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By all accounts it has been a horrendous start to Test cricket for KL Rahul, both with the bat and in the field

Sidharth Monga in Sydney06-Jan-20153:53

‘KL Rahul under pressure’

Eighty-first over of Australia’s innings…
The new ball has been taken. R Ashwin and Suresh Raina are the two slips, Ajinkya Rahane is at gully, and KL Rahul at backward point.Twenty-fourth over of Australia’s innings…
Rahul is fielding at point. He doesn’t move in as R Ashwin delivers. His preparation is sideways steps either way. David Warner looks to push at a shortish ball, which gets a little big on him. It sort of flies off the shoulder of the trunk that he carries for a bat. It flies towards point. Rahul is on his heels. He is late to move in. He dives forward. It is too late. He catches it on the half-volley. He looks down, doesn’t look up for a few seconds. This is not technically a drop, but Rahul knows he should have caught it.Eleven overs ago…
Rahul is alone, looking lost, standing next to the pitch, rubbing his hands on it, trying to get rid of the sweat. He doesn’t know where he has to field with R Ashwin being introduced. Suresh Raina moves into first slip. Rahul looks at captain Virat Kohli, who sends him to point.Minutes ago…
The first drinks break of the Test. Australia have galloped along to 0 for 72 in 13 overs. All the India players stand in a circle, eating chocolates, drinking their energy drinks and water. Trying to encourage each other. The extras are on the field. Rahul is not to be seen. Towards the end of the break he emerges from behind the drinks truck. He has been standing there alone. Now Shikhar Dhawan, whom he has replaced as opener and as second slip, offers him a drink. He doesn’t need it.Five overs ago…
Rahul is second at slip. Relaxed in his stance. Hands on his knees. Knees neither too wide nor too close. As the bowler enters his delivery stride, he prepares for a catch, elbows inches away from the knees, hands cupped for a catch. After the ball is delivered, his hands move low and then give as if plucking one inches from the ground. Except that the ball has been middled, and he is just visualising what might have been.Two balls ago…
Rahul is moving from second slip at one end to second slip at the other. Players are patting Mohammed Shami’s back, consoling him, encouraging him. Rahul is all alone. He stops by the wicket, and goes down on the pitch. Rubs his hands on it. It’s sweaty palms. Ajinkya Rahane jogs up to him, and gives him a low-five, as if to say, “It’s all right, happens to the best of us.”Rahane should know. He was nervous on debut himself, scratching around for 7 before playing a horrible shot. Even the usually judicious Harsha Bhogle tweeted doubts over Rahane’s Test credentials then.Two minutes ago…

Shami has been bowling well, perhaps the best he has this series. He has come on to bowl at 0 for 39 after five overs. He is not bowling short, he is not bowling on the pads. He has had an edge fly between the wide third slip and gully. He has asked questions of Chris Rogers. In his second over, he gets some extra bounce off a short-of-a-length delivery. Rogers is not quite behind it, and edges it to second slip.Rahul looks relaxed, he is ready, he is in a good position to take this calf high, but his hands don’t give. There is no time for him to absorb the impact. The ball hits the hands, and pops out. For what looks like an age Rahul doesn’t look up. He doesn’t want to know what looks he is getting from his team-mates. He has dropped Rogers, who has scored four fifties in four previous innings, on 19. On a road of a pitch. On a hot unforgiving day. After Australia have raced away. There aren’t going to be many more opportunities. Rogers will get out on 95, Warner on 101.Rahul is not an expressive one. Ravindra Jadeja once dropped Alastair Cook in Southampton, a series-turning event, and came up smiling. Rahul looks like the one who will let this eat him up inside.December 27…
Someone has found a KL Rahul tweet, and responded thusly: “WTF!! was that? brain freeze”Nearly two months ago…
The original tweet by Rahul, the day India’s Test squad for Australia is announced: “Words can’t explain how I feel at the moment. Very excited n looking forward to starting a new innings in my career.” The first response to his tweet: “All the best 🙂 I am pretty sure we have found a replacement for The Wall :)”

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Oh how Rahul must hate cricket at this time of his life. Carrying the weight of the name – Rahul, from Karnataka, touted as a proper technical Test batsman by all his coaches including the IPL one in Tom Moody, a name accidentally given to him because his father wanted to name him after Sunil Gavaskar’s son but got it wrong… Rahul went into the biggest stage of them all for his Test debut: a Boxing Day Test at MCG. An opener for his state, he was not slated to bat at No. 6.While India were in the field, he would have seen fellow debutant Joe Burns get a rousing reception when he came out to bat, when he scored his first run, when he hit his first boundary. He walked in at 4 for 409 on a flat drop-in pitch. He couldn’t have asked for a better situation to start his Test career in.Rahul had a personal battle to fight, though. He was doing what everyone has been saying he was equipped to do. He had scored 1158 runs in the first-class season leading up to his Test selection. But that’s all he had had. One bumper season. At 22 he was in the Test side. His namesake, Rahul Dravid, liked him. His IPL coach Moody liked him. His captain liked what he saw in the nets. Surely so many people can’t be wrong? But a Test debut can do strange things to people. That too a Test debut in an unfamiliar slot.Rahul was clearly nervous. He stepped out to Nathan Lyon, was beaten in the flight, and chipped one straight up. He was dropped. Then he tried a slog sweep. This time Rahul was caught, for 3 off 8. Gone for 1.In the second innings, with India needing to bat two sessions to save the Test, they sent Rahul up at No. 3. Two reasons for it: they wanted to send in Rahul closer to his natural batting slot, and wanted to save Cheteshwar Pujara should the need arise for a block-for-your-life session. Mitchell Johnson bowled one short, and brought a forward short leg in for the next. You could see Rahul had made his mind up. He saw four easy runs on the pull. He was going to go after the next ball that was pitched marginally short. He didn’t have to wait. The next one was short, but not short enough. He top-edged it. Shane Watson took an excellent catch over his shoulder, running back from first slip.Sweaty palms, hard hands, stiff at point, premeditated boundary shots, by all accounts it has been six disastrous days for Rahul as a Test cricketer. Four runs in two innings, two catches muffed. And we haven’t really had a chance to see how good or bad his game is. He never got himself into a position where he could play his game. What we see is just a bundle of nerves. Not a batsman, not a fielder. We don’t know how he would have gone had he got that first confident shot in. We don’t know if he – a slips fielder for his state side Karnataka – would have taken blinders had his hands given a little and that catch had stuck. Chances are, we might never.The beauty of cricket is, Rahul still has a chance. Two actually. On what is right now a flat pitch. He can still make amends. This evening, though, he could do with a hug and an arm around his shoulder. Somebody to beat into his head that life will go on regardless, when in fact it won’t quite.

Plays of the day from Rajasthan Royals’ home game against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Apr-2015The fluffed lines
Hit a spinner down the ground, then sit back on your heels to hit the short ball next up – it’s a batting strategy as well-trod as any in the game, but Brendon McCullum found a way to get out attempting it. Pravin Tambe’s first ball was launched past the bowler – at catching height, but at great pace – and predictably, Tambe delivered a half-tracker next ball. McCullum should have hit that over midwicket perhaps, but expected the ball to turn away from him and tried to go over mid-on instead. In the end, he could only mishit it. The ball hit the splice of the bat and looped to mid-on, where James Faulkner took the catch.The rotation
In his first five overs as captain in this IPL season, Shane Watson rifled through his attack in search of wickets. Left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma was first to the bowling crease, then Chris Morris, Pravin Tambe, Deepak Hooda and James Faulkner had one over each respectively, meaning each of the first five overs was delivered by a different bowler. The ploy worked for Rajasthan Royals, who had the opposition at 39 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.The nutmeg
Dwayne Bravo was positioned in the outfield partly because of his speed around the boundary, but his pace counted against him in the fifth over, when he conceded a boundary he could have saved. Zooming along the cow-corner fence to cut off an Ajinkya Rahane stroke, Bravo overran the ball, and made a last-second judgment to stop it with his boot. He overdid that as well, and the ball passed in between his feet and to the fence.The second nutmeg
Shane Watson was the second man to get his legs into a tangle, but he had his pads on when it happened, and the game was almost won. Batting on 73 off 46 balls, Watson tried to squeeze a yorker off Ravindra Jadeja into the legside, but he fell over towards off and misjudged the pace of the ball, which snuck between his legs and clattered into the stumps.

Ten years ago, one of cricket’s all-time great matches played itself out in Birmingham

Rob Smyth01-Jun-2015The biggest turning point of the greatest cricket series ever played came during a game of rugby. Australia were warming up on the morning of the second Test at Edgbaston, playing touch rugby, when Glenn McGrath trod on a stray cricket ball and badly injured his ankle. As word spread that McGrath would miss the match, the whole of England celebrated like a dictator had been overthrown.Although the pitch looked good, Australia had planned to bowl first if they won the toss in an attempt to further expose the wounds opened by McGrath at Lord’s. In his absence, Ricky Ponting took the same decision to the surprise of almost everybody at the ground. The video of the toss shows his opposite number Michael Vaughan having to work exceptionally hard to retain his poker face at the moment Ponting says Australia will bowl. “He’s a lovely guy, that Ricky Ponting,” said Geoffrey Boycott later. “He likes the English so much he changed the series with the most stupid decision he’ll ever make in his life.”Normally a captain is savaged if he bowls first and a side makes 600. England made 407 at Edgbaston, a good score but no more, yet the manner in which they did so changed the mood of the series. They scored those runs in just 79.2 overs, at a staggering 5.13 per over, with 10 sixes. It was an outrageously aggressive response to the crushing humiliation of Lord’s.Marcus Trescothick set the tone with a coruscating 90, and after lunch Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff had a game of unspoken one-upmanship during a partnership of 103. Pietersen made 71 and Flintoff returned to form with 68 from just 62 balls. That included five sixes, one hooked blind off Brett Lee, an unwitting homage to Ian Botham in 1981. Flintoff said he bottled it at Lord’s; if he could have bottled the freedom with which he played for the rest of the series, he would have been one of the greatest players of all time.In the most important game of their lives, England batted with happy abandon. It was their captain Vaughan who imbued the entire side with the same aggressive approach he demonstrated in Australia in 2002-03. “He’s the best liar I ever met,” said Steve Harmison of Vaughan’s ability to make his team believe everything was or was going to be okay.He didn’t need to lie on the second day, as England took a significant first-innings lead of 99. Giles’ dismissal of Ponting – who moved ominously to 61, determined to make up for his decision at the toss – was a key moment, one of three important top-order wickets for a player who had been heavily criticised after the first Test.

You know sport is truly special when you feel nervous even when you watch replays, and Edgbaston 2005 retains that quality

Any sense of English comfort soon started to dissipate, however. Warne bowled Andrew Strauss with a staggering delivery on the Friday evening – his Ball of the Twenty-First Century. On the eve of the match, Warne was asked about his famous delivery to Mike Gatting in 1993. “I’d give up sex to bowl a few more of those balls this summer, that’s for sure.” The delivery to Strauss, and the grainy pictures of Warne in a hotel room with two blondes and an inflatable, suggested there was no need for such a trade-off.On the third morning at Edgbaston, Warne and Brett Lee reduced a jittery England to 75 for six. Flintoff then continued his exceptional match with 73 from 86 balls, including four more sixes. The third, a bunt down the ground off Lee provided one of Mark Nicholas’s many memorable commentaries during the series on Channel 4 in England. “Oh, hello! Massive! MASSIVE!” All the while his co-commentator Boycott could be heard cackling with disbelief and joy. Flintoff added 51 for the last wicket with Simon Jones. Warne, bowling imperiously, ended with six for 46 in the innings and ten in the match. As Flintoff walked off, Warne shouted after him. When Flintoff turned round, Warne mouthed “well played” and applauded.Australia were left needing 282 to win. Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer moved so easily to 47 for none that, even at that early stage, it felt like it was Flintoff or bust. In his first over, he dismissed both Langer and Ponting. It was the moment an ordinary human being became SuperFred. Langer was bowled off his elbow, and then Ponting received the most exhilarating working-over since Michael Holding blew away Geoff Boycott in 1981.A no-ball from Flintoff actually helped England, because it gave him an extra delivery – from which Ponting was dismissed. “They were five of the most vicious deliveries you could ever see,” said Gilchrist. “And then Ricky was somehow good enough to get his bat on the last ball to nick it to Geraint Jones. Flintoff stood there like Hercules and his team-mates mobbed him. I remember, in the rooms, watching and thinking, ‘We are in big strife.'”The third day was one for the ages: there were 332 runs, 17 wickets, and approximately four million momentum shifts. It ended with Australia surely beaten: they were 175 for eight after Harmison bowled Michael Clarke with an outrageous slower ball in the final over of the day.”Jones! Bowden! Kasprowicz the man to go”: the last ball of Edgbaston 2005 as Richie Benaud called it•Getty ImagesThe fourth day was apparently a simple case of England turning up and taking the last two wickets. There was a slight scare when Warne and Lee added 45, but when Warne comically kicked his own stumps down against Flintoff, everyone relaxed again. For about twenty minutes. Then it became apparent that, not only were Lee and Kasprowicz adding runs at speed, they were doing so with alarming comfort. It all happened so fast that, before anyone knew it, Australia needed only 15 to win. That was when Simon Jones, diving forward at third man, dropped a sharp chance offered by Kasprowicz.The target moved into single figures. By now an entire nation had stopped its day of rest. “Physically sick but still watching,” texted the England coach Duncan Fletcher’s daughter to her mother. You know sport is truly special when you feel nervous even when you watch replays, and Edgbaston 2005 retains that quality. With four needed, Lee smashed Harmison through the covers; there was a fleeting yelp of triumph from the Australian fans, before they realised Vaughan had a cover sweeper in place and it would only be one run. Two balls later, Kasprowicz fended a short ball from Harmison down the leg side, where the much-maligned wicketkeeper Geraint Jones took an excellent tumbling catch.England’s celebrations were joyously uncoordinated, with players running in different directions before they eventually came together. Harmison broke off from the celebrations to console Lee and then Flintoff did the same, his face a picture of compassion, respect and empathy. The result was one of cricket’s iconic photographs, a pictorial code for sportsmanship at its finest.The cricket world often wonders what Flintoff said, as if he dispensed one of the great pearls of wisdom. The reality was more mundane. “It came out of my mouth, it’s nothing profound is it?!” said Flintoff. “It’s not gonna be something life-changing!” Lee has a vague recollection. “It was something like, ‘Awesome game, bad luck, I thoroughly enjoyed it.'”Lee cried in the shower area after the game, his batting gloves still on, and then had a beer with Flintoff in the dressing-room. Flintoff sometimes jokes that the sympathetic expression was a smokescreen for an earthy reminder to Lee that England had just made the score 1-1. The reality was far more generous in spirit, of course. Although the essential point of Flintoff’s joke is correct: Lee may not be an Aussie bastard, but it was 1-1 rather than 2-0, and the Ashes were ablaze. In no small part thanks to a stray cricket ball.

Plays of the Day from the Qualifier match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians

Arun Venugopal19-May-2015The failed chargeLendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel were shackled by some disciplined bowling from R Ashwin and Ashish Nehra. Simmons, wanting to assert himself, charged Nehra in the fourth over. The bowler spotted it early and sent down a quick, steepling bouncer. Having come down nearly half way, Simmons had to get his head out of the way in a jerky motion.Nehra continued on his follow-through, and, fiddling with his nose, stared long and hard at Simmons. Three balls later, Simmons sprang out of his crease again, and edged a high-full toss. MS Dhoni, putting in a rare dive, couldn’t hold on to the catch. It was anyway called a no-ball for height.Many a slipEveryone loves a good Nehra blooper on the field, and there was duly one on the night. Allowing Dwayne Bravo’s delivery to pass him, Simmons dabbed it to short third man where Nehra was stationed and set off for a single.As Nehra neared the ball, it bounced a tad awkwardly and he tried to clutch it around his waist. The ball, though, popped out, and while he looked around to see where it had gone, he ended up booting it away inadvertently. The single was completed without much sweat and Nehra was seen animatedly explaining to his team-mates what had happened.Dhoni’s rewind modeWhen both these teams met in the final five years ago, Kieron Pollard was threatening to take the game away from Chennai Super Kings with some late hitting. Dhoni, spotting his tendency to hit straight, posted an ultra-straight mid-off, where Pollard eventually hit a catch to.
Pollard was blazing away again, and Dhoni pulled the 2010 field out of his memory file. Only that he assigned Michael Hussey to a straightish mid-on instead of mid-off. But Pollard didn’t fall for the ploy this time.Mixed bag for MalingaLasith Malinga got an lbw decision in his favour in the first over of Super Kings’ innings when a swiftly descending full toss struck Dwayne Smith well outside leg stump. It was a real gift and Malinga probably was in no mood for guilty pleasures. Three overs later he found himself in prime position at third man for a regulation catch offered by Faf du Plessis. But the ball went through his hands and thudded on to this thigh. You win some, you lose some.Rhodes’ chest-thumping momentJonty Rhodes, the Mumbai Indians fielding coach, said during a dug-out interview with Matthew Hayden that he had to keep a straight face while watching the game from the sidelines. Even before he could complete his statement, Vinay Kumar sprinted forward from long-on to snaffle du Plessis’ catch. Rhodes couldn’t stop hollering in excitement. “I am the fielding coach. Yeah, it’s me,” he screamed in delight. He jested for good measure: “If they drop them it’s not my fault, if they take them, it’s all me, all me.”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2015Chamu Chibhabha held one end up with a 44-ball 42, until he was stumped off a Sodhi delivery in the 18th over•AFPSikandar Raza then began the repair work, getting involved in partnerships with Sean Williams and Tinashe Panyangara on his way to a third ODI ton that helped Zimbabwe to 235 for 9 – a target that seemed quite beyond them at one point•AFP

Stats highlights from the fourth day’s play in Dubai, where Younis Khan hit yet another Test hundred

Shiva Jayaraman25-Oct-201512 Second-innings centuries by Younis Khan in Tests; only three batsmen – Kumar Sangakkara (14), Alastair Cook (13), and Sachin Tendulkar (13) – have hit more. Younis has taken only 83 innings to hit these 12 hundreds at a frequency of one every 6.9 innings. Among batsmen with at least ten second-innings hundreds, only Don Bradman (one every 3.0 innings) and Hashim Amla (5.90) are ahead in terms of frequency.12 Number of fifty-plus scores by Joe Root in Tests this year – the most by any England batsman in a calendar year. The previous highest was 11, by Keith Fletcher in 1973. Alastair Cook has made 10 such scores this year, which equals the third-highest by any England batsman; Kevin Pietersen also made 10 such scores in 2006.189 Runs made by Misbah-ul-Haq in this Test – the second highest by him in a Test. Misbah followed up his century in the first innings with 87 runs in the second. His highest had come last year, when he made two centuries – one of which equalled the record for the fastest known hundred in Tests – in Abu Dhabi against Australia. This is also the second-highest aggregate by a Pakistan captain in Tests against England. Inzamam-ul-Haq made two centuries in the Faisalabad Test in 2005.11 Test hundreds by Younis after turning 35 – only three other batsmen had hit more centuries after the age of 35. Rahul Dravid, Graham Gooch and Tendulkar each hit 12 Test centuries after 35. Younis has, however, hit a century in every 4.18 innings after turning 35, which is the third-highest frequency among batsmen with at least five hundreds after that age. Only Australia’s Charles Macartney (2.60, 5 hundreds in 13 innings) and Bradman (2.88, 8 hundreds in 23 innings) have better record than Younis.31 Test hundreds by Younis including the one in this innings. He has pulled ahead of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Matthew Hayden, who have 30 each. Younis now has the most hundreds among active Test cricketers. Only nine other batsmen have hit more hundreds than Younis.78.10 Average stand between Misbah and Younis for the fourth wicket in the last ten innings when they have come together with Pakistan losing their third wicket for fewer than 100 runs. Their partnership in this innings, which began with Pakistan at 83 for 3, added 141 runs. Their last ten such stands have been 141, 66, 51, 58, 2, 8, 100, 129, 218, and 8.7 Number of Pakistan batsman who had made at least 1000 runs in Tests against England before Younis who achieved that milestone during his innings of 118. Younis now has 1041 runs against them at an average of 47.31 with three hundreds and four fifties.408 The highest target set by Pakistan in Tests for England to chase before this match, which was in the Lord’s Test in 1996. Pakistan won that Test by 164 runs. The 491-run target for England in this Test is the fifth-highest Pakistan have set any team in Tests.275 Runs by Asad Shafiq in this series including his 79 in this innings – already the third-highest by a Pakistan No. 6 in any Test series. He needs 56 more runs from the next Test to go past Shahid Afridi’s 330 runs at No. 6 against India in the three-match home series in 2005-06. Shafiq averages 68.75 in four innings in this series with one hundred and two fifties.5 Number of instances of Pakistan batsmen making 1000-plus runs at any venue in Tests before Younis who completed 1000 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium during this match. Javed Miandad did it at three different venues – in Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad. Mohammad Yousuf and Zaheer Abbas did so at Lahore. Younis’ century in this innings was his fifth at this venue making him only the fourth Pakistan batsman to hit as many at any venue. He has made 1024 runs in Dubai at an average of 73.14.5 Number of century stands in the fourth innings of a Test in the UAE before the one between Root and Ian Bell. This is the third such stand in Dubai. The previous one had come between Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva in 2013-14.

Marks out of 10 for Sri Lanka’s players following a 2-0 defeat on their Test tour of New Zealand

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Dec-2015

8

Dushmantha Chameera (12 wickets at 24)In Hamilton, Chameera blasted New Zealand out with the short ball. Are Sri Lanka bowlers even allowed to do that? In just his third and fourth Tests, touching 146 kph at times, Chameera was easily the best of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, and bowled perhaps the ball of the series, to Ross Taylor in that first innings at Hamilton. He looks a little fragile, though. Whippet-thin at 23, perhaps Sri Lanka Cricket can set up a body-weight exchange programme with some other Sri Lanka quicks.

7

Dinesh Chandimal (192 runs at 48, 5 dismissals)Irrepressibly peppy behind the stumps and in front of them, Chandimal made Sri Lanka’s first innings spark in Hamilton, and gave it substance in Dunedin. He seems lucky at times, because he mishits so many balls at the beginning of his innings, but maybe he is just an excellent judge of risk. When he hits out, he makes sure to give himself room for error. Is probably the best wicketkeeper of the few glovemen in contention for national places, but the team will want him to focus on his batting at no. 4.

6

Milinda Siriwardana (158 runs at 38)One of Sri Lanka’s finds of the year, Siriwardana sparkled with the bat, if only too briefly. He plays a lovely cover drive, always seems confident, and has the seeming adaptability to succeed on most kinds of surfaces. He hasn’t quite cemented his place in the team, but he is close. His fielding has also been an asset, though his bowling was not required on these pitches.Dimuth Karunaratne (152 runs at 38)Promised plenty with his 84 in the first innings of the series, but was out cheaply twice to the short ball in Hamilton. He had the worst of the batting conditions however, so an average of 38 is serviceable. Caught well in the slips and at least gave the team a start in the remainder of his innings, even if he didn’t carry on to something substantial.

5

Kusal Mendis (131 runs at 32.50)Had some good fortune in both Tests, having had at least three clear-cut chances in total. He was part of two fifty-plus opening stands – something of a rarity for Sri Lanka this year – and played some dazzling leg-side shots that gave a glimpse of his talent. He is clearly a long-term prospect for Sri Lanka, but is very raw at present. The selectors might do well to get him playing as much A team cricket as possible whenever the international schedule allows.Angelo Mathews (106 runs at 26.5, 1 wicket at 61)His 77 helped Sri Lanka near 300 in the first innings at Hamilton, but the relative paucity of his other scores makes this an underwhelming tour, by Mathews’ standards. He created the occasional chance with the ball, though he may have over-bowled himself sometimes. Sri Lanka’s fields also probably veered too far towards conservatism, particularly when they were defending a small score in the second Test.Nuwan Pradeep (6 wicket at 41)Didn’t exactly create pressure by bowling tight, but did send down some terrific balls nonetheless. Sri Lanka would have expected a little more from him in Hamilton, where the deck suited his style of bowling. Still, he has managed to stay fit for five consecutive Tests, which, for a Sri Lanka seamer, is deserving of some sort of statue or commemorative plaque.Kithuruwan Vithanage batted too loosely and kept getting himself out•AFP

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Rangana Herath (4 wickets at 57.75)The surface at Dunedin gave him the freak wicket of Martin Guptill, but nothing else. By the time the ball started turning in Hamilton, Sri Lanka had already lost the Test. Was attacked in that second innings in Dunedin, but maintained a good economy rate elsewhere. Also batted bravely when Sri Lanka were attempting to draw the first Test.Suranga Lakmal (4 wickets at 44.25)Sri Lanka needed control from Lakmal, but they didn’t quite get enough of it. He was mediocre in the first innings in Dunedin, where the visiting quicks had first use of a green pitch, and only sporadically threatening thereafter. Eighteen months ago he was looked at as the leader of the seam attack, but, plagued by injury since, he hasn’t quite live up to that promise.

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Kithuruwan Vithanage (69 runs at 17.25)As ever, Vithanage played some fine strokes, then batted too loosely to get himself out. The selectors keep trying him in Tests, but given his track record, it may be better for him to establish himself in the shorter formats first.

2

Udara Jayasundera (30 runs at 7.5)A poor first foray into Tests on paper, but given his record, he probably deserves a longer trial at the top level. Jayasundera had started to play some shots in the first innings at Hamilton before he ran himself out. He was even unluckier to be wrongly given out by the third umpire in the second innings.

Chasing has not been South Africa’s strongest suit, but with five successful chases on the trot, they seem to be building the right momentum ahead of the World T20

Firdose Moonda05-Mar-20163:33

Nice to win games from six down – Miller

At some point, South Africa will have to shed the past. It’s a touchy subject because their past is punctuated with moments where pressure has got the better of them. Scoreboard pressure.Batting second has historically presented South Africa with a puzzle they seemed unable to piece together, but now, with five successive T20 victories under the belt – all of them achieved in the chase – they finally have a full picture. “We’ve prided ourselves chasing. Most people know we’ve never had great success in the past but we’ve really turned the corner,” David Miller said after victory was secured against Australia in Durban. “We are a confident batting unit. We’ve believe we can win from situations where you don’t quite think you can. We’ve done it.”In India last year, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien did it to prop South Africa up from 95 for 3 to hunt down to 200 in the first T20. In the next match, Duminy was on hand again in search of a tiny target of 93. It’s worth remembering that as Duminy – who is also South Africa’s most successful T20 scorer – goes through a lean patch.Against England last month, Chris Morris did it in a thriller in Cape Town. In the next match, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla were dominant in an opening stand that set South Africa up for success in Johannesburg. That’s also worth remembering as South Africa struggle to decide between Quinton de Kock and Amla to open the batting, having made up their minds that de Villiers should occupy at least one berth.On Friday night, against Australia, Miller did it, scoring his first international fifty in more than a year and his first ever in T20I cricket. Given his reputation as a big-hitter, it’s difficult to believe it has taken Miller this long to get to fifty in the format but “unfortunately batting in the middle order you just don’t get the opportunities and you’ve sometimes got to go for the team”, he explained. Now that he has finally broken through, South Africa have another finisher to add to their list.”We’re fortunate to be in the position with a lot of batters, with David Wiese and Chris Morris batting as well as bowling,” Miller said. “Chris Morris and David Wiese – they don’t just hit the ball, they’ve won games over the last couple of weeks. They’ve proved that they can finish games. It’s great to know we can win games with six or seven wickets down.”Even Kyle Abbott fancies himself as a bit of a lower-order hitter after he hit the winning runs in Durban. “The boys are joking around in the change room that he [Kyle] is batting for his average lately, just wanting to get that little not out,” Miller said. “But credit to him, he has been working really hard in the nets.”South Africa’s lengthened line-up means they have found a way to take the pressure off even if they have some early anxiety. But that has presented a problem of it’s own. It’s allowed the top order to get away with the occasional blunder and that’s not something South Africa want to make a habit of. “It’s a great confidence booster for the top order batters but the responsibility still lies with the top six,” Miller said. And once South Africa decide on who that top six is, they will know it will be up to them to make sure the past does not get repeated.

Plays of the day from the World T20 qualifier between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in Nagpur

Firdose Moonda12-Mar-2016Out the park After Mohammad Shahzad sent Tendai Chatara and Donald Tiripano to the boundary seven times, he laid into Sean Williams. The left-arm spinning allrounder flighted his first ball, which was flat-batted down the ground by Shahzad after making some room. The ball sailed out of the VCA stadium and the umpires had to call for a new one.The near infight After Afghanistan got off to a flying start, Zimbabwe were keen to pull things back, which explained why Williams was so incensed when there was a misfield. Mohammad Nabi had carefully watched a ball that seemed to arrive in slow motion and then pulled it through square leg, where Vusi Sibanda had to move to his left, but misread the bounce. The ball was already past Sibanda when he stuck out an arm in a bid to stop it. His efforts, though, were too late, as the ball snuck away to the boundary, much to Williams’ annoyance. He yelled from his position at the end of his mark even as Sibanda offered a hand in apology. Hamilton Masakadza, the captain, would have been expected to diffuse the situation, but he joined the yelling too.The catch that wasn’t Zimbabwe thought they had their fifth wicket when Samiullah Shenwari slog swept Sikandar Raza to deep midwicket. Malcolm Waller ran in and dove forward to take the catch. Waller was sure he had the ball in his grasp, but Shenwari was not convinced and the decision was sent upstairs. Replays seemed to show that Waller had got his fingers underneath the ball, but the TV umpire Ian Gould decided that he had “conclusive evidence its not out, it bounced in front.”The crafty finish Afghanistan wanted every run as they showed at the end of the innings when Tendai Chatara just missed the yorker. Dawlat Zadran missed the attempted swipe and wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami missed the collection. Shafiqullah scurried off for the single at the non-striker’s end, but Dawlat did not move. When Mutumbami threw the stumps down, both batsmen were safe at the striker’s end. As soon as the ball deflected away, the pair trotted through for a bye.The end and the celebration Zimbabwe’s chase meandered and then fizzled out when their great scrapper Williams was stumped. He did not pick the googly from Rashid Khan and missed a slog sweep after stepping out. Shahzad was quick to react and break the stumps. Williams flung his bat up in despair while Shahzad brought out a moonwalk/robot dance in celebration.

Stats highlights from the third day’s play at Leeds where England routed Sri Lanka by an innings.

Shiva Jayaraman21-May-20161961 Last time before Anderson an England fast bowler took a ten-wicket haul in a Test at Headingley. Fred Trueman had taken 11 for 88 in the third Ashes Test in 1961. The last such haul by any fast bowler was by Australia’s Terry Alderman who took 10 for 151 in the first Ashes Test of 1989. Overall, Anderson’s was only the sixth ten-wicket haul by a fast bowler at Headingley.4.5 James Anderson’s bowling average in this Test – the ninth lowest in Test history for a bowler to take ten or more wickets in a match. It’s also the lowest since Glenn McGrath took 10 for 27 against West Indies at the Gabba in 2000-01. Besides McGrath’s there has been only one other instance in the last 50 years when a bowler has averaged lower than Anderson while taking ten or more wickets in a Test: Courtney Walsh had taken 13 for 55 (average of 4.23) in a Test in Wellington in 1994-95.210 Runs scored totally in this match by Sri Lanka – their joint lowest in a Test that has ended in a decisive result. They had scored exactly 210 in a Test in Kandy against Pakistan in 1985-86. They had lost that match by an innings and 20 runs.433 Balls played totally in the match by Sri Lanka – the second least in a loss for them. The lowest number of balls they have played in a Test that they have lost is 408 – against Australia at the MCG in 2012-13. In Tests since 1950, there have been only six occasions when a team has lost a Test having played fewer than 433 balls.976 Number of balls the entire Test lasted; since 1950, this is the fourth least legal deliveries bowled in a Test that has ended in a decisive result (excluding the Centurion Test of 2000-01). A Test won by Australia against Pakistan in Sharjah in 2002-03 lasted only 883 deliveries – the least in a Test since 1950 that has ended in a decisive result.2000 The last time before this Test a team clinched an innings win after putting up an under-300 total in its first innings. England were the team to do that on that occasions also, and on the same venue, too, against West Indies. England won that Test by an innings and 39 runs after scoring 272 in the first innings. Since 1950, this is the fourth such instance at Headingley, all of which have been won by the hosts. Overall this is the tenth such instance in Test since 1950, of which England have been the winning team on five occasions. This is also the second time Sri Lanka have been beaten in this manner. India had won against them by an innings and eight runs after posting 288 in their first innings in Chandigarh in 1990-91.10/45 James Anderson’s figures in this Test – the best by an England bowler in Tests against Sri Lanka and only the second time an England bowler has a ten-wicket haul in a match. Graeme Swann claimed 10 for 181 in a Test at P Sara Oval in 2012.3 Number of ten-wicket hauls in Tests for Anderson. He is the first England fast bowler since Ian Botham to take three such hauls. Click here for a list of England pacemen to take three or more ten-wicket hauls.9 Number of catches taken by Jonny Bairstow in this Test; his second such instance in the last three Tests. He took nine catches in the Johannesburg Test as well earlier this year. Overall this is only the fifth instance of an England keeper taking nine more catches in a Test. Only one wicketkeeper has hit a hundred and taken more catches than Bairstow’s nine in a Test: AB de Villiers made an unbeaten 103 and took 11 catches as a keeper in a match against Pakistan in Johannesburg in 2012-13.3 Number of fifties by Kusal Mendis in three first-class games on this tour. He had made 66 in the first innings against Essex and 65 in against Leicestershire in the tour games. This was Mendis’ maiden fifty in four Tests.