Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna had limited South Africa A to 231 before Manish Pandey posted an unbeaten 95 to take India to a comfortable victory

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2018An unbeaten 95 from Manish Pandey powered India B to a 30-run win against South Africa A at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur. Chasing 220 in 45 overs in a rain-affected game, India B were just six runs short of a win with 4.3 overs left before rain ended play, and they were adjudged to be well ahead via the Duckworth/Lewis method.India B’s pacers mowed down South Africa A’s top order after sending them in to bat. With the visitors reduced to 57 for 4, the No. 5 Farhaan Beherdien struck a 104-run partnership with Senuran Muthuswamy to save South Africa A from a collapse. But legspinner Shreyas Gopal came in to cause more damage in the middle, picking up three wickets – including that of Behardien and Muthuswamy – in the space of eight balls to leave South Africa reeling at 164 for 7. Medium pacer Prasidh Krishna came back to dismiss the tailenders and finished with figures of 4 for 49.In their chase, India B lost Mayank Agarwal and Deepak Hooda within six overs to Dane Paterson, but an 88-run stand between Pandey and opener Shubman Gill ensured they kept the scoring well above the asking rate. Following a brief rain stoppage which called for a shortening of the match, Pandey stitched partnerships together with the middle order to set India B up for a comfortable win.

Paraag Marathe is the highest-profile appointee, having been with the NFL’s San Francisco franchise since 2001

Peter Della Penna01-Sep-2018San Francisco 49ers executive vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe, one of the highest-ranked Indian American officials in the big four American pro-sports leagues, has been named as one of the inaugural three independent directors to round out the ten-person board of directors for USA Cricket. Marathe was added to the board along with Catherine Carlson of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and Rohan Sajdeh, a senior partner and managing director of Boston Consulting Group (BCG).Marathe is the highest-profile appointee on the inaugural USA Cricket board, having been with the NFL’s San Francisco franchise since 2001. He also serves on the board of directors for Leeds United, currently in the English football championship. He is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley and obtained an MBA from Stanford University.”I am looking forward to this unique and exciting challenge,” Marathe said in a USA Cricket press release. “I believe the United States has the potential to be a major player in international cricket and we can inspire this country to fall in love with this great game. This is an incredibly talented and passionate board of directors and I am looking forward to working with them so that this major international sport can achieve its potential here in the United States.”Carlson, an Australian native, is a senior vice president of corporate partnerships with the NBA’s Magic, where she has worked since 2009. Prior to her role with the Magic, Carlson worked from 1998 through 2009 at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.Carlson’s initial brush with the US cricket came in her time with Disney when she was involved in a proposal, called Project USA, between the ICC and the USA Cricket Association. The plan called for a cricket stadium to be built at the Wide World of Sports Complex where neutral site matches would be staged with the anticipated revenue funnelled to cricket developments in America. The proposal collapsed in 2005 amid administrative turmoil with USACA not long before the first of three suspensions leading to their eventual expulsion in 2017.Sajdeh, an Australian of Indian origin, played first-class cricket for Cambridge University in the UK before moving on to Northwestern University in Chicago where he completed his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management. He is familiar to ICC administrators, having been involved in the design of the ICC Test Championship model in his work with BCG. Like Sajdeh, fellow USA Cricket board member Usman Shuja is a graduate of Northwestern’s KSOM MBA program and was a former colleague of Sajdeh at BCG.The three independent directors were confirmed following a process that included 61 applicants who were reviewed by the USA Cricket’s nominating and governance committee. The four-person committee, which included the ICC chief executive David Richardson, narrowed down the field to six finalists who were interviewed in mid-August before the three independent directors were chosen.”USA Cricket now has a governance structure and a high calibre board that we believe positions the organisation well to achieve its enormous potential,” Richardson said. “A successful US cricket administration is great for world cricket and we are delighted with the quality of board candidates who have been selected from an incredibly impressive field and we think the global game will benefit from their expertise.”The three independent directors join the seven constituent directors who were elected in early August. The full ten-person board will have their inaugural meeting later in September where the chairman of the board will be chosen from one of the three independent directors. Once the role is finalised, USA Cricket will put forward their formal application to be recognised as the ICC’s member governing body in the USA to fill the void left by the expelled USACA.

The Zimbabwe allrounder says he and the team are still in anguish over the three-run loss against UAE at home that ended their World Cup dreams

Liam Brickhill07-Oct-2018Zimbabwe have lost eight ODIs and four T20Is on the trot since their World Cup dreams ended in anguish with a three-run defeat to UAE at home in March. After their latest defeat – the ODI series loss against South Africa – allrounder Sean Williams admitted that both he and the team are still haunted by their rain-affected failure in the World Cup Qualifiers.”It is very difficult,” Williams said. “That game against UAE still haunts all of us, the guys who played in that game.” Williams, along with Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine, Graeme Cremer and Sikandar Raza, fell out with the board in the aftermath of that tournament, missing the disastrous 0-5 defeat to Pakistan in July.With fences since mended, three of the missing players have now returned and Zimbabwe have had a few chances to bury the ghosts of that game in their latest series. But, just as they did in that game, they have continued to let strong positions slip.”It doesn’t feel good to lose a match, or lose a series,” Williams said. “Losing the series hurts more than losing this match, but losing this match today takes a lot of pride away from us, and I feel there was a lot of pride to play for in this match [even] after losing the series. After giving ourselves good chances to win the previous two games, we let that slip. Today, on a better wicket to bat on, the top six didn’t take advantage. A lot to learn. A tough series for us, and a hurtful one.”After scores of 4 and 9 in the first two ODIs against South Africa, Williams was finally back in the runs as he struck 10 fours to top score with 69 in the third match. “[This innings] was extremely important for me,” he said. “The last time I scored runs was against UAE, it was an 80. I failed to get to a 100 and I failed to cross the line for the team. It hurt, it really did hurt me. Batting on these next two wickets [in the first two South Africa ODIs] was extremely difficult, but I knew I was one knock away from finding my form again.”Williams added 73 for the fourth wicket with Brendan Taylor, who also showed glimpses of his best before was dismissed. “The over before he got out, we had actually just spoken and said ‘right, we’re one step closer to a target’. And it wasn’t three balls later that happened. Cricket’s a funny game. We had big plans, the two of us. We always seem to bat well together, when we give ourselves a chance.”With the series now switching to the T20 format, Williams and Taylor will continue to play a vital role in the middle order. The first T20I will be played in East London on Tuesday night, and Williams reckons Zimbabwe have nothing left to lose.”We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain,” he said. “As far as I see it, [in the T20s] like a boxer, if you get hit first, you’re going to lose the game. It’s going to be up to us to land the first punch in the T20s and give it everything.”

Sri Lanka’s No. 3 also said they wouldn’t have crashed if they had played to a better plan

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo24-Nov-2018Sure Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid were bowling aggressively either side of tea, but did Sri Lanka’s batsmen really have to play the attacking shots they did? Could they not have hunkered down, left the deliveries that weren’t on target, and seen out that testing passage of play?If you are wondering something along these lines after watching Sri Lanka lose their last eight wickets for 67 runs, you are not alone. Sri Lanka’s No. 3, Dhananjaya de Silva, who made 73 before the collapse, has asked the same quesitons. It was de Silva’s wicket, with the score on 173, that had precipitated the almighty fall.”When we were 173 for 1 and then I got out, I don’t think the others were able to take the game forward as much as they could have,” de Silva said. “When they tried to attack us, we went to our attacking shots. I don’t think that was a good option at the time.”Among those who fell playing attacking shots were Angelo Mathews, who edged a hook to the wicketkeeper, Niroshan Dickwella, who was caught down leg trying to glance Stokes to the boundary, and Kusal Mendis, who tried to pull out of a late cut against Rashid, but managed only to send the ball off the face of the bat to Stokes at slip.”Our batting was very weak. But even more than that they bowled really well with a plan. They dried up the boundaries and bowled aggressively. If we had played to a better plan, we wouldn’t have crashed like this.”Poor “option-taking” has been a buzzword for Sri Lanka right through the series, in which batsmen who have got themselves in on tough pitches have failed to contend with the various challenges England’s attack has posed. Sri Lanka’s coaches have tried to hammer in lessons about playing to the situation over the past few weeks, but this wisdom has not been absorbed, de Silva said.”Taking the wrong option at the wrong time is what has cost us. The batsmen should put a price on their wicket. When you play Tests, you have to spend time and try and tire out the opposition. Then only the runs start to come. We have to think about all of that. The batsmen have to come up with those solutions themselves. No matter what someone else tells us, it’s the batsmen’s own mistake. They have to figure it out.”

Paarl Rocks did well to pull back with the ball but their chase never got going

The Report by Liam Brickhill30-Nov-2018Heino Kuhn’s second fifty of the competition and cheap wickets for JT Smuts and Sisanda Magala set up a 48-run victory for Nelson Mandela Bay Giants over Paarl Rocks at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. Kuhn was the fulcrum around which Giants’ innings turned, with three of the top five also making 20s, and all of the top order keeping their strike rate at a run-a-ball or better before a mini-collapse kept them to 168 for 9.Despite Aiden Markram’s fifty, that proved to be plenty with Smuts leading an excellent performance from Giants’ spinners with 3 for 17. Magala also chipped in with 3 for 17 to clean up the tail as Rocks were bowled out for 120.Rocks burst out of the blocks in their chase, but after Junior Dala rattled Henry Davids’ stumps via the inside edge and Chris Morris deceived Faf du Plessis with a canny slower ball in the Powerplay, the spinners squeezed the middle overs, drying up the boundaries. Markram,
who had launched the innings with three quick boundaries off the seamers, should have been stumped off Aaron Phangiso in the seventh over, but wicketkeeper Rudi Second couldn’t collect cleanly when the batsman was out of his ground.While Markram motored on towards his fifty, Giants chipped away at the other end. Smuts brought himself on in the ninth over and struck with his second delivery to remove Vaughn van Jaarsveld, nipping a 23-run stand in the bud. Smuts conceded just four runs in that first over, but he was even more incisive in his second.Smuts tumbled to his left to hold a catch off his own bowling to get rid of Patrick Kruger, and then struck the decisive blow when Markram holed out to deep midwicket immediately after bringing up a 38-ball fifty. Smuts had 3 for 7, Rocks were rudderless at 79 for 5, and the required rate was over 11.With the required rate continuing to balloon with every dot, the Giants seamers returned to close the chase down at the death. Magala rushed David Wiese to have him caught behind off the glove, and then had Mangaliso Mosehle chipping to mid-off. With Fortuin skying Morris to long-on, Rocks were 115 for 8 and Giants were in sight of a bonus point.For that, they had to keep Rocks to 134 or less, and Tahir made the job a little easier when Dane Paterson top-edged a sweep in the 19th over. With the St George’s Park brass band in full flow, and cheered on by loyal spectators, Magala wrapped up the win with his third wicket, bowling Tshepo Moreki around his legs with a slower ball. The victory solidified Giants’ position on the points table, putting them just a point behind leaders Cape Town Blitz.Rocks were limp with the bat in conditions that the home side, lead by the experienced Smuts, read perfectly. They weren’t at their best in the field either, spilling three chances. Kuhn and Christiaan Jonker were both dropped in the course of their 70-run fourth wicket stand, as was Ben Duckett early on.Giants stormed through the Powerplay at nine an over, despite the loss of Marco Marais and Duckett, but it wasn’t until Kuhn and Jonker came together in the eighth over that they were able to build a partnership of any significant substance.Aided by the lapses in the field, they collected regular boundaries, with Kuhn playing the sweep to particularly good effect against both spin and seam. Both also hit sixes out of the ground, and the fourth umpire had to run out twice with replacement balls. Kuhn brought up the fifty stand in the 14th over by hitting Dane Paterson over the roof of the stands beyond square leg, and Giants had a perfect platform when they reached 140 for 3 in the 15th over with both batsmen well set.The Rocks seamers struck back to seize the initiative, with Wiese and Paterson executing their yorkers to perfection. The last five overs brought six wickets and just 28 runs, and Giants stumbled a little in reaching what seemed a gettable total. But the home bowling attack never let the match out of their grasp, and Giants’ fourth win of the league was their biggest so far, and came with a bonus point.

Siddarth Kaul has been added to the T20I squad for the three matches in New Zealand next month

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2019India have decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah for the forthcoming ODI series in Australia and the New Zealand tour that comprises five ODIs and three T20Is in January-February. Mohammed Siraj has been named Bumrah’s replacement for those series while Siddarth Kaul has been added to the squad for the T20I series in New Zealand next month.Bumrah was rested “keeping in mind the work load of the bowler”, according to a BCCI release, to give him adequate rest before the home ODIs and T20Is against Australia in February-March. Bumrah bowled more overs (157.1) than any other fast bowler in the four-Test series in Australia, only behind Nathan Lyon’s 242.1 overs as the two finished as the joint-highest wicket-takers in the series. The list for most overs bowled across the three formats in international cricket in 2018 was also led by Lyon (636.3) and Bumrah (511.3), but the India fast bowler led the wicket charts for the year with a tally of 78.ALSO READ: MS Dhoni returns to India’s T20I squad for New Zealand tourSiraj, who is yet to make his ODI debut, last played a T20I in the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in March 2018. But he has been in stellar form with the red ball while representing India A since July. He has taken three five-wicket hauls in the period in eight matches to collect 47 wickets at an average of 18.04. In July, he took figures of 8 for 132 against West Indies A in Taunton and 7 for 134 against England Lions a few days later in Worcester. In Bengaluru in August, he collected 14 wickets against South Africa A in two matches before taking 11 for 136 in one match against Australia A in September.More recently, he toured New Zealand as part of the India A squad for three first-class matches in which he took seven wickets in three innings. In his last first-class match he finished with impressive figures of 3 for 74 and 4 for 71 for Hyderabad against Punjab in the Ranji Trophy.Kaul has played three ODIs and two T20Is, with his last international match during the Asia Cup in September in the UAE, where he played only one match, against Afghanistan. Kaul also toured New Zealand as part of the India A squad, but for 50-over matches in which he finished as the highest wicket-taker with seven scalps from three games, with an economy rate of 5.88. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Kaul has been the second-highest wicket-taker for Punjab with 22 wickets from five matches at an average of 22.77 so far.India will play three ODIs in Australia starting January 12 in Sydney, before the ODI series begins in New Zealand on January 23. They will then play three T20Is in New Zealand in February.ODI squad for Australia and New Zealand: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed ShamiT20I squad for New Zealand: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul

Batting on 27 in the 53rd over, Kusal took his eyes off a Jhye Richardson bouncer, and essentially ducked into it

Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Feb-2019A day after Dimuth Karunaratne was stretchered off, Kusal Perera was also forced to retire hurt after sustaining a nasty blow to the side of the helmet in Canberra.Batting on 27 in the 53rd over, Kusal took his eyes off a Jhye Richardson bouncer, and essentially ducked into it – the ball hitting him flush on the side of the helmet, next to his right ear. Although Kusal remained upright, the side protector on his helmet disintegrated due to the force of the blow, and the rear inserts that protect the neck also came off the helmet.Kusal received some medical attention immediately after the blow, and initially continued batting, facing out four more Richardson deliveries, and even pulling the bowler for two late in the same over. Next over, however, Kusal appeared to be feeling the effects of the blow. He was at the non-strikers’ end when he made the decision to retire hurt, and even appeared slightly unsteady as he approached the boundary. Sri Lanka’s team physio ran out to assist him off the ground.Sri Lanka confirmed later in the session that Kusal would undergo a mandatory concussion test. No decision had been made on his further participation in the Test.Following Kusal’s exit from the ground, Dimuth – who had been felled by a Pat Cummins delivery on day two – returned to resume his innings, having been cleared by doctors overnight. He moved to a gutsy half-century before being caught in the gully off Mitchell Starc.

Karnataka make it five in five after Vinay Kumar’s heroics, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai go down

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2019Saha rediscovers batting touch
On a comeback trail following rehabilitation for a shoulder injury, Wriddhiman Saha struck a 62-ball 129 for Bengal against Arunachal Pradesh in Cuttack.This was only Saha’s second T20 century; his first was for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2014 final in Bengaluru, which Kolkata Knight Riders won. Saha, who opened the batting, struck 16 fours and four sixes as Bengal posted 234 for six, with Vivek Singh’s 18-ball 49 giving them some lower-order muscle.In reply, Arunachal could manage just 127 for four.Vijay hits form but Tamil Nadu lose
Across in Surat, Himachal Pradesh beat Tamil Nadu by seven wickets, chasing down a paltry 138 for nine with an over to spare.TN failed to produce a batting performance of note, with only M Vijay, playing his second game of the competition, making good runs. Opening the batting, he top-scored with a 58-ball 77, hitting ten fours and a six in his innings. Prashant Chopra made an unbeaten 68 in the chase to see his side through. TN now have two wins and two losses in four matches.Karnataka hang on for win, Mumbai upset
The big boys had anything but easy outings.It needed a cameo from former Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar to see them over the line against Chhattisgarh. Walking in at No. 7 with Karnataka needing 62 off 30 balls, Vinay smashed an unbeaten 14-ball 34 courtesy four sixes as Karnataka chased down Chhattisgarh’s 171 for three with four balls in hand. The result meant Karnataka are now unbeaten after five matches.ALSO READ: ‘I will do anything to make a comeback’ – Wriddhiman SahaStar-studded Mumbai didn’t have much luck as they slumped to their first loss of the competition, against Railways. Chasing 176, their top three – Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer – were dismissed inside five overs for a combined total of 26 runs. Suryakumar Yadav’s 38 was the highest of the innings that lasted 18.1 overs. Mumbai were bowled out for 118 to lose by 57 runs, with fast bowler Ashish Yadav picking up four wickets. This was Mumbai’s first loss in five matches.Uttar Pradesh top Group E after Rinku special
Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 37-ball 56 from No. 6 proved to be the difference as Uttar Pradesh pipped Services by one run. This helped them top Group E with four wins in five matches, with Maharashtra marginally behind on net run-rate.Rinku’s knock allowed UP to consolidate after opener Samarth Singh did the early running with 70, while Suresh Raina managed just 3 in the team’s total of 138 for five. Services were cruising at 68 for two in the tenth over before a middle-overs stifle. Left-arm spinner Shiva Singh conceded just 20 off his four overs for one wicket. That Services made a late dash was down to Vikas Hathwala’s unbeaten 33, but they eventually fell short.
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Can an improved Pakistan showing in the fourth game galvanise them sufficiently to stave off another whitewash?

The Preview by Danyal Rasool30-Mar-2019

Big Picture

If the whole series had gone the way the fourth ODI panned out, Pakistan wouldn’t quite have minded, even if the scoreline had been the 4-0 it currently is in favour of Australia. For the first time in the series, the purpose of Pakistan playing their bench strength finally bore fruit with Abid Ali scoring 112 on debut; no one has managed more for Pakistan in their first game. The reserve wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan scored his second hundred in three games, making a strong case for a ticket to England on the strength of his batting alone. Yes, somewhat impossibly, Pakistan ended up seven runs short of a win, but for the first time in the series, coach Mickey Arthur can claim with some credibility there is a bigger picture to be taken into account.

Imad, team fined for slow over-rate

Pakistan were docked ten percent of their match fees for a slow over-rate in the fourth ODI in Dubai. Imad Wasim, standing in as captain for the injured Shoaib Malik, was fined 20 percent as is customary. The ICC announced the match referee Jeff Crowe had imposed the punishment as Pakistan bowled the final over after the time set for the innings had lapsed.
“Imad pleaded guilty to the offence after the end of the match and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing,” the ICC said. Pakistan lost the game by six runs.

Abid Ali’s nerveless hundred sees him rocket up the pecking order, guaranteed to start more than just the final game of the series. A whitewash, however, is no great preparation for anything, and with Pakistan’s ODI record against the teams they face at the World Cup especially abject over the past 15 months, they will be desperate for a victory to close out this series. The chase, though ultimately botched, will give Pakistan confidence they can compete with Australia. But for that, they continue to search for consistency in the top order, with the performances in the fourth ODI very much the exception rather than the rule.Australia can’t put a foot wrong right now. The improbable win in Dubai was their seventh in a row, and, lest we get too caught up in the players Pakistan have benched, take some time to ponder how much further this Australian side can be strengthened. Pat Cummins played just one of four ODIs, with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steven Smith and David Warner all likely inclusions to the World Cup squad. Without all that glamour, they swept aside Pakistan in the first three games, before demonstrating their steel to grind out a hard win in the fourth. This is the highest level at which Australia have played ODI cricket since they won the 2015 World Cup, and they could not have chosen the timing of their purple patch better.

Form guide

Australia WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLLLL

In the spotlight

It is an undeniable fact Pakistan will leave out from the World Cup squad a number of bowlers other sides would cherish. Two of those most likely competing for one place are Usman Shinwari and Junaid Khan. Shinwari was Pakistan’s best bowler in the third ODI before tailing off in the fourth – somewhat the story of his blossoming career so far. Junaid was more probing in the fourth game than in the third, but the pair needs to show more evidence of consistent quality to earn a place in the most hotly competitive portion of the squad. World Cups define careers, particularly in Pakistan cricket, and should the pair take to the field in the final game, both left-arm pacers will have that extra bit of motivation to push their case. In the short term, that should boost Pakistan’s chances of coming away without a whitewash.Junaid Khan struck in his first over•AFP

The numbers look flashy for most Australians this series, but one whom they arguably short-change has been Nathan Lyon. The offspinner has managed one wicket in each of the four games while going at five an over, except in the second ODI. But those who watched him bowl will be surprised he hasn’t been more successful. The ball has spun for him more than his legspinning counterpart Adam Zampa, and Lyon has looked likely on a number of occasions without the results to show for it. The wickets he’s taken for his side have all been important batsman at crucial moments, but time is running out for him to impress the selectors enough for a World Cup berth.

Team news

Pakistan may persist with the same side that gave Australia their sternest test of the series, depending on whether Shoaib Malik is fit again to take over the reins. In that case, Umar Akmal, who has struggled to make a persuasive case, would miss out.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imam-ul-Haq/Shan Masood, 2 Abid Ali, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Shoaib Malik (capt) 5 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 6 Saad Ali, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Usman Shinwari, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Hasnain/Mohammad AmirAustralia have kept their tinkering to a minimum particularly when it comes to the batting order. It is unlikely that changes will happen in the final game, though the fast bowlers could see the usual shuffling.Australia (possible): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Peter Handscomb, 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

The Dubai pitch appeared to have something in it for the slow bowlers as well as the batsmen, though is still far too slow to be conducive to the most enjoyable one-day cricket. Weather will not be a factor, however, as the series takes its bow.

Stats and trivia

• Since the start of 2018, Pakistan’s record against teams that play the 2019 World Cup reads four wins, 16 losses. One of those wins came in the final over against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup last year.
• Australia’s win in the fourth ODI was just the fourth time in the format’s history a side had defended a total despite two opposition batsmen scoring centuries.

A debate over the selection of Vernon Philander ahead of Kyle Abbott had cropped up after their semi-final exit in 2015

Liam Brickhill05-Apr-2019South Africa is working to avoid a repeat of the complex situation that cropped up after their semi-final exit from the 2015 World Cup – and the debate around transformation that followed – with Cricket South Africa confirming that those targets are not going to apply at the upcoming World Cup.CSA’s transformation policy requires that the national team has an average of 55% (or six) players of colour in each game across formats. But chief executive Thabang Moroe has said that this would not be the case when the selectors consider the squad or the playing XIs at the tournament in England and Wales and that players would not be picked in order to “push a certain agenda”.”No targets have been given,” Moroe said. “It’s up to the convener of selectors and the coach to decide what the final 15 will look like.”I would like to think that they will have that sort of (transformation) picture in mind but most importantly they will choose the final 15 that is the best that we have in the country. One would like to have comfort in knowing that we’re going out there with our absolute best, and we’re going out there to win.”At the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, Vernon Philander, who had just recovered from injury, was picked ahead of Kyle Abbott for the semi-final against New Zealand in Auckland, which led to suggestions that the selection had been politically motivated. CSA, captain AB de Villiers, and coach Russell Domingo, however, insisted that Philander was picked on merit.Across 28 completed internationals this season, South Africa’s men’s team has not quite hit its representation targets, with an average of 52% players of colour across formats over the course of the season. Certain injuries have contributed to that too, with regulars such as JP Duminy and Lungi Ngidi missing large parts of the season.n’t know what the playing conditions will be like on a given match day,” Moroe said. “So the final XI will follow an agreement between the convener of selectors together with the coach and captain on a particular day for a specific match.Dale Steyn looks at an emotional AB de Villiers•Getty Images

“Irrespective of what the XI looks like, at the end of the day they’ll be representing us as South Africans and we would like to think they would be picking a team that’s suitable to win that specific match and not to push a certain agenda.”South Africa’s Institute of Race Relations (IRR), a liberal advocacy organisation, issued a press statement after Moroe’s statement, welcoming the move and saying that most South Africans want all selections to be made on merit.”A new IRR poll, which is to be released later this year, shows that 83% of South Africans (and 82% of black South Africans) believe that the only criteria for selecting national sports teams should be merit,” said IRR’s statement, which went on to suggest that a bottom-up approach to transformation and access to sporting opportunities at government schools would be more effective than strict targets for the national senior sides in achieving transformation goals.While the latest update may simplify the jobs of Ottis Gibson, the coach, and selection panel convener Linda Zondi, Gibson will still be under significant contractual pressure to succeed at the World Cup.Moroe explained that while a World Cup win was not a specific term of Gibson’s contract, the CSA board had identified World Cup success as a key indicator of Gibson’s performance as coach.”Ottis was hired to win the World Cup but at the very least, the chairperson of the board said we must qualify for the final as that could augur very well for us as CSA,” Moroe said. “The coach is a board appointment. The support staff is aligned to the coach’s contract.”It is for the board to evaluate his performances, his KPIs with what he’s achieved for us thus far, what changes they would like to see, what are those changes, and they will obviously communicate that to (CSA) management and then management will sit with the coach. It is also up to the coach to look at the terms of any new contract put in front of him and if he’s agreeable to those.”I’ve been very happy with his results and how he’s handled himself as head coach. I’ve been very impressed. He’s been a breath of fresh air. But it’s a decision for the board to make.”