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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:34

Fleming: Frustrating for everyone but Bangladesh

After being on the fortunate end of a washout in their first group game, Australia were denied victory against Bangladesh at The Oval, where they were firmly in control of a small chase when it began to rain after 16 overs. They needed to play four more overs to ensure a result but the London weather did not allow it.The last action on the field, before the players went off at 6.43 pm, involved Steven Smith simply blocking five deliveries from Mashrafe Mortaza without attempting to score, in the hope of speeding up proceedings to get to 20 overs. Australia would have been well ahead of the par score. The match was eventually called off at 9.18 pm.With two points from two washouts, Australia now have to beat England in their final group game to have a chance of making the semi-finals. Bangladesh, who have only one point after two games, are not yet out of contention either.It had drizzled towards the end of Bangladesh’s innings and there was a small delay in the start of the chase. Australia began it confidently. Aaron Finch and David Warner clubbed a couple of boundaries each and the pace did not flag even after Finch fell lbw to Rubel Hossain. Warner became the fastest Australia to 4000 ODI runs.Bangladesh bowled only one over of spin, not hurrying the over-rate along by using their quicks for 15 overs. As Smith and Warner began a fluent partnership, their race was not against the bowling but the weather, and ultimately it was futile.The weather was fair for much of the first innings but Bangladesh’s batting was not, with the exception of Tamim Iqbal, who waged a lone battle against Australia’s pace battery.His 95 came off 114 balls, and included six fours and three sixes, but Tamim had little support from his team-mates and had to readjust his tempo every time a wicket fell. The first three went in the space of 11 overs – Mushfiqur Rahim did not review his lbw through he had got an inside edge – and Tamim began to rebuild the innings with Shakib. Their partnership had grown to 69 before Shakib was given out lbw to Travis Head; Nigel Llong’s decision appeared spot on despite the batsmen being well down the track.Legspinner Adam Zampa debunked any doubt about his inclusion by taking two wickets in consecutive overs, though Smith brought him into the attack in the 35th over.Mitchell Starc then ripped out the last four Bangladesh wickets in the space of nine balls, including three in one over – Tamim was caught pulling to fine-leg, before Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain were bowled by full and fast deliveries. Mustafizur Rahman narrowly survived Starc’s hat-trick ball but Mehedi was clean bowled in the next over.The weather had begun to worsen, though, and the players spent the best part of the evening indoors.

Angus Robson, who negotiated his release from Leicestershire last week, has signed for Sussex.Robson had fallen out of favour at Grace Road after a modest 2016 season and the arrival of a new head coach. He was out of contract at the end of the season but, realising that he might struggle to break back into the first team, asked for his immediate release in order to pursue opportunities elsewhere.But nobody in either division of the County Championship reached 50 more often than him between the start of the 2014 season and the end of the 2016 one and, aged 25, there is no reason he should not have his best years ahead of him.ESPNcricinfo understands that Sussex plan to announce his signing on Tuesday in a deal that lasts until the end of the current season with a view to extending his stay if it goes well. Several counties were understood to be interested in talking to him.The speed with which Robson has been picked-up by other counties might have a few Leicestershire supporters scratching their heads. Leicestershire were bowled out for 81 as they lost their first match of the season by 10 wickets before, in the current round of games, they lost by an innings to Gloucestershire. Their opening stands so far this Championship season have been 6, 2, 10 and 10.

At 1pm on Friday, South Africa were at risk of losing a Test. By 7pm on Saturday, they had won it. It took them just 30 hours to turn things around and they did it the full 360 degrees.”It’s happened a few times this season where we’ve been in impossible situations and then there’s one or two guys putting their hand up and making the impossible very possible,” Faf du Plessis said. “Lunch time yesterday felt like not too long ago, and now we’ve won a Test match so just that shift in pressure was really well handled.”South Africa were 104 for 6 at lunch on day two, with Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock, the last two recognised batsmen, at the crease. In a stand of 160, they took the score over 250 and put South Africa in the lead. Their fightback was underlined by self-assured batting that, even in the trickiest of situations, they stuck with. Bavuma was cautious and rode the bounce, while de Kock was aggressive. Together, they scored at a rate of 4.13 to give South Africa the advantage.”We’ve found this ability to have a lot of faith in our batting line-up, whoever they are, to stand up to pressure situations. Quinton and Temba hadn’t been in massive run-spells these last couple of games, so for both of them to do it at a critical time says a lot about them mentally,” du Plessis said. “And it was the way they played [that was impressive]. To counter-punch and put the pressure on the opposition was remarkable.”An obdurate last-wicket stand of 57 tipped South Africa over 350 and gave them a match-winning lead, but they did not expect things to come so quickly on the third day. With the southerly wind slicing through the city, South Africa expected being on the field to be uncomfortable at best, impossible at worst.”It was a challenge for us. What we asked for this morning was real hard cricketers. Mentally we needed to be very strong, to be ready to be challenged and pushed to extremes because it’s not conditions we are used to. There were no excuses; the wind and the cold were never going to be excuses. Just real, hard Test cricket and that’s what they produced.”Du Plessis lauded his spinners, particularly Keshav Maharaj, who took his second five-for in as many games•Getty Images

The seamers were rotated in short spells and they all seemed to find their rhythms unaffected. Vernon Philander was unlucky not to be rewarded for a probing effort and Kagiso Rabada had his pace up to the mid 140s again, but it was Morne Morkel’s new-ball spell that broke New Zealand. He removed both Tom Latham and Kane Williamson, the man South Africa see as “a big threat in terms of holding that batting unit together,” as du Plessis has consistently explained. “To get him cheaply obviously helps. We knew if we could get a few early ones we could really put them under pressure.”Morkel then had a third, Neil Broom. He completed a comeback that should see him retained as a certainty in the starting XI for the tour of England in July-August.”It was a bit of a punt as he’s been away from the game for so long. But I knew what I saw from him. Every time he’s bowling, he’s getting better. In the second innings he hardly bowled a bad ball. His consistency is there and he’s getting his pace back up. Today with the new ball, [he] was as tough as you could face. I was standing in the slips and it looked nasty. A lot of bounce with good intensity and pace. When he’s on like that, he’s a real handful,” du Plessis said.By the time Morkel was done with New Zealand, he had opened them up for Keshav Maharaj, who surpassed all expectations with a second five-for in as many matches.”It is surprising given the conditions – cold and not a lot of spin,” du Plessis said. “But I thought both spinners bowled incredibly well. Their control and consistency meant the New Zealand batsmen just couldn’t get away. Their run rates were very low. The pressure that created chances for wickets. When spinners are contributing like that, it makes the seamers’ lives much easier, especially with us having to rotate the seamers quite often because we only have three.”The other spinner was JP Duminy, whose low returns with the bat were masked by the career-best 4 for 47 he took in the first innings. Du Plessis still thinks Duminy has an important part to play in South Africa’s Test side, with both bat and ball, and hopes Hamilton will be the place where he proves that.”What was really good for me was the way JP bowled in this match,” du Plessis said. “That confidence from the bowling was something I was looking for. We gave him a little bit more responsibility and he got through it really well. He didn’t score a hundred in the second innings but the way he played looked really good. It’s the way he plays at his best with positive body language.”

Limited-overs captain Sarfraz Ahmed expects Pakistan’s senior players to step up in the West Indies in their bid for direct qualification to the 2019 World Cup. He emphasised the importance of senior fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz taking wickets to make a difference on the upcoming tour, which starts with four T20I games from March 26.”In the T20 format we might have a relatively young bowling side but in ODIs we have three senior bowlers – Amir, Wahab and Junaid Khan. We have spoken to them and reminded them that they are seniors, have played ample cricket, and now have to step up,” Sarfraz said at the conclusion of a week-long conditioning camp in Lahore. “We are working on fielding but with our bowling department we need to take wickets with new ball and in middle overs. We have worked very hard in the camp and now I am hopeful that they will make a difference in the West Indies and help Pakistan win with their bowling.”Sarfraz’s own career has been marred with inconsistency since his debut in 2007. It wasn’t until 2014 that he turned it around, after Adnan Akmal was ruled out of the Sri Lanka series in the UAE. He scored 48 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, and has since become an integral part of the national side in all formats, recently replacing Azhar Ali to become ODI captain.Under Azhar’s leadership, Pakistan slipped to ninth position – a record low – in the ODI rankings. They have since risen one place but they barely scraped into this year’s Champions Trophy. Pakistan won only five of the ten bilateral series under Azhar: two against Zimbabwe, and one each against Ireland, Sri Lanka and West Indies. In all, Pakistan lost 18 games and won 12.”I understand that over the last two years Pakistan’s performance in ODI cricket hasn’t been good,” Sarfraz said. “We have been trying really hard to minimize our mistakes. There were some flaws, especially in the fielding department, and we have been working hard to iron them out. We were scoring 280 to 290 but then dropping catches in the field, and this was hurting our chances. We are aware how important World Cup qualification is, so our focus is on winning the series and strengthening our position.”Under Azhar Ali, Pakistan lost 18 ODIs while winning only 12•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Pakistan selectors recently named five uncapped cricketers for the limited-overs series, but also called up two senior players who had been out of favour. Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal were named in both the T20 and ODI squads after impressive domestic runs.”I feel the role of our senior players, especially [Mohammad] Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Amir and Wahab is very important,” Sarfraz said. “There are junior players with us and both Kamran and Ahmed [Shehzad] are making their comeback, so I expect our senior players, including myself, to lead from the front. We have been scoring 280 or so but we need to get totals above 300. Besides, our fast bowlers need to take wickets to give us the best possible chance.”Sarfraz dismissed suggestions that Kamran Akmal’s return threatened his own spot in the team•AFP

The recent corruption allegations that surfaced in the PSL made opener Sharjeel Khan, along with Mohammad Irfan, Shahzaib Hasan, and Khalid Latif unavailable for selection. “It’s a bad thing in many ways and it disappoints you,” Sarfraz said. “Because some players are set in the team, and with their ouster the combination of the team gets upset. Sharjeel was not only settled in but was exactly the sort of player we needed to open the batting. He was the kind of batsman who played cricket in line with modern-day requirements. His absence will be felt but whoever comes in as a replacement will also be an outstanding player, and they can give their best to take Pakistan forward.”These young players that we brought in are very talented and they have been selected after consistent domestic performances. They have been outstanding and this is the reason they got a chance. It’s good that they are getting the opportunity at a time when cricket isn’t being played in the country. It’s also a good sign that they are getting a chance and hopefully these boys can convert their domestic form in international cricket.”Sarfraz denied that the added responsibility of being a wicketkeeper-batsman as well as captain put him under extra pressure. He also dismissed suggestions that having Kamran Akmal back in the side threatened his own place. “I am not feeling any pressure, it’s a good thing that Kami came in after performing well. Earlier [Mohammad] Rizwan was around with me so there is no pressure at all. Kami has been performing in domestic cricket, and we expect him to contribute here too, which will help Pakistan.”

In their most dominant performance on the tour of New Zealand so far, South Africa regained the one-day series lead with the kind of showing that coach Russell Domingo believes typifies their new style of play.It is a brand of cricket built on shared responsibility with new members of the squad as able to contribute as some of the stalwarts. Dwaine Pretorius’ career-best 3 for 5 from 5.2 overs on the back of a maiden half-century in Christchurch is the best example of it.”It’s been a feature of our side’s performances over the last year that the younger players have all come in and put in performances straight away which speaks a lot about where the team is at the moment and the culture of the group,” Domingo said. “It’s always pleasing when some new players are stepping up nor relying on one or two players.”And Pretorius is not the only one. Twenty-year-old Andile Phehlukwayo has emerged as a long-term all-round prospect and in the batting department, Quinton de Kock is one of the leading players in the world.Although AB de Villiers, who became the fastest to 9000 ODI runs, was the man of the moment in Wellington, South Africa’s recent ODI successes have been built on the foundations de Kock has laid. As he did in Test cricket last year, de Kock has reeled off five consecutive fifty-plus scores in ODIs. He has yet to convert one of his three in New Zealand into a century, but Domingo brushed that off as part of the game.”He has got a phenomenal rate of transferring those fifties to hundreds so I’m sure he’d be disappointed he hasn’t got a hundred because he is playing as well as he has ever played. I suppose he would feel a little disappointed in the manner of some of his dismissals. That’s the nature of how he plays.”He is such an aggressive player and I by no means want to curb his natural instinct. He is an x-factor player and some days he is going to get it wrong and that’s okay but on the days he gets it right, he is going to win the game for you. He is still a baby, its hard to believe he is only 24. We’ve had some great players play international cricket for South Africa, who’ve got 10 or 11 hundreds in 200 games. He has got 12 in 77. That’s a phenomenal return for a young player like that.”At this early stage of de Kock’s career, he already lies sixth on South Africa’s ODI century-makers’ list above a big name like Graeme Smith. The former captain played 196 ODIs and scored 10 centuries, de Kock could go on to double or even treble that. Also below de Kock is JP Duminy, who has played 170 ODIs and only has four hundreds to his name, three against Zimbabwe and one against Netherlands.Duminy has not registered three figures in two years, since the 2015 World Cup. In that time, he has managed just four fifties. Although he can cite limited opportunity – Duminy usually bats at No.5, behind players who don’t often leave him with many overs to face – by his own admission, there have been chances wasted.After the Christchurch ODI, where he was given a chance at No 4, Duminy explained he understood he needed to step up. “A lot of us got in but we didn’t take it home for the team. That’s something we need to look at – especially myself, getting in and not taking it home for the team,” he said.He was unable to in Wellington, where he was run-out and his string of low scores – only one over 30 in seven innings – could raise concerns, especially with Farhaan Behardien waiting on the bench.Some pressure for his place may be just what Duminy needs to kickstart a change in fortunes, as it did in Tests. After being dropped last summer during the series against England, Duminy returned with a much improved mindset and scored two important hundreds, in Perth and in Johannesburg, to prove he still has plenty to offer. The upcoming Tests will be another chance for Duminy to build on that progress.Eight members of the Test squad, who are not part of the limited-overs outfit, will arrive in Auckland on Sunday, where they will begin a week-long camp. Batting coach Neil McKenzie and fitness trainer Greg King will break away from the ODI group to oversee the Test players’ preparations. South Africa do not have a warm-up match before the series starts in Dunedin on March 8 but all their players have been in action in the domestic one-day cup.Among them are the two senior seamers, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, who are the favourites to make up a pace pack with Kagiso Rabada, although South Africa have three other quicks in reserve. Rabada will be the most worked of all of them, with South Africa well aware of his importance to every XI. Rabada was left out of the Christchurch game with a knee niggle and returned in Wellington and Domingo has explained that its unlikely Rabada will be given time off with the series still on the line.”It’s a fine line between resting players and trying to win series. You’ve got to try and and manage that process quite carefully, particularly for a guy like KG. I read the other day that he bowled 200 overs more than anybody else in the last year. He is only 21,” Domingo said. “But its hard to leave KG out of the next game in Hamilton. He is a seriously good bowler and it’s no coincidence that when he is back in the mix, we look a seriously good side.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:42

Kishore: Parthiv impeccable in tense chase

In December 2015, Parthiv Patel struck his maiden List A century to steer Gujarat to their first domestic 50-over championship win. Just over a year later, he was at the forefront of yet another title triumph with an innings that was physically and mentally more demanding than any other he has played in recent memory.Having kept wicket for 221 overs across two innings and over three days and made a combative 90 that gave Gujarat the first-innings lead, he steered a fourth-innings chase of 312 with a remarkable 143. His 25th first-class ton helped Gujarat clinch the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the very city where they lost to Holkar in their only previous final, 66 years ago.In doing so, with five wickets in hand – a proposition that had looked unlikely when they lost three early wickets on the final day against a fired-up Mumbai gunning for their 42nd title – Gujarat also achieved the highest-successful finals chase in the tournament’s 83-year history. They eclipsed Hyderabad, who had chased down 310 against Nawanagar in 1937-38.Parthiv’s 143 took Gujarat to within 13 runs of victory and will deservedly hog the headlines, but Manprit Juneja’s 54 was no less important. When he walked in, Gujarat were 89 for 3. Mumbai were ascendant, the runs weren’t quite flowing, and there was a stillness to proceedings. Balwinder Sandhu, who was expensive on the fourth evening, returned rejuvenated and was getting the ball to jag back in sharply.During the course of the next two hours, Parthiv and Juneja didn’t just rebuild the innings but also went into overdrive. By the time Juneja was dismissed, getting a faint under-edge to a sweep off Akhil Herwadkar, the 116-run fourth-wicket stand had wrested the momentum back in Gujarat’s favour.Another wicket at that stage may have turned things around. But Aditya Tare dropped Rujul Bhatt on 1 off Shardul Thakur, starting to celebrate before completing the catch cleanly. It had a deflating effect on Mumbai. Parthiv and Bhatt then added 94 to all but seal Gujarat’s full set of national titles, achieved across three successive seasons. The wining moment came off Thakur, Chirag Gandhi hitting him for two successive fours to trigger wild celebrations.The match could have been much closer than it eventually panned out. Gujarat lost Priyank Panchal, the season’s highest run-getter, in the second over of the day when he was pouched in the slips. Bhargav Merai was bowled shouldering arms to Sandhu, and Samit Gohel was caught behind off Abhishek Nayar in debatable circumstances. Gujarat were tottering. Mumbai were masters of controlling these kinds of situations – they had been in 11 finals and won each one of them since their last runners-up finish in 1990-91.Despite the loss in the final, Mumbai would be pleased with the advent of young players like Prithvi Shaw•PTI

Parthiv and Juneja had to contend with plenty of chirp from the slip cordon. Mumbai had been visibly unhappy at Gujarat’s delaying tactics on day four. On a number of occasions, the umpires had to intervene to get Gujarat moving. In the end, they were 14 overs short when Mumbai’s innings closed. Particularly keen on letting his displeasure be known to Gujarat was Shreyas Iyer, who a couple of days ago admitted to “being bored” with Gujarat’s approach.The umpires intervened again, this time to cool things down and let the game take its course. Parthiv, sensing an opportunity to score, took on Sandhu, who until then had bowled a superb first spell that read 7-2-20-2. Six boundaries came off the five overs that immediately followed the fall of the third wicket, among which were successive fours for Parthiv off Sandhu, a slap through cover followed by an imperious drive past mid-off. Juneja didn’t hold back either, driving and flicking his way to four boundaries in the same period.On one hand, Tare had to contend with the frustration of the partnership. On the other was the dilemma of whether or not to keep attacking and risk conceding more boundaries. Nayar, who has time and again delivered in crises, eased his mind from one end, bowling in the corridor and troubling Juneja with balls that deviated away. But by then, both batsmen were in control.In a bid to mix things up, Tare brought in the left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil. Juneja peppered the cover boundary by driving him inside-out from the rough, from where there wasn’t much help. Parthiv used his feet to get to the pitch and milk runs. Gujarat had reached base camp. The century stand had come in little over two hours.But as is the case with most high-pressure clashes, there was a twist. Juneja relaxed just a wee bit against Akhil Herwadkar’s part-time offspin, and Tare gave him an angry send-off while the other Mumbai players gestured towards the dressing room.There was life in the contest, and plenty of needle as well. But Parthiv wasn’t perturbed. He stepped across and whipped Sandhu for three fours off his next over to enter the 90s. Mumbai took the second new ball in the 82nd over. Given Gujarat’s rate of scoring, this had to be the last roll of the dice.Parthiv inside-edged Thakur to the fine leg boundary, the ball nearly shaving leg stump. Then came a confident lbw appeal off an indipper. It wasn’t given out, but replays suggested it was much closer than it had initially looked. It was a slice of luck for Parthiv, but a man who had played a knock of this magnitude deserved some.

M Vijay is difficult to slot into one genre of batting. He has T20 hundreds, but is one of the best defensive batsmen going around in Test cricket. He strikes at around 46 runs per 100 balls, but is already only one six short of getting into the top 10 six-hitting Test openers. Only one of the 10 ahead of him is a defensive batsman: Navjot Sidhu, who similarly attacked spinners.Just like the cricketer that he is, Vijay is an emotional person, but doesn’t open up with many. Having addressed a press conference after scoring his eighth Test century, one that put India in command in the Mumbai Test, Vijay was walking off when he called out a journalist he knows. He told the journalist to make an announcement on his behalf: that he wants to dedicate this innings to the father of a close friend back home who died on the first day of the Test. That he was sorry he couldn’t be there for his friend, only whose first name he gave: Srinath.This was a century that came after failings both similar and uncharacteristic. Vijay is known for scoring big at the start of a series and then fading away, but these failures were coming against the short ball from somebody who has tackled it with aplomb all over the world. Vijay is, in fact, one of the best – if not the best – leavers of the ball. Vijay acknowledged that failing.”I did think about it [short balls] because I was playing at the balls I should be leaving generally,” Vijay said. “There are lot of other factors to it. I don’t want to reveal them. But yeah, the definite gameplan is to back my core game, believe in it and come back fresh, and to play this Test match the way I wanted to play.”The eight-day break between the third and fourth Tests perhaps turned this into a bit of a start of something new. “The break helped me,” Vijay said. “And it helped everybody, I guess, to go and rethink and come back better.”One of the first successes for Vijay was hitting an overpitched Adil Rashid wrong’un for six, which resulted in Rashid being taken out of the attack at a time when spinners were troubling Vijay. “Actually, my gameplan is to attack the spinners because I don’t want them to settle in one particular area where they find it comfortable,” Vijay said. “I just wanted to use my feet and use the depth of the crease, and play according to my gameplan. It came out pretty well, I guess.”Asked to rate this innings vis-à-vis his others, Vijay said: “It is special because I started off well in this series,” Vijay said. “And then a couple of matches I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play. I was getting out too early. I just came out with a much clearer mindset in this game. And I just wanted to back my instinct and play.”The innings was special not least because it – with the help of a Virat Kohli masterclass – has given India a 51-run lead with three wickets in hand. Considering how much the ball has turned, that is a massive lead.”Definitely [in control of this match],” Vijay said, “because any lead is gold in this wicket. During tea time, we just thought get close to their target, but the way Virat and Jayant Yadav are batting, I think we are in a pretty good position.”

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has called for “good pitches” in the series against England, pitches that won’t turn on the first two days, to allow India to develop into a competitive all-conditions bowling side, especially their spinners. Ganguly, who will be part of ESPNcricinfo Match Day, the analysis show that will be aired on ESPNcricinfo and on the SONY ESPN channel on every match day of the five-Test series, said R Ashwin was a “top-class” bowler and that India were “unbeatable” at home, but also said he would only judge the captain, coach and star bowlers based on the next cycle of overseas performances.”I think the wickets are going to be good,” Ganguly said of the upcoming five-Test series against England. “And India should be playing on good pitches. I firmly believe they will continue to be unbeatable at home. But if you want to be a good bowling unit overseas, where your spinners come into play and win you Test matches, Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja will have to learn bowling on good first-day, second-day pitches, where there is no turn, where you have got to bowl the right line and right length. And on day four, day five, the game will change very quickly in these conditions.”One of the favourite bowlers of Ganguly the captain, Harbhajan Singh, had recently created a stir about the pitches India have been playing on since last season, saying his and Anil Kumble’s record would have been something else if they had played on such pitches. Knowing this criticism had come from an insider, the current captain Virat Kohli, who has been snapping at anybody who as much as utters the word “pitch”, had to bite his tongue. Ganguly asked Harbhajan to move on, but he could also see where Harbhajan was coming from.”He has got to take it easy, I think, Bhajji,” Ganguly said. “He has been a champion for India. He has just got to move ahead. I know some of the pitches are square turners. That’s not Ashwin’s fault, though. He has probably got those pitches to bowl on, and he has bowled on them. I think Harbhajan is a great bowler, a great servant for Indian cricket, and he should enjoy the cricket and leave it at that. I know some of the pitches – against South Africa he would probably have got 40 wickets in that series – but even if he didn’t get those pitches in his career it doesn’t make him a lesser bowler than anybody.”On the whole, Ganguly saw improvement in Ashwin’s last series outside Asia, and expected more of the same. “There was never a doubt about him as a bowler in these conditions,” Ganguly said. “If you look at his record in the first 12-13 Test matches in the subcontinent, he has got 100 wickets. There is always a question mark on how he bowled in England and Australia and South Africa. And there’s definitely an improvement on that. He has definitely got better in those conditions.”He has continued to thrive on these turning pitches. I don’t think it is that difficult bowling on these turning pitches. You see Jadeja, his record home and away is like chalk and cheese. Ashwin will be very, very dangerous in this squad. Jadeja as well. Pitches turning. Fast. Hitting the rough and turning it away. He will be very, very hard to get away. So England will have to bat very well in the first innings. Toss will be crucial. They will be looking to win the toss and bat first. Lots of things will affect how this series goes but Ashwin is going to be a huge threat.”As part of the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, Ganguly was instrumental in the appointment of Kumble as India coach, and he is a fan of Kohli: “I sit on my sofa and switch on my TV to watch Virat Kohli.” While he is impressed with Kumble and Kohli’s partnership so far, he is not getting carried away yet. “He [Kumble] has been brilliant but he has played a lot of Test matches at home,” Ganguly said. “And he is going to play about nine Test matches at home in the next six months, so I maintain as I maintained with other coaches that India will continue to beat teams in these conditions. But just like everyone, just like I asked of MS Dhoni whether he had the ability to win Test matches overseas, the same question remains for Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble.”Whether they can get together and get India going in overseas conditions. Because that is what is going to happen after these nine Test matches. We are going to go away to England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. And they will be tested. So for them and for me the real judgement will come once they complete that full circle. At the present moment, I don’t think they have been tested yet.”Ganguly doesn’t expect England to test India too much either, because, according to him, England are a depleted side from the one that beat India in India in 2012-13, and also because India are on a roll and high on confidence while the opposite was true of the side that lost in 2012-13. Ganguly expects India to continue playing just the two spinners, but if left to him he would add Amit Mishra to the successful pairing of Ashwin and Jadeja.”If I go by the New Zealand Test series, I think he [Kumble] is happy with four bowlers,” Ganguly said. “He knows in these conditions the spinners are capable of picking up 20 wickets, when the ball turns square. I just get a feeling that he will go in with four bowlers. And that will be Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. If he goes in with three spinners at some stage – and that will only happen if he is under pressure, if he hasn’t won the first Test in Rajkot, or of the wicket is Vizag is a minefield as we saw in the one-day game [against New Zealand] – maybe then he could come and have a third spinner.”Him going with three spinners [at the outset], I am not too sure. Because he will wait for the ball to reverse. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have been brilliant at that. Ishant Sharma is back, so he will probably get a go ahead of Umesh Yadav. So I see him going with Ishant and Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.”

Kyle Abbott looks set to step into Dale Steyn’s shoes in the second Test in Hobart, ahead of Morne Morkel and new call-up Dwaine Pretorius. With Morkel yet to be declared fully match fit following two months on the sidelines with a back injury and, Pretorius only due to jet in once he receives confirmation of a visa, without saying it in so many words, coach Russell Domingo indicated Abbott could complete the three-man pace pack.”We’ve got two options at the moment. Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel,” Domingo said. “Morne is coming off a back injury. We’ll assess him two days before the Test and make the call on whether he is 100% fit. Kyle Abbott is a consistent solid performer and has been every time he has come in.”We need to weigh up what type of bowler we want to use under the conditions in Hobart, because I think they are different to what they are here. It’s a fascinating series because all three venues have totally different conditions. I’ve never been to Hobart, I’ve heard its cold and the wickets are a little New Zealand-like, a little slower.”At the WACA pace and bounce provided what Kagiso Rabada called a “bowler’s paradise,” but, as Domingo said, cold, wet weather in Tasmania is unlikely to assist in the preparation of anything similar in the second Test. That may mean the pacemen have to play more defensive roles which could mean bowling longer spells. Morkel was initially left out because of concerns he would not be up for that and even though he is making progress, Abbott is regarded as more of a workhorse.South Africa are unlikely to change from their usual combination of three seamers and a spinner, Keshav Maharaj. After a debut Test in which Maharaj had to do more than he may have bargained for in a three-man attack and did it well, and performed impressively with the bat, Tabraiz Shamsi will wait for his turn.”Keshav Maharaj’s performance has been nothing short of phenomenal considering it was his first Test,” Domingo said. “He allowed seamers to have breaks when they needed to and I see him playing a massive role for this side going forward”Still, without Morkel, South Africa’s attack can be seen to lack a certain superstar status; after all Morkel and Steyn were long regarded as the golden pair. Philander proved he deserves the respect he earned when he first came in, with the way he stepped after up after Steyn went down, and Kagiso Rabada is quickly establishing himself as the leader of the attack, a label he prefers to distance himself from. But names like Abbott, Maharaj and Pretorius mean South Africa’s bench is stacked with so-called unknowns and their ability to step up to the biggest stage is what has pleased Domingo.”We’ve won some games of late without some of the best players in the world. We don’t have AB de Villiers and we’ve put in some wonderful performances. At the end of the day, they are all wonderful players,” Domingo said. “We’ve got some really good young players coming into the system and some really good young players back home. We are trying to focus on the group we have at the moment and trying to get the best out of them at the moment.”Domingo, like du Plessis had done pre-series, played down suggestions that de Villiers would make a surprise return for Adelaide after the captain told a radio station he hoped to fast-track his recovery from elbow surgery. “He has been caddying for a mate at a golf tournament,” Domingo said. “I don’t think he is going to be fit for Adelaide.. I am not a doctor but I can’t see AB being being there.”That means the batting line-up will continue to demand more from Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock, who have made up for inexperience with impressive temperament. De Kock has already been compared with Adam Gilchrist and if Stephen Cook’s misfiring goes on for much longer, he may be moved to the top temporarily.South Africa also have Rilee Rossouw in hand should they want to experiment, and Pretorius’ batting ability to add depth lower-down if they are unsure about the length of the tail. Pretorius has scored four half-centuries in five innings in the domestic first-class competition which put him ahead of candidates like Duanne Olivier, Marchant de Lange and Hardus Viljoen to head Down Under.

ScorecardSteve O’Keefe followed his five-for with a measured half-century•AFP

Australia were given a long-but-light workout against spin on the second day, as all their batsmen hit at least 25, though only Steven Smith and Steve O’Keefe passed fifty. The second-day pitch at the P Sara Oval had begun to take some turn, but Australia can expect significantly drier conditions and substantially higher-quality slow bowling in the Tests. Nevertheless, a team total of 431 for 9 represented a strong outing for the visitors. The Sri Lanka selectors, watching on, would know the Australians have emerged from their first spin trial of the tour in ominous form.The Sri Lankan XI attack, which did not feature the island’s top spin prospects to begin with, operated under a kind of self-prohibition. Perhaps out of a strategic decision not to accustom the Australian batsmen to left-arm spin, captain Milinda Siriwardana did not bowl himself at all in the day. The other left-arm spinner, Chaturanga de Silva, was given only short spells at the top order; only when the tail-enders arrived at the crease was he more liberally used.Sri Lanka will hope this tactic sees Rangana Herath’s threat maximised when the Tests begin on July 26 in Pallekele. Siriwardana may also fairly expect to be named in the Sri Lanka squad, and if the selectors are of a similar view, Siriwardana will have kept his own powder dry.The day’s foremost workhorse was Shehan Jayasuriya, whose offspin may be classified his secondary skill. He delivered 29 overs, took five for 109, and sparked several close shouts while the seamers were rotated at the other end. Vimukthi Perera was the most impressive of the quick men, bringing a ball in to Joe Burns to bowl him for 72 in the morning, but Nisala Tharaka was also sharp in patches.O’Keefe’s unbeaten 62 may be the most consequential of the day’s performances for the Australians, as it raised his chances of entering the Test XI. Having taken a five-wicket haul on day one, O’Keefe was a measured foil to Mitchell Starc’s adventure, as the pair put on 59 runs from 13 overs late in the day. O’Keefe was largely content to nurdle the singles, often using his feet to spin. Starc, meanwhile, deployed a devastating slog sweep several times in his 48-ball 45. The pair did benefit from unimpressive ground fielding, however.Earlier in the day, Adam Voges and Smith had made 88 in each other’s company, largely finding runs on the leg side, as Voges in particular shelved the more aggressive shots. The pair’s frill-free accumulation took the Australians past the Sri Lankan XI’s 229, and formed the foundation of their team’s advance on day two. Smith came down the track to hit the offspin of Jayasuriya over the infield on occasion, but largely reserved his more expansive strokes for the seamers.It was spin that brought both batsmen’s stay to a close. Smith was trapped in front by de Silva, before Jayasuriya turned one in from the developing rough to beat Voges’ sweep shot and rattle his off stump. Mitchell Marsh struck a quick 25 thereafter, but was also out to Jayasuriya – caught behind down the leg side, though he did jokingly ask for a review of the umpire’s decision to suggest he did not hit the ball. Jayasuriya caught a high top-edge off Starc’s bat, and sent one through Lyon’s defences to complete his five-wicket haul.