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The Test vice-captain becomes first India player to represent Hampshire, will replace Aiden Markram ahead of World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2019India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will join Hampshire for the County Championship season from next month.Division One club Hampshire confirmed Rahane’s signing as an overseas player on Thursday, as reported by ESPNcricinfo last week.The 30-year-old Rahane is the first India player to represent Hampshire and will replace Aiden Markram, who will finish his stint with Hampshire at the end of the Royal London One-Day Cup group stage in early May to join South Africa’s World Cup squad. Markram was a late signing after Dimuth Karunaratne entered the running to lead Sri Lanka at the World Cup and was subsequently confirmed as captain.Having been overlooked for the World Cup, Rahane will make his County Championship debut and feature in eight matches through May, June and the start of July, subject to visa clearance. Rahane has played 56 Tests and 90 ODIs. He has scored 3,488 Test runs at an average of 40.55 with nine centuries and 17 fifties, while averaging above 50 with the bat in 125 first-class matches, including 29 hundreds.”I am excited to be the first Indian to play for Hampshire, a county which has a glowing reputation,” Rahane said. “I hope to score runs and win as a team and would like to thank BCCI for allowing me to play.”Giles White, the Hampshire Director of Cricket, said he was pleased to have a player of Rahane’s stature at the club.”We’re delighted to attract a player of Ajinkya’s class and with both Aiden and Dimuth selected for the World Cup, we were obviously in the market for a top-order batsman,” White said. “Ajinkya showed an interest early on and the way things have played out it’s a great opportunity to get him over – we’re really excited to have him with us.”

Ben Stokes’ back will be the focus of attention over the next few days, while the exploits of the New Zealand XI lower order raised questions about the England attack

Andrew McGlashan at Seddon Park14-Mar-2018England began four days of Test preparation in Hamilton on Wednesday with the first two days played with the pink ball under lights. The matches aren’t first-class, England bowled first by agreement and teams can continue batting a whole day even if bowled out, so the games are essentially glorified middle practice. It all started well for England, reducing the New Zealand XI to 30 for 5, but a chastening afternoon and evening followed as Tom Blundell and Kyle Jamieson added 163 and both scored centuries. Here are a few things that caught the eye.Ben Stokes’ backStokes-watch has not finished with his comeback in the one-day series. He will sit out the first two-day game with a back problem but it is being played down as nothing serious; England are hopeful he will play over the second two days, he pushed himself hard during the ODIs and may be feeling the effects. However, it is likely his workload in the Tests will need to be managed or he could be considered as a specialist batsman. In that case it would again leave England needing to find a way to balance the side. At the very least, Stokes won’t have had any middle time with the pink ball. James Vince, who could be vulnerable if Stokes plays as a batsman, had seven overs on the opening day here, but if he’s needed for that many in a Test, things haven’t gone well.Early points to England’s quicksNew Zealand’s Test openers, Jeet Raval and Tom Latham, walked out to open the XI’s innings – a chance for Raval to have an early sight of the pink ball and for Latham to adjust from one-day cricket. It didn’t work out for either of them first time around. James Anderson, quickly back into the groove, pushed one across Latham to find the outside edge and then Raval had a lazy waft at Stuart Broad’s first ball to give Ben Foakes another catch. With Henry Nicholls chipping to midwicket and Colin de Grandhomme edging Mark Wood behind, it wasn’t a great day for New Zealand’s Test squad. There was time late in the day for Raval to fall a second time, edging a good delivery from Broad. Not the ideal preparation.Wood opens the bowlingBroad is on 399 Test wickets has been working hard between series on trying to regain the outswinger. He had to wait a little while for his first bowl of the tour, though, as Wood was given the new ball ahead of him. If Stokes and Chris Woakes (rested here with a hamstring niggle) are fit, it’s hard to see how Wood would fit into the Test side, so it was an interesting decision from Joe Root. Wood’s first spell ended with 3-2-1-0 and then Broad struck with his first delivery.Blundell hard done byTom Blundell made a century on Test debut against West Indies but, two matches later, is out of the team with BJ Watling having recovered from his hip problem to regain his place. That is an unsurprising decision – Watling averages 38.05 in Tests – but Blundell ensured that the pressure will be on Watling to perform. Having come in at 15 for 4, he became increasingly aggressive during the afternoon – his second fifty took just 49 balls – to reach three figures from 149 deliveries. It won’t have hurt that New Zealand coach Mike Hesson was at the ground by this time. When he had 131, he felt he had enough and retired to give someone else a chance.When the ball goes softThis opposition is stronger than what England faced during their warm-ups in Australia, although the manufactured match situation is unsatisfactory. It wouldn’t have mattered if New Zealand had been skittled, they would have all come in for another bat. At least, though, this was genuine resistance. The recovery, again, raised the question of what this attack can do when the Kookaburra passes about 25 overs. There was some fill-in bowling used at times, but England went 45 overs between actually taking a wicket themselves, and Moeen Ali was treated with some disdain, conceding over four an over. The fact that that period involved a No. 8 without a first-class fifty will raise a few concerns.Who is Kyle Jamieson?The 23-year-old six foot six Canterbury fast bowler, who was part of the New Zealand Under-19s squad in 2014, missed the start of this season with injury, has a highest first-class score of 40, and is more known for his exploits with the ball. A few around the ground raised an eyebrow when he batted ahead of Scott Kuggeleijn (three first-class centuries) in this side, but he certainly didn’t look out of place. He took a particular liking to Wood, with a strike-rate of 163 against him, while Anderson did not take kindly to some of his batting – at one stage the umpire had to step in. His century came from 110 balls when he nudged a single off Moeen. It won’t class in his official records, but he can tell the story of this innings for years to come.

The two teams are hoping their performances at ICC’s limited-overs world events and the Intercontinental Cup first-class tournament can push their case

Peter Della Penna02-Feb-2017Ireland and Afghanistan are looking forward to a pivotal round of ICC meetings in the hope that they come out the other side as Test-playing countries. Among the topics up for discussion in front of the ICC board this weekend is the structure of Test cricket, and whether the five-day format should be opened up to more than the current ten Test sides. Specifically, it is Ireland and Afghanistan who are knocking on the door and waiting to see if the Full Member boards open up that possibility.Prospects for such a development have become brighter in recent times. Ireland’s inter-provincial competition was awarded first-class and List A status in October 2016. Afghanistan’s application to have first-class status granted to their multi-day domestic competition, meanwhile, is due to be examined at the Chief Executives Committee meeting on Thursday.Afghanistan recently declared their ambitions of achieving Full Member status. Their premier national competition has five teams compared to Ireland’s three-team elite structure, while Afghanistan’s domestic crowd numbers run well into the thousands, helping to satisfy the most nebulous aspect of ICC criteria: proving an established “cricket culture”. As such, Afghanistan’s administrators are confident that at the very least their domestic competition will be awarded the same first-class status as Ireland’s, and perhaps more.”We’ve submitted a proposal for Test status and in February they will decide about it,” Atif Mashal, chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, told ESPNcricinfo in a recent interview. “We had a very positive meeting with ICC. They were very happy for Afghanistan cricket, the development and sustainability of the cricket, the introduction of youngsters to our team.”Now we have many new names in the team and they are performing very well. Introducing new boys to the team is a plus thing because it is becoming a young, sustainable and well performing team. We have already reserved a place for Full Membership and after the criteria is passed by the full [ICC] board and executive committee, we are ready for Full Membership.”For Ireland and Afghanistan, it may help to argue for Test status without necessarily attaching Full Member status to it•AFP/Getty Images

Results at international level will also matter. At each of the previous three 50-over World Cups, Ireland have notched wins against Full Members while Afghanistan added the scalp of West Indies at the 2016 World T20 to their stretch of dominance over Zimbabwe. Both countries are already part of the 12-team ODI qualification table and have demonstrated consistently positive results in the highest multi-day competition available to them, the Intercontinental Cup.Since entering the competition in 2009, Afghanistan have won 14 games, lost once – to Ireland in the 2013 I-Cup final – and recorded four draws, including in their first-class debut match against a Zimbabwe XI in 2009. They beat Scotland in the 2010 final to claim the title in their first appearance at the tournament, and in the current tournament table are in second place behind Ireland. It’s a record that proves Afghanistan are ready for Tests, ACB chief executive Shafiqullah Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo this past summer.Ireland won three I-Cup titles from 2005 to 2008 when the competition was crammed into a two-year cycle. They won again in 2013 by beating Afghanistan in the final and could have won more titles had the format not been rejigged to stretch out seven group matches over three years. Overall, since 2004, they have won 24 matches and drawn ten while losing only two. One of those losses was to Scotland in the first year of the competition, the other to Afghanistan in 2009. They have been unbeaten in their last 12 matches, which includes four wins in four matches in the current tournament that began in 2015.Despite demonstrating their cricketing prowess, each country’s fate may have just as much to do with their administrative nous off the field. Part of that is garnering support from other Full Members for inclusion. While the two-tier structure proposal was put on the back burner at the ICC annual conference, momentum may be growing for a dual-conference structure, thereby maintaining a semblance of competitive parity. In order to avoid rocking the boat with the ICC’s 10-team financial distribution model linked to Full Membership, it may also help to argue for Test opportunities without necessarily attaching Full Member status to them.One official believes, however, that nothing definitive will emerge until after the ongoing Intercontinental Cup. “One of the key objectives is to try and uncouple Test cricket from Full Membership,” the official said. “I don’t think that is going to be determined through the new membership of the Test cricket until following this latest Intercontinental Cup competition.”

The new year brought in new fortunes for Zimbabwe’s bowlers, but not their batsman, as they snatched a 117-run win from Afghanistan in the third ODI in Sharjah to keep the five-match series alive

The Report by Vishal Dikshit02-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHamilton Masakadza started 2016 with another vital knock for Zimbabwe•Chris Whiteoak

The new year brought in new fortunes for Zimbabwe’s bowlers, but not their batsman, as they snatched a 117-run win from Afghanistan in the third ODI in Sharjah to keep the five-match series alive. Their medium-pacers struck from the very first over and allowed a biggest partnership of only 23 runs as Afghanistan were routed for 58 in their chase of 176. Luke Jongwe took his maiden ODI five-for and Neville Madziva finished with 3 for 27 from six overs to dismiss Afghanistan in only 16.1 overs.It barely looked like Zimbabwe would get anywhere close to victory when they were 49 for 7 after choosing to bat, but Hamilton Masakadza and Graeme Cremer staged a comeback for them, striking fifties and sharing a partnership of 104 runs to help the side move past 150. With a more respectable total to defend, Zimbabwe’s bowlers dismantled the Afghanistan line-up, by having most of their frontline batsmen caught behind. Unlike Zimbabwe, Afghanistan could not recover from their score of 47 for 7 and, except for an Mohammad Shahzad, no other batsman reached double-figures.Strangely, both teams were 0 for 2 and Zimbabwe’s recovery was better. Madziva and Jongwe didn’t allow the Afghanistan batsmen to breathe at all. Madziva struck off consecutive deliveries in the first over to remove Noor Ali Zadran with a yorker and Mohammad Nabi with a wide delivery which he edged to the wicketkeeper. The other opening bowler and left-arm spinner Tendai Chisoro, who came in for Wellington Masakadza, also chipped in with two big wickets to reduce Afghanistan to 39 for 4.Shahzad, meanwhile, had done a bit of damage early on to keep Afghanistan alive by scoring 31 of their total of 39 by the sixth over. He used brute force and targeted the leg side for most of his blows before failing in his attempt to clear mid-off and Elton Chigumbura dived forward for a good, low catch. The rest of the damage was then inflicted by Jongwe, who stuck to an asking line and length outside off, extracted good bounce and produced frequent outside edges.He moved the ball just a bit to make Hashmatullah Shahidi and Mirwais Ashraf edge the ball to Masakadza at wide slip, in the ninth over. In his next over he also had Samiullah Shenwari edge one behind with marginal seam movement to move the ball away and, with the score on 49 for 8, Afghanistan’s chase had virtually ended there. Jongwe didn’t leave that to anyone else; he got his fourth wicket when Rashid Khan cut him powerfully to cover point and finished things off by strangling Amir Hamza down the leg side, on the first ball of his sixth over. Afghanistan, who had seized the early momentum by bowling beautifully in the beginning of the match, folded meekly in their attempt to convert their 2-0 lead into a 3-0 series win.Zimbabwe’s top and middle order collapsed for the second time in three matches as Afghanistan’s new-ball bowlers Hamza and Dawlat Zadran pounced early on by removing the openers in the first eight balls. Left-arm spinner Hamza slid one in from wide of the crease to trap Peter Moor lbw, and five balls later Chamu Chibhabha poked at an outswinger to hand a catch to the wicketkeeper. 0 for 2.Richmond Mutumbami assisted Masakadza in a stand of 33, but an unnecessary sweep for a ball well outside off resulted in a bottom-edge to the wicketkeeper for 14. Their hopes rested on middle-order batsmen Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza but medium-pacer Ashraf’s double-strike removed both of them to leave Afghanistan reeling. Masakadza tried to unsettle Nabi by welcoming him with a straight six in the ninth over but lack of partners meant he had to rely on singles and doubles after that. To deepen Afghanistan’s woes further, a mix-up between Malcolm Waller and Masakadza ended in Waller’s run-out and they were soon 49 for 7.Cremer then joined Masakadza and the two responded with a rather unagitated approach. They nudged the spinners around to keep the score ticking, and Cremer also collected fours when Rashid Khan and Hamza bowled shorter to knock the run rate above three runs per over. Cremer’s first six, off Dawlat in the 32nd over, showed that the two batsmen were not going to give in. His hook brought up the fifty stand and also the team’s 100, and they switched gears further by scoring 36 runs from the 36th to 40th over.Cremer, though, fell to a full-toss soon after the 100 partnership came up and Masakadza added another 14 to his name before holing out to deep square leg off Dawlat, for 83.

Paul Collingwood’s highest one-day score for two years helped Durham to beat Derbyshire by 43 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Chester-le-Street.

27-May-2013
ScorecardPaul Collingwood rediscovered his one-day form•PA Photos

Paul Collingwood’s highest one-day score for two years helped Durham to beat Derbyshire by 43 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Chester-le-Street. Collingwood had a top score of 32 in the competition last year but made 79 from 83 balls as Durham totalled 273 for 6.The hosts took 69 off the last six overs with Gordon Muchall scorching to a 30-ball half-century and remaining unbeaten on 57. Derbyshire were 70 for 3 after 16 overs, Graham Onions taking all the wickets, when the drizzle became too heavy for play to continue.Left-arm paceman Mark Footitt was the pick of Derbyshire’s weakened attack, taking three wickets, while 19-year-old off-spinner Peter Burgoyne also performed creditably.Back at his original club, Mark Turner’s first three overs cost 25 and it was a surprise when Phil Mustard stepped back in the seventh over in an attempt to hit him over extra cover and missed a straight ball.Mark Stoneman had holed out at deep backward square leg in the second over, so Collingwood went in at 40 for 2. He had made six off 12 balls when he drove 21-year-old medium pacer Alex Hughes for a straight six.Otherwise he was content to accumulate steadily in taking the score to 109 after 20 overs. He pulled Turner for his third four to reach 50 off 59 balls and fell in the 36th over, lbw when trying to hit a swinging yorker from Footitt to leg.Scott Borthwick made 43 and Ben Stokes 40, both scoring at around a run a ball, although Stokes made a quiet start. On 14 he was dropped at deep midwicket by Billy Godleman, who had just made a brilliant stop.But when Turner returned, Stokes drove two straight fours in an over which cost 14 then hammered a straight six off left-arm spinner David Wainwright before driving Footitt to mid-off.Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen tried three overs of his own off spin but in the third Muchall lofted three successive balls over mid-off for four. He also drove Footitt over long-on for six and cleared the midwicket rope off Wainwright as the 38th over yielded 15 runs.In Derbyshire’s reply Chesney Hughes hit Onions’ third and fourth balls for four then fell lbw to the fifth, trying to turn a yorker to leg. Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 11 before he played back and edged to Mustard in the seventh over and in Onions’ final over Paul Borrington departed for 32 when he pulled a catch to midwicket.That left them well behind the asking rate when the match was brought to a halt by the elements.

Gautam Gambhir made Royal Challengers pay for dropping him twice, batting with aggression and precision to lead Knight Riders to a match-winning total

The Report by George Binoy28-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGautam Gambhir’s 93 was an example of how to bat on the Eden Gardens pitch•AFP

Gautam Gambhir made Royal Challengers Bangalore pay for dropping him twice, batting with aggression and precision to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to a match-winning total, which the visitors struggled to chase on a traditionally slow pitch at Eden Gardens. Gambhir used the depth of his crease, as well as his feet, to pound the leg side, where he scored 11 out of his 14 boundaries, primarily through pull shots. His 93, and supporting acts from Brendon McCullum and Jacques Kallis, helped Knight Riders stay No. 2 and move two points clear of their closest rivals, Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings.Knight Riders’ bowlers also came to the fore during the defence, striking early and neutralising their biggest threat, Chris Gayle, by keeping him off strike. Yusuf Pathan, who has struggled for form with bat and ball, bowled an economical opening spell, during which he dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over. In the sixth, Kallis ripped the heart out of Royal Challengers’ chase by trapping Virat Kohli lbw and having AB de Villiers caught miscuing a pull off his first ball. The visitors were 34 for 3, and by the end of the eighth over Gayle had faced only 16 balls and scored as many runs. The chase went nowhere after that, despite Gayle batting until the 20th over to finish with 86 off 58; Sunil Narine confounding batsmen with his variations on a responsive pitch.Royal Challengers’ struggle for any sort of fluency only highlighted the quality of Gambhir’s performance after he chose to bat. Despite scoring heavily between long-on and square leg, Gambhir’s first boundary was on the off side, when he cut his first ball, from Zaheer Khan, through point. So was his second, but his slash to third man off Zaheer was initially caught by Harshal Patel, running and diving to his left before he lost control of the ball after hitting the ground. Two balls later Gambhir, on 13, cut firmly towards gully, where Gayle stuck out his left hand but did not catch the ball. Gambhir went on to score 80 more runs, and dominate partnerships of 95 and 80 with McCullum and Kallis.Gambhir’s comfort on this surface was in contrast to McCullum’s struggle. Despite tucking the first ball of the match for four, McCullum failed to time the spinners and was on 11 off 20 balls after six overs. That Knight Riders had reached 46 for 0 was entirely down to Gambhir. He even exchanged words with de Villiers, which seemed to intensify his determination.McCullum eventually began to break free, accelerating his sluggish strike rate to more than a run a ball. He had just swept and driven his countryman Daniel Vettori for boundaries when he missed a cut and was bowled in the 11th over. Now in the company of Kallis, Gambhir went from strength to strength, muscling deliveries from all varieties of bowlers to and over the midwicket boundary. Perhaps it was the fatigue caused by the intensity of his performance, but Gambhir failed to score a boundary off six balls, before holing out to long-off in the 19th over, when he had a real chance of scoring a maiden IPL century.Kallis, however, ensured the momentum did not abate, striking three colossal sixes straight and over midwicket to finish on 41 off 27 balls. Shortly afterward, he would deal Royal Challengers two body blows off consecutive balls during the chase, ending the game as a contest. Gayle went on to muscle six sixes, and became the highest run-scorer of IPL 2012, but most of those were after Royal Challengers had no chance of winning.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Pune Warriors and Chennai Super Kings in Navi Mumbai

The Preview by Nitin Sundar26-Apr-2011

Match facts

Wednesday, April 27, Delhi
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)

Big picture

Less than 48 hours after walking out for the toss in Chepauk, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh will lead their sides out for the return game at the DY Patil Stadium. Even the IPL’s biggest supporters will be hard-pressed to defend this weird scheduling decision that is almost completely devoid of logic. It flies in the face of the IPL’s most captivating aspect: the ability of a ten-team field to provide variety on a daily basis. There is no logistical sense behind the decision either, unless the powers that be have managed to get a bulk discount on flight and hotel reservations for the teams. After all, this is the season for frugality.While the match-up will have an unavoidable sense of déjà vu to it, the complete contrast in conditions from the first encounter could make the second an interesting tussle. After surging to easy wins in their first two ‘home’ outings, Pune have run into a rut with three successive losses, the last two away from the DY Patil Stadium. They will be happy to return to the true track in Navi Mumbai, with bounce and movement to suit their pace-heavy attack. Jerome Taylor got steep carry off the sluggish strip in Chennai and could be a handful here, along with the impressive Alfonso Thomas.Chennai have won all their homes games, and are winless away. Dhoni has led them into the semi-finals in each edition of the IPL so far, and knows that his side will have to start travelling better if he is to extend the run. Can his spin-heavy attack shine on a surface where carrom balls are unlikely to bowl right-hand batsmen around the legs?

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai: WLLWL (fifth in points table)
Pune: LLLWW (eighth in points table)

Team talk

Shadab Jakati produced the best moment of the game in Chennai, when he flew and latched on to a lofted extra-cover drive from Yuvraj Singh. That, and two tight overs of left-arm spin, might have done enough to convince Dhoni to retain him. Will Chennai bench Suraj Randiv, who was economical but wicketless in the previous game? If they do, Tim Southee might come back in to join Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel in a three-pronged foreign pace attack for the visitors.Pune are also likely to drop one spinner, which means either Nathan McCullum or Murali Kartik could sit out. Depending on the nationality of the spinner axed, Wayne Parnell or Shrikant Wagh will come in.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

This has been Suresh Raina‘s poorest start to an IPL season. He has managed only 119 runs in six outings, and wasn’t fluent even during his half-century against Kochi. No-one has scored more runs than Raina in IPLs, and he is too good a player to continue struggling. A swap in the batting line-up with the in-form S Badrinath could spark Raina’s revival.Manish Pandey‘s much-anticipated IPL return began with a superb catch on the boundary edge to dismiss Michael Hussey. Pandey went on to unfurl two boundaries on the trot before playing the next ball onto his stumps. The first Indian centurion of the IPL will want to make a more lasting impression in his second outing.

Prime numbers

• Murali Kartik had 16 wickets in 26 IPL games prior to this season. He is yet to get a wicket this year
• With 48 wickets, Albie Morkel is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in IPL history. Only three seamers – RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Lasith Malinga – have more IPL scalps to their name

The chatter

“MS is not big on too much planning. He gets his information from how the pitch plays and how the opposition is approaching it. There’s a lot of gut feel about his captaincy. If you compare my captaincy with his, I was deadpan boring whereas he is adventurous.”

“Fielding is a massive part of the game – no doubt about it. Steve Rixon has played a big role in this.”

One thing is dominating the sporting minds of South Africans. And it isn’t the World Twenty20, even though the football World Cup doesn’t start until June 11

Andrew McGlashan01-May-2010

Overview

AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis will be crucial to South Africa’s chances•Getty Images

One thing is dominating the sporting minds of South Africans. And it isn’t the World Twenty20, even though the football World Cup doesn’t start until June 11. Given the team’s record at global tournaments perhaps that isn’t a surprise, and Graeme Smith’s downbeat assessment of his side’s preparation didn’t suggest they were primed to end their trophy drought.Other than Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn the IPL wasn’t a huge success for South Africa. AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher were shunted out of their franchises’ XIs, Smith broke his hand again and Charl Langeveldt was also injured. Still, it would be ridiculous to suggest they don’t have a chance over the next two weeks.It has been a period upheaval since the end of England series with Mickey Arthur resigning as coach just days before the India tour and Mike Proctor, the convenor of selectors, also losing his job in a radical shake-up. Corrie van Zyl took charge of the team and under the circumstances a 1-1 Test series in India was a notable success.Having had a couple of months to formulate plans, van Zyl will now have a better idea of the task ahead. Can he be the coach to bring back that elusive silverware? And, while the football World Cup is nearing, will anyone notice if he does?

Twenty20 pedigree

A shared series against England was a disappointment, but the way they pulverised the visitors at Centurion Park in racking up 241 for 6 showed their batting packs a punch. Last time out at the World Twenty20, South Africa produced a slick display to reach the semi-finals only to be undone by Pakistan, to leave Smith facing familiar questions having been a similar situation when the team bottled it against India during the 2007 event.

Strengths and weaknesses

The batting is full of powerful strokemakers with Jacques Kallis, especially, having reinvented himself in this year’s IPL. A couple of years ago it appeared South Africa had moved on from him in Twenty20, but now he is central to their hopes. The problem in recent times has been the balance of the team as they try to squeeze two spinners, Roelof van der Merwe and Johan Botha, into the line-up. They will also miss the wicket-taking ability of Wayne Parnell who is an IPL casualty. As ever, the ‘c’ word is never far away, either.

Key men

AB de Villiers was dropped midway through the IPL as Delhi tried to juggle their batting resources, but he’s a guaranteed starter for his country. His average of 23 suggests he has underachieved in Twenty20, although sometimes that has been down to a lack of time in the middle. However, just as a vital is his fielding that is capable of winning matches with a catch or a run out.Dale Steyn, meanwhile, produced some express spells in India and, although four overs doesn’t leave much time to make an impact, he can influence matches with early wickets. Often during the IPL, he wasn’t used in the death overs and it will be interesting to see how Smith utilises his strike weapon.

X-factor

Maybe Smith’s underwhelming comments are a secret plan. South Africa have often entered global events under the weight of expectation. Could the captain be trying some reverse psychology? On the field, Loots Bosman has been a revelation in recent T20s and was unlucky not to get an IPL deal. If he gets going, Caribbean grounds won’t be big enough.

Vital stats

“I don’t know the schedule exactly – but I’ve enjoyed it, I look forward to being back next year,” he says of the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-20243:38

Will Starc quit ODIs to play more franchise cricket?

Mitchell Starc stayed away from the IPL for the best part of his peak years, but after winning the title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will consider dropping one format from his life, and that might be ODI cricket.”The last nine years, I’ve prioritised Australian cricket. I have given myself a chance to give my body a break and spend some time away from cricket with my wife as well, so that’s certainly been where my head’s been for the last nine years,” Starc said at a press conference after the IPL 2024 final in Chennai, where KKR steamrolled Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to win their third title, with Starc playing a starring role.”Moving forward… look, I am certainly closer to the end of my career than the start. One format may drop off. There is long time before the next one-day World Cup and whether that format continues for me or not… it may open doors for more franchise cricket.”Related

• The two Starora overs that defined the IPL final

• Cummins after loss to KKR: 'Old mate Starcy turned it on again'

• Stats – KKR's season of dominance

And franchise cricket could mean two months of the IPL, a tournament he had played just twice in the past, for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2014 and 2015, but usually skipped to be fit and fresh for international cricket.In fact, in all these years of playing top-level cricket – he made his international debut in 2009 – Starc has only played 137 T20s.”I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season,” he said. “It’s been great, it leads into the World Cup, that’s the other side of the benefit of being here against some amazing players in an amazing tournament. It’s a great lead-up to a World Cup.”Next year – I don’t know the schedule exactly – but I’ve enjoyed it, I look forward to being back next year and hopefully be seen in purple and gold [KKR’s colours] again.”Starc, the most expensive IPL auction buy ever when KKR splurged INR 24.75 crore (US$2,982,000 approx.) had a terrible time of it to start with, going wicketless in his eight overs in the first two games while conceding 100 runs. He took time to get it right, picking up a three-for against Lucknow Super Giants and a four-for against Mumbai Indians, but really came into his own in the playoffs, with 3 for 34 and 2 for 14 against SRH in Qualifier 1 and the final.”I’ve played a lot of cricket, so I know how to manage myself,” Starc said. “I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last few years, so for me, it was trying to find that rhythm of [the] T20 format, and trying to stay ahead of batters.”

India captain Hardik Pandya had criticised the surface after chasing the target of 100 with only one ball to spare

PTI31-Jan-2023The curator of the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow has been removed from his job for preparing a slow and turning pitch for the second T20I between India and New Zealand.Though India won the game on Sunday with a ball to spare, the wicket received criticism from India captain Hardik Pandya, who called it a “shocker of a pitch”. New Zealand were restricted to 99 for 8 in 20 overs and India had a hard time chasing the small target, winning in 19.5 overs. Spinners bowled 30 of the 40 overs in a match that had zero sixes.Related

• 'This was a shocker of a wicket' – Hardik critical of Lucknow pitch

• Suryakumar helps India draw level in Lucknow spin-fest

• Hardik, Santner express 'shock' and 'surprise' at Ranchi pitch

“The curator has been removed and replaced by Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal who is a very experienced curator,” a UPCA source was quoted as saying by PTI. “We will turn things around in a month.”A lot of domestic cricket was already played on all the centre wickets ahead of the T20I and the curator should have left one or two strips for an international game. The surface was overused and due to the bad weather, there was not enough (time) to prepare a fresh wicket.”Agarwal has experience preparing pitches in Bangladesh in the past before being removed in October last year. According to the source, he will work closely with veteran BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee.Hardik has not been happy with the quality of pitches so far in the T20I series. “To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket,” Hardik told after the second T20I. “Both the games we have played on so far. I don’t mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20. Somewhere down the line, the curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier.”With the T20I series level at 1-1, India and New Zealand play the decider in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.