Sikandar Raza’s adventurous 97 not out helped Zimbabwe recover from 59 for 5 on the third day at Khettarama

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo16-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Sikandar Raza stalled Sri Lanka’s charge with a selection of cross-batted strokes•AFP

All through the tour, Sri Lanka have had Zimbabwe cornered, and games have threatened to follow a familiar, one-sided form. Yet all through the tour, Zimbabwe have found ways of resisting, of stubbornly holding out, and eventually fighting back.Day three at Khettarama saw perhaps their most impressive turnaround yet. Having eked out a 10-run first-innings lead in the morning, Zimbabwe found themselves 23 for 4, then 59 for 5. But for the remainder of the day, the middle order would rally around an adventurous Sikandar Raza, and turn the match in dramatic fashion. Having played definitive hands in Zimbabwe’s ODI series, Raza stood on the verge of a vital maiden Test ton, finishing the day on 97 off 158 balls. Peter Moor struck 40 and joined him for a sixth-wicket stand of 86. Malcolm Waller did even better, cracking 57 off 76 deliveries in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership worth 107.All this means that Zimbabwe now control the Test, and may even have put themselves in a position to pull off the unexpected result of the year. Overturning Sri Lanka in ODIs was surprising enough, but in Tests, the hosts may not have dreamed they would be challenged by the lowest ranked team – one they have consistently thrashed over the past two decades. But with Zimbabwe’s lead at 262 their target is already a challenging one. If the score grows by another 100 runs, could become a near-impossible pursuit.Unusually, Sri Lanka have caught well in this Test, but the bowling has been consistently menace-free. Of the 16 Zimbabwe wickets to have fallen, Rangana Herath has claimed nine. For the second half of day three, he seemed the only bowler capable of beating the Zimbabwe batsmen, and had he not run riot in the first session, Sri Lanka’s position would have been even bleaker. Dilruwan Perera was not miserly enough for a bowler who isn’t taking wickets, Lahiru Kumara’s lines have been too wayward, and Suranga Lakmal has been modest in unhelpful conditions. Sri Lanka are also missing the bowling of Asela Gunaratne, whose tweaked hamstring had substantially hampered his running between the wickets, and now has kept him off the field in the second innings.The first 10 balls of Raza’s innings defined his approach. First ball, he had picked a single to fine leg. After three further singles off the next five balls, he punched a ball out to the cover sweeper and took two. Though his team was threatening to be all out for 120, Raza took seven off the first 10 balls, and batted as if they were 300 for 5. He favoured the lap sweep and the drive off the spinners, and rarely failed to find gaps when he was looking for them.Rangana Herath claimed three wickets in four overs before lunch•AFP

Perhaps the only real chance in his innings came when he was 31, when he attempted to reverse sweep Herath, but only ended up top-edging the ball. Slip fielder Dimuth Karunaratne – who had already taken two excellent catches in the innings – might have been in a position to make a third take, had he not begun moving squarer in anticipation of where he felt the ball may travel. As it happened, the ball bisected the keeper and slip before skimming away to the third man fence. Raza would hit two more fours in that over to make it Herath’s most expensive of the innings. Outside that over, Raza only struck four fours and a six.Waller was more openly aggressive – but only by a little bit – as he hit eight fours, and repeatedly put bowlers under pressure by scoring singles and twos freely as well. His fourth Test fifty had come off just 54 deliveries, before the final overs of the day prompted a slowdown from both batsmen. Beyond Waller, Zimbabwe also have Graeme Cremer and Donald Tiripano, both of whom have first-class centuries to their names.Before Raza came to the crease, Herath had knocked out Zimbabwe’s top three in his first four overs, before Perera also took a wicket. By lunch, Sri Lanka had had them by the collar, at 23 for 4. Taking the new ball, Herath needed an over to settle, but the first delivery of his second over was of a higher quality than Regis Chakabva had the ability to handle. Breaking more sharply than any of his deliveries in the first over, the ball missed Chakabva’s defensive shot, and hit the top of the off stump. That over would go on to be a wicket-maiden, which Herath’s next would be as well. This time, having beaten Tarisai Musakanda’s inside edge with a slider, Herath tossed the ball up slightly wider, tempted Musakanda into an expansive drive, and then had him caught sharply by Karunaratne at slip.Herath’s next dismissal – in his following over – was perhaps the most controversial wicket of the wicket-filled session. Attempting a big sweep, Hamilton Masakadza was struck in front. There was no doubt the ball would go on to hit the stumps, but perhaps feeling it brushed his glove on the way, Masakadza reviewed the out decision, and there was not enough evidence to overturn the on-field call.All this followed a milestone for Cremer who became the first Zimbabwe captain to take a five-wicket haul. He had taken two of the last three Sri Lanka wickets in the morning, and had helped eke out a 10-run first innings lead. Cremer now will have plenty to defend as Zimbabwe set their sights on a rare victory against a top-eight team.

Australia and England will look to firm up their chances of a semi-final spot, even as Sri Lanka and West Indies pursue their first win in this edition

The Preview by Annesha Ghosh08-Jul-2017The two teams with the most World Cup titles and tournament favourites in this edition – defending champions Australia and hosts England – will face off in Bristol as the race for a place in the semi-finals nears a tight finish.Australia have a chance to secure a semi-final berth with a win, while a victory could put England on top of the points table, with eight points from five games and healthier net run rate than the other teams.If numbers are anything to go by, Australia, six-time world champions, have a clear edge over the hosts. Out of the 71 matches between the two, Australia lead England 47-20, having won 11 out of 16 matches in the World Cup. The last time they met in a World Cup, Australia upstaged England by two runs in a low-scoring thriller in Mumbai after seamer Anya Shrubsole’s 3 for 24 had limited Australia to 147.The two teams, however, haven’t played in the format against each other since the 2015 Ashes. Back then Australia captain Meg Lanning scored 85 and strung an 85-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ellyse Perry to hand the hosts an 89-run drubbing in Worcester.The numbers could turn a shade brighter for England on Sunday if Lanning opts to sit out her second successive match. She was rested in Australia’s previous game against Pakistan to avoid aggravating her chronic shoulder injury. Australia coach Matthew Mott was “very hopeful” of Lanning’s return for Sunday’s match, even as he praised middle-order batsmen Elyse Villani and Alyssa Healy for taking on the onus with fifties in the side’s 159-run win over Pakistan.The Bristol pitch, in the previous match, had produced a 678-run slugfest between England and South Africa. A new surface will, however, be used for Sunday’s game, which could most likely facilitate the contest ending up as a battle of two unwavering batting line-ups with six centuries between them in this edition. Despite the batting-friendly nature of the track, the spinners of both teams could pose a challenge, having been the preferred mode of attack, with 37 wickets between them.Stafanie Taylor’s unbeaten 171 had consigned Sri Lanka to a 209-run defeat during the previous World Cup encounter between the two sides•Getty Images/ICC

Sri Lanka and West Indies, on the other hand, will be pursuing their first wins in this edition, in Derby.Having lost all five warm-up fixtures, followed by four consecutive defeats in the league stage, West Indies are languishing at the bottom of the table. They batted first in all four matches so far and their narrowest margin of defeat was by seven wickets against India.After folding for 48 against South Africa, they crawled to 150 against New Zealand, and were smashed by Rachel Priest, who scored the fastest Women’s World Cup fifty. New Zealand went on to beat West Indies with 190 balls to spare.Sri Lanka will look to build on their performance against India, where they nearly pulled off a win. Medium-pacer Sripali Weerakkody, who kept India’s batsmen in check with 3 for 28, said the remaining matches were a good platform for the seniors to pass on knowledge. “We have so many juniors in the team, so we can give a chance to them and do something good for the future,” she said.Both teams are matched evenly in head-to-head numbers, each having won 14 out of 28 ODIs.Former West Indies captain Merissa Augilleira admitted the side has been far from showcasing the might that took them to the final of the 2013 World Cup. “We know our potential, we know what this team has and what we can do but apparently it is not clicking for us,” she said.While little may have gone West Indies’ way so far, a look back on their previous World Cup encounter against Sri Lanka in 2013 could serve them a much-needed encouraging stimulus ahead of what is poised to be a knockout game. Led by Stafanie Taylor’s unbeaten 171 and a 22-ball 50 from Deandra Dottin, West Indies had piled up 368 before consigning Sri Lanka to a 209-run defeat.

The former wicketkeeper-batsman has signed on for a two-year term starting with the Bangladesh tour in August

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Aug-2017Former wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin will join Australia’s coaching set-up, replacing Greg Blewett as fielding coach. Blewett has resigned to take up a role with South Australia.Haddin, who has represented Australia in 66 Tests and 126 ODIs, will be joining the squad for their upcoming tour of Bangladesh. He has been contracted until the end of 2019.”I am thrilled to get the opportunity to work with this young group of players,” Haddin said in a statement. “I grew up in an era of players like Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting who gave Australian cricket a real identity in the standards of world-class fielding. They were the type of players who took it personally if the team wasn’t fielding well and that created a level for the rest of the group to aspire to.”Haddin assisted the New South Wales Under-17 and Under-19 squads soon after his retirement post the 2015 Ashes series. He shared coaching duties with his former Test team-mate Ryan Harris during Australia A’s matches against India A and South Africa A in Townsville in 2016. Earlier this year, both men assisted the national side during their tour of New Zealand.”I want to hold this group accountable to that kind of standard and I believe we have the talent to do that. It will be hard work but I am looking forward to the challenge,” he said. “Given my background is in wicketkeeping it will be great to be able to work with the ‘keepers in the side and give them a sounding board.”Both Haddin and Blewett are currently with the Australia squad in Darwin for a training camp ahead of the tour of Bangladesh. At the end of the camp, Blewett is expected to return home and Haddin will accompany the Australia players to the subcontinent.Blewett, who had been Australia’s fielding coach since August 2014, will now be in charge of South Australia’s Under-19 team, apart from assisting the Redbacks in domestic cricket and the also Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League.”I’m very passionate about cricket in this state,” Blewett told . “Clearly there also was the lure of spending more time at home with my young family because I’ve lived a fairly selfish existence most of my life with all of the travelling for cricket.”But I also want to help the Redbacks squads achieve good things, along with trying to broaden my coaching experience.”

The Australia left-arm spinner fractured his right little finger while fielding in the third ODI in Indore

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2017A fractured finger for left-arm spinner Ashton Agar is another setback for Australia after the tourists surrendered their ODI series 3-0 to India in Indore with two matches remaining.Agar broke the digit as Steven Smith’s team were unable to defend 293 against India’s rampant batsmen. He spent time off the field and, though he returned to bowl, he is now out of the tour.”Ashton injured his right little finger whilst fielding in the match last night,” the team doctor Richard Saw said. “Following the conclusion of the match he went for x-rays which have confirmed a fracture of the finger. He will return home to Australia and consult a specialist with a possibility of surgery.”After playing in two Tests in Bangladesh, Agar was not initially part of the ODI team but was included after Adam Zampa was harshly dealt with by India’s middle order in the first ODI in Chennai. Smith was critical of Zampa bowling too full in the match and subsequently preferred Agar. Zampa, who possesses a handsome IPL record, can now expect a recall for the remainder of the series.

While KL Rahul was left out after not playing a single ODI against Australia, Shikhar Dhawan returned after he had sought leave to be with his ill wife

Arun Venugopal14-Oct-20171:48

Chopra: Unfair to drop KL Rahul

Shardul Thakur and Dinesh Karthik have made their way back into the ODI squad for the three matches against New Zealand starting October 22 in Mumbai. Shikhar Dhawan, who had sought leave for the Australia ODIs to be with his ill wife, also returned to the 15-man squad.KL Rahul, who was in the squad for the ODIs against Australia, was left out. India’s frontline spinners in Tests – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – were also not part of the squad which meant the spin trio of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel was retained. Jadeja had earlier been named a replacement for Axar, who had sprained his left ankle, for the first three ODIs against Australia but could not find a place in the XI given the performances of Kuldeep and Chahal, before Axar returned for the last two ODIs.In the pace department, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were left out from the squad after both of them played only the fourth ODI against Australia in Bengaluru. While Umesh picked four wickets for 71, Shami went wicketless and conceded at more than six runs per over as Australia amassed 334 runs. Their omission means Thakur joins Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar among the quicks.Karthik’s selection, according to a BCCI official, was a reward for his consistent performances lately. In his most recent international games – a T20I and an ODI against West Indies in July – he scored 48 and 50* respectively. Karthik also finished with the second-highest aggregate in the Duleep Trophy behind Priyank Panchal, with 291 runs at an average of 72.75, including two centuries. Karthik is currently a part of the Tamil Nadu side that is playing Tripura in the Ranji Trophy.With Rishabh Pant not among the runs recently – he had an underwhelming series with the India A team in South Africa and didn’t exactly set the stage ablaze in the Duleep Trophy – Karthik has jumped ahead of him in the queue. In fact, Karthik, who plays as a specialist middle-order batsman for India in limited-overs cricket, was also preferred to Rahul, who didn’t get a game against Australia after a poor tour of Sri Lanka.”Karthik’s inclusion is a reward for the runs he has been scoring,” the official told ESPNcricinfo. “There is no particular reason [behind Rahul’s omission] because Ajinkya [Rahane] has done well as an opener. He (Rahul) will play Board President’s XI or the Ranji Trophy. What’s the point in him just being in the squad and not playing? We will see how it goes [as far as his batting position is concerned]. Because, as of now, this is the best combination.”We are trying to rotate everybody. We are open to different combinations and options. DK instead of Rahul in the middle order is also a part of the process.”The official also said Pant would be better equipped to succeed once he found some form with the bat. “When somebody comes into the team, if he comes with a lot of runs, he will come with better confidence and will have a better chance of doing well,” he said.Thakur’s selection, too, appears to be a part of the selectors’ rotation policy. After having been a part of the India squad on a few occasions, Thakur made his international debut during the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in August. While he picked up only one wicket from two games, he bowled well for the most part and didn’t do much wrong. Thakur also picked up six wickets from the two four-day matches he played against New Zealand A and finished with two wickets in the 50-overs leg.Meanwhile, an ODI call-up continues to elude Shreyas Iyer despite his impressive run of form. While he racked up scores of 140*, 90 and 37 in his most recent List A games against South Africa A and New Zealand A, he has also scored two fifties and a century in his last four first-class innings against the same opponents. With several middle-order contenders like Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav and Karthik, Iyer might have to wait a little longer.Squad Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.

DBMSC hurt by a cluster of wickets

05-Nov-2017An excellent outing for Khaleej Times players, they controlled all departments of the game, the field placement was set precisely, they had DBMSC in the defense from the very 1st over. Each time the batsmen went aggressive, they lost wickets immediately, by the end of 5th over, the score was 26 runs for 4 wickets.Sajid was the only batsmen who managed to keep scoring runs by taking singles & doubles to keep the score ticking, his innings of 16 runs and staying not out till the end helped DBMSC to end of their innings at 50 runs. The 2 run outs at the end of the innings didn’t help DBMSC to score a bigger total.Chasing 51 to win, Ram got out early on but the onslaught of Tharindu was spectacular, he hit 3 towering sixes followed by couple of fours. His blistering innings of 32 runs came off just 11 balls.Once retired out, the later batsmen ensured the game was over by the 4th over for loss of just 1 wicket; they hit regular shots without any risks.

Nathan Lyon has suggested Matt Prior “wanted to fly home” during the 2013-14 Ashes because he was intimidated by Mitchell Johnson

George Dobell in Brisbane20-Nov-2017Matt Prior has dismissed claims he wanted to fly home from the last Ashes tour because he was scared of Mitchell Johnson’s bowling as “laughable”.The claims were made by Nathan Lyon who suggested the entire England team were terrified of Johnson during the 2013-14 series and said he “nearly had to push a couple of the guys back towards the stumps” from his fielding position at leg slip.Lyon, the Australian offspinner, was particularly critical of Prior whom he accused of “wanting to fly home” ahead of the Perth Test. Lyon went on to say he hoped Australia would end the careers of more England players in this series.”Seeing Mitchell Johnson scare all the Poms was unbelievable,” Lyon said. “I was at leg slip and I nearly had to push a couple of the guys back towards the stumps. It was good fun.”Leading into Perth we knew that they were broken. We knew Matt Prior wanted to fly home before the game started and he was one of the senior players. He was scared.”Prior, who was dropped after the third Test, said Lyon’s comments were “completely ridiculous” and untrue.”If that was the case and I was scared, why didn’t I go home then?” Prior said. “I have no idea where this has come from. It’s completely ridiculous and all I can do is laugh. It is wholeheartedly untrue.”I stayed out there and what hurt me more was that I was dropped for the last two Tests because I wasn’t playing well.”I hope the first Test goes well for Nathan. I will be watching with interest to see how he goes. He has other things to worry about rather than thinking about me. I hope he lets his cricket do the talking now.”Lyon also stated that Australia’s current attack was better and quicker than the one that inflicted a 5-0 whitewash upon England in 2013-14.”They are quicker,” Lyon said of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. “In the nets, definitely. I saw Steve Smith land on his backside the other day. Johnson didn’t do that.”I’m not getting in the nets to face them because they are bowling way too quick for my liking. They are class bowlers.”But the best bowler in the world is Josh Hazlewood. He can swing the new ball in and out, he can seam it, he can bowl fast, he can bowl a nice bouncer, he can reverse an old ball. His consistency, the pace he bowls at and the way he controls the game is incredible. In my book he’s the No. 1 bowler in the world.”Lyon went on to raise a few more spectres from the 2013-14 series in Australia, when Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann were among the long-standing members of the England dressing room whose careers finished, while the coach, Andy Flower, also stepped down.”I know Joe Root got dropped last time when he was here, so it’d be good to get him dropped again,” Lyon said. “If we can start by opening up that crack, it’s pretty crucial. There’s a lot of scars for the English guys, especially coming over here, especially when we have two guys bowling 150kph and not just one now.”Could we end some careers? I hope so.”

Khulna Titans jumped to second spot after their 14-run win over table-toppers Comilla Victorians, who can still extend their lead as they have a game left against Sylhet Sixers on Wednesday

The Report by Mohammad Isam05-Dec-2017Khulna Titans 174 for 6 (Shanto 37, Ariful 35, Al-Amin 3-52) beat Comilla Victorians 160 for 7 (Tamim 36, Malik 36, Howell 2-32, Jayed 2-35) by 14 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Raton Gomes/BCB

Khulna Titans jumped to second spot after their 14-run win over table-toppers Comilla Victorians, who can still extend their lead as they have a game left against Sylhet Sixers on Wednesday.Batting first, Khulna posted 174 for 6, with Nazmul Hossain Shanto top-scoring with 37. But the real push came from Ariful Haque and Carlos Brathwaite, who helped them punch 50 runs in the last three overs. Al-Amin took three wickets but was very expensive, giving away 52 runs.Comilla started well with the bat, but a lack of big hits in the middle overs squeezed them out of the game. Shoaib Malik and Marlon Samuels slammed some sixes in the last few overs, but it was too little too late.Khulna’s bright startMichael Klinger and Nazmul Hossain Shanto put on 55 runs for the first wicket to give Khulna a strong start in the Powerplay. After a sedate start – they scored six in the first two overs – the two blasted 49 runs in four overs. The only thing that prevented it from becoming the perfect start was Shanto’s dismissal, off the last ball of the sixth over, for 37 of 21 balls. He stuck four fours and two sixes – over long-off and midwicket. Klinger was slower, his 29 coming off 28 balls with a four and a six, before he got out in the 11th over.A forceful finishAfter the blistering start, Khulna lost substantial ground in the middle overs, with Mahmudullah and Nicholas Pooran getting out cheaply. That was until the arrivals of Carlos Brathwaite and Ariful Haque, who plundered 67 runs in the last five overs. Though they only cleared the fence once each, they found it with regularity. The duo’s onslaught upset Khulna’s lines and lengths, as witnessed in the penultimate over, when Mehedi Hasan Rana conceded a hat-trick of wides and a no-ball. Khulna finished with 174 for 6, which would need some batting to chase down.Comilla recover from early lossSolomon Mire, playing his first game this season, fell for a two-ball duck in the first over of the chase. But Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes brought them back through a 63-run second wicket stand. Kayes struck three fours in his 19-ball 20, and was reprieved by Carlos Brathwaite, who dropped a sitter in the fourth over when Imrul was on 6. Brathwaite later made amends with a smart catch, running to his left from long-off, to send back Kayes for 20. When Tamim fell two overs later, toe-ending a catch to Mahmudullah at cover, Comilla were on the backfoot: 69 for 3 at the halfway mark, requiring another 106.Khulna sustain late pressureAfter Imrul and Tamim’s departures, Benny Howell removed Jos Buttler in the 14th over, having him caught at backward point. Thereafter, with the required rate rising quickly, Shoaib Malik slammed three sixes in the 14th, 15th and 16th overs before Samuels continued the trend with one in the 17th over. But Malik’s dismissal pretty much brought the curtains down on Comilla. Having played fluently for his 36, Malik lobbed a catch off the leading edge to point, leaving Comilla with 48 to get in three overs.Abu Jayed conceded seven in the 18th over which also included the wicket of Graeme Cremer. He returned for the last over and conceded 16, but with Comilla requiring 31 at the start, it still ensured a comfortable win for Khulna.

Though he had calmed down somewhat after the match, Steven Smith was far from impressed when given out caught behind at a vital phase of Australia’s innings

Daniel Brettig21-Jan-2018Australia’s captain Steven Smith has called for an end to the practice of on-field umpires offering a “soft signal” to the third umpire on disputed catches, arguing that technology should be arbiter in such cases as the immediate reactions of players in the middle have often proven to be flawed.Smith was given out caught behind at a critical juncture of the third ODI in Sydney on Sunday, edging low to Jos Buttler who immediately celebrated the catch. The on-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Simon Fry then referred the catch to the TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena with the soft signal of “out”, and while replays shrouded the catch in far greater doubt, Dharmasena did not deem it to be enough to overrule the initial impression of his colleagues.In assessing the process, Smith said he felt that the umpires’ signal was often dictated by the reactions – either celebratory or ambivalent – of players in the middle, and carried too much weight relative to the evidence provided by television cameras. He said he would prefer a system where the third umpire made a ruling based purely on the pictures in front of him.”I’m not sure I’m a big fan of the ruling with the soft signal. That’s obviously the ruling at the moment and it’s hard to overturn anything,” Smith said. “We’ve seen a few this summer that have been pretty similar and if the fielder goes up and actually celebrates they usually get given out and if you’re a bit apprehensive of what’s happened they normally get given not out.”It’s hard for them to overturn the decision. I’d actually like for the third umpire to have to make the decision whether it’s out or not. Just them having to do it, if that makes sense.”The soft signal was introduced for disputed catches in part because it was felt that two dimensional camera images and foreshortening often added doubt to catches that all on the field had considered clean, meaning too many were ruled not out as a matter of course. Simon Taufel, the former ICC umpires training manager, has explained the reason for its existence by stating that umpires needed to retain the primary responsibility for decision-making.”It’s part of the decision-making process,” he told the in 2016. “If the third umpire cannot find conclusive evidence to prove that the original on-field decision is incorrect, then it stands. On-field umpires are there to make decisions and answer appeals, not simply to send them upstairs to the third umpire to take the call.”Decision making is an important skill and one that should be applied at the highest level of the game. So, the soft signal maintains the premise that the decision-making happens on field and not just left to technology to provide an outcome.”David Warner fell early in Australia’s chase•Associated Press

Buttler, for his part, remained adamant he had caught the ball cleanly when queried about it afterwards. “I was pretty sure it was out,” he said. “I think any wicketkeeper would tell you, you know if you get your fingers underneath it. It always looks a bit either way on TV but for me it was out.”Smith made it clear he was not questioning Buttler’s honesty: “He obviously thought it was out, he’s a pretty honest guy, so he thought it was out and it got given out so I had to walk off.”Other questions had been raised about Smith via footage that showed him rubbing the side of his lips before shining the ball during England’s innings – the use of saliva is permitted under the game’s laws but lip balm is not. “It was all spit,” Smith said. “People said something about lip balm. If you look at my lips, they’re pretty dry, I certainly didn’t have any of that on. It’s just the way I get some spit into the side of my mouth and get some spit onto the ball. So there was nothing in it.”As for Australia’s loss, surrendering the series to England in the minimum three matches, Smith said he needed to improve personally alongside a better collective effort from his men. “Five wins out of last 18 games and that’s just not good enough,” he said. “We’ve got to start finding ways to get over the line. Looking at this game I think the first 44 overs was really good and then Jos played particularly well at the end and Woakesy played well as well.”But I don’t think we executed well. We probably just needed to bowl some good balls at the top of the stumps and try to get them swinging across the line; we bowled too full or too short and got hurt. We probably should have been chasing somewhere around 270 or 280 and then if we do that things might have been a lot different.”I’ve got to play some better cricket. It was about me trying to control the middle with the spinners and keep getting off strike. Tonight I wasn’t good enough at that. I should have been up around a run a ball, it would have made things a bit easier at the back end. Not many balls were hitting the middle of my bat, which was disappointing. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I need to watch the ball a bit closer or something like that. It’s something to look at for Adelaide, hopefully I can do it a lot better and start helping this team win some games of cricket.”Fined 40% of his match fee for being deemed two overs behind the required over rate and now facing a ban for a repeat offence over the next 12 months, Smith said that he and the bowlers needed to be more disciplined in the field – no fewer than 13 wides and a no-ball effectively granted England more than two extra overs.”Yeah it’s not ideal, it’s two extra overs and 14 runs or thereabouts,” Smith said. “They’ve got to be a bit better with that as well. I think we were about 27 minutes over time as well so it’s going to cost me a bit, but I don’t mind that. It’s not ideal to have to bowl two extra overs and give away runs against a quality opposition.”

Despite playing a match-winning innings in Centurion, Heinrich Klaasen is practical about Quinton de Kock taking his place back in the side, and says, ‘If this is my last game, so be it, I am happy with it’

Sidharth Monga in Centurion22-Feb-2018″My dream is fulfilled. Now it becomes a job.”Players will struggle to top this as a description of how it feels to fill in for an injured player, win a couple of games for your country, and then go back to being the second rung. Heinrich Klaasen has come a long way from looking for tickets for the Pink Day ODI. He not only played that match but actually won it for his country. Now he has won them their only other limited-overs game in a one-sided match-up between the injury-hit hosts and the rampant Indian side.Yet, Klaasen is under no illusion. He knows the injured Quinton de Kock is too good a player to be left out when fit despite all that he himself has done in de Kock’s absence. “No, not at all,” Klaasen said without a moment of hesitation when asked if de Kock should be worried. “I think he is a world-class player. And our change room definitely misses him. Especially top of the order. I don’t think he has anything to worry about yet.”Still Klaasen doesn’t necessarily need to replace de Kock to play for South Africa. That middle order has shown signs of brittleness, and two keepers could actually share the workload too. He still doesn’t think he might have a chance in a full-strength South Africa side, but that’s not at the top of his mind yet. “If you look at Quinny, AB [de Villiers] and Faf [du Plessis] and with Temba [Bavuma] coming back as well, they are world-class players. So, in some sort, to put my name in that list as well. It is definitely a very important stage of my career. Put myself on the map or in this set-up. But if this is my last game, the weekend one, so be it, I am happy with it. My dream is fulfilled. Now it becomes a job.”And a dream is exactly what it has been for Klaasen, to help his side win a game at his home ground, Centurion. He will be watching re-runs of this innings before he moves on to the next match. “That’s great fun [to be able to execute your shots in pressure situations],” Klaasen said. “But in that moment you don’t usually think how fun it is. Next ball you think where it is going, so [you] need to figure couple of plans and areas where to hit, try to figure out where he is going to bowl to. But looking back, I’d probably go back home tonight, probably watch it, hopefully, if recorded. But later tonight or tomorrow I will enjoy it.”Klaasen might have once again had the damp conditions going for him, but he continues to be the only South Africa batsman to have truly dominated the India legspinners. In Centurion, he targeted Yuzvendra Chahal brutally, hitting five of his 12 balls for sixes and taking 41 runs off them. It turns out he has always taken a shine to legspin bowling.”I fancy him quite a lot,” Klaasen said, without a hint of arrogance. “Especially when I was in amateur cricket, there were a couple of quality leggies in that time when I started my career. I faced Shaun von Berg at the Titans a lot as well. We always made a joke that I need to finish the other leggie’s career so he can go up. Sometimes it works. Tonight it worked perfectly. I just tried to cash in as much as possible.”Chahal’s second over was all class from Klaasen with an extra-cover drive for a six and a switch-hit too. Klaasen was all muscle in Chahal’s third, which went for 23. “It [that assault] wasn’t planned,” Klaasen said. “But the way the seamers bowled, the cutters, they’ve got very, very good skills. I just fancied my chances more against the leggie, had more options against him. So when I got the first two boundaries, I thought this is the over I have got to target. Maybe if I can get 20-odd in this over.”The 20-odd came, the chase was sealed, and Klaasen walked back to a huge applause from his home crowd. If it is indeed just a dream, there is one more match to go, which, thanks to him, is not a dead rubber.