All posts by n8rngtd.top

Australia captain Steven Smith has welcomed the return of a fit Mitchell Starc for the upcoming tri-series against South Africa and West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2016Australia captain Steven Smith has welcomed the return of a fit Mitchell Starc for the upcoming tri-series against South Africa and West Indies, and hoped that the presence of the fast bowler could “scare” a few opposition batsmen. He also said that allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh, who had picked up side strains during the IPL, were recovering well from their injuries and were expected to be fit for the series.Starc had been training at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane with members of the Australia ODI squad who were not playing in the IPL. The left-arm quick had suffered a stress fracture to his right foot during the inaugural day-night Test against New Zealand in Adelaide last year, and underwent surgery in December on a problematic right ankle that had been afflicted by bone spurs regularly in the bowler’s career. He missed Australia’s tour of New Zealand as well as the World T20, before he was named in the squad for the tri-series in March.”It was nice to be able to get outside and face a few of our bowlers,” Smith said before the side’s departure to the West Indies. “They are bowling really well and they are ready to go. [It’s] just nice to have Mitchell Starc back, bowling the way he is. Hopefully some of the South African and West Indian batsmen are a little bit scared. He’s looking fresh and bowling at good pace so it’s exciting to have him back. Hopefully he can get some success straightaway, pick-up where he left off.”It would have been nice to have Mitchell at the World T20 obviously. The set of skills he brings to the game, he knows what he is doing 100% of the time and he’s that sort of banker. It’s nice to have him back and hopefully he can take up where he left off.”Starc has been the leading bowler for Australia across formats since the start of 2014; in 50 international games in this period, he has taken 114 wickets, of which 53 have come in ODIs at an average of 19.47. He was the joint leading wicket-taker in the 2015 World Cup, and Player of the Tournament, with 22 dismissals in eight games, including a career-best 6 for 28 against New Zealand at Eden Park. It was his second ODI six-for in a period of six weeks in early 2015, with the first coming against India.Maxwell and Marsh were among five Australian players – along with Smith, Shaun Marsh and John Hastings – who returned home early from the IPL due to injuries. Smith confirmed that he had recovered from his wrist injury and said Maxwell and Marsh had coped well during the practice sessions in Brisbane. The only loss for Australia ahead of the tri-series was Hastings, who was ruled out due to an ankle injury.”They are looking good. Maxwell has had a chance to recover and is looking fine for the first game,” Smith said. “We will wait till we get over there and the medical staff can assess him then but he’s been tracking well. Mitch Marsh has been getting through his loads up here. He’s been bowling well, and batting well as well. So I think they both can be ready to go.”It’s [the wrist injury] all good now. It’s been nice to rest it the last couple of weeks and everything is going good. I feel like I am hitting the ball well so hopefully some runs for me in the upcoming games.”Smith was also looking forward to working with former Australia batsman Justin Langer, who will be standing in for coach Darren Lehmann on the West Indies tour. Lehmann is expected to resume coaching the side for the tour of Sri Lanka in July.”Yes it will be different not having Boof around but Langer’s done a terrific job with Western Australia in the last couple of years and it’s been a while since I have worked with him. He was the batting coach when I first came into the Australian side and he was a fantastic batting coach,” Smith said. “From all reports he has been doing terrific things at WA. I am looking forward to having a difference voice around, something a little bit different for the guys and it’s a really exciting time for Australian cricket to have someone of Justin’s calibre in the group.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the first ODI of the series between England and Sri Lanka

The Preview by Andrew Miller20-Jun-2016

Match facts

Tuesday, June 21
Start time 2pm local (1300 GMT)3:10

‘Morgan form a bit of a concern’

Big picture

The most recent shot played in contests between England and Sri Lanka was a vast six over midwicket, as Kusal Mendis dispatched Joe Root’s offspin into the Tavern Stand during the soggy last rites of the third Test at Lord’s. An irrelevance in the bigger picture, maybe, after England’s thumping victories in the first two Tests at Headingley and Chester-le-Street, but an indication nonetheless of a squad with renewed confidence.It has taken them several weeks to come to terms with the challenge of English conditions, but as the tour shifts focus from the five-day to the one-day formats, so too has the distance between the sides narrowed. Sri Lanka’s valiant showing in that Lord’s Test has been followed up by a brace of thumping victories over Ireland in Dublin – precisely the sort of challenge for which a demoralised outfit might have struggled to raise itself.Instead, they enter the first ODI against England at Trent Bridge with expectation as well as hope. On the 2014 tour, they picked up the spoils in all three formats and though the Tests have eluded them time around, their draw at Lord’s has at least left the nascent Super Series with the faintest of pulses. Sri Lanka trail 10-2 with 12 points still up for grabs in the coming six matches – therefore a 5-0 clean sweep (as Sri Lanka achieved on the 2006 tour) would leave the fate of the series hanging on next month’s one-off T20.Sri Lanka have, however, suffered another shocking moment of misfortune where their bowling attack is concerned, with the news of Shaminda Eranga’s hospitalisation for an irregular heartbeat. He would have been ruled out of the series anyway, after the ICC confirmed on Sunday that his bowling action – reported as suspect during the Durham Test – has been found to be illegal, but such health concerns make other issues pale into insignificance.With Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera already ruled out of the tour with injury, Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling stocks are running alarmingly low. That said, Dasun Shanaka’s wobbly seamers were an incisive threat against Ireland, and with a glut of allrounders in their ranks, Sri Lanka are adept at cobbling together combinations for all conditions. England, who have lost each of their last three ODIs, following the collapse of their resolve against South Africa earlier this year, will be taking little for granted.Eoin Morgan and Angelo Mathews pose with the series trophy•Getty Images

Form guide

England: LLLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WWLWL

In the spotlight

From his integral role at the World T20, and then on through his maiden stint with Mumbai Indians in the IPL, Jos Buttler has been both central and peripheral to England’s fortunes in the past few months. Ever since his axing from the Test team in November, Buttler has been regarded as a one-day specialist, but the emphasis where he is concerned is clearly on the “special”. A player of such phenomenal power, poise and technique has been absorbing lesson after lesson during an invaluable sojourn in India, and those are now ripe for translation back into the ODI arena.Kusal Perera was a notable and frustrated absentee from Sri Lanka’s World T20 campaign – the mysteries surrounding his failed drugs test deprived a young player of one of the highlights of his career, and his team of one of their likelier game-changers – how different that seminal group-stage clash against England in Delhi might have been with his explosive qualities at the top of the order. He hinted that he was in a hurry to resume his career with a lively cameo in the Lord’s Test. The coming weeks will surely remind everyone of what Sri Lanka have been missing in recent months.

Team news

Ben Stokes’ absence in England’s middle order creates a minor dilemma for the selectors, who will surely be tempted to unleash Jonny Bairstow’s sky-high batting confidence, albeit at the expense of a modicum of team balance. Moeen Ali can expect to slot in at No.7, Steven Finn is fit to resume his role as the leader of England’s ODI attack, while Chris Woakes and David Willey provide contrasting swing options with right and left-arm respectively. Eoin Morgan, the captain, is somewhat short of runs in recent England outings, but he is set to appear at No. 4.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 David Willey, 11 Steven Finn.Sri Lanka’s batting order is anyone’s guess, let alone their actual line-up, following the contests in Malahide in which two nominal frontline batsmen, Kusal Mendis and Upul Tharanga, popped in at No. 8 and 9 respectively. Seekkuge Prasanna’s devastating pinch-hitting in the second contest pillaged nine sixes in a thrilling 95 from 46 balls, so he’ll be ripe for another foray up the order if the mood takes him. Eranga’s absence leaves a vacancy in the seam-bowling ranks, so there is potential for a recall for the offspinner, Suraj Randiv.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Upul Tharanga, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 6 Angelo Mathews (capt), 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Suraj Randiv / Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

There’s little prospect of Trent Bridge offering the sort of 400 v 400 belter on which Nottinghamshire and Northants went toe-to-toe earlier this month. Since June 10, when the game against Derbyshire was washed out, the groundsman reckons the pitch has had four hours of sun and 100mm of rain.

Stats and trivia

• It’s not the most obvious home from home, but Sri Lanka have a remarkable recent record in ODIs in England. In the past decade, they have beaten their hosts in 11 of their 16 encounters in England, with two series wins out of three, plus a one-off win in the 2013 Champions Trophy.
• However, Sri Lanka won’t recall their last visit to Trent Bridge with much fondness. They were thumped by 10 wickets in 2011 en route to a 3-2 series loss, with Alastair Cook, no less, making 95 from 75 balls.
• Angelo Mathews goes into the match with exactly the same number of runs (4140) in both his Test and ODI careers.
• Alex Hales needs 38 more runs to reach 1000 in ODIs. To judge by his recent record, he should be odds-on. In South Africa, he made five consecutive ODI scores of fifty-plus: 57, 99, 65, 50 and 112. One more would set a new record for an England batsman.

Quotes

“It’s a key summer in that we’re 12 months down the road and we have built a lot of confidence. There’s a bit more expectation on us as a side and it’s important to relish that expectation.”
“We need more guys coming to England and playing a lot of cricket to get used to these conditions. The more you play you more you get used to them so we need more guys coming in, playing league cricket, county cricket, that’ll be very beneficial for us going into the World Cup in 2019.

Ben Stokes is hopeful that his international season is not over despite the calf injury that has ruled him out of the third against Pakistan and appears likely to keep him out of the final Test as well

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2016Ben Stokes is hopeful that his international season is not over despite the calf injury that has ruled him out of the third against Pakistan and appears likely to keep him out of the final Test as well.Stokes pulled up during his sixth over in Pakistan’s second innings at Old Trafford and subsequent MRI scans confirmed a tear. He will undergo further assessment when the England squad meet up at Edgbaston on Monday but the fourth Test at The Oval, which begins on August 11, will almost certainly come too soon for him.Stokes tweeted about his frustration having just returned from knee surgery after he pulled up during the first Test against Sri Lanka in May. The Old Trafford Test was his first match back for England.”Devastated about the injury especially with all the hard work put in by myself and others to get me back to FULL fitness,” he posted. “Another couple weeks of rehab and hoping to finish off what has been great summer so far for @ECB_cricket.”Following the Tests, England’s five-match ODI series against Pakistan starts on August 24 before a one-off T20 on September 7 completes the international season.England will be reluctant to rush Stokes back given the crammed period of cricket they have to finish the year. Pending security assessments they leave for the tour of Bangladesh at the end of September – a trip that includes three ODIs and two Tests – before a five-match Test series India.Stokes will be vital to the balance of the side on the subcontinent where England will likely want to field two spinners. The performances of Chris Woakes since his comeback against Sri Lanka mean that they are not without another all-round option, but their combined skills mean England could at some stage field a six-man bowling attack with Stokes considered a good enough batsman to play in the top five.In the short-term, for Edgbaston next week and at The Oval, England are likely to turn back to a frontline quick to fill Stokes’ place with both Steven Finn and Jake Ball in the 13-man squad. Adil Rashid is also in the party, and will be an option if the pitches look like favouring spin, although having seen how Pakistan handled the quicks at Old Trafford England will probably opt to hit them with pace.

Four wickets for Jofra Archer continued an impressive start to his first-class career at Sussex and helped to justify Luke Wright’s decision to bowl first in Cardiff

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2016
ScorecardLuke Wright still senses a promotion chance [file picture]•Getty Images

Luke Wright’s decision to insert Glamorgan paid dividends as they fell for a below par 252 in 60.1 overs, before Chris Nash and Ed Joyce compiled an opening partnership of 111 that kept Sussex’s hopes of a late promotion challenge simmering. Sussex trailed by 142 at the end of the first day and are well placed to gain a substantial lead on first innings.Not for the first time this season Glamorgan relied on their middle and late order batsmen to get them out of trouble, slumping to 56 for 5 before lunch. The last five wickets added 196 runs with Graham Wagg and Mark Wallace scoring half centuries and Owen Morgan, who last week scored an undefeated 103 as night watchman against Worcestershire, again impressing with 32 not out.Jofra Archer, a former West Indies U-19 player whose breakthrough in all three formats in the past month has won a contract until the end of next season, achieved career-best championship figures of 4 for 91, but he will bowl better than this and be less rewarded.Nick Selman, who three weeks ago carried his bat against Northants, scoring 122 not out, was out to the fifth ball of the innings, and has now failed to score in four successive innings. He was quickly followed by Jacques Rudolph, whose miserable season continued when he gloved an innocuous delivery from Archer down the leg side to the wicketkeeper.The Sussex seamers continued to take wickets, but Glamorgan’s batsmen contributed to their downfall with some poor shot selection – Will Bragg following one from Steve Magoffin and David Lloyd, who struck his first ball for six, nudging to slip.Wagg and Aneurin Donald began Glamorgan’s revival with a partnership of 50, before Donald played on to Archer, and although Craig Meschede was out soon afterwards, Wagg went on to score 57 with ten boundaries before giving David Wiese a return catch.Wallace top scored with 61 from 59 balls, putting on 44 with Wagg and 62 with Morgan who surely deserves promotion in the batting order from No. 9. He shared a stand of 33 for the last wicket with Michael Hogan that enabled Glamorgan to gain two batting points.The green pitch was soon put into perspective by Nash and Joyce, who were soon into their stride, striking nine boundaries from the opening 12 overs, as Glamorgan’s opening bowlers Craig Meschede and Timm Van Der Gugten failed to make any impact.Nash reached his fifty from 89 balls, but Joyce nibbled at one from Meschede three overs before the close, having completed his thousand runs for the season.

India have displaced Pakistan as the No. 1-ranked Test team in the world, following their 178-run win against New Zealand in the second Test in Kolkata

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-20162:25

Rankings just an incentive to do well – Kohli

India have displaced Pakistan as the No. 1-ranked Test team following their 178-run win against New Zealand in the second Test in Kolkata, which gave them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series. India had begun the three-match series trailing Pakistan (111) by one point.With 11 more home Tests scheduled until March 2017, India have a chance to consolidate their position. If India draw the Indore Test or sweep the three-match series, the top position will be out of Pakistan’s reach even if they beat West Indies 3-0 in the UAE.In August, Pakistan achieved the top ranking for the first time since the existing system was introduced in 2003. They had moved up to second position after their 2-2 draw in the away series against England, and Sri Lanka’s 3-0 sweep of Australia. At the same time, India had moved to the No. 1 after beating West Indies in St Lucia for a 2-0 lead in the four-match series; they had to win the final Test, in Port of Spain, to hold on to the ranking, but the match was drawn after weather and outfield issues forced play to be abandoned after the first session. This helped Pakistan become the fifth team – after Australia, England, India and South Africa – to top the Test rankings table.The No. 1 ranking has been in flux in 2016, with several teams occupying the position for brief periods. In January, India took over from South Africa after the latter’s 0-2 defeat to England at home. The following month, Australia shot to the top after beating New Zealand 2-0, and maintained the spot until their 3-0 defeat in Sri Lanka. This is the fourth time India have claimed the top spot since 2003.Matches played over the previous four years are taken into consideration as per the ICC’s ranking system, with the oldest matches in the cycle being left out in May of every year. For the current cycle, matches played from May 2013 to April 2015 carry 50% weightage, while matches played since then carry 100% weightage. The No. 1 team in the world as of April 1, 2017 will receive $ 1 million from the International Cricket Council.

South Africa have played Ireland four times in the past and have won on every occasion, but Faf du Plessis was wary of the opposition on the eve of the one-off ODI

Firdose Moonda24-Sep-2016Summer time and the start is easy. Or so it would seem for South Africa.The season proper kicks off on Sunday with a fixture against Ireland, a team South Africa have played only four times in the past and beaten on every occasion. What could possibly go wrong? Faf du Plessis, the stand-in captain, knows what.”When you play a small nation, you’ve got everything to lose and they’ve got everything to gain,” he said. “They can play the perfect match and if you make a couple of mistakes, they beat you and that’s never something you want to do as a big nation.”Without regular captain AB de Villiers, who is injured, regular opener Hashim Amla, who is awaiting the birth of his third child, and regulars in the bowling attack like Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott, South Africa could be vulnerable. This means they may take the field with three debutants. They will definitely have one in Temba Bavuma, who has been asked to open the batting as South Africa look to develop him in that role for the future.Not only is it a position that is fairly unknown to him, but it is also a format he has not exactly set the stage alight in. Across 69 List A matches, Bavuma has an average of 26.73, so there will be pressure on him to perform. “It’s a great opportunity for him,” du Plessis said. “He will be the first guy to say that his one-day record is not what he wants it to be, so he has got an opportunity to improve it.”The other rookies, Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo, make up two of three allrounders in the squad alongside Wayne Parnell. Had Chris Morris been fit, South Africa would have had a quartet of two-in-one players to choose from – a luxury after several years of searching for someone to fill that spot.Having tried several players, including Ryan McLaren and Albie Morkel, South Africa have been unable to find a top-order allrounder in the Jacques Kallis mould. They now seem to be settling with the idea of a seam bowler who can bat in the lower-middle order. Now, it up to Pretorius, Phelukwayo and Parnell to prove their worth. “We’ve always said that we really need allrounders to come through to make the balance of our team easier,” du Plessis said. “They will all get game-time over these ODIs.”The main worry for South Africa is not who will get time in the middle, but who will not. Morkel and Morris will not feature at all as they recover from back and knee niggles respectively, but the focus is on de Villiers, who will undergo a fitness test on Tuesday to determine whether he needs surgery on his elbow. If he does, he will miss the Test tour of Australia, which will leave it to du Plessis to lead, and it seems he is more than willing to take over in any format.Du Plessis, who took over for the two-Test series against New Zealand last month, believes he is improving in the job.”Captaining in a Test match was unbelievable,” he said. “That is the pinnacle To get through that series with a much-needed win, which we needed as a team, also gave me as a captain confidence. As a captain you need to learn always, you are never the finished article. I enjoy making sure the team is going in the right direction and leading by example.”

Cape Cobras’ selection convener Alan Dawson has resigned with immediate effect. Dawson said that the off-field situation at the Cobras had made his position untenable

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2016Former South African medium-pacer Alan Dawson has resigned from his post as the Cape Cobras’ selection convener with immediate effect. Dawson said that the off-field situation at the Cobras had made his position untenable.The situation he referred to was the increasing tension between players and management that originated after 14 contracted players filed a formal grievance against head coach Paul Adams, and then persisted with their call that he be removed after a board decision was made to keep him on.”I feel like no matter what team I select, it’s not going to make a difference. I don’t feel like I can make a contribution,” Dawson told . “I used the saying yesterday to Nabeal Dien [the Cobras’ chief executive] that I feel like an Elastoplaster on a boil, and that no matter what the plaster does, it still won’t cure the boil. It has to be cured from the inside. The time has come to make proper cricket calls. I can’t work in that environment.”I’ve been involved for about two to three months and I’ve tried to find solutions and to ascertain where the real problem lies. I sought counsel from all over, current players, ex-players, administrators, selectors. Before I started I was told there were a few little issues between the players and the coach, but that was a lie.”After four games apiece this season in the Sunfoil Series, the Cobras currently sit at the bottom of the points table, the only team yet to record a win with three losses and a draw. Adding to their troubles, their captain, Omphile Ramela, has been suspended for their next match for breaching CSA’s code of conduct during their loss to the Knights.Dawson also stated his support for Adams. “The worst thing about all of this is, is that they are doing Paul an injustice. Paul is my mate, and it’s tough for me to see him go through this thing.”

Virat Kohli was pleased with the commitment and skill shown by India to come back and win convincingly despite losing the toss in Mohali

Alagappan Muthu in Mohali29-Nov-2016Winning a Test match on a good pitch despite losing the toss gave Virat Kohli great satisfaction. India kept England to 283 in the first innings, earned themselves a substantial lead and then kept finding ways to pick up wickets on a surface that posed very little threat to the batsmen in terms of the ball spinning wildly, keeping low or bouncing alarmingly.”I think it’s exactly been 12 months about us playing on unfair pitches and the question has turned itself,” Kohli said. “So we don’t need to say much about the pitches. We are a team that is focused on playing good cricket to win sessions and situations, or if we are in trouble come back out of those tough situations.”A lot of the rescue work for India in Mohali was done by the bowlers. R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav recorded match-turning half-centuries – the first time India’s Nos. 7, 8 and 9 passed 50 in the same Test innings – to help take the first-innings score from 156 for 5 to a massive 417.”I think the first two days of the game is exactly what the team wants to do as a Test team,” Kohli said. “When you are put in trouble after losing the toss on a good wicket, the bowlers stand up. Then on day two, you are 156 for 5 and then your lower order steps up.”From a point where they were in danger of conceding a lead, India pulled ahead by 134 runs and with the help of that picked up four wickets to end the third day’s play firming in charge.Ashwin bowled Alastair Cook through the gate and did Moeen Ali with his dip. Parthiv Patel, playing his first Test in eight years, pulled off a stunning low catch to dismiss the year’s top run-getter, Jonny Bairstow, just before stumps and India capped things off with the wicket of Ben Stokes with a fine call for DRS. The match turned on the back of India showing better skill than England as opposed to them exploiting home advantage.”It was a perfectly good wicket for cricket,” Kohli said. “It was a wicket where if you persisted long enough you get the results that you want. And I felt that we did that pretty well to get the result our way.”Speaking to Star Sports at the post-match presentation, he added that the celebrations by England’s supporters when Cook won the right to bat first had spurred India on. “I was surprised to hear the cheer when they won the toss,” he said. “You still have to go out and win the game. We got motivated by that actually.”His opposite number confirmed the same; Cook compared the Mohali pitch to Rajkot, where England had three centurions after winning the toss to set the game up. He also admitted that, with hindsight, he may have gone in with four fast bowlers and two spinners.Key to India’s success were their fast bowlers. On the final day, when the spinners were kept at bay by Haseeb Hameed and the rest of England’s lower-middle order, Mohammed Shami was given the second new ball and produced a fine spell of short-pitched bowling to dismiss Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid in the same over.Kohli praised Shami for becoming a better bowler since his knee injury in 2015. “He is rushing in much more now and he is able to sustain that energy now for four-five good overs and he’s bowling long spells,” Kohli said. “He’s become more aware of what he wants to do and what he has to do to be a good Test bowler and he’s making those important breakthroughs.”Even Umesh, for that matter, they both have bowled over 145kph consistently and on these kind of pitches, to not lose heart and keep coming in and running in and bouncing guys, I think speaks a lot of their character and I’m only waiting to play on pitches that assist them a little bit, it’ll be nice to see what they can do there as well.”The resources that India have at their disposal – two outright fast bowlers, a seam bowler in Ishant Sharma, a swing bowler in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and top-quality spinners who can all bat too – has left them feeling they have what it takes to do well on all conditions.”Even when we played in Kolkata earlier this year [where they beat New Zealand] we showed that we are not a side that wants square turners,” Kohli said. “We have enough skill to play good cricket and win against any team and that’s the kind of belief we have created in the change room and that can only happen when you are not worried about what’s happening outside that door. You focus on your skills and strengths and move along.”Kohli had been less than happy with the surface for the first Test of the series, feeling it had a bit too much grass on it – sparking suspicions that the remainder of the series would feature the ball turning from day one. While the decks in Visakhapatnam and Mohali were not green, they were not as bad as some feared either, with India’s victory in the latter proving that the toss would not be the end of the contest.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews singled out poor shot selection in both innings as the main factor behind their 206-run loss to South Africa in Port Elizabeth

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Port Elizabeth30-Dec-2016Angelo Mathews has blamed shot selection in both innings for Sri Lanka’s 206-run defeat in Port Elizabeth. Both South Africa’s totals were higher than Sri Lanka’s, and only two of the visiting batsmen mustered half-centuries. Both of those also came in improved batting conditions in the second innings.Three of the top four were out playing attacking strokes in the first innings, while three of the top six were out to expansive shots in the second.”I think the shot selection is key when it comes to a wicket like this and a bowling attack like this,” Mathews said. “You need to concentrate really hard. You need to work really hard to score runs against these guys. There are very few opportunities to score runs. Sometimes as batters you wait for the bad ball and you don’t get it for a long time. That is Test cricket. You need to concentrate really hard, stay focused, and wait for the loose one. Most of the batsmen are very young. They are still learning and finding their feet on the Test arena. We’ll have to give them a chance. “Sri Lanka would have hoped for a first-innings lead after dismissing South Africa for 286 in the first four sessions of the match. However, they slumped to 205 and gave up an 81-run lead from which Mathews said his team would always struggle to recover.”We should have got more than 200 in the first innings. Unfortunately we didn’t, so after they got a lead it was pretty hard work for us to get back into the game. Especially if you restrict them to a decent total it’s very important to even it, or get a lead.”In the second innings, Sri Lanka were set 488 for victory, which was always going to be almost impossible. However the batsmen’s imprudence did not help. A promising opening stand was cut short by the run-out of Dimuth Karunaratne, for example. Mathews’ 75-run stand with Kusal Mendis also ended with Mendis attempted a ramp shot to a ball that was passing over his head, and managed only to send a nick through to the keeper.”I thought we played some terrible shots in the second innings and that was our own downfall. I thought we gave away some easy dismissals. Yes, they bowled very well, but in the second innings there was a run-out and we let them back into the game.”Mathews himself top-scored for his team with a 120-ball 59 in the second innings, but the most fluent innings of Sri Lanka’s match was arguably Mendis’ 90-ball 58. Assured against the quicks, Mendis also swept Keshav Maharaj’s left-arm spin well. His dismissal came against the general run of play, and after he had hit nine fours in the innings.”The way Kusal Mendis batted – apart from the shot he played to get himself out – was brilliant,” Mathews said. “He was so positive. He was willing to take on the bowlers and that is a plus point for us. We shouldn’t back off even in these conditions. It is challenging, but we need to look to score runs.”Perhaps Sri Lanka’s most salient failure of the match was Kusal Perera, who, batting at no. 3, collected scores of 7 and 6. He was especially aggressive in the first innings, attempting several expansive shots before edging a Vernon Philander ball to the keeper. That experience did not drive him to reticence in the second, when he was caught behind attempting a cut shot off Maharaj.Mathews provided a partial “that’s how he plays” defence for Perera, but was also mildly critical of his approach.”We didn’t want to change the way Kusal played, but we knew that we were up against a good quality seam attack. You can go slashing and get away with it. We didn’t want to change his game because everybody talks about how when Sanath Jayasuriya started off, the way he played, and he never changed his game. Unfortunately in these conditions it wasn’t the right game plan for us.”Mathews believed he had the attack to win in South Africa, even if the bowlers were inconsistent in the second innings – however he did concede that Dushmantha Chameera was not at his best. Chameera, generally the quickest Sri Lanka bowler by a distance, had been laid low by a stress fracture in his back, since May this year. He had played one competitive game before departing for this tour, and had gone wicketless in the practice match at Potchefstroom. His figures in this game were 0 for 68 and 1 for 85. He conceded his runs at 5.27 an over.”Chameera has bowled quite a bit in the last few weeks – it’s just that he’s not got his rhythm back,” said Mathews. “He’s not bowling at his best to be honest, but he’s still bowled quite ok. He’s bowled 145 kph+ in the past, and he can average over 140kph. It’s been a rough three months for him. He’s had issues coming back as well. We should give a chance to the guy.”

Fresh off a Man-of-the-Series performance against Sri Lanka, Dean Elgar is eyeing a spot in the one-day set-up with a view to staking a claim for the Champions Trophy and eventually the next World Cup

Firdose Moonda16-Jan-2017Fresh off a Man-of-the-Series performance against Sri Lanka, Dean Elgar is eyeing a spot in the one-day set-up with a view to staking a claim for the Champions Trophy and eventually the next World Cup. Although South Africa’s fifty-over batting line-up is fairly settled, Rilee Rossouw’s exit from the international stage after his Kolpak deal could create an opening, especially if AB de Villiers is unfit.Rossouw played in all five matches during South Africa’s 5-0 whitewash over Australia in October, for which de Villiers was unavailable as he recovered from elbow surgery. De Villiers is expected to be back and to lead the side against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and ultimately the Champions Trophy but South Africa will still be searching for a reserve batsman and Elgar wants to put “both hands and both feet up” in a bid for the job.”I very much still want to play one-day cricket, and think I have something to offer, especially with my bowling. In Test cricket I can’t offer my bowling as I can in white-ball cricket,” Elgar said. “I am throwing both hands and both feet up, I want to play one-day cricket. I know opportunities might come with guys leaving and so be it.”Elgar has played six ODIs for South Africa – the first five during their tour to England in 2012 – and the most recent one in India in November 2015 as an injury replacement for JP Duminy. His returns have not been particularly impressive, with 98 runs at 24.50, but he has a much better domestic record to back him up, albeit not a recent one.International commitments have seen Elgar miss most of the last two season’s worth of franchise List A cricket but when he as available in the past, he was an impressive performer. He topped the one-day batting in the 2011-12 season when he scored 567 runs from 10 matches at 81.00, ahead of Faf du Plessis and Colin Ingram. He last played List A cricket in 2016, in the one-day cup. He played three matches for Titans scoring 8, 57 and 37.”It’s difficult when I tour a lot. I’ve missed two years of domestic one-day cricket so it’s difficult to turn out the numbers and stats that people are looking for,” he said. “But in saying that I still get to play Test cricket for South Africa which is the format that everyone wants to play. I’m all-in for one-day cricket still.”This season will not be much different. The one-day cup will be played between February 17 and March 31 when then the national team will be in New Zealand. The Test side will only be required from the beginning of March, which could leave Elgar free to play in the early stages of the competition and coach Russell Domingo is keen to see what he can offer.”Our one-day side is pretty stacked at the moment with Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and David Miller – that’s probably the top six. Farhaan Behardien is also there. He [Elgar] is definitely an option, particularly in the top three. He has got a good one-day record. He is in the mix, there’s no doubt about it. Him and a few other batters, like Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma who got a hundred on one-day debut when he played. There are a few fringe players in the mix and his name is definitely in there.”Elgar has not been included in South Africa’s new-look T20 squad to play Sri Lanka next week, despite the selectors search for new faces. De Bruyn is in the side, along with Jon-Jon Smuts, Reeza Hendricks and Heino Kuhn.