Faf du Plessis has conceded that JP Duminy’s place in the Test side will come in for scrutiny after a run of poor form

Firdose Moonda10-Jul-20172:05

Moonda: Duminy’s Test career may be over

JP Duminy may not be able to keep his place in South Africa’s Test XI after the returning captain, Faf du Plessis, conceded Duminy was under pressure due to poor form. That observation is vastly different from the support du Plessis had offered in the recent past, often saying Duminy looked at his best in training and it was only a matter of time before he translated that into match-day performances.Now, after eight innings without crossing 40, du Plessis has been forced to admit Duminy is not doing enough. He made 15 and 2 in the first Test at Lord’s, with his dismissal on the stroke of tea on day four particularly culpable as South Africa slipped to a 221-run defeat.”JP will be the first guy to say he knows he needs to score runs for this team and it’s no different for anyone else,” du Plessis said. “He is desperate to do well as anyone in that position. You want to try and score runs every time you go out that. He knows at the end of the day that it’s about runs. He understands that if it has to come to a position where there is someone else that needs to be looked at… he will be the first to acknowledge [that]. He is a crucial part of our senior player group and he will always put the team interests above himself so yes, he will be the first to acknowledge that.”With du Plessis back in the squad after missing the first Test for the birth of his first child, one option would for him to slot straight back into the team in Duminy’s place but the captain said South Africa will consider a few other things. Kagiso Rabada is suspended from the Trent Bridge match for ICC code of conduct violations and South Africa may look at playing both allrounder Chris Morris and reserve quick Duanne Olivier to make up for his absence. In that case, Theunis de Bruyn would have to miss out, with du Plessis coming in for Duminy.”With losing KG – do you look at possibly playing a four-seam attack because you are losing quite a high-quality bowler? That’s means there would be a batsman that will miss out,” du Plessis said. “That’s one option.”Either way, du Plessis seemed to suggest that de Bruyn, who scored 48 in the first innings in what was just his second Test, has moved up the queue and possibly ahead of Duminy for the rest of this series. “You can look at someone like Theunis de Bruyn who has played pretty well this game – standing up at Lord’s and it’s only his second Test match. He was solid in that first innings. He played well,” du Plessis said.JP Duminy was twice dismissed cheaply at Lord’s•Getty Images

The form of the middle order was the only positive South Africa’s batting could take from the Lord’s Test after the top four let them down yet again. Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander all scored half-centuries and du Plessis would like to see one of them in particular go on to convert that into something bigger.”Temba has once again been consistent,” du Plessis said. “But now, something Temba needs to work on is making sure he converts those starts. He is playing brilliantly but he knows that fifties don’t win us matches. The difference between the two teams is that one guy scored 190. That changed the outcome of the game.”Bavuma has scored three fifties in his last four Tests but only has one hundred in his short career, against England in January 2016. Having to constantly bail the top order out may be a handbrake for him, however, and du Plessis stressed that the top two must come good. Dean Elgar got a start with a half-century in the first innings at Lord’s and du Plessis was confident Heino Kuhn, who was unconvincing on debut, will show his experience at some stage.”Heino Kuhn is not a young guy anymore but he is new to Test cricket,” du Plessis said. “I don’t think everything is supposed to be a fairytale where you just rock up and score two hundreds in your first game. Ask Dean. He got a pair in his first game. It’s about character and how you stand up to that. This will be good. It will make him stronger.”

Sussex won for only the second time this season by beating Surrey at Hove but they still can;t be discounted as quarter-final contenders

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2017Tymal Mills shook Surrey’s top order•Getty Images

Sussex kept alive their slender chances of progressing in the NatWest T20 Blast with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Surrey at Hove on Thursday.Sussex had gone into the match bottom of the south table with just one victory from eight matches. But they built on a fine bowling display by Tymal Mills to tear into the Surrey attack with such force that, chasing a target of 149, they got home with 6.3 overs to spare.Openers Chris Nash and Stiaan van Zyl brought up the 100 in only the seventh over with Nash racing to his half-century off just 24 balls with seven fours and three sixes.Van Zyl started more slowly but then made up for lost time, hitting eight fours and two sixes in his 21-ball 52. By the time Surrey finally broke through, in the ninth over, the Sussex the opening pair had put on 120 and the match was effectively over.Nash was out in the following over, lbw to Gareth Batty for a 36-ball 64. But by that time Sussex had to score at just over two runs an over. Sam Curran’s two overs went for 31. Stuart Meaker bowled just one, but it was mauled for 22 runs, while Moises Henriques’ solitary effort cost 24.Sussex captain Ross Taylor said: “Nash and van Zyl were fantastic, and they have only been an opening partnership for a short time. They played outstandingly well against one of the leading sides in the competition.”We are also a different side when Tymal Mills is playing. He took three very important wickets. There are only a few players in the world who has the impact that he has.”Coach Mark Davis was just as impressed, saying: “This was the most complete performance I’ve seen our team have for a very long time. We were outstanding with the bat. It was strong hitting, not slogging. With Tymal we live on a day to day to day basis. But he is someone we want to keep fit. Today he showed what he can do when he does play and he really mixed it up very well.”Surrey had been disappointed with their score of 148 for 8, especially after Aaron Finch had crashed three boundaries off the opening over from Danny Briggs.Stiaan van Zyl rushed Sussex to victory•Getty Images

But Finch, beaten for pace, gloved Mills to Nash at slip off the second delivery of the second over. And Mills struck again in his next over when Jason Roy, who had hit his previous, slower delivery straight past him for four, skied to Laurie Evans at point.The best innings was played by Henriques, playing his first match for Surrey since breaking his jaw in three places after an horrific collision with team-mate Rory Burns at Arundel two years ago.Henriques hit seven fours in his 31-ball 41 before skied Will Beer to Nash at deep extra-cover. After that the best knock came from Ollie Pope, who played a perfect scoop shot for four on his way to an inventive 34 from 23 balls. But when he was sixth out at 142 in the 18th over, caught behind off Chris Jordan, Surrey were unable to finish their innings on a high note.Tom Curran was out in the next over and Surrey’s last four overs brought just 19 runs. Mills was the star man in the Sussex attack. Returning to the side after missing the previous two fixtures with injury, he had figures of three for 20 from his four overs.

James Hildreth swept Somerset to an against-the-odds four-wicket win over Surrey in a thrilling NatWest T20 Blast contest at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network06-Aug-2017
James Hildreth guided his side to victory•Getty Images

James Hildreth swept Somerset to an against-the-odds four-wicket win over Surrey in a thrilling NatWest T20 Blast contest at Taunton. Replying to Surrey’s 157 for 6, the home side appeared down and out at 47 for 5 in the ninth over. But the experienced Hildreth top-scored with 45 not out and shared in a restorative stand of 69 with Roelof van der Merwe as Somerset attained their target with 10 balls to spare.A fourth consecutive home win moved the cider county up to second place in the South Group and, with three games remaining, they trail table-topping Glamorgan by two points.Just as they did in defeat against Gloucestershire at Bristol two days earlier, Somerset’s top-order batting imploded, Steve Davies, Johann Myburgh, Jim Allenby and Lewis Gregory each making a mess of the Powerplay. It was left to Hildreth and the hard-hitting van der Merwe to repair the damage, the sixth wicket pair raising a 50 stand inside three overs to put the Londoners on the back foot.Former England paceman Jade Dernbach removed van der Merwe for 36, but Hildreth and Craig Overton staged an unbroken stand of 42 to see Somerset home and materially improve their prospects of qualifying for the knockout stages.Hildreth’s unbeaten 45 came via 33 balls and included a quartet of fours, while Overton raised a quickfire 36 not out from 19 balls with a brace of fours and two maximums. Had Hildreth not been dropped by Jason Roy at backward point when he had scored 9, the outcome might have been different. But then Surrey only had themselves to blame for a shaky performance in the field.Somerset were staring down the proverbial barrel when Surrey openers Roy and Aaron Finch, approaching the Powerplay with destructive intent, blazed their way to 39 inside four overs.Australian Finch was in particularly good touch, finding the boundary rope on five occasions in harvesting 26 from 16 deliveries. No wonder Somerset supporters breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Victorian mistimed an expansive drive and was held by Overton at long-on off the bowling of Tim Groenewald.Roy fell to a horrible shot in the very next over, playing across the line and losing off and middle stumps to a straight one from Overton. He departed for 11, slamming his bat into the ground in a public show of frustration.When Mark Stoneman suffered a momentary loss of judgment and was bowled through the gate by Max Waller’s legspin, Surrey had lost three wickets for the addition of 14 runs from 18 balls. It fell to Moises Henriques and Ollie Pope to rebuild the innings, a task they accepted with alacrity, Surrey’s fourth-wicket pair adding 66 in nine overs in businesslike fashion to redress the balance.Van der Merwe disrupted their smooth progress, luring Pope into front-foot indiscretion and affording Steve Davies an opportunity to perform a smart stumping. Pope’s restorative innings of 46 occupied 31 balls and included five fours. Henriques followed him back to the pavilion in the next over, the Australian pulling Gregory to midwicket for a 32-ball 26 as Somerset reasserted a semblance of control.Charged with the task of accelerating, Sam Curran risked all against Groenewald, and holed out to the ubiquitous Waller at long-off, leaving his brother, Tom, and Rikki Clarke to hit out at the death, the seventh-wicket pair raising an unbroken partnership of 22. Yet their aggression could not quite dispel the sense that Surrey had fallen short.

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2017Kyle Abbott ripped through Essex to bowl the Specsavers County Champions out for 76, before Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara helped them back into the game, having been made to follow on, with patient half-centuries as the visitors led Hampshire by 30 runs at the end of day two.South African fast bowler Abbott ended with figures of 6 for 20 as Essex collapsed to their lowest score of the season. Essex began the day on 33 for 5 after Abbott and new-ball partner Fidel Edwards had sparked a collapse.Abbott needed just four morning deliveries to add to his two wickets on the previous evening, when he sent Lawrence’s off stump cartwheeling. Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate had reached 26, the highest score in the innings, but became Abbott’s next victim as he was struck on the pads.The former Test quick then celebrated his fourth five-wicket haul since re-joining Hampshire at the beginning of the season as he hit Simon Harmer on his back pad plumb in front of the stumps. The very next ball Neil Wagner was adjudged lbw to a ball pinging back at him, but Jamie Porter unconvincingly blocked the hat-trick ball.Ian Holland wrapped up the innings when James Foster was lbw – Essex scoring below 100 for the first time in three seasons and completing their lowest score since they were bowled out for 20 in 2013.That left them 178 runs behind Hampshire – who were seeking victory to confirm their place in Division One for the 2018 season.After being asked to bat again, Varun Chopra gloved Gareth Berg behind to spark worries of a repeat of the first innings for Essex. But Nick Browne and Tom Westley put on 43 for the second wicket in a watchful manner to begin a turn in fortunes.Browne fell lbw to a sharp Liam Dawson turner, while Westley was attempting to press his case for Ashes selection with a well-judged innings before smashing a caught-and-bowled back to Dawson on 36.At 81 for 3, Essex were still 97 runs behind Hampshire, but Lawrence and Bopara partnered up to bat their side towards safety. Lawrence had got off the mark with a six over midwicket, but attacking shots were at a premium as he scored his half century in 115 balls.After moving into the lead, and a century stand, Bopara collected his 48th first-class fifty from 106 balls. With stumps called early due to bad light, the fourth-wicket stand was unbroken on 127 and Essex had the chance to at least set Hampshire something in the fourth innings.

Spinners Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham wrapped up Karnataka’s second win of the season while Rinku Singh’s 136-ball 122 not out ended in vain for Uttar Pradesh

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2017Railways secured their second outright win of the season, routing Assam for 55 in their second innings and handing them an innings-and-184-run loss in Guwahati.Resuming on 41 for 7, Assam added only 14 runs to their score before being dismissed in 32.3 overs. Seamer Anureet Singh, who sparked the collapse, ended with 5 for 28 – his 15th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Deepak Bansal and Amit Mishra complemented him with two wickets each. Wicketkeeper Kunal Saikia was the only Assam player to reach double figures in their second innings.Legspinner Shreyas Gopal bagged a match haul of nine wickets, including four in the second innings, to wrap up Karnataka‘s second outright win in two matches, against Hyderabad in Shimoga.Chasing 380, Hyderabad were bowled out for 320 with B Sandeep top scoring with 80. The overnight pair of opener Tanmay Agarwal and captain Ambati Rayudu had extended their stand to 53, before Agarwal was pinned lbw by offspinner K Gowtham. Allrounder Stuart Binny then claimed the key wicket of Rayudu for 31 to pin down the visitors to 117 for 4. Sandeep and Ashish Reddy then propped up the chase with fifties each before the spinners cleaned up the lower order. Gowtham took three wickets, and stretched his match haul to six. Hyderabad were ultimately dismissed in 109.4 overs.Karun Nair, who had struck 134 off 229 balls, was named Man of the Match in his first match of the Ranji Trophy season.Offspinner Chirag Khurana’s second six-wicket haul of the match trumped Rinku Singh’s 136-ball 122 not out – his maiden first-class hundred – and secured Maharashtra‘s 31-run win over Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow.Resuming on 256 for 4, Maharashtra added 26 runs to their overnight score before declaring on 282 for 7, setting Uttar Pradesh a target of 324.The hosts lost Almas Shaukat and Himanshu Asnora early, and when captain Suresh Raina was dismissed for 5 by Khurana, Uttar Pradesh were 105 for 4. Akshdeep Nath and Rinku then put on 112 for the fifth wicket in 21.2 overs. The stand ended when Nath was dismissed for 79 off 123 balls. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar contributed 23 but his wicket triggered a collapse: Uttar Pradesh lost their last five wickets for 38 runs to be bowled out for 292.

Both openers capitalised on vastly improved batting conditions, both overhead and underfoot, to lead India’s recovery on the fourth day in Kolkata

The Report by Nikhil Kalro19-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:08

Chopra: SL bowlers looked ordinary on day four

Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan capitalised on vastly improved batting conditions, both overhead and underfoot, to lead India’s recovery on the fourth day in Kolkata. After Rangana Herath’s third Test fifty had bulked up Sri Lanka’s lead to 122, there was only one likely winner in the game. But then after Dhawan struck a 116-ball 94 and Rahul hit an unbeaten 73, there would be none it seemed.Mohammed Shami, on his home ground, rattled through Sri Lanka’s middle order to finish with four wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar added two wickets on the fourth day to return 4 for 88 in bowling Sri Lanka out for 294. With Umesh Yadav also taking two wickets, this was the third time India’s seamers took all ten wickets in a Test innings at home, and the first such instance since 1983-84.Rahul and Dhawan then replied with aggression that has typified their recent Test run. Sunny overhead conditions and a surface that seemed to have settled down helped drastically.On most pitches, a slightly fuller-than-good length is ideal. But Lahiru Gamage bowled on either side of that, dishing out three half-volleys to Rahul in his first over, which were punched for three boundaries through mid-off. He compensated with a shorter length thereafter, erring in Dhawan’s wheelhouse, who cut and pulled gleefully.In Kolkata’s humidity, Dinesh Chandimal was quickly forced to turn his spinners. With no turn, it played nicely into the openers’ hands. Rahul nudged and nurdled, opening and closing the bat face to accumulate runs, while Dhawan was more expansive, often using his feet to loft the ball straight.Herath, more often than not Sri Lanka’s second-innings star, was taken apart. In 29 overs, India had wiped out their deficit, and undone more than three days of diligence from Sri Lanka.BCCI

With Dhawan on 94 and the light fading, he committed the only two mistakes of his innings off the same delivery. He drove loosely at Dasun Shanaka, but an inswinger found his inside edge. He reviewed immediately, and replays showed a sharp spike as ball passed bat. India finished the fourth day at 171 for 1, with a lead of 49. Cheteshwar Pujara, who finished unbeaten on 2, could become the ninth batsman to bat on all five days of a Test.Niroshan Dickwella and Chandimal began the fourth morning under sunny skies by counterattacking India’s seamers. But like Sadeera Samarawickrama found out on the third day, hitting through the line can be fraught with risk against the moving ball because it threatens both edges. Their approach worked for the first half hour, taking Sri Lanka to 200, a handy lead of 28, but just when it seemed like Sri Lanka wrested control, India hit back. Sri Lanka’s middle order tried to make contact with the ball, as opposed to allowing themselves to be beaten by playing the line. It was a ploy to move the Test along, and on a seaming surface like this, it wasn’t a bad one.Dickwella had punched, cut and pulled merrily, but was also beaten repeatedly. Shami got one to seam in from his around-the-wicket angle, then bounce and jag away – enough to find the outside edge, but not exaggerated movement to beat the edge.Bhuvneshwar, in the next over, set up Dasun Shanaka with an outswinger well outside off. He started the next ball on a similar line, but it hooped back prodigiously to hit Shanaka, offering no shot with an intent to leave as many as he could, on the back pad. Only James Anderson is more adept at using this tactic with the swinging ball in Tests currently.Five balls later, Chandimal was caught fishing outside his off stump against Shami. Again, the ball did just enough to find the outside edge. Suddenly, Sri Lanka had slipped to 201 for 7.It got worse for Sri Lanka when Dilruwan Perera was given out lbw off a sharp inducker from Shami that beat his inside edge. Dilruwan, it appeared, accepted the decision and turned around to walk towards the dressing room, but asked for a review moments later. Replays showed the ball hit Dilruwan outside the line of off stump.Herath was particularly effective with cross-batted strokes on either side of the wicket. He would frequently perch on the back foot, and depending on the line, either cut through point or pull past midwicket. Considering deliveries on a good or short length were routinely beating him with a straight bat, it was a rewarding strategy. He had moved to 67 before slicing a catch to deep backward point off Bhuvneshwar.

Fast bowler takes eight-for as Salman Butt’s side fold inside 11 overs on fifth day as SNGPL clinch third title in four years

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2017
ScorecardPCB

SNGPL beat WAPDA by 103 runs to clinch their third Quaid-e-Azam trophy title in four years.The hard work had been done on Sunday, where the core of WAPDA’s batting line-up was dismantled. This left Mohammad Hafeez’s side needing only three wickets to regain the trophy. They faced a hint of resistance on Monday, but weren’t to be denied in the end.Samiullah Khan, the left-arm fast bowler, took all three remaining wickets to post career-best figures of 8 for 62, as Salman Butt’s side’s title defence came to an end.Any thoughts of a competitive final day had been killed off late on the fourth evening in a spectacular 19-ball collapse that saw WAPDA reduced from 86 for three to 86 for 7, with all their recognised batsmen dismissed.Khushdil Shah fell off the third ball on the final day before dogged partnership between Wahab Riaz and Khalid Usman took the hosts past 150. However, Samiullah returned to dismiss Wahab before taking the final wicket in the 11th over of the day to complete a 11-for.For a man who played two internationals for Pakistan nearly ten years ago, it was a sweet career-high in his twilight years.

Lizaad Williams’ second three-wicket haul in two days left Zimbabweans reeling with a measly lead of 29 in their only warm-up fixture ahead of the inaugural four-day Test

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2017
ScorecardAFP

Lizaad Williams’ second three-wicket haul in two days left Zimbabweans reeling at 120 for 7 in their second dig against CSA Invitation XI at Paarl, with a measly lead of 29. The hosts were earlier lifted to 287 in their first innings, courtesy half-centuries from Temba Bavuma and Dayyaan Galiem.Having snared a 91-run lead, Williams led CSA Invitation XI’s charge, bowling the visitors’ first-innings top-scorer, Hamilton Masakadza, off the second delivery of the innings. A 49-run second-wicket stand between Solomon Mire (20) and Craig Ervine (34) steadied Zimbabweans after the early wobble, but Ervine’s dismissal – via Williams – in the 13th over led to the tourists subsiding from 50 for 1 to 107 for 7. Ryan Burl (17*) and Chamu Chibhaba (48) kept vigil at stumps on second day even as Shaun von Berg and Michael Cohen finished with two wickets apiece.Earlier, CSA Invitation XI’s resumption on 55 for 3 on second day featured a collapse of its own – 5 wickets for 61 runs – which was bookended by fifty stands. While Bavuma anchored the first, in Tladi Bokako’s (41) company, with his 70-run knock, Galiem’s 54-ball 57 steered the second, with von Berg (24), helping the side scramble past 250 even in the face of a four-for from Graeme Cremer.

Scorchers went top after winning their sixth-straight game at the WACA, this time against third-placed Hurricanes – and Jofra Archer was exciting IPL observers once more

The Report by Geoff Lemon20-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOnce again, it was the Hobart Hurricanes in third position taking on the team in second. Once again, the team from Hobart couldn’t quite get over the line. Once again, their opponent went top of the table, and now all of Hurricanes’ hopes are pinned on winning their last game of the season against the Melbourne Stars.Perth Scorchers, meanwhile, have the chance of yet another home final after running down Hurricanes’ 167 with four balls to spare. Both sides stuttered at the halfway mark before finding a strong finish and ending up five wickets down. The Hurricanes total was built on the back of a fightback half-century from Simon Milenko, but Scorchers found a couple of fifties of their own from Cameron Bancroft and Ashton Turner to seal a close finish.Wade up your optionsIt hasn’t been the greatest season for Matthew Wade, dumped as wicketkeeper for Australia’s Test and ODI teams, struggling for Tasmania, and failing to set the BBL alight. But a new challenge arose because of Alex Doolan’s recent concussion, with Wade sent up to open the innings with D’Arcy Short.It wasn’t easy, with Mitchell Johnson fast and fiery from the get-go. Wade was nearly knocked over keeping out a yorker, while short balls trampolined to the keeper. Johnson conceded just three runs from the bat in his first over. But Wade did the damage against Joel Paris, slamming four balls to the fence and one over it for 22 from the second set of six.Paris got his man in the fourth over, but 31 from 16 was the fast start Hurricanes required. Short, the talk of the tournament, had only 6.Are you Agar jelly?What T20 side wouldn’t be jealous of having Ashton Agar? He’s a lock for the Australian T20 team, with national selectors bound to further raid Scorchers’ bowling stocks just before the Big Bash final. His economy rate of 5.51 per over puts him among Big Bash royalty.Agar kicked things off by catching Short at mid on before bowling the 7th over. His first eight deliveries were all to George Bailey, and cost one run. Four balls to Ben McDermott cost another single.Starting Agar’s third over, McDermott decided it had to go. Only problem was he missed the ball, giving up a stumping as it dropped shorter and spun past the edge. Then Agar came wide on the crease and angled in to bowl Dan Christian. Three overs, two wickets for five runs, and the Hurricanes were 4 for 69 from 11 overs.Gotta be made of MilenkoNo one could hit Agar, but Milenko got him in the 13th. No one could hit Johnson, but Milenko got him in the 15th. First a sweep, then a hook that went 100 metres, then a couple of sixes off Tim Bresnan. Bailey fell, Jofra Archer came to the crease, but Milenko kept going, pumping Johnson for a straight six that raised his fifty from 29 balls. The all-rounder finished unbeaten with 66 off 37, having masterminded 101 off the last 10 overs. Johnson’s 0 for 35 was his worst return in the BBL, and Hurricanes’ sub-par total had become 167, the exact average winning score when batting first in BBL07.Archer on target againAgainst the Strikers, Archer kept hitting the stumps, either with yorkers or run-out throws. This time he was zeroing in with the short ball to end the fifth over, a nasty bouncer that hit Michael Klinger’s grille and bounced back onto his stumps.Later, in the 16th, Archer produced a frankly absurd piece of fielding, charging around at long-on, picking up cleanly, and throwing down the stumps at the striker’s end of the pitch with a direct hit as Adam Voges tried to complete a second run. Bullseye.Bancroft Turner OverdriveIt wasn’t quite enough, though. With Sam Whiteman superbly caught Short in the first over, and Christian bowling Hilton Cartwright in the 10th, it was 2 for 76, advantage Hurricanes. But Bancroft and Turner put on 38 together before Australia’s new Test opener was caught behind for 54 in the 14th over. At that stage the run rate was 8.31, the required rate 8.59. It was set up beautifully for Turner, one of the more destructive batsmen in the competition.Hobart stayed in it until there were eight balls to go. Christian had bowled a suffocating line and length, aiming at the batsmen’s heels and giving up only singles, but eventually Turner was able to dig him out, first for a four that hit the long-on gap, then for a six. Archer bowled the last, but with only five runs to defend, the ask was too much even for the man with the golden arm.

Left-arm medium-pacer Tangeni Lungameni’s List A career-best 3 for 6 helped dismiss Kenya for 83, but heavy rain just five overs into the host’s chase, forced an end to play with no result

The report by Peter Della Penna in Windhoek10-Feb-2018Match abandoned
Peter Della Penna

Left-arm medium-pacer Tangeni Lungameni’s List A career-best 3 for 6 propelled Namibia’s bowling attack to wipe out Kenya for 83 at United Cricket Club Ground, but heavy rain just five overs into the host’s chase forced an end to play with no result. According to tournament rules, the match is now set to be replayed from scratch on the next tournament reserve day on Tuesday.The match had originally been scheduled for Friday but never got started due to damp bowler’s run-ups forcing tournament officials to push the match back into Saturday’s reserve day. Though the outfield dried up by Saturday morning, sweat from the pitch covers resulted in a slightly damp pitch that caused a 90-minute delay and a reduction to 45 overs.After losing a crucial toss and being sent in, Kenya struggled throughout the Powerplay to survive the generous movement on offer. Craig Williams finally made the first breakthrough three balls into his first-change spell in the ninth over, getting Alex Obanda to loft a drive to long-off.Lungameni replaced Smit at the opposite end for the 10th over and had Irfan Karim edging into the slips for his first wicket. Across his next four overs, Lungameni conceded just one run. Dhiren Gondaria drove to mid-on for Lungameni’s second wicket before Collins Obuya’s painstaking innings of 2 in 27 balls ended when he charged in frustration only to drive a bullet straight to Gerhard Erasmus at short extra cover.Captain Sarel Burger continued to set attacking fields, with no less than two men catching behind the wicket throughout the innings to the medium-pacers, as the final four men out were caught behind the wicket. After bowling out Kenya in 38.5 overs, Namibia had just under a half-hour to bat before lunch but thunder began to rumble across the field as the opening pair of Stephan Baard and Lohan Louwrens took the field. A steady drizzle came down throughout their short chase before it worsened into a downpour, robbing Namibia a golden chance of two points and a much-needed net run rate boost.