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Hardik Pandya’s calculated aggression against Australia on Sunday proved his adaptability and maturity. In the long run, it could give an already formidable India an extra bowler without compromising on the batting

Arun Venugopal in Chennai18-Sep-20172:43

Gambhir: A long way to go before comparing Pandya and Stokes

The crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium had finally sputtered to life. Forty-eight legal deliveries had not yielded a single boundary, making voice-boxes somewhat redundant. But Hardik Pandya was up to something, smashing a second successive six off Adam Zampa to bring up his half-century in the 37th over. The fans instinctively lapsed into the chant they are most familiar with: “Dhoni…Dhoni…Dhoni.”The man they were invoking, however, was at the non-striker’s end, and walked up towards Pandya. MS Dhoni is Pandya’s first international captain, senior statesman, and the original badass finisher – a role Pandya is currently auditioning for. And when Dhoni speaks, you listen. Typically, Dhoni’s (advice) appeared to the point, accompanied with minimal animation.Whatever Pandya may have gleaned from the conversation seemed to have little bearing on the next ball. He got his front leg out of the way and swatted one wide of long-on. That shot helped him record a unique achievement: it was the fourth time this year that he had hit three consecutive sixes in international cricket. He had done it twice against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy and against Sri Lanka in a Test in July.The manner in which Pandya struck those sixes – creating a strong base and not losing shape – was breathtaking to watch. But it was the grunt work that he did on either side of the glamour shots that ultimately stood out. A calculated method that married mad rush.

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Natural gameDuring India A’s tour of Australia last year, Pandya broke free from the clutches of a cliché that has had plenty of airtime in cricketing discourses over the years. He learned something that changed the way he approached batting. That Pandya did it on a tour he wasn’t originally meant to be a part of – he was picked after an injury to Tamil Nadu allrounder Vijay Shankar – only made it more fascinating. A poor IPL – he averaged 6.28 with the bat and took only three wickets – resulted in his exclusion from the India side for the Zimbabwe tour. The high-profile A tour was a chance to make himself relevant again.Heading into the second unofficial Test in Brisbane – the last game of the tour – Pandya had produced an average performance with the ball. He hadn’t made too many runs either, but knew a crucial performance in the final game wouldn’t go unnoticed.Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid, the India A coach, had debunked the “natural game” theory in his conversations with the team, making it clear that players can’t hold up natural game as an excuse for rash cricket. The message was simple: play according to the situation and the needs of the team. Pandya could probably identify with it given his struggles adapting to a different role at Mumbai Indians, where he was slotted in at No. 3 in the 2016 season.In Brisbane, when Pandya walked out to bat with the score at 46 for 6 in the first innings, he decided to put the lessons into practice. The pink ball was swerving around, but Pandya gritted out the first day and returned the next day to finish with 79 off 116 balls and steer the team to a respectable, even if ultimately inadequate, 169.Associated PressThe game ended in a draw. It was, however, a long-term victory for Pandya even if he hadn’t recognised it then. With Dravid’s mentorship to tap into, the crinkles in his regimen were smoothed over. There was greater emphasis on fitness, eating right and sleeping on time, which is now an indispensable part of his routine. His flamboyant “West Indian-from-Baroda” persona mellowed down, too, without the loss of competitive zing.

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This was quickly turning into a forgettable Sunday for the Chepauk faithful, who had turned up in thousands. The dismissal of a set Kedhar Jadhav left India half their side down for 87, with nearly 30 overs remaining after opting to bat on a tricky surface. In came Pandya at No. 7, but you couldn’t tell which Pandya was walking out. Was it the late-game slugger from Birmingham or the lone ranger from The Oval. Regardless of how long he lasted, his modus operandi, you felt, was going to be slam-bang. Pandya, however, activated a slightly different mode: controlled explosion.One of his early acts was more restraint and less offence. Marcus Stoinis bowled a bouncer and Pandya shaped up for a cute ramp but bailed out in the end. Not for the last time, substance had trumped style. From there on, there were backfoot punches, nurdles, clips and dinks, and in general, percentage cricket. His strike-rate, though, consistently hovered around the 80s and 90s. There were barely any twitchy fingers waiting to pull the trigger. The Delhi game against New Zealand last year, where Pandya came close but couldn’t go the distance, must have served as a timely reminder.Dhoni’s presence at the other end must have helped, too. He knows how the long game is played and imparted some crucial on-the-job training to Pandya. Lesson one: don’t overreach. By Pandya’s own admission, they would have been happy with a total of 230. Together, the pair lay in prowl for a bowler who could provide them with the release they sought.Once Pandya identified Zampa as the target, he went after him the way Dhoni often did in his prime. India blasted 50 runs between overs 36 and 40, Pandya going from 35 to 77 and Dhoni quietly trudging from 28 to 35. When Pandya eventually fell to Zampa, he was out trying to do what he did all innings: pick a target and tear him down. By that time, he had added 118 runs with Dhoni, and finished with 83 off 66 balls, including five fours and five sixes. To rub it in, Pandya claimed two wickets, including that of Smith, and fractured Australia’s pursuit.The victory will be sweet for Virat Kohli. More important, though, is the larger implication of Pandya’s all-round punch. In the past, Kohli has backed Pandya to play the role Ben Stokes does for England. Now, there is more evidence that he can live up to the billing. Not only could Pandya take over the finisher’s mantle from Dhoni at No. 6, he could also give India the luxury of playing five bowlers, a strategy Kohli has aggressively pursued in Tests. As Pandya matures, Kohli can afford to go the way other top teams have and ensure India don’t go one bowler light without compromising on the batting core. With less than two years to go for the World Cup, Pandya’s rise has given an already formidable India side much-needed all-round ballast.

ESPNcricinfo picks its best XI from the Asia Cup in Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam and Alagappan Muthu08-Mar-2016Rohit Sharma, India (138 runs at 27.60)
The opening position suits his style – slow starts but stormy finishes. India have known this all along, and that’s why they have never tried to fiddle with his position. Rohit’s failures against a charged-up Mohammad Amir and in the Asia Cup final would sting, but he has been one of the batsmen that have made India a strong limited-overs side since the start of the year.Soumya Sarkar, Bangladesh (94 runs at 18.80)
He struggled against India in the tournament opener, but slowly got into his groove and launched some sumptuous flicks and pulls against Pakistan. He was well set for his maiden T20I fifty, but for a magnificent Mohammad Amir yorker. Soumya’s aggression makes him a key player for Bangladesh in the upcoming World T20 in India.Virat Kohli, India (153 runs at 76.50)
The batting leader in the India side. He likes imposing himself on the opposition, but recently has shown that he can sit tight if needed. He did just that, despite emotions running high and the Pakistan attack running rampant, to make a match-winning 49. The fact that he hasn’t hit any sixes in the tournament but is among the highest run-getters speaks about how well he knows his game.Sabbir Rahman, Bangladesh (176 runs runs at 44.00)
He has been tasked with the No. 3 slot for a few months to add some X-factor to the batting line-up. Sabbir had done well against Zimbabwe in January, but it was his 54-ball 80 against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup that proved that he was the right candidate to bat at the top of the order. Sabbir may have to curb some leg-side swings, but is expected to stick to his role.Shoaib Malik, Pakistan (121 runs at 60.50)
His return to the Pakistan team last year was a surprise, but his success since then has been less so. A steady presence in the middle order, capable of minimising dot balls with singles and twos at least, Malik seems to be slipping into the role Misbah-ul-Haq was often tasked with. In a dismal Asia Cup campaign for his team, he averaged 60.50.Mahmudullah, Bangladesh (121 runs at 121.00)
Having redefined himself as a top-order batsman in ODIs, Mahmudullah adjusted and then excelled as a finisher in the Asia Cup. In each game of the round-robin stage, Mahmudullah came to Bangladesh’s rescue. His best display came against Pakistan, his cameo helping the hosts seal a tense chase.Mohammad Amir unleashed a fiery spell against India•AFPMS Dhoni (capt & wk) India, (42 runs; 6 catches, 1 stumping)
He faced only 15 balls in the entire tournament, but had 42 runs against his name and was never once dismissed. By virtue of pushing himself down the order, he gave Yuvraj Singh and Hardik Pandya some time in the middle before the World T20. Dhoni’s ability to manage a team and look at various angles makes him a shoo-in as captain too.Amjad Javed, UAE (12 wickets at 14.08)
Uses every bit of his height and generates just enough extra bounce to compensate for his middling pace. Javed’s control of line was also impressive and his spell against Pakistan was so good that Waqar Younis admitted things were a bit “scary” in the opposition camp. He took three-fors against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and ultimately finished as the leading wicket-taker.Mohammad Amir, Pakistan (7 wickets at 11.57)
His fiery spells offered Pakistan some consolation in an otherwise disappointing campaign. Amir rattled India with pace and swing after the Pakistan batsmen faltered. The fast bowler then nearly won Pakistan their must-win clash against Bangladesh. Coach Waqar Younis was impressed with Amir’s progress and said: “The way he swung the ball, the pace, the length, it was outstanding.”Al-Amin Hossain, Bangladesh (11 wickets at 12.18)
He was Bangladesh’s most consistent performer with the ball, mainly getting the job done at the death overs. He claimed back-to-back three-fors against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. His yorkers will keep Bangladesh in good stead heading into the World T20.Jasprit Bumrah, India (6 wickets at 15.66)
The unusual action, an ability to move the ball both ways, and those stump-stirring yorkers make him an attractive package. At 22 years, he was even able to withstand the pressure of bowling the last over of Bangladesh’s innings in the Asia Cup final and allowed only seven runs off it.

Eoin Morgan’s appointment is a risk. But England had little to lose. Under Alastair Cook they were sleepwalking to almost certain failure. At least, this way, they should go down fighting

George Dobell20-Dec-2014Finally, this feels like the start of a new era for England cricket.The decision to appoint Eoin Morgan as England’s ODI captain – and it would be no surprise if he was also appointed T20 captain in due course – means England will go into the World Cup for perhaps the first time ever with a captain with a natural affinity for this format.Whereas Mike Brearley, Mike Atherton, Andrew Strauss and the like were marathon runners attempting a sprint, Morgan is as close to a specialist short-form format player as England have allowed to captain for several years. The sort of captain Adam Hollioake or Dermot Reeve might have been had they ever been trusted to lead a World Cup campaign.But England were always too cautious for that. Even now, they have only made the decision to change when it had become painfully obvious to everyone (except Alastair Cook, it seems) that change was required.Yet, just as they stumbled upon the Andrew Strauss-Andy Flower leadership era (they were the last men standing after Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores had been sacked), it may be that they have stumbled upon the solution to their limited-overs failings.Whereas Cook was reactive, Morgan is dynamic. Where Cook was cautious, Morgan is bold. And where Cook is tongue-tied, Morgan is direct, articulate and unafraid to trust his instincts. He has, after all, ignored the advice of Flower and played in the IPL and he has been prepared to publically support Pietersen at a time when others feared to do so. That cannot have been easy within the current culture of the ECB.Cook has his qualities, of course. In Test cricket, his ability to lead from the front, his determination, his stubborn refusal to know when he is beaten, helped England to victory in India. If he never achieves another thing in the game, he should be remembered with respect for that alone.

Morgan symbolises a new start, though. He is not tainted by some of the political manoeuvring that saw Pietersen sacked and he is not tainted as being characterised as ‘the ECB’s sort of man.’ Both issues weighed heavily on Cook in recent months

But those qualities are not so useful in the shorter format. It is not about denial and discipline so much as flair and flamboyance. Just as Morgan will probably never bat for four sessions in a Test, Cook will never blast a 30-ball half-century. It is more likely he will use his new-found free time to help with lambing on the farm than he will feature in the IPL. He was the wrong horse for the course.Doubts remain about Morgan, too. For a start, his form this year is little better than Cook’s. If you exclude a good week in January (he scored 50, 106 and 54 in successive innings), it is actually worse. Since the start of March, he has averaged just 16.35 in 18 ODIs. They are not reassuring figures.England will take comfort – or desperately cling – to the fact that, in his two games as captain in that period, he scored a decent 40 against Sri Lanka in England and then an encouraging 62 from 47 balls against them a couple of weeks ago. It is less encouraging that England lost both games and, in the first, were bowled out for just 99.Cynics might also wonder if Morgan was appointed so as not to threaten Cook’s Test leadership. The longer-term view would have been to appoint Joe Root to lead the ODI side but, had they selectors done so, there may have been calls for Root to lead in all formats. Morgan, some way from the Test side these days, offers no similar challenge. Even in sacking him, the selectors remained loyal to Cook.Morgan symbolises a new start, though. He is not tainted by some of the political manoeuvring that saw Pietersen sacked and he is not tainted as being characterised as ‘the ECB’s sort of man.’ Both issues weighed heavily on Cook in recent months.And Morgan is reflective of a bold, young side. A side that contains the likes of Jos Buttler, Alex Hales and Moeen Ali. A side that might, on its day, thrash any attack to ribbons. An exciting side.You might even say it was a side in Morgan’s image. There will be, no doubt, days when it crashes and burns in spectacular fashion. Days when they yearn for Jonathan Trott’s technique and Cook’s calm. Days when Ian Bell, retained in the squad to add solidity, has to play the anchor role.But under Morgan, England will be encouraged to play bold, fearless cricket. Under Morgan, the bowlers will be encouraged to attack as much as the batsman. Under Morgan, aggressive players will have a captain who understand high-risk cricket and appreciates the backing required to encourage it. The side will have a clear, positive message. Under Cook, the foot was always poised over the brake.So Morgan’s appointment is a risk. But England had little to lose. Under Cook they were sleepwalking to almost certain failure. At least, this way, they should go down fighting. And, with a young side, they have the opportunity to build for campaigns long in the future.And there’s the rub. For here we are, once again, a few weeks from a World Cup and the selectors have changed everything. It appears, yet again, as if England go into a World Cup building not for the current event, but for the event in four years.Morgan has not been dealt a handful of aces. But, all of a sudden, England look a more dangerous side. And a lot more entertaining. The World Cup campaign might not bring success, but it should bring some fun.

Shingi Masakadza was not a certain starter for the first Test against Bangladesh, but his extra height brought an added dimension to the Zimbabwe attack

Firdose Moonda in Harare22-Apr-2013Shingi Masakadza’s job was to defend. But that was when he was a professional footballer. Now, as an international fast bowler, his role is to attack.”It’s all about being aggressive and showing your presence,” he said. “So it was definitely part of the plan not to give the Bangladesh batsmen width, and try to get them with the short ball.”Masakadza finished the first Test with five wickets, including 4 for 32 in the first innings, in a performance that showed the progress Zimbabwe have made in developing seamers. On a surface with a healthy grass covering that required patience and careful application from batsmen, quicks who bowled challenging lengths were rewarded.For the opening pair of Kyle Jarvis and Keegan Meth, it meant not overpitching, and getting their deliveries to swing from a length. For Masakadza it meant extracting extra bounce from just back of it. With his height, his ability to do that was evident from the second evening, when he beat the bat regularly as the batsmen were unsure whether to drive off front or back foot.As pressure was created and runs dried up, Masakadza struck. His first victim was the “big man”, Shakib-Al-Hasan, who was done by a delivery that lifted on him. Two of his other three scalps, Mohammad Ashraful and Sohag Gazi, were caught on the pull.The three quicks shared all ten Bangladesh wickets in the first innings, an indication that they blend well together. “I thought we made a really good team. That was probably our first time playing together, because we play for different franchises, and it seemed to go very well,” Masakadza said.Few would have predicted that outcome because, from the outset, they seemed an unlikely trio. While Jarvis is an automatic pick for the Test team now and Meth fought his way in with his progression in the nets, Masakadza was the odd man out. Tendai Chatara, who had a good tour of West Indies, was thought to be ahead of him but Masakadza’s batting prowess sent him up the pecking order.Before the series, he was asked to try to fulfil his potential as an allrounder. With a first-class century and two fifties to his name, the coaching staff believed he could play a dual role. “When we got together in the training camp, the coach came to me and said what he wanted me to do was to chip in with a few runs in the lower order. So I’ve been working on the mental and the technical side of things.”Masakadza spent longer than any other player in the nets on Monday, three days before the second Test, as he hoped to put in a repeat of his showing in the first. In the opening match he batted for more than an hour for 21 runs and put on 37 for the ninth wicket with Meth in a show of temperament that not even some in the top-order could muster. “I told myself if I give myself a couple of overs to settle, things would get easier,” he said. “I just had to look at Brendan Taylor, he gave himself time and soon it was coming out of the middle.”That performance could go some way to help Masakadza establish himself as a genuine lower-order allrounder. It could even create some distance between himself and the other quick-bowling candidates: Chatara, Brian Vitori and Michael Chinouya. “I hope I get to play in all our games,” he said. “Especially Test cricket. We could have more Test cricket – it will be good for the nation and it would help us get used to different conditions.”Masakadza made his debut in New Zealand, in Zimbabwe’s first overseas Test after their comeback from an almost six-year self-imposed exile from the longest format. They lost by an innings and 301 runs and he managed only a single wicket. “It was quite hard to adjust to the wind there, especially bowling into it,” he remembered. “But if we played more matches on different tours, we would get better.”Talk like that is very different from the discussions Masakadza had when he first crafted his sporting career on the soccer field. He spent two years playing football, which included a stint at one of Zimbabwe’s most popular clubs, Dynamos. The highlight was playing in a derby against their arch-rivals Highlanders but he drifted back to cricket after completing his schooling.”When I was 14, I went to a school where there was no cricket so I used to return to the sport at our club, Takashinga, during the holidays. There were good structures at the club so it was easy for me to go back and play,” he said.In that time, his older brother, Hamilton, made his Test debut and by the time Shingi finished at school, he wanted to do the same. “I wanted to do as well as he was doing. We used to play backyard cricket together all the time. I guess I went back to cricket because I wanted to be around family.”Although, like anyone, he had to work his way into international contention, he had an advantage from the outset. “My fitness levels because of soccer helped a lot. I could bowl for long spells,” he said. He had Allan Donald, a childhood hero, as his coach at the Mountaineers franchise, and that helped him hone his wicket-taking skills and develop his aggression.Masakadza was first picked for Zimbabwe in 2010 and remembers a three-match ODI tour of South Africa as the most important phase of his development. “I was coming up as a young bowler and even though we didn’t do well on that visit, it was more about the experience than anything else. I learnt a lot about bowling to good batsmen when I was there,” he said.With seasons of consistent performances under his belt, Masakadza was included in the Test squad to New Zealand but left out of the group that toured West Indies. He was then included in the current squad after an impressive 2012-13 season where he was the joint second-leading wicket-taker in the Logan Cup, with 37 scalps at 24.00.Although he is not one of the ten centrally contracted players, he is on a winter contract and a strong performance in the second Test could see him cement his spot in the side for the matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan later in the year. Masakadza exudes the confidence to do that. He speaks authoritatively, much like Hamilton, and his self-belief is obvious.He showed no anxiety in the first Test, even when bowling to openers who were willing to take him on. Luckily for him, Hamilton was stressed enough for both of them. “I am more nervous when Shingi is bowling than when I am batting,” he admitted.The family have one more cricketer, left-arm spinner Wellington played for Zimbabwe’s Under-19 side and he is hopeful of playing for the senior side in years to come. Their three other brothers and one sister do not play the game, but Masakadza hopes they will one day be able to sit in the stadium to watch the three siblings represent the country.

India have had precious little to feel happy about during this tour of England. Ajinkya Rahane’s performance in the limited-overs matches is one of them

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval08-Sep-2011Ajinkya Rahane has gone from being India’s forgotten man to their man of the moment in the previous ten days. He’s played only four matches in England but made a favourable impression in each one: after the 19 against Leicestershire, he made 61 on Twenty20 debut in Manchester, followed by an aggressive 40 on ODI debut at Chester-le-Street, and 54 in Southampton. The numbers aside, it’s Rahane’s approach and maturity that has been striking. It’s led to questions being asked about why he was not part of India’s Test team.Called into an injury-ridden squad as a replacement for Virender Sehwag, Rahane joined the team a day before the tour match against Leicestershire. He lasted only 13 deliveries the next afternoon but managed to inject optimism into India’s batting, which had been toyed with during the 4-0 defeat in the Test series.Having been trained by former India batsman Praveen Amre, Rahane relies on his solid technique to gain the upper hand over the bowler. He is diminutive – 5’4″ – but makes up in batting intelligence what he lacks in physical presence.At Old Trafford, Stuart Broad and the rest of England’s fast bowlers tried to push Rahane on the back foot by bowling several short-pitched deliveries. They were shooting in the dark, though, considering they had never seen Rahane bat. He remained undeterred and got under the ball to pull and hook with power and confidence.At the Rose Bowl, Broad started with a perfect bouncer, but Rahane swivelled to pull over the deep square-leg boundary for a six. When Jade Dernbach bowled a slower delivery, Rahane waited patiently before glancing to the fine-leg boundary. Against full deliveries, he would move a step back, clear his left foot out of the way before chipping the ball over the in-field.During the last five years, Rahane has been one of Mumbai’s best batsmen at No. 3 and among the top five on India’s first-class circuit. Batting with the likes of Wasim Jaffer, a wristy and aggressive batsman and an India Test opener, Rahane learned the art of pacing his innings. He has never been a grafter, though.Rahane has had immediate impact for India in the limited-over games, constructing useful opening partnerships with Parthiv Patel, something the Test openers could not do. Ther right-left combination, as a result of injuries to Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar, has had stands of 52 39, 82 and 30.”I had not prepared at all before coming here,” Rahane said about his mental preparations for the tour. “I understood the conditions only once I reached here. I was not thinking too much. Obviously there are certain expectations when you play for India and I was nervous to begin with. But all the seniors and team-mates helped me settle down, supported me and gave me good guidance. It felt really good.”Rahane said that after working hard to get to this stage, there was no chance he was going to be casual. “Once I arrived I had a word with [Sachin] Tendulkar, [MS] Dhoni and [Rahul] Dravid. Every one of the seniors said not to think anything except to carry on playing the way I had played to get here.” They also asked Rahane to make sure he learned something new from each game.When asked by a journalist if he’d enjoyed climbing up to the Big Ben during the Indian team’s visit to the House of Commons, Rahane did not entertain the question, revealing where his priorities lay. “This is not the time to talk about such stuff. My focus is on doing my best for the team and making sure we win the one-day series.”

South Africa can proudly lay claim to having India’s number throughout the Motera Test

Jamie Alter in Ahmedabad05-Apr-2008
Graeme Smith: “For the first time I have a bowling line-up that can do well out here and I’m most comfortable with this side” © AFP
“This was the perfect Test match for us,” Graeme Smith said after the crushing win in Ahmedabad. “We dominated from the start.” Once South Africa grabbed the jugular, they never let go. It was startling in its routine, impressive in its results.Smith needed no second invitations to declare on an overnight 494 for 7 when he showed up at the Motera and saw a bit of cloud cover over a slightly damp pitch. That gave South Africa a huge platform from where to seal a 1-0 series lead and the manner in which they proceeded to do it was most clinical. Their energies were high all day, the bowlers never wavered from their plan, and the fielding was first-rate. South Africa never forgot the basics, contrary to India.Unlike on the manic first morning when sheer pace rattled a trigger-happy line-up, today was about mini-battles and outfoxing the batsmen. Virender Sehwag set about like a runaway caboose, hitting two sixes in Dale Steyn’s first over – perhaps for the first time in Test history – but did little to inspire hopes of a great escape. Makhaya Ntini saw that Sehwag was keen to pull the short stuff, and bowled a full one to take him out, lbw. Tick one to the brain-trust.That method set the tone for the rest. Steyn really turned it on against Wasim Jaffer, hitting lovely lengths and getting the ball to lift. Smith could’ve easily called back Steyn after Morne Morkel had just removed Rahul Dravid, but he gambled on Jacques Kallis and it worked like a charm. After being shaken up by Steyn, Jaffer was drawn into an overconfident drive against Kallis’ gentle medium-pace.Morkel’s dismissal of Dravid was also excellently schemed: pepper him with short deliveries while Ntini invited drives with a fuller length. Notice the sequence of deliveries before the wicket: short and kicking, fuller to draw him forward, back of a length, short on the body and then the quickest of all, banged in short for Dravid to edge to second slip.VVS Laxman dazzled with three early boundaries that almost took the breath away – a smooth off-drive, a caress off the back foot, and a soft-handed straight drive past the stumps – but stunning shots do not always a battle make, and he eventually fell to Morkel. Having just seen an edge fall short of second slip with a full delivery, Morkel pitched full and wide again to draw a fatal nick.Even when Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni delayed the inevitablewith a 110-run fifth-wicket partnership, South Africa didn’t wilt. The fielding remained athletic, the pacers ran in hard, and the lone spinner, Paul Harris, didn’t retreat after being thumped. Ganguly got an unlucky decision but Dhoni was also set up well: Ntini and Steyn pushed him further and further back, before Ntini slipped in a full one. Dhoni took the bait and fell hook, line and sinker for a near replica of his first-innings dismissal.Ntini’s performance in the subcontinent had been below-par compared to his career numbers, and with all the attention focused on Steyn he remained almost a phantom in Chennai. But today he followed up three huge wickets on day one with three more, netting Sehwag, Dhoni, and Sreesanth. He ran through short spell and long, irrespective of which end he was bowling from, and his captain was all praise. “It was a transition that Ntini needed to make as the leader of the pack, and he’s led by example. It was hard work for the bowlers today on a heavy outfield but he stuck to it. I’m proud of him.”South Africa’s quest for a win began with a frenzied opening morning’s play and ended in the dying stages of an extended third day, and bar today’s second session, they can proudly lay claim to having India’s number the whole timeSouth Africa were also supreme in their ground fielding. AB de Villiers was excellent wherever he went, pulling off superb stop-and-flicks from short cover and even closer, but it was in the covers that he was sublime, like a ravenous hound after a hare. Even Hashim Amla, whose calm exterior and flowing beard betray a sage, saved plenty of runs with excellent dives up-close. The slip catching was top-draw, none better than Kallis’ blinder of a catch towards the end of the day, taken in front of his face as he fell backwards. It was in such examples that South Africa were leagues ahead of India.The visitors backed their instinct and it paid off superbly. “This is a very balanced side. We’ve had some tough tours of the subcontinent but we’re better for it. For the first time I have a bowling line-up that can do well out here and I’m most comfortable with this side,” was Smith’s assessment of his unit after the win.South Africa’s quest for a win began with a frenzied opening morning’s play and ended in the dying stages of an extended third day, and bar today’s second session, they can proudly lay claim to having India’s number the whole time. India were beaten in three days by an innings and 90 runs, the first at home since South Africa toured in 2000. This looks the best South African touring side and Smith has a lot to be proud of going to Kanpur.

Nottingham on the third Saturday morning in May. Green buses – 4, 6 and 9 – proud and prompt to the minute, rumble over the Trent Bridge, where the inn has been trading for hours. There is a quiet busyness about the streets, an air of incipience.So it seemed on this leisured day when the East Midlands began to take leave of spring. Canyoned clouds drifted against a silver-blue sky and the shorts worn on the middle terrace at the Radcliffe Road End suggested more than a mulish determination to spite the climate.Red shirts flecked the white-painted stands inside the cricket ground. We were near the very last hurrah of the football season – and therefore five minutes away from the very first hurrah of the next. Some folk were taking in a few hours’ cricket before going to the City Ground, where mighty Arsenal were the visitors. In the streets around Colwick Road the fast food joints were setting up for a lively afternoon and evening. Fat and fat profits.Related

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And amid this activity, this skelter to capture the moment, a tall, slim figure would also soon be going about his business, which was that of scoring runs and saving a game either for Essex or England. It is what Alastair Cook has been doing for two decades now and it still brings him satisfaction.His batting today was certainly not without fault; he was put down twice in the slips before he’d reached 30, though neither chance was easy, and he sometimes seemed in a tangle when Liam Patterson-White bowled into the footholes. But he is 87 not out and if the job of saving the game has not yet been done with ease, the loss of Nick Browne, leg before to Lyndon James, is the only damage suffered.And in a way, Cook’s achievement in the second innings was the more admirable because he was less fluent today than when he made 72 on Thursday. Only 12 of his first 37 runs came in boundaries and two of those cover-driven fours off Dane Paterson sandwiched a fiery chance to second slip where Calvin Harrison, both hands above his head, could not cling on. Otherwise, there were the jabs down that gave Cook singles to backward point and the little deflections to the on side that gave him a few more. His fifth four, a drive through cover-point, brought him to his 122nd first-class fifty, although only his third at Trent Bridge. The achievement drew applause but the stroke was played against the growing tumult on the Radcliffe Road, where another crowd grew and steamed and prepared for manic partisanship.Even though he knows to celebrate, Alastair Cook does not do manic. Excitable is a rarely allowed indulgence. He takes the tiny defeats that come along in most long innings and is thankful one of them has not sent him back to the pavilion. In company with his captain, Tom Westley, with whom he had put on an unbroken 137 by close of play, he wore Nottinghamshire’s bowlers down on the third evening of this game and thereby exposed the inadequacy of his own side’s 298 in the first innings.Steven Mullaney’s fields became funky and merely hopeful: two short-midwickets, one short-cover and no slip to Westley, who ended the day with a pleasant unbeaten 70 of his own. Stuart Broad and Ben Hutton, whom one might have thought two of their side’s biggest threats, bowled eight overs apiece. It will take a lot for either side to win this game tomorrow and there is no need for a contrived finish. There is though, the probability that Cook will make a century on this ground for the first time in his career. It will be another tick on a career record that is littered with them.Matthew Montgomery made his first hundred of the season•Getty Images

And maybe we had an inkling how things might go during a morning of brief appearances and carefree strokeplay, a curious counterpoint to all that Cook represents. None of the last six in Nottinghamshire’s order batted longer than Patterson-White, who stodged around for 51 minutes before a crabbed poke, neither Catholic nor Protestant, edged a catch to Simon Harmer at slip off Jamie Porter. By contrast, Jamie Harrison hit seven varied boundaries in his 36-ball 31 and everyone else showed willing, especially Stuart Broad, who wiped Harmer towards West Bridgford for a six and a four before Matt Critchley picked up the last of his three cheap wickets.At the other end, Matthew Montgomery batted with all the confidence of a chap who looks up at the scoreboard before play starts and sees three figures against his name. Montgomery stroked six more boundaries today before falling leg before when attempting to reverse-sweep a full-length ball from Critchley. He was one short of his career-best 178 but one doubts he’ll need counselling.

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O São Paulo conheceu quem será seu adversário na terceira fase da Copa do Brasil – quando estreia na competição -, e quais serão os mandos de campo na decisão. O Tricolor enfrentará o Ituano. Porém, foi acertado via sorteio que o primeiro jogo será no estádio do Morumbi, assim, decidirá se avançará ou não fora de casa, no Novelli Júnior.

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Mas decidir a competição fora de casa não está sendo uma novidade para o São Paulo nas últimas edições. De acordo com levantamentos do historiador Alexandre Giesbrecht, do ‘Anotações Tricolores’, dos 26 últimos confrontos pela Copa do Brasil, o Tricolor decidiu 19 fora de casa.

Veja tabela da Copa do Brasil e simule os próximos jogos

Ou seja, ter que enfrentar o Ituano como visitante na partida que pode decidir se avança de fase ou não, é algo que nem chegar a assustar a equipe. O único ano que resolveu todas as decisões no Morumbi foi em 2020. Entretanto, por conta da pandemia da Covid-19, nem chegou a ter público.

Inclusive, desde 2020, a única vez que decidiu com torcida em casa foi no último ano, também pela terceira fase, contra o Juventude. Nesta partida em questão, após empatar o jogo de ida por 2 a 2, venceu o adversário por 2 a 0 – com gols de Arboleda e Igor Vinícius.

Agora, o São Paulo terá o desafio contra o Ituano. Mas se for pensar por uma questão de logística, a situação está muito mais tranquila. Por se tratar de um confronto estadual, a locomoção até o município de Itu é muito mais tranquila do que uma viagem para outro estado. Na Copa Sul-Americana, por exemplo, estreia na Argentina. No Campeonato Brasileiro, viaja até o Rio de Janeiro.

A última decisão do São Paulo pela Copa do Brasil aconteceu no último ano, pela semifinal, quando encontrou o Flamengo no Maracanã e foi eliminado ao ser derrotado por 1 a 0. No jogo de ida, no Morumbi, tinha perdido por 3 a 1.

Ainda sem as datas definidas, a CBF liberou somente as datas-base. Os jogos de ida serão disputados na semana do dia 12 de abril e de volta na semana do dia 26, também em abril.

Paige Paige Scholfield set a new T20 career-best as South East Stars made it two wins from two in the Charlotte Edwards Cup with a five-wicket win over Lancashire Thunder at Beckenham.The South African born all-rounder plundered an unbeaten 73 from 39 balls with one six and 12 fours to allow the hosts to chase down a target of 140 with four overs to spare.Schofield shared stands of 67 with Alice Davidson-Richards and 48 with Aylish Cranstone as Stars recovered from 25 for 3 to coast home.Earlier Fi Morris struck a belligerent 41 with eight boundaries, but Thunder lost their way to total 139 for 7, Tash Farrant the pick of the home attack with 2 for 17.Morris ensured the visitors made an explosive start, pummelling three boundaries off four deliveries from Ryana MacDonald-Gay.Phoebe Franklin was treated with similar disdain by Morris, the 30-year-old all-rounder despatching successive short balls to the fence behind square.With Emma Lamb, 36, lending good support, 53 came from the powerplay and the stand reached 66 before Morris drove off-spinner Kalea Moore into the hands of Bryony Smith at mid-off.Her departure proved a turning point as Danielle Gregory put the brakes on and a few dots saw Lamb depart bowled for 36 from an ugly swipe across the line.Skipper Ellie Threlkeld survived a huge lbw shout from Gregory second ball only for MacDonald-Gay to pin her in front for a duck in the following over.Thereafter, a brilliant run-out by Smith and Farrant’s frugal spell throttled Thunder’s early impetus, so much so that, despite Smale’s 37, only two boundaries came in the second half of the innings.Their score looked light, but chasing 140, Stars lost Smith, dropped on nought, to a catch at mid-on off Tara Norris later in the opening over.England discard Sophia Dunkley then top-edged Phoebe Graham into the hands of Liberty Heap at third to depart for just 11 and when Morris held on to one in the deep to see the back of Farrant for only five off the bowling of Hannah Jones Stars were in trouble at 25 for 3.Davidson-Richards and Scholfield needed to rebuild and the former hoisted a Laura Jackson half-volley for the game’s first six, but even so 79 were needed from the last 10.Three fours for Davidson-Richards from one Jones over raised the fifty partnership. Schofield then caught the mood dispatching a head-high full toss from Jackson and the resulting free-hit was similarly sent to the mid-wicket fence.Twenty-nine had come from two overs but with Stars in the ascendancy Davidson-Richards smacked a full toss back to the returning Morris, who you just couldn’t keep out of the game. Franklin was run out later in the same over as the match threatened another twist.Schofield though took up the chase, a huge six part of 16 of one Heap over as she sped to 50 from 32 balls.She needed just seven more balls to complete the triumph leaving Stars in good heart ahead of Monday’s clash with Western Storm.

“We are as well prepared as we are ever going to be,” says Test coach ahead of the New Zealand series

Firdose Moonda31-Jan-2024

South Africa’s Test team will draw inspiration from the national women’s side, who beat Australia in a T20I for the first time this week, as they embark on a two-Test series against New Zealand with a makeshift side.”It’s the first time we beat Australia in Australia. That’s a massive thing for any Proteas side,” Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s Test coach said from Christchurch, where South Africa drew their warm-up match against New Zealand XI. “We are watching that with fervent interest. We watch our national teams and we take a lot of pride in that.”Conrad was also talking the morning after South Africa’s national men’s football team, known as Bafana Bafana, reached the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations for the first time since 2000. And they did it by beating 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco in one of the shock results of the tournament. That, the women’s team and West Indies’ Test victory over Australia for the first time in 27 years, will all spur South Africa.Related

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“We obviously watched a little bit and thrilled for West Indies. But I think I spend a lot more time getting inspiration out of the women beating Australia for the first time. And then watching Bafana Bafana get through to the last 16. I find a lot more joy and inspiration in that than in West Indies beating Australia,” Conrad said. “And I think it’s great, not only for West Indies cricket but for world cricket. It gives us a little bit of confidence, knowing that the bulk of those guys that beat Australia were on that self same A tour when we played them a couple of months ago.”South Africa began their preparation for the New Zealand series with an A series against West Indies late last year which they won 2-1. The West Indies A squad included seven players from the squad that drew the series in Australia. Of those, five were in the starting XI for the Brisbane Test, including the match-winning hero Shamar Joseph. Given how South Africa A performed against the West Indies side, Conrad believes they’ve given themselves the best chance to compete against New Zealand.”You sit as a coach and sometimes you feel we still need to do this or that but I am really comfortable with where we are at,” he said. “We are as well prepared as we are ever going to be.”Condrad on West Indies’ win in Australia: “I think it’s great, not only for West Indies cricket but for world cricket”•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

South Africa arrived in New Zealand two weeks before the first Test and have also just completed a warm-up match in which five batters felt comfortable enough to retire out. Raynard van Tonder and Ruan der Swart scored half-centuries while Zubayr Hamza, Keegan Petersen and Khaya Zondo made scores in the 30s and 40s as part of what Conrad said was a plan for them to spend time at the crease.By agreement with their hosts, the South Africans then bowled on the second day, where experienced seamer Dane Paterson took 4 for 34. South Africa were given a few days off before they head to Mount Maunganui for the first Test. “We want guys to get on and experience the place, experience the culture and experience life in a foreign country,” Conrad said. “Some of the guys went to watch the Foo Fighters the other night. That’s not my scene but we want them to enjoy it.”There were no questions to Conrad about whether any of the current squad have an eye on the ongoing SA20, where the majority of the first-choice Test players are occupied, but perhaps there didn’t have to be. The handwringing in cricket circles over South Africa’s decision to send the side they have to New Zealand has extended far and wide and all the group can do is believe they have what it takes to cause an upset.