The Cricket Society IV

Scroll to see replies

Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan and India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah have jointly risen to the top spot in the ICC rankings for bowlers in ODIs. Rashid, aged 19 years 153 days, became the youngest ever No.1 in men's rankings history. The pair displaced South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir, who slid to sixth spot after taking only one wicket in four ODIs at home against India. Rashid took 16 wickets in five matches against Zimbabwe, at an outstanding average of 7.93. He also scored 51 runs in two innings with the bat, including a match-winning 43 off 29 balls in the fifth ODI on Monday, to break into the top five among allrounders. Afghanistan overtook Zimbabwe as the tenth-ranked team following their 4-1 series win in Sharjah. ICC ODI rankings for batsmen and bowlers ESPNcricinfo Ltd Among batsmen, India captain Virat Kohli, who became the first batsman to rack up 500 or more runs in a bilateral ODI series, breached the 900-point mark. As a result, he now holds a rare feat of crossing 900 points in both Tests and ODIs - one among five batsmen to have done so - and only the second batsman after AB de Villiers to do it simultaneously. Kohli had amassed 558 runs in six innings, including three hundreds, to lead India to their first ODI series win in South Africa. Kohli's 909 points took him ahead of Brian Lara in the all-time list, led by Vivian Richards, who had aggregated 935 points. Kohli now occupies the seventh spot, and his aggregate is the highest since Brian Lara reached 911 points in March 1993. Shikhar Dhawan, who was the second-highest score behind Kohli in the ODIs in South Africa with 323 runs in six innings, jumped four spots to tenth. Other big movers included the wristspinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal, who rose eight places to 21st, and Kuldeep Yadav, who climbed 15 places to 47th.

Reply 5281

Mackay

So, the third T20 is tomorrow. SA face India, trailing 4-7. Defeat in the final Test with that series won was not the end of the world, but it was the start of a spiral that saw South Africa's "Vision 2019," fall out of focus and then completely blur. Their ODI side needs work and their T20 team may have showed what kind of work. The younger players, particularly Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen and Junior Dala, have stood up even as the seniors have faded and though South Africa's depth remains an area of concern, they do have players worth investing in, especially if they provide a return at Newlands. It's now Miller's turn to come under scrutiny as a senior batsman whose contributions do not match his reputation. Miller played in five of the six ODIs and only managed a top score of 39, and has been dismissed in single-figures in both T20s. These white-ball matches have only emphasised that South Africa need players they can rely on in crunch situations and while Miller's immense talent provides some reassurance, they will need big numbers from him as well as the World Cup draws closer. For the final time, Virat Kohli will be India's player to watch, not least because he needs less than 20 runs to become only the third batsman in the world to 2000 T20I runs. Kohli has already led India to their most successful tour of South Africa, with a Test win and their first ODI series win in the country. Whatever happens in the final match, he can be proud, but he will be that much prouder if he can return home with two trophies instead of one. With a series win front and centre of their minds, South Africa may not be able to give Christiaan Jonker an opportunity and could stick with the same batting line-up. A change may come in the attack, which could feature two specialist spinners. If South Africa opt for both Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso, Dane Paterson may have to miss out. Had India won at SuperSport Park, they would have wanted to use this match to trial some new combinations but now they need to field the XI they believe can win them the series. The team that lost had one change from the team that won at the Wanderers with Shardul Thakur replacing Jasprit Bumrah, who was out with an abdominal niggle. That spot may be the only one India chance, with the possibility of Axar Patel or - if he has recovered from the hand injury that kept him out of the first two T20Is - Kuldeep Yadav coming in as second spinner on the surface most likely to take turn. Kohli needs just 17 runs to become the first India batsman to 2000 T20I runs. After the Indian wristspinners claimed 33 wickets between across the six ODIs, Yuzvendra Chahal has only managed one wicket in the two T20s so far.

Reply 5282

S.G.

India’s South African tour ends in victory as they won the final T20 by seven runs. Very good match that, SA debutant Jonker bringing South Africa 18 within victory in the final over but he couldn’t finish. Out of the final ball of the over - he made 49 off 24.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar with another brilliant effort. 4-0-2-24 with 11 of those 24 coming in the final over.

The tour started very well and it was exciting with both teams competing. Once the limited overs series started however and India started dominating the excitement died down tremendously. Have said this plenty of times but would’ve loved an extra test instead of all these limited overs games.

Just saw India’s upcoming fixtures and I think I’m going to be sick. We’re touring Sri Lanka along with Bangladesh. Then a one off test against Afghanistan and then there’s the big one - India’s tour of the UK. IPL is there somewhere as well.

South Africa have got the first test against Australia on the 1st of March.

Long live Test cricket.

Reply 5283

Mackay

India win by 7 runs, posting 172-7 before skittling SA, reducing them to 165-6 in the chase of 167 in 20 overs. Duminy opted to chase in the final match of the series - a game South Africa must win if they are to claim a second trophy. India were also after doubling their silverware - they won the ODIs 5-1 and the opening T20, but went into the last match without their captain, Virat Kohli, who has a stiff lower back. Rohit Sharma was skipper. India made two other changes with Axar Patel brought for Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah for Jaydev Unadkat. Dinesh Kartik was included as an extra batsman in Kohli's place. South Africa also made three changes, including to their top two. David Miller was promoted to open the batting in JJ Smuts' place, which made room for Christiaan Jonker to debut in the middle order. The hosts opted for two spinners in Aaron Phangiso, who gets his first game of the series, and Tabraiz Shamsi. Junior Dala, Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo make up a three-pronged pace pack. Dala trapped Rohit for 11, ran out Dhawan on 47, and had Dhoni and Pandey caught by Miller on 12 and 13 respectively. He ended with 3-35, and Morris chipped in with 2-43: Hardik caught behind on 21 and Karthik trapped in front on 13, leaving Patel and B Kumar 1 and 3 unbeaten respectively, after Raina fended Shamsi to Behardien on 43. Then, B Kumar claimed two - Hendricks and Jonker caught by Dhawan and Sharma, for 7 and 49, respectively. Bumrah bowled Morris on 4, and Behardien ended 15 unbeaten but it wasn't enough, as Miller, Duminy and Klaasen were caught by Patel, Sharma and B Kumar off Raina, Thakur and Pandya, for 24, 55 and 7 respectively.

Reply 5284

S.G.

I didn’t realise your NZ tour starts tomorrow, disappointingly with ODIs.

Only two tests is a bit of a joke as well. Win one test and you can’t lose the series. Should be at least 3.

Reply 5285

Mackay

South Africa were asked to pull off the second-highest successful chase at Newlands and then fell so far behind the required run-rate that they needed 59 runs off 21 balls. Jonker and old-hand Farhaan Behardien plundered 51 runs in the last three-and-a-half overs but could not get the hosts over the line. South Africa were 114 for 5 in the 17th when Behardien joined Jonker, who took 18 runs off Shardul Thakur's final over to reconstruct his figures of 3-0-17-1 into 4-0-35-1 and leave South Africa with 35 to win off the final two overs. Together, Behardien and Jonker scored 16 runs off Jasprit Bumrah and needed 19 off the last over and 12 off the last three balls but the mistakes their team-mates had made earlier were too big to rectify. South Africa were 25 for 1 after the Powerplay and 52 for 2 after 10 overs so it was no surprise they fell short.

Reply 5286

Mackay

New Zealand won a brilliant match in the final over thanks to the brilliant bowling of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, and the brilliant batting of Tom Latham and Ross Taylor. They posted 287 - 7 and England 284 - 8. Woakes had Guptill and Munro caught by Stokes and Buttler for 13 and 6 respectively. Buttler also stumped Taylor for 113 off 116 off Rashid, and caught Williamson off Willey for 8. Root and Buttler claimed Latham and de Grandhomme off Stokes, for 79 and 2 respectively. Roy snaffled Nicholls off Curran for 2, too. Santner ended 45 not out and Southee 8 unbeaten. Then Boult caught and bowled Woakes on 11 and had Bairstow taken by Taylor on 4. Santner bowled Roy on 49 and had Stokes caught by Taylor on 12. Buttler was ran out on 79, and Munro skittles Root on 71. Sodhi had Mo and Morgan caught by Guptill and Southee for 28 and 8 respectively. Willey and Curran ended 11 and 0 not out.

Boult and Southee did superbly to slow England down towards the end of their innings, and the partnership between Latham and Taylor was special. Santner was the hero at the end, hitting 45 off 27 balls, including consecutive sixes off Adil Rashid and finishing the match with another off Chris Woakes to ensure Ross Taylor's 18th ODI century, and a 178-run stand with Tom Latham, did not go to waste.

Reply 5287

username2965904

Original post by Mackay

Well done to NZ but disappointed at another England defeat.

Reply 5288

Mackay

Poor fielding cost SA yesterday. Dhawan was let off twice by Tabraiz Shamsi on 9 and 34, and South Africa paid dearly for it. He went on to top-score with 47 and laid the platform for India to finish on 172. Only once had a target higher than that been successfully chased down in a T20 at this venue - by Australia, who hunted down 179 two years ago. South Africa were only allowed to score 25 runs in the Powerplay and their required run rate shot up past 10 runs an over

Kohli and Dhoni have been rested from the T20I tri-nation series in Sri Lanka in March, also involving Bangladesh. Rohit was named stand-in captain of India's 15-man squad, with Dhawan his deputy. India also rested several other limited-overs regulars in Kumar and Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya. Kuldeep had missed the three T20Is in South Africa with an injury. The five new inclusions in the squad were Pant, Shankar and Washington Sundar, Hooda and Mohammad Siraj.

India have only just finished their first tour of a long away season. Some of the rested players had extremely heavy workloads in South Africa. Pandya played every game on the tour - three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is - while Kohli and Bumrah missed only one T20I each. India's next tour is in July, when they travel to England, but their players will play the IPL in April and May, and a home Test against Afghanistan in June. Pant returned to the side after enjoying success in India's domestic limited-overs tournaments. He was joint top-scorer during Delhi's title-winning campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament - in January, he smashed the second fastest T20 hundred - and made a 93-ball 135 against Himachal Pradesh in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Pant had last played for India in July 2017, when he made a laboured 38 against West Indies.

Baroda's Hooda and Tamil Nadu's Shankar have been regulars in India A teams over the last few years. Hooda was among the top-scorers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season, making 352 runs at 50.28, while Shankar is fresh off scores of 84 and 100. Both Hooda and Shankar have been part of India squads in the past, but neither of them is capped. Sundar and Siraj were both part of India's team for the limited-overs games against Sri Lanka just before the South Africa tour. Siraj has had particularly good form since, picking up three five-wicket hauls in seven 50-over matches for Hyderabad and topping the bowling charts with 23 wickets.

Reply 5289

Mackay

Morkel has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the Australia Test series. South Africa will host Australia for four Tests starting March 1 in Durban. When South Africa were in England last year, Morkel was pursued by at least three counties as a Kolpak signing for the 2018 season. He will now end his international career when the fourth Test ends on April 3 in Johannesburg. Provided he plays all four matches, Morkel will finish with 87 Tests and will add to his current tally of 294 Test wickets. At the start of the summer, Morkel said he needed to discuss with new coach Ottis Gibson about whether he would feature in the white-ball set-up before deciding on his future. In the weeks that followed, Gibson said he had spoken to Morkel and explained that, like every other player, he would be considered if he performed well. Morkel played in five of the six ODIs against India and appeared to be among South Africa's candidates for the 2019 World Cup until his retirement announcement on Monday. He will end his ODI career with 188 wickets from 117 matches at an average of 25.32 with two five-fors. In T20 internationals - which he last played in Lahore for the World XI side - he collected 47 wickets from 44 matches at an economy rate of 7.50.

Reply 5290

The Wavefunction

2 wickets, 2 run outs, and a match winning 50. #JustBenStokesThings

Reply 5291

S.G.

No surprise Ben Stokes did well considering he’s playing at home.

Reply 5292

Mackay

Stokes starred with bat and ball as England squared the series with an emphatic dismantling of New Zealand. England beat New Zealand by six wickets. They posted 225-4 after NZ were 223 all out. Roy was caught by Santner for 8 off Boult, who had Root caught by de Grandhomme for 9. Stokes hit 63 unbeaten - alongside Buttler on 36, after Morgan fended Munro back to him on 63, and Ferguson sent back Bairstow, via a sub catch. Stokes ran out Southee on 6 and Boult on 2, Bairstow ran out de Grandhomme on 68, and Willey ran out Taylor on 10. Roy caught Guptill and Nicholls on 50 and 1, off Mo and Stokes, who also had Ferguson caught by Rashid on 19. Mo had Latham caught by Curran on 22. Woekes claimed two - Munro and Chapman - both for 1, caught by Buttler and Willey respectively.

In truth, England barely put a foot wrong. Santner's maiden ODI fifty gave NZ something to defend, though. Woakes set the tone with the ball, claiming two early wickets, and Rashid and Moeen Ali, bowled their combined 20 overs for 65 runs to provide Morgan with excellent control. Santner backed up his match-winning effort in Hamilton with a 45-ball half-century. He found an able partner in the recalled Ferguson as the No. 10 faced 38 deliveries to help forge a ninth-wicket stand of 69. NZ were forced to go in without their captain Williamson who was suffering a hamstring strain, meaning a first New Zealand ODI cap for Chapman, and the captaincy was handed to Southee. England were unchanged. That was such a dominant performance from England. They were sensational in the field - as Nasser Hussain says, England may never have fielded better in an ODI - and reached their target of 224 with 12.1 overs to spare. That’s as good as it gets, really.

Stokes put in a man-of-the-match performance. Figures of two for 42 saw the all-rounder play a part in bowling out the hosts for 223, before a well-judged 63 not out helped win the game with 73 balls to spare. This was Stokes’ first half-century (11th in all ODIs) since September. The difference here was stark: four run outs (equal highest for England in an ODI) accompanying six catches – four that deserve high praise. The Blackcaps, while able to contribute quality moments of their own – Colin de Grandhomme’s catch to remove Joe Root (one-handed, diving sharply to his right at midwicket) was the best of the match – were guilty of high profile misses. Stokes should have been run out on nought, as he took charge when Morgan had dropped the ball at his feet but lost his bearings, calling through his captain as he charged to the danger end. However, De Grandhomme’s side-foot was well off target. Morgan was given lives on 28 and 40, top-edging beyond the grasp of wicketkeeper Tom Latham and powering a pull through the hands of Henry Nicholls at midwicket. By the time he was eventually dismissed, just 50 more were needed with six wickets and 117 balls remaining.

Reply 5293

Mackay

Australia 225-5 at stumps in Durban. Smith and David Warner hit half-centuries for tourists. The dismissals of Steve Smith and David Warner, for 56 and 51 respectively, swung momentum the Proteas’ way during the post-lunch session on Thursday. The Marsh brothers and Tim Paine, three Ashes selection masterstrokes who helped their side reclaim the urn during the past summer, responded with stubborn resistance. The trio failed to score anywhere near as freely as Smith and Warner, but their composure was refreshing. Marsh and Tim Paine’s unbeaten stand was worth 48 runs when bad light forced the end of play after 76 overs. Bancroft and Usman Khawaja both departed early - ABDV snaffled Smith off Maharaj, who was comfortably South Africa’s most threatening bowler on the slow pitch. Shaun Marsh was on 40 when he became Maharaj’s second victim. Five half-tons for Smith in a row - after 239, 76, 102 and 83 in the Ashes. Warner's average in SA Tests is 90 - he had 500+ in the 2014 series, with three tons and two 50s. No Test series wins for SA vs Oz at home, though. They have played seven in SA and Oz have five wins and two draws. ABDV snaffled Smith and S Marsh off Maharaj for 56 and 40, Philander had Bancroft caught behind and Warner by ABDV for 5 and 51, and Khawaja fended Rabada behind on 14. Maharaj was brought on as early as the 11th over and delivered an opening spell of seven overs. Then he came back halfway through the second session and bowled through to tea in a spell of ten overs. After tea, he came on for six overs and was brought back the over before play was called off for bad light, and would have probably gone through until the second new ball, which is four overs away. But the quantity was not as important as the quality, and from his first ball Maharaj showed he could be a threat. In the end, Maharaj turned in the third-best performance, since readmission, by a South African spinner in the first innings at Kingsmead. He also bowled the second-most overs, after Imran Tahir's 28 on the first day of a Test against Sri Lanka in 2011.

Reply 5294

The Wavefunction

If the England Lions are any indicator of the future of English cricket, then things are looking bleak. Trounced 3-0 by the West Indies A team.

WI spinner Jomel Warrican took 31-278 in 3 games, with 3 MoTM awards.

Reply 5295

Mackay

England have played four ODIs here and never come close to winning one. The most recent of those matches was three years ago, against Sri Lanka at the World Cup, where they did manage to post 320 only for them to be knocked off one down. That is the sort of thing this England one-day side now does to opposition so they will be confident of finally turning over the hosts here. Their three attempts so far have been dismal: a 155-run defeat in 2002 (bowled out for 89), a six-wicket defeat in 2008 (bowled out for 130, and that eight-wicket mauling at the 2015 World Cup (bowled out for 123). It was New Zealand with more headaches leading into this match. The good news for them was that Kane Williamson was passed fit, but Ross Taylor has been ruled out with the quad strain he picked up in Mount Maunganui. It means New Zealand will remain a senior batsman light and they need a couple of their batsmen to lift with Colin Munro and Henry Nicholls making lean starts to the series.

Nichols has been given the finisher's role at No. 6. He has shown some promise this season with three half-centuries but, having come into this series with some promising domestic form behind him, has started poorly. Twice he has been caught at point, low down in the first match and then by an acrobatic grab in the second as he tried to cut Ben Stokes. Four of his last five ODI innings have been 0 or 1. It is unlikely his place will come under pressure this series, but he could do with securing his footing. Willey would probably not have played the first two ODIs had Mark Wood been fit. He has bowled well with the new ball - a six-over spell in Hamilton and a five-over one in Mount Maunganui - but he has not been used again in an innings. With Stokes being back, Eoin Morgan has been afforded that luxury but it will be tough for Willey to forge a substantial ODI career if the captain doesn't feel able to use him much beyond the first Powerplay. Williamson came through a lengthy net to prove his fitness after the hamstring strain he picked up in Hamilton. The balance of New Zealand's attack will be the other question - whether to retain the pace of Lockie Ferguson or bring in a second spinner, either Ish Sodhi or Todd Astle. Bairstow went over on his ankle at Mount Maunganui - tripping on his own water bottle - but is fit to play. Mark Wood is also available and could be an alternative to Willey or Tom Curran although England may not change a winning team. Five of the England side who lost the World Cup match to Sri Lanka on this ground are likely to play: Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes. Southee's ODI-best figures of 7 for 33 came on this ground against England at the 2015 World Cup. It has been over three years since both Williamson and Taylor missed an ODI for New Zealand. It has only happened six times since they first played together in August 2010.

Reply 5296

Mackay

South Africa trail by 189 runs with 0 wickets remaining in the innings, being bowled out for 162 in reply to Oz's 351. Starc claimed a five-fer: Morkel bowled on 0, Rabada trapped on 3, Philander snaffled behind for 8, and Faf and de Bruyn done via the same method for 15 and 6. Hazlewood bowled Maharaj on 0, Lyon bowled de Kock and had Amla caught by Bancroft for 20 and 0 respectively. ABDV ended 71 unbeaten, after Lyon caught and bowled Elgar and Markram fended Cummins to Bancroft on 32. Earlier, Paine was snaffled behind off Rabada for 25, Maharaj bowled Cummins and Starc for 3 and 35, and had Lyon caught by de Bruyn on 12. M Marsh was caught by Morkel off Philander for 96 as Hazlewood ended 2 not out.

While the rest of the South African line-up struggled against movement from Mitchell Starc and spin from Nathan Lyon, de Villiers felt the hosts allowed Lyon, in particular, to gain the upper hand because they were unable to form partnerships. South Africa's highest stand was worth 42 runs - between de Villiers and de Kock for the sixth wicket - and their lower order had no partnerships in double figures. Contrastingly, Australia's eight-wicket stand was worth 49 and their ninth-wicket pair put on 41, which helped take them past 350 in the first innings.