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A round-up of Momentum One Day Cup matches played on October 19, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-2014
ScorecardFile photo – Justin Ontong hammered four fours and seven sixes•Gallo ImagesA hammering of 83 off 37 balls from Justin Ontong and fifties from Andrew Puttick and Stiaan van Zyl charged the unbeaten Cape Cobras to a 53-run win against Lions in Paarl. Cobras amassed 337 for 3 and the Lions middle order collapsed in the chase despite a strong start.Put in to bat, Cobras were given two solid stands from Puttick – first of 101 for the first wicket with Omphile Ramela and then of 82 with van Zyl. Puttick was given six lives for his knock of 94 and when he was finally dismissed in the 39th over, the score was 183 for 2. The third-wicket stand between Van Zyl and Ontong gave them the final throttle to go past 300. Van Zyl struck 10 fours and a six during his unbeaten 91 off 74, and Ontong clobbered four fours and seven sixes before falling in the last over. From the 41st over to the last, the duo struck at least a four in every over and scored 137 runs in the last 10.Lions got a strong opening partnership of 97 from Stephen Cook and Alviro Petersen, but both fell within five overs. The middle order got a double-blow from Sybrand Engelbrecht, who finished with 2 for 55, and Robin Peterson stifled the innings further with his figures of 2 for 30, reducing Lions to 162 for 6 after 32 overs. Dwaine Pretorius and Hardus Viljoen revived the innings with a stand of 121 to steer them past 250 and denied Cobras a bonus point. With the help of an unbeaten 77 from Pretorius and 52 from Viljoen, Lions scored 284 for 7.
ScorecardAn unbeaten 16-ball 30 from Christiaan Jonker gave Warriors their first points of the tournament despite losing two wickets in the penultimate over of their chase against Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg. A knock of 118 off 99 from Vaughn van Jaarsveld helped Dolphins put on a competitive 274 for 8, but Warriors chased it down on the back of fifties from JJ Smuts and Michael Price, with three balls to spare.Warriors needed 29 runs in the last three overs and with two fours and six, Jonker brought it down to 10 off 12. They lost two wickets in the next over to Craig Alexander, but scored six off the first three balls of the last over to register a four-wicket win.Dolphins, who were put in to bat, lost their openers early before Cody Chetty and van Jaarsveld put on 100 for the third wicket. Van Jaarsveld was running out of partners towards the end but his century, with eight fours and five sixes, and a useful 21-ball 42 from Robbie Frylink charged them to 274. Andrew Birch bowled an economical spell of 3 for 31 and Basheeru-Deen Walters bowled two maidens in his 2 for 55.Warriors were given a robust opening stand of 127 by Price and Smuts. Price was dismissed for 70 and Smuts fell short of his hundred by six runs, and cameos from Colin Ingram and Ryan Bailey kept them in the hunt. They needed 44 from five overs and Jonker held his nerve in the end to take them home, and to fourth place in the points table.

A half-century and three wickets for Mark Wood, from Ashington, put Durham on course for their second win of the season at Trent Bridge

George Dobell at Trent Bridge01-May-2013
ScorecardMark Wood has played all his Championship matches at Trent Bridge•Getty ImagesThere was a time when a match-turning contribution from an Ashington fast bowler was commonplace at Durham. Though with Steve Harmison’s decline, such days have been had been consigned to the past.But here Mark Wood, playing only his third Championship match – coincidentally, all have been at Trent Bridge – followed a career-best performance with the bat with a spell of 3 for 11 in 22, with all of his scalps a Test batsman. Describing himself as “a family friend” of Harmison and a product of the same Ashington club, Wood has the rare gift of pace that earmark him as a cricketer of rich potential.He can bat, too. He defines himself as a bowling allrounder but, earlier in the day, reached his maiden Championship 50 with a pulled six and dominated a last-wicket stand of 71 in only 12.2 overs with Graham Onions. It was a partnership that not only extended Durham’s lead to 151 but may well have had a deflating effect on Nottinghamshire’s morale.But on a wicket that has, at times, appeared painfully flat – the return of the heavy roller is far from universally popular among county spectators – it was Wood’s incisive bowling that may have had the greatest impact. Wood, by some distance the sharpest bowler on display in this match, belied the easy-paced surface to persuade Ed Cowan to nibble one angled across him, trap James Taylor attempting to play a straight one through square leg, and then, most impressively, have Samit Patel caught off the glove as he tried to deal with a bouncer. It was a spell that cut through the Nottinghamshire top order and provided Durham with an excellent opportunity to claim their second win of the season. Nottinghamshire resume on the final day with half their second-innings batting dismissed and still trailing by six runs.Such was Wood’s contribution, he could well be forgiven for questioning why he has not played more regularly. On his last appearance, here last August, he claimed 5 for 78 to help his team to a 16-run victory, but then found himself dropped for the next game.”I’m pleased to be here,” Wood said afterwards with a smile. “It seems to be the only place a get a game. Of course I was disappointed to be dropped last year. But I understood the reasons. We have a good attack who had done really well so when Ben Stokes came back I missed out. Hopefully this time, if I get a couple more wickets, I can make my case even stronger.”Wood was quick to admit he was building on foundations laid by Will Smith. Smith, who batted for 505 minutes for his 153, blunted the attack at their freshest and the pitch at its most helpful to establish a platform from which the lower-order could build. It paid a higher dividend than even he can have hoped, though, when the last five Durham wickets added 323 runs to the total. He finally fell, caught at mid-on, after he attempted to whip Patel’s left-arm spin through midwicket.”Smith has been the difference between the sides,” Wood said. “And he’s the reason we’re the favourites in this game. He showed great concentration and the work he did made it much easier for me.”While Wood led the way in the last-wicket stand, punching Patel for one lovely four through mid-on and carving Graeme Swann over extra cover for another, Onions also played his part. He thumped one back past Stuart Broad and drove Swann square as Durham kept Nottinghamshire in the field for 157.3 energy-sapping overs.But it is Wood’s bowling that may, in time, be of interest to the national selectors. He is not particularly tall or strong-looking but, from a short, straight run with an unusual start – a pronounced push off his back leg which, he says, is a technique learned from sprinters – he generates impressive, skiddy pace. He can reverse swing the ball, too, and showed an encouraging cricketing brain when talking about his wickets.”We had just got the ball reversing when Cowan edged that one that left him,” he explained. “With Taylor, we put the man behind square for the pull and, when we had him expecting the short ball, I pitched it up. And then with Samit, I hid the ball so he couldn’t tell which way it was going to swing and then surprised him by bowling a bouncer.”Gareth Breese, who had already contributed a useful 44, followed up with the wicket of Steven Mullaney – surely the only cricketer with Hooters as a bat sponsor – sharply caught off a fine arm ball, while earlier Alex Hales, back when he should have been forward, lost his middle stump.Michael Lumb, timing his drives sweetly on either side of the wicket, remains and looks in good touch, but he has a great deal of work ahead of him if Nottinghamshire are to salvage a draw from this game.At least Nottinghamshire had encouraging news of their England players. Broad bowled with increased pace and purpose on the third day. He finished with his third successive four-wicket haul in successive innings and would not have been flattered by a fifth. Just as importantly, he reported no adverse reaction to his 31 overs and confirmed that he would take a full part, with bat, with ball and in the field, in the remainder of the game.Swann came through unscathed, too. While he finished without a wicket, he did see two chances go down off his bowling – he was the guilty party on one occasion – and was the most economical of the Nottinghamshire bowlers. Perhaps there were a couple more full tosses than we are used to but, bearing in mind it was his first bowl in competitive cricket since the elbow operation, this was a pleasing return.

Ireland coach Phil Simmons believes his side has made enough progress in recent years to start beating Test-playing nations on a regular basis

Ryan Bailey22-May-2013Ireland coach Phil Simmons believes his side has made enough progress in recent years to start beating Test nations on a regular basis and sees this week’s ODI series against Pakistan as the perfect opportunity to claim another scalp.Ireland will have fond memories of their triumph over Pakistan during the 2007 World Cup but Bangladesh apart, they are still awaiting victory over one of the top-ranked countries on home soil despite narrow defeats to England and Australia in the last three years. Simmons is confident his side can prepare for July’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Netherlands by upsetting the odds against the side currently ranked sixth in the world.”It’s difficult when you play games at home as we only have a few squad-days together in which to gain momentum, but we need to show the improvements that we’ve made in recent years,” Simmons said.”Our improvement is a constant work in progress, and while Pakistan have some unbelievable talent in their ranks, we want to prove that we don’t just beat the major teams in big tournaments. We are a side in constant progress and these games are important to show how much we’ve come on since the last international team was here.”With Test status their long-term ambition, Simmons believes the ICC is keeping a close eye on his sides’ performances, which he feels brings its own pressures.”We need to play these games all the time, the more these games are played the more we can measure our progress,” Simmons said. “The ICC know what we’re capable of and it’s important we forget about sending them a message and just start winning games.”I think our performances are a little more magnified than the other Associate members, so that’s why we have to make sure we perform up to a high standard but we also need to get our priorities right.”Simmons has a full-strength squad to choose from and with several of his key players enjoying a good start to the county season, the hosts will be confident ahead of the two-game series which starts on Thursday.”It’s difficult to get the momentum when the guys are only home for a couple of days at a time but the good thing about it is all the guys are playing regularly in England so everybody should be sharp enough,” Simmons said. “It’s important that we get together ahead of the Holland games and play some good cricket in preparation and beating Pakistan would be huge going into the qualifiers.”

Like a scientist who has decided his analysis has run its course, Gary Kirsten declared the exploratory phase for South Africa’s one-day squad over as they begin preparations for their series against Pakistan

Firdose Moonda07-Mar-2013Like a scientist who has decided his analysis has run its course, Gary Kirsten declared the exploratory phase for South Africa’s one-day squad over as they begin preparations for their series against Pakistan.The five-match rubber is the last outing the team will have before they travel to England for the Champions Trophy in June. From the outside it seems South Africa have much work to do if they hope to bring back ICC silverware but Kirsten is convinced they have the base from which to build and the time for trials is over.”The players that are in this squad are the best players in the country. That’s why they’re selected. We’re not experimenting. We’re playing the best players,” he said in Bloemfontein, ahead of the first ODI. “We’re looking at the best 17 or 18 players knowing that we need to be able to shift and move around a bit.”The squad has three changes from the one that lost to New Zealand in January with Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar out and Kyle Abbott in. While that hints at settling, what underlines it is the substantial difference from the Twenty20 squad that lost to Pakistan last week.Crucially, South Africa have senior players back in the group with Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn bringing their 320 caps with them. That proved to be the biggest difference between the teams at Centurion, where Pakistan’s seasoned bowling attack outclassed South Africa.Getting the balance between old and new, especially in an era where cricket schedules are more cluttered than said scientist’s work bench, is tricky. But with no Tests to think about before October, South Africa have an opportunity to do it properly.Their selections will be questioned as selections always are but at least they have settled on something. Some will argue they should have included Richard Levi, Stephen Cook or Henry Davids, the top-three leading run-scorers in this season’s one-day competition, but an opening partnership of Smith and Amla is more formidable.Likewise, Andrew Birch, Roelof van der Merwe and Hardus Viljoen – the domestic tournament’s leading wicket-takers – have had to miss out to an attack that will include Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson and Aaron Phangiso. Morkel remains an injury concern having not recovered fully from the left hamstring strain that kept him out of the third Test. Kirsten envisages that he will play “at some point” but, in keeping with the way he has been managed in previous one-day games, he may be rotated.Where question marks remain is around the middle-order but a quick scan of the statistics hint that the selectors could not have done that much better. Vaughn van Jaarsveld scored 28 more runs than Farhaan Behardien in the Momentum Cup but no-one put up their hand up high enough.

“It’s nice to have a focus on ODI cricket so we can upgrade our skills and make sure we spend as much time as we can knowing what we need to do to close games out in tight moments”Gary Kirsten

What the likes of Berhardien, David Miller and Colin Ingram need to do is harden up – particularly mentally – before players such as Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma and Yaseen Vallie and Cody Chetty start challenging for their places. That could be as early as next season. For now, the incumbents have to do the job and Kirsten has accepted that, knowing they failed in that regard two months ago.Against New Zealand, South Africa’s middle order was its usual wobbly marshmallow, incapable of toasting no matter how much it was held over the fire. It melted in the face of pressure, where aspects such as the death bowling also struggled. “All our preparation and our debriefing has been on the New Zealand series,” Kirsten said, confining the retrospection to the shelf. “We’ve spoken about what went wrong there and what we could have done better. We try not cross pollinate too much. That keeps us all sane. We’re spending a huge amount of focus over the next three days on making sure we get our game in order. Then we know we can put opposition teams under pressure.”We’ve played a lot of Test cricket over the last while, so it’s nice to have a focus on ODI cricket so we can upgrade our skills and make sure we spend as much time as we can knowing what we need to do in that version of the game to close games out in tight moments. We know we can create some momentum, and we know that with the players we’ve got we are able to win games in difficult situations.”That is exactly where South Africa have fallen short. They have not put the opposition under pressure often enough and they have not closed out squeaky-bum situations, never mind done so with conviction. They have floated somewhere between uncertain and unable, mostly mirroring their tactics.Now Kirsten has said that should change. Stability will return to South Africa’s one-day squad. AB de Villiers has been reinstalled as wicketkeeper and will have to find a way to manage that, his captaincy and his role in the batting line-up without feeling rushed, as he once claimed to. He will have plenty to lean on with Faf du Plessis having emerged as a competent leader himself.The batting and bowling roles of individual players will not yo-yo from game to game and the focus has supposedly been defined and lies centrally in everyone’s minds. South Africa only have five matches to show whether all those things have actually happened.Although Kirsten remarked that they have 15-20 ODIs before their next Test (five against Pakistan; one against Holland; potentially five at the Champions Trophy if they go all the way; five against Sri Lanka; plus a few more against Pakistan in the UAE), it is not as simple as those numbers. There is an ICC tournament in between and a demanding public will want to see how far South Africa have progressed.

Full text of the PCB’s release on the Integrity Committee Recommendation on Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqui

13-Apr-2013Pursuant to allegations that 2 Pakistani Umpires, Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqui, were willing to accept money/financial remuneration to grant favourable/dubious umpiring decisions leveled by an Indian television channel, India TV, in its expose in the first week of October 2012, the PCB had constituted an Inquiry Committee to probe in to the matter.The Inquiry Committee comprised of Mr. Ehsan Sadiq Director Vigilance and Security, Mr. Intikhab Alam, Director Game Development and Barrister Salman Naseer, Manager Legal. The Committee obtained unedited video footage from the India TV along with all relevant evidence available with the International Cricket Council (ICC). After authenticating all the adduced evidence, inclusive of an exhaustive forensic investigation with the assistance of a specialist body in Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), the two umpires, Ghauri and Siddiqui, were asked to give a written submissions explaining their version of events, and were subsequently cross examined by the Inquiry Committee.Inquiry Committee’s Observations and Recommendations
The Committee noted that after coming to know about the exaggerated amounts to be paid to them for umpiring assignments, both umpires failed to exercise caution and sound judgment, which resulted in their entrapment in the said Sting Operation; despite their skepticism about the true credentials of the persons they were talking to and the methodology adopted by them, the two umpires remained engaged with them in prolonged and questionable conversations with regard to potential umpiring roles and dubious decision-making; the submissions made by both umpires failed to corroborate/correlate with the contents of the authenticated video footage of the said Sting Operation; and that, prima facie, there is sufficient material to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqui.”The Committee recommended referring the matter to “PCB’s Integrity Committee for further necessary action, and also that both Ghauri and Siddiqui not be considered for any umpiring assignment or participation in any form of cricket till the matter is pending before the Integrity Committee.”Other recommendations included, increasing of awareness programs inclusive of lectures and training workshops to be conducted by PCB to ensure that the umpires fully comprehend the parameters/guidelines of the Codes of Conduct in order to safeguard against such incidents taking place in future; adopting a proactive approach to ensure the prevention of such incidents involving umpires and any other match officials; and bringing all players, support personnel and match officials associated with PCB under a strict vigilance regime and comprehensive monitoring mechanism at the earliest.In accordance with the recommendations of the Inquiry Committee, Chairman Ch. Zaka Ashraf presided over a meeting of the Integrity Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today at the National Cricket Academy (April 13, 2013) to examine and determine the guilt of Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqui in relation to the allegations leveled against them.The following members of the PCB Integrity Committee were in attendance:M. Zaka Ashraf, ChairmanJustice (R) Sheikh Abdul Rashid, MemberSubhan Ahmad, MemberZakir Khan, Member Intikhab Alam, MemberThe report of the Inquiry Committee was perused by the members of the Integrity Committee, relevant clips of the Skype conversations which incriminate both the umpires was viewed and the Committee personally heard both the said umpires.The matter was deliberated by the members of the Integrity Committee at length and they were of the unanimous view that substantial incriminating material was available on record suggestive of the fact that both the umpires were willing to compromise their integrity in discharge of their professional duties. The members of the Committee were thus unanimous in their view that the said two umpires cannot be cleared of the allegations leveled against them. Consequently, the Integrity Committee unanimously recommended as under:” 1. That Mr. Nadeem Ghauri being a former test cricketer and also elevated to the elite panel of umpires of ICC and PCB’s International panel (with 13 years standing) straight away agreed to extend undue favours for material gains, therefore, he cannot be cleared for consideration of appointment as an umpire/match official or in any other capacity in any form of cricket held/organized/supervised/conducted/controlled under the aegis of the PCB for a period of four years from the date of institution of Inquiry i.e. 11th October 2012. Further, during the said period he may not be considered for association/appointment with PCB in any other form or position.2. That Mr. Anis Siddiqui being only a domestic umpire with lesser experience of only 8 years did not straight away fall prey to the undue suggestions made by India TV Sting Operatives and kept on resisting their undue demands repeatedly, but finally conceded to them on their persistence. Keeping in view his limited exposure to International Cricket and Codes of Conduct, his case is of mitigating circumstances and therefore he cannot be cleared for consideration of appointment as an umpire/match official or in any other capacity in any form of cricket held/organized/supervised/conducted/controlled under the aegis of the PCB for a period of three years from the date of institution of Inquiry i.e. 11th October 2012. Further, he may not be considered for association/appointment with PCB in any other form or position.The Pakistan Cricket Board has endorsed these recommendations.Commenting on the occasion Chairman PCB Ch. M. Zaka Ashraf said, “The PCB has a zero tolerance policy for corruption or indiscipline. We are committed on creating awareness amongst our players and officials with regards to the possible pitfalls, and are determined to adopt all vigilance and security parameters, which are in line with the laid out procedures of the ICC. Today’s decision reiterates the commitment of the PCB to keep our great sport free of all corrupt practices”.

Sri Lanka head coach Marvan Atapattu is confident his team will be able to put aside the 5-0 defeat they suffered in India and bounce back in the seven-match ODI series against England.

Sa'adi Thawfeeq24-Nov-2014Sri Lanka head coach Marvan Atapattu is confident his team will be able to put aside the 5-0 defeat they suffered in India and bounce back in the seven-match ODI series against England.The whitewash in India was just Sri Lanka’s third loss in their last ten series and Atapattu insisted the trip was not as bad as the scoreline suggests.”The best thing that happened to us in the three weeks in India is that although we went through a very bad period losing one match after another we had a very positive dressing room,” Atapattu said.”The players kept motivating each other, contributions were coming from every corner and the players wanted to do well although the execution was not right there. I’ve been in dressing rooms especially in India where things had gone wrong and I’ve seen worse than what I have experienced with this team.”We want to think that this is a new series and India is just a bad experience. Teams will go through such periods. We are a team that has done so well in the past few months or so winning six of our last ten one-day series and lost only three to Pakistan, South Africa and now India. For a team that has lost very few series we are a unit that is quite capable of bouncing back.”I am quite confident of the boys doing well especially in their preparations, practices, meetings and the efforts they are putting in. At the same time we got to know there are a few areas we need to brush up the bowling for instance. Lasith Malinga is nursing an injury and Sachithra Senanayake hopefully will come back very soon. We won’t be at full strength at least till mid-January. But the ones that we are working with are giving their 100 percent.”Atapattu said the team had started to show signs of playing the kind of cricket they are capable of during the fifth and final ODI at Ranchi, which was only lost by three wickets in the penultimate over.”The last game we really played to a plan that we are renowned for and if we had played the series that way it would have been more competitive. I wouldn’t guarantee victories but happier knowing that we had done something we are capable of doing without worrying about what the Indians can do.”Does that mean that Sri Lanka were under prepared going into the Indian series?”In a sense yes. It’s a known fact that this tour was not in our calendar but we were informed and people who had to take a decision took a decision. I am not going to debate on that. If this tour ended on a positive note it would have been a different story.”The Indian series was Atapattu’s first after being officially appointed full time head coach. He compared the beginning of his two-year tenure as head coach to the start of his international cricket career.”I see no difference to the start of my coaching career to the way I started my international cricket career,” Atapattu said. “I would’ve liked to have started on a better note but it has not gone that way. It cannot get any worse than this I can only see myself getting better and see the good side of it from here.”Atapattu began his Test career with a pair against India at Chandigarh in 1990 and his first six Test innings comprised five ducks and a single before he was able to break the hoodoo by scoring 25 against New Zealand at Dunedin seven years later.He went onto become one of the most successful opening batsmen the country has produced, scoring 5502 runs from 90 Tests at an average of nearly 40 and 8529 runs in ODIs.The upcoming seven-match one-day international series against England provides Atapattu with a chance to put the record straight. He described England, even without James Anderson and Stuart Broad, as a “very competitive side”.”The ODI teams around the world come with different strategies to adapt to the new rules that are implemented. They are two huge names that have made huge impact for England.”The bowlers they have brought on the tour are quite capable of disturbing some of the best batsmen on their day. It’s about respecting the ball not the bowler. England are a very balanced and strong side and they are also trying to figure out their best 15 for the World Cup. They are going to be very competitive no doubt about it.”

Durham’s Phil Mustard blasted 143 from just 91 balls as Durham crushed Surrey by 142 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Chester-le-Street

12-Aug-2012
ScorecardDurham’s Phil Mustard blasted 143 from just 91 balls as Durham crushed Surrey by 142 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Chester-le-Street.After being overtaken by Hampshire at the top of Group B the previous evening, Surrey’s hopes of a quick return to the summit were snuffed out. Durham were on course to beat their record 40-over total of 325, set against the same opponents at the Oval last year, until Mustard was out with the total on 271.The remaining six overs brought only 27 runs for the loss of five more wickets and Durham finished on 298 for 9. If Surrey thought they had clawed their way back into the game they quickly shot themselves in the foot as both openers departed carelessly with the score on 10.Jason Roy revived them with 43 off 24 balls, but the visitors were all out for 156 in 29.1 overs, completing an unhappy week in the north-east following their innings defeat in the LV= County Championship.Mustard led a charmed life early in his innings. On 1 he went down the pitch to Matthew Spriegel and edged the ball just out of Steve Davies’ reach and on two he survived a very confident lbw appeal from Jade Dernbach.The same bowler put down a simple return catch with Mustard on 16 and the left-hander went on to hit seven sixes. When Durham chose to bat Mark Stoneman initially dominated the strike, cutting, driving and pulling Dernbach for three fours in the fourth over on his way to 50 off 50 balls with seven fours.The stand was worth 87 when he skied a return catch to Zander de Bruyn, who cleaned up at the end of the innings to finish with five for 46. Mustard’s first six, over long-on off Gareth Batty, took him to 49 and he reached 50 off 45 balls before accelerating to 100 off 74.He put on 118 in 14 overs for the second wicket with Ben Stokes, who made 45 before he was stumped off a leg-side wide by Murali Kartik. Mustard, whose previous one-day best was 139 not out at Northampton last year, hit three sixes on his way from 121 to 142 before he was out in the 34th over, skying a catch to point.At the start of Surrey’s reply Rory Hamilton-Brown slashed at a short ball from Mitch Claydon and edged to slip then Davies shaped to pull Chris Rushworth and lobbed a catch to mid-on.Roy and Gary Wilson put on 68 but after Roy hit three successive fours in Mark Wood’s first over the young seamer picked up three wickets. When Roy went for a big hit and skied a catch to Mustard it effectively signalled the end of Surrey’s challenge.

South African duo Herschelle Gibbs and Johann Myburgh steered Durham to a five-wicket win over Derbyshire in a tight Friends Life t20 North Division game at Derby.

20-Jun-2012Durham 142 for 5 (Myburgh 46, Gibbs 38) beat Derbyshire 141 for 6 (Khawaja 36) by 5 wickets
ScorecardSouth African duo Herschelle Gibbs and Johann Myburgh steered Durham to a five-wicket win over Derbyshire in a tight Friends Life t20 North Division game at Derby.Gibbs made 38 and Myburgh added 46 from 40 balls to win with seven balls to spare when a full toss from the former Durham pace bowler Mark Turner went for four byes.Derbyshire began badly after electing to bat first, Wes Durston caught at slip in the first over without scoring and Ross Whiteley falling to a steepling top edge after hitting four boundaries in his 19.Derbyshire’s cause was boosted by a spate of wides and Australian Usman Khawaja top scored with 36. He was starting to time the ball well when he tried to cut a ball from Borthwick that bounced more than he expected and was caught behind.Derbyshire had to be on top of their game to have any chance of denying Durham. They had Phil Mustard caught behind off Turner and then Ben Stokes fell to a tumbling catch by Poynton when he tried to run Tim Groenewald off the face of the bat.Gibbs should have been stumped on 13 and that threatened to prove decisive when he launched Groenewald out of the ground, but David Wainwright found some turn to bowl him for 38.Myburgh revived Durham by driving Chesney Hughes for a six and a four in an over which cost 16 but the game was back in the balance when he sliced Turner to point.Durham needed 22 off the last three overs but the contest was settled when Gordan Muchall and Gareth Breese took 16 from Rana and the game ended on a note of anti-climax when Turner’s full toss sped to the ropes.

South Africa’s domestic one-day title will go the way of either the Titans or the Cobras in a north-south derby that, if recent records are to be believed, will be closely contested

Firdose Moonda14-Nov-2013There have been 31 matches. Seven were decided in the last two overs and three others finished with a result margin of one or two runs. And now there are two teams left.South Africa’s domestic one-day title will go the way of either the Titans or the Cobras in a north-south derby that, if recent records are to be believed, will be closely contested. They’ve already played each twice in the tournament, the Cobras winning both matches, once by two runs and the second time in the final over.”We’ve had two great battles already so whatever happens, I think we’ll have another one on Friday,” Rob Walter, the Titans coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “Of course, it would be nice to be on the right side of things if we do.”In his first season as a franchise coach, Walter has already had his fair share of nerves. After losing four of their first seven fixtures, the Titans seemed destined to end in the lower half of the table. They needed wins in their last three pool matches and pulled them off. Then, they needed a win against the team Walter described as the “best side in this competition”, the Dolphins, in the play-off and pulled that off too.In the process, they lost their captain Henry Davids to national duty, their senior-most player, Jacques Rudolph, to a broken hand and yet, still, three of their batsmen are in the top five run-scorers of the season.Leading the list is Heino Kuhn, the wicketkeeper-batsman who has made five Twenty20 appearances for South Africa but has since been overlooked. He is followed by Davids, who won’t be able to finish what he started because he is in the UAE with South Africa’s T20 squad and another national discard, Farhaan Behardien. Walter believes all three are ready to stake a claim for regular places in the national team.”We had discussions about developing their games to put them in positions where they could compete for places at international level,” he said. “With Heino, it was about going from being a keeper who can bat to showing he is a high-quality batsmen. With Henry, it was about taking good starts with beautiful shots and then getting out to having the responsibility to bat deeper; and with Farhaan it was also about conversion.”Kuhn has handed the gloves to Mangaliso Mosehle and is focused on his role as an opening batsmen. He scored back-to-back hundreds in the last two matches to put the Titans in winning positions. Behardien, who Walters said “stands out as a leader”, has taken over the captaincy in Davids’ absence and blossomed under the burden. He has a century and two fifties so far and has been working on the things that saw him dropped from the South African side, such as his shot selection.While moulding men who can turn out on the international stage, Walter has also had to concentrate on filling a trophy cabinet that remained empty last summer – a rare lack for the Titans. He has had Roelof van der Merwe to help in that mission. The left-arm spinner is the team’s leading wicket-taker and fourth overall. “He knew he had to go from being a containing bowler to an attacking one,” Walter said. He has taken nine wickets in the last four games as proof.All that individual brilliance will come up against a Cobras unit that have played like a team. Only the veteran Charl Langeveldt, who is likely to recover from a hip injury to play the final, is among the top five bowlers in the competition while none of their batsmen feature on the corresponding list.”It was never one individual getting us home. We’ve had performances spread all around,” Paul Adams, Cobras coach, said. “And I think it’s really shown in our fielding, where we’ve picked up a lot of run-outs. In pressure games, the younger guys have learned to step up and the more experienced ones have shown their quality.”Justin Ontong top-scored with 97 in their second win against the Titans, Langeveldt took four wickets at the death when they beat the Lions, Andrew Puttick scored a century against the Warriors to set up a win but it was up to the newer players like Dane Piedt and Lizaad Williams to bowl the Cobras to victory. Adams said tense situations like those helped ready the team for a final. “Guys are really focused now, they know what to expect.”This is the second successive season in which Cobras will feature in the one-day cup final. Last summer, they shared the trophy with the Lions, after two washouts. This time, the Lions finished bottom of the table while the Cobras have maintained their impressive run.”The most important thing is to have a big crop of players to call on and then managing them well so they can pace themselves through the competition,” Adams said when asked how he was able to continue that run. Those stocks will be added to with the inclusion of Vernon Philander and Robin Peterson for the final game.Adams, who is in his second season in charge admitted “the nerves are always there” but said he does his job by “looking for ways to inspire people”. And the ones he wants to influence ahead of the final are the fans.Despite the high quality of cricket, stadiums have been starkly empty throughout the tournament. Matches on school-nights and late finishes are the main reasons for the dampened interest but with no New Year’s Test at Newlands, Adams hopes people will go and watch their domestic team tussle it out on Friday.

Yuvraj Singh has been replaced by Rohit Sharma in the India squad for the third and final Test against West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2011Yuvraj Singh has been replaced by Rohit Sharma in the India squad for the third and final Test against West Indies. The rest of the squad is unchanged. Yuvraj was unable to convert his starts in the Delhi and Kolkata Tests against West Indies, managing 23, 18 and 25 in three innings. Rohit made a match-winning 175 against Railways and followed that up with 100 against Rajasthan in Mumbai’s first two games of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.While refusing to comment on selection issues before the announcement of the team for the third Test, MS Dhoni, the India captain, had said today that what mattered was scoring runs. “It does not matter where you score runs,” Dhoni said after the end of the Kolkata Test. “Yes, he [Yuvraj] is going through a tough phase but it’s important to show confidence in him. We all know he is talented.”One more reason is that he has been in and out of the side. It’s very difficult to back yourself. You have that bit of tentativeness. It’s a bit tough on him. But hopefully he will recover and do well for India.”Yuvraj has featured in only 37 Tests over eight years since making his debut against New Zealand in 2003. He was kept out of the Test side by a strong middle order that included Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Once Ganguly retired, he was given an extended run in the side but couldn’t cement his place.He fell ill before the second Test in Sri Lanka in 2010, and a century from Suresh Raina on debut in that game meant Yuvraj was once again relegated to the sidelines. His Man-of-the-Series performance in the 2011 World Cup put him back in contention for a Test place, but an injury kept him out of the tour to the West Indies and his series in England was cut short by a finger injury he sustained during the Nottingham Test.Raina, who made an unbeaten 204 against Punjab in Uttar Pradesh’s opening Ranji game, was ignored, as was Praveen Kumar.India squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron