2nd ODI Bangladesh v New Zealand

Bangladesh 247 (Tamim 58, Neesham 4-53, Anderson 4-40) beat New Zealand 207 (Taylor 45, Mortaza 3-43, Gazi 3-34) by 40 runs

After their famous 4-0 win against the same opposition at home in 2010, another clean sweep beckoned for Bangladesh after they wrapped up the second ODI by 40 runs. Bangladesh defended 247 and their decision to bat first was vindicated despite concerns over the spinners' effectiveness with a dew-laden ball.
 

Bangladesh made the two new balls count. Mashrafe Mortaza, who took three wickets, bowled two good spells to make sure New Zealand's required run-rate never went down. Offspinner Sohag Gazi took the other new ball, and like Mashrafe, tied down the batsmen at first before picking up three wickets. Mominul Haque was Mushfiqur Rahim's golden arm, removing the McCullum brothers.

 

When they began their chase of 248 run, Hamish Rutherford was the first to go, chopping a Mashrafe delivery onto his stumps for 1, repeating his score from the first match. Anton Devcich and Grant Elliott were removed off successive deliveries a little while later, the former popping a catch back to Gazi and the latter getting stuck on the crease to Abdur Razzak, and falling leg-before.

 

As the chase began to gather pace, the visitors pinned their hopes on the captain Brendon McCullum to make his first significant score on this tour. It remained that way, as he fell just when his partnership with Ross Taylor was starting to worry Bangladesh.

 

After the second drinks break, McCullum went back to a Mominul delivery that didn't turn much, missed it and was given out leg-before. In the next over, Tom Latham was run out thanks to Rubel Hossain's throw after Taylor sent him back after completing the first run. James Neesham was caught off a short ball from Gazi, caught by a diving Naeem Islam at square leg.

 

Gazi picked up the crucial wicket of Taylor just after he had smashed a six at the end of the batting Powerplay. That wicket - the eighth falling with the score on 158 - spelled the end of New Zealand's resistance in this series, as Bangladesh waited for the inevitable. Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum held things up for a while before Nathan McCullum holed out at long-on in the 46th over. The end came when Tim Southee missed Mashrafe's straight ball in the 47th over.

 

Bangladesh, on the other hand, were off to a better start with the bat, but none of their batsmen pushed on for a big score. The New Zealand bowlers were accurate and controlled their bowling variations. The Bangladesh batsmen had to be patient, but were often frustrated as they could not get on top of the medium-pacers. Brendon McCullum set planned fields, packing the off side and to his credit, he was backed by the bowlers and the fielders.

 

Corey Anderson and Neesham both took four wickets, after Southee and Kyle Mills restricted the Bangladesh openers with tight spells with the two new balls. Their tidiness in the first 35 overs paid off when Bangladesh lost three quick wickets after the 36th over, at the start of the batting Powerplay, Bangladesh's scourge. It set them back for the last nine overs during which they added only 63 runs and lost four wickets.

 

Mushfiqur, Naeem and Nasir Hossain fell in the space of eleven balls, which took them from 169 for 3 to 173 for 6. All three dismissals were soft and the shots played, particularly that of Mushfiqur and Naeem, were unnecessary.

 

The top and middle-order batsmen threw away good starts. The openers, Tamim Iqbal and the debutant Shamsur Rahman began steadily with a stand of 63. Tamim was the enforcer, but the debutant Shamsur was relatively sedate during his 25. Tamim drove stylishly through the covers and his only six, down the ground off Southee in the ninth over, was his best shot.

 

Mominul struck five boundaries, one of them straight down the ground and another flicked through midwicket. But he fell to a trap, pulling a slower ball from Anderson to Nathan McCullum at deep midwicket.

 

Soon after, Tamim got stuck in the forties for 18 balls, before reaching his 25th ODI fifty off 75 balls. He was finally dismissed by inside edging Anderson's slower ball onto his stumps, after missing on several wild swishes. As the sun set below Mirpur's horizon, the home crowd looked disappointed that the batsmen failed to capitalise, but the mood changed as the evening wore on.

 

Batting is an area that still needs improvement, but with an inspired bowling performance such as this, Mushfiqur need not give himself and the rest of the batsmen the hair-dryer. With cricket being one of the unifying factors in the country, celebrations are expected everywhere.

West Indies v Uttar Pradesh Tour Match Day 1/3

West Indians 333 for 4 (Chanderpaul 91*, Deonarine 83*, Powell 64, Bravo 61) v Uttar Pradesh

West Indies' batsmen kicked off their tour to India with promising signs, with four of their top six getting past the half-century mark on day one of the warm-up match against Uttar Pradesh in Kolkata. While Kieran Powell and Darren Bravo couldn't push on after getting set, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine have the opportunity to register confidence-boosting hundreds on day two, going to stumps unbeaten on 91 and 83 respectively. Their 170-run stand for the fifth-wicket meant that the West Indians finished were a comfortable 333 for 4 overnight.
 

The match, at the Jadavpur University Complex since the first Test will be at the city's main ground, Eden Gardens, began an hour late due to a wet outfield - it has been rainy in Kolkata over the past few days.

 

The West Indians chose to bat, and were dealt an early blow by seamer Imtiaz Ahmed, who bowled Chris Gayle for 18. However, a century stand between Powell and Bravo followed, ensuring the innings didn't veer off track. Both batsmen fell in the 60s, though, Bravo going first, bowled by India discard RP Singh. Powell was out in the following over, also bowled, to offspinner Arish Alam. Marlon Samuels fell not long after, edging behind to give Imtiaz his second success, leaving the West Indians on an uncertain 163 for 4.

 

That's when Chanderpaul, who was in solid touch for English county Derbyshire in the lead-up to this series - he hit half-centuries in each of his previous three matches - and Deonarine, who has been on the fringes of the Test side but last played in it last August, came together. Their unbroken century stand came at a good clip - over four and a half an over - before the last half hour was lost to bad light.

 

Bravo, speaking after the day's play, said he grew confident as his innings progressed. "I believe early up I wasn't timing the ball nicely, but as I stayed out in the middle I started to hit the ball nicely so that in itself gave me some sort of confidence," he said. "This is my first competitive game with the red ball [in a while] and I wanted to spend some time out in the middle, to bat a little longer. [Now] I need to go in the nets and make sure my game is in the right way for the first Test."

 

The Jadavpur University Complex ground was proving to be an ideal practice venue, he said. "The outfield is very fast and it's good to see a lot of fans come out to support the cricket. The wicket is a bit slower, especially pitching the ball back of a length, it's stopping a bit. But we're learning [to cope]."

 

The West Indians will be hoping the weather cooperates better over the next two days, as this is the only practice game scheduled before the first Test of the two-match series begins on November 6.

 

However, Bravo said they shouldn't be using the "one-match excuse" if they get in trouble in the series. "I believe we have to make do. This [practice game] is all we have. Hopefully the batsmen can capitalise on the starts we get and try their best to spend time out in the middle. It's important we go to the nets and try to pick up our game in the best possible way. At the end of the day we don't need to make the one-match excuse, that's important."

West Aus Chairman's XI v England XI Tour Match Day 1/3

Western Australia Chairman's X1 369 for 4 (Lynn 104, Towers 77, Harris 69) v England X1

 

The three England quick bowlers fighting for a spot in the first Ashes Test against Australia in 21 days' time received a rude awakening on the opening day against the Western Australia Chairman's XI at the WACA.

Chris Tremlett, Boyd Rankin and Steven Finn are in a three-way battle for a spot in the England side at the Gabba on November 21, with Tim Bresnan still recuperating from a stress fracture in his back and unlikely to be seriously considered.

 

But none of them managed to impress as a second-string Western Australia side reached 369 for 4 by stumps on the first day on the back of a blistering 104 made by their No 3 Chris Lynn, only his third first-class century. Each of WA's top four batsmen made half centuries.

 

England's fast-bowling trio struggled for line and length on the WACA wicket and were expensive in their first official run out of the tour.

 

The hard-hitting Lynn was loaned to WA by Queensland, overlooked for their Sheffield Shield clash being played at the same time, even though he hit a six to win his state the national domestic title just one week ago.

 

He gave just one chance , with Chris Tremlett spilling a difficult chance at mid-on from the part-time offspin of Joe Root when he was on 66. Not that Root was blameless in the field. He grassed a sharp chance at first slip when Mitchell Marsh nicked one off the bowling of Finn.

 

The effort in the field would not have impressed the England captain Alastair Cook, who missed the first game of the tour because of sore back.

   

WA's no 1 side are involved in a Sheffield Shield game in Victoria and their squad has been stretched further by Mitchell Johnson, Adam Voges and Nathan Coulter-Nile being in India with the Australian one-day side.

 

The stand-in top order made the most of their chances against England, sending reminders to their state selectors of their talents.

 

Lynn's entertaining knock came off just 124 balls. Openers Luke Towers and Marcus Harris hit 77 and 69 respectively and Marsh, returning from a serious hamstring injury, hit 58 from 59 balls before he was the fourth and final wicket taken, caught behind by Matt Prior from the bowling of Ben Stokes.

 

England had to wait until the third over after lunch before claiming its first scalp. It was senior statesman James Anderson, easily the pick of the bowlers, who forced Marcus Harris to fend a short ball to Ian Bell in the gully.

 

The breaks in play could have had as much to do with WA losing its first two wickets as did any consistent bowling from the England attack with the second wicket coming in the first over after the tea break. After a patient knock, Towers edged a short delivery from Root to keeper Prior while attempting a cut when the score was 225.

 

It was a galling experience for Prior, who was having his first taste of England captaincy as well as being a world apart from their start to their last Australia tour in 2010 when they retained the Ashes.

 

England fielded a full-strength side when they won the corresponding game against WA by six wickets. On this occasion, only five of their side - Prior, Root, Bell, Jonathan Trott and Anderson - are guaranteed a spot in Brisbane.

 

The three bowlers hoping to join Anderson and Stuart Broad in the attack have a maximum of two further outings before the opening Test, after this game, to impress the England selectors.

 

England will leave Perth for a four-day game against Australia A in Hobart before competing their preparation for the first Test with another four-day contest against a NSW XI at the SCG.

 

Rankin struggled to find a good length, particularly in the first of his three spells, producing several rank full-tosses. His first four overs cost him 29 runs. He recovered and beat the bat several times in his second spell. His one wicket, that of Lynn, caught by Michael Carberry at backward point, came in his third over. But he went for nearly five runs an over.

 

Tremlett was used at both ends over five short spells, but he often overpitched and, for all his height, failed to make the most of the usually bouncy WACA wicket. He rarely troubled the WA batsmen and went for just over four runs for each of his 17 overs.

 

Finn was the least impressive of the trio though, a fact highlighted by three consecutive short-pitched deliveries that were pulled for four by Towers just after the lunch break. He also gave up more than 4.5 runs per over.

 

The England medical team will be doing their best to get Bresnan fit as quickly as they can.

1st ODI Pakistan v South Africa

South Africa 183 (Parnell 56, Ajmal 4-30, Afridi 3-37) beat Pakistan 182 (Shehzad 58, Tahir 3-45, Parnell 3-41) by one run

With 19 runs needed off 55 balls and six wickets in hand, the match seemed safe, even by Pakistan's standards. But as if allergic to cricket without high-drama, Pakistan conspired a dispiriting collapse as the pitch deteriorated in Sharjah, while Imran Tahir, playing his first ODI in two-and-a-half years, led South Africa to a one-run win.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe began the slide when he dismissed the well-set Umar Amin at the end of the 41st over, and Tahir struck immediately after, taking three wickets in his next 11 balls. Pakistan's last batting pair - Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Irfan - needed to score seven to win, together, and were doing it in leg byes and inside edges, with plenty of close calls in between.

 

With three to get for victory, Ajmal took a single, exposing the clueless Irfan to Morne Morkel, and the bowler needed only two balls to secure the win. He hit the top of off stump, beating Irfan's lazy prod, sparking wild celebrations on the field, as a stunned crowd looked on in disbelief.

 

For a team that veers so wildly between genius and calamity, Pakistan played prudently and professionally for 90 overs of the series-opener, in Sharjah. Irfan had set the tone for the bowlers with a hostile, yet disciplined spell after Pakistan were asked to bowl, while Sohail Tanvir provided tight, intelligent support. The spinners ruthlessly exploited South Africa's frailty against spin, on a turning track, and remained collected in the face of Wayne Parnell's late surge.

 

The chase was measured, sometimes dour - even boring. Needing less than four an over, Pakistan travelled at a steady pace; taking few risks, biding their time. The only surprise was Misbah-ul-Haq throwing away his wicket to a wide half-volley on 31. Reasoning that he ought to have remained there, Misbah will probably blame himself for what happened late in the match. No doubt many others will as well.

 

If this was a tough defeat for Pakistan to swallow, it was almost as hard for the spectators to get their head around. Tahir was not getting any more turn than Ajmal had managed earlier in the day, it was just that balls had now begun keeping low - but not unpredictably so. Umar Akmal got himself into a tangle playing the first ball of the 42nd over, shaping to paddle-sweep, then deciding against it, then playing all around a slow straight one. And all of a sudden, panic erupted.

 

Surely not, you thought, but there was Tanvir edging a wide Tsotsobe ball to the keeper, leaving Pakistan seven down, ten runs still to get. Shahid Afridi had whacked a four off a long-hop in Tahir's previous over, and then when you felt even he could not be as irresponsible as to throw his wicket away, he got himself caught on the midwicket boundary, trying to hit another long hop for six.

 

Wahab Riaz was lbw to a nicely-delivered googly from Tahir later in the over, which brought the final pair together, and from then on, Pakistan's fate was held hostage by blind fortune. Luck smiled on them through a close lbw review - the result of another Tahir googly - and a series of edges and plays and misses, but it deserted Pakistan when they had two to get and 22 balls left.

 

Parnell's 56, much of it scored in the company of Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who himself contributed 15 to their ninth-wicket stand of 52, became a crucial contribution in the end - which it had not seemed to be for so much of the match. South Africa were 86 for 6 when Parnell arrived, and while he was technically out of his depth to the spinners, the seeds of defiance were sown in Parnell during a 39-run stand with David Miller.

 

When Tsotsobe arrived, with the score on 129 for 8, Parnell found a partner that found a way to survive as he did - through a series of inside and outside edges that were almost willed into falling safely. There were 15 overs remaining in the innings when they joined forces, and they played the match situation well, defending everything that was not susceptible to their limited range of attacking strokes.

 

Occasionally they grew bold - Parnell reverse-swatted Saeed Ajmal over point for four and Tsotsobe launched him high over cow corner - but the majority of their efforts were directed towards gleaning value from the remaining overs. By finding the batting wits that had escaped a panicked top-order, the pair lifted South Africa to a total that they could conceivably defend.

 

Earlier, Ajmal's arrival at the bowling crease in the 11th over prompted familiar timidity in an already cautious batting effort. South Africa had groped their way around Sri Lanka two months before, and despite assurances that lessons from that series had been internalised, they lost seven wickets to Ajmal and Afridi in this match, as the each of the top five fell before eclipsing 20.

 

Graeme Smith had not been on that trip to Sri Lanka, but he overreached in Ajmal's second over, desperate to get to the pitch of the ball after having his outside edge beaten, and when one spun past his blade, Umar Akmal completed a simple stumping.

 

Faf du Plessis couldn't decide whether to play forward or back and was lbw in Ajmal's next over, while AB de Villiers fell to a doosra, dancing down the pitch to offer a leading edge that Ajmal took on the second grab. At the end of his first six over spell, Ajmal had conceded nine runs, and bowled two maidens - his three scalps leaving South Africa at 68 for 5 after 21 overs.

 

Afridi bowled flatter and with less venom, but was soon extending South Africa's slide, albeit at a less dramatic rate.

 

Nasir Jamshed was out early in Pakistan's response, but that dismissal prompted so steady a response from the rest of the top order, that five maidens were bowled in the first ten overs of the innings. Ahmed Shehzad's 92-ball 58 contained only five fours - many of them behind square on the off side - and the run rate barely rose above four, such was the calm that pervaded the innings.

 

Sadly for Pakistan, but in a strangely familiar fashion, they swung from one extreme to the other in a matter of minutes, and made a mockery of themselves, in the face of some spirited but manageable bowling.

6th ODI India v Australia

India 351 for 4 (Kohli 115*, Dhawan 100, Rohit 79) beat Australia 350 for 6 (Bailey 156, Watson 102) by six wickets

Push the boundaries, shift the goalposts, change vocabularies. Three hundred and fifty no longer inspires awe. Not when Indian batsmen batting on flat Indian pitches surrounded by quick outfields with only four fielders outside the circle and two new balls to kill any chance of reverse swing. With Shikhar Dhawan's assured century at the top, and Virat Kohli's 61-ball one at No. 3 - the third-fastest by an Indian, challenging his own record of 52 balls - India became the first team to have chased down 350 or more twice, both of them in this series, and both without much frenzy.

The belief and the absolute absence of any slogging was remarkable once again, but India did face some nerves this time around. The match was doing a pretty fine job of retelling the Jaipur ODI story - Dhawan was dropped early, there was a big opening partnership, and Kohli was bursting through the target - when Dhawan played a rare low-percentage shot and exposed Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. Mitchell Johnson duly removed them, and 62 off 48 required became 35 off 18 at one point.

 

Kohli, though, pulled out some of the most incredible shots of his innings, driving chest-high balls for fours wide of long-off, to take India through with three balls to spare. With this result the series remained alive, and George Bailey, who might have had reason to believe he had booked his Ashes spot with a 114-ball 156, will have to put in the drawer possible plans of going home early for Ashes preparation.

 

Alongside Bailey, adding 168 for the third wicket, was another Ashes candidate, Shane Watson, who scored a century. The two did seem to be struggling against spin, with Australia 89 for 2 after 22 overs, but Watson did enjoy some luck as Ravindra Jadeja overstepped when he edged a slog-sweep to point. Once Bailey started taking on the spinners, the wheels came off, India began to bowl poorly, and a colossal 261 runs came in the last 28 overs.

 

As the hitherto respectable figures of all the bowlers took a beating, Bailey reached a host of landmarks. He beat the records for most runs in a bilateral series by an Australian or a captain, becoming the second-fastest man to 1,500 runs, and overtaking Misbah-ul-Haq as the leading run-getter this year. In the end, he was left with a rueful smile, half marvelling at the quality of the batting, half resigned to the playing conditions and the pitch and the outfield.

 

MS Dhoni, although he won, shared the views about the lopsided nature of the contest, but at one level you can't take away from the composure Kohli, Dhawan and Rohit showed for a majority of the massive chase. It was as if they didn't acknowledge the enormity of the task of maintaining a run rate of seven an over for 50 overs. There was no anxiety, no need to hit out, even if Rohit - for example - struggled to find the gaps early in the innings.

 

Glenn Maxwell, who later took a diving catch at point off a free hit, will rue dropping an easy offering from Dhawan when the batsman was 19 off 22. Crisp shots and lovely placement remained the feature of the rest of the 178-run partnership as Rohit made up for a slow start with two sixes off Glenn Maxwell in the 29th over. He picked out deep midwicket off a long hop, but that only hastened the chase with Kohli's entry.

 

From the moment Kohli drove the fifth ball he faced for four through extra cover, he knew he was good for an encore of Jaipur. A few blinks later, the partnership for the second wicket was worth 50 runs, out of which Dhawan had scored just nine runs. Kohli was 40 off 26 then. Dhawan, who was cramping by the time he reached his hundred, walked across next ball, and was bowled, giving Australia an opening.

 

Before Australia could enter that opening, though, Kohli brought up his fifth consecutive score of fifty or more. He would soon make it a third consecutive year with 1000 runs or more. There would be a hiccup before the win, though. Johnson, who had been kept back for the middler order, was brought back on, and he accounted for Raina and Yuvraj in the same over.

 

Out came Dhoni, and India suddenly slowed down. James Faulkner and Johnson both began to get the ball to move away from the right-hand batsmen, and slowly the asking rate began to climb. Dhoni told Kohli to wait for Johnson to finish off, and that the big over can come in the last four. Johnson finished off with three overs to go and 35 to get.

 

Kohli had seen enough. His proximity to the hundred - his 11th in 69 chases, behind only Sachin Tendulkar's 17 in 242 attempts - didn't matter. He would charge down the wicket, the bowler would drop short, and he would still manage to drive him to wide long-off. When Australia plugged that gap, he began going wide long-on with similar success. Eventually the asking rate came down to a run a ball in the last over, and India were through with three balls to spare.

1st ODI Bangladesh v New Zealand

Bangladesh 265 (Mushfiqur 90, Naeem 84, Neesham 4-42, Southee 3-34) beat New Zealand 162 (Elliott 71, Anderson 46, Rubel 6-26) by 43 runs (D/L method)
Rubel Hossain's six-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, turned the first ODI on its head, helping Bangladesh win by 43 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method. The visitors were starting to get away with the game despite a steep target after the 105-minute rain break, needing 124 off the remaining 13 overs, but Rubel's spell marked the turning point.

The last time Rubel faced New Zealand in Mirpur, he took four wickets including the last one of Kyle Mills that sealed the 4-0 series win. This time, he took the wickets of Corey Anderson, Brendon McCullum and James Neesham in consecutive balls in his third over, and later added two more to become only the second Bangladeshi, after Mashrafe Mortaza, to take six wickets in an ODI.

 

New Zealand's target was revised from the original 266 to 206 in 33 overs after heavy rain forced a long interruption 20 overs into the chase. New Zealand were behind on D/L at that stage and had there been no further play, Bangladesh would have won. Play resumed, but the visitors failed to grab their second chance. New Zealand's chase lost momentum from the promising position after rain, when they needed 86 off 60 balls before Rubel started his third over. They smashed 38 runs off the three overs immediately after the rain break, having been set a stiff total to chase.

 

The game changed in the 24th over. Anderson had smashed four sixes and three fours till that point and hence posed a threat to Bangladesh's chances. But he tried one too many slogs, and was bowled by Rubel off the third ball of the over.

 

McCullum got a ball that took off on him as he advanced on the front foot, taking a leading edge that was taken easily at point by the substitute Shamsur Rahman. Rubel had taken a hat-trick in a domestic one-day competition only last month but didn't realise it when it happened.

 

This time, he had the 25,000-plus crowd to remind him. He bowled a short one down the leg side and Neesham tried to flick it away. Mushfiqur Rahim took an excellent catch diving to his right, and once the umpire Enamul Haque was convinced, Rubel wildly celebrated with his team-mates, among whom was Sohag Gazi who took a Test hat-trick earlier this month in Chittagong. Rubel became the third Bangladeshi to take a ODI hat-trick, after Shahadat Hossain (2006) and Abdur Razzak (2010), both against Zimbabwe.

 

He added the wicket of Nathan McCullum in his fifth over to claim his maiden five-wicket haul. He claimed his sixth when Mortaza took a superb running catch in the 30th overs and the game ended at that point, because Kane Williamson, who had injured his hand while fielding, did not come out to bat.

 

New Zealand made a poor start to their 266-run chase. Hamish Rutherford tried to hit Gazi down the ground, but missed and was bowled in the fourth over. Grant Elliott was promoted in place of the injured Williamson, but he didn't force matters. In the 11th over, debutant Anton Devcich missed a heave across the line to Mahmudullah, to be clean bowled like Rutherford.

 

Ross Taylor started off luckily, under-edging one past the wicketkeeper's left-hand and one past the first slip in the same over off Mortaza. He became Rubel's first victim when he tried to cut close to his body but ended up edging to Mushfiqur. The other side of the rain break belonged to Bangladesh.

 

Earlier, Mushfiqur and Naeem Islam took hold of a situation that had all the makings of a typical Bangladesh collapse, when they were struggling at 25 for 3.

 

Naeem's dour start, alongside Mushfiqur's flair, guided the home side out of trouble, as they added 154. Mushfiqur brought out a range of shots, from his favoured slog-sweep to the spinners to the more conventional cuts and drives. He played the upper-cut on a few occasions and also pushed the singles, especially when Naeem got stuck early in his innings.

 

Naeem took 17 balls to get off the mark, but slowly started finding the gaps. Naeem got to 50 off 75 balls, while Mushfiqur reached his half-century off 53 balls. Mushfiqur continued to be aggressive towards the latter part of his innings, but fell in the second over of the batting Powerplay, edging Neesham's off-cutter to the wicketkeeper for 90 off 97 balls. Naeem too fell to the same bowler for 84 off 115 balls, trying to hoick a slower one but edging it to the wicketkeeper.

 

Before that, Naeem added 51 for the sixth wicket with Mahmudullah, which was crucial because Bangladesh's usual finisher, Nasir Hossain, was out in the same over as Mushfiqur, the 37th. The New Zealand bowlers held things back in the last ten overs, conceding just 62 runs. They took four wickets in the last five overs after Naeem fell in the 45th over, with Neesham ending with four wickets. In the end, rain and Rubel came in their way.

2nd Test Day 4 SA v Pakistan, reaction to ball tampering

South Africa 517 (Smith 234, Ajmal 6-151) beat Pakistan 99 (Tahir 5-32) & 326 (Shafiq 130, Duminy 3-67) by an innings and 92 runs

South Africa's unbeaten run in Test series on the road will extend even further after their victory in Dubai, which allowed them to share the spoils of this two-match rubber with Pakistan. The last time South Africa lost a Test series abroad was in Sri Lanka in 2006. Since then, they have become the No. 1 ranked Test team and they will stay there, but their lead will be cut by four points by virtue of the drawn series.
 

Pakistan have risen to No. 4, thanks to their victory in Abu Dhabi, but were unable to protect fortress UAE, losing in their adopted home for the first time since moving here in 2010. They went down fighting though, with Asad Shafiq notching up his highest score in Test cricket and sharing in a 197-run fifth wicket stand with Misbah-ul-Haq, which kept South Africa in the field for much longer than they would have liked.

 

On the fourth evening, AB de Villiers said the team felt they were one wicket away from running through Pakistan. That dismissal only came 20 minutes before tea as Misbah, who had treated South Africa's attack with the caution of someone handling a shipment of crystal glasses, gifted Dean Elgar, the part-time spinner, his first Test wicket. In Elgar's second over, Misbah attempted to slog him out of the park but got a thick outside edge which Jacques Kallis collected at first slip.

 

That ended a vigil in which Misbah had ushered Shafiq to his second century against this opposition, and the fourth of his career, and seen off the second new ball to put Pakistan in a position to frustrate South Africa even further. They had only one wicket-taking opportunity before Misbah's lapse in concentration, when Shafiq was given out lbw in the fifth over to a Vernon Philander delivery that pitched on leg-stump and hit him on the front pad. He was on 36 at the time and reviewed with replays showing the ball would have missed leg stump.

 

Shafiq survived and went on to play a balanced innings combining defence with attack, particularly against the spinners. His footwork against Imran Tahir and JP Duminy was excellent, typified by the shot of the day - a spank over midwicket off Tahir.

 

Misbah was more stoic, nudging the ball into spaces and encouraging Shafiq to keep the scoreboard moving, but not too quickly. They both brought up half-centuries off 121 balls before slowing down as the second new ball came. Once comfortable against it, Shafiq pushed past his captain after lunch. He danced into the nineties with a boundary off Duminy and brought up his century with a square drive off a full and wide ball from the same bowler. Encouragingly for Pakistan, once the milestone had been reached, Shafiq kept going.

 

Misbah will be furious that he did not do the same. Although South Africa's attack did not lapse into the lazy short-ball showing they put on in Abu Dhabi, they seemed to be running out of ideas. After trying everything from having two short midwickets in against the spinners - between whom Shafiq threaded the ball through - to having two short covers in for the quicks, Smith turned to Elgar to buy time.

 

Smith would probably not have imagined getting a wicket off the tactic, Elgar's delivery was innocuous as well, but once Misbah ran out of patience, the result was a foregone conclusion. Pakistan's tail proved pesky to remove even though they were without Zulfiqar Babar, who did not bat because of the torn webbing on his right hand.

 

With a ball short of 10 overs remaining in the day, Shafiq, after resisting for seven hours, was stumped off JP Duminy, to give him the same number of wickets as Tahir in the innings - three.

 

On this day in 1952 Pakistan won their first Test, beating India in Lucknow. They did not have reason to celebrate on their anniversary but they did enjoy some positive signs as they dragged the Test late into the fourth afternoon and pushed South Africa as much as they could given their first innings failing.

 

 

Du Plessis pleads guilty, fined for ball-tampering

 

South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has pleaded guilty to the charge of ball-tampering and been fined 50% of his match fee. The match referee David Boon said that du Plessis' actions warranted the charge being brought against him, but also said that he was satisfied that it "was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball."

 

According to an ICC release, "Before the start of fourth day's play on Saturday, David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees handed the fine to du Plessis who had pleaded guilty on Friday evening."

 

Boon said: "I am satisfied that the player's actions warranted the umpires applying clause 42.1.1 of the ICC Test Match Playing Conditions, including the laying of a charge under the ICC Code of Conduct against Mr du Plessis in respect of changing the condition of the ball. After discussions with Mr du Plessis, he has elected not to contest that charge, but I am also satisfied that this was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball, and that the imposition of a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee is appropriate considering the circumstances."

The incident occurred two overs after tea on the third day, before the start of the 31st over, following television visuals of du Plessis rubbing the ball near the zipper of his trouser pocket. The TV umpire brought it to the attention of the on-field umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker, who called Graeme Smith over for a chat and subsequently changed the ball and awarded a five-run penalty against South Africa, sanctions that are consistent with the penalty for unlawfully changing the condition of the ball.

Du Plessis was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to "changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket, as modified by ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and Twenty20 International Match Playing Conditions clause 42.1". 



Some South African players - JP Duminy after play on day two and Vernon Philander before play on day three - had said they thought there was nothing amiss with the condition of the ball when it was changed. AB de Villiers, during the press conference on Friday, vehemently defended his side, saying they "are not a team that scratches the ball".

 

Penalties for offences such as du Plessis' under Level 2 of the ICC's code of conduct can range from a fine of 50% to 100% of a player's match fee to suspensions for one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is.

 

Ajmal reprimanded for on-field celebrations

 

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has received an official reprimand for his celebrations following the wicket of Morne Morkel on the third day of the second Test in Dubai. The celebrations were considered insulting towards the umpires.

 

The incident in question occurred in the 162nd over of South Africa's innings, when Ajmal appealed for a catch against Morne Morkel, but was turned down by umpire Ian Gould. Pakistan had no reviews left. Morkel was dismissed off Ajmal's next delivery, caught at first slip by Younis Khan, but the bowler celebrated continued appealing animatedly.

 

Ajmal was charged with breaching Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to "using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match".

The offspinner admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee David Boon.

5th ODI India v Australia (abandoned)

The fifth ODI between India and Australia in Cuttack has been called off due to a wet outfield. The conditions were bright and sunny on Saturday morning and match referee Roshan Mahanama had an inspection at 11 am, but the outfield was deemed unfit for play.

Heavy rains over the week had cast doubts on the possibility of play in Cuttack. On Friday, the Odisha Cricket Association had released a statement which said that the ground was "completely water-logged and the chances of it drying up are extremely remote".

 

The association had employed helicopters to dry the ground, but it did not prove too effective. "The operators of the helicopters visited the ground and expressed that they could dry the pitch but were unable to remove the mud that has accumulated through the playing area," the statement said.

 

The fourth ODI in Ranchi was also abandoned after heavy rain. Australia lead the seven-match series 2-1

2nd Test Day 3 Pak v SA, SA penalised ball tampering

Pakistan 99 and 132 for 4 trail South Africa 517 (Smith 234, de Villiers 164, Ajmal 6-151) by 286 runs

South Africa's march towards a result that will draw the series and prolong their seven-year unbeaten record away from home continued unabated, but the gloss on their seemingly impeccable performance was lost when the on-field umpires penalised them for tampering with the ball. Graeme Smith's team ended the third day needing six wickets to complete an emphatic victory - probably by an innings considering Pakistan were still trailing by 286 with two days remaining - but the likelihood of a meeting with the Match Referee loomed large as the sun set in Dubai.

The incident occurred two overs after tea, before the start of the 31st over, following television visuals of one player rubbing the ball allegedly on the zipper of his trouser pocket. The umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker called Graeme Smith over for a chat and subsequently changed the ball and awarded a five-run penalty against South Africa, sanctions that are consistent with the penalty for unlawfully changing the condition of the ball. A second television visual showed another player allegedly picking at the side of the ball with his finger.

On either side of that unsavoury episode, however, South Africa made strides towards victory, albeit not at the pace at which they had shut Pakistan out of the Test over the first two days. After South Africa were dismissed for 517 with a lead of 418, 16 minutes before lunch, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander punched Pakistan in the gut by dismissing their openers in their only overs before the break.

Steyn swung the ball back into Shan Masood's front pad and the left-hand batsman continued Pakistan's lousy use of reviews by wasting one on an lbw that was plumb. Philander then handed Khurram Manzoor his first pair in Test cricket; the right-hand batsman hung his bat outside off stump and watched Jacques Kallis dive to his right at second slip to take the catch at head height. Pakistan were 2 for 2.

After lunch, Younis Khan and Azhar Ali focused on survival. Steyn swung and seamed the new ball away from the right-handers; Philander bowled with unrelenting accuracy; Morne Morkel hit speeds off 149.6 kph - the fastest ball of the Test - in his first over. With four slips and other catches in place, there were gaps to exploit on the huge outfield but only 18 runs were scored in the first 13 overs. One of Tahir's legbreaks spun so viciously from the rough around off stump that it went straight to first slip.

Azhar and Younis, however, survived all that until Smith brought on the part-time offspinner JP Duminy ten minutes before tea. His first ball spun sharply into Azhar and kept low to hit the back pad just in line with off stump. In an instant, a vast amount of hard graft had come undone and Pakistan were 48 for 3. Duminy could have struck in his second over, too, but Kallis failed to catch an outside edge from Younis off the penultimate ball before the break.

Younis' composure, which had served him well through the second session, disappeared soon after the tampering incident, when he charged Tahir and attempted a mow across the line. He missed and the ball bounced off his pad on to his stumps. At 70 for 4, Pakistan were in danger of sliding further towards defeat but Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq put on an unbeaten 62-run stand. Shafiq was fortunate to survive a stumping chance on 18 off Duminy, and Pakistan will need a miraculous performance from him and the rest to prevent an innings defeat.

The third day had begun with promise of more records being broken, with Smith resuming on 227 and de Villiers on 157. However, with the job already done unlike when they had come together early on the second day, their stroke-play wasn't as tight.

De Villiers began to drive at Mohammad Irfan from the start, but a ball after he placed one to the straight boundary, he drove again and edged. This time Adnan Akmal caught it, 164 runs and 273 deliveries after he should have caught de Villiers first ball. Irfan had now worked up a brisk pace and soon drew an edge from Smith. Akmal dropped it again, and Irfan told the wicketkeeper just what he thought of that effort. The mistake did not cost Pakistan, though, because Ajmal had Smith caught at slip a ball later, leaving South Africa 478 for 6.

What followed made Pakistan wonder about the different paths this match might have taken had Akmal not dropped de Villiers before he had scored. Irfan ran in from over the wicket and tormented Duminy with deliveries that pitched on a good length outside off stump and jagged into the left-handed batsman. Three times in a row, Irfan struck Duminy on the pad and bellowed appeals for lbw. He was denied each time because the impact was too high.

In his next over, after hitting Faf du Plessis on the glove, Irfan took the umpire out of the equation by bowling Duminy between bat and pad with a fuller delivery. He celebrated with vigour, but in his next over - the innings' 149th - Irfan ran out of rope the umpires had given him by following through on the danger area once again. He was suspended from bowling further in the innings.

With Irfan lost, and Junaid Khan blunt, Ajmal was the only threat and du Plessis steered South Africa past 500 and the lead past 400. Ajmal gradually worked his way through the tail to pick up a six-wicket haul, but the end of South Africa's innings provided little relief for Pakistan.

 

South Africa were penalised five runs for ball tampering on the third day of the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai. Faf du Plessis was the player in the centre of the controversy and the ICC said its ruling on the incident will be announced tomorrow.

 

The ICC confirmed that the five-run penalty and the change of ball after 30 overs was due to ball tampering. "As per 42.1 of the ICC playing conditions, the umpires replaced the ball and fined South Africa team five penalty runs for ball tampering," an ICC spokesperson said.

 

The incident took place at the start of the 31st over of Pakistan's innings, two overs after tea, when umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker called South African captain Graeme Smith for a chat. The fourth umpire, Shozab Raza, brought a box of balls onto the field and a new one was selected for use. 

 

No individual player has been charged yet but television images showed du Plessis rubbing the ball allegedly on the zipper of his trouser pocket.

 

The playing conditions (see bottom) dealing with ball tampering were changed recently, coming into effect only from October 1. Any player found guilty of ball tampering, which is a Level Two offence, will be fined 50 to 100% of his match fee and/or get a ban of one Test or two ODIs or two Twenty20s, whichever come first.

 

South Africa were well in control of the Test, having taken a commanding 418-run first-innings lead, when the incident occurred.

 

The only other time a team was handed a five-run penalty for ball tampering was in the infamous Oval Test in 2006, in which Pakistan refused to take the field after the umpires deemed that the seam on the ball had been raised.

 

ICC Test match playing conditions

• If the umpires together agree that the deterioration of the ball is inconsistent with the use it has received, they shall consider that there has been a contravention of this law. They shall then decide together whether they can identify the player(s) responsible for such conduct.
• 42.1.1 if it is possible to do identify the player(s) responsible:
• a) change the ball forthwith. The batsman at the wicket shall choose the replacement ball from a selection of six other balls of various degrees of usage (including a new ball) and of the same brand as the ball in use prior to the contravention.
• Additionally the bowler's end umpire shall:
• b) award 5 penalty runs to the batting side.
• c) Inform the captain of the fielding side of the reason for the action taken.
• d) Inform the captain of the batting side as soon as practicable of what has occurred.
• e) Together with the other umpire report the incident to the ICC Match Referee who shall take action as is appropriate against the player(s) responsible for the conduct under the ICC Code of Conduct.
• 42.1.2 If it is not possible to do identify the player(s) responsible:
• a) change the ball forthwith. The umpires shall choose the replacement ball for one of similar wear and of the same brand as the ball in use prior to the contravention.
• b) the bowler's end umpire shall issue the captain with a first and final warning, and
• c) advise him that should there be any further incident by that team during the remainder of the match, steps 42.1.1 a) to e) above will be adopted, with the captain deemed under e) to be the player responsible

2nd Test Day 5 Bangladesh v New Zealand (no play Day 5)

Bangladesh 282 (Tamim 95, Wagner 5-64) and 269 for 3 (Mominul 126*, Tamim 70) drew with New Zealand 437 (Anderson 116, Watling 70*, Shakib 5-103)

Overnight rain and a persistent light drizzle through the day ruined the last day's play in the second Test, in Mirpur. That meant Bangladesh had registered their second successive drawn series after finishing 1-1 against Zimbabwe in April this year.

The 0-0 result against New Zealand, a team ranked higher than them in the Test rankings, is a fine result for the home side. They have now drawn three Tests against New Zealand in eleven matches.

The covers came on and off twice in Mirpur in the morning session, but they remained on since 11.00am. The rain never progressed into a downpour, but it was enough to bring everything to a standstill.

 

Mominul Haque, with his 376 runs in four innings, and Sohag Gazi, with eight wickets, take the top positions in the batting and bowling charts for the series. For New Zealand, Kane Williamson is the top run-scorer with 250 runs, while Neil Wagner's seven-wicket tally ranks the best among his team's bowlers.

 

Mominul, however, missed a chance to topple Habibul Bashar's record for aggregate runs in a series by a Bangladesh batsman. Bashar had made 379 runs against Pakistan in a three-match series in 2003. Mominul's tally is second on the list.

 

The two teams now play a three-match ODI series, starting on October 29. New Zealand depart from Bangladesh on November 7, a day after the one-off Twenty20.

2nd Test Day 4 Bangladesh v New Zealand

Bangladesh 269 for 3 (Mominul 126*, Tamim 70) and 282 lead New Zealand 437 (Anderson 116, Watling 70*, Shakib 5-103) by 114 runs

Mominul Haque and Tamim Iqbal exhibited patience and character to shore up Bangladesh, and by the end of the day the home side had secured a handy 114-run lead in Mirpur. Mominul remained unbeaten on 126 after raising his second successive Test century.
 

The pair chipped away at the 155-run deficit, and in the process laid to rest the unsettling trend of Bangladesh batsmen throwing their wickets away in the third innings of a Test match. Their record 157-run partnership for the third wicket ensured New Zealand were chasing the game at the end of the fourth day. Though the stand was broken in the final hour of play, Mominul will have the company of Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh head into the final day's play.

 

New Zealand made a promising start, but were unable to replicate their discipline from the first innings. Neil Wagner ran in hard and had both Anamul Haque and Marshall Ayub caught in the slips. On their first full day fielding under the Dhaka sun, he and his fellow seamers struggled to put pressure on the batsmen. The fielders were running low on energy as well, exemplified by Ish Sodhi's keeling over on the boundary in the 66th over, and letting a cut from Mominul go through him.

 

Tamim and Mominul hardly forced the issue, their interest fixed on orthodox Test match batting, extending the bowlers' wait for a mistake. There were occasions when Mominul showcased his dominance from the first Test when he scored 181. New Zealand had not learned from Chittagong and continued to be either too short or too full, especially outside the off-stump and Mominul took full advantage, and became only the second batsman from Bangladesh to score back-to-back Test hundreds.

 

More than his shots or the milestone, Mominul's calm in trying conditions - exhibited best when he wasn't flustered despite being stuck on 99 for ten deliveries - caught the eye. Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, packed the off side and asked his bowlers to bowl wide of the off stump, trying to prey on the batsman's nerves. Mominul did play away from his body twice, but would not be tempted when McCullum ran up and had a word with him. He waited, and when the ball was pitched up, drove straight, to collect the four that gave him a second Test century.

 

He found excellent support in Tamim, who played within himself and concentrated on preserving his wicket, as would be expected of a senior batsman. He struck just four boundaries in his 218-ball innings. This was his second slowest fifty and has never scored so many runs with so few boundaries. The last time it happened was in Colombo on a thick, grassy outfield in March.

 

He was careful with balls outside off stump, reining in his usually extravagant cover drives, and collecting his runs by tucking the bowlers on the leg side when the bowlers strayed on his pads. He looked gutted when Ross Taylor leapt up and clung safely to a top-edged cut, lingering before making the walk back.

 

In the morning, New Zealand could only add 18 runs to their overnight total as they were bowled out for 437. Ish Sodhi was slow to react to BJ Watling's call for a single and Mominul Haque scored a direct hit to break the 93-run ninth wicket stand.

 

There were no heroics from the tenth-wicket stand, as Boult was trapped leg before by Abdur Razzak two overs after the ninth wicket fell.

 

Shakib was the better of the two left-arm spinners though, finishing with 5 for 103 while Razzak took two for 96 in 23 overs. Debutant seamer Al-Amin Hossain and Nasir Hossain took a wicket each but Sohag Gazi and Rubel Hossain remained wicketless.

2nd Test Day 2 Pakistan v South Africa (Abu Dhabi)

South Africa 460 for 4 (Smith 227*, de Villiers 157*) lead Pakistan 99 (Babar 25*, Tahir 5-32, Steyn 3-38) by 361 runs

After bundling out Pakistan for 99 on the first day of the second Test, South Africa served them a lesson on how to grind out an opposition with the bat on the second, as Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers put on a mammoth 326-run unbeaten partnership to close doors on any thoughts of a series win Misbah-ul-Haq might have had after the success in Abu Dhabi. Smith scored an almost chanceless double-century - his fifth - while de Villiers brought up his 17th hundred and with three days still to go, the two put South Africa in a dominant position with a lead of 361 runs.

It was Smith's first century - his fourth against Pakistan - on return from a five-month lay-off during which he underwent an ankle surgery. If there were any lingering doubts about his fitness or form, he dispelled them with nimble use of the feet against the spinners and assured strokeplay against the seamers. He reached the century-mark with a straight drive off Saeed Ajmal in the first session and strolled to his double in the third. The 200th run also made him only the 12th batsman - and second South African after Jacques Kallis - to have accumulated 9000 runs in Tests.

 

By the end of the day, Smith had batted for more than six hours, a testament to his fitness in sapping conditions.

 

Smith briefly faced some problems against Irfan's steep bounce in the second session. He was smacked on the helmet off one such delivery that chased him as he was making room. But apart from that, his innings was largely unblemished.

In de Villiers, Smith had an ideal partner to complement his solidity with breathtaking strokeplay. The contrast was at its starkest during the second session when de Villiers tore into the bowling with a flurry of boundaries against the new ball, while Smith was happy in turning the strike over. But as de Villiers slowed down as he closed in on his century and then later, because of cramps, Smith brought out an array of aggressive strokes to thwart the bowlers.

 

He had hit only six fours in his first hundred, but increased the number to 16 as he started playing horizontal bat shots to the seamers and lofted shots against spinners in the latter half of his innings. By the end of the day, Smith had added 158 runs to the partnership, neatly balancing the 157 added by de Villiers.

After a slow start to the day when 70 runs were scored in the first session, Pakistan leaked 262 runs in the next two. It was de Villiers who switched gears first, unfurling back-foot punches and front-foot drives against Irfan and the new ball, then he drilled Zulfiqar Babar to the straight boundary to bring up his half-century and 1000 Test runs against Pakistan.

 

He kept up the attack on Irfan, hitting two more boundaries in his next over, and forcing Misbah to take his best bowler out of the attack after three overs with the new ball. Towards the end of the second session, he played an exquisite inside-out drive to go past his century. He curtailed his shots in the third session after being slowed down by a bout of cramps, but that didn't stop him from going past the 150-mark with relative ease.

Pakistan, though, were left to rue a few chances that came their way. De Villiers, facing his first delivery against Irfan, was lured into a loose drive by a full delivery that went across the batsman. He was slow to move closer to the line of the delivery and a thick outside edge flew low to the right of the wicketkeeper, but Adnan Akmal failed to hold on.

The second chance came late in the session when Saeed Ajmal's appeal for lbw against de Villiers, who was on 25, was turned down by the umpire Rod Tucker, who thought the ball had hit the bat before the pad. The replays showed the ball hit the pads first and would have gone on to strike the middle stump. However, Pakistan didn't have any reviews left after they had wasted them within five overs of the innings yesterday.

 

The reviews were replenished after the 80th over, but Pakistan's luck with them showed no improvement. De Villiers was given out lbw to a sharply turning delivery in the second over of the third session, only to be saved by the ball-tracker which showed the ball would have spun past the leg stump.

 

For Pakistan bowlers, the day didn't have as bad a start. Irfan removed Dale Steyn, the nightwatchman, early, reducing South Africa to 134 for 4. It could have been 134 for 5 had Akmal held on to the chance offered by de Villiers. From then on, the four frontline bowlers toiled hard all day without any rewards. By the end of the day, Ajmal and Babar had bowled 75 overs in the innings. Ajmal derived some useful turn from the pitch, but it was just that the batsmen were both in prime form.

4th ODI India v Australia (abandoned as a no result)

Match abandoned Australia 295 for 8 (Bailey 98, Maxwell 92, Shami 3-42) v India 27 for 0

Unseasonal rain in Ranchi washed out the fourth ODI after 4.1 overs of India's chase, ensuring the series moved 2-1 in favour of Australia to Cuttack, which was experiencing more inclement weather. There had been a brief shower soon after the match began, but it dissipated to allow Australia to complete their innings. The second instalment was heavier and prolonged, and though it relented with enough time to squeeze in a 20-over chase, the umpires ruled the outfield had been rendered too soggy to allow any play.

Before the damp end, George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell had revived Australia from 32 for 3 with a massive fifth-wicket stand following Mohammed Shami's opening burst. However, their dismissals in the batting Powerplay robbed the visitors of a 300-plus total for the first time in the series, albeit narrowly. Bailey and Maxwell added 153 in 22.4 overs but after both fell in their nineties to Vinay Kumar, Australia's lower order was able to add only 57 in the last ten overs.

 

Shami's sharp first spell had challenged Australia for the first time in the series with the new ball. The attack, however, lacked the same intensity afterwards. India also put down five catches, and only a couple of them were tough takes. Bailey was put down first ball off Shami by Virat Kohli at third slip, and on 35 by R Ashwin off Vinay, both takeable chances.

 

Maxwell was dropped on 44 by Yuvraj Singh off Jaydev Unadkat, a rather difficult diving opportunity at point, before MS Dhoni reprieved him on 69 behind the stumps off Suresh Raina.

 

Bailey went on to make his third half-century of the series and India were fortunate to see his back two short of a century, when he top-edged a Vinay long hop. Maxwell kicked on from the cameos he has been getting to inflict punishment on India with a 77-ball 92 before falling lbw.

 

Bailey and Maxwell hardly allowed the spinners to settle, and were also presented with regular long hops. India weren't able to exert pressure at all on the duo, who turned the strike over consistently. Vinay delivered an entire opening over of gentle looseners, and Bailey drove and pulled him for three boundaries. Maxwell was given plenty of leg-side offerings to indulge in his quick-arm powerful swing. He countered Ashwin's line from round the wicket, powering him for successive reverse-swept boundaries, the first of which went for six.

 

After India sent the duo back, Dhoni didn't give the ball to any of his seamers, opting for spin for nine of the last ten overs before he brought back Shami for the last one. Australia 's lower order, tied down by Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, promptly took 12 off it, despite atleast three deliveries finding the blockhole.

 

Bowling at a testing length at pace and generating movement under some cloud cover, Shami had delivered an opening spell of 6-1-21-3. The lowest opening stand for Australia had been 68 so far this series. Shami sent back the openers by the sixth over, and also claimed Shane Watson. India's decision to play a fresh new-ball pair in place of Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had paid off. They even managed to avoid leaking runs at the death, but Bailey and Maxwell caused considerable damage in the middle.

 

When the chase began, Mitchell Johnson sent down a couple of menacing overs filled with bouncers to let India know they were set for a testing evening. Shikhar Dhawan countered by charging and hitting Clint McKay for a couple of fours. And then the rain arrived. Dhoni said after the abandonment that India would have been happy with a 20-over chase with all wickets intact, which would have meant a target around 150. The rain, however, wasn't ready to allow an ODI to be decided by a T20 innings.

2nd Test Day 1 Pakistan v South Africa (Abu Dhabi)

South Africa 128 for 3 (Smith 67*) lead Pakistan 99 (Babar 25*, Tahir 5-32, Steyn 3-38) by 29 runs

Imran Tahir announced his comeback to Test cricket with a maiden five-wicket haul that embarrassed Pakistan as they were bowled out for 99 on the first day of the second Test in Dubai. Graeme Smith then steered his team into the lead towards the end of the day with an unbeaten half-century and with seven wickets in hand, South Africa have already taken charge of the Test.
 

The day belonged to Tahir, whose last Test figures in Adelaide had read 37-1-260-0. He picked up three wickets in the last ten minutes of the first session and then added two more early in the second as Pakistan collapsed to 99 - their third-lowest score against South Africa - in just 36.4 overs.

 

Two of those wickets, including that of Misbah-ul-Haq, came in the last over before lunch after Dale Steyn had removed Younis Khan in the penultimate one, meaning Pakistan had all but frittered away the advantage of batting first on a pitch that is expected to aid the spinners later in the Test.

 

Tahir was introduced as early as the 12th over of the innings, but bowled too full in his first few overs. Azhar Ali and Shan Masood, who were making gradual progress, were both happy to push him straight down the ground for comfortable singles. But one such full delivery caught the inside edge of Masood's bat and hit the stumps after hitting his back leg.

 

The second wicket was the big one though as Tahir bowled a flighted googly to which Misbah played outside the line and was hit right in front of the middle. Misbah reviewed the decision, but there wasn't much of a case for him. The third one was off a quicker delivery that Adnan Akmal chose to play on the back foot, but it skidded past the inside edge on to the stumps to leave Pakistan in tatters. Pakistan were reduced from 52 for 2 to 60 for 6 in a matter of minutes as Tahir found the right length on the pitch.

 

Pakistan hopes for some resistance in the second session disappeared as soon as Saeed Ajmal was run out by a direct hit. Then, Tahir picked up two more wickets in an over - Asad Shafiq went for a slog and missed a straighter one while Mohammad Irfan missed a googly.

 

Babar played a few shots but despite a 23-run stand for the last wicket, he didn't stand in the way for Pakistan's second sub-100 score in Dubai. Steyn, who had set the tone of the day with a perfect outswinger to dismiss Khurram Manzoor in his first over after being deemed fit in the morning, cleaned up Junaid Khan to collect his third wicket of the innings with a reverse-swinging full delivery.

 

South Africa, as Smith had said at the toss, wanted to make first use of the pitch and their bowlers made sure they were in to bat midway in the second session.

 

Pakistan took to the field desperately seeking wickets, and they used both their reviews within five overs - once when Irfan hit Graeme Smith on the pads and the next time when the slip cordon was convinced Alviro Petersen had gloved one to the keeper - but both were turned down. Pakistan eventually struck through Zulfiqar Babar, who beat Petersen with an arm-ball and trapped him in front in his first over. Petersen belatedly asked for a review, but that call became the sixth review on the day to be turned down.

 

Run-making had remained difficult throughout the day with two quality bowling attacks in operation and a slow outfield, but Smith and Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla's replacement in the XI, added 54 runs for the second wicket, helping the team inch towards Pakistan's total. The home team were slightly set back in their attack as Babar split his webbing and had to leave the field for almost an hour. Ajmal, though, was deriving enough turn from the pitch to trouble the batsmen regularly. He was rewarded with the wickets of Elgar and Jacques Kallis in the last hour.

 

Smith went past his 38th Test half-century, but with four days and a lot of spin bowling to be negotiated, South Africa need to ward off any complacency by keeping an eye on the scorecard of the previous Test at this venue.