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Bangladesh have a chance of breaking into the ICC Twenty20 team rankings during their upcoming tour of Ireland and Netherlands, where they” play five T20 internationals.

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2012Bangladesh have a chance of breaking into the ICC Twenty20 team rankings during their upcoming tour of Ireland and Netherlands, where they’ll play five T20 internationals. Bangladesh, who have played only six T20Is since August 2009 (the T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe was an unofficial series), are not ranked as they need a minimum of eight games in the three-year period. They lost five of their six matches and their only win came against West Indies last year in Dhaka.”We know our record in T20 cricket is not good. We are still not good in the new format of the game,” Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim told the . “Due to lack of international matches we are not in the ICC T20 international rankings while even Afghanistan occupy a spot.”Bangladesh are scheduled to play three matches against Ireland in Belfast and a match each against Scotland and Netherlands in The Hague.”We have a chance to break into the table if we can win matches on this tour. So it’s a very good opportunity for us. The result was not as per our expectation on the recent tour of Zimbabwe but we are confident of winning the series against Ireland.” Mushfiqur said. “Everybody has the self-confidence, but you know just self-confidence is not enough to win, rather you have to prove your skills. I believe everybody will be able to show their skills on the coming tour.”Bangladesh face a tough challenge in foreign conditions in which their record is poor. During their last tour to Ireland and Scotland in July 2010, Bangladesh lost an ODI each against Ireland and Netherlands. They also lost a match to Ireland during the World Twenty20 in England in 2009.”Our experience against Ireland was not good at all, so this tour will not be an easy one for us. We don’t have a good record away and you know we are going to play in different conditions. And you know in T20 cricket no one can be considered a big team. We may be favourites in the series but I believe Ireland are tough opponents.”The team will leave for the tour on July 11. The first T20I will be played in Belfast on July 18.

It was a low-key series that was overshadowed by the Olympics, but there was a dramatic change in the rankings as India climbed up to No. 2 after shutting out Sri Lanka 4-1

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran04-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Manoj Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir made half-centuries that set the stage for a late onslaught•AFPIt was a low-key series that was overshadowed by the Olympics, but it resulted in a dramatic change in the rankings as India climbed up to No. 2 after shutting out Sri Lanka 4-1. India seemed to have the final one-dayer in the bag after running up 294 and then reducing Sri Lanka to 102 for 5, but a spirited stand between the inexperienced Lahiru Thirimanne and Jeevan Mendis kept the visitors sweating till the end.Irfan Pathan more or less guaranteed the result in the 43rd over as he removed Mendis and Thisara Perera on his way to his second ODI five-for, capping a match in which he had already made an important contribution with the bat. A late replacement for the injured Vinay Kumar, Irfan has sealed his place as a bowling allrounder with his eight wickets at 26.37 and two vital performances with the bat.He troubled Sri Lanka in his first over itself, getting Tillakaratne Dilshan to hole out to third man. In the absence of the injured Kumar Sangakkara and the resting Mahela Jayawardene – the first time in two years that the pair were missing an ODI – Dilshan had a big role to play, but fell for a duck.Sri Lanka maintained a scorching pace early on, but lost their way once Upul Tharanga chipped a catch to cover in the eighth over. Dinesh Chandimal’s forgettable series continued as he fell lbw to Ashok Dinda for 8, Angelo Mathews’ first innings as one-day captain was ended by a direct hit from Manoj Tiwary, and Chamara Kapugedera wasted his umpteenth international comeback, walking after an lbw appeal.That looked like game, set and match India but Sri Lanka weren’t done yet. Thirimanne played his second responsible knock at No. 3 in five days, and Jeevan Mendis continued to prompt questions over why he had been offered such scattered opportunities with the national team so far after another battling innings. The two patiently resurrected the innings, and through some sensible cricket brought Sri Lanka back into the game, and when the part-time spin of Manoj Tiwary was caned for 14 in the 34th over, Sri Lanka were 187 for 5. With the big-hitting Perera still to come, they had a great chance of pulling off a consolation comeback victory.Smart stats

India completed a 4-1 win in a bilateral five-match away/neutral ODI series for only the third time. The last time they did so was against Sri Lanka in 2008-09.

The win is India’s fifth against Sri Lanka in ODIs in Sri Lanka by a margin of 20 runs or fewer. The four other wins by lower margins have come at the Premadasa stadium.

For the seventh time against Sri Lanka in away/neutral ODIs, three Indian batsmen scored half-centuries in an innings. The last time this happened was at the Premadasa stadium in 2008.

Rohit Sharma’s aggregate of 13 runs in the five matches is the lowest for an Indian top-order (1-7) batsman in an ODI series (min five innings batted). There have been only three other batsmen who have scored fewer than Rohit’s 13 runs in a five-match series.

Irfan Pathan’s five-wicket haul is the ninth for an Indian bowler in ODIs against Sri Lanka. However, the 61 runs conceded by him are the highest by an Indian bowler who has picked up a five-for.

The 102-run stand between Jeevan Mendis and Lahiru Thirimanne is the sixth century stand for the sixth wicket for Sri Lanka in ODIs against India. The highest is 133 between Russell Arnold and Marvan Atapattu in 2005.

The 110-run stand between Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary is the third-highest fourth-wicket stand for India in ODIs against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.

Virat Kohli’s series tally of 296 runs is the third-highest for an Indian batsman in a bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka. The highest aggregate is MS Dhoni’s 346 runs in 2005.

Thirimanne, though, was run-out after a mix-up, and though Mendis kept Sri Lanka afloat, Perera slugged a catch to deep point. When Mendis’ outstanding innings ended on 72 with a nick to the keeper off Irfan, Sri Lanka’s hopes evaporated.India’s top order gave a better account of themselves than Sri Lanka’s. There were half-centuries for Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni but the most significant innings in the dead rubber could be Manoj Tiwary’s 65. For the second match in a row, he turned in a solid performance, strengthening his credentials for a hotly contested spot in the India’s middle-order, most likely at the expense of Rohit Sharma.Rohit, given a remarkably long rope by the team management, flopped for the fifth game in a row; his tally of 13 runs in the series is the lowest by a specialist India batsman in a five-match series and the chorus for his axing is only going to get louder.Tiwary’s debut was famously delayed by a shoulder injury in 2007, and he has had seven ODIs in the five years since. A match-winning century in another dead rubber last December only led to a long spell on the bench, but a four-for with some part-time leg spin in the previous match and a steadying 110-run partnership with Gambhir should earn him a few matches in the upcoming New Zealand series at home.For the second time in three games, Malinga began an over in the batting Powerplay with two wickets in two balls, as he removed Tiwary and then the in-form Suresh Raina as India slid to 197 for 5. But, as in the third ODI, Irfan showed off his improved batting, and gave the specialist batsman enough of the strike to take apart the Sri Lanka bowling. That day it had been Raina, today it was Dhoni, who has had little to do in this series as players above him in the order have repeatedly done the job for the side. Dhoni began by carving Malinga for consecutive boundaries through cover and a typically busy innings, interspersed with boundaries, helped India take 75 off the final 10 overs.While Dhoni piloted India at the end, Gambhir did it at the start. Even as Ajinkya Rahane failed to grab his chance, Virat Kohli had a rare failure and Rohit’s horror run extended, Gambhir was unperturbed. Once again, he managed to score at almost a run a ball without seeming to play any big hits as he made his way to his third fifty-plus score of the series. He was closing in on his seventh ODI hundred against Sri Lanka before he was done in by the extra bounce from Senanayake.It didn’t matter, though as Irfan and Dhoni powered India to a big score, one which proved too tall for an inexperienced Sri Lanka line-up.

Nottinghamshire still have to play the leaders, Warwickshire, twice but defeat against a resurgent Durham is a blow to their championship ambitions

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-Aug-2012
ScorecardAlex Hales made a century for Notts but Durham clained a vital win in the penultimate over•Getty ImagesGiven that they still have to play Warwickshire, the First Division leaders, at home and away, it would be premature to declare that Nottinghamshire’s title prospects can be discounted but their failure to beat Durham has delivered a significant setback.They have three matches left to Warwickshire’s four and the gap between them stands at 18 points, with Sussex now ahead of them as the closest pursuers. Should Warwickshire beat Middlesex at Edgbaston next week, while Nottinghamshire are idle, Chris Read’s side would probably need not only to win both clashes with their Midlands rivals, but get the better of Surrey at The Oval too.It was no wonder, then, that they identified this match with Durham as one they needed to emerge from with a strong clutch of points, and no wonder that they chased the result for all they were worth. They lost by 16 runs in the end in a gripping contest that went down to the penultimate over as the Durham all-rounder, Mark Wood, finished his second Championship appearance with a career-best 5 for 78. Even a draw would have been of limited value to them at this stage of the race.For a while, it looked more likely that Nottinghamshire would win comfortably, even though Paul Collingwood’s declaration, which came after he lost his own wicket in the fourth over of the morning, left them with a stiff challenge, namely to score 366 in 90 overs. Although Nottinghamshire have twice in their history scored more than 400 in the last innings to win a match, they have only three times chased down more than they needed on this occasion.The pitch was markedly easier than it had been earlier in the contest, particularly compared with the second day, when England’s Graham Onions arrived from being stood down at Lord’s, found the ball swinging nicely and bouncing inconsistently and wound up with 9 for 67.This time, Riki Wessels and Alex Hales put on 168 in 42.1 overs with no-one, Onions included, able to trouble either man unduly until Wessels, within two runs of a third Championship century of the season, received a ball from Chris Rushworth that he tried to cut but which he could only steer into the hands of one of two fielders in the gully region.With that platform to build on, Nottinghamshire were favourites to win the match. But long chases, even with the benefit of such a good start, inevitably run into turbulent spells and Nottinghamshire hit one when Michael Lumb to- edged an attempted sweep off Scott Borthwick, the leg spinner, to be caught at short fine leg and then Adam Voges nicked his eighth ball to Phil Mustard as Onions at last found a bit of swing,Hales, whose form has been a little below par since he made 99 for England on this ground in the Twenty20 match against West Indies in June, completed his first century of the season amid some relief but was leg before soon afterwards to a full length ball from Wood. Hales took his time to depart the scene, perhaps feeling he might have hit the ball, but there could be no argument from Read when another very good delivery from Wood bowled him.Nottinghamshire needed precisely 100 from the last 25 overs, with five wickets in hand. On another occasion, they might have begun to think conservatively but there was no point in playing for a draw. The next 90 minutes or so therefore offered a tense spectacle.Durham, for their part, had every interest in pursuing a win for themselves. They have enjoyed some improvement since Mustard handed the captaincy to Paul Collingwood and the goal for them was a third win in a row, which would almost certainly mean that their anxieties over possible relegation could almost be put to bed after a long time spent at the bottom of the table.After a brief pause to regroup, Paul Franks and Graeme White attempted to raise the tempo, but Borthwick accounted for both in quick succession. Nottinghamshire are without the quality of James Taylor and Samit Patel in their batting line-up because of international calls and they felt their absence keenly in this match.Collingwood turned down the chance to take the new ball, preferring to keep on with Borthwick and Wood. It turned out to be the right move. Steven Mullaney kept Nottinghamshire’s hopes alive with a steady unbeaten 60 but ran out of partners. Ben Phillips took three boundaries in a row off Borthwick, at which point Nottinghamshire still felt they might pull it off, needing 42 off as many balls, but Wood rose to the challenge.A couple of times he tried too hard and was no-balled for over-stepping but after Phillips had pulled him straight to midwicket he proved too good for Luke Fletcher and Andy Carter. He bowled the former twice in three balls — the first disallowed as a no-ball — and then pinned the latter squarely in front, which gave Durham victory with eight balls to spare.”If we could have got to the last over, against Borthwick, needing 10 or even 15, we might have done it,” a disappointed Mullaney said afterwards. “But it wasn’t to be.”I don’t think it is over yet. We have only three games left and Warwickshire have four but if Middlesex can squeeze a draw out of them or even win at Edgbaston next week, we still have to play them twice. Then we will see where we are when we go to Edgbaston. We could still be in a strong position.”It was fighting talk, as you would expect. But the odds against Nottinghamshire are much longer now.

South Africa’s first-class competition will start on Thursday with two of the franchises opening their campaigns with the Champions League T20 not far from their minds

Firdose Moonda19-Sep-2012South Africa’s first-class competition will start on Thursday with two of the franchises opening their campaigns with the Champions League T20 not far from their minds. The Lions and Titans will play two rounds each before beginning the lucrative multi-team tournament and both see the early start to the season as an advantage ahead of the 20-over championship.”It will be quite good for us and gives us a base going into the competition,” Lions captain, Alviro Petersen, said. Lions played in the last CLT20 to be hosted in South Africa, in 2010, and will again play most of their matches at their Johannesburg home ground, the Wanderers.Titans coach Matthew Maynard admitted his squad is “match shy” after their pre-season plans were rained on at their training camp in the country’s north-eastern Mpumalanga province. In order to get as much time in the nets as possible one of their quicks, Ethy Mbhalati, was married on Tuesday and resumed training shortly after the ceremony.Maynard said he is unconcerned with their lack of preparation and said he would rather the team “start undercooked than get overdone at the business end of the season”.Titans won last year’s first-class competition in exactly that fashion. After starting badly, they peaked in the mid-section of the tournament and sealed the title on the final weekend with a massive victory over Dolphins. Maynard said they have every intention of repeating their feats this summer. “We are not trying to defend our title, we are trying to win the competition – that’s a slightly different mindset,” he explained. “It’s all about how well you play in the last third of the season.”Titans start the campaign against Knights, who have prepared with two warm-up matches. They played North-West Dragons in a day-night first-class match, a pioneer of its kind in South Africa, where Morne van Wyk and Johan van der Wath scored hundreds in that game and van der Wath was among the wickets as well. “Our plans have gone quite well. Our bowlers were able to clock overs in the middle which they needed and the batters got plenty of runs,” Knights coach Sarel Cilliers said. “So at this stage, I’m quite happy.”Cobras, last season’s runners-up, will start their summer in Potchefstroom against Lions. Both teams have new coaches, who are each taking charge of a franchise for the first time. Paul Adams, Cobras coach, is in charge of a team who ended last season fractured after Richard Pybus resigned. Adams said he understands he has a “responsibility to provide an environment in which the players will thrive and keep growing,” and he also wants to ensure trophies end up at Newlands.Lions find themselves in the same position, having last secured silverware five seasons ago. Petersen thinks their development phase is over and that the squad of players they have are ready to blossom. “The guys have matured over the last couple of years,” he said. “We’ve spent time trying to build a team that can win and we think we have got there.”Under Geoffrey Toyana, who Petersen describes as “relaxed”, Lions will look to play a new brand of cricket. “The way we are going to play four-day cricket has probably changed a bit because we’re going to be playing two strike bowlers,” he said.A lack of firepower has been Lions, and at times the competitions’, main problem. That is set to change, especially as it is the place from where South Africa will have to produce players to help them retain their No. 1 Test ranking. Cricket South Africa are pouring resources into giving it a higher-profile, including securing the pay television broadcaster SuperSport to air hourly highlights and post-match interviews.

Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, is eyeing a whitewash in the forthcoming five-match ODI series against Bangladesh to help the team improve their one-day rankings

Mohammad Isam29-Nov-2012Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, is eyeing a whitewash in the forthcoming five-match ODI series against Bangladesh which will help the team improve its one-day rankings. But like he had repeatedly said during the recently concluded Test series, beating the home side won’t be easy.”5-0 gives us five ranking points. 4-1 gives us one and 3-2 might lose us ranking points,” Sammy said. “I will let the guys know of this but first we will look to win the series. If we play to our potential, it [5-0] is possible. We will take one thing at a time now, tomorrow is the first game of the five-match series.”After the Dhaka Test, Sammy had said that they were able to push for a win because they took the Bangladesh challenge seriously. The situation got a little out of control in the second Test when Bangladesh put up a decent first innings total, thanks to No. 10 Abul Hasan’s debut hundred, and the 184-run tenth wicket partnership shared with Mahmudullah. West Indies rode out that challenge again, and dominated the rest of the game to win the series 2-0.”Bangladesh keep coming back when you think they’re down. In the last Test, the No. 8 and No. 10 put on a partnership in the first innings,” he said. “We are not taking them for granted. But once we play to our full potential, we could be a very destructive force.”West Indies switched into the one-day mode with a massive win in the warm-up game against BCB XI on Wednesday. The highlight of that game, which could also be a forewarning for Bangladesh, was West Indies’ total of 361 under the new fielding restrictions. Chris Gayle, who didn’t play in that game, was the only batsman without a big score in the Tests but Sammy believes it is a matter of time before he fires with the bat.”Our batsmen took responsibility to score the bulk of the runs in the Test series. We have at least six guys coming in for the ODI series. They all had a go, and they scored a lot of runs in the practice match, so it is tough to select the team with such bench strength.”Chris [Gayle] turns up anytime. He is the best batsman in limited-overs cricket right now. He’s the most dangerous in any format. I am not worried about him. He has his routine, and has scored all over the world. Good for us if he’s due some runs, not for Bangladesh.”Sammy’s captaincy and patience will be tested under the new rules of having just the four fielders outside the 30-yard circle for 35 overs during the match. He said that the umpires have assured of helping out the captains during this series if an extra man is stationed outside the circle by mistake, though he has already devised a plan to remember the new rule.”I will just remember to keep mid-off or mid-on up. I have studied it quite well and I think I have trained my brain to keep monitoring. We have enough senior players in the team to help me along, and the umpires said they’ll look out for the odd fielder outside.”Sammy said that the new rule is going to put pressure on the fielding teams, especially on the spinners. However, he said that it also presents an opportunity to cut the singles down.”Teams were scoring 300-plus with five guys outside the circle. Now it is only four. I feel sorry for the spinners, they have to find an extra way to bowl and be economical. We have to find one person in the ring which could put more pressure on the batsmen, and no easy singles to get.”The first match of the series is to be played in Khulna tomorrow.

Sri Lanka named Shashikala Siriwardene as the captain of the 15-member Women’s squad for the upcoming Women’s World Cup that starts in Mumbai on January 31

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2012Sri Lanka named Shashikala Siriwardene as the captain of the 15-member Women’s squad for the upcoming World Cup that starts in Mumbai on January 31. Siriwardene took over the Twenty20 captaincy from Dilani Manodara for the Women’s World T20 in Sri Lanka. She has captained the team in 34 ODIs, but in only one in the last two years.Sri Lanka have made two changes from the squad that played in the Women’s Asia Cup T20s in China in October. Lasanthi Madushani and Oshadi Ranasinghe have come in for Inoka Galagedara and Maduri Samuddika.Sri Lanka are placed in Group A with hosts India, West Indies and England. They play their first match on February 2 against England at the Wankhede Stadium. The team is also scheduled to play two warm-ups – against New Zealand and South Africa.Sri Lanka squad: Shashikala Siriwardene (capt), Sandamani Dolawatte, Dilani Manodara, Chamari Atapattu, Deepika Rasangika, Eshani Kaushalya, Chamani Seneviratna, Sripali Weerakkody, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera, Prasadani Weerakkody, Lasanthi Madushani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Sharina Ravikumar, Yasoda Mendis

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said the weather conditions played a crucial role during their chase in the third ODI in Delhi

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2013Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul Haq has said changes in conditions through the course of the day were responsible for India securing a ten-run victory in the third ODI in Delhi. Defeat for Pakistan, who won the series 2-1, came after their attack put on another quality display, restricting India to 167, but their batsmen failed to chase down the target.Delhi had recorded another cold day, the minimum temperature dipping to 1.9 degrees late into the night, which made the run chase difficult for the visitors.”The weather made all the difference. Survival became difficult as the fog descended,” Misbah said. “The pitch, which looked like a batting track, changed its behaviour as the temperature dipped. I did not expect such moisture. So weather played a crucial role.”At the toss, Misbah had said Pakistan were used to playing in cold conditions because Lahore also has similar weather conditions at this time of the year. But the fog along with the cold made it more difficult for his batsmen to settle down during the chase.”It was very cold. We played under such conditions during our domestic T20 league back home and when we were preparing for the India series, but [we’ve not experienced them] in international matches on the subcontinent,” he said. “It was very difficult to bat on. It will be difficult for India and England in the coming series to play under such cold conditions.”When we started the run chase, the Indian seamers got movement and swing, the spinners got the required turn and bounce. When they batted, only Mahendra Singh Dhoni could manage to score runs, when we batted it was opener Nasir Jamshed. Apart from the duo, no other batsman from both the sides could score runs.”Jamshed and Dhoni were the only batsmen with more than 100 runs in the series, making 241 and 203 respectively. While Dhoni’s knock of 113 not out in Chennai was in vain, Jamshed’s hundreds in the first two matches ensured Pakistan’s victory and earned him the Man-of-the-Series award.Pakistan’s failure to capitalise on the start they got in Delhi, thereby missing out on a cleansweep, was a source of some frustration for them but Misbah credited India’s effort. “We missed the chance to sweep the series,” he said. “The Indian bowlers exploited the conditions well. Their fielding was great as they saved at least 30-35 runs. It was an exceptional bowling and fielding effort.”

Samit Patel, the England allrounder, has signed as an overseas player for Warriors in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2013Samit Patel, the England allrounder, has signed as an overseas player for Warriors in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 tournament.He is currently in New Zealand and will arrive in Port Elizabeth on February 25 to be available for the rest of the tournament. The final takes place on April 7 with Nottinghamshire’s first County Championship match, against Middlesex, starting on April 10.”I’m very excited to be joining the Chevrolet Warriors,” Patel said. “I’ve heard fantastic things about the team and the area. The Warriors have a history of doing well in this format and I hope I can add something extra and make this year a winning season. I want to thank my county in England for releasing me to play and speaking to the staff at the Warriors I really can’t wait to start.”Patel was among the Nottinghamshire players barred from going into the IPL auction by their county coach Mike Newell. Unlike the IPL, however, South Africa’s tournament takes place out of the English domestic season and will not require Patel to miss any county cricket even if Warriors make it to the final.Patel, 28, has played 18 T20 internationals for England and was approached about appearing in the now-delayed Pakistan Super League.

Round-up of the Ram Slam T20 matches played on March 8, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCameron Delport smashed an unbeaten 58-ball 103 to lead Dolphins to their first win of the tournament in six games. Delport hit nine fours and five sixes for his maiden T20 hundred, taking Dolphins to 179. After the early loss of Divan van Wyk, Delport was accompanied by Ravi Bopara in an 83-run stand. David Miller then joined Delport and produced an unbeaten 23-ball 39 to add 80 runs in less than eight overs with Delport.Knights’ reply was led by Rilee Rossouw who made 44 off 28 but did not get much support during his stay. Loots Bosman and Dean Elgar were dismissed in the first six overs and once Rossouw departed in the 11th over, Obus Pienaar tried to keep the Knights in the hunt but his 32 off 21 also went in vain. Yusuf Abdulla was the most successful Dolphins bowler with 2 for 17 which kept Knights to 165 for 6.Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLions continued their stay at the top of the table when they chased Cape Cobras’ total of 117 with five wickets left. After Cobras were asked to bat, Richard Levi was dismissed for a duck. Dane Vilas steered the innings with a knock of 30. Once he was bowled in the 14th over, the middle order could not convert the start into a big score. Sohail Tanvir took two wickets in an over to limit Cobras to 117 for 6.Lions opener Quinton de Kock also got out for a duck and Gulam Bodi departed for 10 in the fifth over. Alviro Petersen’s 36-ball 46 put Lions back on track along with Tanvir who made 28 off 24. Both Petersen and Tanvir fell in the same over to Beuran Hendricks but their 49-run stand had taken them close to victory. Jean Symes and Dwaine Pretorius made sure they won with 10 balls to spare.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA fifty from Christiaan Jonker and a four-wicket haul from Wayne Parnell got Warriors their fourth win in six matches to take them to second position in the points table. After scoring 150 for 9 when put in to bat, Warriors restricted Titans to 140 for a 12-run win.Jonker and Ashwell Prince put on 75 upfront in 9.4 overs, of which Jonker made 50 off 33, hitting ten boundaries. But both were dismissed within seven balls and Samit Patel was dismissed four balls later by Roelof van der Merwe. Before JJ Smuts and Adrian McLaren could convert their starts, they were bowled for 19 and 28 respectively. Alfonso Thomas then took three wickets, including two in the last over, to keep Warriors to 152.Wayne Parnell removed Henry Davids first ball and struck again to dismiss van der Merwe. in his second over. Jacques Rudolph made a 36-ball 32 and Titans were scoring at under six runs per over which kept the pressure mounting. Scott Styris tried to keep them in the game, with three sixes and two fours, but Parnell took two more wickets, including that of big-hitting Albie Morkel, and Titans could not go beyond 140.

Jacques Kallis is close to committing himself to South Africa’s Champions Trophy squad despite not playing an ODI in over a year

Firdose Moonda25-Mar-2013Jacques Kallis is close to committing himself to South Africa’s Champions Trophy squad despite not playing an ODI in over a year. Kallis last played a fifty-over match in February 2012 and is no longer available for bilateral one-day series but could be back into contention for ICC tournaments, as he did for the World Twenty20 last September.After South Africa lost their January ODI series against New Zealand, Gary Kirsten revealed he was in discussions with Kallis as the team hoped to step up preparations for June’s Champions Trophy. On conclusion of the Pakistan series, Kirsten disclosed that talks are still ongoing and Kallis is being persuaded.”Negotiations are going well,” Kirsten said. “Jacques Kallis is not going to play one-day cricket anymore because we value him in Test matches too much but we reserve the right to call him up in certain tournaments. The Champions Trophy is the last major tournament before the World Cup and I am excited that he may make himself available for that.”Of the many achievements on Kallis’ CV, the one missing is a World Cup medal and he has previously said he would like to play until he can add one. But the next edition of that tournament is still two years away and a recent spate of injuries may make that too distant a goal. Even though the Champions Trophy is a watered down version of a World Cup, it may be Kallis’ last chance to obtain ICC silverware and although it will not replace the biggest event, two Champions’ Trophy medals (South Africa won the 1998 version) may be some consolation.Bringing Kallis in cold may sit uneasily with some, though. While Kirsten maintains that the 17 years Kallis has spent as an international cricketer is enough to justify slotting him into the starting XI immediately, he is also aware that it’s a move that could backfire.For that reason, Kirsten’s focus for the ODIs South Africa played this summer was on blooding those who could take over should the Kallis trump card not work. In the series against Pakistan, it seems South Africa coped better without Kallis than they have before and Kirsten was impressed with how they progressed.Colin Ingram was installed into his batting spot at No.3 while Ryan McLaren was handed rope and told he would get a sustained run as the first-choice allrounder. Both performed well, McLaren perhaps more so, and proved they can step up.More tellingly, the middle-order firmed up in the absence of a player like Kallis which has given South Africa an added boost ahead of the Champions Trophy. “This was a good stepping stone in terms of where we want to go. Guys like Farhaan Behardien and David Miller; people who have not done well for us in the past have been given a run and shown they are capable. It’s good that we have competition and we have created depth,” Kirsten said.Batting depth was South Africa’s obvious worry especially because it seemed as though they had endless supply of bowlers coming through, but creating options with ball was also important. Kallis’ two-in-one role meant that when he was taken out of the mix, it also left the team without an additional bowler.Kirsten believes they have now found a solution for that. “To have a sixth bowler in your team is crucial and we’re getting there. AB used Farhaan Berhardien in Benoni and he made an impact straight away. You need someone who can take pace off the ball and bowl wicket to wicket,” he said. De Villiers also tried Ingram, a move that backfired in that situation but one that he may look at again. JP Duminy, who is expected to recover in time for the Champions Trophy, is another option.Another gain made was in the leadership core, which Kallis was not overtly part of but would have been tacitly involved on the sheer weight of his experience. Without him, Johan Botha and Graeme Smith in the last match, to lean on, de Villiers was forced to do things his way.Not only did he manage, but he juggled it successfully with his wicketkeeping duties and took his batting to a new level as he became man of the series. “AB has made great strides in his captaincy,” Kirsten said. “This has been an important series for him in all components. He has had a great couple of games.”With all the development, it seems as though Kirsten is slowly transferring the successful culture of the Test team onto the ODI squad. But he will have to wait more than two months to see if the transition is complete.South Africa dispersed yesterday and will reconvene at the end of May to prepare for the Champions Trophy. They have a short stay in Holland, which Kirsten says will be similar to the trip they took in Switzerland before the Test series against England, before the actual competition.Almost all the players, including Kallis, will have match time under their belts either at the IPL or on the county circuit which Kirsten can only hope will be enough as he tries to break South Africa’s major tournament trophy drought.”When players are at the IPL, they are fully involved and fully contracted. It’s very difficult to have any control over your players during that time. Ideally, I’d love to get our squad together a month before Champions Trophy to prepare but that’s not the way cricket is,” Kirsten said.Kallis is one of the few who can remember a time when breaks were more frequent and will want to show that even without having played ODI cricket, he can still do it and win.