me and Andy Blignaut had to go on and attack to push the game forward. It helped us win the Test, which is more rewarding. I’ve always been more worried about the team than myself.How hard was it to make the decision to leave your international career with Zimbabwe behind?
Extremely hard. I always look back and think about the team we had before it all fell apart, and we were going places. I think people around the world knew that. I remember 14 or 15 of us players sat down to talk and I had to say, “I’m out”.Looking back, are you happy you did?
It was a tough decision but I’ve had some great years with Hampshire and Western Australia. Both of those teams have been brilliant for me. My parents said they couldn’t see it changing and it was justified.Your nickname is “Slug”. Why?
Greg Lamb and Richard Sims called me “Slug” because I was so slow between the wickets, apparently!What is the funniest thing you have seen on cricket field?
Andy Flower was batting against England in a one-day international in Harare. He was facing Matthew Hoggard at the time and he hit the ball and took off to run – but his legs couldn’t keep up with him. He ended up three quarters of the way down the pitch on all fours with everyone laughing at him.Who is the quickest bowler you have faced?
Shaun Tait. He’s got a horrible action too.Has he ever hit you?
In the head, yes. He got me second ball I faced in a Ford Ranger game in Adelaide. It dented the helmet half an inch and I was seeing stars for two minutes after that. He’s a good mate and it’s good to see him doing well in the Big Bash.Who has the worst dressing-room banter?
David Griffiths. He’s terrible. When he says stuff in games the boys in the slips just end up falling about laughing.Which of your team-mates would you least like to have in a pub quiz team?
Liam Dawson.Which man in county cricket would you least like to have a fight with?
Ben Stokes. I reckon they’re all a bit different up north. I wouldn’t fancy it.Which of your coaches has had the shortest temper?
That’s tough. Thinking back, they’ve always been pretty laid-back.Do you feel the nerves in big games?
I’m not a nervous character at all, I never have been. I remember waiting to bat one game for Zimbabwe when we were playing Pakistan in Harare. I started yawning and the coach Geoff Marsh saw me. He told me to wake up and tried to gee me up but I’ve always been so relaxed.What is the worst injury you have seen on a cricket field?
Simon Jones’ back in the Ashes in 2002 was terrible – but I only saw that on TV. I’m going to go with my own injury. I ruptured my knee ligaments in the final game of the season in 2005 and it was horrendous.What is the highlight of your career so far?
I’ve had a few but my hundred in the VB Series against India in 2004 is up there. Me and Stuart Carlisle both made centuries but we ended up losing by three runs. I always look back as if that was the start of something.

Against a revved-up Dale Steyn, on a lively pitch, after the loss of an early wicket, Alex Doolan turned a nervous period into seemingly inevitable domination and vindicated his selection

Daniel Brettig in Centurion14-Feb-20140:00

#politeenquiries: Perhaps South Africa should pick 11 fielders

When the story of this day at Centurion is told in future years, it will be summarised in terms of sustained dominance by Australia and slovenly fielding by South Africa. On the scorecard it will look as though the tourists came out to bat with a 191-run lead and marched to a decisive advantage against dispirited bowling and shoddy out-cricket, from opponents humbled by Mitchell Johnson. It will look inevitable.Yet for 25 minutes before lunch there was very little guaranteed about Australia’s progress. The loss of Chris Rogers to Dale Steyn’s first ball, dragging awkwardly onto the stumps, caused an explosion of emotion from the bowler and the crowd. Here were the world’s best team, wounded in the first innings but willing themselves to fight back. Here was an ambitious touring side with plenty of players able to recall the chaos of Cape Town in 2011, when a vast lead of 188 became an inadequate target of 236 quicker than you could say 47 all out.Genuine nerves were glimpsed in these moments, the kind of interlude on which a match can turn. Australia’s vice-captain and Cape Town veteran Brad Haddin aspired to mastery of the “big moments” before the series began, and one such juncture had arrived. David Warner, for all his aggressive intent and broad array of shots, looked tense and unsure in this knowledge. Unable to score many runs before the interval, almost all he could do was get out and, through inside edges or wafts outside off stump, he nearly did.The man to calm Australia’s nerves and make an afternoon’s domination possible could not be Rogers and it would not be Warner. Instead, it was a 28-year-old debutant with an elegant, upright style and a first-class record hinting at promise, but nothing more – Alex Doolan. His moment of import arrived after a long period of grooming for this very role, confronting a fiery paceman on a lively pitch after the loss of an early wicket.Australia’s selectors have had their eye on Doolan for quite some time, and so too had others at important points in the domestic system. Chief among those, of course, was Ricky Ponting, who had in Doolan’s earliest days been the one to tip him out of Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield XI whenever he returned from national duty. Taken by his talent but irritated by his tendency for pretty 20s and 30s, Ponting worked closely with Doolan in 2012-13, adding considerable steel to the silk he had always possessed.During that summer, Doolan had enjoyed a fruitful first encounter with the South Africans, caressing his way to 161 not out for Australia A at the SCG. The pitch was dead and the bowling preparatory, but Doolan’s ease was apparent. After he made further runs for Tasmania at the MCG against Victoria, partnering Ponting in a stand where the pupil lost little by comparison to the teacher, it seemed a Test call-up could not be far away.But circumstances and schedules created difficulties for Doolan, who went from the Tasmanian top three to the fringes of the Melbourne Renegades squad in the Big Bash League. Rob Quiney and Phillip Hughes were preferred in the home Tests. By the time Doolan returned to the Shield, the earlier form had dissipated, and his scores did not stand out during the winter A tours of the UK and southern Africa.Warner praise for ‘fantastic’ Doolan

David Warner was grateful for Alex Doolan’s composure in the early stages of Australia’s second innings, the foundation for a stand of 205 that pushed South Africa out of the first Test at Centurion and left the tourists pondering a declaration on day four.
“It’s always good to have someone at the other end who plays a defensive role, and then when the ball is in his court he can tick over the runs,” Warner said. “The way he’s played on debut is fantastic, we know as Australians who’ve played against him in domestic cricket he always had it in him. It’s good to see him get out and score some runs. He’ll be disappointed with the way he got out but we’re looking good for the future there.”
Warner also said his own aggressive approach had been backed even if he occasionally gets out to a hasty stroke, as he and Brad Haddin did in the first innings.
“We’ve been told to play with cojones,” he said. “We call Brad ‘psycho’. You saw it against England. He played fantastic [while being aggressive]. That’s the way he plays. When he is on you’ve seen the number of runs that he’s scored. We’ve got to play with freedom, play the way that we play – with intent.”

Nonetheless, Doolan remained in the thoughts of the national selector, John Inverarity, the coach, Darren Lehmann, and other senior figures within the team. A sublime century to take Tasmania to a fourth-innings target against New South Wales early in the summer had the added benefit of occurring under the nose of Michael Clarke, who could not help but be impressed. Throughout the Ashes he was next in line to join the top six.He turned heads in vignettes, whether it be cracking Stuart Broad through cover off the back foot for Australia A at Bellerive, or driving Peter Siddle’s outswinger with aristocratic nonchalance in practice at the Wanderers. All he lacked was a substantial score. Doolan’s fluent method can recall that of the former England captain Michael Vaughan at times, most particularly in the flourish of his swivel-pull. Another similarity can be found in the modest first-class record Vaughan carried into Test cricket, where he improved significantly upon it.In South Africa, Doolan was soon aware of his likely place in the team. He batted at No. 3 in the nets and in centre-wicket sessions, and had his family on hand for the moment when Andrew Symonds handed him the baggy green cap. On day one he offered another vignette – moving smoothly along to 27 before picking out midwicket. More was required, and when Rogers perished Doolan’s moment presented itself.In as far as it is possible to do so in five balls, the way Doolan countered the rest of Steyn’s opening over vindicated his identification and selection. An organised technique, given starch by the movement he has often had to counter at Bellerive, brought an instant sense of calm – ice to scotch South African fire. There was no hair-raising gallop down the other end for a single, no flashy shot scorched through the field in a blur of nervous energy. Instead, Doolan offered either a raised bat or sound defence, absorbing the ball at its newest and hardest on a surface not averse to playing tricks.Alex Doolan calmed Australia in a hectic period before lunch, going on to make 89•AFPSteyn, sensing an opponent comfortable against his away swing, clicked up a gear or two and hurled down his skiddy short ball, an older relative of the missile that ruined Craig Cumming. Doolan took it on the body. If it hurt, he did not show it. If it scrambled his thoughts, he soon regathered them. To follow up, Steyn pitched fuller, seeking the pads or the stumps, but was met by a deft leg-side deflection that took Doolan off the mark. By lunch he had faced 21 balls, and scored 3. As importantly, he radiated assurance, all clean lines and unhurried judgments. His fellow batsmen exhaled.A corner in the match had been turned, and the afternoon played out in a way that will now look straightforward. Warner pounced, South Africa sagged, and Doolan progressed beyond a cameo to the outskirts of a century. Though Graeme Smith twice resorted unsuccessfully to the DRS, Doolan did not offer a single chance. All 12 of his boundaries, and one smooth six down the ground, were struck with the same rhythmic blade he had used to disarm Steyn.His exit for 89, a tired attempt to cut JP Duminy, brought an anguished reaction. For the first time all day Doolan had lost some of his cool. In the calm of the dressing room he was irritated not to raise three figures, the third Australian after Bill Ponsford and Shaun Marsh to do so on debut at No. 3. Later on, with the help of grateful team-mates, he will come to appreciate the significance of this innings. Australia’s domination of day three will in years to come look like it was inevitable. But that is only because Doolan’s calm had made it so.

Plays of the day from the match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in Mohali

Abhishek Purohit23-May-2014Sehwag’s start
Virender Sehwag flickers briefly these days but when he does, he is still a sight to watch. He lasted all of eight deliveries this match, but packed in plenty of entertainment in that short time. He was beaten twice in succession by Vikramjeet Malik’s away movement in the first over. He instantly made up for it. The fourth ball was lofted over mid-off for four, the fifth was slashed inches short of the third-man boundary, and the sixth was carved over backward point for four more.Vohra’s lapse
Manan Vohra was in serious touch once more, and had motored to 25 before he committed a schoolboy error. He clipped Rahul Tewatia through midwicket and turned back for what seemed a straightforward second run. It wasn’t to be, though. Vohra took it easy as he approached the crease and made no attempt to ground his bat. To his utter shock, Stuart Binny’s throw hit the stumps direct. Vohra, who was short by about a foot, walked off muttering.Tewatia’s misfortune
In the ninth over, Tewatia lured Shaun Marsh out with some flight. It was the googly, and Marsh realised that after it started to turn away from him. He was some way down the crease, and could have been easily stumped had he missed the ball. However, he managed to prod at it, and the outside edge went to slip on the bounce. The next ball was another googly. Marsh stayed back this time and guided it fine. Shane Watson at slip thought he had a chance again, but it bounced just in front of his outstretched left hand and raced to the boundary.Miller’s midwicket punch
Kings XI were looking for some big late runs after slowing down for a while. George Bailey hit James Faulkner for consecutive boundaries in the 19th over, and Miller weighed in with a fearsome blow. Faulkner bowled a high full-toss on the pads. Miller did not try to slog it. He punched it with a straight follow-through, and held the pose as the ball flew flat over deep midwicket for six. It was like a right-hander lofting the ball over extra cover.Dhawan’s double
Rishi Dhawan stunned Rajasthan Royals with two important blows in the ninth over of the chase. The first ball of the over was pitched up around off stump, and Ajinkya Rahane had a heave at it. The ball moved in a bit and hit the stumps. Dhawan angled the next one in on a good length to Shane Watson. The Royals captain came forward and tried to play with an angled bat, but it seamed in through the gate to rattle the stumps once more.

Stats highlights from the first ODI between New Zealand and South Africa

Shiva Jayaraman21-Oct-201427 Number of ODIs Quinton de Kock has taken to effect 50 dismissals as wicketkeeper; he is now the fastest to 50 ODI dismissals beating Ridley Jacobs, Geraint Jones and Jos Buttler who took 30 ODIs to reach the landmark.6 Number of fielding dismissals effected by de Kock in the match, which equals the most dismissals made by a wicketkeeper in an ODI. Overall, de Kock became the ninth wicketkeeper and only the second from South Africa to collect six dismissals in an ODI. Including this occasion, a wicketkeeper has effected six dismissals in an ODI innings 14 times, six of which have been by Adam Gilchrist.99 Runs scored by Luke Ronchi, his highest in ODIs and only the second fifty of his career in 20 ODI innings. Ronchi’s score is also the highest in ODIs by a New Zealand No. 7, beating Jacob Oram’s 88 against England in Auckland in 2008. This was also Ronchi’s first ODI fifty for New Zealand.2 Number of New Zealand batsmen to be dismissed on 99 in ODIs, including Ronchi in this match. Stephen Fleming, who is the other New Zealand batsman, was dismissed on 99 against England in Bristol in 2004.74 Runs added by the partnership between Ronchi and Trent Boult, the fourth-largest stand for the tenth-wicket in ODIs. It is also New Zealand’s highest for the tenth wicket, beating the 65-run partnership between Martin Snedden and Ewen Chatfield against Sri Lanka in the 1983 World Cup. This is also the highest tenth-wicket partnership against South Africa, beating the 72-run partnership between Abdul Razzaq and Waqar Younis in Durban in 1998.76.85 AB de Villiers’ ODI average in 2014 – the highest among 29 batsmen who have scored at least 400 ODI runs this year. He has scored 538 runs at a strike rate of 115.20.in ten ODIs this year.139 Runs added by de Villiers and JP Duminy for the fifth wicket – South Africa’s third highest in ODIs for the fifth wicket.