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A quiet break from cricket, after two high-quality Tests that were in the spotlight for several wrong reasons, has given the South Africa opener time to think about his faltering batting

Firdose Moonda19-Mar-2018The two things Dean Elgar has enjoyed most about the last seven days is the silence and the chance to reflect on two highly competitive games of cricket, away from the sideshows that have surrounded them.”There’s been so much noise that people have actually forgotten there is such a great Test series happening between two strong and competitive teams. The backroom noise is hindering what has been quite an exciting Test series,” Elgar said, as South Africa resumed training after a week’s break ahead of the third Test against Australia at Newlands.The match starts on Thursday, which has effectively meant a 10-day period for the teams to get away from each other, and on the evidence of the first two Tests, they needed that. Everything from the stairwell saga to the send-offs has been laced with aggression and intensity. Those close to the Australian camp have gone as far as to say the temperature of this series has been hotter than recent Ashes’ contests and the South Africans, usually a passionate but not overly petulant lot, have also turned on the heat.Elgar, one of the pricklier characters in the squad, admitted he has also got involved. “There’s been a lot of niggle. It comes from both sides. It’s what you expect when you are playing against quality opposition. The intensity should be there. That’s what makes the format exciting,” he said. “I’ve been on the receiving end of it and I have also been one to give it out a bit, in all the right measurements.”The “right measurements”, as Elgar put it, have been debated throughout this series and, so far, no one can provide a recipe as to what those might be. Steven Smith has, on several occasions, insisted there is a line his team does not cross while Faf du Plessis has endorsed chirping as good for the game but said he would not advocate swearing. And then there’s the physical side of things. From David Warner needing to be physically restrained in the episode with Quinton de Kock, to the shoulder brush between Kagiso Rabada and Steven Smith, Elgar is right when he said this series is less about cricket and more about contact.A tweet on Vernon Philander’s account went as far as to suggest simulation could even come into the picture, but the message was deleted a few ours after it was posted and Philander claimed his account was hacked. And so the silence Elgar was enjoying might have been broken in the middle of the break, when it suddenly emerged that there may be a new flashpoint.Though very little has been made of the post on Philander’s account and the subsequent backtracking from it, that could change. Cameron Bancroft has already suggested Australia will use the tweet to try and unnerve the seamer on his home ground; the same venue where he played a major part in bowling them out for 47 in his debut Test series in 2011.AFP

Elgar suspects it will take more than that to get under Philander’s skin. “He’ll take it in his stride like Vern does. He is quite a relaxed human being but on the field he is as competitive as anyone else,” Elgar said. “He is going to expect that they are going to come out and say something to him on the field, and I am sure he is going to be prepared for that.”Philander might have other things to think about than what the Australians have to say. Should South Africa be without Kagiso Rabada – whose appeal hearing against a Level 2 charge extended to over six hours today – Philander will lead an attack that will likely include the retiring Morne Morkel and the inexperience of Lungi Ngidi. South Africa will have to find a way to take wickets without their leading bowler.Though the players have tried not to become preoccupied with the Rabada proceedings, they understand losing him would be a big deal. “As players, we are just trying to isolate ourselves away from that situation. We know we don’t have any influence over what has happened or what can happen. It would be nice to put it behind us,” Elgar said. “Having KG [Rabada] in our side is massive for us. It’s massive for the game, massive for the format, because KG is an extremely special cricketer. But we do know there are rules. We respect that. If he is good to go for the third Test, it will be awesome for us and awesome of the game.”In the meanwhile, Elgar would like to concentrate on his own game and on finding the form that had him finish as the third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket last year. Elgar’s 2017 included 1128 runs from 12 Tests at 53.71 with five centuries, but he has only managed 285 runs from five Tests this year at 31.66.He accepted that “it was always going to be difficult to follow-up on what was a very good year”, but would like to start contributing more, especially because of his returns so far. He was dismissed in single-figures in both innings in the first Test and the second innings of the second Test; his only score in double-figures so far this series was a stubborn 57 in Port Elizabeth. “I feel that I am batting nicely. I am getting through all the tough parts and then I am letting myself down with silly, stupid, uncharacteristic kind of dismissals,” Elgar said. “I know it’s not what the team requires, our team requires me to try bat out a day.”His half-century, which took five hours and six minutes to score, used up most of a day and helped lay a platform for South Africa to take a match-winning first-innings lead in Port Elizabeth. But on either side of that knock, Elgar has twice been caught and bowled by Nathan Lyon and desperately wants to change his record against the spinner.”I have handled him quite [badly],” Elgar said. “Like I said, silly dismissals that are uncharacteristic of me. In the past I have handled him quite well. He has developed his game massively in the last two years, and I will just be mindful of that and still trust my defence against him.”And hope for some more peace and quiet before the series resumes.

David Boon, Matthew Hayden and Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2017Two of Australia’s finest modern top-order batsmen, Matthew Hayden and David Boon, and legendary women’s allrounder Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame on Monday.Boon played 107 Tests from 1984 to 1996 and scored 7422 runs at 43.65, mostly as an opener and No.3 of tremendous fight, and he also featured in 181 one-day internationals. Since retirement, he served as an administrator with Cricket Tasmania and as a national selector, and in 2011 took up a position as an ICC match referee.”David Boon was a key figure in the rise of the Australia side under Allan Border that went from easy-beats to winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup in India and Pakistan in 1987 and then the best Test side in the world,” Peter King, the Hall of Fame chairman, said.”He was player of the match in the 1987 World Cup final against England and was a reassuring presence either as opener or number three with more than 13,000 international runs across more than a decade at the highest level.”He played a crucial role in putting Tasmania cricket on the map and did much the same for English county side Durham, where he ended his career in 1999 with a tally of more than 23,000 first-class runs, plus more than 10,000 runs in List A cricket. He epitomises the tough-as-teak Australian cricketer and his induction into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is thoroughly merited.”Hayden played 103 Tests from 1994 to 2009 and, with 8625 runs at 50.73, sits fifth on Australia’s list of all-time Test run scorers. An opener who combined patience with an ability to bully the bowlers, Hayden plundered 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA in 2003, which was the highest Test score by any player until surpassed by Brian Lara’s 400 the following year.”Matthew Hayden featured prominently in the Australia squads that went unbeaten to win successive ICC Cricket World Cups in 2003 and 2007,” King said, “and his role as an intimidating opening batsman and outstanding slip fielder mark him out as one of the greatest players this country has ever produced.”Wilson, who was sometimes known as the “female Bradman”, will be the second women’s cricketer in the Hall of Fame, after 2014 inductee Belinda Clark. Wilson, who died in 2010 at the age of 88, averaged 57.46 in Test cricket during the 1940s and 1950s, and took 68 wickets at the remarkable average of 11.80.She was the first player of either gender to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test, doing so against England in Melbourne in 1958; two years later Alan Davidson became the first man to match the feat. In that same Test, Wilson also became the first woman to take a Test hat-trick.”Betty Wilson was a woman ahead of her time, thanks to her brilliant all-round skills as a batter and off-spinner,” King said. “It was cricket’s misfortune that she only played 11 Tests – due in part to World War II, but also because her career spanned a period when far fewer women’s cricket matches were played than in the modern era.”It is fantastic that Betty can take her rightful place in the pantheon of great cricketers produced by this country through her induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and it is an honour that is wholly justified.”Boon, Hayden and Wilson will officially be inducted at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday evening, where the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year Award will for the first time form part of the ceremony. This year’s group takes the number of Hall of Fame inductees to 46 since its inception in 1996.Hall of Fame inductees Warwick Armstrong, Richie Benaud, John Blackham, David Boon, Allan Border, Sir Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alan Davidson, George Giffen, Adam Gilchrist, Clarrie Grimmett, Wally Grout, Neil Harvey, Lindsay Hassett, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Clem Hill, Bill Lawry, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Charles Macartney, Rod Marsh, Stan McCabe, Glenn McGrath, Graham McKenzie, Keith Miller, Arthur Morris, Monty Noble, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Ponsford, Jack Ryder, Bob Simpson, Fred Spofforth, Mark Taylor, Jeff Thomson, Hugh Trumble, Victor Trumper, Charlie Turner, Doug Walters, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Betty Wilson, Bill Woodfull.

The BCCI has appointed its first ever ombudsman in Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, to look into matters relating to conflict of interest in the board

Raunak Kapoor09-Nov-20152:19

Kapoor: Justice Shah, a rock star in the legal world

At its Annual General Meeting in Mumbai on Monday, the BCCI appointed its first ever ombudsman in Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, to look into matters relating to conflict of interest in the board. Justice Shah, 67, a former Chief Justice of the Delhi and Madras High Courts, is widely considered as one of the boldest jurists India has witnessed in recent times, delivering landmark judgments in matters of societal equality, human rights, individual liberties, and freedom of speech and expression.An ombudsman, or a “legal representative”, is generally either a public official or an employee or member of an organisation who acts as an impartial intermediary between two parties.In case the ombudsman is appointed by the government or his position is created by law, for example a Lokpal or a Lokayukta, the official often assumes the role of a watchdog, overseeing the activities of the government or bureaucracy and addressing the grievances of the public against them.Ombudsmen are often considered institutions in themselves. Once appointed, they are free from procedural or technical complexities that most judicial or governmental bodies are subject to. They have the power to initiate proceedings without any approval, summon parties, direct appropriate bodies to conduct investigations, and in some cases even impose punishments of their own accord.The scope of power, authority and jurisdiction of an ombudsmen, as well as the rules and procedures that he must follow, however, are all decided by the appointing authority. Therefore the ambit of Justice Shah’s powers will be set in place by the BCCI itself.A key component of the ombudsman’s authority would be whether he has the power to initiate proceedings against individuals (on its own) and whether he is authorised to impose sanctions or punishments independently, without prior approval of the BCCI.When asked by ESPNcricinfo about the freedom and influence that Justice Shah will enjoy, BCCI President Shashank Manohar said “he would be given complete freedom and authority like a judicial body”.However, the BCCI is yet to clarify, in detail, what the jurisdiction of and procedures to be followed by its ombudsman would be while initiating, hearing and deciding matters relating to conflicts of interest.After retiring as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in 2010, Justice Shah has been the chairman of the Broadcast Content Complaints Council (BCCC) and the chairman of the Law Commission of India. Earlier this year, he turned down an offer from the Delhi government to be the state’s Lokayukta (state ombudsman).Justice Shah is considered the architect of the historic ruling in 2009 that struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, thus decriminalising gay sex in India. The judgment earned him national and international recognition. He is credited with other brave rulings including a Public Interest Litigation in 2004 where he imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh on the Shiv Sena (the right-wing Mumbai political party that has a history of disrupting cricketing activities in India) for calling an “illegal” (strike) in Mumbai. He delivered another landmark judgment in 2010, when he declared that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a “public authority” that falls within the ambit of the Right to Information Act, thereby making the country’s top-most judge obliged to share details of his assets publicly as per the act.At present, he serves as a member of the Committee of Experts at the International Labour Office in Geneva. As BCCI ombudsman, Shah can be contacted at [email protected].

Preview of the match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai

The Preview by Nikita Bastian12-May-2013

Match facts

May 13, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Can Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting stand up to Mumbai Indians’ bowling?•BCCI

Big Picture

We have arrived at that stage of the tournament where the scramble to make the playoffs is in full swing. While the numerical possibilities say otherwise, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are in all likelihood through while the bottom four are out. That leaves a middle cluster of three teams vying for the remaining two playoff spots. Both Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad are in this cluster, meaning their encounter on Monday at the Wankhede will be vital.After 13 games each, Mumbai Indians have 18 points and Sunrisers have 16. Sunrisers face the tougher of the tasks on hand, and not just because they have fewer points; Mumbai have won six out of six games at the Wankhede so far this season. While Sunrisers too have a very good home record – they’ve scored points in five of six at Uppal – they have won only three away matches, all against teams below them on the points table.They can draw some confidence, though, from their showing on Saturday in Mohali against Kings XI. There they first recovered from 52 for 5 to 150 with smart batting, before their bowlers once again did the job. Also, as has been their style at Uppal, they had restricted Mumbai Indians to 129 earlier in the tournament, and then chased down the target with ease, courtesy Shikhar Dhawan. They’ll need all the confidence they can get when facing Mumbai at home.

Form guide

Mumbai Indians: WWWLW (most recent first)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: WLWWL

In the spotlight

The Mumbai Indians bowling v the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting. The Mumbai attack has lorded over the opposition batsmen in their previous two games, first against the might of the Chennai Super Kings and then against Kolkata Knight Riders. Mitchell Johnson has been particularly lethal with his swing at high pace, and will provide the stiffest of challengers on a relatively quick track for the unfancied Sunrisers line-up, which is most at home on the slow surfaces at Uppal. The numbers show why this line-up is not thought a lot of: they’ve played 13 matches, but only one batsman aggregates 200 runs so far. Apart from Dhawan, who missed the first seven matches due to injury, none of the specialist batsmen average even 27. Dhawan is just 30-odd short of topping Sunrisers’ run chart, despite playing only half their games. He will be central to their fortunes at the Wankhede.

Stats and trivia

• Parthiv Patel became the first Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman to touch the 200-run mark in the tournament, taking his aggregate to 218 at 24.22 with his 61 in the previous game
• Sachin Tendulkar is closing in on 300 IPL fours. He needs eight more to get there, and will be the first player in the league to do so

Quotes

“You get a leg up over everyone else by spending time here. [It’s] going to help me a lot in the future.There are a lot of tournaments in India throughout the year, so you have got to adapt to playing here. It is a massive advantage to get used to the conditions over here.”
“Yes, she is. Probably I should make another one to get even luckier.”

Cricketers not contracted with Sri Lanka Cricket will no longer be allowed to use the board’s facilities, according to a proposal by the board’s executive committee

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2012Cricketers not contracted with Sri Lanka Cricket will no longer be allowed to use the board’s facilities, including medical assistance, the board’s executive committee has decided. SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga confirmed these details to ESPNcricinfo.The decision has so far met with a positive response. “I believe it’s fair enough,” Ken de Alwis, the spokesman of the Sri Lanka Cricketers Association told . “If a player signs a contract, then he becomes an employee of SLC. But if a player does not sign it, then SLC has no obligation to look after his interests.”The SLC will submit the contract proposals to the association.Fast bowler Lasith Malinga didn’t sign an SLC contract last year but received medical assistance from the board when he returned to Sri Lanka briefly for treatment during the current IPL season, in which he’s representing Mumbai Indians. Malinga plays for Sri Lanka in limited-overs internationals but has retired from Test cricket. Nishantha Ranatunga, at the time of Malinga’s treatment, had said: “Though he has no central contract, it is the SLC’s duty to look after the national players.” The latest proposal by the SLC, though, suggests a chance of stance.

Warwickshire quickly took a first step towards making up for a points deduction imposed by the England and Wales Cricket Board when they beat Worcestershire by 218 runs in the County Championship at Edgbaston

George Dobell at Edgbaston14-May-2011
Scorecard
Vikram Solanki was struck on the back of the head after ducking into a bouncer from Boyd Rankin•PA Photos

Perhaps it was fitting that, as Steve Rhodes put it, there should be a “farcical end to quite a farcical game”?Worcestershire, with two batsmen retired hurt and another ‘absent injured’, were forced to accept defeat by Warwickshire by a margin 218 runs even though they had lost only seven second-innings wickets. Memories of India’s defeat at the hands of the West Indies at Sabina Park in 1976 spring to mind.In truth, there was an element of protest in Worcestershire’s decision not to send their remaining batsmen into the line of fire. Had the team had even a chance of victory, both Vikram Solanki and Alan Richardson would have batted. As it was, they decided it was better not to risk them.It was a sensible decision. With the pitch every more unpredictable, the batsmen were taking blow after blow and Ben Scott, after sustaining a third hit on the gloves in a gutsy innings, was forced to retire hurt. There was no hope of resisting for long. The game was up.Some might rebuke Worcestershire for a lack of fight. They will point to examples such as Brian Close and suggest players from the past might have battled a little harder. Maybe.Generally, however, such criticism is facile. It is easy to sit the other side of the boundary and chastise players for a lack of fight. But spectators would do well to remember that these players are expected to play many more games in the coming days, weeks and months and that any injury sustained here could have damaging effects on their team’s season and, perhaps, even their own careers. This pitch, by the end, was simply dangerous and it is a blessing that no-one has been seriously hurt during the game. It is, by some distance, the worst pitch I’ve seen for a Championship match.Certainly Rhodes was scathing in his criticism at the end of the game. Reacting to news that Warwickshire had been penalised eight points for a track deemed ‘poor’ by the pitch panel, Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, suggested a 24-point penalty for an ‘unfit’ wicket would have been more appropriate.”I can safely say that is probably the worst pitch I’ve seen in professional cricket in England,” Rhodes said. “I would have voted it as unfit.”If you ask the question: is that fit for first-class cricket?’ then the answer has to be ‘no.’ It had extravagant bounce. I don’t feel it was fit for first-class cricket.”Rhodes has a point, of course. But he and Worcestershire supporters baying for blood may do well to remember the sympathetic response Worcestershire received when they unsuccessfully tried to host a Championship game against Kent at a recently-flooded New Road in 2007. Groundsmen, like chief executive, players and journalists, sometimes make mistakes. The ECB judgement in this game, the result of three highly-experienced individuals’ lengthy analysis, looks about right.Despite all this, however, Warwickshire have decided to appeal the Pitch Panel’s decision to dock them eight points for a track deemed to be ‘poor.’Warwickshire continue to play their cards quite close to their chest on the issue, but it seems their appeal will focus on the procedure used by the ECB to come to the decision. That is because the ECB were not alerted to concerns about the pitch by the match umpires, but by a member of the media. Oddly, the phone call made by the newspaper journalist to the ECB was not even answered or returned.That having been said, Warwickshire are not claiming that the pitch was acceptable. They just feel there were extenuating circumstances relating to the new stands, outfield and drainage system and that the ECB’s own procedure was not followed. On that basis, they may have a point, though it seems a shame they couldn’t have accepted the penalty with some grace and moved on.ECB rules on the issue are not absolutely clear, but it does not appear as if Warwickshire’s points penalty can be increased. Instead, however, it seems that the ECB can charge them £5,000 (to be deducted from their next fee payment) should the appeal be unsuccessful. A new pitch panel will be convened within the week and they will review video footage of the match and interview relevant officials as required.The ‘pitch battle’ should not disguise the fact that this was Worcestershire’s fifth loss in five Championship games. Whatever the challenges, they were second best in every department in this match. Their support bowling was poor and their support batting flimsy. They’ve played some decent cricket without reward this season, but here they looked second best from the start.At least Scott showed some fight in this game. The Middlesex keeper, with Worcestershire on loan, showed excellent skills with the gloves and bravery with the bat. He’s a fine addition. Matt Pardoe and Moeen Ali batted nicely, too. And, if one or two of their colleagues are playing as if relegation is inevitable, they will find their coach will intolerant of such a view.”We have to learn to fight a little harder,” Rhodes admitted. “We’ve given too many wickets away to spin. We had a chance to win the game if we had we played better. Both teams played on the same wicket, after all.”Worcestershire lost three wickets in 14 balls on the final day. After Shaaiq Choudhry, surely batting too high at six in the order, missed one that may have kept a little low, Gareth Andrew edged one that took off from a length and Moeen Ali clipped to square-leg. Damien Wright then helped Scott add 44 for the seventh-wicket, before the former slogged to mid-off. Shortly afterwards, Scott was struck on the hand by a lifter from Boyd Rankin and the match was over.The big difference between the sides was simply the batting of Mohammad Yousuf. Warwickshire supporters have taken some time to warm to the Pakistani and, in his early matches, there have been times, in the field in particular, when he hadn’t appeared overly anxious about the match situation.Such reservations have evaporated now. Yousuf played two magnificent, match-shaping innings in this game and the chances of him winning a longer-term contract at the club have increased significantly. Ashley Giles also admitted some interest in Dale Steyn, who is available in July. Tim Ambrose, back to his best with bat and gloves and Rikki Clarke also enjoyed good games, while Ian Bell, who sustained a very minor muscle strain, will now miss the CB40 match against Leicestershire having initially asked the ECB for special permission to play.Giles, meanwhile, insisted that the poor wicket was purely accidental. “We want to play on the best possible wickets,” Giles said. “I think we were the stronger side and providing a wicket like that usually just brings the weaker side into the game more. No-one wants to see anyone get hurt and none of us have said it was a great wicket.”But the guys were brilliant as a collective. They didn’t moan if they got an unplayable ball. They just got on with it.”[Hosting] International cricket is very important to us, so the groundstaff have to learn very quickly. It [the redeveloped ground and re-laid outfield] is a bit of an unknown quality for everyone.”It may also be worth noting that the umpires rated the behaviour of both sets of players as exemplary. Despite the treacherous conditions, there was no moaning, no arguing and no dissent. Indeed, they showed considerable bravery. Whatever other issues there may have been with this match, the players of both sides have emerged with great credit.

Cricinfo previews the Super Eights match between Pakistan and South Africa in St Lucia

The Preview by Osman Samiuddin09-May-2010

Match facts

Monday, May 10, St Lucia
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)Shahid Afridi hasn’t fired yet for Pakistan•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Two of the brightest sides of last year’s tournament have been two of the bigger disappointments this time. And yet, a win for either here could still see them through to the semi-finals, depending on what happens in the game between England and New Zealand.Pakistan do not require a mathematical miracle to get through. A win here, and an England win over New Zealand, remarkably, might guarantee them a spot in the semis, given that Pakistan’s net run-rate is superior to both New Zealand and South Africa. For Graeme Smith’s men to go through, a win coupled with an English win, will be enough.On most days South Africa would look the likelier bet, if only because Pakistan have been so timid and unsure through the tournament. But at spin-friendly St Lucia, with big stakes on the line, certainty is in short supply.In any case, South Africa have been strangely inconsistent, a malaise that stretches beyond just this tournament and format to last year. In the Caribbean they’ve relied heavily on their pace duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and both have been hot and cold; in particular, the latter’s no-ball problems are beginning to hurt. Little errors have crept in, the kind of untidiness you do not expect from them; catches have been dropped, edges have gone through slips, fumbles here and there. Their batting has been consistently weak.Pakistan have struggled with most things, their batting line, the make-up of their attack and their fielding. Shahid Afridi’s form has gone, they’ve picked and dropped Mohammad Sami at the wrong moments, Abdul Razzaq has been used strangely, either opening the bowling or not bowling at all. Of their batsmen, only Salman Butt has been a success and he was least expected to be one.Yet nobody, least of all South Africa, will forget that it is at these moments that they can be at their most dangerous.

Form guide (Most recent first)

Pakistan LLLWW
South Africa LWWLW

Watch out for

Abdur Rehman made a fine comeback against New Zealand, picking up two cheap wickets in his first T20I for over two years. He has always been a successful limited-overs left-arm option and his return comes after one of his best domestic seasons. South Africa still struggle to score quickly against spin and Rehman’s position, amid the spin of Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, may well be crucial if the surface is given to spin.Like India, Pakistan have also struggled against fast, short-pitched bowling, even in St Lucia, where Australia’s pace attack knocked them over. So Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn are likely to again be the central planks in their side’s plans to get through.

Team news

Pakistan are unlikely to tinker much with a line-up that did so well in the field against New Zealand. In fact, the right balance in their attack finally seems to have been struck, four games into the tournament. With few batting replacements, Afridi will desperately hope one of his batsmen other than Butt can kick on, though dropping Mohammad Hafeez and bringing in Khalid Latif may be an option.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt 2 Kamran Akmal (wk) 3 Mohammad Hafeez/Khalid Latif 4 Umar Akmal 5 Misbah-ul-Haq 6 Shahid Afridi (capt) 7 Abdul Razzaq 8 Mohammad Aamer 9 Mohammad Sami 10 Abdur Rehman 11 Saeed AjmalThough South Africa are still likelier to use pace to unsettle Pakistan’s batsmen, the nature of the pitch might warrant a return for Roelof van der Merwe, though he is wicketless thus far in the tournament. Their top order has struggled too, and whether or not the ageing, misfiring Herschelle Gibbs will continue to be persisted with is also open to question.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt) 2 Jacques Kallis 3 Loots Bosman/Herschelle Gibbs 4 AB de Villiers 5 JP Duminy 6 JA Morkel 7 MV Boucher (wk) 8 J Botha 9 Dale Steyn 10 Morne Morkel 11 Charl Langeveldt

Pitch and conditions

There won’t be as much bounce or pace as in Barbados, though the express bowlers have still prospered in St Lucia.

Stats and trivia

While Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi could be Afghanistan’s trump cards, India could counter them with Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube

Alagappan Muthu19-Jun-20241:19

How can India fit Kuldeep Yadav into the XI?

Match details

Afghanistan vs India
Bridgetown, 10.30am local, 8.00pm IST, 2.30pm GMT

Big picture – India vs Rashid Khan

This January, these two teams produced one of the greatest T20Is ever – one that needed two Super Overs to produce a result – and that was when they were playing less-than-full-strength teams after the series had been decided. The stakes are a lot higher now. So perhaps Afghanistan and India’s meeting in the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup 2024 will be a little less spectacle and a little more surgical.Afghanistan possess a bowling attack capable of asking questions every over, which works out well because they have to find a way past the experience of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli early to level the playing field. With those two out of the picture, anything can happen. That’ll be Fazalhaq Farooqi’s job. His left-arm angle coupled with the ability to swing the new ball are threats to batters of even the highest quality.Related

• Trott: Day games suit Afghanistan better

• Hayden expects short-of-runs Kohli to 'work out what to do' in WI

• Six-hitter Dube awaits his moment to unleash

• Farooqi: 'Whatever I am doing with the new ball, that is my skill'

If that happens – and it’s a big if – India will come under scoreboard pressure, which is best friends with Rashid Khan. The Afghanistan captain has walked into plenty of situations where the opposition has just started to wobble, and he finishes them off.It takes a genius to beat a genius, and India are lucky to have Suryakumar Yadav, who has dominated Rashid in T20s, scoring 86 runs in 58 balls at a strike rate of 148 without being dismissed. Shivam Dube goes at a higher strike rate (155) over a smaller sample size (18 balls), but that brings into picture the other advantage that India have: left-hand batters. Rashid has not done as well against them in T20s lately. He kept them down to a strike rate of 109 in 2022 and 2023. This year, it’s up at 141.Afghanistan’s bowling is their best strength, but India have them covered. So that means one of Afghanistan’s batters will have to have a field day.

Form guide

Afghanistan: LWWWW
India: WWWWWAxar Patel’s batting gives India the confidence to hit out from ball one•ICC/Getty Images

In the spotlight – Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Axar Patel

Scoring quickly against high-quality bowling requires both skill and bravery, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz has both in abundance. He scored 80 off 56 balls in a match where only two of his team-mates reached double-digits and the opposition – New Zealand – were bowled out for 75. Gurbaz hits pace at a strike rate of 150 and spin at 145 in T20 cricket, and that may very well be a function of how he doesn’t mind taking risks. Batters like that are hard to stop when it’s their day.So much of the focus in this game will be on mystery spin. But underneath all that, happily flying under the radar, giving both tangible and intangible results is Axar Patel. His left-arm spin is all about containment, but he does that by attacking the stumps, while his batting at No. 8 gives India the confidence to hit out from ball one. Axar should also enjoy the fact that Afghanistan should have only two left-hand batters in their top eight.

Team news

India don’t have any need to tinker with their XI. And despite the loss to West Indies, Afghanistan might not either.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Gulbadin Naib, 4 Azmatullah Omarzai, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Karim Janat, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq FarooqiIndia (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Arshdeep Singh1:34

Bishop: Hard to name someone with Farooqi’s skillset

Pitch and conditions

Bridgetown has offered decent batting conditions, having hosted one of the three 200-plus scores seen in this tournament. The weather shouldn’t be a problem.

Stats and trivia

• Afghanistan have played India in 13 games across formats, but are yet to win one
• Gurbaz (167) and Farooqi (12) are currently the highest scorer and the highest wicket-taker, respectively, in the T20 World Cup 2024
• India have not faced Rashid a lot in T20Is, but in two games, they have scored 69 runs in eight overs without losing a single wicket to him
• Rohit and Kohli are tied on 4042 T20I runs, with only Babar Azam (4145) ahead of them

Quotes

“I always thought that during the most difficult phase of T20, like between [overs] 7 to 14, 7 to 16 – I had thought about that a lot before making my debut for India – if I do well here, if I bat with a good strike rate, then I can be a game-changer on that day. And when I kept doing it repeatedly, I felt that this is my game plan going forward.”

Victory in a shortened but tense affair in Centurion puts the visitors 1-0 up in three-match series

Firdose Moonda25-Mar-2023West Indies 132 for 7 (Powell 43*, Magala 3-21) beat South Africa 131 for 8 (Miller 48, Smith 2-21) by three wickets Rovman Powell, in his first match as full time West Indies T20I captain, led his team to victory in a short but tense affair in Centurion. After persistent rain delayed the start of the game by two hours and then reduced it to 11 overs a side, West Indies opted to put South Africa in and were mostly sharp in the field but still found themselves chasing a steep target of 132.Brandon King’s eight-ball 23 gave them a good start and Johnson Charles’ 14-ball 28 built on that but it was Powell who ensured West Indies got over the line. They needed 46 runs off 24 balls when Powell took 23 runs off Bjorn Fortuin’s second over, to bring the required run-rate down to seven an over for the last three overs. He held his nerve when Sisanda Magala took two wickets in two balls at the other end to leave West Indies needing nine off the last over. Fittingly, Powell hit the winning runs with three balls to spare.West Indies have now won four out of seven T20Is against South Africa in their own backyard and have a 1-0 lead in the three match series.

Hosein strikes upfront; Rossouw and Hendricks hit back

When the match got under way, players on both sides seemed keen to get things going as quickly as possible. Quinton de Kock tried to heave the first ball he faced, from Akeal Hosein, over fine leg but misread the length and top-edged. Sheldon Cottrell was stationed there and took a simple catch. The early dismissal of de Kock didn’t keep South Africa down for too long. Rilee Rossouw gave himself three balls to get his eye in and then reverse slapped Hosein past backward point for the first boundary of the innings. He followed up with a shuffle down the pitch for a loft over mid-on but his aggression didn’t last long. Rossouw was out in the next over when he tried to hit Cottrell over mid-off and only got as far as Powell. That left it to Reeza Hendricks to take advantage of a three-over Powerplay. He sent the penultimate delivery over deep square leg for six and then swept the final one for six more to take the score to 30 for 2.

Middle overs meltdown

Boundary hitting was top of South Africa’s minds, even as the ball seemed to stick in the pitch a touch, and it backfired on them. Aiden Markram tried to clear deep midwicket off Alzarri Joseph, was too early on the stroke and skied it to Charles, who took a good catch. In the next over, Hendricks was premature on the pull and feathered an edge to Nicholas Pooran behind the stumps. And the over after that, Heinrich Klaasen threw his bat at a wide Cottrell delivery and sent to it Charles at backward point. South Africa lost 21 for 3 and boundaries dried up. They did not find the rope once between the fifth and eighth overs.David Miller and Sisanda Magala put up 47 off just 13 balls•AFP/Getty Images

Miller and Magala finish strongly

David Miller’s finishing ability is well known and he delivered on his reputation when he started the ninth over by smashing Romario Shepherd over deep square leg. Miller went on to smoke him through the covers before handing over to Sisanda Magala to face the first ball of the 10th over. Magala swivel-pulled Cottrell for four to start and then took back-to-back sixes off the last two balls, both slower balls. Miller took back the mantle and scored 14 runs off the next three balls he faced before he was caught on the deep midwicket boundary with two balls left in the innings. South Africa scored 60 runs off the last three overs.

King gets cracking; Fortuin strikes back

King got West Indies’ chase underway in the best possible way when he hit Fortuin through extra cover for four and over deep midwicket for six. Kyle Mayers then slogged to send Fortuin over long-on – and hit a woman in the crowd unintentionally, but South Africa’s left-arm seamer was not about to let his opening over end without a wicket. He held his pace back and had Mayers edging a delivery he tried to hit over point in the air. De Kock took the catch. West Indies finished the first over on 17 for 1 and with King still at the crease. He went on to hit 12 runs off Wayne Parnell’s first over, which cost 17 in total, but was bowled by a Magala full toss, when he made too much room to paddle it away. West Indies finished their Powerplay on 46 for 2.

Nortje gets Pooran – twice – and then catches Charles – twice

Anrich Nortje, who recovered from a groin niggle that kept him out of the second Test and the ODIs, was introduced in the fourth over and made an immediate impression. His first ball was full and wide and Pooran crashed it to Magala at extra cover. Magala missed the ODI series after splitting the webbing on his right hand, which he got to the ball but then could not hold on to it. An annoyed Nortje picked up the pace for his next one and Pooran nicked off. For the next over, Nortje went to long-on and was in place when Charles hit a full Tabriz Shamsi ball his way. Nortje took the catch but then realised he was going to step on the boundary cushion, so he parried the ball back into the field, regained his balance and stepped back in to take the catch. A lengthy replay showed Nortje had done everything right and Charles was out for 28.

Powell power

After showing his intent against spin when he hit a Shamsi googly for six, Powell got stuck into Fortuin and put West Indies in the driving seat. He sent the first ball of the left-armer’s second over past long-off for six, then cleared the front leg to hit him down the ground for four and ended the over with successive sixes. Powell had scored 10 runs off seven balls before the over and 33 off 12 after that over and put West Indies in a position from which they should not have lost, and they didn’t.

Second-placed Thunder close the gap on league leaders Scorchers

Tristan Lavalette10-Jan-2022Sydney Thunder 1 for 140 (Hales 80*, Sangha 35*, Short 1-9) beat Hobart Hurricanes 6 for 139 (McDermott 38, McAndrew 2-31, Sandhu 2-32) by nine wickets
Alex Hales continued his resurgence to lead red-hot Sydney Thunder to their sixth straight BBL win after crushing Hobart Hurricanes by nine wickets at an almost empty MCG.The opener smashed an unbeaten 80 off 56 balls in his second straight half-century as Thunder knocked off Hurricanes’ modest 6 for 139 with 16 balls to spare.Second-placed Thunder (30 points) closed the gap on league leaders Perth Scorchers (33 points) in a game played at a neutral venue as part of the tournament shifting to a Melbourne hub to combat the Covid-19 outbreak engulfing the BBL.Hales continues resurgenceThunder made a bright start to their chase with aggressive Matthew Gilkes putting Hurricanes’ strong pace bowling attack to the sword before falling for 19. After a slow start to the season, Hales returned to form last night against Melbourne Renegades with his first half-century of the season, and he was intent here on not doing anything rash.He resisted pressing for the bonus point as Thunder went through a boundary drought much like Hurricanes’ did in their innings. But Hales and stand-in skipper Jason Sangha didn’t panic as they chipped the ball around before making their move in the 13th over,Sangha smashed spinner Tim David down the ground for the first six of the innings and Hales then notched his half-century off 44 balls – the slowest 50 in his BBL career. But it was a mature knock from the Englishman who then put the foot down in trademark fashion as Thunder cruised to victory.The return to form of Hales, who holds the highest ever BBL individual score, is a major boost for Thunder who notched the longest winning streak in their history.Hurricanes’ quicks struggleHurricanes needed early wickets and speedster Riley Meredith almost obliged first delivery with a menacing swinging yorker trapping Gilkes but it was given not out.Their quicks had limited impact in the powerplay but Hurricanes clawed back into the game through spinners D’Arcy Short and Sandeep Lamichhane who dried the runs.Short lured Gilkes out of his crease for a stumping but Hurricanes couldn’t put enough pressure on Hales and Sangha. Hurricanes returned to their ace quicks Meredith and Tom Rogers in the hope for a late twist but to no avail as Hales relished the extra pace.Quite clearly, Hurricanes will need to return to the drawing board before Thursday’s rematch.Disciplined Thunder tie down HurricanesThunder’s impressive bowling attack have swept opponents during this hot streak but faced the biggest challenge in the BBL – halting Ben McDermott. Like most teams this season, they were under siege early but never lost their composure and hit back.Nathan McAndrew got the danger man out in the 10th over before McDermott really got going and Thunder’s accurate bowlers then gained a stranglehold in the middle overs. They couldn’t quite sustain it with Hurricanes providing a late rally but Thunder were satisfied with their efforts overall.Their quicks bowled a nagging length mixed with canny slower balls to frustrate Hurricanes. Pakistani quick Mohammad Hasnain set the tone with electric bowling during the powerplay although it was surprising he didn’t bowl his full quota to finish with 0 for 15 off 3 overs.Legspinner Tanveer Sangha helped tie down Hurricanes in the middle overs and claimed the wicket of stand-in skipper Peter Handscomb.Hurricanes over reliant on McDermottWith Hurricanes skipper Matthew Wade out indefinitely due to personal reasons, the burden has increased on McDermott who again unleashed belligerent strokes early.He pulled out the ramp shot to counter probing seamer McAndrew and then smashed Sangha for a huge six down the ground as he eyed another massive score.But McDermott became tied out and on 38 miscued a slower delivery from McAndrew to deep long-on leaving Hurricanes’ shaky middle-order exposed. Handscomb has been unable to find fluency all season and even a promotion to No.3 failed to the trick with a slow 21 runs off 25 balls.Hurricanes went seven overs without a boundary as the pressure fell again on big-hitter David, who broke the drought to start the power surge in the 17th over but holed out a few balls later. They’ve resisted moving David up the order but they might need to soon to spark a batting order too reliant on McDermott.Hurricanes at least finished strong with struggling Short, who was moved down to No.5, stroking three straight boundaries in the penultimate over but their total was not nearly enough.