As next-door neighbours and useful sparring partners, Zimbabwe are regular opponents in the early stages of South Africa’s international season, with 20 of their previous 36 encounters taking place between late August and early November

Andrew Miller and Sahil Dutta07-Oct-2010

Match Facts

Friday, October 8, Bloemfontein

Start time 6:00pm (1600 GMT)All eyes will be on Grant Flower to see if he can reproduce his Essex form on the international stage, six years after last playing for Zimbabwe•PA Photos

The Big Picture

As next-door neighbours and useful sparring partners, Zimbabwe are regular opponents in the early stages of South Africa’s international season, with 20 of their previous 36 encounters taking place between late August and early November. On paper, therefore, this short series would appear to be just another unequal struggle, especially given that Zimbabwe have only ever won two encounters against the regional heavyweights, none of which have come in the past decade.Unusually, however, the true focus of this tour is Zimbabwe’s resurgence, rather than South Africa’s search for early-season fluency, and the first match in Bloemfontein – which will also be the first time the two teams have met in a Twenty20 international – will be a significant indicator as to the extent of the country’s redevelopment. Everything about the team, from the return of Grant Flower at the age of 39 to the announcement that Reebok will be their new kit suppliers, suggests that the traumas of the recent past are dissipating, and a bright new dawn is in the offing.Whether the dawn is bright enough for them to pull off a surprise victory in the coming weeks remains to be seen, but with Graeme Smith having stepped down from his Twenty20 role in favour of the spinner Johan Botha, there’s a hint of inexperience upon which they’ll hope to capitalise. Besides, in the shortest form of the game, there’s a much greater scope for upsets, as Zimbabwe proved in beating Australia at the 2007 World Twenty20.Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwe’s captain, has promised his team will come out with a new aggressive approach, having talked his tactics through with a brains trust that includes Alan Butcher, the former head coach at Surrey, as well as several stars of Zimbabwe’s brief golden era of the late 1990s, most notably Flower, Heath Streak the bowling coach and Alistair Campbell, the chief selector. With the 2011 World Cup fast approaching, this brief encounter could prove more instructive than past history would suggest.

Form guide

South Africa WWLLW

Zimbabwe LLLLW

Watch out for…

Grant Flower’s return to the fray after a six-year absence has been the biggest talking point of the tour. Despite a visa glitch that left him stranded at Harare Airport while the rest of the team set off for Johannesburg, he has now caught up with the squad and is ready to resume an international career that already encompasses 67 Tests and 219 ODIs. Assuming he’s fit and ready to take part in his first Twenty20 international, Zimbabwe will hope he can rediscover the form he displayed for Essex in the 2010 English summer, in which he was especially effective in the CB40 competition with 511 runs at 73.00 in 10 innings.David Miller had already created a stir by the time he made his international debut – age 20 – earlier this year against West Indies. He didn’t disappoint – making 33 from 26 balls down the order to help revive a flagging total and set up a narrow win. His blend of power and dexterity, alongside a clear-headed confidence makes him an ideal finisher who could prove the catalyst to South Africa’s improvement in the way Eoin Morgan has done for England.

Team news

South Africa may have followed their lethargic showing in the World Twenty20 with a pair of wins over West Indies but suspicion remains they are still groping for a combination capable of challenging the best teams in this format. They have a new-look team for this series with Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis resting and AB de Villiers out with injury. The exciting prospect Colin Ingram will make his debut and Heino Kuhn gets another chance behind the stumps in place of de Villiers. Wayne Parnell’s return from injury gives the home side a boost while Ryan McLaren, who was surprisingly overlooked for the original squad, comes in for Albie Morkel, who picked up a side strain while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Heino Kuhn (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Johan Botha (capt), 8 Ryan McLaren, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Wayne Parnell, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.Grant Flower’s presence in the top order dominates the team news while Ed Rainsford should get his chance after a strong showing in the ODI series against Ireland where he picked up 10 wickets in the three matches.Zimbabwe (possible) 1 Brendan Taylor, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Grant Flower, 4 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 5 Charles Coventry, 6 Chamu Chibhabha, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Shingirai Masakadza, 10 Ed Rainsford, 11 Chris Mpofu.

Pitch and conditions

There has not been an international match played at Bloemfontein since South Africa eased to an innings victory over Bangladesh almost two years ago. Back then there were runs aplenty for the home side before Bangladesh’s batsmen struggled. Twenty20 conditions should be benign and with the forecast set fair runs should be on offer.

Stats and trivia

• 39 may not seem the normal age for newcomers but Grant Flower will make his Twenty20 International debut at Bloemfontein.
• Flower can at least claim to have some good form behind him. In his last international game, six years ago, he took 3 for 36 before top-scoring with 59 to help Zimbabwe edge to victory over Bangladesh.
• Since clubbing 94 from 45 balls against England at Centurion Loots Bosman has made 8, 0, 7, and 0 in Twenty20 Internationals.
  

  Quotes

  “Pro20 cricket is about who is the better team on the day, the uncertainty of this format is what makes it so exciting.”
  
  “When I have a bat in my hand and when I am hitting the ball, I feel in my element.”
  
  

The Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi has been reinstated as an international venue with effect from January 1

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2010The Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi has been reinstated as an international venue with effect from January 1, the ICC has said. This means it is formally cleared to host the four World Cup matches scheduled at the ground next year.The decision follows an inspection by Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant, who observed the pitch first-hand during a Ranji match between Delhi and Gujarat over the past week.The venue was suspended as an international ground following the abandonment of an ODI between India and Sri Lanka in December 2009, and has been under a process of repair monitored by the ICC. Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, said it was pleased with the remedial work carried out and felt the playing surfaces were now back to the standard expected for international matches.The DDCA, to protect the pitch, has decided minimise cricket at the venue ahead of the World Cup, including shifting the next two scheduled Ranji matches out of the Kotla. “We want to keep the wicket in good shape, so [we thought] why not move the Ranji games to other grounds that are available,” Venkat Sundaram, the chairman of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, told Cricinfo. “There are 12 days of cricket scheduled for this track before the World Cup and they can lead to a lot of wear and tear on the wicket, with players running onto it with spikes. “He also said the onset of winter meant the grass won’t grow very quickly, so it would be better to let the turf settle rather than have a lot of cricket on it before the World Cup.The last international played at the Kotla, on December 27 2009, was abandoned after 23.3 overs after the match officials decided the pitch was of “extremely variable bounce and too dangerous for further play”. The immediate fallout of the fiasco was the sacking of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, followed by the resignation of their Delhi counterparts.

A lack of game time has cost Doug Bollinger his spot for the first Ashes Test despite him being Australia’s most potent bowler of the past 12 months

Peter English in Brisbane24-Nov-2010A lack of game time has cost Doug Bollinger his spot for the first Ashes Test despite him being Australia’s most potent bowler of the past 12 months. Peter Siddle won the final place in the XI on his pre-injury reputation, but the same set of guidelines did not apply to Bollinger.Bollinger picked up 47 wickets at 22.02 in his past 10 matches but the numbers were not enough to regain his position after hurting his stomach in the first Test in India. While Siddle, who has appeared in 17 Tests, has completed a solid workout in the domestic and limited-overs sides, Bollinger was limited to one four-day fixture for New South Wales.”Lack of bowling [for Bollinger] over the last few weeks has been as much to do with it as anything,” Ricky Ponting said as he announced his side. “Just the fact this line-up had good success in South Africa and at times in England last series. We feel that [Ben] Hilfenhaus and Siddle are very well advanced in their preparations for this series and [Mitchell] Johnson has a lot of cricket under his belt. We think this attack is good enough to take 20 wickets at the Gabba.”Johnson has the most victims for Australia over the past 12 months with 52, but Bollinger’s strike-rate of a wicket every 41.7 balls is seven better than Johnson’s. Siddle has not played a Test since January after suffering a back stress fracture that kept him out of tours to New Zealand, England and India.For the past two years the Australians have raved about the Johnson-Siddle-Hilfenhaus pace attack because of its stunning work in the opening two Tests of the 2008-09 series in South Africa. The trio also led the overall wicket list during the 2009 Ashes but it wasn’t enough to set up a series victory.Ponting briefly considered a four-man pace attack for this game but quickly changed his mind when he saw the pitch. The surface is light green and Ponting said it looked like a normal Gabba wicket, but he was cagey when asked if he would still bat first. “We will wait and see what happens,” he said.The forecast cloudy conditions and humidity will add to the dangers offered by the wicket, but Ponting still wanted the safety of a spinner and Tasmania’s Xavier Doherty will make his debut. The bowlers are expected to control the match and even though the Australians have had trouble on seaming surfaces lately, Ponting believed England would have more difficulty handling the extra bounce.”History suggests that every touring team coming to Australia generally finds here and Perth the places harder to adjust and adapt to,” he said. “England have been here a while and in Hobart last week it seamed around a little bit. But history suggests we handle these conditions very, very well and opposition teams struggled a bit.” Australia have not lost a game at the Gabba since they were beaten by West Indies in 1988-89.Michael Clarke batted strongly in the nets and completed a fielding session as well to secure his place. “I’ve got to wait till tomorrow morning to see how I pull up, but it felt good today,” he said during training.Ponting said there was no danger in using Clarke, who needed injections after a recurrence of his persistent back problem two weeks ago. “I wouldn’t have thought there would be a risk involved,” he said. “It’s a big game for us at the start of the series and you don’t want to go with a cloud hanging over anybody. That was why he was asked to do as much batting as he did yesterday and again today. We couldn’t afford to leave any stone unturned as far as preparation is concerned.”

Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis will appear before the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal that will decide the case against the three suspended Pakistan players

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2011Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis have been asked to appear before the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing the case of the three Pakistan players who have been accused of spot-fixing.”Both of them will appear before the ICC Tribunal either in person or through teleconference depending on their convenience and subject to their professional commitments,” the PCB said in a statement.Afridi, Pakistan’s limited overs captain, will not be involved in the Test matches in New Zealand, which coincide with the January 6-11 hearings. Younis, the Pakistan coach, will be in New Zealand.Though there was no further comment from the PCB or ICC, ESPNcricinfo understands the players’ lawyers had been informed of the development. The pair will appear, effectively, as witnesses for the prosecution.It is likely the pair will be asked about statements they had made to the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission during Pakistan’s series with South Africa in the UAE recently . Those comments appeared in Pakistani press last week; Younis is quoted as saying that Mohammad Amir’s infamous no-ball during the Lord’s Test had surprised him “greatly” because it was very different from his normal delivery stride. He said he’d taken up the issue with the bowler, only for the then captain, Salman Butt, to intervene before Amir could reply.Afridi was also questioned and subsequently quoted in the report on his thoughts about the three players.The hearing, which will be held in Doha from January 6 to 11, will determine the fate of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. All three have denied their involvement in any spot-fixing.

A round-up of the latest round of games from the SuperSport Series in South Africa, with another hundred for Jacques Rudolph, a good spell for Vernon Philander and lots of rain

Firdose Moonda23-Jan-2011There was just one result from the three fixtures in the eighth round of the SuperSport Series this week, with rain playing a big part in the all the matches.Cobras earned a nine-wicket win over Dolphins in Durban to move to second place on the table, 12.12 points behind the Titans. With wet weather hanging over Kingsmead, the Dolphins put the Cobras in to bat first and had early success. Seamers Quinton Friend, Jon Kent and Mthokozisi Shezi took four early wickets between them to have Cobras pegged back on 55 for 4. Skipper Justin Kemp rode to the Cobras’ rescue and a 137-run stand for the fifth wicket with Justin Ontong effectively set the platform for their victory. Kemp finished unbeaten on 135, Friend with 4 for 80 and the Cobras were bowled out for 360.The Dolphins were never allowed to settle in their knock and were bowled out for 162, incurring a deficit of 198 runs. Vernon Philander, who took 4 for 47, and Rory Kleinveldt, who ended with 3 for 30, did the bulk of the damage. The Dolphins were made to follow on and managed 255 in their second stint at the crease. They had a decent start with Devon Conway and Imran Khan scoring 35 and 37 respectively. The rest of the order crumbled and only Jon Kent’s half-century saved them from an innings defeat. Philander’s 4 for 49 saw him amongst the wickets again. The Cobras were set a target of 63 to win. They reached with only the loss of Alastair Gray for 15.In East London, play was only possible for the first two days of the match between the Warriors and the Titans. Jacques Rudolph’s continued claim for a national recall was the feature of the Titans innings. Rudolph scored 105 in the Titans total of 256. It was his third hundred in eight matches and takes him just 45 runs behind the competitions top scorer Neil McKenzie. Andrew Birch ran through the rest of the Titans line-up taking 6 for 52 while Farhaan Berhadien contributed 63 and Albie Morkel a confidence boosting unbeaten 55.The Warriors lost both their openers for ducks in reply. Brad Bennet was bowled by Morkel and Michael Price suffered a similar fate at the hands of Ethy Mbhalati. Jon-Jon Smuts settled in comfortably and scored 131. He was ably assisted by Arno Jacobs who scored 63 and Craig Thyssen, who was unbeaten on 67. Eden Links’ 4 for 71 was the most successful return by a Titans bowler. The heavens opened with the Warriors on 307 for 6, leading by 51, and by the end of the match had not closed.The Lions and the Knights also only managed one innings apiece in their clash in Bloemfontein. The Knights set themselves up for a long period in the field when they chose to send the Lions in to bat. Steven Cook and Alviro Petersen put on 99 for the first wicket with Petersen finishing on 52 and Cook going on to make 106. The innings belonged to young Temba Bavuma who scored 124 in just his second first-class game. The Lions declared on 336 for 9 in 98 overs.In reply, the Knights were in all sorts of trouble at 124 for 5. Dean Elgar was still at the crease on 66, but the rest of the top five were out in the single digits. Ethan O’Reilly took 2 for 33 and Friedel de Wet 2 for 11. Despite a strong performance by the Lions, they slip to fourth on the table, with the Dolphins moving into third. The competition takes a two month break to make way for the Standard Bank Pro20, which starts next Friday.Batsman of the week: Temba Bavuma came in as a late replacement for McKenzie, who had a calf injury and made the most of his opportunity. He scored his maiden SuperSport Series century to boost his franchise career.Bowler of the week: Vernon Philander’s eight-wicket match haul went a long way to helping the Cobras beat the Dolphins. Philander has 35 wickets in the competition at an average of 16.11.

India search for a maiden series win against a tenacious South Africa who have fought back despite threatening to implode in each of the four one-dayers

The Preview by Sriram Veera22-Jan-2011

Match Facts

January 23, Centurion

Start time 10.00 (8.00 GMT, 13.30 IST)
Virat Kohli could force his way into the World Cup starting XI with his irrepressible form•AFP

Big Picture

The curious case of Virat Kohli keeps getting interesting. Prior to the series his case was distilled into this emotive question: How can you drop him from the playing eleven when he is in such good form? Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir return to take the top three. Yuvraj Singh is the best part-time spinner and can win a game with the bat, Yusuf Pathan’s explosiveness will be vital lower down, and Suresh Raina can potentially get going right from the start and is more suited to the lower order, in Indian conditions, than Kohli.Or so it seemed before this series. With Yusuf clicking in one game and Yuvraj too hitting a fifty, apart from his bowling, the pressure has escalated on Raina. If there is Yusuf and Yuvraj for power hitting, would it better to blood an in-form Kohli ahead of Raina? That’s the thought Kohli will strive to strengthen in this decider and something that Raina will try to kill.The series itself hangs on a knife’s edge. India had just won three random games against South Africa in South Africa before this series and are on verge of something special. For their part, South Africa have hung on, despite threatening to implode in all the games, and pushed the series to a decider. The weather might play spoil sport, though, with the forecast predicting thunderstorms on the match day.South Africa’s World-Cup puzzles too are falling in place. JP Duminy has shown that he has the temperament to lead the lower order, Faf du Plessis hinted at a solid temperament, and Morne Van Wyk, with an accomplished performance in the Twenty20 game, is putting pressure on Colin Ingram. Smith has had a torrid time in the last two games and though he is an established player, a good show at Centurion won’t hurt him. They have been shy to give Imran Tahir any exposure in this series, probably preferring to keep him hidden till the World Cup.Morne Morkel has been simply outstanding in this series, extracting bounce from sluggish tracks in the last two games and indicating he might be a force to reckon with even on traditional slow-and-low subcontinental tracks. The ball to remove Yusuf Pathan – a full length delivery that seamed away at the last instant – in the fourth ODI also showcased that he is just not a hit-the-deck short of length bowler but someone who thinks a lot about his game and has the full repertoire.Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been in rich form though one still has to wait and watch how he performs in the subcontinental conditions. He does have a good off cutter but can he continue to churn out good performances even in the World Cup?

Form guide

South Africa: WLLWW
India: LWWLW

Players to watch out for…

Graeme Smith: He looked a shadow of the man who scored a confident 77 in the second ODI. And it just can’t be put down to the pressure of a brittle lower order as he has struggled to put bat to ball in the last two games. He has stabbed inside the line, groped outside the line, stumbled forward, and has had a horror time. Will he get back to form with a confident knock in the last game?Suresh Raina: The selection sword dangles over him. The pressure is truly on. He got to a start in the third ODI but threw it away with a wild slog against Morne, just as the game entered the final lap. He combusted cheaply in the last match, rushing out too early to be left stranded. Meanwhile, Kohli has been marching from strength to strength. Until now, Raina had the clear upper hand as he was more suited to the lower order and his case only strengthened when you throw in his off breaks into the equation. But he can’t afford any more slip-ups.

Team news

India (probable): 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla/ Ashish Nehra, 10 Munaf Patel, 11 Zaheer KhanSouth Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Morne Van Wyk/ Colin Ingram, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Johan Botha, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Wayne Parnell/Robin Peterson, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Stats and trivia

• du Plessis’ 60 in the third ODI made him the first South African batsman to score a half century on debut against India. The previous best was 43 by Adrian Kuiper in 1991.

Quotes

“We have done well with the ball in this series. We have generally fielded well. The intensity has been good. We are excited to go to Pretoria. The teams have been trading blows for two months now and it has been a competitive series”

Yasir Hameed, the Pakistan batsman, has been banned from the ongoing Pentangular Cup competition and the year’s national Twenty20 championship

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2011Yasir Hameed, the Pakistan batsman, has been banned by the PCB from domestic cricket for his interview with an undercover reporter from in the immediate aftermath of the spot-fixing controversy.In the interview, Hameed had discussed the fall-out of the Lord’s Test, the Sydney Test against Australia early last year and a possible approach by a bookie. The precise length of the ban has not been specified but it is thought to apply only to the ongoing Pentangular Cup and the domestic T20 championship that will follow. He has also been fined Rs.300,000 (US$3,500 approx).Nadeem Sarwar, the board spokesperson, said Hameed had been banned “for his
spot-fixing allegations against some national players in a newspaper interview last
year”. Hameed has always denied making any allegations, claiming that he merely repeated what the tabloid had already reported.At the time Hameed said he was duped by the investigative reporter who came to him in a hotel in Nottingham as a representative from a global airline to discuss possible sponsorship deals, but apologised to the PCB immediately after. “I was trapped into it but I should not have said all that before a stranger and I apologise to all the players who were hurt because of that,” he had said.Hameed was also summoned to the Pakistan High Commission in London to explain his utterances during the sting operation, and he recently lodged a formal complaint against NOTW with the UK’s Press Complaints Commission, accusing them of inaccurate reporting, breach of privacy, misrepresentation of character and harassment. He also alleged that the man, an Abid Khan, had sent him intimidating SMSs after the meeting once Hameed had denied what had been attributed to him.Hameed, 32, represents Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in the Pentangular Cup. The ban is the result of an investigation into the matter by the PCB’s recently-constituted Integrity Committee, in front of which Hameed appeared last month.

Lasith Malinga has said he could not bowl yorkers in the final against India because the ball was wet, while Muttiah Muralitharan said the inability of the spinners to get wickets caused the loss

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2011Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan came in to the World Cup final with 27 wickets between them in the tournament. They were expected to lead Sri Lanka’s attack on Saturday, but Murali went wicketless and Malinga couldn’t build on his first spell of 2 for 11 in four overs.Malinga got the early wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, but failed to give Sri Lanka a breakthrough in the middle overs, as he so often does with the old ball. When he came on in the end, with India closing in on a win, he bowled one over for three runs, but his next went for 11, relieving the pressure on India’s batsmen. Malinga suggested the dew may have affected his bowling later on in the innings.”I couldn’t bowl yorkers properly because the ball was too wet,” Malinga said on his return to Colombo on Sunday. “It was difficult to swing the ball. I tried hard. I regret I couldn’t take more wickets.” This was not the first time in the World Cup that a player had said he was hampered by dew. After England’s loss to Bangladesh in Chittagong, Graeme Swann had likened bowling with a wet ball to playing football with your hands tied behind your back.On that occasion, England had been put in to bat by Bangladesh, but on Saturday, it was Sri Lanka’s decision to bat first. They had bowled second during their group match against New Zealand in Mumbai, and on that occasion dismissed the opposition for 153. Malinga had been expensive in that match, going for more than seven runs an over, but had not been required to bowl more than five overs, as Sri Lanka’s spinners ran through New Zealand. Murali, who took four wickets in that game, had said that it was tough to turn the wet ball but one had to learn how to adjust and think of other ways to dismiss batsmen.During the final, Murali didn’t look 100% fit – though his captain later insisted “he was fine” – and rarely troubled India’s batsmen in his eight overs which went for 39. He said the 274 Sri Lanka had posted was enough to defend but the spinners not capitalising on Malinga’s start was the main reason for the loss.”We got enough runs on the board; 274 was a good score. Malinga took two vital wickets but after that we couldn’t crack their side, especially in the middle part,” Murali said. “The spinners didn’t take enough wickets.”If I or Suraj [Randiv] took a few wickets then the story would have been different. These things happen in cricket so you have to move on and I’d like to wish the team well for the future. Hopefully, in 2015 they’ll bring home the cup.”Randiv, who had only joined the squad after an injury to Angelo Mathews and found himself playing in the tournament for the first time in the final, went wicketless in nine overs, while Tillakaratne Dilshan picked up one wicket with his part-time offspin.The loss meant Murali’s one-day career did not have the dream finish that his Test career did – he took eight wickets, including his 800th in a victorious last Test – and he admitted he was disappointed. “It was a little bit disappointing because my main aim was to win the World Cup. But unfortunately we couldn’t do that because India were a better side on the day.”While Murali had announced before the tournament started that this would be his last international series, Malinga has now said he will not play another World Cup. He has been injury prone, with a recurring knee injury being a source of constant concern, and said he will not last till 2015, by when he will be 31.”I hope to be of service to my team as long as I can, but I won’t be able to play in the next World Cup in 2015,” Malinga said. “I have been carrying injuries for the past few weeks with little rest.” He was rested from Sri Lanka’s first two group games but has since played seven matches in just over a month.Malinga has been part of two losing teams in World Cup finals, in a stop-start career that comprised only 30 Tests and 84 one-dayers since debuting in 2004.While they couldn’t do enough in the final, Murali and Malinga both had their moments in the tournament. Malinga grabbed a second World Cup hat-trick in Sri Lanka’s group-stage match against Kenya, and then took three wickets in the semi-final against New Zealand. Murali bagged three wickets in his last game in his hometown of Kandy, got four in the group match against New Zealand and then struck with his last ball in Sri Lanka, in the semi-final.When he announced his retirement, Murali had said he would continue playing domestic Twenty20 tournaments, and he will turn out for Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the IPL, which starts on April 8. After that he plans to play for Wellington for a couple of seasons on New Zealand’s domestic circuit, most likely in the HRV Cup. He said he would go to Wellington because he had promised former Chennai Super Kings team-mate Stephen Fleming he would.”Stephen has a bit to do with Wellington, so I have promised him I would come to play for two years to help them,” Muralitharan said. “It’s up to Stephen to put through a deal for me. I’ve always enjoyed playing there. You have nice, friendly people and a competitive [international] cricket team given that they made the [World Cup] semi-finals again.”Murali will also spend time working on his plan to build a sports complex for war-displaced civilians. “Cricket unites communities,” he said. “We can use the game to reach out and help those who are less privileged than us, to make their lives a little bit easier.”

Yorkshire came up against a defiant Dominic Cork who belied his 39 years with another energetic bowling display on the third day of the County Championship match with Hampshire at Headingley

13-May-2011
Scorecard
Dominic Cork rues a near miss as Hampshire checked Yorkshire’s progress on a rain-curtailed third day•PA Photos

Yorkshire came up against a defiant Dominic Cork who belied his 39 years with another energetic bowling display on the third day of the County Championship match with Hampshire at Headingley. Having enjoyed a return of 5 for 75 in the first innings, Cork added another two wickets on a rain-affected day in which only 39.5 overs were possible, to give him match figures of 7 for 102 off 48 overs.His efforts pegged back Yorkshire to 62 for 3 after they had gained a first-innings lead of 123 and they were left needing to make good progress on the final morning if they are to go on to win the match.Cork required only 13 runs to reach 10,000 in first-class cricket when Hampshire resumed in the morning on 189 for 6 with their captain on 6 and Sean Ervine on 16, Yorkshire’s lead being 166. A cover boundary off Ryan Sidebottom soon moved Cork into double figures but in
attempting a similar stroke off the former England left-arm paceman he drove straight into the hands of Joe Root to depart for 11.Ajmal Shahzad struggled in his opening spell and could not produce the same accuracy which had brought him four wickets the previous day, but when he was replaced by Tim Bresnan it brought immediate results, Ervine moving across his stumps to fall lbw for 23. Yorkshire’s attack continued to cause problems and Sidebottom struck again by getting Danny Briggs lbw with a fine yorker to leave Hampshire on 217 for 9, with Yorkshire having picked up maximum bowling points.Kabir Ali and last man David Griffiths defied Yorkshire for 10 overs, despite Griffiths being beaten outside off stump on several occasions, but Shahzad was brought back at the rugby stand end and Ali carved him to Steve Patterson at third man to leave Hampshire all out for 232.
The dismissal gave Shahzad figures of 5 for 65 from 21.3 lively overs.Yorkshire would have been reasonably happy with their first-innings lead in what had been a rather drab match, but they went to lunch on 11 for 1 after Adam Lyth tickled a leg-side delivery from Cork into the gloves of Nic Pothas. Shortly after the interval, Yorkshire lost their other opener, Joe Sayers, who was caught behind off an angled bat, Griffiths picking up his
wicket cheaply for the second time in the match.Once again, Root showed plenty of character at the crease in his first season of Championship cricket and he helped to get the score moving in partnership with home captain Andrew Gale.But with showers already around, the weather began to close in quickly and there was just time for Cork to surprise Root with movement off the pitch as he edged a third consecutive catch to Pothas to depart for 31 from 44 balls with four boundaries. Yorkshire were struggling on 56 for 3, but before Jonny Bairstow could join Gale heavy rain at 2.25pm prevented a restart until 5.20pm, and then only 3.2 overs were possible before the weather closed in again.

Eoin Morgan is expected to pay the price for his IPL stint by missing out on a place in England’s squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka, but he took his chance against the tourists with a destructive 156 for the Lions at Derby

Andrew McGlashan at Derby19-May-2011
ScorecardEoin Morgan returned to first-class action with a superb century but it might not be enough to earn him an England spot•Getty Images

Eoin Morgan is expected to pay the price for his IPL stint by missing out on a place in England’s squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka, but he took his chance against the tourists with a destructive 156 for the Lions at Derby. Morgan added 232 for the fifth wicket with Samit Patel, who made a fine return to England colours with a classy 101, as the Lions closed on an imposing 394 for 4.However, anything that happens in this match is unlikely to have a bearing on the England squad for Cardiff which will be named on Sunday. Geoff Miller, the national selector, and coach Andy Flower were both in attendance but this management group don’t make last-minute decisions.The momentum has grown behind Ravi Bopara in recent weeks as he has found form in the Championship so his scratchy 17, while a missed opportunity to impress, won’t have been a deciding factor in his immediate future.Yet, Morgan showed that he can transition from Twenty20 to first-class cricket with barely time to change his kit. He arrived back in England on Saturday, netted at Uxbridge on Sunday with Middlesex, then spent two days training with the Lions at Loughborough.He came in at 105 for 3 when James Hildreth, the captain, lost his off stump to the slingy Nuwan Pradeep, who has been compared to Lasith Malinga by the Sri Lanka coach Stuart Law. It had been hard work batting on a green pitch but Morgan cashed in as conditions eased against an older ball and tiring bowlers.There were the occasional alarms in what was Morgan’s first first-class innings of the year and second in nine months. He began with an edge through the slips first ball and top-edged a six over the wicketkeeper against Dilhara Fernando after nearly being foxed by a slower delivery.However, plenty of boundaries came out of the middle including a straight-driven six off Tharanga Paranavitna’s gentle offspin and he motored towards the 80s by attacking the expensive Suraj Randiv. There was no hanging around in the 90s, either, as a back cut off Thisara Perera was followed by a pull to reach a hundred from 128 balls. Whatever the opinions on the decisions he has made he has again shown that temperament is not a problem.Patel helped Morgan consolidate the innings, playing some handsome strokes to reach his ton from 131 balls. He has managed to hit the basic fitness targets laid down by the ECB and again showed them his raw talent. The bowling became increasingly ragged but Patel’s batting had a touch of class about it, particularly the off-side driving.He was offered two lives, both off Tillakaratne Dilshan, who spent part of the afternoon off the field after stepping on the ball, one of them by the normally safe Mahela Jayawardene who spilled two for the day. Jayawardene was one of five Sri Lankans recently arrived from the IPL. The chances, though, should take nothing away from Patel and time will tell whether he has turned a corner.Having watched the runs flow, Bopara will know he missed out. He had to bat when conditions were at their toughest after Sri Lanka won the toss and he never settled. Jayawardene dropped him at second slip on 4 then the visitors were convinced he’d edged behind on 8. They didn’t have to wait long, though, as Bopara flashed a cut at Fernando and edged to the wicketkeeper. Unlike Morgan, the major question marks over Bopara are regarding temperament.The man to do the hard work in setting up the innings was James Taylor, batting out of position at the top of the order because Jimmy Adams was the one specialist opener in the side. He was struck a painful blow on the inner thigh against the new ball but battled hard during the morning session and began to reap the rewards after the break as he collected two straight sixes off Randiv.Batting in Division Two of the Championship doesn’t always do a player many favours as there are some soft runs around, but this effort followed a gusty half-century at The Oval two weeks ago against a strong Surrey attack. He was reluctant to leave when given caught behind off Fernando but had set a strong foundation for his team-mates.Sri Lanka’s bowlers started well but couldn’t sustain pressure throughout the day. Pradeep was lively, Perara reasonably tight and Fernando occasionally threatening but they desperately need their spinner to offer control which Randiv couldn’t do. More long days in the field beckon when the Test series starts.