All posts by csb10.top

There are two ways to approach the new day if you leave the field within one shot of a century. Both were displayed at The Oval today.Alex Tudor, on the brink of a first century in what should be a long and successful all-round career was as nervy and excitable as he had been imperious on Day One. Alec Stewart, fast approaching his fiftieth hundred, simply hit the first ball of the day, admittedly a gift almost half-volley length outside his leg stump, to the ropes.His partner looked to have slept little and worried lots and could only play and miss, and even attempted to give catching pratice to the slips (he couldn’t even do this right, it fell well short) before an edge finally beat the cordon and he was safely a real batsman at last. Pressure relieved, Tudor could hardly miss a ball for a while – one cover drive would have stood out in any innings ever played, other shots were more brutal, but just as effective.With the two-hundred partnership having been hoisted Stewart (106) missed a ball keeping low, and after an interval Tudor (116) was caught in the deep from a top edge. Essex may have breathed a sigh of relief but losing the eighth wicket does not signal the arrival of the Surrey tail(more commonly pronounced Giddins). Salisbury and in particular Bicknell looked set on hoisting 500 to make their bowling tasks later in the day simpler.After the leg-spinner was caught off McGarry, the entire Essex team seemed to retreat to the fence to stop Bicknell scoring boundaries and offer him singles, a tactic which failed as theyhad but nine outfielders and would have needed twenty.The second loudest cheer of the day (after Tudor’s hundred) greeted a four to Giddins before Irani, strangely underbowled, ended the carnage by bowling Bicknell (38).The game seemed to resume on a different ground. Whereas the Essex bowlers had struggled to achieve a hint of movement, though with occasionally variable bounce, Bicknell, faster than any of the Essex bowlers and getting much more bounce, could not control the ball at all in his first over, the ball swinging enough to have two wides called.Tudor at the other end got little movement and seemed to be unable to hit the seam consistently – perhaps a symptom of a sleepless night – but generated alarming pace. The first runs from the bat came from an edge past third slip in his first over that reached the pavillion before any fielder had moved.Bicknell soon had the measure of the swing and by the time he decieved Prichard (0) with a slower ball he had beaten him on both sides of the bat more than once. Robinson (7) left a beautiful inswinger, perhaps assuming it would bounce over the stumps. It did, but not over the bails.The wicket bringing Law out to join Grayson. Law immediately looked more assured than hiscolleagues but hardly comfortable, clearing the slips with an uncomfortable edge, and playing and missing at Bicknell. Giddins replaced Tudor bowling as fast as I have seen him for his new county and getting much more movement than Tudor, finally getting Grayson (37) caught at point by Ward.Ben Hollioake replaced Bicknell and the scoring rate improved, the young allrounder showing both sides of his bowling. Some unplayable away swingers were mixed with too many short balls and half-volleys allowing Law to get well underway.Law, on the way to a classy but hardly chanceless hundred (he was dropped or missed either side of 50 and on 99, all hard chances). The rest of the Essex batting however seemed unable to cope with any of the Surrey bowlers.Irani (17), surely over-promoted at number five in a first-class game, looked to slog the side out of trouble before pulling a fast shortish ball onto his stumps. Peters (23) was correct but not able to cope for long with Bicknell’s return to the Vauxhall end.Neither Foster or Anderson (who had earlier been the pick of the Essex bowlers) looked to be middle-order batsmen, Foster in particular looking very uncomfortable facing Tudor. From a stance inside the crease, a step back before the ball is bowled inspires little confidence.Ilott however played well got into line and drove with some force before both sides seemed todecide that enough was enough and Salisbury and Ramprakash bowled a few overs to bring a long day to a close, not without Salisbury spinning the ball enough to suggest that the second Essex innings will be any easier.At the close of day two of the CricInfo Championship Division One game at The Oval, Essex were 265 for 7 in their first innings, still 223 behind Surrey’s first innings total of 498.

ScorecardAshok Menaria was unbeaten on 164 off 169 deliveries•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh and Rajasthan’s Ashok Menaria made big unbeaten centuries as India A hammered New Zealand A’s bowling on the first day of the second unofficial Test in Lincoln. Mandeep and Menaria put on 294 for the fifth wicket as India A scored at nearly five an over to pile on 433 for 4 by stumps after choosing to bat.Such a dominant day didn’t look likely for the visitors early on as both openers, Abhinav Mukund and Unmukt Chand, were dismissed early. Anustup Majumdar scored a quick half-century to lift India A above 100 by lunch, but Northern Districts’ right-arm fast bowler Brent Arnel gave New Zealand A the edge as he removed both Majumdar and Suryakumar Yadav in quick succession.There was no more success for the home side after that, though, as Mandeep and Menaria made light of an attack which had four players who represented New Zealand over the past year. Mandeep, 20, brought up his fourth first-class century off 147 deliveries with a steer to third man, while Menaria, 21, was even quicker, needing only 90 balls to reach his hundred. Both batsmen remained aggressive till the end of the day, with Otago’s Sam Wells proving the most expensive of the bowlers, giving away more than a run-a-ball.

Inspired by the fiery bowling of the experienced Andrew Penn and the 24-year newcomer Iain O’Brien – backed by the clever hands of Chris Nevin the wicket-keeper – Wellington gave Auckland an embarrassing thumping in their Shell Trophy match at Cornwall Park today.After the Wellington second innings had withered away to a disappointing 137 this morning Auckland had ample time in which to score the 203 runs needed for an upset win.With O’Brien getting his second five-wicket bag in his first season (twice just missing hat-tricks) and Penn chiming in with four wickets, Wellington simply smashed the Auckland second innings to pieces.The first two wickets fell at 13, the next two at 20 and thereafter O’Brien and Penn simply chipped away at the fragile Auckland batting, Nevin snared five catches and Auckland were bundled out for only 75.Wellington thus had the win by 127 runs, with a full day plus 26 overs unused.The fact that only the Wellington first innings went over 200 and the next three innings dwindled progressively to 182, 137 and 75 might suggest the Cornwall Park pitch had been laced with sulphuric acid and the bowlers had an unfair amount of assistance.The batsmen of both sides cannot offer that excuse. The pitch had modest pace and bounce, but it played few tricks, apart from the new ball skidding a little, helping to account for the 12 lbw decisions.Wellington simply had the better-directed medium-fast bowling from O’Brien and Penn in both innings assisted by Matthew Walker in the first. The three of them shared 16 wickets.What is more they maintained the tight attacking line that their coach Vaughn Johnson demanded before the start of play on the first day.O’Brien especially was highly accurate, made the batsmen play most deliveries and worked the ball cleverly away from the right-handers, always with the prospect that hitting the seam might have the ball cutting back.This was precisely the type of accurate seam-bowling with which Central Districts embarrassed Auckland last week, and which their erratic batsmen seem to find a mystery.The fact that Selwyn Blackmore was the only Wellington batsman to score 50 or over (Auckland also had only one, Kyle Mills) was another indication that the batting techniques of both teams were not of the highest class.However, Wellington may have had the best of the batting conditions on the first day, even if they laboured unduly hard for their 247 and took all the first day to gather in that modest total.There was not an indication then that Wellington had gripped the game by the throat, but the wayward Auckland batting, especially among the top five who should be regarded as the main run-getters, tilted the balance irretrievably to Wellington.Auckland had three “noughts” in the top four batsmen in their first innings, and two “ducks” and a two in the top five of their second innings. Richard King and Tim McIntosh contributed three of those noughts and King also managed a two.Perhaps the only art Wellington neglected was to finish off the hat-tricks for their bowlers. Penn was sitting on a hat-trick in the first innings, but there was no special field set for the third ball, and it passed harmlessly by.Today O’Brien had two chances of a hat-trick when he removed King and Dion Nash with consecutive balls and repeated the feat with Reece Young and Andre Adams later on.O’Brien did not threaten the stumps with his first hat-trick attempt. With his second he did get Chris Drum playing at the ball, which scuffed something and went through to Nevin, with the Wellingtonians raising a sporadic and tentative appeal, which did not convince anyone Drum had actually hit a catch.Otherwise Wellington won everything, especially the toss, and Auckland won nothing – and Wellington must now be the warmest of favourites to win the Trophy when they play Northern Districts at Hamilton later this week.

ScorecardRory Hamilton-Brown led Surrey’s charge with a destructive maiden one-day hundred•PA Photos

Surrey maintained their hopes of securing a semi-final place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a comfortable 39-run victory over Glamorgan after racking up 386 for 3 – a new world record total in 40-over cricket – sparked by a maiden one-day hundred from Rory Hamilton-Brown and an elegant 88 off 63 balls from Steven Davies.Mark Ramprakash and Matthew Spriegel then went to share in an unbeaten stand of 142 for the fourth wicket. Chasing a revised target of 227 in 20 overs, the Dragons battled bravely without ever threatening to turn the contest on its head. Mark Cosgrove hit 88 off 55 balls, sharing in a rousing fifth-wicket partnership of 85 in six overs with Jamie Dalrymple, who made 54 not out.In a match initially reduced to 38 overs per side, Surrey set off at nearly 10 runs an over after being inserted by the visitors. They were able to maintain that rate even after Hamilton-Brown and Davies were parted in the 20th over with the total on 190.Hamilton-Brown’s 50 came off only 33 deliveries. Davies was no slouch either, his half century taking just 44 balls. Hamilton-Brown brought the 50 up for the Lions in the fifth over with a huge on driven six off Will Owen. Six overs later, Davies posted the pair’s third three-figure opening stand in this season’s CB40 by despatching Robert Croft through extra cover for four.Having lifted Dean Cosker and David Brown over long-on for maximums, Davies was eventually caught at long-off off the bowling of Cosgrove.Glamorgan let Hamilton-Brown off the hook on three occasions – on 24, when he should have been run out at the non-striker’s end, on 40, when Mark Wallace missed a stumping chance off Cosker and on 95 when the Surrey skipper edged a drive past the wicketkeeper, again off Cosker. The second and third reprieves were immediately followed up with Hamilton-Brown sixes.After making 115 off 69 balls, Hamilton-Brown departed in the 25th over, holing out to long-on; though not before Huw Waters had caught and bowled Stewart Walters for 18.But Surrey were not finished there. Ramprakash raced to his 79th domestic one-day 50, which he reached in just 35 deliveries, and brought up the hundred partnership in the 36th over with the second of four successive boundaries off Owen. Ramprakash ended up with 85 not out from 46 balls. Spriegel’s contribution to Surrey’s mammoth total was an unbeaten 56 in 39 deliveries.Croft was caught behind off Chris Tremlett in the fifth over of Glamorgan’s reply, whereupon the heavens opened. When play resumed, the visitors refused to lie down, despite losing Will Bragg and David Brown cheaply.Tom Maynard made a breezy 19, which included a six over third man off Steven Cheetham, but the bulk of the entertainment was supplied by Cosgrove and Dalrymple, whose 54 off 23 balls included four sixes.

Match facts

October 29, 2013
Start time 1330 local (0730 GMT)Will Mitchell McClenaghan’s wonder year continue?•AFP

Big Picture

New Zealand will be out to take revenge for their 0-4 embarrassment in 2010. Bangladesh, like they have been since the 4-0 win, will once again be out to prove that they are indeed making steady progress. Their improvement is marked in the ODI format, more than in Tests or Twenty20s, but the visitors too have been in good form over the last 12 months. New Zealand have won two of their last four bilateral series, against South Africa and England.They are, however, without Martin Guptill due to an ankle injury, and have to put together a new opening partnership. Hamish Rutherford could open with newcomer Anton Devcich, as captain Brendon McCullum has preferred batting at No. 5 or 6 in the recent past. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are batsmen in form while there are plenty of allrounders in the line-up to be used at different occasions.Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, James Neesham and Colin Munro are all options that are available to McCullum, alongside his brother Nathan who is the sole specialist spinner in the squad. Devcich’s left-arm spin could prove useful, while the pace attack has a fit Tim Southee, Kyle Mills and the new sensation Mitchell McClenaghan. Adam Milne provides the extra yard of pace.While Bangladesh’s pace attack is a little rickety with Mashrafe Mortaza making a comeback, their batting line-up is beginning to look solid. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim leads a middle order that has Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain, while Mominul Haque’s two Test centuries will hold him in good stead.Tamim Iqbal is in good nick having scored two fifties in the Mirpur Test. Anamul Haque hasn’t scored much in the Tests, so he will be hungry for some runs. The spin attack also looks dangerous with Shakib, Abdur Razzak and Sohag Gazi in the fray.The Test series felt incomplete with rain ruining the final day in Mirpur. The ODI series, therefore, should be the decider of the tour. The question as to whether it is Bangladesh or New Zealand who are in the ascendancy in ODI rankings, will be answered over the next seven days.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent matches first)Bangladesh LLWWL
New Zealand LWLWW

Watch out for

Mitchell McClenaghan hasn’t played competitive cricket since August this year but his ODI record reads very well with 29 wickets in 10 matches. The left-arm fast bowler will complement Mills and Southee in the New Zealand attack.Nasir Hossain has been Bangladesh’s supreme finisher for the past two years. He comes in at No. 7 and makes sure a promising chase doesn’t go awry. When Bangladesh bat first, he finishes it well with the tail-enders. He is a very good fielder too, and his offspin can also come in handy.

Team news

Brendon McCullum has said that Devcich is going to make his ODI debut, opening with Hamish Rutherford. The top and middle order is likely to be the same although they have to take a decision on whether to play Grant Elliott or Neesham after Anderson. The four-man bowling attack is likely to bear a similar look with Southee in the lead and Nathan McCullum being the sole specialist spinner in the line-up.New Zealand (likely): 1 Anton Devcich, 2 Hamish Rutherford, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Grant Elliott/James Neesham, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghanShakib’s participation is uncertain after his fever worsened on Monday evening. The team management will take a final call on till Tuesday morning. “Shakib is uncertain,” BCB’s chief medical officer Debashish Chowdhury said. “He is carrying 103 degree fever and we are giving him medication to reduce the temperature.” He added that the final decision to play will rest on Shakib. If he misses out, Naeem Islam could be drafted in. Mominul and Mushfiqur too were under the weather, and the captain along with Shakib, skipped training.Anamul may continue to open in the ODI format but there are decisions to be made when picking the No. 3, as well as whether they would pick seven or eight batsmen. Mortaza is set to return and partner Rubel Hossain, while there is a greater chance of both spinners Gazi and Razzak playing in the match.Bangladesh (likely): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan/Naeem Islam, 6 Nasir Hossain, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Sohag Gazi, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11 Rubel Hossain

Stats and trivia

Moeen Ali, the Worcestershire batsman, has been named the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Player of the Year for 2013. Moeen, who is in England’s Performance Programme squad to tour Australia this winter, was the leading Championship run-scorer and also became the first player to tally more than 2000 runs and take 40 wickets in all formats since 2005.Durham’s England allrounder Ben Stokes was the PCA Young Player of the Year, to go with the Cricket Writers’ Club award he won earlier in the week. He scored 615 runs and took 42 wickets in Durham’s Championship victory, as well as claiming a maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket for England, helping to win him a spot in the Ashes party.Moeen scored 1375 Championship runs in Division Two, although his county, Worcestershire, fell some way short of mounting a promotion challenge. He beat fellow nominees Michael Hogan, Samit Patel and Graham Onions to the award, which was won last year by Nick Compton. Stokes was up against the 2012 Young Player, Joe Root, Reece Topley and James Vince.In the England player categories, James Anderson was named the team’s MVP, while Graeme Swann won Test Player of the Summer after finishing as the leading wicket-taker during the Ashes. Ravi Bopara won the ODI award, after coming back into the side with impressive results during England’s run to the Champions Trophy final.Onions did pick up the prize for Championship Player of the Year, although England’s successful home season, in which they swept New Zealand in their two Tests and won the Ashes 3-0, meant he was squeezed out of the Team of the Year. Hogan joined Anderson, Swann and Stuart Broad in the attack, while wicketkeeper Phil Mustard was the only other Durham player, alongside Stokes, to make the XI. Gloucestershire’s Australian captain, Michael Klinger, joined Root, Moeen and Ian Bell – whose three centuries played a huge part in England retaining the Ashes – in the top order.Reg Hayter Cup for the NatWest PCA Player of the Year Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)
John Arlott Cup for the NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year Ben Stokes (Durham)
ECB Special Award Jim Cumbes
PCA Special Merit Award, sponsored by Brit Insurance Tony Greig
Friends Life t20 Player of the Year David Willey (Northamptonshire)
Yorkshire Bank 40 Player of the Year Peter Trego (Somerset)
LV= County Championship Player of the Year Graham Onions (Durham)
England FTI MVP of the Summer James Anderson
NatWest ODI Player of the Summer Ravi Bopara
Investec Test Player of the Summer Graeme Swann
Sky Sports Sixes League Winner Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex)
FTI Team of the Year Joe Root (Yorkshire & England), Michael Klinger (Gloucestershire), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire & England), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Ben Stokes (Durham & England), Phil Mustard (Durham), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire & England), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire & England), Michael Hogan (Glamorgan), James Anderson (Lancashire & England)

Martin Guptill, the New Zealand batsman, believes his franchise Guyana Amazon Warriors can win the inaugural Caribbean Premier League. Guptill has been one of the linchpins of the Guyana batting but a broken bone in his right hand ended his stint even as his franchise prepares to take on Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in Thursday’s semi-final.”I definitely think we can (win the title),” Guptill said. “We showed we can with our chase of a decent total against Antigua (last Saturday). We got to the last ball and we came through. The spirit is good in the camp and hopefully we can take that forward to the semi-final and hopefully the final.”Guptill and his national team-mate James Franklin have impressed for Guyana and former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor has also done decently for Trinidad & Tobago. Guptill hoped these performances would further raise the profile of New Zealand’s cricketers, although he believed they needed to play more Test cricket.”James Franklin and I have had reasonably successful tournaments. It puts us out there and hopefully people will take notice. From what I read, Sir Richard’s (Hadlee) comments were more to do with (New Zealand’s limited amount of) Test cricket than anything else and we are struggling a little in the Test game at the moment. The only way we can get better is by playing more Tests and if that can come in the next few years and we can keep developing as a team then who knows where we can go from there.”Guptill joked he was filling a dual role in the Guyana side – opening the batting and also acting as a spy in the camp, trying to pick up some inside information on West Indies players ahead of the Caribbean side’s tour of New Zealand in December. That information has included an attempt to decipher the skills of Sunil Narine, although, as Guptill admitted, trying to read the spinner has been anything but easy.”I have only faced him once in the nets and he was only bowling offspin then so I do not know what is going to happen when he comes to New Zealand at the end of the year. I have been trying to see when he bowls how he does what he does but it is pretty hard to pick it up.”

Lonwabo Tsotsobe was part of South Africa’s recently completed limited-overs side which toured Sri Lanka, despite not being on the original squad list because of fitness concerns. That was head coach Russell Domingo’s most interesting declaration as the group arrived in Johannesburg following their 4-1 ODI series loss and 2-1 Twenty20 truimph.Tsotsobe was South Africa’s second-highest wicket-taker in the ODI series with six wickets, at a joint-best average among visiting bowlers of 20.33. His 4 for 22 in the third ODI equalled his career-best. He also took three wickets in the T20s at 25.66, with best figures of 2 for 17 in the second match which sealed the series for South Africa.But Tsotsobe may not have had the chance to do any of that, after Domingo revealed the left-armer would have stayed home had the coach not been convinced otherwise. “I had massive concerns about his form, fitness and possibly his work ethic,” Domingo said. “After canvassing some opinion and chatting to him, we decided to take him with [us] and work on his fitness in the first two or three weeks to try and get him to a position where he could perform to his maximum.”Domingo denied there was any political influence involved in the decision for Tsotsobe to travel, but admitted the administrators are aware of the need to transform the national team. “There was nothing like that, in terms of politics, but we are fully aware of the need to have black African players in our side and there is a lack of them banging on the door.” Tsotsobe has been the only black African player in the South African squad in recent years, with left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso now giving him company.

Russell Domingo’s full statement on Tsotsobe

“I would like to state categorically and very honestly that Tsotsobe wasn’t included in the fifteen to go to Sri Lanka. I had massive concerns about his fitness, his form and possibly his work ethic at that stage. Tsotsobe was very comfortable staying behind, working at the high performance centre, and getting himself back into condition because I firmly believe Tsotsobe is a massive asset in our one-day side.
He is one of the best bowlers in the world. We need a fit, firing Lonwabo Tsotsobe. It might not be a coincidence that when some of his form has dipped a little bit, the team’s bowling as a whole dipped a little bit because he is such an important bowler for us.
After canvassing some opinions and chatting to him, we decided to take him with [us] and work on his fitness in the first two or three weeks to try and get him to a position where he could perform to his maximum. He worked really hard in those first two or three weeks and I was very pleased and encouraged with what I saw. And that hard work was proved in his first performance in Pallekele, where he probably won the game for us.
We’ve still got some way to go. I am a big fan of his. He offers a lot to the side in terms of his skills with the new ball, and his skills when he bowls cutters. Maybe it was a good thing that he wasn’t included to make him realise he also needs to pull up his socks to a certain degree. And we also need to give him as much opportunity to develop for us, because he is a gun bowler in this format.”

According to Domingo, the plan was for Tsotsobe to sit out of the first few matches until he was in match condition, but this was not made public beforehand. “We wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing because there had been a downward spiral in his performances. If someone’s fitness is lagging, the work ethic may not be good. We had to work on all of that,” Domingo said. “He is seriously skilful and we wanted to keep him close to the group.”When a local South African newspaper, , reported a few days after the team departed that Tsotsobe failed a fitness test before the tour, Cricket South Africa would not confirm whether that was the case. They told ESPNcricinfo that all players were cleared by the medical committee before the squad and that Tsotsobe had suffered a recurrence of the ankle impingement which affected him last season.Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager, who is also a medical doctor, confirmed the chronic condition returned when Tsotsobe started bowling in Colombo. He did not play in the first two ODIs in order to undergo rehabilitation, but was declared fit for the third match. His return of 4 for 22 was not only a repeat of his career-best, but “probably won the game for us,” Domingo said. That would be the only ODI that South Africa won.Tsotsobe continued to bowl well throughout the series, which Domingo took as an indication that the “right decision,” was made to include him. “He learnt a lesson and he worked hard.”For Domingo, the challenge between now and South Africa’s tour in the UAE to play Pakistan in October, is to ensure Tsotsobe continues to make progress, and extends that to other areas such as his fielding. “He made big improvements and we need to try and make sure he maintains that momentum.”Tsotsobe will join up with the South Africa A squad, who are currently involved in a tri-series with Australia A and India A in Pretoria. He will work with Vincent Barnes, the former national bowling coach and current high performance head, and may even feature in some of the matches.He will also be involved with his new franchise, the Lions, who have qualified for September’s Champions League. Tsotsobe did not play for the Lions during last season’s domestic twenty-over competition, but signed for them during the off-season.

Match facts

Sunday, August 04, 2013
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)

Big picture

Having been happy with their ODI wins and confident with their top ranking in Twenty20s, Sri Lanka have suddenly been given a rude start on this tour. In Faf du Plessis’ words, South Africa put pressure on the hosts for a change, and found their batting order brittle.
Sri Lanka had not played their top XI, focusing instead on player development, but despite handing repeated chances to the young batsmen in their ranks, the next-generation are yet to produce a match-winning knock in the series. So more often than not when Sri Lanka’s seniors fail to fire, a collapse ensues. But on Friday, Sri Lanka lost their way despite a fluent fifty from Kumar Sangakkara.Sri Lanka are already eyeing the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh next year, and Dinesh Chandimal said his side would continue to test their T20 bench strength in this series. If the young batsmen are batted high up in the order again, they cannot afford another poor collective showing.Kusal Perera is under particular pressure, having averaged just over five in his last seven international innings. Having arrived in the international side in a whirlwind of hype, his failures continue to be considered kindly, but it will not be long before there are calls to send him back to domestic cricket so someone else can be tried.As South Africa head to Hambantota in higher spirits than they have been for much of their time in the country, they will still be wary of their batsmen’s inadequacies against spin. Sachithra Senanayake’s first spell was clever and disciplined, but the visiting top order cannot say they played him with any sort of confidence. Though JP Duminy and David Miller seem to have come to grips with Ajantha Mendis’ variations, the remaining batsmen appear no more clued-up on how to play him than they were at the beginning of the tour.

Form guide

(most recent first, last five completed matches)
Sri Lanka: LWWWL
South Africa: WLWLW

Players to watch

Dinesh Chandimal has not crossed fifty in any form of the game since March – though because he bats so low, he has not had the opportunity to build a long innings in many of those matches. Plenty of eyebrows were raised when he was given the T20 captaincy in February, given it is not a format he naturally excels at. If he wants to lead the side in the next World Twenty20, he must improve his output significantly.For the first time on the tour, South Africa’s spinners were not leagues behind their counterparts in the Sri Lanka side, and a major reason for this was the bowling of Imran Tahir. In what was his T20 international debut, Tahir was given far more respect by the Sri Lanka batsmen than they had afforded Robin Peterson and Aaron Phangiso, and was a genuine wicket-taking threat to boot. He did bowl the odd poor delivery – often a full toss on off stump – but Sri Lanka’s relative reticence meant he was not punished for it. Having now seen Tahir in action, their battle with him in Hambantota should make for good viewing.

Pitch and conditions

Hambantota’s surface has been among the most seam-friendly in the past, and South Africa’s pace bowlers enjoyed the extra pace and bounce in the pitch when they played two matches there in last year’s World Twenty20. The weather is likely to be fine on Sunday evening.

Teams news

With Sri Lanka suggesting they will continue to rest one of their three senior batsmen, it may be Tillakaratne Dilshan’s turn to take a breather for the match. Mahela Jayawardene is then likely to open alongside Kusal Perera. Jeevan Mendis did not bowl or make any runs in Colombo and he may be swapped out for Nuwan Kulasekara on what is likely to be a better strip for seam bowlers. Sri Lanka may also consider leaving the steady Lahiru Thirimanne out for the potentially explosive Angelo Perera.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1. Mahela Jayawardene, 2. Kusal Perera, 3. Dinesh Chandimal (c), 4. Kumar Sangakkara, 5. Angelo Mathews, 6. Lahiru Thirimanne/ Angelo Perera, 7. Thisara Perera, 8. Nuwan Kulasekara/ Jeevan Mendis, 9. Sachithra Senanayake, 10. Lasith Malinga, 11. Ajantha MendisIt is difficult to see South Africa change their attack, after Friday’s win, but the batting order may be in for at least one change. The likeliest of these is perhaps the exit of Quinton de Kock, who has not made a significant score in three innings. It will mean AB de Villiers has to don the gloves, but they may be able to strengthen their batting.South Africa (probable): 1. Henry Davids, 2. AB de Villiers (wk), 3. Faf du Plessis, 4. JP Duminy, 5. David Miller, 6. David Wiese, 7. Chris Morris/ Farhaan Behardien/ Quinton de Kock, 8. Wayne Parnell, 9. Morne Morkel, 10. Imran Tahir, 11. Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Quotes

“There’s pressure for cricketers every time they play. Only the players who have learnt to handle that pressure in school cricket and domestic cricket have come to the national team. I don’t think we need to teach players anything different about handling pressure. I trust that they will handle it better in the next two games.”
Dinesh Chandimal hopes Sri Lanka will not fold like they did in Colombo, in the games to come.
“The Sri Lankan spinners have three or four different variations each, and you’ve got to make a decision pretty quick about what you’re going to counter that with. They are pretty consistent with their lines and lengths and they vary their pace as well. We’re going to have to look at that.”
JP Duminy, the Man-of-the-Match from the first game, speaks about the spin challenge for South Africa’s batsmen.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHamish Rutherford’s ferocious assault set the tone for a run-strewn night in south London and won him the man-of-the-match award•PA Photos

For a supposedly pointless fixture squeezed rudely into the calendar, this game produced enough wattage to light up a fair proportion of south London. New Zealand were the victors in a match that aggregated 397 runs as a full house at The Oval lapped up a classically rambunctious T20 international.Hamish Rutherford and Brendon McCullum tore up some mediocre bowling on a good pitch as New Zealand posted 201 for 4 and, although Luke Wright muscled a typically busy half-century, England’s middle-order was left with too much to do after Ian Butler and Mitchell McClenaghan struck in successive overs.Butler’s dismissal of Eoin Morgan, via a brilliant, one-handed Ross Taylor catch, leaping high to his right at slip, was as concussive a blow as any. For the captain, McCullum, to insert a slip at that stage was another strikingly aggressive gambit.Although the ground thrummed to the beat of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”, as the crowd chanted in support of their new cult hero, Ravi Bopara, his 30 off 18 balls was not quite enough to complete England’s highest successful chase in T20 internationals.This is what T20 in England is supposed to be about – warm summer evenings, turbo-charged batting and a well-lubricated crowd ready to cheer on whichever team hits the hardest. The T20 series with New Zealand has overshadowed the launch of the Friends Life t20 but there may be hope that the domestic competition can plug in to a similar power source for the next couple of months.The weather will play a big role in that and, after the enforced 20-over affair during a soggy Champions Trophy final on Sunday, for once the sun shone and the skies remained clear for a genuine T20 contest.A side featuring four players in Morgan, Bopara, Jos Buttler and James Tredwell who took on India, as well as several of England’s T20 specialists, may have missed a handful of regulars being protected for the Ashes but they pushed a more experienced New Zealand all the way. The five-run loss had a familiar ring but the circumstances couldn’t have been more different to the cagey affair at Edgbaston.At the end of the Powerplay, England were 67 for 1, which offered a perky comparison with New Zealand’s 54 for 1. Although Michael Lumb was bowled, playing the ball on to his stumps via a boot in the fourth over, he had set the tempo with two crunching leg-side blows for six.His Nottinghamshire partner, Hales, who last made more than 21 six weeks ago and was coming off a run of 11 single-figures score in 13 innings, was afforded the slice of luck he required when a top edge flew high to fine leg and the chasing Rutherford dropped the ball, which then rolled for four.The delivery was also called a no-ball – though McClenaghan may have pointed to Stuart Broad’s crucial dismissal of Kane Williamson in these teams’ Champions Trophy encounter by way of defence – and the over went for 25.A partnership worth 55 with Wright followed before Hales picked out deep midwicket with a mishit slog. Wright reached 50 off 29 balls but after his dismissal the requirement rose to 63 from 30, which for all Bopara’s now-familiar swash and buckle proved beyond England. With 16 needed, Ben Stokes hit the first ball of the final over for six but the bowler, Corey Anderson, held his nerve.The tone for the evening had been set by New Zealand’s second-wicket partnership, worth 114 runs in 67 balls, between Rutherford and McCullum, with the former scoring his first half-century in a limited-overs international. McCullum, unusually, was not quite as belligerent as his partner but he top-scored with 68 from 48 balls in a manner reminiscent of his form against England when these two teams began their 16-round, bi-continental tussle back in February.England inserted New Zealand after Morgan had won the toss and the stand-in captain’s evening was further buoyed by Boyd Rankin, the former Ireland bowler, taking a wicket with his fourth delivery in an England shirt. But the next hour and a half went almost as rapidly downhill as the ball seemed to go forever skyward, Rutherford and McCullum batting with giddy abandon on a true surface as England were forced into using seven bowlers.The pair had evidently not been told this was a glorified exhibition match, albeit a crowd-pulling one, and set about giving England’s reservists a thorough caning. Rankin and Wright apart, the bowlers queued up like naughty schoolboys to be disciplined: Chris Woakes’ only over cost 19, including a lazy flick over deep square leg from Rutherford; Tredwell was sized up for 15 in his first, as Rutherford clubbed him for consecutive, imperious sixes.Tredwell was again smashed into the crowd at long-on in his second over, after Rutherford passed 50 off his 28th delivery. England had reason to rue Bopara’s drop off Jade Dernbach in the fourth over. Rutherford sliced the ball towards point at just above head height, but Bopara seemed to have too much spring in his heels and a straightforward chance deflected away off his wrist.Bopara later conceded 22 from an over and he and Tredwell, who had provided crucial spells with the ball in the Champions Trophy final, bowled four overs at a cost of 64 runs here.Rankin may find it a little harder to get served in The Greyhound, the nearby Irish pub in Kennington, after his inclusion confirmed an anticipated switch to England but there were plenty in the ground who would have willingly bought him a drink after he struck in his first over.His pace and back-of-a-length hostility around off stump made him appear like an imported Steven Finn knock-off and he soon exposed James Franklin, in for the hamstrung Martin Guptill, for the imitation opener that he is – at least at international level – with one that nipped back. With New Zealand 1 for 1 after four balls, England may have felt they had the luck of Irish but they had run out of it by the end.