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Captain Kyle Coetzer’s century was in vain as Scotland lost by 50 runs to Namibia in Edinburgh and remain three points behind first place Netherlands in the WCL Championship table

Peter Della Penna in Edinburgh13-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:00

‘Crucial loss of two points’ – Coetzer

Allrounder Christi Viljoen continued to make his presence felt in his comeback tour for Namibia, taking three crucial wickets to wreck Scotland’s chase as the visitors came away with a 50-run win at the Grange on Tuesday. The win is only Namibia’s second in 10 matches in the current WCL Championship and it denied Scotland a crucial two points, keeping them three points behind Netherlands with four games left to play in the competition.While Namibia racked up 324 for 5 under sunny skies, the late-afternoon forecast meant the prospect of rain and DLS calculations loomed over Scotland’s chase. They got off to a brisk start behind captain Kyle Coetzer, who eventually finished with 112 for his eighth List A ton, and Matthew Cross in an opening stand of 42 in seven overs at which point the hosts were 10 runs ahead of the DLS par score.But Viljoen, who is in the process of attempting to qualify for New Zealand and hadn’t played for Namibia since 2014 prior to this series, changed the complexion of the chase when he was introduced in the eighth over by captain Sarel Burger. Just as he did in the first match between the sides on Sunday, Viljoen struck twice in his opening over, snaring Cross at short midwicket for 21 and then Calum MacLeod for a duck two balls later driving to mid-off. The double-strike meant Scotland ended the over 36 behind the DLS par score and they never got back out in front of the calculation in light of the lurking precipitation.Coetzer and Richie Berrington faced an uphill battle trying to claw Scotland back in front of the par score with grey skies on the horizon. The pair produced a valiant 117-run stand to drag Scotland close but the nearest they came to the par score afterward was four runs when the score was 141 for 2 after 25 overs. However, Scotland were six behind the par score when rain took the players off at 158 for 2 in 29 overs.A strong but brief shower came down, meaning the delay only lasted 18 minutes. A sense of urgency was present for Scotland though with ominous clouds never far off. On the Namibia side, left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz had been applying excellent pressure prior to the break in a tremendous bounce-back performance after he was smashed for 29 off three overs on Sunday. Scholtz began by conceding just 18 off his first six overs prior to the rain and struck on his second ball after play resumed, beating Berrington with an arm ball after the batsman prodded down the wrong line to be given leg before for 61.Scholtz took his second in his next over when Preston Mommsen drove to long-off and he finished his marvelous 10-over spell of 2 for 32 without conceding a boundary. Con de Lange fell in the 38th driving Jan Frylinck to cover as Namibia’s pressure in the field continued to squeeze Scotland. The hosts had been 99 for 2 in 17 overs at the first drinks break but during the next 22 overs they were only able to score one boundary off the bat, with the only other ball that went to the rope coming from a leg-side wide for five extras.Coetzer was dropped at backward point on 90 off Viljoen but a straight six and another drive for two off the next two balls brought up his century from 114 deliveries. By that stage though, he was quickly running out of partners and was eventually caught on the run at wide long-off for Frylinck’s second wicket, effectively ending Scotland’s hopes of a comeback at 228 for 7 in the 43rd. Another short rain break came after 47 overs but play restarted to allow the last 18 balls to be batted out with Scotland ending on 274 for 9.Christi Viljoen bowled Craig Wallace with a yorker for his third wicket to help lift Namibia to a rare win•Peter Della Penna

The platform for Namibia’s win was laid by an imperious 124-run opening stand between Stephan Baard and Zane Green, who was promoted to open in place of the injured Louis van der Westhuizen. Baard dominated the partnership after Namibia won the toss, humming to 78 off 53 balls through positive but controlled strokeplay. Only two of his 12 boundaries were struck over the infield – one each driven over mid-on and mid-off – while he profited most with a series of elegant cuts behind point.Though Baard eventually fell edging a slower bouncer from Safyaan Sharif through to Cross, that was the only moment of success from Scotland’s short ball strategy that had been so effective in a win a day earlier. Green continued on to make a List A career-best 61 before he was given lbw to Mark Watt playing across the line on the back foot. Gerhard Erasmus missed a sweep to be bowled by Watt for 27 at the start of the 31st to make it 188 for 3 as Namibia appeared on course for 350-plus with wickets in hand.Scotland did well to contain Namibia over the next 16 overs but Craig Williams and JJ Smit broke the shackles by adding 45 off the last four. Vice-captain Williams ended unbeaten on 69 off 63 balls for the third half-century of the innings, his knock taking Namibia past 300 to a total that was comfortably defended in the end.The result means Netherlands hold a two-point advantage over Papua New Guinea and a three-point lead over Scotland with two rounds to go in the WCL Championship. Both Netherlands and Scotland have two-match series against Kenya while Scotland’s other series is away at PNG. Netherlands will play Namibia in their final series while PNG is paired against Hong Kong, currently in fourth place on 11 points.Netherlands can win the WCL Championship, and a possible spot in the proposed 13-team ODI league that has been mooted for the qualification cycle ahead of the 2023 World Cup, if they win their final four matches. Should Netherlands lose one of their last four and PNG win out to finish tied with Netherlands on 22 points, PNG would be crowned the champion team by virtue of having more wins – 11 for PNG compared to 10 wins and two no results for Netherlands.Since Scotland and PNG are paired against each other in the next round, with both teams needing to win out in their remaining games in order to track down Netherlands, only one of the two has a realistic shot to do it while a split series between Scotland and PNG would create an even bigger buffer for Netherlands. The Dutch have lost just one of their first 10 games and, barring a dramatic collapse in their last four, now appear on course to win the competition.

Seamer who ‘has come out of nowhere’ can pave the way for new professionals

Valkerie Baynes09-Jun-2021Heather Knight believes the unearthing of seamer Emily Arlott ahead of next week’s Test against India is just the start of England tapping a pool of players capable of making it at international level.Knight, the England captain, said Arlott’s maiden call-up for her country in a 17-strong squad – which will be trimmed to 15 before heading to Bristol on Sunday for the Test starting three days later – came somewhat out of the blue.But, with the introduction of professional contracts at domestic level, one of which 23-year-old Arlott holds with Central Sparks in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Knight expects she could be the first of many new faces for England.”She’s come out of nowhere really, which is great,” Knight said. “I don’t know a huge amount about her, apart from the last month or so when I’ve been watching her a little bit more closely and what a great story for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint [Trophy] as well.”We’ve been calling for domestic competitions to be more professional for a while now and now it is you’re going to get people coming out of the woodwork like Emily has.”I faced her and Issy Wong a few weeks ago at Edgbaston and it was brilliant. It was great to have two young quick bowlers tearing in trying to get me out, testing me, and Emily, really stood out and has done in the game since. We see her as a player that has the skills to play red-ball cricket as well. I’m so excited to have her around the group.”Heather Knight was impressed facing Emily Arlott•Getty Images

Arlott claimed 2 for 48 in the Sparks’ win against Knight’s Western Storm. But it was her four-wicket maiden, including a hat-trick, en route to match figures of 5 for 29 as the Sparks thrashed reigning champions Southern Vipers that cemented her place in the England squad.Meanwhile, Lauren Winfield-Hill has taken a significant step towards her goal of re-establishing herself at the top of the order ahead of England’s 50-over World Cup defence next year, albeit in a different format for now, with Knight revealing that she is likely to partner Tammy Beaumont at the top of the order for the Test match.After a lengthy struggle with Crohn’s disease, Winfield-Hill has managed to bring the illness under control with medication that has delivered huge physical benefits, including improved training performance and, in turn, match form. She scored an unbeaten140 for England Women A in a pre-season warm-up against England Women at the start of May and opened her account for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with 110 for Northern Diamonds against the Sparks.”She’s had a bit of a tough time of it on and off the pitch probably in the last year,” Knight said. “She struggled to get opportunities and fight her way back into the side and, in the Test match format, we would see her as being able to do that job. She’s a quality player.”She’s in really good form, she’s in a really good place with her health and her cricket, she’s fitter than I’ve ever seen her and she’s a very fit person anyway. I think she’s run the 2km in under eight minutes so I’m excited to see how she goes and I’m sure she’ll grasp the opportunity.”Related

• Winfield-Hill rediscovers her England ambition

• Early-season form poses tricky Test selection task – Knight

• Arlott's four-wicket over wipes out Vipers' winning start

• Dunkley replaces Gordon in England central contracts list

• Arlott earns maiden England call-up for India Test

Wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones, who opened with Beaumont in the last Ashes Test, has thrived since moving into the middle order – in ODIs after the Ashes series and in T20Is since the last match of England’s World Cup campaign. Jones has two centuries from three matches for the Sparks in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.”We want Amy to bat in the middle order. It’s something she’s done in white ball cricket really successfully and we see her, and she sees herself now, as a middle-order player, a middle-order player that can dictate a game and win matches.”We’ve seen her batting at No. 4 for Central Sparks and doing amazingly well. She’s in great form I’m really excited to see what she can do this, this summer.”The last two Ashes Tests, in 2017 in Sydney and 2019 at Taunton, have ended in draws and, while Knight said England’s first priority was securing a win to start their multi-format series against India, she hoped her side could also entertain.”I’ve been following the games down at Bristol quite closely and I tried to get as much information about the pitch,” she said “The weather looks like it’s going to be very hot leading into it but it’s generally a reasonably good wicket down at Bristol and a good place to play cricket.”We’ll have to assess that a little bit more closely when we get down to Bristol… but we always want to want to put on a show, especially as we haven’t had fans in there for so long. India are a very strong side and naturally there’ll be a contest there, they’re going to be hard to beat so hopefully that will be entertaining to watch.Under the multi-format system for India’s tour, which features three ODIs and three T20Is after the Test, teams will be awarded four points for a win in the Test with two points for a draw and one for no result. A win in the white-ball matches will be worth two points.

Gujarat Lions topped the IPL league table, but they are underdogs going into their Qualifier against Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have won four games on the trot and are playing at home

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy23-May-2016

Match facts

Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

How do you beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bangalore? How do you do this when they’ve won four games on the trot? How do you do this when, in those four matches, Virat Kohli has scored 109, 75*, 113 and 54*? And how do you beat that scary, Kohli-powered Royal Challengers side, on their own turf, when your last attempt at doing so resulted in the worst defeat in all IPL matches, by a brutal 144 runs?Those questions will preoccupy Gujarat Lions as they prepare for Tuesday’s Qualifier 1. It is unusual for a table-topping team, who are one win from a place in a final, to seem like underdogs, but that is what Lions are.For a table-topping team, Lions have had a strange sort of season, with only Kings XI Punjab, the bottom team, ending the league stage with a worse net run rate than them. It reflects the fact that Lions have suffered a few heavy defeats – including that mauling at Royal Challengers’ hands – and won some exceedingly tight games, with three of their matches going down to the last ball. But the fact that Lions won all three of those last-ball finishes, as well as their one other match that went into the last over, would also suggest they have won the clutch moments, a welcome quality in any team.Lions will need to summon up all that clutch ability – though readers of will helpfully point out that it is a myth – on Tuesday, and come up with some sort of plan to contain – or somehow outscore – Royal Challengers’ batting line-up.This is T20, of course, and all you need is one good day – a blazing opening stand, perhaps, with Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch taking apart what is still, despite a couple of encouraging recent displays, an average Royal Challengers bowling attack; or a Suresh Raina special; or a new-ball burst that leaves the home team two down early, with Kohli one of the two batsmen dismissed, and AB de Villiers, maybe, the other. These things can happen. Lions will certainly hope they can.

Form guide

Gujarat Lions WWLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Royal Challengers Bangalore WWWWL

In the spotlight

Given the Chinnaswamy’s small boundaries and flat pitch, an ability to move the ball through the air is priceless. Praveen Kumar has that ability, and the street-smarts to bowl to one of the most imposing T20 line-ups ever assembled. He comes into the Qualifier with a bit of form behind him: he’s gone for six an over or less in three of his last four matches. The one match when he did go for runs, however, was against Royal Challengers, in Bangalore – his figures read 4-1-45-2, and Gujarat Lions conceded 248.Yuzvendra Chahal has found a place in India’s ODI and T20 squads for their tour of Zimbabwe, but before he can celebrate, he will need to produce another spell of wicket-taking legspin with his home venue stacking the odds against him. With two left-handers in their top six in Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, Gujarat Lions may plan to target Chahal and, if he plays, Iqbal Abdulla as well.

Team news

Dale Steyn has played only one match this season, and James Faulkner only seven, with his last appearance coming on May 3. It will be a difficult decision for Gujarat Lions to play either of them, since their four regular overseas players have all done well of late. But it is a sacrifice they may have to contemplate, if they want to strengthen their bowling against the best batting line-up in the tournament. It seems unlikely to happen, though. Likelier is the inclusion of Ishan Kishan, a left-hand batsman, in place of Eklavya Dwivedi, in order to go after the legspin of Yuzvendra Chahal and/or the left-arm spin of Iqbal Abdulla.Gujarat Lions: 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Smith, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Eklavya Dwivedi/Ishan Kishan, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Shadab Jakati/Shivil Kaushik/Pravin TambeRoyal Challengers tend to play an extra seamer rather than a second specialist spinner in their home games, which could mean Varun Aaron comes back in place of Iqbal Abdulla.Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Shane Watson, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Sachin Baby, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 S Aravind, 10 Iqbal Abdulla/Varun Aaron, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

Teams know what to expect when they come to Bangalore – perfect batting conditions and short boundaries. In the eight matches played here so far this season, there has only been one first-innings score below 185. There have been intermittent showers in Bangalore over the last week or so, but no rain is forecast for Tuesday, with an expected high of 35 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers have hit 122 sixes this season, with Mumbai Indians a distant second on 92. Gujarat Lions have hit only 52 sixes – the fewest among all the teams – but have hit 208 fours, which is second to Royal Challengers’ 215
• Lions (11.13) and Royal Challengers (10.71) have the worst economy rates in the last five overs among all teams this season
• Royal Challengers’ batsmen have made up for this by scoring at 12.79 in the last five overs, while Lions have the worst last-five-overs run rate as well (8.67). They do, however, have the best Powerplay scoring rate, of 8.75
• Dhawal Kulkarni and Dwayne Smith are both three short of 100 T20 wickets

Aaron Finch marked his Surrey debut by hitting his first ball for six and going on to complete a brilliant 90-ball hundred

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2016
ScorecardAaron Finch anchored Surrey with a first-day hundred•PA Photos

Aaron Finch marked his Surrey debut by hitting his first ball for six and going on to complete a brilliant 90-ball hundred on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship Division One match against Warwickshire at Guildford.The powerful 29-year-old Australian slog-swept former New Zealand offspinner Jeetan Patel over midwicket and out of the compact Woodbridge Road ground, and later drove legspinner Josh Poysden high over long off for another six as he led Surrey’s progress to 273 all out.Patel got Finch in the end, smartly held at slip by Rikki Clarke, but by then he had also struck 16 fours and reached 110 from 98 balls. Strangely, one of Finch’s previous four first-class hundreds was another innings of 110 against Warwickshire, for Yorkshire at Edgbaston in 2014.Finch will play all formats in a five-week stint as overseas player at Surrey while Kumar Sangakkara takes part in the Caribbean Premier League, and he has certainly made a big initial impression in front of an appreciative and good-sized crowd.One straight driven four off Boyd Rankin was a high-class stroke which belied Finch’s reputation as a limited-overs specialist who is in just his 55th first-class match but has almost six times that number of List A and T20 appearances worldwide.Finch came in at No 4, when Rory Burns fell for a solid 45 to the second ball after lunch. Pushing out at Patel, left-hander Burns was lbw after including seven fours in a fine 95-ball effort. Patel finished with figures of 5 for 62 after helping to polish off the Surrey tail.Keith Barker, the left-arm seamer, had struck an early blow for Warwickshire by having Arun Harinath caught at the wicket by a tumbling Tim Ambrose for 15, leaving Surrey 35 for 1 after they had won the toss and chosen to bat.But Burns was then joined by Zafar Ansari in a second-wicket stand of 44 before a short rain shower forced the players off at 12.45pm. An early lunch was taken at 12.50pm.Ansari, 11 not out at lunch, had, like Burns, not added to his interval score when Barker pinned him lbw with a fine delivery which pitched on middle and leg and straightened to peg Surrey back at 95 for 3.There was no play between 2.20pm and 4pm, following a heavy downpour and mopping-up operations which carried on into the tea interval, but Finch was soon into his stride again as he cover drove and back cut Barker for fours to get a 42-over final session under way in style.Steven Davies nicked Clarke to Ambrose on 13 and Sam Curran departed for 15 when Rankin, bowling with pace, made one lift to have the teenager caught at third slip off an inside-edge on to his hip.Ben Foakes began fluently, however, clipping Barker to the midwicket ropes before driving him through extra cover for another four. He then produced a lovely back-foot force to the boundary past cover’s right hand off Rankin, a stroke suggesting he was too low in the batting order at No 7, and at 243 for 5 it seemed as if the day would be Surrey’s.Finch had dominated a sixth-wicket stand of 63 in just ten overs with Foakes, but after his dismissal the innings fell away disappointingly with Patel bowling Tom Curran for 1 and then having Gareth Batty caught at short point for 4.Foakes, jumping to avoid Andy Umeed’s direct hit, failed to ground his bat and was run out for 23 and Surrey’s first innings ended when last man Mark Footitt, returning from a two-month side injury absence, was stumped off Patel for 16 soon after clubbing a big six over long on.In six overs’ batting in early evening sunshine, Warwickshire replied with 12 without loss with Varun Chopra on 7 and Umeed on 3.

South Africa’s players were initially opposed to playing a pink-ball Test. But changes to the seam and other tweaks in the intervening months changed their minds

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide23-Nov-20162:49

Didn’t want to miss out on the pink-ball experience – du Plessis

Seven months ago, South Africa were “not keen” to play a day-night Test match, primarily because they had never done it before. Five months ago, they agreed to the fixture, after being assured of adequate preparation time. Now, on the eve of a match which has been dominated by discussion over their stand-in captain Faf du Plessis’ ball tampering offence, they are – in coach Russell Domingo’s words – “very excited” about featuring in only the third fixture of its kind. What changed?”When they said they changed the seam, made it black and it would have better visibility, things started changing,” du Plessis said. “We just wanted to be part of something and not miss out and see what’s its all about.”Cricket South Africa made it clear that keenness and not cash changed the players minds, and confirmed that Cricket Australia did not offer any financial incentive for their participation in this match. Instead, the hosts promised South Africa two warm-up matches, one pre-series, one mid-series under lights, and agreed to use the pink ball for a winter series between South Africa A and Australia A. Six of the current Test squad members were part of that series.South Africa A lost both unofficial Tests but gained reassuring experience. At the time, Vernon Philander still had some doubt about the ball’s softness but his report was better than last year’s, when even Australian players believed the ball needed improvement.It was those concerns that initially dissuaded South Africa. In chats before the World T20, when Australia visited South Africa for three T20s, and at the IPL, South African players “spoke to the Australian players and read the comments around the pink ball”. “There were a lot of question marks around it and at the time, it didn’t sound like it was ready for it to be perfect,” du Plessis said.Since then, the ball has undergone changes and players are more comfortable with it. Steven Smith confirmed it doesn’t swing as much because of the extra layer of lacquer, but it still is most effective under lights: “If you look at pink-ball statistics, most wickets have been lost in the third session of play. That is the pattern that has happened.”Quinton de Kock made batting against the pink ball look very easy during South Africa’s first day-night warm-up match•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

For Faf du Plessis that is not a major issue because “two-thirds of the game happens during the day”. With the sun setting at around 8pm, only some part of the final session takes place in complete darkness. “When you say day-night, you think everything is happening at night but most of it is happening in the day. It’s only an hour of night game. It’s actually a short time,” du Plessis said.But a significant part of the second session will be played in the twilight period when it is said to be most difficult to bat. South Africa have tried to downplay the twilight period and are taking inspiration from Quinton de Kock, who scored 122 in the first warm-up and felt so comfortable that he didn’t play the second.”The beauty of Quinton de Kock and the way he plays is the simplicity he gave with that answer about the pink ball. Its just another ball. Someone asked him about batting at dusk, he said it was the easiest time to bat. So that’s the sort of attitude we are going into it with,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said. “It’s just another cricket ball. It might be a different colour. It’s just another cricket pitch. They have all played under lights before. We’re not too concerned whether its pink, white or red at the moment. We just want to play the Test match.”The ball aside, South Africa are also looking forward to the match because it presents them with the opportunity to make history. After achieving a third successive Test series win in Australia, they have the opportunity to become the only team to whitewash Australia 3-0 at home. Several South African players have called a 3-nil scoreline, their “mission”.Despite the attention on the ball-tampering claims, South Africa still consider themselves to have the advantage because of the state of the Australian team. Their XI has five changes from the Hobart Test, including three debutants, and du Plessis did not hide the satisfaction he is getting from seeing Australia in strife.”When you see all the changes they are making now, that brings pleasure to me as a captain to see that what we are doing is creating something in the Australian team that they feel they need to change. If I was sitting in that team, a lot of changes means you are trying to change everything in your team. I’d rather be sitting on my side,” du Plessis said.His coach was more cautious and warned that Australia won’t go down without a fight, especially in a match this important. “I don’t think there has ever been an Australian team that has just given up or been easy to beat,” Domingo said. “We know they will be desperate to do well and get their cricket going again.”

The former India seamer replaces Wasim Akram for the 2017 IPL season

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2017Kolkata Knight Riders have named former Indian seamer L Balaji as their new bowling coach for the 2017 IPL. He replaces Wasim Akram, who said “professional commitments and time constraints” had prevented him from being with the team this year.Balaji, who represented Knight Riders between 2011 and 2013, is currently in his first season as a full-time bowling coach with his former state side, Tamil Nadu. “I had thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a player for KKR,” he said, “And I am delighted to be back to the franchise that I have admired.”Knight Riders chief Venky Mysore was pleased to have one of his old team members back. “It is great to welcome Bala back to the KKR family. He was an integral part of our team and played a key role in helping us win the championship in 2012.”The 2017 IPL is set to begin on April 5 with the final scheduled for May 21.

An ICC spokesperson said, “there was an operational issue at the ground” during the chase

Mohammad Isam30-Mar-20211:59

Domingo: ‘Nobody had an idea how many we needed after five overs’

Play had to be stopped in unprecedented circumstances soon after Bangladesh began their chase in the second T20I in Napier because of uncertainty around the eventual target and absence of DLS sheets.The big screen at McLean Park, the official BlackCaps Twitter handle, and the ICC website all said Bangladesh’s target in the rain-affected match was 148 in 16 overs, which was later corrected to 170, and then the eventual accurate target of 171. However, it is not yet clear if the Bangladesh team, too, were given the wrong target at the start of the innings. What is certain is that neither side was immediately provided with DLS sheets with over-by-over par scores, which were crucial as it continued to rain.Bangladesh were nine balls into the chase when play had to be stopped. Just before that, coach Russell Domingo and manager Sabbir Khan were seen having a conversation with the match referee Jeff Crowe. New Zealand had been forced off the field by rain after batting 17.5 overs, in which they had scored 173 for 5.At the start of the chase, the scoreboard at the stadium flashed 148 as the target, which was then changed to 170 and then 171 after the 13th over. Bangladesh eventually finished on 142 for 7 in their allotted 16 overs, falling 28 short according to the DLS method.”There was an operational issue at the ground, which meant the DLS sheet could not be handed over to the teams,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “The target score was verbally communicated to the umpires at the start of the innings. However, play had to be halted after 1.3 overs as the teams requested for the DLS sheet to know the targets at different points during the innings. Play was resumed once the DLS sheets were provided to the teams.”It isn’t clear yet what the operational issue was, though there appears to have been a mix-up in the DLS sheet that was handed to Crowe. He is said to have recognised that the target on that sheet was incorrect and asked for the correct version. What is also clear, however, as Domingo said later, is that the teams should not have gone out on the field without updated DLS sheets in their hand.That has been acknowledged by match officials and it is believed Crowe has since apologised to both teams for it. Neither did it help matters that the ground scoreboard showed the over-by-over par score according to the calculation that New Zealand had batted 20 overs, not 17.5. Had New Zealand batted 20 overs and posted the same score, the target would have been 148 in 16 overs. “I don’t think I have been involved in a game before where batters go out and don’t know what the DLS target is,” Domingo said. “There was a lot of rain around. Nobody had any idea of how many we needed after five or six overs. I don’t think the game should have started until it was finalised, before there was a clear indication of what is required, and what we needed at certain stages. I don’t quite think it [the conduct of the match] was good enough this evening.”[When we met the match referee] they were still waiting for the printouts and calculations to take place. I think if you are waiting, the game can’t start before you get it. What was explained now was that they normally get it one or two balls into the innings, but hadn’t received it yet. They were waiting for it. There were delays and all sorts of stuff. No excuses [for the defeat], but this is just very frustrating for us.”They couldn’t delay the game much longer, because they were running out of overs.” There was a fair bit of confusion in the Bangladesh dressing room when the chase began.”I don’t think a team fields for that long in that much rain,” Domingo said, also questioning the conditions in which the game was played. “It was slippery. The ball was wet. No excuses but it all seemed to be stacked against us this evening in terms of the conditions. I have never seen a game starting in rain when we came out for four or five overs. I don’t think the rules have changed but I was under the impression the covers don’t come off until rain stops.”The first ball can’t be bowled until the rain stops. Maybe the rules have changed. I am not too sure.”

Rain brought an early finish to the first Twenty20 and England edged home by one run so South Africa need a victory to level the short series

Preview by Andrew McGlashan14-Nov-2009

Match facts

Sunday, November 15, 2009
Start time 14.30 (12.30GMT)Plenty to smile about: Eoin Morgan has proved a revelation in England’s limited-overs batting line-up•Getty Images

Big picture

A highveld thunderstorm put paid to a potentially gripping finish to the opening Twenty20 but the action before the rain was still thoroughly entertaining in ideal conditions for quick scoring. With Albie Morkel and AB de Villiers in the middle, South Africa would still have fancied their chances of chasing down more than 10-an-over to win, while England’s bowlers were clawing back their figures are severe punishment from Loots Bosman.Not that England were short on boundaries. Eoin Morgan gave another display of his huge talent and Paul Collingwood showed there is plenty of life in the old(ish) dog yet. The tourists’ new-found freedom in limited-overs cricket is certainly the way forward. There will be days when it fails spectacularly, but as they learn how to adapt their aggression to conditions it will serve them well.So South Africa are left needing to win the second Twenty20 to square the series and finish the first phase of this long head-to-head on even terms. They will want to sharpen their bowling skills after they tended to feed Morgan’s leg-side strength, but Centurion should offer more high-scoring conditions. The main concern for England is the number of niggles the players are already picking up with James Anderson and Graeme Swann missing training along with Collingwood.With this being a day-game, it will hopefully mean that the full match is possible before any evening thunderstorms bubble up. However, it’s always worthwhile to keep the D-L sheets to hand.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa – LLWWW
England – WLWLW

Team news

If South Africa stick to their pre-series talk of giving all the squad a game it means some shuffling of the pack. Heino Kuhn is in line for a debut – Mark Boucher could be rested – while Jacques Kallis will return, although purely as a batsman, and Yusuf Abdulla, the left-arm seamer, is another pace option.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Albie Morkel, 6 Heino Kuhn (wk), 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Yusuf AbdullaEngland are carrying a number of players with minor niggles. Collingwood (back), Anderson (knee) and Swann (side) all missed training as a precaution and face morning fitness tests ahead of the game. With Stuart Broad still recovering from his shoulder injury, Kevin Pietersen not due to return until Tuesday and Andrew Strauss opting out of Twenty20 the squad could be stretched. Adil Rashid and Graham Onions are the two players who didn’t appear in the opening match.England (possible) 1 Joe Denly, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood (capt), 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Luke Wright, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 James Anderson

Watch out for

Dale Steyn took a bit of a hammering on Friday, firstly at the hands of Trott, who took him for four consecutive boundaries, then from Morgan’s onslaught. It is still early-season for Steyn, but he doesn’t appear quite on top of his game. However, it would be foolish to read too much into his form so far and it won’t take a lot for him to turn it around. He’ll want to make a mark ahead of the contests to come and his record shows a match-winning performance is not far away.England have found something a little special in Morgan – and he likes facing South Africa. His thrilling effort at the Wanderers followed on from his display at the Champions Trophy, when he helped knock out the hosts. England’s batsmen have been criticised for their lack of sixes, but Morgan is quickly putting that right and one blow in the first match landed comfortably outside the ground.

Stats and trivia

• Joe Denly has been dismissed first ball in both his Twenty20 international innings after being trapped leg before by Charl Langeveldt at the Wanderers to following his golden duck at the hands of Brett Lee at Old Trafford.
• England’s 202 for 6 was their highest Twenty20 total while Morgan’s 85 was also their best individual effort.

Quotes

“It was just that the wicket happened to be good and I didn’t think he bowled particularly well. We don’t target any bowlers at all.”
“From my perspective, it’s a realisation that it is going to be a tough series, it’s going to be good and exciting – England have come here to play.”

Tector, Dockrell and the bowlers combined to set up Ireland’s first ODI win against South Africa

Firdose Moonda13-Jul-2021Ireland have beaten South Africa for the first time in seven ODIs and taken 10 World Cup Super League points to advance to fifth spot on the points table. After upsetting England last year, then losing a series to Netherlands earlier this year, Ireland’s 2023 World Cup ambitions are somewhat back on track. They have also taken an unassailable lead in the ODI series, which has been reduced to two matches after Sunday washout which means Friday’s finale is a must win for South Africa to avoid conceding the trophy.It was also lucky No. 7 for Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie, who brought up his seventh ODI century to set the innings up. Balbirnie opened the batting and built the innings until the 42nd over before handing over to Harry Tector, who smashed 79 off 68 balls to take Ireland to their highest total against South Africa. Tector and George Dockrell put on 90 for the fourth wicket at a scoring rate of 11.73 to set South Africa a tough target of 291.South Africa partly had themselves to blame for the task they gave their batters. They dropped four catches – Paul Stirling on 6 and 10, Tector on 0 and Balbirnie on 74 – and lost their lengths at the death. The attack conceded 103 runs in the last 10 overs. Contrastingly, South Africa lost 8 for 88 between the 32nd and 49th overs and needed 102 runs off the last 10 overs but were unable to keep up with the required scoring rate.Ultimately, South Africa may also have cause to question their team selection after resting Quinton de Kock for a second successive match and opting to bench Lungi Ngidi after he enjoyed a good outing in the first game. Not for the first time, South Africa’s batting line-up appeared too short and they lacked a sixth bowling option.Josh Little picked up two big wickets to dent the chase•Sportsfile via Getty Images

Anrich Nortje, who returned to the team in place of Ngidi, should have had the first wicket when he squared Stirling up and induced a thick edge. Aiden Markram, at second slip, dived across Janneman Malan at first to try and take the catch, juggled it several times and it slipped out of his hands. Stirling could have been out in the next over too, when he hit Kagiso Rabada over the covers to give David Miller a catchable chance. Miller timed his jump but the ball just brushed his fingertips. At the other end, Nortje thought he had Balbirnie caught behind off the inside edge and South Africa reviewed. Replays showed the ball had caught the top flap of the pad and Balbirnie, on 11 at the time, survived. He also took back-to-back boundaries off the next two balls of the over.South Africa’s third seamer, Andile Phehlukwayo, did not concede a boundary in his first four overs leaving Stirling to attack Keshav Maharaj. Stirling slog-swept Maharaj’s for four in the 14th over and tried the same shot off the next ball but was beaten by flight, missed and was bowled. Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi operated in tandem for eight overs and conceded just 24 runs, including just one four, in that period to leave Ireland at 106 for 1 at the halfway stage. By that point, Balbirnie had reached fifty and would have known there was time, and need, for him to go big.Initially, Andy McBrine was the enforcer. He took boundaries off Maharaj and Shamsi before being given out lbw off Shamsi. The wristspinner would have had another off the next ball when Tector leaned forward to drive a wrong’un and edged but Kyle Verreynne, keeping in place of de Kock, could not hold on. Shamsi also thought he had Tector lbw the ball after that as he struck the front pad but replays confirmed an inside edge. Tector’s troubles didn’t end there. Five overs later, he ducked into a Nortje short ball and was struck on the helmet. Tector received his on-field check and was cleared to continue. The blow may have shaken Balbirnie, who rushed to a Phehlukwayo full ball in the next over and drove aerially to Rabada at deep point. Rabada had to move forward to take the catch and got to it but it popped out.Simi Singh got the big wicket of David Miller•Sportsfile via Getty Images

Luckily for Ireland, that was the end of their wobbles. Balbirnie’s century came up off 114 balls to take his average against South Africa to 75 and when he was dismissed by Rabada, left Tector to finish off. He survived a stumping chance, showed his cheek when he ramped Rabada for six and his class when he drove Phehlukwayo through the covers to bring up fifty off 54 balls. There were only 4.5 overs left in the innings at that stage but Tector was hitting the ball well enough to think about a century. He fell on his sword, and 21 runs short, when he holed out to Rabada in the deep in the last over.South Africa’s reply started confidently as Malan and Markram scored 28 runs in the first four overs. Markram appeared in good touch but tried to pull a length ball from Craig Young and found extra cover. Temba Bavuma went in similar fashion after the powerplay when he pulled a Josh Little delivery to square leg, where Dockrell took a good catch diving forward.But South Africa stabilised through Malan and Rassie van der Dussen, who shared in a 108-run third-wicket stand. Malan, opening in place of de Kock, was particularly powerful in clearing the rope on the leg side, and rotated strike well with van der Dussen but when he was dismissed, South Africa unraveled.Dockrell, who had been playing as a specialist batter and had bowled six overs for 33 runs, was given a seventh over. Malan, chasing the 90s, was on 84 when he hit Dockrell to deep midwicket and found Mark Adair. Seven balls later, van der Dussen was struck in front of middle and leg by a McBrine ball that turned past the bat and was given out lbw. He reviewed but multiple checks from the umpire confirmed no inside edge and umpire’s call on hitting leg stump.Ireland saw two new batters at the crease and brought back Little to try and prise a wicket. In his third over of the spell, Little had Verreynne caught behind, throwing his hands at a wide ball, which put expectation on Miller and Phehlukwayo’s finishing abilities. Phehlukwayo holed out to long-off to give McBrine a second and Miller played a similar stroke four balls later to all but end South Africa’s chase.But there was time for one more disaster. Kagiso Rabada was run out after Maharaj was caught off a waist-high no-ball. Rabada was running to the wicketkeeper’s end but did not make his ground, perhaps assuming the ball was dead. Maharaj and Nortje were dismissed on successive deliveries in the 49th over as Ireland completed a historic win.

England are staring at an 11th defeat in 12 Tests Down Under

Alan Gardner19-Dec-2021Australia maintained their vice-like grip on the second Test, ripping out four England wickets before the close of day four at Adelaide Oval. Half-centuries from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had enabled the home side to declare their second innings 467 runs ahead, and with more than four sessions still to play – and although England fought to see out the night under lights, the dismissal of Joe Root from what became the final ball of the day was a hammer blow to their hopes of salvaging something from the game.Already 1-0 up in the series and sitting on a 282-run lead overnight, the contest was set up for Australia from the outset. England managed to chip away and avoid being completely overrun, but by the time that Steven Smith called his men back to the dressing room just over an hour into the evening session, the scale of their task in attempting to avoid an 11th defeat from 12 in Australia was clear.England’s brittle batting was soon back in the spotlight – and before the floodlights had even started to fire up. Jhye Richardson struck with his sixth ball, Haseeb Hameed propping forward only to see the ball prance and take him on the glove, as England’s opening stand – so far worth 0, 23, 7 and 4 in the series – failed again.Related

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Rory Burns did succeed in carving out some time at the crease, as he and Dawid Malan battled through to tea and beyond during a 44-run partnership. But with the pink ball, glowing in the twilight, fizzing and spitting at the behest of Nathan Lyon, who bowled a relentlessly probing round-the-wicket line to the two left-handers, it seemed only a matter of time before further Australians dividends would be forthcoming.Lyon deserved to make the breakthrough, only for Smith to put down a regulation slip catch with Malan on 19. The reprieve was brief, however, as Michael Neser found some nip back in to beat a tentative defensive push and pin Malan lbw to his very next ball – a dismissal upheld with three reds on review.Burns used the DRS to overturn a caught-behind decision on 30, and had faced 95 balls when he finally succumbed to Richardson, who scrambled the seam to produce a thick edge that was taken low in the cordon. Root and Ben Stokes then battened down the hatches in an attempt to reach the close. They were just four balls away from achieving that goal when Root, having been hit painfully on the box a few overs earlier – the second low blow he had suffered in the day – edged Mitchell Starc behind to spark jubilation among the Australians.Joe Root was struck in the groin shortly before his dismissal•Getty Images

It was not a good day for English dignity. In a hole and facing the prospect of Australia steadily driving home their advantage, the tourists initially took the field without their captain, Root requiring a scan after being hit in what the ECB euphemistically termed “the abdomen” while taking some throwdowns – this time not wearing a box. It all added to the sense that this Ashes tour is becoming yet another cock-up and balls story.A lively start followed, belying the lack of tension in the game. Neser was nearly run out from the first ball of the afternoon, the nightwatchman only just making his ground to beat a direct hit from point after being sent back. He was then bowled in the second over, James Anderson finding some seam movement to beat Neser’s forward defensive and hit the top of middle stump.Two balls later, Stuart Broad found Marcus Harris’ outside edge to dismiss the Australia opener for the fifth time in four Tests – Jos Buttler completing the dismissal with a flying one-handed catch. But the punchline was still to come, as Broad induced a first-ball nick behind from Smith, only for Buttler to send an easier chance clanging to the ground. Broad’s next delivery brought a confident no-look lbw appeal from the bowler, but Rod Tucker remained unmoved – and DRS backed up the decision on umpire’s call.Smith was not able to cash in on his good fortune, gloving a short ball from Ollie Robinson down the leg side – Buttler lurching back into the sublime with a one-handed take – to give Australia’s stand-in captain his first single-figure score in an Ashes Test since the 2017-18 day-nighter at Adelaide.England had taken 3 for 10 from 12 overs and given themselves something to smile about. But a further sign of their parlous position came when Robinson opted to switch to bowling offspin – apparently in a bid to lift the over rate. Root returned to the field shortly after and Australia began to ease back on to the front foot, Head’s counterattacking knock lifting them from 4 for 55 to 4 for 134 at the dinner break.Head added 89 in good time alongside Labuschagne, as Australian thoughts began to turn once again to the possibility of a declaration. Head became a second wicket for Robinson – now back to bowling seam – shortly after bringing up a 49-ball fifty on his home ground, and England soon resorted to bowling Malan’s part-time legspin in tandem with Root, rather than put miles into the legs of their quicks. Malan claimed Labuschagne as his maiden Test victim, but four wickets falling to spin only seemed to underscore England’s errors in selection. And Australia will not worry themselves with that.