1st T20I
India 203/5 (20 ov)
South Africa 175/9 (20 ov)
India won by 28 runs
On a flat pitch, in the thin air of the Highveld, India's batsmen piled up 203 for 5, and that total proved more than adequate against a South African line-up missing a number of its biggest names. A 28-run win, with starring roles for Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, gave India a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series, but they may not have left the Wanderers entirely thrilled about their performance, particularly with the bat.
India's batting in T20s often seems more risk-averse than the format demands, built on a platform-setting template borrowed from ODIs. This innings was different. Short and wide bowling from Dane Paterson to Rohit Sharma allowed them to plunder 18 from the first over, but they kept going after the bowling even when it wasn't so charitable. Suresh Raina took it to an extreme, exposing all his stumps and slogging at everything to score a chancy 15 off 7 at No. 3. Dhawan also kept going hard, his top-edged hoicks over the keeper making the same impact on the scorecard as his pristinely-timed flicks over square leg and slaps either side of point.
This approach, aided by the bang-it-in tactics of South Africa's seamers, who didn't vary their pace nearly as much as they could have, brought India 78 runs in the Powerplay. By the time a Tabraiz Shamsi skidder trapped Virat Kohli in front in the 10th over, their score had already motored past 100. A pair of leg-side boundaries from Dhawan in the 14th over, off the debutant Junior Dala, moved India to 149 for 3. Getting to 200 seemed like a given now; the question was how much more they could get.
Dhawan fell in the 15th over, lap-scooping an Andile Phehlukwayo slower ball to the keeper. From that point, India simply weren't able to keep their momentum going; they only managed 46 off the last five overs, with Manish Pandey only managing one boundary in an unbeaten 27-ball innings. South Africa's bowlers, particularly Paterson who nailed his slower balls and yorkers in the 18th and 20th overs, brought the innings back under some sort of control at the death, but Pandey struggled to come up with answers to the questions he was being asked.
Still, 203 seemed like a winning total, despite the last four T20Is at this venue going to the chasing side - but how might things have panned out had South Africa fielded a full-strength batting line-up, or even if they had AB de Villiers available?
Even without de Villiers and the rest of the big names, there were moments during South Africa's innings when they seemed capable of chasing down this total. The first 15 balls of their innings, for instance, brought 28 runs, with Reeza Hendricks and JJ Smuts hitting merrily on the up. But, in Bhuvneshwar, India had a bowler who could get the ball to move sideways as well as use imperceptible changes of pace. His knuckle ball brought them the wickets of Smuts and JP Duminy, and put India firmly back on top. When Hardik Pandya followed up with a slower-ball dismissal of his own to send back David Miller, South Africa were 48 for 3 in the seventh over.
South Africa weren't done yet. Hendricks and Farhaan Behardien clattered 81 in 8.4 overs, and at one point during their fourth-wicket partnership the equation was a difficult but doable 86 off 41 balls. With all the risk-taking that task demanded, however, a wicket was always around the corner. It fell to Yuzvendra Chahal, Behardien holing out to long-on for 39. Then Hendricks and Heinrich Klaasen took 25 off the next two overs, leaving 50 to get off the last three, with six wickets in hand.
It took only six balls for India to wipe out four of those wickets and end the contest abruptly, South Africa crumbling in their desperation for boundaries; Bhuvneshwar grabbed three of them, in the process picking up his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is, and a run-out did for the other.
2nd T20I
India 188/4 (20 ov)
South Africa 189/4 (18.4/20 ov)
South Africa won by 6 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
While much else has gone against them through the limited-overs leg of this tussle against India, rain has been South Africa's friend, and Heinrich Klaasen a rare bright spark in a struggling batting line-up. Their only win of the ODI series featured rain and a destructive innings from Klaasen, and on Wednesday in Centurion, both ingredients were present in a series-levelling six-wicket win in the second T20I.
Klaasen smacked 69 off 30 balls to give a chase of 189 the impetus it needed, and JP Duminy batted through to the end to finish unbeaten on 64 off 40, ending the game with a pair of sixes off Jaydev Unadkat in the 19th over of the innings.
Rain wasn't necessarily a help to South Africa in the ODI win in Johannesburg - 202 in 28 overs was surely a more difficult chase than 290 in 50 - but it dulled the threat of India's wristspinners; Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav struggled to grip an often wet ball and went for a combined 119 in 11.3 overs. Now Chahal, playing as the lone specialist spinner, endured another difficult night, going for 64 - the most by an India bowler in a T20I - in his four overs.
A steady drizzle backdropped the early part of South Africa's chase of 189. It never grew heavy enough to halt play, but it was persistent, and ensured Duckworth-Lewis calculations were always at the back of both teams' minds. This was probably what prompted South Africa to promote Klaasen to No. 4, sending him in at a time when they needed 151 in 90 balls.
South Africa were also nine runs behind the Duckworth-Lewis par score at that stage, for two wickets down, and Klaasen swiftly began to rectify that situation, pulling Unadkat for two sixes in the sixth over, and launching Chahal for another over long-on in the eighth over. That took care of the par score, and staying in touch with it meant South Africa's chase was also on track.
At the end of the 10th over, South Africa's run rate was just under nine an over, and their required rate just over ten. Klaasen brought the two numbers into close proximity off the first ball of the eleventh over, lofting Chahal over extra-cover for six, and followed up three balls later with the shot of the match, a switch-hit six over point. By that stage Klaasen had hit five sixes and just one four.
Worse was to follow for Chahal; his third over went for 23, with Klaasen hitting him for 6, 6 and 4 and then turning the strike over to Duminy, who promptly slog-swept him for another six. Klaasen fell at the start of the next over, swinging too early at an Unadkat offcutter to edge behind, and David Miller followed in the next over, miscuing a short ball from Hardik Pandya, giving India the glimpse of a way back into the game. They didn't grab it, however, missing two chances in the 16th over, bowled by Chahal; MS Dhoni missed a leg-side stumping to reprieve Duminy on 40, and then Chahal himself dropped a return catch to let off Farhaan Behardien.
As they did in the first T20I, India batted with a sense of abandon not usually seen in their T20 game after being sent in to bat. They began with a maiden, but that had more to do with Chris Morris' new-ball swing than with Shikhar Dhawan's intent - he swung rustically at a couple of balls in that scoreless first over. Junior Dala took out Rohit Sharma with his first ball, an inducker, but thereafter the runs began to flow, with South Africa's quicks once again lapsing into bowling too short and Dhawan and Suresh Raina cashing in. Twenty came off the third over, Morris' second, before Dhawan picked out mid-on off a full-toss from Duminy in the fifth over. Then Dala's extra bounce sent Virat Kohli back for a rare low score, in an over that ended up as a wicket-maiden, and India were 45 for 3 after six.
Raina and Manish Pandey rebuilt slowly at first, not finding the boundary once in the first 19 balls of their partnership, before Pandey's leg-side hitting earned 19 off Tabraiz Shamsi in the 10th over. Raina's dismissal in the 11th brought Dhoni to the crease, and he showed his intentions quite early, stepping out and hitting JT Smuts for a straight six off only the seventh ball he faced. Dhoni and Pandey would go on to add an unbroken 98 off 56 balls, 55 of those runs coming off the last five overs of India's innings.
South Africa fed Pandey's naturally bottom-handed game with bowling that was often too short or too straight, and his eventual 48-ball 79 not out would contain 55 leg-side runs and only 24 through the off side. Dhoni clattered three fours and two sixes in the last two overs, the pick of them a flat, back-foot slap over the cover boundary off Dane Paterson, to finish with 52 not out off 28 balls. It was only his second T20I half-century, in his 88th match, and on another day could have ended up winning India the match.
3rd T20I
India 172/7 (20 ov)
South Africa 165/6 (20 ov)
India won by 7 runs
India sealed the T20 series against South Africa with a victory in the decider that was almost snatched away from them by a feisty South African lower-order effort.
South Africa were asked to pull off the second-highest successful chase at Newlands and then fell so far behind the required run-rate that they needed 59 runs off 21 balls. Then, debutant Christiaan Jonker and old-hand Farhaan Behardien plundered 51 runs in the last three-and-a-half overs but could not get the hosts over the line.
South Africa were 114 for 5 in the 17th when Behardien joined Jonker. If Jonker was nervous, he didn't show it. He took 18 runs off Shardul Thakur's final over to reconstruct his figures of 3-0-17-1 into 4-0-35-1 and leave South Africa with 35 to win off the final two overs.
Together, Behardien and Jonker scored 16 runs off Jasprit Bumrah and needed 19 off the last over and 12 off the last three balls but the mistakes their team-mates had made earlier were too big to rectify.
A slow start - South Africa were 25 for 1 after the Powerplay and 52 for 2 after 10 overs - on top of a clumsy fielding effort left South Africa so close, yet so far from the win that would answered some of the questions about their depth and their ability to handle pressure.
Shikhar Dhawan was India's top scorer but only fortuitously so because South Africa, in the form of Tabraiz Shamsi, let him off twice. Dhawan was on 9, and India 54 for 1 in the sixth over, when he cut a Chris Morris ball to short third man, where all Shamsi had to do was accept, but he was unstable as the ball popped out of his hands.
Seven overs and 49 runs later, Dhawan, who was on 34, top-edged Aaron Phangiso to Shami at short fine leg. Shamsi ran back but reprieved Dhawan again. Between the two chances, Dhawan found the boundary for the first time, off the 29th ball he faced, delivered by none other than Shamsi.
But, Shamsi also saw some success in that period. Suresh Raina, who had announced himself with a six off Junior Dala, tucked into Andile Phehlukwayo's first two balls and taken boundaries off short balls from Morris and JP Duminy, eventually holed out off Shamsi for a feisty 43. It was not Raina's dismissal, but Manish Pandey's that allowed South Africa to pull India back.
Pandey hit his one meaty six off Shamsi and then tried to do the same off Dala, who returned in the 14th over and immediately banged in a short ball. Pandey could not control the pull and was caught at long-on. In addition to the wicket, Dala only conceded six runs in that over, none in boundaries, and Phehlukwayo followed up with an eight-run boundary-less over of his own. That was enough to create some pressure and Dhawan was run-out off the first ball of the over that followed.
He hoicked a Shamsi delivery to deep midwicket, where Dala was stationed. A single was on, but Dhawan wanted a double and Dala effected a direct hit before Dhawan could complete his return to the striker's end.
At the end of 17 overs, India were 136 for 4, and had only scored 25 runs in the previous four overs. Instead of turning to Phangiso, who had kept things tight, Duminy opted for Morris, who conceded 21 runs in his last two overs, though he did also take two wickets. Still, India would have been satisfied especially with the way their attack started.
South Africa were kept quiet early on and in-form Reeza Hendricks was dismissed by a Bhuvneshwar Kumar knuckle ball, a variation India's seamers sprinkled liberally in their spells. David Miller started to find his touch with Duminy at the other end but before he could hit full flow, gifted a catch to Axar Patel at deep midwicket.
The asking rate when Miller was dismissed was almost 12 runs an over, and Duminy had to accelerate. He found his first boundary off the 20th ball he faced, the delivery after Miller had fallen, and hit back-to-back sixes off Axar. He reached his fifty off 38 balls with a gorgeous cover drive but three balls later top-edged a Thakur slower ball to mid-off and South Africa's hopes all but went with him. However, Jonker and Behardien mounted some fight but India had that little bit more.
Saturday, 24 February 2018
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Trans-Tasman Twenty20 Tri-Series, (Aus, Eng, NZ) in Aus/NZ
1st Match
New Zealand 117/9 (20 ov)
Australia 96/3 (11.3/15 ov, target: 95)
Australia won by 7 wickets (with 21 balls remaining) (D/L method)
Australia launched the inaugural T20 Tri-series with an emphatic curtain-raising victory over New Zealand at Sydney, hunting down a rain-reduced target of 95 in 11.3 overs, after their bowlers had proven too aggressive and constraining for their meek opposition.
Despite a top-order wobble, in which David Warner and the debutant D'Arcy Short fell inside the first three overs, the belligerent power of Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell soon assumed utter control of Australia's chase.
With a series of scything blows, particularly through the covers, Lynn set the initial tempo, en route to 44 from 33 balls, while Maxwell soon found his own range with a ramped four over the keeper's head followed by a planted front-foot six off the medium pace of Colin de Grandhomme.
Lynn picked up his solitary six of the night when he belted Mitchell Santner on the up through midwicket, but he eventually fell in pursuit of his second when, with eight runs required for victory, he scuffed a pull to backward square leg off a Trent Boult bouncer.
It barely delayed the inevitable, however. Maxwell flipped another four off his hip in Tim Southee's subsequent over, then launched the winning boundary high over the bowler's head two balls later, to finish unbeaten on 40 from 24 balls.
Australia's victory, however, was set up by the beanpole seamer, Billy Stanlake, whose cloud-snagging height, fierce pace and pinpoint accuracy justified Warner's decision to bowl first, as he wrecked New Zealand's top order with three wickets in the space of his first eight balls.
Two of those came from his first two deliveries. Steaming in for the second over of the innings, he startled Colin Munro with his trampoline bounce from just back of a good length, for Alex Carey - making his T20 debut behind the stumps - to sprint out to point to complete a steepling catch.
Then, having crossed while the ball was in the air, Martin Guptill was flummoxed by a beauty, a perfect-length seamer that burst past a tentative push to flick the top of off stump. Stanlake missed his hat-trick by a whisker, as Tom Bruce clipped an attempted yorker through the leg side for three, but Bruce didn't elude his grasp for long. In his next over, Stanlake zeroed in on his lid with a superb bouncer, and a flapped pull spiralled into the hands of Kane Richardson at fine leg.
At 3 for 16, New Zealand were shell-shocked, and their response to adversity was to go even further into that shell. Their second and final boundary of the Powerplay was a slashed cut from Ross Taylor that would have been gobbled by a second slip, and Australia soon had their fourth when tentative rearguard from Kane Williamson was sawn off by that habitual partnership-breaker Andrew Tye. The second ball of his spell was back of a length, and looped off a leading edge to David Warner in the covers.
Australia scarcely broke sweat in consolidating their dominance thereafter. The spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa joined Tye in choking the middle overs, and Tom Blundell was the next to snap, galloping down the wicket to a Zampa legbreak and holing out to long-off as he was deceived in flight.
At least de Grandhomme refused to go quietly. He greeted Stanlake's return with a tremendous pick-up for four over midwicket, then gave Zampa the full treatment, pounding him for two sixes in three balls, including a huge mow into the pavilion at midwicket. Taylor, however, was far less fluent or decisive in his outlook, and his departure for 24 from 35 balls was another indication of New Zealand's muddled plans. A charge at Agar, a slash off a thin edge, and a nick to Carey who completed the stumping just to be sure.
With New Zealand going nowhere at 6 for 92, Tye returned for the death and mopped up their resistance. With his knuckle-ball a permanent and illegible threat, Santner mowed to deep midwicket, before Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi holed in in the final over of the innings - Southee at least connected for one massive six over midwicket off Richardson to show some late resistance. De Grandhomme was left high and dry on 38 not out from 24, a lone battler in a flaccid team performance.
A steady downfall during the interval caused an hour's delay and a slight recalculation of Australia's initial target of 118, but it made little difference to the destiny of the game.
Warner and Short each spanked an early boundary off Southee before then falling in the space of three balls - Short to a full-blooded pull to short midwicket and Warner to a dinky juggled catch from Bruce on the midwicket rope. But Lynn and Maxwell scarcely blinked thereafter.
Feb 7, 2018 - 2nd Match at Bellerive Oval, Hobart
England 155/9 (20 ov)
Australia 161/5 (18.3/20 ov)
Australia won by 5 wickets (with 9 balls remaining)
An outstanding allround display by Glenn Maxwell drove Australia to two wins from as many matches in the T20 triangular series, after England squandered a powerful start to their innings having been sent in by the hosts' stand-in captain David Warner.
Wickets were followed by runs to guide the Australians home for the second time in as many matches, though Maxwell was fortunate to be reprieved when 53 were still required with six wickets in hand. Lofting Adil Rashid down the ground, he appeared to be caught low down by Jason Roy, but stood his ground for the third umpire to grant Maxwell a second chance as television replays were, as they so often are, inconclusive. He made the most of it, striking a six to win the game and also reach three figures.
Whatever their thoughts about the catch, England had been wasteful in slipping from 1 for 60 after six overs to only 9 for 155, restricted largely by the spin bowling of Maxwell and Ashton Agar, plus the slower-ball variations of Kane Richardson and AJ Tye. Together they counterbalanced an expensive outing for Billy Stanlake, who did not adjust to a Bellerive Oval surface that offered less encouragement for speed than the SCG had done.
Australia's pursuit of the target was unbalanced early when David Willey accounted for Warner and Chris Lynn in the space of three balls, but Maxwell mounted game aware stands with D'Arcy Short and then Travis Head to secure victory. Maxwell's contribution was his second in as many matches, following a summer in which he had spent far more time outside the Australian set-up than in it.
Willey's use of the new ball had given England a chance, but Rashid was by a distance the best of England's bowlers, flighting the ball teasingly and spinning it both ways to deceive more than one Australian batsman. The turn extracted from the Hobart pitch also raised the question about whether Liam Dawson's slow left-arm might have been useful.
Warner made his intentions known from the first ball of the pursuit, flat-batting Willey down the ground, but to the second he arrowed a pull shot straight at deep square leg. Lynn, having spoken so freely about quitting the long form of the game, showed himself incapable of dealing with the moving ball, uncertain when jamming down on Willey's first inswinger then clueless when bowled off his pads by the second.
These early incisions gave England a chance, but Short and Maxwell were not unduly concerned by the required run rate and so were able to play with relative comfort in their distinctive styles. Short crashed the biggest six of the night, a roasting pull shot off Willey, while Maxwell found multiple ways to and over the boundary in manners both orthodox and Maxwellian. The pair seemed capable of driving Australia all the way to their target, but Rashid intervened with an exceptional, one-handed return catch to intercept a Short drive drilled straight back at the leg spinner.
Stoinis struggled to pick Rashid's variations early in his innings and then miscued an attempt to muscle Mark Wood down the ground, but the required rate was barely seven an over and Maxwell was in apparent control. His misjudgment of Rashid's flight should have resulted in his dismissal, but the limitations of television replays offered Maxwell the breathing room he needed to carry the Australians home with assistance from a composed Alex Carey. It was comfortable enough for Maxwell to monopolise the strike at the end and so go onto his second T20I hundred.
Following an opening victory over New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday, Australia made one change to their XI, recalling Head in the wake of his Big Bash League heroics for Adelaide Strikers in the place of the wrist spinner Adam Zampa. England were able to include all of Alex Hales, Roy and Chris Jordan after injury concerns although Liam Plunkett remained sidelined.
A slower Hobart surface did not provide Stanlake the assistance he had enjoyed in Sydney, and his speed and length provided welcome pace on the ball for Hales and Dawid Malan after Roy had misjudged an early slower ball from Richardson and popped a catch to cover. England skated to 1 for 60 at the end of the Powerplay, with Stanlake suffering most of the punishment.
However the game was changed by the introduction of the canny Agar, who drew a closed bat face and a return catch from Hales with his first ball - completing the catch despite being unsighted due to the non-striker Malan. Head's first over cost an unsightly 14 and forced Warner to try Maxwell instead, a decision that brought welcome dividends when an off break held back slightly brought a skier from Eoin Morgan and a comfortable catch for Australia's captain.
Malan, in contrast to his persevering efforts in the Tests, was playing a brilliant attacking innings, finding the cover boundary with particular relish, but wickets were starting to fall regularly and the run rate began to slow. Jos Buttler punched a Stoinis slower ball to mid off, Billings presented Agar with another front edge caught and bowled when he returned to the attack, and Malan's innings was ended when he failed to clear deep square leg. When Willey ran down the pitch to Maxwell and failed to repeat the blows than had taken 34 from a Nathan Lyon over in England's Canberra warm-up match, Australia were very much in control.
Rashid and Curran offered high catches to maintain the slide, and only a fruitful heave at Tye by Jordan eked England beyond 150. Thanks largely to Maxwell, and more than a little help from television footage, it was not to be enough.
3rd Match
England 137-7
Australia 138-3.
Australia win by seven wickets
They were outgunned in the ODI series, but Australia put England in the shade for the second consecutive Twenty20. In front of 42,691 fans here, the Australian international summer was closed in style with a dominant seven-wicket win, with 33 balls to spare. Two wins against England and one against New Zealand means Australia qualify for the final of the Trans-Tasman Tri-Series in Auckland on 21 February.
The perfect balance of a side made up of players fresh out of the Big Bash League and a better appreciation of the dimensions of a vast outfield gave the hosts an edge they did not let slip. England’s total of 137 for seven on a ground where the average winning score batting first is 160 was made to look severely inadequate.
Eoin Morgan sat out with a groin strain, meaning Jos Buttler was captain for the sixth time in his career. That he ended with England’s top score owed more to duty than his usual pyrotechnics. His 43 was the only innings of note and at 49 balls ranked as the slowest of his 20 knocks of 25-plus in the format. After losing the toss, he arrived at the crease at the end of the fourth over, his team floundering on 34 for three and, although he batted to the end, he was unable to conjure a big finish. Despite little help around him, Buttler felt he was most to blame.
“After losing three early poles, I felt the best way was to take some balls and back myself at the end to really kick on,” he said. “I struggled. I was trying hard and it didn’t manage to work. I tried to be better than a run-a-ball with about five overs to go and then to kick on. That didn’t happen for me. I have to improve and look at where I went wrong. I just never quite got going.”
Alex Hales’s 50th T20 international lasted 11 balls as he was caught smartly by Aaron Finch, who had to run back from mid-on to catch the ball over his right shoulder at the second attempt. Jason Roy gave wicketkeeper Alex Carey catching practice before Dawid Malan was magnificently run out by a parallel-to-the-ground David Warner.
A shot in the arm from Sam Billings – his 29 off 23 balls the only innings in the top six to go better than a run-a-ball – gave the visitors a sniff of a competitive total. Buttler batted through to the end, caught by Ashton Agar as he looked to strike a six down the ground, giving Kane Richardson three for 33.
For the seventh time in seven games, Australia’s attack dog David Warner was neutered, this time edging David Willey through to the keeper. In those white-ball innings against England since the turn of the year, Warner has returned four single-figure scores.
Chris Lynn, D’Arcy Short and Glenn Maxwell picked up the slack. With the regular opener Aaron Finch coming back into the side at No 5, they had too much power for an England line-up not used to flagging behind.
Lynn’s 31 off 19 balls took Australia to 51 for two in the sixth over, taking the number of runs required below balls remaining. Short’s impressive summer continued with a measured 36 not out, allowing Maxwell to bring the decadence.
A reverse sweep off the second ball of the 10th over, bowled by Rashid, took Maxwell to 1,000 T20i runs. He marked the occasion with three more boundaries – a four, six and another four – off consecutive balls. When he departed for 39 via a top edge to give Chris Jordan his second wicket, he was replaced by Finch who sealed a dominant performance with back-to-back sixes.
England now move on to New Zealand, who they will play in Wellington on Tuesday. Both sides will be searching for their first win of the series.
4th Match
New Zealand 196/5 (20 ov)
England 184/9 (20 ov)
New Zealand won by 12 runs
England’s Trans-Tasman tri-series hopes are all but over after a 12-run defeat by New Zealand. Three successive, emphatic losses mean they need Australia to beat the Black Caps in Auckland on Friday and buck up their ideas when these two meet again on Sunday to have any hope of reaching the final on 21 February.
Considering 163 is the highest successful chase at this stadium, England’s target of 197 was beyond them once Jason Roy was dismissed for his fifth single-figure T20i score in a row and Alex Hales was nipped in the bud for a blistering 47 from 23 balls. Jos Buttler, skippering for a second match as Eoin Morgan continues to recover from a groin strain, was caught in the deep as the first of two wickets for the leg-spinner Ish Sodhi.
That made it 109-4, with eight overs to go and 88 remaining on the table. A third 50 in four matches for Dawid Malan (59) and some proper clouts from David Willey gave the locals something to stick around for. When Willey was run out failing to scamper a bye off the final ball of the 19th – a boneheaded play considering he needed to be on strike for the final over – getting 25 from the last six balls was always beyond Adil Rashid and the No 11 Mark Wood.
Any fears about the drop-in pitch at the Westpac Stadium, which sported a large bare patch in the middle, were allayed by the host’s 196 for five. A steady Power Play of 50-1 suggested a degree of ebb and flow after Buttler elected to bowl first, so when Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson could only add 10 off the next two overs, Buttler would have felt he had the match under control.
However, Guptill and Williamson were then invited to click through the gears by England’s attack: both passing 50 – off 31 and 34 balls, respectively – with a six and then celebrating with a six off the next ball. As opener, the first six overs offered Guptill the chance to free his arms, before settling into what looked to be his second international T20 century. Instead, he was removed on 65, lazily working a leg-side full toss from Rashid to the returning Liam Plunkett at short-fine leg. Colin de Grandhomme went the very next ball to a stunning catch by Chris Jordan at long-off, who hung in the air and plucked a sure six out of the night sky.
Williamson, though, was the one that got away. A needless opening single should have been the end of him: Wood with a sterling effort to gather off his own bowling, but the throw that followed missed the non-striker’s stumps with the hosts’ captain nowhere in sight. Pace off the ball kept him in check but, for some reason, England abandoned the tactic and insisted on hitting him with pace at the end of his innings.
When they eventually saw the back of him at the end of the 18th over, yorked by Jordan for 72 (his first half-century in 10 innings), the platform had been set for the debutants Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert to share four sixes. Chapman, now a dual international, became the first player born in Hong Kong to play for a full member side since Dermot Reeve’s England debut in May 1991. The 23-year-old Chapman has represented Hong Kong in two ODIs and 19 T20is.
It was particularly chastening for Wood, whose four overs and extra pace allowed 51 runs. It was a spell that added further sincerity to one of the aims for his upcoming IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings – to develop a proper slower ball. Trailblazers in the 50-over format, over the last week England have played the shortest form as if they have much to learn.
5th Match
New Zealand 243/6 (20 ov)
Australia 245/5 (18.5/20 ov)
Australia won by 5 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)
Eden Park was transformed into a T20 batting paradise as Australia pulled off a world-record run chase in Auckland, reducing Martin Guptill's 49-ball hundred - and a host of other records - to a footnote. D'Arcy Short and David Warner hammered aggressive fifties to set the tone of the reply and Australia's middle order kept the pedal to the metal at a stage where New Zealand had stuttered to seal victory with more than an over to spare.
The stands were peppered for 32 sixes - equalling the T20I record - as the odd-shaped boundaries at Eden Park produced a lop-sided match in which batsman were able to swing with impunity and bowling became an exercise in damage limitation. No team had successfully chased as many in all T20 cricket.
New Zealand were left to rue a passage at the back end of their innings when they didn't score a boundary for 18 balls, but the point at which the game tipped decisively came in the 17th over of the chase. Australia needed 42 from 24 but Ben Wheeler, in the side after an injury to Mitchell Santner, delivered a no-ball that Aaron Finch struck for six, followed by a four and another high full toss.
Wheeler was removed from the attack, the equation had become 29 from 23, and although his replacement, Trent Boult, had Short caught behind top-edging a pull, another four and a six from Finch left Australia needing less than a run a ball. Finch's unbeaten 36 off 14 at No. 5 provided a muscular contrast with the way New Zealand had faltered and it was probably apt that he finished things off with the final six of a gluttonous encounter.
Australia had ransacked their way to victory, leaving Guptill in the shade despite several personal milestones. Their fourth win from four in the tri-series left the home fans muttering quietly to themselves but would have been cheered down in Hamilton, as it helped keep England in with a chance of pipping a shell-shocked New Zealand to a place in the final.
Guptill became the leading run-scorer in all T20 internationals, surpassing Brendon McCullum, while also striking the fastest hundred by a New Zealander (one delivery quicker than McCullum) and moving up above his former team-mate to second on the all-time six-hitting list, too. But from Guptill's dismissal in the 17th over, New Zealand stumbled. Kane Richardson picked up two wickets as New Zealand lost 4 for 12 and it required a couple more sixes from Ross Taylor - one of which was adroitly held by a fan in the crowd wearing a sponsor's shirt - to ensure the innings didn't dribble to a conclusion.
This was a night to make bowlers question their life choices. AJ Tye conceded 64 from his four overs, soothed a modicum by two wickets, but he could probably spare some sympathy for New Zealand's Wheeler, who was left with 0 for 64 from just 3.1. Perversely, the most economical bowler on either side - Ashton Agar - did not deliver his full quota.
Having been on the receiving end of untrammelled aggression from Guptill and Colin Munro, who struck six sixes of his own in making 76, Australia's openers took the Spinal Tap route and turned the amps up to 11. Short's first three boundaries all came off the edge of the bat - the first flying all the way over the rope at third man - and he might have been caught on 18 gloving a pull at Tim Southee, but Tim Seifert could not hold on one-handed down the leg side.
Warner, whose run of poor form in white-ball cricket had extended 10 innings without a fifty, had 12 off seven balls when he twice latched on to Wheeler for leg-side sixes. Five wides over the keeper (among 20 extras down by the New Zealand attack) turned the fifth into a 22-run over, and Warner cleared the ropes two more times in the next as Australia equalled the Powerplay record of 91 in T20 internationals.
A 20-ball fifty from Warner had clearly shaken New Zealand's resolve, though he fell shortly after missing an attempted pull at Ish Sodhi's googly. Chris Lynn struck one towering blow before being caught by Guptill - who had dropped him two overs before - but Short crashed two sixes and a four from his next four legitimate balls to keep Australia on track.
Australia raised their 150 in the 12th over, just as New Zealand had. Short had not looked as imperious as Guptill but he was striking the ball ever-more cleanly; Glenn Maxwell, meanwhile, continued the theme of the night by hitting his second ball for six over long-on as New Zealand's late-innings lull began to look ever-more costly. Something had to give and it turned out to be Wheeler.
Having chosen to bat, and knowing that victory would make their final game against England an irrelevance, New Zealand set about the Australia attack with calculated fury. In the first match of the tri-series, New Zealand had limped to 117 for 9 at the SCG; back on home soil, they crossed that mark in the 11th over.
Guptill flicked his first delivery for four and cleared the ropes for the first time in the second over, smoking Billy Stanlake down the ground. Munro took a little longer to find the boundary - two balls - and then, from a steady start, began to stage an exhibition of six-upmanship with his opening partner.
Only one over in the Powerplay went for less than 10, as New Zealand piled up 67 without loss. Munro climbed into Agar with sixes in the seventh and ninth overs, bringing him up to parity with Guptill. It was the latter who reached his half-century first, from 30 balls, when he munched Short's left-arm wrist spin - making its first appearance at international level - over long-on; Munro then got there in identical fashion, three balls faster, later in the same over.
The 12th threatened to become a Tye-breaker when Munro hit the first three balls for six, but the bowler held his nerve to instead break the stand via a mistimed blow to long-on. Guptill maintained the tempo, clearing the ropes for the ninth time to bring up his hundred with 28 balls still remaining in the innings, but he was also removed by Tye as New Zealand lost power at a crucial juncture. Australia in with a chance? You'd better Adam and Eve it.
6th Match
New Zealand 192-4, England 194-7; England win by two runs
Black Caps seal final against Australia after passing 174 runs
A match that summed up England’s disastrous Trans-Tasman tri-series saw victory sealed off the final ball but the game effectively lost 11 deliveries earlier. Needing to beat New Zealand by 20 runs to qualify for the tri-series final, their two-run win, as thrilling as it might have been in any other context, was thoroughly underwhelming. New Zealand will now face Australia in Wednesday’s final in Auckland.
The team analyst crunched the numbers yesterday and, after double-checking with the bods at Loughborough overnight, confirmed to Eoin Morgan that victory by around 20 runs – or achieving a target with two or three overs to spare – would see them go through. At the halfway stage, having posted 194 for seven, England had their answer – they needed to keep the Black Caps to 174 or below.
Just as the calculator was put away, New Zealand opener Colin Munro brought out the big guns, launching an astonishing attack on some woeful bowling with 52 off his first 18 balls. He was eventually seen off in Adil Rashid’s first over, caught backward square leg by David Willey, at the start of an effective counter-attack by spin.
Rashid and Liam Dawson stitched seven overs together, sharing 15 dot balls and conceding just the one boundary between them to slow New Zealand from 77-0 after the power play to 108 for two after 13 overs. The 14th over went for 18, however, as Dawson, whose left-arm spin had conceded just nine and nabbed the wicket of Kane Williamson in his first three overs, was taken apart by Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman.
Guptill, who had played possum while Munro was teeing off, came to the fore. While he was unable to see New Zealand over the line, his 64 from 47 got them within 11 of qualification with three and a half overs left. His dismissal, clean bowled while trying to find a third consecutive six, gave Dawid Malan his maiden international wicket. A single to mid-on from Chapman off the first ball of the 19th over ticked the score over to the magic 175 mark.
Defending 12 off the final over, Tom Curran kept New Zealand to nine for a redundant win. England rested players for this series at the end of a gruelling tour, but considering the pride and resources placed on white-ball cricket, this has been a chastening fortnight.
After being put in, Jason Roy opened the team’s scoring with a six and took the visitors to 22-0 after two overs, but some smart slower balls which accounted for Alex Hales and Roy – both caught down the ground off Tim Southee and Trent Boult respectively – slowed up to 41-2 after six overs.Morgan’s return to form with 80 off 46 balls was at least welcome for the man himself – a first half-century of this white-ball tour and his second highest score in international Twenty20. In the 12th over, Morgan was caught off a no-ball, an above waist full-toss from Ish Sodhi, on 36.
Malan then smashed the free hit over the stands at deep midwicket for his fifth six, taking him to his half-century from 32 balls. In meant he became the first man in international T20 to score four half-centuries in his first five matches. He fell four balls later, hitting to the same area, this time off Colin de Grandhomme, for 53.
Morgan continued but at the other end Jos Buttler was stumped off a picture-perfect leg-spinner from Sodhi to finish with a series aggregate of 65 runs, having faced a total of 65 balls across his four innings. Sam Billings’ attempts to get cute saw him dab a ball into his stumps. And so it was down to the England captain to lead a late charge, scoring 34 off his final 12 balls. Though he only faced four of the last 12 deliveries, cameos from Willey, Dawson, and a last-ball six from Jordan set a target of 195.
England will travel on to Auckland anyway, though now for a period of rest before the ODI series begins next week. Some players are staying on, others finally returning home. You would not blame the former for being jealous of the latter.
Final
New Zealand 150/9 (20 ov)
Australia 121/3 (14.4 ov, target: 103)
Australia won by 19 runs (D/L method)
After the boom at Eden Park, swiftly came the bust. Five days on from Australia's world-record T20 chase, New Zealand opted to set a target again; this time, after an excellent bowling display on a less-frisky surface, the requirement over 120 balls was almost 100 runs fewer. D'Arcy Short capped an excellent debut series by crunching his second T20I fifty and the match descended into a hit'n'gurgle as the rain swept in for a second time.
That Australia did not have to resort to the spectacular with the bat was down to a canny display with the ball. Where 32 sixes had streaked the Auckland skies when these two teams met in the group, the tally barely managed double-figures in the final. Short dismissively swatted three early on to ease Australia on to the front foot as they hunted down a fifth successive win that gave them the trophy as well as taking them second in the ICC rankings - a remarkable turnaround, given they started the month languishing at No. 7.
The T20 tri-series is a new-ish innovation but defeat for New Zealand followed a familiar script. In a variety of multi-team tournaments, including most recently at the 2015 World Cup, Australia have held the whip hand over their Trans-Tasman neighbours: their record now 12 wins in a row in finals going back to 1981.
Despite a flinty innings from Ross Taylor, New Zealand's decision to bat first abruptly back-fired. Striving for a suitably stratospheric score to challenge a powerful Australia line-up, they lost wickets throughout the innings - only two partnerships, the first and the ninth, managed more than 18 runs. Kane Williamson had perhaps been hoping a used pitch would break up further for his spinners to exploit, but New Zealand's batting cracked first, with Ashton Agar particularly impressive in taking career-best figures.
David Warner successfully muzzled the New Zealand innings with 16 bowling changes and then helped establish a base for the chase, Australia's openers combining for 72 in eight overs. Short was the more aggressive, striking two rapier straight drives and then hoisting Trent Boult for the first six in the fifth over; he cleared the ropes twice more in the next, off Tim Southee, as Australia finished the Powerplay comfortably set on 55 without loss.
A short rain delay allowed New Zealand to regroup and although they removed Short after he had completed a 28-ball fifty, it was near-impossible to build pressure in the field. Warner was bowled by Ish Sodhi and Agar, promoted to No. 3, fell to a stumping against fellow left-armer Mitchell Santner; had a wild slog from Glenn Maxwell gone to hand a couple of balls later, New Zealand might have had some leverage.
Even as the game slipped away, their commitment in the field remained impressive. Williamson almost ran out Aaron Finch with an elastic, sliding pick-up-and-throw from mid-off, while Mark Chapman performed a relay catch on the rope to deny Finch six after he had latched on to a Santner no-ball.
Maxwell and Finch had taken Australia within range, needing just 30 from 32 balls, when a second, heavier shower swept through. With Duckworth-Lewis-Stern looming in the gloaming, most of the crowd had disappeared disappointed into the night when the umpires finally decided at around 10.40pm that no further play would be possible.
It was always going to be a struggle to match the fireworks of Friday but New Zealand did get off to a rapid start through Martin Guptill and Colin Munro once again. A frenetic opening featured several boundaries, although timing the ball on a worn surface looked a little harder, and New Zealand had 48 on the board inside five overs when Billy Stanlake made the breakthrough, Guptill toe-ending a blow down the ground straight to Warner at mid-off.
Munro was next to go, mistiming another big shot to the edge of the ring, and Australia began to make regular inroads. Williamson and Chapman managed a boundary apiece before falling in the space of three balls to Agar, who was the only bowler to deliver consecutive overs. Agar also removed the powerful Colin De Grandhomme, who was tempted to hit across the line to the longer boundary, and when Santner fell first ball pulling at AJ Tye, New Zealand had lost 6 for 45.
With Warner changing things up relentlessly, Australia presented a moving target. Tim Seifert was flummoxed by a Marcus Stoinis yorker and Southee under-clubbed another boundary catch, but Sodhi at least managed to hang around alongside Taylor for a few overs to give the scorecard some respectability. New Zealand managed to save face, but saving the match was beyond them.
New Zealand 117/9 (20 ov)
Australia 96/3 (11.3/15 ov, target: 95)
Australia won by 7 wickets (with 21 balls remaining) (D/L method)
Australia launched the inaugural T20 Tri-series with an emphatic curtain-raising victory over New Zealand at Sydney, hunting down a rain-reduced target of 95 in 11.3 overs, after their bowlers had proven too aggressive and constraining for their meek opposition.
Despite a top-order wobble, in which David Warner and the debutant D'Arcy Short fell inside the first three overs, the belligerent power of Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell soon assumed utter control of Australia's chase.
With a series of scything blows, particularly through the covers, Lynn set the initial tempo, en route to 44 from 33 balls, while Maxwell soon found his own range with a ramped four over the keeper's head followed by a planted front-foot six off the medium pace of Colin de Grandhomme.
Lynn picked up his solitary six of the night when he belted Mitchell Santner on the up through midwicket, but he eventually fell in pursuit of his second when, with eight runs required for victory, he scuffed a pull to backward square leg off a Trent Boult bouncer.
It barely delayed the inevitable, however. Maxwell flipped another four off his hip in Tim Southee's subsequent over, then launched the winning boundary high over the bowler's head two balls later, to finish unbeaten on 40 from 24 balls.
Australia's victory, however, was set up by the beanpole seamer, Billy Stanlake, whose cloud-snagging height, fierce pace and pinpoint accuracy justified Warner's decision to bowl first, as he wrecked New Zealand's top order with three wickets in the space of his first eight balls.
Two of those came from his first two deliveries. Steaming in for the second over of the innings, he startled Colin Munro with his trampoline bounce from just back of a good length, for Alex Carey - making his T20 debut behind the stumps - to sprint out to point to complete a steepling catch.
Then, having crossed while the ball was in the air, Martin Guptill was flummoxed by a beauty, a perfect-length seamer that burst past a tentative push to flick the top of off stump. Stanlake missed his hat-trick by a whisker, as Tom Bruce clipped an attempted yorker through the leg side for three, but Bruce didn't elude his grasp for long. In his next over, Stanlake zeroed in on his lid with a superb bouncer, and a flapped pull spiralled into the hands of Kane Richardson at fine leg.
At 3 for 16, New Zealand were shell-shocked, and their response to adversity was to go even further into that shell. Their second and final boundary of the Powerplay was a slashed cut from Ross Taylor that would have been gobbled by a second slip, and Australia soon had their fourth when tentative rearguard from Kane Williamson was sawn off by that habitual partnership-breaker Andrew Tye. The second ball of his spell was back of a length, and looped off a leading edge to David Warner in the covers.
Australia scarcely broke sweat in consolidating their dominance thereafter. The spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa joined Tye in choking the middle overs, and Tom Blundell was the next to snap, galloping down the wicket to a Zampa legbreak and holing out to long-off as he was deceived in flight.
At least de Grandhomme refused to go quietly. He greeted Stanlake's return with a tremendous pick-up for four over midwicket, then gave Zampa the full treatment, pounding him for two sixes in three balls, including a huge mow into the pavilion at midwicket. Taylor, however, was far less fluent or decisive in his outlook, and his departure for 24 from 35 balls was another indication of New Zealand's muddled plans. A charge at Agar, a slash off a thin edge, and a nick to Carey who completed the stumping just to be sure.
With New Zealand going nowhere at 6 for 92, Tye returned for the death and mopped up their resistance. With his knuckle-ball a permanent and illegible threat, Santner mowed to deep midwicket, before Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi holed in in the final over of the innings - Southee at least connected for one massive six over midwicket off Richardson to show some late resistance. De Grandhomme was left high and dry on 38 not out from 24, a lone battler in a flaccid team performance.
A steady downfall during the interval caused an hour's delay and a slight recalculation of Australia's initial target of 118, but it made little difference to the destiny of the game.
Warner and Short each spanked an early boundary off Southee before then falling in the space of three balls - Short to a full-blooded pull to short midwicket and Warner to a dinky juggled catch from Bruce on the midwicket rope. But Lynn and Maxwell scarcely blinked thereafter.
Feb 7, 2018 - 2nd Match at Bellerive Oval, Hobart
England 155/9 (20 ov)
Australia 161/5 (18.3/20 ov)
Australia won by 5 wickets (with 9 balls remaining)
An outstanding allround display by Glenn Maxwell drove Australia to two wins from as many matches in the T20 triangular series, after England squandered a powerful start to their innings having been sent in by the hosts' stand-in captain David Warner.
Wickets were followed by runs to guide the Australians home for the second time in as many matches, though Maxwell was fortunate to be reprieved when 53 were still required with six wickets in hand. Lofting Adil Rashid down the ground, he appeared to be caught low down by Jason Roy, but stood his ground for the third umpire to grant Maxwell a second chance as television replays were, as they so often are, inconclusive. He made the most of it, striking a six to win the game and also reach three figures.
Whatever their thoughts about the catch, England had been wasteful in slipping from 1 for 60 after six overs to only 9 for 155, restricted largely by the spin bowling of Maxwell and Ashton Agar, plus the slower-ball variations of Kane Richardson and AJ Tye. Together they counterbalanced an expensive outing for Billy Stanlake, who did not adjust to a Bellerive Oval surface that offered less encouragement for speed than the SCG had done.
Australia's pursuit of the target was unbalanced early when David Willey accounted for Warner and Chris Lynn in the space of three balls, but Maxwell mounted game aware stands with D'Arcy Short and then Travis Head to secure victory. Maxwell's contribution was his second in as many matches, following a summer in which he had spent far more time outside the Australian set-up than in it.
Willey's use of the new ball had given England a chance, but Rashid was by a distance the best of England's bowlers, flighting the ball teasingly and spinning it both ways to deceive more than one Australian batsman. The turn extracted from the Hobart pitch also raised the question about whether Liam Dawson's slow left-arm might have been useful.
Warner made his intentions known from the first ball of the pursuit, flat-batting Willey down the ground, but to the second he arrowed a pull shot straight at deep square leg. Lynn, having spoken so freely about quitting the long form of the game, showed himself incapable of dealing with the moving ball, uncertain when jamming down on Willey's first inswinger then clueless when bowled off his pads by the second.
These early incisions gave England a chance, but Short and Maxwell were not unduly concerned by the required run rate and so were able to play with relative comfort in their distinctive styles. Short crashed the biggest six of the night, a roasting pull shot off Willey, while Maxwell found multiple ways to and over the boundary in manners both orthodox and Maxwellian. The pair seemed capable of driving Australia all the way to their target, but Rashid intervened with an exceptional, one-handed return catch to intercept a Short drive drilled straight back at the leg spinner.
Stoinis struggled to pick Rashid's variations early in his innings and then miscued an attempt to muscle Mark Wood down the ground, but the required rate was barely seven an over and Maxwell was in apparent control. His misjudgment of Rashid's flight should have resulted in his dismissal, but the limitations of television replays offered Maxwell the breathing room he needed to carry the Australians home with assistance from a composed Alex Carey. It was comfortable enough for Maxwell to monopolise the strike at the end and so go onto his second T20I hundred.
Following an opening victory over New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday, Australia made one change to their XI, recalling Head in the wake of his Big Bash League heroics for Adelaide Strikers in the place of the wrist spinner Adam Zampa. England were able to include all of Alex Hales, Roy and Chris Jordan after injury concerns although Liam Plunkett remained sidelined.
A slower Hobart surface did not provide Stanlake the assistance he had enjoyed in Sydney, and his speed and length provided welcome pace on the ball for Hales and Dawid Malan after Roy had misjudged an early slower ball from Richardson and popped a catch to cover. England skated to 1 for 60 at the end of the Powerplay, with Stanlake suffering most of the punishment.
However the game was changed by the introduction of the canny Agar, who drew a closed bat face and a return catch from Hales with his first ball - completing the catch despite being unsighted due to the non-striker Malan. Head's first over cost an unsightly 14 and forced Warner to try Maxwell instead, a decision that brought welcome dividends when an off break held back slightly brought a skier from Eoin Morgan and a comfortable catch for Australia's captain.
Malan, in contrast to his persevering efforts in the Tests, was playing a brilliant attacking innings, finding the cover boundary with particular relish, but wickets were starting to fall regularly and the run rate began to slow. Jos Buttler punched a Stoinis slower ball to mid off, Billings presented Agar with another front edge caught and bowled when he returned to the attack, and Malan's innings was ended when he failed to clear deep square leg. When Willey ran down the pitch to Maxwell and failed to repeat the blows than had taken 34 from a Nathan Lyon over in England's Canberra warm-up match, Australia were very much in control.
Rashid and Curran offered high catches to maintain the slide, and only a fruitful heave at Tye by Jordan eked England beyond 150. Thanks largely to Maxwell, and more than a little help from television footage, it was not to be enough.
3rd Match
England 137-7
Australia 138-3.
Australia win by seven wickets
They were outgunned in the ODI series, but Australia put England in the shade for the second consecutive Twenty20. In front of 42,691 fans here, the Australian international summer was closed in style with a dominant seven-wicket win, with 33 balls to spare. Two wins against England and one against New Zealand means Australia qualify for the final of the Trans-Tasman Tri-Series in Auckland on 21 February.
The perfect balance of a side made up of players fresh out of the Big Bash League and a better appreciation of the dimensions of a vast outfield gave the hosts an edge they did not let slip. England’s total of 137 for seven on a ground where the average winning score batting first is 160 was made to look severely inadequate.
Eoin Morgan sat out with a groin strain, meaning Jos Buttler was captain for the sixth time in his career. That he ended with England’s top score owed more to duty than his usual pyrotechnics. His 43 was the only innings of note and at 49 balls ranked as the slowest of his 20 knocks of 25-plus in the format. After losing the toss, he arrived at the crease at the end of the fourth over, his team floundering on 34 for three and, although he batted to the end, he was unable to conjure a big finish. Despite little help around him, Buttler felt he was most to blame.
“After losing three early poles, I felt the best way was to take some balls and back myself at the end to really kick on,” he said. “I struggled. I was trying hard and it didn’t manage to work. I tried to be better than a run-a-ball with about five overs to go and then to kick on. That didn’t happen for me. I have to improve and look at where I went wrong. I just never quite got going.”
Alex Hales’s 50th T20 international lasted 11 balls as he was caught smartly by Aaron Finch, who had to run back from mid-on to catch the ball over his right shoulder at the second attempt. Jason Roy gave wicketkeeper Alex Carey catching practice before Dawid Malan was magnificently run out by a parallel-to-the-ground David Warner.
A shot in the arm from Sam Billings – his 29 off 23 balls the only innings in the top six to go better than a run-a-ball – gave the visitors a sniff of a competitive total. Buttler batted through to the end, caught by Ashton Agar as he looked to strike a six down the ground, giving Kane Richardson three for 33.
For the seventh time in seven games, Australia’s attack dog David Warner was neutered, this time edging David Willey through to the keeper. In those white-ball innings against England since the turn of the year, Warner has returned four single-figure scores.
Chris Lynn, D’Arcy Short and Glenn Maxwell picked up the slack. With the regular opener Aaron Finch coming back into the side at No 5, they had too much power for an England line-up not used to flagging behind.
Lynn’s 31 off 19 balls took Australia to 51 for two in the sixth over, taking the number of runs required below balls remaining. Short’s impressive summer continued with a measured 36 not out, allowing Maxwell to bring the decadence.
A reverse sweep off the second ball of the 10th over, bowled by Rashid, took Maxwell to 1,000 T20i runs. He marked the occasion with three more boundaries – a four, six and another four – off consecutive balls. When he departed for 39 via a top edge to give Chris Jordan his second wicket, he was replaced by Finch who sealed a dominant performance with back-to-back sixes.
England now move on to New Zealand, who they will play in Wellington on Tuesday. Both sides will be searching for their first win of the series.
4th Match
New Zealand 196/5 (20 ov)
England 184/9 (20 ov)
New Zealand won by 12 runs
England’s Trans-Tasman tri-series hopes are all but over after a 12-run defeat by New Zealand. Three successive, emphatic losses mean they need Australia to beat the Black Caps in Auckland on Friday and buck up their ideas when these two meet again on Sunday to have any hope of reaching the final on 21 February.
Considering 163 is the highest successful chase at this stadium, England’s target of 197 was beyond them once Jason Roy was dismissed for his fifth single-figure T20i score in a row and Alex Hales was nipped in the bud for a blistering 47 from 23 balls. Jos Buttler, skippering for a second match as Eoin Morgan continues to recover from a groin strain, was caught in the deep as the first of two wickets for the leg-spinner Ish Sodhi.
That made it 109-4, with eight overs to go and 88 remaining on the table. A third 50 in four matches for Dawid Malan (59) and some proper clouts from David Willey gave the locals something to stick around for. When Willey was run out failing to scamper a bye off the final ball of the 19th – a boneheaded play considering he needed to be on strike for the final over – getting 25 from the last six balls was always beyond Adil Rashid and the No 11 Mark Wood.
Any fears about the drop-in pitch at the Westpac Stadium, which sported a large bare patch in the middle, were allayed by the host’s 196 for five. A steady Power Play of 50-1 suggested a degree of ebb and flow after Buttler elected to bowl first, so when Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson could only add 10 off the next two overs, Buttler would have felt he had the match under control.
However, Guptill and Williamson were then invited to click through the gears by England’s attack: both passing 50 – off 31 and 34 balls, respectively – with a six and then celebrating with a six off the next ball. As opener, the first six overs offered Guptill the chance to free his arms, before settling into what looked to be his second international T20 century. Instead, he was removed on 65, lazily working a leg-side full toss from Rashid to the returning Liam Plunkett at short-fine leg. Colin de Grandhomme went the very next ball to a stunning catch by Chris Jordan at long-off, who hung in the air and plucked a sure six out of the night sky.
Williamson, though, was the one that got away. A needless opening single should have been the end of him: Wood with a sterling effort to gather off his own bowling, but the throw that followed missed the non-striker’s stumps with the hosts’ captain nowhere in sight. Pace off the ball kept him in check but, for some reason, England abandoned the tactic and insisted on hitting him with pace at the end of his innings.
When they eventually saw the back of him at the end of the 18th over, yorked by Jordan for 72 (his first half-century in 10 innings), the platform had been set for the debutants Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert to share four sixes. Chapman, now a dual international, became the first player born in Hong Kong to play for a full member side since Dermot Reeve’s England debut in May 1991. The 23-year-old Chapman has represented Hong Kong in two ODIs and 19 T20is.
It was particularly chastening for Wood, whose four overs and extra pace allowed 51 runs. It was a spell that added further sincerity to one of the aims for his upcoming IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings – to develop a proper slower ball. Trailblazers in the 50-over format, over the last week England have played the shortest form as if they have much to learn.
5th Match
New Zealand 243/6 (20 ov)
Australia 245/5 (18.5/20 ov)
Australia won by 5 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)
Eden Park was transformed into a T20 batting paradise as Australia pulled off a world-record run chase in Auckland, reducing Martin Guptill's 49-ball hundred - and a host of other records - to a footnote. D'Arcy Short and David Warner hammered aggressive fifties to set the tone of the reply and Australia's middle order kept the pedal to the metal at a stage where New Zealand had stuttered to seal victory with more than an over to spare.
The stands were peppered for 32 sixes - equalling the T20I record - as the odd-shaped boundaries at Eden Park produced a lop-sided match in which batsman were able to swing with impunity and bowling became an exercise in damage limitation. No team had successfully chased as many in all T20 cricket.
New Zealand were left to rue a passage at the back end of their innings when they didn't score a boundary for 18 balls, but the point at which the game tipped decisively came in the 17th over of the chase. Australia needed 42 from 24 but Ben Wheeler, in the side after an injury to Mitchell Santner, delivered a no-ball that Aaron Finch struck for six, followed by a four and another high full toss.
Wheeler was removed from the attack, the equation had become 29 from 23, and although his replacement, Trent Boult, had Short caught behind top-edging a pull, another four and a six from Finch left Australia needing less than a run a ball. Finch's unbeaten 36 off 14 at No. 5 provided a muscular contrast with the way New Zealand had faltered and it was probably apt that he finished things off with the final six of a gluttonous encounter.
Australia had ransacked their way to victory, leaving Guptill in the shade despite several personal milestones. Their fourth win from four in the tri-series left the home fans muttering quietly to themselves but would have been cheered down in Hamilton, as it helped keep England in with a chance of pipping a shell-shocked New Zealand to a place in the final.
Guptill became the leading run-scorer in all T20 internationals, surpassing Brendon McCullum, while also striking the fastest hundred by a New Zealander (one delivery quicker than McCullum) and moving up above his former team-mate to second on the all-time six-hitting list, too. But from Guptill's dismissal in the 17th over, New Zealand stumbled. Kane Richardson picked up two wickets as New Zealand lost 4 for 12 and it required a couple more sixes from Ross Taylor - one of which was adroitly held by a fan in the crowd wearing a sponsor's shirt - to ensure the innings didn't dribble to a conclusion.
This was a night to make bowlers question their life choices. AJ Tye conceded 64 from his four overs, soothed a modicum by two wickets, but he could probably spare some sympathy for New Zealand's Wheeler, who was left with 0 for 64 from just 3.1. Perversely, the most economical bowler on either side - Ashton Agar - did not deliver his full quota.
Having been on the receiving end of untrammelled aggression from Guptill and Colin Munro, who struck six sixes of his own in making 76, Australia's openers took the Spinal Tap route and turned the amps up to 11. Short's first three boundaries all came off the edge of the bat - the first flying all the way over the rope at third man - and he might have been caught on 18 gloving a pull at Tim Southee, but Tim Seifert could not hold on one-handed down the leg side.
Warner, whose run of poor form in white-ball cricket had extended 10 innings without a fifty, had 12 off seven balls when he twice latched on to Wheeler for leg-side sixes. Five wides over the keeper (among 20 extras down by the New Zealand attack) turned the fifth into a 22-run over, and Warner cleared the ropes two more times in the next as Australia equalled the Powerplay record of 91 in T20 internationals.
A 20-ball fifty from Warner had clearly shaken New Zealand's resolve, though he fell shortly after missing an attempted pull at Ish Sodhi's googly. Chris Lynn struck one towering blow before being caught by Guptill - who had dropped him two overs before - but Short crashed two sixes and a four from his next four legitimate balls to keep Australia on track.
Australia raised their 150 in the 12th over, just as New Zealand had. Short had not looked as imperious as Guptill but he was striking the ball ever-more cleanly; Glenn Maxwell, meanwhile, continued the theme of the night by hitting his second ball for six over long-on as New Zealand's late-innings lull began to look ever-more costly. Something had to give and it turned out to be Wheeler.
Having chosen to bat, and knowing that victory would make their final game against England an irrelevance, New Zealand set about the Australia attack with calculated fury. In the first match of the tri-series, New Zealand had limped to 117 for 9 at the SCG; back on home soil, they crossed that mark in the 11th over.
Guptill flicked his first delivery for four and cleared the ropes for the first time in the second over, smoking Billy Stanlake down the ground. Munro took a little longer to find the boundary - two balls - and then, from a steady start, began to stage an exhibition of six-upmanship with his opening partner.
Only one over in the Powerplay went for less than 10, as New Zealand piled up 67 without loss. Munro climbed into Agar with sixes in the seventh and ninth overs, bringing him up to parity with Guptill. It was the latter who reached his half-century first, from 30 balls, when he munched Short's left-arm wrist spin - making its first appearance at international level - over long-on; Munro then got there in identical fashion, three balls faster, later in the same over.
The 12th threatened to become a Tye-breaker when Munro hit the first three balls for six, but the bowler held his nerve to instead break the stand via a mistimed blow to long-on. Guptill maintained the tempo, clearing the ropes for the ninth time to bring up his hundred with 28 balls still remaining in the innings, but he was also removed by Tye as New Zealand lost power at a crucial juncture. Australia in with a chance? You'd better Adam and Eve it.
6th Match
New Zealand 192-4, England 194-7; England win by two runs
Black Caps seal final against Australia after passing 174 runs
A match that summed up England’s disastrous Trans-Tasman tri-series saw victory sealed off the final ball but the game effectively lost 11 deliveries earlier. Needing to beat New Zealand by 20 runs to qualify for the tri-series final, their two-run win, as thrilling as it might have been in any other context, was thoroughly underwhelming. New Zealand will now face Australia in Wednesday’s final in Auckland.
The team analyst crunched the numbers yesterday and, after double-checking with the bods at Loughborough overnight, confirmed to Eoin Morgan that victory by around 20 runs – or achieving a target with two or three overs to spare – would see them go through. At the halfway stage, having posted 194 for seven, England had their answer – they needed to keep the Black Caps to 174 or below.
Just as the calculator was put away, New Zealand opener Colin Munro brought out the big guns, launching an astonishing attack on some woeful bowling with 52 off his first 18 balls. He was eventually seen off in Adil Rashid’s first over, caught backward square leg by David Willey, at the start of an effective counter-attack by spin.
Rashid and Liam Dawson stitched seven overs together, sharing 15 dot balls and conceding just the one boundary between them to slow New Zealand from 77-0 after the power play to 108 for two after 13 overs. The 14th over went for 18, however, as Dawson, whose left-arm spin had conceded just nine and nabbed the wicket of Kane Williamson in his first three overs, was taken apart by Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman.
Guptill, who had played possum while Munro was teeing off, came to the fore. While he was unable to see New Zealand over the line, his 64 from 47 got them within 11 of qualification with three and a half overs left. His dismissal, clean bowled while trying to find a third consecutive six, gave Dawid Malan his maiden international wicket. A single to mid-on from Chapman off the first ball of the 19th over ticked the score over to the magic 175 mark.
Defending 12 off the final over, Tom Curran kept New Zealand to nine for a redundant win. England rested players for this series at the end of a gruelling tour, but considering the pride and resources placed on white-ball cricket, this has been a chastening fortnight.
After being put in, Jason Roy opened the team’s scoring with a six and took the visitors to 22-0 after two overs, but some smart slower balls which accounted for Alex Hales and Roy – both caught down the ground off Tim Southee and Trent Boult respectively – slowed up to 41-2 after six overs.Morgan’s return to form with 80 off 46 balls was at least welcome for the man himself – a first half-century of this white-ball tour and his second highest score in international Twenty20. In the 12th over, Morgan was caught off a no-ball, an above waist full-toss from Ish Sodhi, on 36.
Malan then smashed the free hit over the stands at deep midwicket for his fifth six, taking him to his half-century from 32 balls. In meant he became the first man in international T20 to score four half-centuries in his first five matches. He fell four balls later, hitting to the same area, this time off Colin de Grandhomme, for 53.
Morgan continued but at the other end Jos Buttler was stumped off a picture-perfect leg-spinner from Sodhi to finish with a series aggregate of 65 runs, having faced a total of 65 balls across his four innings. Sam Billings’ attempts to get cute saw him dab a ball into his stumps. And so it was down to the England captain to lead a late charge, scoring 34 off his final 12 balls. Though he only faced four of the last 12 deliveries, cameos from Willey, Dawson, and a last-ball six from Jordan set a target of 195.
England will travel on to Auckland anyway, though now for a period of rest before the ODI series begins next week. Some players are staying on, others finally returning home. You would not blame the former for being jealous of the latter.
Final
New Zealand 150/9 (20 ov)
Australia 121/3 (14.4 ov, target: 103)
Australia won by 19 runs (D/L method)
After the boom at Eden Park, swiftly came the bust. Five days on from Australia's world-record T20 chase, New Zealand opted to set a target again; this time, after an excellent bowling display on a less-frisky surface, the requirement over 120 balls was almost 100 runs fewer. D'Arcy Short capped an excellent debut series by crunching his second T20I fifty and the match descended into a hit'n'gurgle as the rain swept in for a second time.
That Australia did not have to resort to the spectacular with the bat was down to a canny display with the ball. Where 32 sixes had streaked the Auckland skies when these two teams met in the group, the tally barely managed double-figures in the final. Short dismissively swatted three early on to ease Australia on to the front foot as they hunted down a fifth successive win that gave them the trophy as well as taking them second in the ICC rankings - a remarkable turnaround, given they started the month languishing at No. 7.
The T20 tri-series is a new-ish innovation but defeat for New Zealand followed a familiar script. In a variety of multi-team tournaments, including most recently at the 2015 World Cup, Australia have held the whip hand over their Trans-Tasman neighbours: their record now 12 wins in a row in finals going back to 1981.
Despite a flinty innings from Ross Taylor, New Zealand's decision to bat first abruptly back-fired. Striving for a suitably stratospheric score to challenge a powerful Australia line-up, they lost wickets throughout the innings - only two partnerships, the first and the ninth, managed more than 18 runs. Kane Williamson had perhaps been hoping a used pitch would break up further for his spinners to exploit, but New Zealand's batting cracked first, with Ashton Agar particularly impressive in taking career-best figures.
David Warner successfully muzzled the New Zealand innings with 16 bowling changes and then helped establish a base for the chase, Australia's openers combining for 72 in eight overs. Short was the more aggressive, striking two rapier straight drives and then hoisting Trent Boult for the first six in the fifth over; he cleared the ropes twice more in the next, off Tim Southee, as Australia finished the Powerplay comfortably set on 55 without loss.
A short rain delay allowed New Zealand to regroup and although they removed Short after he had completed a 28-ball fifty, it was near-impossible to build pressure in the field. Warner was bowled by Ish Sodhi and Agar, promoted to No. 3, fell to a stumping against fellow left-armer Mitchell Santner; had a wild slog from Glenn Maxwell gone to hand a couple of balls later, New Zealand might have had some leverage.
Even as the game slipped away, their commitment in the field remained impressive. Williamson almost ran out Aaron Finch with an elastic, sliding pick-up-and-throw from mid-off, while Mark Chapman performed a relay catch on the rope to deny Finch six after he had latched on to a Santner no-ball.
Maxwell and Finch had taken Australia within range, needing just 30 from 32 balls, when a second, heavier shower swept through. With Duckworth-Lewis-Stern looming in the gloaming, most of the crowd had disappeared disappointed into the night when the umpires finally decided at around 10.40pm that no further play would be possible.
It was always going to be a struggle to match the fireworks of Friday but New Zealand did get off to a rapid start through Martin Guptill and Colin Munro once again. A frenetic opening featured several boundaries, although timing the ball on a worn surface looked a little harder, and New Zealand had 48 on the board inside five overs when Billy Stanlake made the breakthrough, Guptill toe-ending a blow down the ground straight to Warner at mid-off.
Munro was next to go, mistiming another big shot to the edge of the ring, and Australia began to make regular inroads. Williamson and Chapman managed a boundary apiece before falling in the space of three balls to Agar, who was the only bowler to deliver consecutive overs. Agar also removed the powerful Colin De Grandhomme, who was tempted to hit across the line to the longer boundary, and when Santner fell first ball pulling at AJ Tye, New Zealand had lost 6 for 45.
With Warner changing things up relentlessly, Australia presented a moving target. Tim Seifert was flummoxed by a Marcus Stoinis yorker and Southee under-clubbed another boundary catch, but Sodhi at least managed to hang around alongside Taylor for a few overs to give the scorecard some respectability. New Zealand managed to save face, but saving the match was beyond them.
Sunday, 18 February 2018
2 Test Series (0-1) & 2 t20's BAN 0-2 SL
1st Test
Day 1
Bangladesh 374/4 (90 ov)
Sri Lanka
Mominul Haque, focused, fluent and scintillating, hoisted Bangladesh to an authoritative position in the Chittagong Test. Having put on a 236-run third-wicket stand with Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul has not quite batted Sri Lanka out of the game, but the visitors will find it difficult to win from here. Though they struck twice with the second new ball, there is plenty of batting to come from Bangladesh yet, not least from Mominul himself, who was unbeaten on 175 off 203 balls at stumps.
Sri Lanka were occasionally wayward - 20-year-old Lahiru Kumara especially guilty of leaking runs in the morning - but the spinners, largely, were neutered for large periods of the day. This surface is expected to take turn later in the game, but there was little help for the finger spinners once the morning's moisture had dried up. Herath and Dilruwan Perera bowled 44 overs between them, and gave up 198 runs for only one wicket. Left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan was the only bowler to gain appreciable turn.
Having come in just after Tamim Iqbal's breakneck fifty had ended, Mominul was fluent from the outset, placing a sumptuous drive through the covers early in his innings, then hitting a beautiful aerial cut behind the wicket before lunch. Having skipped to 26 off 39 balls by the end of the first session, his pace quickened in the afternoon.
Though never less than assured against the quicks, it was Mominul's progress against the spinners that was most impressive. Soon after lunch, he struck successive boundaries off Sandakan - the first a handsome lofted off drive, the second a whip over midwicket. As the middle session wore on, even Herath began to ail against Mominul, who eased him wide of mid-on to complete a half-century off 59 balls.
Though runs came at pace, at no stage did Mominul appear rushed. All through day one, he was defined by timing, placement and grace. Though occasionally helped by poor groundfielding - Kumara a particularly sloppy presence in the field - at no stage did Mominul offer a chance. He spent no more than eight balls in the nineties, hitting Sandakan for two more consecutive fours to move to triple figures off the 96th delivery he had faced. Usually an undemonstrative player, Mominul wiped tears and gestured animatedly on this occasion, having been in and out of the Test side over the past year. His hundred was the second-fastest for a Bangladesh batsman, behind Tamim's 94-ball ton at Lord's.
If his rapid progress in the afternoon befitted a young player proving he belonged at this level, then in the evening Mominul was measured and mature. In response to more defensive fields from Sri Lanka, Mominul settled into a diet of runs into the outfield, though the boundaries were never scarce either. Mushfiqur, who had largely played a supporting act to Mominul in the afternoon, began to assert himself in the third session as well, often favouring the offside when he ventured the more expansive strokes. His fifty came off 121 balls, but the next 42 runs were faster. By the time Lakmal had Mushfiqur caught behind with the second new ball, the Bangladesh pair had taken their side from a comfortable position to a truly commanding one.
That Liton Das was bowled shouldering arms to Lakmal's next delivery, which jagged in off the surface, will give Sri Lanka mild satisfaction, but their day, nevertheless was dispiriting, virtually from start to finish.
Tamim had hit successive fours in the second over of the day, and that salvo did not relent, as he progressed to a 46-ball half century. His opening partner Imrul Kayes perhaps should have been out in the sixth over, however. His miscued hook off Kumara hung long in the air, but Lakmal ran a poor line towards it at the fine leg fence, and failed to even attempt the catch.
Tamim was bowled by a beautifully flighted Perera delivery that wriggled between his bat and pad. Kayes batted well with Mominul after Tamim's departure, but failed to read a Sandakan googly that struck him on the pad. Projections showed that that ball would have passed over the stumps however; Kayes would have been reprieved had he reviewed.
Day 2
Bangladesh 513
Sri Lanka 187/1 (48 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 326 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Mahmudullah's 83 not out heaved Bangladesh to 513, before the two big hopes of Sri Lanka's top order - Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis - wiped 187 runs off the deficit together, and remained unbeaten at the close of play.
Though the spinners had a little more purchase, this was, in short, another batting day in Chittagong. Rangana Herath did impose himself on the match for the first time and Mehidy Hasan took the only Sri Lanka wicket with the new ball, when the opposition were still scoreless. But only the occasional ball turned sharply, and the quicks had little assistance. By mounting such a monumental score, however, Bangladesh have given themselves a cushion - Sri Lanka must bat well again on Friday to come to a position of parity.
De Silva, rarely rattled, was calm and assertive from the outset, driving impeccably, and never shy to flit around the crease in the course of manufacturing of a dab or a lap sweep against the spinners. There is growing sentiment that he is one of Sri Lanka's most versatile Test batsmen, and this innings was further evidence. No portion of the field was unfruitful for Dananjaya, and bowler could trouble him for long. If a few dot balls mounted, he would slink down the pitch to loft the spinner over the offside, or back away to punch him square of the pitch. Where many batsmen fear losing their wickets just before a break, Dananjaya saw opportunity; thrice he ran at Taijul Islam in the over before tea, and thrice he hoisted him over the infield for boundaries. In between the big blows, singles and twos, eased comfortably through the field - no fuss, just confident Test batting.
The only half-chance off de Silva's bat came when he was on 65, and Mustafizur Rahman drew an edge with a ball that straightened. The chance flew low between first and second slip, neither fielder getting close to the ball. A few overs later, Taijul Islam hit him on the pad after he had skipped down the track, and Bangladesh burned one of their reviews, now quite desperate to dislodge him. As he had been struck more than three metres from the stumps, the ball tracking did not even come into play. Six overs later, after a minor deceleration during the nineties, Dananjaya struck a sublime backfoot punch off Taijul to complete a 122-ball century. It was his second triple-figure score in as many innings: the excellent match-saving hundred at Delhi being his most recent effort.
Mendis' innings, was not nearly as convincing. He had been beaten repeatedly by Sunzamul Islam in the early overs, and was often uncomfortable against each of Bangladesh's three left-arm spinners, right until the final over of the day. He could have been caught in the slips twice. He was dropped by a diving Mehidy on four, off the bowling of Mustafizur, and later, Mehidy had a similarly difficult chance go down of his own bowling. Batting on 57, Mendis edged a straighter delivery, that just evaded he keeper's gloves, but was too fine for slip to lay a hand on it. There was an lbw review against him also, but as the ball was passing over the stumps, the original decision prevailed.
In between the tetchy moments, were flashes of Mendis skill - the rocket-powered flat sweeps, and the rapid pull shots whenever the bowlers dropped short. All six of Mendis' intentional boundaries came on the legside, as did a majority of his singles. This being his comeback Test innings after being dropped for the tour of India, Mendis stuck largely to his stronger scoring areas. The two had come together after Dimuth Karunaratne fell in the third over, edging Mehidy to slip.
Earlier on day two, Mahmudullah had been the spine in a good lower-order batting effort from Bangladesh. Though they had lost two quick wickets inside the first seven overs - including that of overnight centurion Mominul Haque - Mahmudullah had combined with Sunzamul Islam to ensure Bangladesh remained on track for a score of over 500. The two put on 58 for the eighth wicket, before Sunzamul was stumped down the legside, having failed to read a Lakshan Sandakan googly. Mahmudhullah trusted his tail-end partners. Only when No. 11 Mustafizur came to the crease did he kick his own innings into a higher tempo, and even then, did not turn down singles.
Suranga Lakmal dismissed Mustafizur with a short ball to finish with the innings' best figures of 3 for 58. The spinners' returned far less flattering numbers. Dilruwan Perera and Herath both conceded well over a hundred runs, and Lakshan Sandakan had 2 for 92.
Day 3
Bangladesh 513
Sri Lanka 504/3 (138 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 9 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Three-hundred-and-seventeen runs, for the loss of two wickets. So passed another batting day in Chittagong - a day on which Sri Lanka moved to a position of true strength for the first time in the game, and a day in which a draw became a distinct possibility, such is the absence of wear on this surface. Batsmen prospered more or less relentlessly, and only when the ball was new did it pose them challenges. Bangladesh's bowlers were ground down, two of them now having conceded over a hundred, and a third having given away 97. Fielders were run haggard. Only nine runs behind the opposition now, Sri Lanka have seven wickets remaining, and a shot at establishing a large first-innings lead.
It is to the overnight pair of Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva that the first half of the day belonged, and they who ticked off a number of personal milestones during the course of their 308-run second-wicket stand. Mendis completed his fourth Test ton early in the day, before his scoring picked up speed in the afternoon session, and he went on to make 196. Dhananjaya, flowing and assertive (just as he had been on day two), hit a personal high score of 173, in the course of which he became Sri Lanka's equal fastest batsman to 1000 Test runs. Mendis too registered his highest Test score, just pipping the 194 he had hit - also against Bangladesh - last year.
Once those two had departed, and after Mendis had forged a 22-over, 107-run association with Roshen Silva, the scoring slowed significantly. Dinesh Chandimal batted at his now-familiar laboured fashion, making 37 off 90 deliveries, with only one boundary to his name. Roshen was quicker, but hardly rapid. He went to stumps thirteen runs shy of a maiden Test hundred, having faced 173 deliveries. This was only his third Test innings.
For Bangladesh the day was one of missed opportunity. Mustafizur Rahman will feel he should have had Mendis out for the second time in the innings, when Mendis edged a back-of-a-length delivery. That chance, though, split first and second slip right down the middle, and Mendis was given a third reprieve on 83, having also edged wide of a slip fielder while on 4 and 57. Roshen would then have been stumped on 1, had wicketkeeper Liton Das collected a Mehidy Hasan delivery down the legside. Later another opportunity to dismiss Mendis - this time via a run-out - was also bungled. With Chandimal batting so sedately, there were no chances after tea. Bangladesh's only consolation was that they gave away just 88 in the third session, compared to 108 and 121 in the first two.
Day 4
Bangladesh 513 & 81/3
Sri Lanka 713/9d
Bangladesh trail by 119 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 2nd innings
The fall of three late Bangladesh wickets lent hope the Chittagong Test may yet produce a result, after Sri Lanka had secured a first-innings lead of 200, amassing 713 for 9. Roshen Silva completed an assured hundred, Dinesh Chandimal a measured 87 and Niroshan Dickwella a rapid 62, but it was Sri Lanka's spinners who truly breathed life into the game. Finding turn with the almost-new ball, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Rangana Herath struck once each in the final 12 overs of the day. With both Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal among those dismissed, the Bangladesh middle order is now charged with carrying them to safety on day five. They are still 119 runs behind.
The late wickets came after the hosts had begun their second innings with such confidence. Tamim Iqbal was not quite as belligerent as he had been in the first innings, but he was nevertheless positive, stroking Herath through midwicket early in his innings, before delectably flicking Suranga Lakmal through square leg in the fourth over. Sri Lanka raised some good lbw shouts, but batting still appeared a relatively uncomplicated exercise. Imrul Kayes was quieter than Tamim, but hardly seemed to be struggling.
It was in the over that Imrul was dismissed that the vibe changed. Tamim was beaten twice by turning Dilruwan Perera deliveries before he finally managed to get himself off strike off the fifth ball. Imrul then somehow managed to get the toe-end of his bat to an attempted ramp shot, and the ball looped out towards the square leg fielder, who completed an easy take. The remaining 11.5 overs were tense; only two boundaries were struck before stumps. Tamim was largely to blame for his dismissal - prodding at a Sandakan ball that was not threatening the stumps, only to send a thin edge to the wicketkeeper. Mushfiqur, however, can consider himself very unlucky. He got forward to defend a full delivery from Herath, only for the ball to hit his bat and bounce off his shoe. Kusal Mendis took a good low catch at silly point.
Sri Lanka's march to their gargantuan score was, it must be said, utterly tedious viewing, even if it may turn out to be in service of a Test win. The morning session was another speckled with Sri Lanka milestones - Roshen and Chandimal bringing up the third century stand of the innings, before Roshen completed a proficient maiden Test ton. Later in the session, after Roshen had been caught behind off a Mehidy Hasan delivery, Sri Lanka ploughed on past 600. Bangladesh's bowlers were by now in various states of fatigue, and their four front-line bowlers had all conceded over 100 runs apiece.
Where there had been urgency in the progress of Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis on day three, Chandimal had largely been content to inch along, hitting three boundaries off the 185 deliveries he faced. Had he scored 13 more runs, he would have had a fifth Test century against Bangladesh, but soon after lunch, he allowed a straight Taijul Islam delivery to wriggle between bat and pad. The afternoon was enlivened, if only mildly, by Niroshan Dickwella's aggression and Mehidy's bowling.
Dickwella's sweeps and reverse-sweeps kept Sri Lanka's score rolling - the most impressive of those shots the flat reverse sweep against Taijul that scorched to the boundary in front of square. Mehidy flighted the ball nicely and read the batsmen's intentions well, often firing it fast and flat if he sensed his opponent would make an advance down the pitch. For his enduring boldness, Mehidy was rewarded with Dickwella's wicket - the batsman top-edging an ill-advised reverse-sweep against the turn, to a ball that pitched well outside his leg stump. In the previous session, Dickwella had survived an lbw shout against Mehidy that could have fairly been given out, though the not-out decision would not have been overturned on review either.
Dilruwan Perera contributed a largely uneventful 32 to the score, but when three quick wickets fell either side of tea, Chandimal decided Sri Lanka had batted long enough. All up, they had kept Bangladesh in the field for 199.3 overs, which was only three balls fewer than the longest stretch in the field a Bangladesh side had ever endured. Taijul's workload was immense - he had bowled 67.3 overs in the innings.
Day 5
Bangladesh 513 & 307/5d
Sri Lanka 713/9d
Match drawn
A 180-run stand between Mominul Haque and Liton Das stalled Sri Lanka's advance, and helped Bangladesh secure a draw in the Chittagong Test. In the course of that stand, Mominul became the first Bangladesh batsman to hit two centuries in the same Test and took his match aggregate to 281 runs. Liton got to within sight of a maiden ton, but was dismissed for 94.
Theirs, in fact, were the only two wickets to fall on day five. After they had fallen, Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain soaked up almost 18 further overs, before Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal agreed to settle for the draw, with 17 overs remaining in the day. Bangladesh were 107 runs ahead at that stage, with five wickets in hand.
The tedious nature of this Test is likely to prompt scrutiny of the Chittagong surface, on which 1533 runs were scored for the loss of only 24 wickets. On day five, occasional deliveries turned dramatically, but on the whole, batsmen could trust deliveries that pitched on the straight - away from the rough. Even wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who spun the ball harder than any other spinner in this match, was not gaining appreciably more turn on day five, than he had been on days one and two. It is the lack of wear on this surface that has largely led to such dull cricket.
However, Sri Lanka cannot say they made the most of their chances on day five. Batting on 71 just after lunch, Mominul sent an under edge to the wicketkeeper off a Rangana Herath delivery, but Niroshan Dickwella could not hold on. When Liton was on 62, the fielder at short midwicket grassed a tough chance. Another difficult opportunity came to Sandakan late in the second session, when Mahmudullah pulled aerially to cow corner, but the ball burst through his fingers, and Bangladesh's stand-in captain was reprieved on 6.
But those opportunities had come after lunch. In the morning session, Mominul and Liton had played the match situation more or less perfectly, neither counterattacking nor stonewalling, just batting securely and proficiently throughout.
Mominul had some nervy moments early in the day, but he hit a handsome six off Herath in the fifth over of the morning, and was more or less at ease after that - the only exception being when he ducked into a Lahiru Kumara short ball midway through the session and required brief medical attention.
His innings, being a rearguard of sorts, was not so boundary-laden as his effort on day one, but he rotated the strike efficiently nonetheless. His half-century came off 78 deliveries, and his hundred off 154. Where in the first innings there had been an animated celebration, the expressionless raising of the bat in the second dig was more typical of Mominul. Not only was this his second hundred of the match, it was also the second occasion in which he had scored a match-saving century against Sri Lanka in Chittagong, having hit an unbeaten hundred at this venue in 2014.
Liton largely batted in the same vein, favouring the sweep to the spinners and the drive against the quicks, though he was not quite as adept at rotating the strike as Mominul. He brought up a half century - his third in Tests - with a crunching cover drive off Sandakan, and could have had a maiden ton, had he been a little more patient. Batting on 94, he ventured an almighty wallop off Herath, but had not got to the pitch of the delivery. Dilruwan Perera tracked the high chance back from mid off and completed a difficult catch.
Save for one unsuccessful caught-behind review by Sri Lanka, the remainder of the Test was uneventful. Mosaddek closed the shutters, making 8 off 53 balls. Mahmudullah -following some wild strokes in the company of Liton - was measured after the fifth wicket fell. He was unbeaten on 28 off 65 balls when the draw was confirmed.
2nd Test
Day 1
Sri Lanka 222
Bangladesh 56/4 (22 ov)
Bangladesh trail by 166 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Besieged batsmen, violent turn, wicked offcutters, fielders around the bat, and a hail of dismissals. It was as if this Mirpur pitch was on a mission to compensate for five days of boredom in Chittagong. No fewer than 14 wickets fell on a treacherous day-one surface, and by the end of it, Bangladesh were the side in the poorer position. They finished on 56 for 4, still 166 runs short of Sri Lanka's 222. Nothing is certain on tracks such as this, but if Bangladesh are to give themselves a good chance of winning this match, a first-innings lead is almost imperative. They will have to bat last. And the fourth innings will not be pretty.
Playing his first Test in four years, it was Abdur Razzak who was most effective for Bangladesh, taking 4 for 63, while Taijul Islam took three wickets at the other end. For Sri Lanka, however, Suranga Lakmal made the early inroads, removing Tamim Iqbal to claim his 100th Test wicket, before later bowling Mushfiqur Rahim, who shouldered arms. Bangladesh's poor position at stumps was partly down to their own doing: Mominul Haque ran himself out, when, unaware that the throw was coming to his end, he ambled towards the crease and failed to ground his bat.
That Sri Lanka managed to heave themselves to a competitive score was largely thanks to Kusal Mendis, who in the morning session, batted as if on a different plane from his teammates. Unlike at the start of his innings in Chittagong, he was clearly in good touch here, timing the ball nicely from the outset, and rarely appearing overawed by the amount of turn from the surface.
He advanced at almost a run-a-ball for his first 30 runs, sweeping ferociously and slapping spinners disdainfully over midwicket if ever they dropped short. The clatter of wickets at the other end slowed his progress, but in hitting 68 off 98 balls at the top of the innings, he gave the innings a platform. His eventual dismissal was to a sublimely-flighted Razzak delivery, which pitched on off and spun just enough to beat Mendis' defensive prod, but not enough to miss the off stump. Earlier in the innings, Razzak had also accounted for Mendis' opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne, who got himself into a tangle when he ran at the bowler, but could not quite get to the pitch of the delivery, and was stumped.
Roshen Silva, the other half-centurion in the Sri Lanka innings, batted with much less ambition than Mendis, perhaps because the team had slipped to 110 for 6 soon after lunch, and he had to make do with batting alongside the lower order. In both his significant partnerships - a 52-run association with Dilruwan Perera and a 43-run stand with Akila Dananjaya - Roshen was outscored by his partner. His innings featured only one truly risky stroke- the heave for six over long-on off Taijul. Having completed his half-century - his third successive in Tests - in the company of No. 11 Suranga Lakmal, Roshen was caught behind off another near-unplayable ball, this one delivered by Taijul.
Bangladesh left the field with a strut, but minutes after their innings had begun, it began to unravel. Tamim drilled the second ball of the innings, delivered by Lakmal, down the ground for four, but attempting a similar shot next ball, only managed to send a sharp return catch to the bowler. Mominul's complacency would leave the hosts 4 for 2 in the next over. Expecting the throw from mid-off to come into the non-striker's end, Mominul was caught short by Dhananjaya de Silva, whose excellent awareness saw him throwing the ball to the wicketkeeper. Mominul's bat was suspended above the crease when the bails came off.
Mushfiqur and Imrul Kayes attempted a slow rebuild. Until towards the end of his spell, Lakmal noticed Mushfiqur was leaving balls that passed very close to his off stump. Lakmal continued to pitch it in a similar spot, until one moved back in off the seam and clattered into the top of off - Mushfiqur shouldering arms again. Bangladesh's fourth wicket came in the dying moments of the day. Having just raised an lbw shout, Dilruwan Perera pinned Imrul in front of the stumps with an arm ball.
Liton Das, batting more adventurously than the other top-order batsmen, finished the day unbeaten on 24, having struck three boundaries. He had nightwatchman Mehidy Hasan for company.
Day 2
Sri Lanka 200 for 8 & 222
Bangladesh 110
Sri Lanka lead by 312 runs
Debutant Akila Dananjaya ransacked Bangladesh's lower middle order in the morning, and Roshen Silva compiled a second high-quality fifty in the match, as Sri Lanka claimed a 312-run lead and took iron-grip of the Test. That the surface is a spinners' paradise is plain, but Bangladesh's meekness in the first innings has put them on the brink of a series loss. In the most dramatic period of play on day two, the hosts lost their last five wickets for five runs. Not even an inspired Mustafizur Rahman spell late in the day could undo the damage sustained before lunch.
Also driving Sri Lanka ahead on day two were Dhananjaya de Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal, none of whom got close to a half-century, but whose innings were vital nonetheless. Bangladesh's spinners were at times guilty of being too wayward. Though they delivered their share of dangerous deliveries through the day, many errors in length also speckled their spells. The visiting batsmen rarely allowed good scoring opportunities to go unused.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz - the best of the home side's spinners - took two for 29 from his 14 overs, and regularly raised wicket-taking opportunities. Taijul Islam also took two wickets, and Abdur Razzak finished with one. Their most potent weapon, however, was Mustafizur and his cutters. In a spell also envenomed by reverse swing, he took the wickets of Dilruwan Perera and Dananjaya off successive balls, and was unlucky to finish without at least one more scalp. Having earlier also trapped Danushka Gunathilaka in front of the stumps, he finished the day with 3 for 35.
But it was Dananjaya whose late-morning spell that was of most consequence to the match situation. To him also went the most perfect spin-bowling dismissal of the game so far. Tossing the ball up outside off stump, Dananjaya got the ball to drift away, before it dipped and spat back at the batsman. Mahmudullah offered a forward defence, but so sharp was the turn,that the ball whistled between bat and pad to hit the very top of middle stump. It was his maiden Test wicket. Dananjaya was suitably ecstatic.
His remaining dismissals were also off-spin classics. Three balls after bowling Mahmudullah, he lured Sabbir Rahman into an off drive, only for the ball to turn more sharply than the batsman expected. The catch, off the inside edge, would be snapped up low to the ground by Dinesh Chandimal at midwicket. Next over, a similar wicket: another turning delivery, another attempted drive, but this time Abdur Razzak's mis-hit shot went straight back to Dananjaya.
With three wickets having fallen in the space of seven Dananjaya deliveries, Sri Lanka were ascendant. As so often happens when their spinners dominate, the fielding also moved to a higher plane. Fielding at short leg, Kusal Mendis snapped up an inside edge off Taijul Islam's bat, and though the batsman spent no more than two seconds out of his crease, Mendis threw down the stumps in a flash, while Taijul's bat was still in the air. The final wicket in the collapse went to Dilruwan Perera.
If by establishing a 112-run lead, Sri Lanka had achieved a commanding position in the game, Roshen was most responsible for leading his side toward impregnability. Measured, and intelligent, he played within his limits, leaving balls that did not threaten his stumps, and yet hitting out at balls that deserved punishment. His footwark was swift and precise. Rarely did the Bangladesh bowlers dominate him for long stretches, though conditions were stacked heavily in their favour. There was no side of the pitch that he favoured, and his 58 not out - to go with the 56 in the first innings - is already more valuable than many hundreds.
While Roshen found a middle ground between attack and defence, the other batsmen were generally more partial to one or the other. De Silva, for example, blazed a trail, cracking Taijul for three boundaries in one over, while constantly going deep in his crease to make possible his late cut. Having sped to 28 off 24, his ambition would prove fatal in the end. Attempting to deflect a Taijul delivery with an open face, he missed it completely and had it clatter into his stumps.
Karunaratne went in the opposite direction. As Bangladesh's spinners largely turned the ball into him, he played for the straighter ball, and adjusted quickly if the delivery was spinning. His 32 came off 95 balls and featured no boundaries. Chandimal's 30 was compiled in a not dissimilar spirit, though he did score much faster.
Day 3
Sri Lanka 222 & 226
Bangladesh 110 & 123 (target: 339)
Sri Lanka won by 215 runs
Bangladesh plunged, Sri Lanka's spinners soared and the Mirpur Test tore to its conclusion midway through day three, the visitors triumphing by 215 runs. Debutant Akila Dananjaya was prime destroyer. He scythed rapidly through the Bangladesh lower-middle order, taking 5 for 24 to make it eight wickets on debut - the best performance by a Sri Lankan on debut. The charge to victory was also sweet for Rangana Herath, who claimed 4 for 49 and in doing so, became the most successful left-arm bowler in Test history.
After even Sri Lanka's lower order had batted with a little mettle, the rate of Bangladesh's demise in this Test will irk the hosts. Only four batsmen made it into double figures, and no one batted for longer than 51 deliveries. The pitch was as treacherous as ever, but chances were too freely given. Perhaps, chasing a highly improbable 339, and with little chance of saving the game, the futility of their situation contributed to their meekness. It took Sri Lanka fewer than 30 overs to clean the opposition up. This was Bangladesh's first series defeat at home since 2015 - the absence of Shakib Al Hasan keenly felt.
The selection of Dananjaya - out of all Sri Lanka's teams until seven months ago, and considered a limited-overs specialist in any case - has proved to be a spectacular move in this Test. Though he bowled only 15 overs in the game (fewer than either of the senior spinners), the overspin he puts on the ball made him a menacing prospect. Repeatedly he had balls leap up off a length, and one such ball struck Liton Das in the glove, and was caught at short leg. Sabbir Rahman was also caught off his glove; Mahmudullah edged another Dananjaya delivery that jumped at him; and Mehidy Hasan nicked a straighter delivery. Wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella helped Dananjaya along to his maiden five-wicket haul. He pulled off a fast stumping of Abdur Razzak when the batsman had merely overbalanced. Dananjaya's 8 for 44 comprise the best debut figures for a Sri Lanka bowler.
While Dananjaya took care of the lower half of the Bangladesh batting order, Herath's best work had come earlier on. One ball after he had been tonked for six by Imrul Kayes, he sent a slider at the batsman, and had him edging behind. Mominul Haque - again Bangladesh's best batsman - was given a light working over, and eventually nicked Herath to Dickwella as well. The wicket that sealed the match was also Herath's. Taijul Islam aimed a gigantic heave over cow corner, but Danushka Gunathilaka was at the boundary to take an outstanding overhead catch. Bangladesh had lost their last five wickets in the space of 33 balls.
The visitors' lead had been 312 even at the beginning of the day - much more than necessary, as it would turn out - but their batting in the first 50 minutes of the day was more indication that this Sri Lanka Test side is rediscovering a little of its old grit. Roshen Silva, the newest member of the top order, added 12 to his overnight score, while Suranga Lakmal, living a little more dangerously, struck boundaries to help swell Sri Lanka's lead by 26. Only one Bangladesh partnership - the 46-run second-wicket association between Mominul and Kayes - was better than this 36-run stand between Roshen and Lakmal. That Chandika Hathurusingha, their coach only four months ago, helped plan their own downfall in this series, will of course sting.
Day 1
Bangladesh 374/4 (90 ov)
Sri Lanka
Mominul Haque, focused, fluent and scintillating, hoisted Bangladesh to an authoritative position in the Chittagong Test. Having put on a 236-run third-wicket stand with Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul has not quite batted Sri Lanka out of the game, but the visitors will find it difficult to win from here. Though they struck twice with the second new ball, there is plenty of batting to come from Bangladesh yet, not least from Mominul himself, who was unbeaten on 175 off 203 balls at stumps.
Sri Lanka were occasionally wayward - 20-year-old Lahiru Kumara especially guilty of leaking runs in the morning - but the spinners, largely, were neutered for large periods of the day. This surface is expected to take turn later in the game, but there was little help for the finger spinners once the morning's moisture had dried up. Herath and Dilruwan Perera bowled 44 overs between them, and gave up 198 runs for only one wicket. Left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan was the only bowler to gain appreciable turn.
Having come in just after Tamim Iqbal's breakneck fifty had ended, Mominul was fluent from the outset, placing a sumptuous drive through the covers early in his innings, then hitting a beautiful aerial cut behind the wicket before lunch. Having skipped to 26 off 39 balls by the end of the first session, his pace quickened in the afternoon.
Though never less than assured against the quicks, it was Mominul's progress against the spinners that was most impressive. Soon after lunch, he struck successive boundaries off Sandakan - the first a handsome lofted off drive, the second a whip over midwicket. As the middle session wore on, even Herath began to ail against Mominul, who eased him wide of mid-on to complete a half-century off 59 balls.
Though runs came at pace, at no stage did Mominul appear rushed. All through day one, he was defined by timing, placement and grace. Though occasionally helped by poor groundfielding - Kumara a particularly sloppy presence in the field - at no stage did Mominul offer a chance. He spent no more than eight balls in the nineties, hitting Sandakan for two more consecutive fours to move to triple figures off the 96th delivery he had faced. Usually an undemonstrative player, Mominul wiped tears and gestured animatedly on this occasion, having been in and out of the Test side over the past year. His hundred was the second-fastest for a Bangladesh batsman, behind Tamim's 94-ball ton at Lord's.
If his rapid progress in the afternoon befitted a young player proving he belonged at this level, then in the evening Mominul was measured and mature. In response to more defensive fields from Sri Lanka, Mominul settled into a diet of runs into the outfield, though the boundaries were never scarce either. Mushfiqur, who had largely played a supporting act to Mominul in the afternoon, began to assert himself in the third session as well, often favouring the offside when he ventured the more expansive strokes. His fifty came off 121 balls, but the next 42 runs were faster. By the time Lakmal had Mushfiqur caught behind with the second new ball, the Bangladesh pair had taken their side from a comfortable position to a truly commanding one.
That Liton Das was bowled shouldering arms to Lakmal's next delivery, which jagged in off the surface, will give Sri Lanka mild satisfaction, but their day, nevertheless was dispiriting, virtually from start to finish.
Tamim had hit successive fours in the second over of the day, and that salvo did not relent, as he progressed to a 46-ball half century. His opening partner Imrul Kayes perhaps should have been out in the sixth over, however. His miscued hook off Kumara hung long in the air, but Lakmal ran a poor line towards it at the fine leg fence, and failed to even attempt the catch.
Tamim was bowled by a beautifully flighted Perera delivery that wriggled between his bat and pad. Kayes batted well with Mominul after Tamim's departure, but failed to read a Sandakan googly that struck him on the pad. Projections showed that that ball would have passed over the stumps however; Kayes would have been reprieved had he reviewed.
Day 2
Bangladesh 513
Sri Lanka 187/1 (48 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 326 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Mahmudullah's 83 not out heaved Bangladesh to 513, before the two big hopes of Sri Lanka's top order - Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis - wiped 187 runs off the deficit together, and remained unbeaten at the close of play.
Though the spinners had a little more purchase, this was, in short, another batting day in Chittagong. Rangana Herath did impose himself on the match for the first time and Mehidy Hasan took the only Sri Lanka wicket with the new ball, when the opposition were still scoreless. But only the occasional ball turned sharply, and the quicks had little assistance. By mounting such a monumental score, however, Bangladesh have given themselves a cushion - Sri Lanka must bat well again on Friday to come to a position of parity.
De Silva, rarely rattled, was calm and assertive from the outset, driving impeccably, and never shy to flit around the crease in the course of manufacturing of a dab or a lap sweep against the spinners. There is growing sentiment that he is one of Sri Lanka's most versatile Test batsmen, and this innings was further evidence. No portion of the field was unfruitful for Dananjaya, and bowler could trouble him for long. If a few dot balls mounted, he would slink down the pitch to loft the spinner over the offside, or back away to punch him square of the pitch. Where many batsmen fear losing their wickets just before a break, Dananjaya saw opportunity; thrice he ran at Taijul Islam in the over before tea, and thrice he hoisted him over the infield for boundaries. In between the big blows, singles and twos, eased comfortably through the field - no fuss, just confident Test batting.
The only half-chance off de Silva's bat came when he was on 65, and Mustafizur Rahman drew an edge with a ball that straightened. The chance flew low between first and second slip, neither fielder getting close to the ball. A few overs later, Taijul Islam hit him on the pad after he had skipped down the track, and Bangladesh burned one of their reviews, now quite desperate to dislodge him. As he had been struck more than three metres from the stumps, the ball tracking did not even come into play. Six overs later, after a minor deceleration during the nineties, Dananjaya struck a sublime backfoot punch off Taijul to complete a 122-ball century. It was his second triple-figure score in as many innings: the excellent match-saving hundred at Delhi being his most recent effort.
Mendis' innings, was not nearly as convincing. He had been beaten repeatedly by Sunzamul Islam in the early overs, and was often uncomfortable against each of Bangladesh's three left-arm spinners, right until the final over of the day. He could have been caught in the slips twice. He was dropped by a diving Mehidy on four, off the bowling of Mustafizur, and later, Mehidy had a similarly difficult chance go down of his own bowling. Batting on 57, Mendis edged a straighter delivery, that just evaded he keeper's gloves, but was too fine for slip to lay a hand on it. There was an lbw review against him also, but as the ball was passing over the stumps, the original decision prevailed.
In between the tetchy moments, were flashes of Mendis skill - the rocket-powered flat sweeps, and the rapid pull shots whenever the bowlers dropped short. All six of Mendis' intentional boundaries came on the legside, as did a majority of his singles. This being his comeback Test innings after being dropped for the tour of India, Mendis stuck largely to his stronger scoring areas. The two had come together after Dimuth Karunaratne fell in the third over, edging Mehidy to slip.
Earlier on day two, Mahmudullah had been the spine in a good lower-order batting effort from Bangladesh. Though they had lost two quick wickets inside the first seven overs - including that of overnight centurion Mominul Haque - Mahmudullah had combined with Sunzamul Islam to ensure Bangladesh remained on track for a score of over 500. The two put on 58 for the eighth wicket, before Sunzamul was stumped down the legside, having failed to read a Lakshan Sandakan googly. Mahmudhullah trusted his tail-end partners. Only when No. 11 Mustafizur came to the crease did he kick his own innings into a higher tempo, and even then, did not turn down singles.
Suranga Lakmal dismissed Mustafizur with a short ball to finish with the innings' best figures of 3 for 58. The spinners' returned far less flattering numbers. Dilruwan Perera and Herath both conceded well over a hundred runs, and Lakshan Sandakan had 2 for 92.
Day 3
Bangladesh 513
Sri Lanka 504/3 (138 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 9 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Three-hundred-and-seventeen runs, for the loss of two wickets. So passed another batting day in Chittagong - a day on which Sri Lanka moved to a position of true strength for the first time in the game, and a day in which a draw became a distinct possibility, such is the absence of wear on this surface. Batsmen prospered more or less relentlessly, and only when the ball was new did it pose them challenges. Bangladesh's bowlers were ground down, two of them now having conceded over a hundred, and a third having given away 97. Fielders were run haggard. Only nine runs behind the opposition now, Sri Lanka have seven wickets remaining, and a shot at establishing a large first-innings lead.
It is to the overnight pair of Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva that the first half of the day belonged, and they who ticked off a number of personal milestones during the course of their 308-run second-wicket stand. Mendis completed his fourth Test ton early in the day, before his scoring picked up speed in the afternoon session, and he went on to make 196. Dhananjaya, flowing and assertive (just as he had been on day two), hit a personal high score of 173, in the course of which he became Sri Lanka's equal fastest batsman to 1000 Test runs. Mendis too registered his highest Test score, just pipping the 194 he had hit - also against Bangladesh - last year.
Once those two had departed, and after Mendis had forged a 22-over, 107-run association with Roshen Silva, the scoring slowed significantly. Dinesh Chandimal batted at his now-familiar laboured fashion, making 37 off 90 deliveries, with only one boundary to his name. Roshen was quicker, but hardly rapid. He went to stumps thirteen runs shy of a maiden Test hundred, having faced 173 deliveries. This was only his third Test innings.
For Bangladesh the day was one of missed opportunity. Mustafizur Rahman will feel he should have had Mendis out for the second time in the innings, when Mendis edged a back-of-a-length delivery. That chance, though, split first and second slip right down the middle, and Mendis was given a third reprieve on 83, having also edged wide of a slip fielder while on 4 and 57. Roshen would then have been stumped on 1, had wicketkeeper Liton Das collected a Mehidy Hasan delivery down the legside. Later another opportunity to dismiss Mendis - this time via a run-out - was also bungled. With Chandimal batting so sedately, there were no chances after tea. Bangladesh's only consolation was that they gave away just 88 in the third session, compared to 108 and 121 in the first two.
Day 4
Bangladesh 513 & 81/3
Sri Lanka 713/9d
Bangladesh trail by 119 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 2nd innings
The fall of three late Bangladesh wickets lent hope the Chittagong Test may yet produce a result, after Sri Lanka had secured a first-innings lead of 200, amassing 713 for 9. Roshen Silva completed an assured hundred, Dinesh Chandimal a measured 87 and Niroshan Dickwella a rapid 62, but it was Sri Lanka's spinners who truly breathed life into the game. Finding turn with the almost-new ball, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Rangana Herath struck once each in the final 12 overs of the day. With both Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal among those dismissed, the Bangladesh middle order is now charged with carrying them to safety on day five. They are still 119 runs behind.
The late wickets came after the hosts had begun their second innings with such confidence. Tamim Iqbal was not quite as belligerent as he had been in the first innings, but he was nevertheless positive, stroking Herath through midwicket early in his innings, before delectably flicking Suranga Lakmal through square leg in the fourth over. Sri Lanka raised some good lbw shouts, but batting still appeared a relatively uncomplicated exercise. Imrul Kayes was quieter than Tamim, but hardly seemed to be struggling.
It was in the over that Imrul was dismissed that the vibe changed. Tamim was beaten twice by turning Dilruwan Perera deliveries before he finally managed to get himself off strike off the fifth ball. Imrul then somehow managed to get the toe-end of his bat to an attempted ramp shot, and the ball looped out towards the square leg fielder, who completed an easy take. The remaining 11.5 overs were tense; only two boundaries were struck before stumps. Tamim was largely to blame for his dismissal - prodding at a Sandakan ball that was not threatening the stumps, only to send a thin edge to the wicketkeeper. Mushfiqur, however, can consider himself very unlucky. He got forward to defend a full delivery from Herath, only for the ball to hit his bat and bounce off his shoe. Kusal Mendis took a good low catch at silly point.
Sri Lanka's march to their gargantuan score was, it must be said, utterly tedious viewing, even if it may turn out to be in service of a Test win. The morning session was another speckled with Sri Lanka milestones - Roshen and Chandimal bringing up the third century stand of the innings, before Roshen completed a proficient maiden Test ton. Later in the session, after Roshen had been caught behind off a Mehidy Hasan delivery, Sri Lanka ploughed on past 600. Bangladesh's bowlers were by now in various states of fatigue, and their four front-line bowlers had all conceded over 100 runs apiece.
Where there had been urgency in the progress of Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis on day three, Chandimal had largely been content to inch along, hitting three boundaries off the 185 deliveries he faced. Had he scored 13 more runs, he would have had a fifth Test century against Bangladesh, but soon after lunch, he allowed a straight Taijul Islam delivery to wriggle between bat and pad. The afternoon was enlivened, if only mildly, by Niroshan Dickwella's aggression and Mehidy's bowling.
Dickwella's sweeps and reverse-sweeps kept Sri Lanka's score rolling - the most impressive of those shots the flat reverse sweep against Taijul that scorched to the boundary in front of square. Mehidy flighted the ball nicely and read the batsmen's intentions well, often firing it fast and flat if he sensed his opponent would make an advance down the pitch. For his enduring boldness, Mehidy was rewarded with Dickwella's wicket - the batsman top-edging an ill-advised reverse-sweep against the turn, to a ball that pitched well outside his leg stump. In the previous session, Dickwella had survived an lbw shout against Mehidy that could have fairly been given out, though the not-out decision would not have been overturned on review either.
Dilruwan Perera contributed a largely uneventful 32 to the score, but when three quick wickets fell either side of tea, Chandimal decided Sri Lanka had batted long enough. All up, they had kept Bangladesh in the field for 199.3 overs, which was only three balls fewer than the longest stretch in the field a Bangladesh side had ever endured. Taijul's workload was immense - he had bowled 67.3 overs in the innings.
Day 5
Bangladesh 513 & 307/5d
Sri Lanka 713/9d
Match drawn
A 180-run stand between Mominul Haque and Liton Das stalled Sri Lanka's advance, and helped Bangladesh secure a draw in the Chittagong Test. In the course of that stand, Mominul became the first Bangladesh batsman to hit two centuries in the same Test and took his match aggregate to 281 runs. Liton got to within sight of a maiden ton, but was dismissed for 94.
Theirs, in fact, were the only two wickets to fall on day five. After they had fallen, Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain soaked up almost 18 further overs, before Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal agreed to settle for the draw, with 17 overs remaining in the day. Bangladesh were 107 runs ahead at that stage, with five wickets in hand.
The tedious nature of this Test is likely to prompt scrutiny of the Chittagong surface, on which 1533 runs were scored for the loss of only 24 wickets. On day five, occasional deliveries turned dramatically, but on the whole, batsmen could trust deliveries that pitched on the straight - away from the rough. Even wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who spun the ball harder than any other spinner in this match, was not gaining appreciably more turn on day five, than he had been on days one and two. It is the lack of wear on this surface that has largely led to such dull cricket.
However, Sri Lanka cannot say they made the most of their chances on day five. Batting on 71 just after lunch, Mominul sent an under edge to the wicketkeeper off a Rangana Herath delivery, but Niroshan Dickwella could not hold on. When Liton was on 62, the fielder at short midwicket grassed a tough chance. Another difficult opportunity came to Sandakan late in the second session, when Mahmudullah pulled aerially to cow corner, but the ball burst through his fingers, and Bangladesh's stand-in captain was reprieved on 6.
But those opportunities had come after lunch. In the morning session, Mominul and Liton had played the match situation more or less perfectly, neither counterattacking nor stonewalling, just batting securely and proficiently throughout.
Mominul had some nervy moments early in the day, but he hit a handsome six off Herath in the fifth over of the morning, and was more or less at ease after that - the only exception being when he ducked into a Lahiru Kumara short ball midway through the session and required brief medical attention.
His innings, being a rearguard of sorts, was not so boundary-laden as his effort on day one, but he rotated the strike efficiently nonetheless. His half-century came off 78 deliveries, and his hundred off 154. Where in the first innings there had been an animated celebration, the expressionless raising of the bat in the second dig was more typical of Mominul. Not only was this his second hundred of the match, it was also the second occasion in which he had scored a match-saving century against Sri Lanka in Chittagong, having hit an unbeaten hundred at this venue in 2014.
Liton largely batted in the same vein, favouring the sweep to the spinners and the drive against the quicks, though he was not quite as adept at rotating the strike as Mominul. He brought up a half century - his third in Tests - with a crunching cover drive off Sandakan, and could have had a maiden ton, had he been a little more patient. Batting on 94, he ventured an almighty wallop off Herath, but had not got to the pitch of the delivery. Dilruwan Perera tracked the high chance back from mid off and completed a difficult catch.
Save for one unsuccessful caught-behind review by Sri Lanka, the remainder of the Test was uneventful. Mosaddek closed the shutters, making 8 off 53 balls. Mahmudullah -following some wild strokes in the company of Liton - was measured after the fifth wicket fell. He was unbeaten on 28 off 65 balls when the draw was confirmed.
2nd Test
Day 1
Sri Lanka 222
Bangladesh 56/4 (22 ov)
Bangladesh trail by 166 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Besieged batsmen, violent turn, wicked offcutters, fielders around the bat, and a hail of dismissals. It was as if this Mirpur pitch was on a mission to compensate for five days of boredom in Chittagong. No fewer than 14 wickets fell on a treacherous day-one surface, and by the end of it, Bangladesh were the side in the poorer position. They finished on 56 for 4, still 166 runs short of Sri Lanka's 222. Nothing is certain on tracks such as this, but if Bangladesh are to give themselves a good chance of winning this match, a first-innings lead is almost imperative. They will have to bat last. And the fourth innings will not be pretty.
Playing his first Test in four years, it was Abdur Razzak who was most effective for Bangladesh, taking 4 for 63, while Taijul Islam took three wickets at the other end. For Sri Lanka, however, Suranga Lakmal made the early inroads, removing Tamim Iqbal to claim his 100th Test wicket, before later bowling Mushfiqur Rahim, who shouldered arms. Bangladesh's poor position at stumps was partly down to their own doing: Mominul Haque ran himself out, when, unaware that the throw was coming to his end, he ambled towards the crease and failed to ground his bat.
That Sri Lanka managed to heave themselves to a competitive score was largely thanks to Kusal Mendis, who in the morning session, batted as if on a different plane from his teammates. Unlike at the start of his innings in Chittagong, he was clearly in good touch here, timing the ball nicely from the outset, and rarely appearing overawed by the amount of turn from the surface.
He advanced at almost a run-a-ball for his first 30 runs, sweeping ferociously and slapping spinners disdainfully over midwicket if ever they dropped short. The clatter of wickets at the other end slowed his progress, but in hitting 68 off 98 balls at the top of the innings, he gave the innings a platform. His eventual dismissal was to a sublimely-flighted Razzak delivery, which pitched on off and spun just enough to beat Mendis' defensive prod, but not enough to miss the off stump. Earlier in the innings, Razzak had also accounted for Mendis' opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne, who got himself into a tangle when he ran at the bowler, but could not quite get to the pitch of the delivery, and was stumped.
Roshen Silva, the other half-centurion in the Sri Lanka innings, batted with much less ambition than Mendis, perhaps because the team had slipped to 110 for 6 soon after lunch, and he had to make do with batting alongside the lower order. In both his significant partnerships - a 52-run association with Dilruwan Perera and a 43-run stand with Akila Dananjaya - Roshen was outscored by his partner. His innings featured only one truly risky stroke- the heave for six over long-on off Taijul. Having completed his half-century - his third successive in Tests - in the company of No. 11 Suranga Lakmal, Roshen was caught behind off another near-unplayable ball, this one delivered by Taijul.
Bangladesh left the field with a strut, but minutes after their innings had begun, it began to unravel. Tamim drilled the second ball of the innings, delivered by Lakmal, down the ground for four, but attempting a similar shot next ball, only managed to send a sharp return catch to the bowler. Mominul's complacency would leave the hosts 4 for 2 in the next over. Expecting the throw from mid-off to come into the non-striker's end, Mominul was caught short by Dhananjaya de Silva, whose excellent awareness saw him throwing the ball to the wicketkeeper. Mominul's bat was suspended above the crease when the bails came off.
Mushfiqur and Imrul Kayes attempted a slow rebuild. Until towards the end of his spell, Lakmal noticed Mushfiqur was leaving balls that passed very close to his off stump. Lakmal continued to pitch it in a similar spot, until one moved back in off the seam and clattered into the top of off - Mushfiqur shouldering arms again. Bangladesh's fourth wicket came in the dying moments of the day. Having just raised an lbw shout, Dilruwan Perera pinned Imrul in front of the stumps with an arm ball.
Liton Das, batting more adventurously than the other top-order batsmen, finished the day unbeaten on 24, having struck three boundaries. He had nightwatchman Mehidy Hasan for company.
Day 2
Sri Lanka 200 for 8 & 222
Bangladesh 110
Sri Lanka lead by 312 runs
Debutant Akila Dananjaya ransacked Bangladesh's lower middle order in the morning, and Roshen Silva compiled a second high-quality fifty in the match, as Sri Lanka claimed a 312-run lead and took iron-grip of the Test. That the surface is a spinners' paradise is plain, but Bangladesh's meekness in the first innings has put them on the brink of a series loss. In the most dramatic period of play on day two, the hosts lost their last five wickets for five runs. Not even an inspired Mustafizur Rahman spell late in the day could undo the damage sustained before lunch.
Also driving Sri Lanka ahead on day two were Dhananjaya de Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal, none of whom got close to a half-century, but whose innings were vital nonetheless. Bangladesh's spinners were at times guilty of being too wayward. Though they delivered their share of dangerous deliveries through the day, many errors in length also speckled their spells. The visiting batsmen rarely allowed good scoring opportunities to go unused.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz - the best of the home side's spinners - took two for 29 from his 14 overs, and regularly raised wicket-taking opportunities. Taijul Islam also took two wickets, and Abdur Razzak finished with one. Their most potent weapon, however, was Mustafizur and his cutters. In a spell also envenomed by reverse swing, he took the wickets of Dilruwan Perera and Dananjaya off successive balls, and was unlucky to finish without at least one more scalp. Having earlier also trapped Danushka Gunathilaka in front of the stumps, he finished the day with 3 for 35.
But it was Dananjaya whose late-morning spell that was of most consequence to the match situation. To him also went the most perfect spin-bowling dismissal of the game so far. Tossing the ball up outside off stump, Dananjaya got the ball to drift away, before it dipped and spat back at the batsman. Mahmudullah offered a forward defence, but so sharp was the turn,that the ball whistled between bat and pad to hit the very top of middle stump. It was his maiden Test wicket. Dananjaya was suitably ecstatic.
His remaining dismissals were also off-spin classics. Three balls after bowling Mahmudullah, he lured Sabbir Rahman into an off drive, only for the ball to turn more sharply than the batsman expected. The catch, off the inside edge, would be snapped up low to the ground by Dinesh Chandimal at midwicket. Next over, a similar wicket: another turning delivery, another attempted drive, but this time Abdur Razzak's mis-hit shot went straight back to Dananjaya.
With three wickets having fallen in the space of seven Dananjaya deliveries, Sri Lanka were ascendant. As so often happens when their spinners dominate, the fielding also moved to a higher plane. Fielding at short leg, Kusal Mendis snapped up an inside edge off Taijul Islam's bat, and though the batsman spent no more than two seconds out of his crease, Mendis threw down the stumps in a flash, while Taijul's bat was still in the air. The final wicket in the collapse went to Dilruwan Perera.
If by establishing a 112-run lead, Sri Lanka had achieved a commanding position in the game, Roshen was most responsible for leading his side toward impregnability. Measured, and intelligent, he played within his limits, leaving balls that did not threaten his stumps, and yet hitting out at balls that deserved punishment. His footwark was swift and precise. Rarely did the Bangladesh bowlers dominate him for long stretches, though conditions were stacked heavily in their favour. There was no side of the pitch that he favoured, and his 58 not out - to go with the 56 in the first innings - is already more valuable than many hundreds.
While Roshen found a middle ground between attack and defence, the other batsmen were generally more partial to one or the other. De Silva, for example, blazed a trail, cracking Taijul for three boundaries in one over, while constantly going deep in his crease to make possible his late cut. Having sped to 28 off 24, his ambition would prove fatal in the end. Attempting to deflect a Taijul delivery with an open face, he missed it completely and had it clatter into his stumps.
Karunaratne went in the opposite direction. As Bangladesh's spinners largely turned the ball into him, he played for the straighter ball, and adjusted quickly if the delivery was spinning. His 32 came off 95 balls and featured no boundaries. Chandimal's 30 was compiled in a not dissimilar spirit, though he did score much faster.
Day 3
Sri Lanka 222 & 226
Bangladesh 110 & 123 (target: 339)
Sri Lanka won by 215 runs
Bangladesh plunged, Sri Lanka's spinners soared and the Mirpur Test tore to its conclusion midway through day three, the visitors triumphing by 215 runs. Debutant Akila Dananjaya was prime destroyer. He scythed rapidly through the Bangladesh lower-middle order, taking 5 for 24 to make it eight wickets on debut - the best performance by a Sri Lankan on debut. The charge to victory was also sweet for Rangana Herath, who claimed 4 for 49 and in doing so, became the most successful left-arm bowler in Test history.
After even Sri Lanka's lower order had batted with a little mettle, the rate of Bangladesh's demise in this Test will irk the hosts. Only four batsmen made it into double figures, and no one batted for longer than 51 deliveries. The pitch was as treacherous as ever, but chances were too freely given. Perhaps, chasing a highly improbable 339, and with little chance of saving the game, the futility of their situation contributed to their meekness. It took Sri Lanka fewer than 30 overs to clean the opposition up. This was Bangladesh's first series defeat at home since 2015 - the absence of Shakib Al Hasan keenly felt.
The selection of Dananjaya - out of all Sri Lanka's teams until seven months ago, and considered a limited-overs specialist in any case - has proved to be a spectacular move in this Test. Though he bowled only 15 overs in the game (fewer than either of the senior spinners), the overspin he puts on the ball made him a menacing prospect. Repeatedly he had balls leap up off a length, and one such ball struck Liton Das in the glove, and was caught at short leg. Sabbir Rahman was also caught off his glove; Mahmudullah edged another Dananjaya delivery that jumped at him; and Mehidy Hasan nicked a straighter delivery. Wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella helped Dananjaya along to his maiden five-wicket haul. He pulled off a fast stumping of Abdur Razzak when the batsman had merely overbalanced. Dananjaya's 8 for 44 comprise the best debut figures for a Sri Lanka bowler.
While Dananjaya took care of the lower half of the Bangladesh batting order, Herath's best work had come earlier on. One ball after he had been tonked for six by Imrul Kayes, he sent a slider at the batsman, and had him edging behind. Mominul Haque - again Bangladesh's best batsman - was given a light working over, and eventually nicked Herath to Dickwella as well. The wicket that sealed the match was also Herath's. Taijul Islam aimed a gigantic heave over cow corner, but Danushka Gunathilaka was at the boundary to take an outstanding overhead catch. Bangladesh had lost their last five wickets in the space of 33 balls.
The visitors' lead had been 312 even at the beginning of the day - much more than necessary, as it would turn out - but their batting in the first 50 minutes of the day was more indication that this Sri Lanka Test side is rediscovering a little of its old grit. Roshen Silva, the newest member of the top order, added 12 to his overnight score, while Suranga Lakmal, living a little more dangerously, struck boundaries to help swell Sri Lanka's lead by 26. Only one Bangladesh partnership - the 46-run second-wicket association between Mominul and Kayes - was better than this 36-run stand between Roshen and Lakmal. That Chandika Hathurusingha, their coach only four months ago, helped plan their own downfall in this series, will of course sting.
Friday, 16 February 2018
6 match ODI Series SA 1-5 IND
1st ODI
South Africa 269/8 (50 ov)
India 270/4 (45.3/50 ov)
India won by 6 wickets (with 27 balls remaining)
He wanted to bat first at the toss. He was then rolling on the floor not laughing when his knee jammed into the Durban outfield. He might even have been peeved that his fast bowlers, so reliable at home, had turned liabilities for a few hours. But put a bat in Virat Kohli's hands, tell him he has to lead a tough chase, and just watch him go.
There is a template, and it appears to work regardless of opposition, and of conditions. Step one, intimidate. Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada were nudging 145 kph and above but he stood outside his crease and charged at them. Step two, keep the ball on the ground. Batting second is largely about risk-assessment. And this trick takes the possibility of being caught out of the picture. He's rarely ever lbw so that's two modes of dismissals negated. But for all this to come together, he has to run like the wind. There is, sometimes, collateral damage - Shikhar Dhawan tonight - but otherwise the people tearing their hair out mostly belong to the opposition. Step three, exploit the slightest weakness, aka South Africa's fifth bowler. Kohli barely gave Andile Phehlukwayo breathing room, and it was by flaying him through point and then through cover that he raised his 33rd ODI century. Over the past five years, he has made one every five innings. Kohli has made the extraordinary look normal for quite a while in one-day cricket.
"It's a lot of fun," he said at the end of it all with a perfectly straight face. You would think he was talking about going to a movie, or eating ice-cream. With this score of 112, Kohli has made centuries in each of the nine countries in which he has played 50-overs cricket.
Ajinkya Rahane was at the other end for most of that knock, and his 79 off 86 was no less significant. Given a resounding endorsement to take the No. 4 slot a day before the match, he came out with India wobbling. The score was 67 for 2 and there were 37 overs left. Another wicket would have opened up the middle order, which is filled with players who were yet to bat in these conditions on this tour. South Africa had a chance, but to convert it, they needed Imran Tahir to be as effective as India's wristspinners had been.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, playing in tandem for the first time outside the subcontinent, on a pitch that did not afford any turn, brought the scoring rate down and spurred second thoughts in the batsman's mind as they claimed five wickets for a mere 79 runs. Tahir was economical too, but that was all he was.
Rahane and Kohli completely negated the opposition's biggest threat in the middle overs during their 189-run partnership. South Africa tried to do the same earlier in the day but found it rather more difficult. They had been 79 for 1 in 14 overs when India turned to spin at both ends. And they sunk to 134 for 5 by the time the stranglehold relented.
That was when Faf du Plessis took over. He knew the recovery would take time, and that he had to be present every step of the way. The job required patience and diligence and skill, and the South African captain was not found wanting, despite that bad back of his flaring up. Du Plessis was 91 not out in his previous ODI when he had to retire hurt because of it. This time he simply wouldn't let it - or the Indian bowlers - win. The Durban crowd were bowled over; the noise they made when he took strike on 99 was nothing short of poignant.
As hard as he applied himself, du Plessis looked every bit as awkward as anyone facing the wristspinners; his strike-rate against Kuldeep was 63.63. And he could have been lbw on 18 if India had chosen to double-check an appeal from Chahal in the 13th over. Given that slice of luck, he worked hard not to need another, forced to do so because the South African middle order simply fell limp. JP Duminy tried cutting a wrong 'un and was bowled. David Miller played away from his body and was caught at short cover. All they needed was survive the spinners and India would be forced to bring back their quicks, who were far easier to handle considering there was no sideways movement.
Du Plessis collected 82 runs off 60 balls from the seamers, and was particularly brutal on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as a strike-rate of 189 showed. His 120 ended up looking like an aberration on the South African scorecard; the next best contribution was 37 and no one who faced more than 20 balls managed a strike-rate anywhere near his 107.14. It was a masterful innings, just not a match-winning one.
2nd ODI
South Africa 118 (32.2/50 ov)
India 119/1 (20.3/50 ov)
India won by 9 wickets (with 177 balls remaining)
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav shared eight wickets between them at SuperSport Park, taking their total for the series to 13, as South Africa's biggest weakness was brutally exposed once again. Against wristspin, their line-up is close to clueless, especially without two of their leading batsmen. In the absence of the injured Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers, the hosts folded for their lowest ODI total at home, and their eighth-lowest overall.
Twenty-three-year-old Aiden Markram's international leadership debut on his home ground should have been the stuff of dreams, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. South Africa lost their first four wickets for 12 runs in the space of 26 balls and, after a very short period of rebuilding, their next six for 19 runs in 36 balls and were bowled out inside 33 overs. And just like that India cantered to a 2-0 series lead, although not before the players had wandered off for the scheduled interval break with just two runs required for victory.
Virat Kohli chose to put South Africa in because he expected some early movement with two new balls; the hosts were happy to bowl second, anticipating turn in the afternoon. But they did not have to wait that long to see what spinners could do on a surface that will doubtless come under the spotlight again, for failing to play the home team's advantage.
South Africa had a quiet start as Hashim Amla tried to anchor one end while Quinton de Kock was in the wars at the other. The first ball de Kock faced, bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, dribbled onto his stumps off a block but the bails were not dislodged. The second was a bouncer, in the vicinity of his throat, and the third struck him on the left hand.
De Kock got off the mark with a hook shot but continued to play tentatively and it was up to Amla to up the ante. That wasn't easy against the Indian openers and Amla flirted with danger when he edged one over the top of second slip but seemed to settle with a gorgeous cover drive.
South Africa would have seen out the Powerplay wicket-less and scoring at around four runs to the over but Amla - anticipating a fuller delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and shaping up to flay through the offside - was dismissed off a back-of-a-length ball that nipped back into him and took the edge as it passed through the bat-pad gap. Amla uncharacteristically reviewed, but replays showed he had to go.
De Kock lasted three more overs and never looked comfortable at the crease or with his equipment. He called for bat tape for an issue with the bottom of his bat and it was exactly that spot that got him into trouble when he tried to pull Chahal over midwicket but only found the fielder.
Sensing an opportunity to burrow into South Africa, Kohli brought on Kuldeep in the next over. His first ball was a half-tracker that Markram smacked in the air to deep midwicket where Bhuvneshwar was waiting. His fifth was tossed up, inviting the drive from David Miller, who came forward as the ball dipped in and edged to slip.
South Africa went from 39 without loss to 51 for 4. JP Duminy, the senior-most batsman in the line-up, had yet to face a ball and was out there with Khaya Zondo who was on debut. Duminy watched from the other end for 16 deliveries before his turn came. He and Zondo, who played calmly despite the situation, shared in a fifth-wicket stand of 48 and were allowed some reprieve when Kohli brought Hardik Pandya on in place of Chahal. They got to 95 for 4 at the halfway stage but then Chahal was brought back, Zondo's eyes lit up to a slow, wide ball outside off, and he slog-swept to midwicket to leave Duminy with only Chris Morris and the tail.
In Chahal's next over, Duminy was out lbw on the sweep. He wanted to review but Amla had used the only chance, and, even if Duminy did, it would have been in vain. The ball drifted from leg to pitch on middle and would have gone on to hit the stumps.
From there, it was a procession. Kuldeep trapped Kagiso Rabada lbw after Rabada failed to pick the wrong 'un, and he had Morne Morkel dropped at mid-on the next ball. Morkel only lasted five more balls before he too fell to spin; he played against the turn to Chahal and was out lbw.
Imran Tahir was bowled by Bumrah and Morris holed out to deep cover to give Chahal his maiden ODI five-for, the best figures by an Indian bowler against South Africa in South Africa, and the second-best by an Indian against South Africa ever. To add insult to injury, India knocked off all but 21 runs of the target by the time of the scheduled lunch break, and play was extended by 15 minutes to allow the result to be achieved. But because it wasn't, the players left the field for lunch with India needing two runs to win from 31 overs.
That farce aside, India did not face too many issues in the field. When play resumed, they quickly got the winning runs with a bit of a mis-hit behind square. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli took India there, with a second-wicket stand of 93 runs, with Dhawan providing the match's only half-century. South Africa only had one moment of success, when Kagiso Rabada had Rohit Sharma caught at fine leg off a bouncer in the fourth over. Rabada was the only bowler to show some intent and hit Kohli in the stomach, but South Africa needed much more. They did not even have enough runs to assess whether their decision to field two specialist spinners would have paid off, but the 18 runs Tabraiz Shamsi conceded in three overs suggests India were more than ready for the challenge.
3rd ODI
India 303/6 (50 ov)
South Africa 179 (40/50 ov)
India won by 124 runs
Virat Kohli ensured India will have some share of the silverware as he took them to unassailable 3-0 lead in the ODI series. Kohli scored his second century in three matches, his third on India's tour of South Africa and more than half India's total of 303 before his bowlers did the rest, or should that be wrist?
South Africa's line-up, riddled with inexperience, was again spun out by Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. With eight wickets between them, the pair took their series tally to 21. They have claimed but all but seven of the South African wickets across three matches. Their wickets at Newlands came at a cost just 69 runs, and through the series, they have conceded 190 runs and taken their wickets at an average of 9.05.
The hosts had serious problems, which started when they decided to bowl first on a surface where everything screams bat. Perhaps, it was the knowledge that India fancy themselves to chase just about anything and the ghosts of their previous two batting performances still swirling. But South Africa decided to save their weaker suit upfront and were witness to a Kohli masterclass instead, but not before they had an opportunity to dismiss him for a duck.
After Kagiso Rabada removed Rohit Sharma in the opening over, he had Kohli given out lbw off the third ball of his second over but the India captain reviewed. Replays showed Kohli had hit the ball as he attempted a flick. The on-field decision was overturned and so were South Africa's fortunes.
At the other end, debutant Lungi Ngidi struggled to pull his length back and India's batsmen capitalised. The visitors reached 50 in 10 overs with 40 via boundaries.
Andile Phehluwayo's opening over, full but wider outside off than Ngidi had been, promised to plug the flow of runs, but he lost his line after that. Morris tried the short ball but with Dhawan well set, only drinks could stop the runs momentarily. India were 87 for 1 after 16 overs.
Imran Tahir was introduced after the interval but Dhawan swept his second ball to the deep square leg boundary to bring up his fifty off 42 balls. Dhawan then swiped the fifth ball to the midwicket boundary to put Tahir under further pressure. Ngidi's second spell went significantly worse than his opening one. His first four overs cost 29 runs and his next two 18 to leave Aiden Markram with no choice but to turn to JP Duminy.
While offspin is meat and drink to India's line-up, Duminy was able to toss the ball up and slow it down and it brought some results. He had Dhawan chipping a catch to short midwicket in his second over to end a 140-run second-wicket stand that came at 6.31 runs an over. Five overs later Ajinkya Rahane was beaten in flight as he stepped out and holed out to long-off.
South Africa established something of a squeeze between the 20th and 40th over, in which they conceded 105 runs but Kohli was there throughout, accumulating steadily. In all, 100 of his 160 came through singles, twos, and threes. He had brought up his 34th ODI hundred off 119 balls when he nudged a double to fine leg.
Duminy completed a full quota of 10 overs for the first time since July 2013, and only the fifth time in his 182-match ODI career, returning 2 for 60.
India entered the final 10 overs on 223 for 4 and despite Tahir and Phehluwayo's dismissals of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadav respectively, Kohli accelerated. He brought up 1000 ODI runs against South Africa, 150 of 157 balls and helped India score 47 off the final five overs to top 300.
A target so steep demanded something much more than South Africa have offered so far and the early loss of Hashim Amla only made it tougher. Amla was deep in the crease when he missed a Jasprit Bumrah ball that slanted in from off stump and struck him on the pad. He considered a review but eventually decided against it and left Markram to lean on Duminy instead.
A 78-run stand followed with glimpses of promise from Markram and maturity from Duminy, who went on to score his first fifty in 21 ODIs, since October 2016, but the pair only kept South Africa in the chase for a short while. Once Markram was stumped off Kuldeep, South Africa's soft underbelly was exposed.
Heinrich Klaasen then missed a flick and was out lbw to Chahal and 15 balls later, Duminy went the same way, struck in front of leg stump. With the asking rate mounting, David Miller heaved and was caught behind off Bumrah to leave South Africa 129 for 5. They lost their last five wickets for 50 runs and may now look to a change in personnel ahead of the next three games. South Africa will announce the squad for the remainder of the series on Thursday with AB de Villiers expected to return from a finger injury.
4th ODI
India 289/7 (50 ov)
South Africa 207/5 (25.3/28 ov, target: 202)
South Africa won by 5 wickets (with 15 balls remaining) (D/L method)
It was thrill-a-minute at the Bull Ring, testing the mettle of both teams mettle and the nerves of packed crowd. For the longest time, India were dominant, Shikhar Dhawan's 109 leading the way. Then lightning struck, literally, to stop play and allow South Africa some time to regroup. Led by a miserly Kagiso Rabada, they conceded only 92 runs in the last 16 overs and earned themselves a target of 290. That was top work considering the Wanderers rarely entertains ODI chases of less than 300.
And there would be more. Rain reduced the game to 28 overs and South Africa were told they needed 202 to keep the series alive. It was under this pressure - with their two best batsmen already dismissed - that they played shots that were absolutely jaw dropping and won moments that were nothing short of match-changing. At the centre of it all was a newbie.
Heinrich Klaasen, the stand-in wicketkeeper, took a ball of wristspin - you know, the thing that's made South Africa spontaneously combust in this series - from outside the cut strip and pulled it for a one-bounce four to square leg. He then launched a free hit delivery so far into the night sky that it came down with a bit of star dust. An unbeaten 43 off 27 in a highest of pressure scenarios to seal victory is a grand return.
David Miller, at the other end, was equally destructive. He even one-upped his partner, sending a six so far into the crowd that the ball had to be changed. Clearly, he hasn't taken too well to India making him look like a walking wicket. Ironically, it was after he was bowled neck and crop by Yuzvendra Chahal, off a no-ball, that he unfurled his full and devastating power. By the end of the night, India's wristspinners nursed figures that read 6-0-51-2 and 5.3-0-68-1.
India would feel rather hard done by considering the weather in Johannesburg played a part in spoiling their batting effort in the middle overs and returned later in the day to give South Africa the kind of clarity that they did not seem capable of when playing Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav earlier in the series. It was hit out or get out and with almost nothing to lose, Klaasen and Miller indulged in batting that was very near maniacal. Andile Phehlukwayo was worse. He faced five balls, and walked back with 23 runs, including the winning hit.
Those cameos put the highest scorer of the day wondering what if. Bowlers cramping Dhawan for room is normal in any form of cricket. His abandoning that trademark, off-side dominant game and still managing to be a threat? Not so much. A century on his 100th ODI needs no added frills, not after it came with the addendum that he was the first Indian to do so, but sending out a message that he isn't as one-dimensional as he seems must have felt sweet.
South Africa did not allow him any runs on the cut until the 43rd delivery he faced. He went for the shot often enough, and was lucky to avoid chopping onto his stumps, but eventually decided that there were other ways to score and he was good enough to exploit them. At one point, he was 85 off only 75 balls, with flicks reminiscent of Sanath Jayasuriya and drives - the first one especially - that could fit into a Matthew Hayden highlight reel. Dhawan made 69 runs in the arc from long-on to long leg, and only 21 between long-off and third man.
But with India on 197 for 2 in the 35th over, a break in play for nearly an hour upset the momentum to such an extent that their top-scorer ended up spooning a catch to mid-off seven balls after play resumed. No sooner had Dhawan walked back that Ajinkya Rahane pulled a short ball straight to deep midwicket. Suddenly, two new batsmen were at the crease: Shreyas Iyer, playing his first innings on this tour and MS Dhoni, who needs time early in his innings to be properly destructive.
South Africa recognised their chance, which was a miracle in itself considering Virat Kohli has had them under his thumb this series. He was outstanding on Saturday too, moving to fifth place on the list of top ODI run-getters for India, but his wicket for 75 in the 32nd over, minutes before the weather soured, changed the game.
Rabada had a lower-middle order in front of him. And he turned so very hostile. He didn't care that he held an older ball in his hand, didn't care that it wasn't zipping through as before, he kept digging it hard into the pitch, cramping batsmen and hitting them on the body. His final five overs - bowled from the 33rd to the 49th - cost only 28 runs and yielded only one boundary.
Rabada also took out India's hitter Hardik Pandya - with ample help from Aiden Markram. South Africa's stand-in captain was at cover when a full-blooded slash came his way. He took a split second to position himself, then leapt back, stuck his right hand up and pulled off a screamer that would have had the man he was standing in for - Faf du Plessis - nodding with approval. With Rabada in charge of the final 10 overs, India could scramble only 59 runs. Even Dhoni could only get seven runs off 10 balls in the head-to-head.
South Africa ended the day with a sixth straight victory on pink day, while off the field, 1.6 million Rand was raised to fight breast cancer.
5th ODI
India 274/7
South Africa 201
India win by 73 runs
India have won their first bilateral series in South Africa across any format bar a one-off T20, with victory in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth. Their success in the series has been fashioned by their wristspinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who have taken 30 out of the 43 South African wickets to fall in five matches, at an average of 13.63.
Chahal and Kuldeep shared six wickets between them at St George's Park, where India defended a below-par total in a messy effort in the field that still managed to force a South African collapse. The hosts lost 6 for 31 to crash from 166 for 4 in the 35th over to being bowled out inside 43 overs and only have a win in a rain-shortened match in Johannesburg to show for their efforts.
India, on the other hand, have plenty to celebrate including the form of Rohit Sharma. After Virat Kohli in the first and third ODIs and Shikhar Dhawan in the fourth, finally Rohit, who did not manage a half-century in eight innings on this tour or over 20 in the ODIs, raised his bat to a hundred. But his innings was not without its drama.
Rohit witnessed two run-outs at the other end, including that of Kohli, survived a review, was dropped on 96 and then his dismissal sparked a mini-collapse in which India lost four wickets for 29 to finish with 274 for 7. India only scored 78 runs in the last 15 overs and South Africa would have fancied their chances,
The early battle lines were drawn between Kagiso Rabada and Shikhar Dhawan with the former ramping up his pace to 150kph and the latter dealing in boundaries. Dhawan scored all but two of his 34 runs in fours and took five of them off Rabada, who gave him an animated send-off.
At the other end, Rohit could have just been content with keeping Rabada at bay, given that Rabada had dismissed him in six out of eight innings on this tour. But Rohit was not merely content. He launched Rabada over long-on to show early intent and went on to take on the short balls, which Lungi Ngidi offered generously in his opening spell.
JP Duminy and Tabraiz Shamsi bowled in tandem for eight overs but their attempts to create pressure were stymied by the penchant for boundary balls. They conceded 49 runs in that time and it was only some quick work in the field that slowed India down.
Ultimately, Duminy removed Kohli but not in the way he would have imagined. Rohit tapped a Morkel delivery off the back foot and refused a run but Kohli was already on his way. Duminy had enough time to collect the ball from point and underarm it directly onto the stumps.
Kohli's dismissal quietened Rohit and India only scored 23 runs off the next 38 balls before Ajinkya Rahane was run-out. He was left stranded after tapping the ball to Morkel at mid-on; Rohit once again was not keen on the quick single.
If India were aiming for 300, Rohit needed to rebuild with the middle and lower order but getting his own milestone appeared to be the first mission and South Africa seemed determined to deny him. They appealed for caught behind when Rohit pulled Andile Phehlukwayo on 90 and reviewed the umpire's call of not out but replays showed the ball had hit the thigh pad. On 96, Rohit ramped and offered a straightforward catch to Shamsi, who could not hold on. Rohit's hundred eventually came up off 107 balls at the end of the 36th over, giving him enough time to make it really count.
But he could not. Instead, there was almost another run-out, that of Shreyas Iyer, some tentative nudging and nurdling and then Rohit was undone by extra bounce from Ngidi and caught behind. Hardik Pandya bottom-edged the next ball to Heinrich Klaasen and Iyer top-edged Ngidi to the wicketkeeper as well. India lost three wickets for two runs in 13 balls and needed MS Dhoni to finish off but as has been the case throughout the series, he could not get going.
The opposite was true for Hashim Amla, who made his first score of significance in the ODI series and kept South Africa in the game until he too, was run-out. Amla's intent was obvious from the third ball when he slashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar past backward point for four.
Iyer, whose memory of dropping David Miller at the Wanderers must be fresh, put down Aiden Markram at extra cover. Markram was on 9 when he drilled the drive to Iyer and started to play as though he would make India pay but not for too long. He was caught at midwicket two balls before the end of the Powerplay.
India almost had another wicket off the next ball but Duminy's inside edge fell just short of Dhoni. Exactly six balls later, Duminy edged Pandya to slip but Pandya's bigger contributions were yet to come. In his next over, he had AB de Villiers caught behind and South Africa were reduced to 65 for 3.
Amla had David Miller to keep the required run rate in check and the pair accumulated steadily. They shared a 62-run fourth-wicket stand and tried to rotate strike against India's wristspinners. Miller survived an lbw review off Chahal, hit him for six and on the hand but Chahal also produced some deliveries Miller knew nothing about. He was eventually bowled by one such ball, which meandered towards him with the pace of a Port Elizabeth day (read 'slow') and crashed into his stumps.
By then, Amla had been let off on 38, by Rahane at short point off Pandya, and India were already racking up what-should-have-beens which would only have grown longer as Amla batted on. His first fifty of the series came off 72 balls. With Klaasen at the other end, despite the climbing run rate, South Africa would have been confident that they could accelerate with wickets in hand.
It was only when Amla was run-out, by the smallest of margins when he failed to get any part of his bat over the line after setting off for a hasty single off Bhuvneshwar, that the task began to look too tough. Pandya was the fielder and his direct hit of the non-striker's stumps sent South Africa into freefall. The next five wickets fell in 47 balls, all to wristspin and three in four balls in Kuldeep's last over.
6th ODI
South Africa 204 (46.5/50 ov)
India 206/2 (32.1/50 ov)
India won by 8 wickets (with 107 balls remaining)
Confidence and form are two of the most influential factors in batting. They often dictate timing and placement, requisites for scoring runs. South Africa have lacked both after their sub-par performances this series. Therefore, in good batting conditions in Centurion, South Africa's batsmen grappled with their own lack of confidence and India's disciplined bowling, resulting in another mediocre total. Shardul Thakur, playing his first match of the series, led another clinical display from India with figures of 4 for 52 as South Africa were bowled out for 204.
On the other end of that form spectrum lies Virat Kohli. With 429 runs in five games prior to the final ODI, Kohli was oozing confidence. Against a jaded bowling attack, and with all that belief, his 35th ODI hundred was almost a formality. It helped India coast to an eight-wicket win, and take the six-match series 5-1. Kohli finished with 558 runs in six matches, the most by a batsman in a bilateral series.
Just like in the second ODI at the same venue, South Africa began cautiously to suss out conditions early. What their openers, Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram, found was a surface that was sluggish, with strokes on the up taking the inside and outside halves of the bat. In the thin air of the Highveld and under some pressure, Amla saw an opportunity to hit Thakur over fine leg for six in the seventh over. His attempt to pull, from bottom to top to get underneath the ball, cost him a fraction of a second, and he could only strangle a leg-side delivery to the keeper.
Markram played some fluent strokes, including a well-timed six over square leg, but like in Port Elizabeth he was caught in the circle trying to force the pace. He was caught, looking to clear cover, a shot that was preceded by two languid drives off overpitched deliveries that found the same fielder.
South Africa's best period of batting followed, with AB de Villiers and Khaya Zondo attacking India's wristspinners. In the 18th over, de Villiers hit Kuldeep for three successive fours - a drive through point, an inside-edge just past the stumps, and a reverse sweep. Zondo pulled Yuzvendra Chahal for two sixes over midwicket in the next over. They had added 62 off 65 balls before de Villiers missed a straight, flat delivery, trying to cut.
Zondo and Heinrich Klaasen, after the loss of South Africa's best ODI batsman and with a fragile middle order to follow, were overly cautious, accumulating 30 in 58 balls. Klaasen then drilled a slower delivery to short cover. Farhaan Behardien, playing his first match of the series, holed out to third man in the next over. Zondo's spirited fight ended when he chipped Chahal to sweeper cover, for 54. South Africa's score hadn't progressed much since de Villiers' dismissal and their momentum had been sucked out.
Andile Phehlukwayo and Morne Morkel pleased the sparse Centurion crowd with an exciting 36-run partnership, the second-highest of the innings. Then Morkel scythed a cut to sweeper cover, and Imran Tahir and Phehlukwayo were caught off slower balls. Even though they did reasonably well against the wristspinners - scoring 89 runs for three wickets off 20 overs - South Africa fell well below the target they must have aimed at, ending up with 19 unutilised deliveries.
Fresh off a match-winning hundred, Rohit Sharma began the chase with a few exquisite cuts behind and in front of point. South Africa's short-ball ploy worked as he gloved a bouncer from Lungi Ngidi to the keeper. They persisted with that length thereafter which, on a slow pitch, was always fraught with risk.
Kohli pounced on that length. With attacking fields and the short deliveries sitting up, Kohli laid into cross-batted strokes on either side of the pitch. He blazed away to 38 off 25. Dhawan, on the other hand, struggling for timing, was 14 off 30. Dhawan's 34 ball struggle ended when he nailed a cut to backward point, for 18, South Africa's last moment of respite in an effortless chase.
Kohli and Rahane added an unbeaten 129 off just 117 balls. Rahane contributed 34 off 50 balls, playing adeptly around the belligerence of Kohli. In stark contrast to his usual mode of operation in ODIs, Kohli's ton was filled with boundaries: 19 fours and two sixes, making up 68.21% of his runs. The trouble he faced in mustering all those runs, though, was nearly zero.
South Africa 269/8 (50 ov)
India 270/4 (45.3/50 ov)
India won by 6 wickets (with 27 balls remaining)
He wanted to bat first at the toss. He was then rolling on the floor not laughing when his knee jammed into the Durban outfield. He might even have been peeved that his fast bowlers, so reliable at home, had turned liabilities for a few hours. But put a bat in Virat Kohli's hands, tell him he has to lead a tough chase, and just watch him go.
There is a template, and it appears to work regardless of opposition, and of conditions. Step one, intimidate. Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada were nudging 145 kph and above but he stood outside his crease and charged at them. Step two, keep the ball on the ground. Batting second is largely about risk-assessment. And this trick takes the possibility of being caught out of the picture. He's rarely ever lbw so that's two modes of dismissals negated. But for all this to come together, he has to run like the wind. There is, sometimes, collateral damage - Shikhar Dhawan tonight - but otherwise the people tearing their hair out mostly belong to the opposition. Step three, exploit the slightest weakness, aka South Africa's fifth bowler. Kohli barely gave Andile Phehlukwayo breathing room, and it was by flaying him through point and then through cover that he raised his 33rd ODI century. Over the past five years, he has made one every five innings. Kohli has made the extraordinary look normal for quite a while in one-day cricket.
"It's a lot of fun," he said at the end of it all with a perfectly straight face. You would think he was talking about going to a movie, or eating ice-cream. With this score of 112, Kohli has made centuries in each of the nine countries in which he has played 50-overs cricket.
Ajinkya Rahane was at the other end for most of that knock, and his 79 off 86 was no less significant. Given a resounding endorsement to take the No. 4 slot a day before the match, he came out with India wobbling. The score was 67 for 2 and there were 37 overs left. Another wicket would have opened up the middle order, which is filled with players who were yet to bat in these conditions on this tour. South Africa had a chance, but to convert it, they needed Imran Tahir to be as effective as India's wristspinners had been.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, playing in tandem for the first time outside the subcontinent, on a pitch that did not afford any turn, brought the scoring rate down and spurred second thoughts in the batsman's mind as they claimed five wickets for a mere 79 runs. Tahir was economical too, but that was all he was.
Rahane and Kohli completely negated the opposition's biggest threat in the middle overs during their 189-run partnership. South Africa tried to do the same earlier in the day but found it rather more difficult. They had been 79 for 1 in 14 overs when India turned to spin at both ends. And they sunk to 134 for 5 by the time the stranglehold relented.
That was when Faf du Plessis took over. He knew the recovery would take time, and that he had to be present every step of the way. The job required patience and diligence and skill, and the South African captain was not found wanting, despite that bad back of his flaring up. Du Plessis was 91 not out in his previous ODI when he had to retire hurt because of it. This time he simply wouldn't let it - or the Indian bowlers - win. The Durban crowd were bowled over; the noise they made when he took strike on 99 was nothing short of poignant.
As hard as he applied himself, du Plessis looked every bit as awkward as anyone facing the wristspinners; his strike-rate against Kuldeep was 63.63. And he could have been lbw on 18 if India had chosen to double-check an appeal from Chahal in the 13th over. Given that slice of luck, he worked hard not to need another, forced to do so because the South African middle order simply fell limp. JP Duminy tried cutting a wrong 'un and was bowled. David Miller played away from his body and was caught at short cover. All they needed was survive the spinners and India would be forced to bring back their quicks, who were far easier to handle considering there was no sideways movement.
Du Plessis collected 82 runs off 60 balls from the seamers, and was particularly brutal on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as a strike-rate of 189 showed. His 120 ended up looking like an aberration on the South African scorecard; the next best contribution was 37 and no one who faced more than 20 balls managed a strike-rate anywhere near his 107.14. It was a masterful innings, just not a match-winning one.
2nd ODI
South Africa 118 (32.2/50 ov)
India 119/1 (20.3/50 ov)
India won by 9 wickets (with 177 balls remaining)
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav shared eight wickets between them at SuperSport Park, taking their total for the series to 13, as South Africa's biggest weakness was brutally exposed once again. Against wristspin, their line-up is close to clueless, especially without two of their leading batsmen. In the absence of the injured Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers, the hosts folded for their lowest ODI total at home, and their eighth-lowest overall.
Twenty-three-year-old Aiden Markram's international leadership debut on his home ground should have been the stuff of dreams, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. South Africa lost their first four wickets for 12 runs in the space of 26 balls and, after a very short period of rebuilding, their next six for 19 runs in 36 balls and were bowled out inside 33 overs. And just like that India cantered to a 2-0 series lead, although not before the players had wandered off for the scheduled interval break with just two runs required for victory.
Virat Kohli chose to put South Africa in because he expected some early movement with two new balls; the hosts were happy to bowl second, anticipating turn in the afternoon. But they did not have to wait that long to see what spinners could do on a surface that will doubtless come under the spotlight again, for failing to play the home team's advantage.
South Africa had a quiet start as Hashim Amla tried to anchor one end while Quinton de Kock was in the wars at the other. The first ball de Kock faced, bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, dribbled onto his stumps off a block but the bails were not dislodged. The second was a bouncer, in the vicinity of his throat, and the third struck him on the left hand.
De Kock got off the mark with a hook shot but continued to play tentatively and it was up to Amla to up the ante. That wasn't easy against the Indian openers and Amla flirted with danger when he edged one over the top of second slip but seemed to settle with a gorgeous cover drive.
South Africa would have seen out the Powerplay wicket-less and scoring at around four runs to the over but Amla - anticipating a fuller delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and shaping up to flay through the offside - was dismissed off a back-of-a-length ball that nipped back into him and took the edge as it passed through the bat-pad gap. Amla uncharacteristically reviewed, but replays showed he had to go.
De Kock lasted three more overs and never looked comfortable at the crease or with his equipment. He called for bat tape for an issue with the bottom of his bat and it was exactly that spot that got him into trouble when he tried to pull Chahal over midwicket but only found the fielder.
Sensing an opportunity to burrow into South Africa, Kohli brought on Kuldeep in the next over. His first ball was a half-tracker that Markram smacked in the air to deep midwicket where Bhuvneshwar was waiting. His fifth was tossed up, inviting the drive from David Miller, who came forward as the ball dipped in and edged to slip.
South Africa went from 39 without loss to 51 for 4. JP Duminy, the senior-most batsman in the line-up, had yet to face a ball and was out there with Khaya Zondo who was on debut. Duminy watched from the other end for 16 deliveries before his turn came. He and Zondo, who played calmly despite the situation, shared in a fifth-wicket stand of 48 and were allowed some reprieve when Kohli brought Hardik Pandya on in place of Chahal. They got to 95 for 4 at the halfway stage but then Chahal was brought back, Zondo's eyes lit up to a slow, wide ball outside off, and he slog-swept to midwicket to leave Duminy with only Chris Morris and the tail.
In Chahal's next over, Duminy was out lbw on the sweep. He wanted to review but Amla had used the only chance, and, even if Duminy did, it would have been in vain. The ball drifted from leg to pitch on middle and would have gone on to hit the stumps.
From there, it was a procession. Kuldeep trapped Kagiso Rabada lbw after Rabada failed to pick the wrong 'un, and he had Morne Morkel dropped at mid-on the next ball. Morkel only lasted five more balls before he too fell to spin; he played against the turn to Chahal and was out lbw.
Imran Tahir was bowled by Bumrah and Morris holed out to deep cover to give Chahal his maiden ODI five-for, the best figures by an Indian bowler against South Africa in South Africa, and the second-best by an Indian against South Africa ever. To add insult to injury, India knocked off all but 21 runs of the target by the time of the scheduled lunch break, and play was extended by 15 minutes to allow the result to be achieved. But because it wasn't, the players left the field for lunch with India needing two runs to win from 31 overs.
That farce aside, India did not face too many issues in the field. When play resumed, they quickly got the winning runs with a bit of a mis-hit behind square. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli took India there, with a second-wicket stand of 93 runs, with Dhawan providing the match's only half-century. South Africa only had one moment of success, when Kagiso Rabada had Rohit Sharma caught at fine leg off a bouncer in the fourth over. Rabada was the only bowler to show some intent and hit Kohli in the stomach, but South Africa needed much more. They did not even have enough runs to assess whether their decision to field two specialist spinners would have paid off, but the 18 runs Tabraiz Shamsi conceded in three overs suggests India were more than ready for the challenge.
3rd ODI
India 303/6 (50 ov)
South Africa 179 (40/50 ov)
India won by 124 runs
Virat Kohli ensured India will have some share of the silverware as he took them to unassailable 3-0 lead in the ODI series. Kohli scored his second century in three matches, his third on India's tour of South Africa and more than half India's total of 303 before his bowlers did the rest, or should that be wrist?
South Africa's line-up, riddled with inexperience, was again spun out by Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. With eight wickets between them, the pair took their series tally to 21. They have claimed but all but seven of the South African wickets across three matches. Their wickets at Newlands came at a cost just 69 runs, and through the series, they have conceded 190 runs and taken their wickets at an average of 9.05.
The hosts had serious problems, which started when they decided to bowl first on a surface where everything screams bat. Perhaps, it was the knowledge that India fancy themselves to chase just about anything and the ghosts of their previous two batting performances still swirling. But South Africa decided to save their weaker suit upfront and were witness to a Kohli masterclass instead, but not before they had an opportunity to dismiss him for a duck.
After Kagiso Rabada removed Rohit Sharma in the opening over, he had Kohli given out lbw off the third ball of his second over but the India captain reviewed. Replays showed Kohli had hit the ball as he attempted a flick. The on-field decision was overturned and so were South Africa's fortunes.
At the other end, debutant Lungi Ngidi struggled to pull his length back and India's batsmen capitalised. The visitors reached 50 in 10 overs with 40 via boundaries.
Andile Phehluwayo's opening over, full but wider outside off than Ngidi had been, promised to plug the flow of runs, but he lost his line after that. Morris tried the short ball but with Dhawan well set, only drinks could stop the runs momentarily. India were 87 for 1 after 16 overs.
Imran Tahir was introduced after the interval but Dhawan swept his second ball to the deep square leg boundary to bring up his fifty off 42 balls. Dhawan then swiped the fifth ball to the midwicket boundary to put Tahir under further pressure. Ngidi's second spell went significantly worse than his opening one. His first four overs cost 29 runs and his next two 18 to leave Aiden Markram with no choice but to turn to JP Duminy.
While offspin is meat and drink to India's line-up, Duminy was able to toss the ball up and slow it down and it brought some results. He had Dhawan chipping a catch to short midwicket in his second over to end a 140-run second-wicket stand that came at 6.31 runs an over. Five overs later Ajinkya Rahane was beaten in flight as he stepped out and holed out to long-off.
South Africa established something of a squeeze between the 20th and 40th over, in which they conceded 105 runs but Kohli was there throughout, accumulating steadily. In all, 100 of his 160 came through singles, twos, and threes. He had brought up his 34th ODI hundred off 119 balls when he nudged a double to fine leg.
Duminy completed a full quota of 10 overs for the first time since July 2013, and only the fifth time in his 182-match ODI career, returning 2 for 60.
India entered the final 10 overs on 223 for 4 and despite Tahir and Phehluwayo's dismissals of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadav respectively, Kohli accelerated. He brought up 1000 ODI runs against South Africa, 150 of 157 balls and helped India score 47 off the final five overs to top 300.
A target so steep demanded something much more than South Africa have offered so far and the early loss of Hashim Amla only made it tougher. Amla was deep in the crease when he missed a Jasprit Bumrah ball that slanted in from off stump and struck him on the pad. He considered a review but eventually decided against it and left Markram to lean on Duminy instead.
A 78-run stand followed with glimpses of promise from Markram and maturity from Duminy, who went on to score his first fifty in 21 ODIs, since October 2016, but the pair only kept South Africa in the chase for a short while. Once Markram was stumped off Kuldeep, South Africa's soft underbelly was exposed.
Heinrich Klaasen then missed a flick and was out lbw to Chahal and 15 balls later, Duminy went the same way, struck in front of leg stump. With the asking rate mounting, David Miller heaved and was caught behind off Bumrah to leave South Africa 129 for 5. They lost their last five wickets for 50 runs and may now look to a change in personnel ahead of the next three games. South Africa will announce the squad for the remainder of the series on Thursday with AB de Villiers expected to return from a finger injury.
4th ODI
India 289/7 (50 ov)
South Africa 207/5 (25.3/28 ov, target: 202)
South Africa won by 5 wickets (with 15 balls remaining) (D/L method)
It was thrill-a-minute at the Bull Ring, testing the mettle of both teams mettle and the nerves of packed crowd. For the longest time, India were dominant, Shikhar Dhawan's 109 leading the way. Then lightning struck, literally, to stop play and allow South Africa some time to regroup. Led by a miserly Kagiso Rabada, they conceded only 92 runs in the last 16 overs and earned themselves a target of 290. That was top work considering the Wanderers rarely entertains ODI chases of less than 300.
And there would be more. Rain reduced the game to 28 overs and South Africa were told they needed 202 to keep the series alive. It was under this pressure - with their two best batsmen already dismissed - that they played shots that were absolutely jaw dropping and won moments that were nothing short of match-changing. At the centre of it all was a newbie.
Heinrich Klaasen, the stand-in wicketkeeper, took a ball of wristspin - you know, the thing that's made South Africa spontaneously combust in this series - from outside the cut strip and pulled it for a one-bounce four to square leg. He then launched a free hit delivery so far into the night sky that it came down with a bit of star dust. An unbeaten 43 off 27 in a highest of pressure scenarios to seal victory is a grand return.
David Miller, at the other end, was equally destructive. He even one-upped his partner, sending a six so far into the crowd that the ball had to be changed. Clearly, he hasn't taken too well to India making him look like a walking wicket. Ironically, it was after he was bowled neck and crop by Yuzvendra Chahal, off a no-ball, that he unfurled his full and devastating power. By the end of the night, India's wristspinners nursed figures that read 6-0-51-2 and 5.3-0-68-1.
India would feel rather hard done by considering the weather in Johannesburg played a part in spoiling their batting effort in the middle overs and returned later in the day to give South Africa the kind of clarity that they did not seem capable of when playing Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav earlier in the series. It was hit out or get out and with almost nothing to lose, Klaasen and Miller indulged in batting that was very near maniacal. Andile Phehlukwayo was worse. He faced five balls, and walked back with 23 runs, including the winning hit.
Those cameos put the highest scorer of the day wondering what if. Bowlers cramping Dhawan for room is normal in any form of cricket. His abandoning that trademark, off-side dominant game and still managing to be a threat? Not so much. A century on his 100th ODI needs no added frills, not after it came with the addendum that he was the first Indian to do so, but sending out a message that he isn't as one-dimensional as he seems must have felt sweet.
South Africa did not allow him any runs on the cut until the 43rd delivery he faced. He went for the shot often enough, and was lucky to avoid chopping onto his stumps, but eventually decided that there were other ways to score and he was good enough to exploit them. At one point, he was 85 off only 75 balls, with flicks reminiscent of Sanath Jayasuriya and drives - the first one especially - that could fit into a Matthew Hayden highlight reel. Dhawan made 69 runs in the arc from long-on to long leg, and only 21 between long-off and third man.
But with India on 197 for 2 in the 35th over, a break in play for nearly an hour upset the momentum to such an extent that their top-scorer ended up spooning a catch to mid-off seven balls after play resumed. No sooner had Dhawan walked back that Ajinkya Rahane pulled a short ball straight to deep midwicket. Suddenly, two new batsmen were at the crease: Shreyas Iyer, playing his first innings on this tour and MS Dhoni, who needs time early in his innings to be properly destructive.
South Africa recognised their chance, which was a miracle in itself considering Virat Kohli has had them under his thumb this series. He was outstanding on Saturday too, moving to fifth place on the list of top ODI run-getters for India, but his wicket for 75 in the 32nd over, minutes before the weather soured, changed the game.
Rabada had a lower-middle order in front of him. And he turned so very hostile. He didn't care that he held an older ball in his hand, didn't care that it wasn't zipping through as before, he kept digging it hard into the pitch, cramping batsmen and hitting them on the body. His final five overs - bowled from the 33rd to the 49th - cost only 28 runs and yielded only one boundary.
Rabada also took out India's hitter Hardik Pandya - with ample help from Aiden Markram. South Africa's stand-in captain was at cover when a full-blooded slash came his way. He took a split second to position himself, then leapt back, stuck his right hand up and pulled off a screamer that would have had the man he was standing in for - Faf du Plessis - nodding with approval. With Rabada in charge of the final 10 overs, India could scramble only 59 runs. Even Dhoni could only get seven runs off 10 balls in the head-to-head.
South Africa ended the day with a sixth straight victory on pink day, while off the field, 1.6 million Rand was raised to fight breast cancer.
5th ODI
India 274/7
South Africa 201
India win by 73 runs
India have won their first bilateral series in South Africa across any format bar a one-off T20, with victory in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth. Their success in the series has been fashioned by their wristspinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who have taken 30 out of the 43 South African wickets to fall in five matches, at an average of 13.63.
Chahal and Kuldeep shared six wickets between them at St George's Park, where India defended a below-par total in a messy effort in the field that still managed to force a South African collapse. The hosts lost 6 for 31 to crash from 166 for 4 in the 35th over to being bowled out inside 43 overs and only have a win in a rain-shortened match in Johannesburg to show for their efforts.
India, on the other hand, have plenty to celebrate including the form of Rohit Sharma. After Virat Kohli in the first and third ODIs and Shikhar Dhawan in the fourth, finally Rohit, who did not manage a half-century in eight innings on this tour or over 20 in the ODIs, raised his bat to a hundred. But his innings was not without its drama.
Rohit witnessed two run-outs at the other end, including that of Kohli, survived a review, was dropped on 96 and then his dismissal sparked a mini-collapse in which India lost four wickets for 29 to finish with 274 for 7. India only scored 78 runs in the last 15 overs and South Africa would have fancied their chances,
The early battle lines were drawn between Kagiso Rabada and Shikhar Dhawan with the former ramping up his pace to 150kph and the latter dealing in boundaries. Dhawan scored all but two of his 34 runs in fours and took five of them off Rabada, who gave him an animated send-off.
At the other end, Rohit could have just been content with keeping Rabada at bay, given that Rabada had dismissed him in six out of eight innings on this tour. But Rohit was not merely content. He launched Rabada over long-on to show early intent and went on to take on the short balls, which Lungi Ngidi offered generously in his opening spell.
JP Duminy and Tabraiz Shamsi bowled in tandem for eight overs but their attempts to create pressure were stymied by the penchant for boundary balls. They conceded 49 runs in that time and it was only some quick work in the field that slowed India down.
Ultimately, Duminy removed Kohli but not in the way he would have imagined. Rohit tapped a Morkel delivery off the back foot and refused a run but Kohli was already on his way. Duminy had enough time to collect the ball from point and underarm it directly onto the stumps.
Kohli's dismissal quietened Rohit and India only scored 23 runs off the next 38 balls before Ajinkya Rahane was run-out. He was left stranded after tapping the ball to Morkel at mid-on; Rohit once again was not keen on the quick single.
If India were aiming for 300, Rohit needed to rebuild with the middle and lower order but getting his own milestone appeared to be the first mission and South Africa seemed determined to deny him. They appealed for caught behind when Rohit pulled Andile Phehlukwayo on 90 and reviewed the umpire's call of not out but replays showed the ball had hit the thigh pad. On 96, Rohit ramped and offered a straightforward catch to Shamsi, who could not hold on. Rohit's hundred eventually came up off 107 balls at the end of the 36th over, giving him enough time to make it really count.
But he could not. Instead, there was almost another run-out, that of Shreyas Iyer, some tentative nudging and nurdling and then Rohit was undone by extra bounce from Ngidi and caught behind. Hardik Pandya bottom-edged the next ball to Heinrich Klaasen and Iyer top-edged Ngidi to the wicketkeeper as well. India lost three wickets for two runs in 13 balls and needed MS Dhoni to finish off but as has been the case throughout the series, he could not get going.
The opposite was true for Hashim Amla, who made his first score of significance in the ODI series and kept South Africa in the game until he too, was run-out. Amla's intent was obvious from the third ball when he slashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar past backward point for four.
Iyer, whose memory of dropping David Miller at the Wanderers must be fresh, put down Aiden Markram at extra cover. Markram was on 9 when he drilled the drive to Iyer and started to play as though he would make India pay but not for too long. He was caught at midwicket two balls before the end of the Powerplay.
India almost had another wicket off the next ball but Duminy's inside edge fell just short of Dhoni. Exactly six balls later, Duminy edged Pandya to slip but Pandya's bigger contributions were yet to come. In his next over, he had AB de Villiers caught behind and South Africa were reduced to 65 for 3.
Amla had David Miller to keep the required run rate in check and the pair accumulated steadily. They shared a 62-run fourth-wicket stand and tried to rotate strike against India's wristspinners. Miller survived an lbw review off Chahal, hit him for six and on the hand but Chahal also produced some deliveries Miller knew nothing about. He was eventually bowled by one such ball, which meandered towards him with the pace of a Port Elizabeth day (read 'slow') and crashed into his stumps.
By then, Amla had been let off on 38, by Rahane at short point off Pandya, and India were already racking up what-should-have-beens which would only have grown longer as Amla batted on. His first fifty of the series came off 72 balls. With Klaasen at the other end, despite the climbing run rate, South Africa would have been confident that they could accelerate with wickets in hand.
It was only when Amla was run-out, by the smallest of margins when he failed to get any part of his bat over the line after setting off for a hasty single off Bhuvneshwar, that the task began to look too tough. Pandya was the fielder and his direct hit of the non-striker's stumps sent South Africa into freefall. The next five wickets fell in 47 balls, all to wristspin and three in four balls in Kuldeep's last over.
6th ODI
South Africa 204 (46.5/50 ov)
India 206/2 (32.1/50 ov)
India won by 8 wickets (with 107 balls remaining)
Confidence and form are two of the most influential factors in batting. They often dictate timing and placement, requisites for scoring runs. South Africa have lacked both after their sub-par performances this series. Therefore, in good batting conditions in Centurion, South Africa's batsmen grappled with their own lack of confidence and India's disciplined bowling, resulting in another mediocre total. Shardul Thakur, playing his first match of the series, led another clinical display from India with figures of 4 for 52 as South Africa were bowled out for 204.
On the other end of that form spectrum lies Virat Kohli. With 429 runs in five games prior to the final ODI, Kohli was oozing confidence. Against a jaded bowling attack, and with all that belief, his 35th ODI hundred was almost a formality. It helped India coast to an eight-wicket win, and take the six-match series 5-1. Kohli finished with 558 runs in six matches, the most by a batsman in a bilateral series.
Just like in the second ODI at the same venue, South Africa began cautiously to suss out conditions early. What their openers, Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram, found was a surface that was sluggish, with strokes on the up taking the inside and outside halves of the bat. In the thin air of the Highveld and under some pressure, Amla saw an opportunity to hit Thakur over fine leg for six in the seventh over. His attempt to pull, from bottom to top to get underneath the ball, cost him a fraction of a second, and he could only strangle a leg-side delivery to the keeper.
Markram played some fluent strokes, including a well-timed six over square leg, but like in Port Elizabeth he was caught in the circle trying to force the pace. He was caught, looking to clear cover, a shot that was preceded by two languid drives off overpitched deliveries that found the same fielder.
South Africa's best period of batting followed, with AB de Villiers and Khaya Zondo attacking India's wristspinners. In the 18th over, de Villiers hit Kuldeep for three successive fours - a drive through point, an inside-edge just past the stumps, and a reverse sweep. Zondo pulled Yuzvendra Chahal for two sixes over midwicket in the next over. They had added 62 off 65 balls before de Villiers missed a straight, flat delivery, trying to cut.
Zondo and Heinrich Klaasen, after the loss of South Africa's best ODI batsman and with a fragile middle order to follow, were overly cautious, accumulating 30 in 58 balls. Klaasen then drilled a slower delivery to short cover. Farhaan Behardien, playing his first match of the series, holed out to third man in the next over. Zondo's spirited fight ended when he chipped Chahal to sweeper cover, for 54. South Africa's score hadn't progressed much since de Villiers' dismissal and their momentum had been sucked out.
Andile Phehlukwayo and Morne Morkel pleased the sparse Centurion crowd with an exciting 36-run partnership, the second-highest of the innings. Then Morkel scythed a cut to sweeper cover, and Imran Tahir and Phehlukwayo were caught off slower balls. Even though they did reasonably well against the wristspinners - scoring 89 runs for three wickets off 20 overs - South Africa fell well below the target they must have aimed at, ending up with 19 unutilised deliveries.
Fresh off a match-winning hundred, Rohit Sharma began the chase with a few exquisite cuts behind and in front of point. South Africa's short-ball ploy worked as he gloved a bouncer from Lungi Ngidi to the keeper. They persisted with that length thereafter which, on a slow pitch, was always fraught with risk.
Kohli pounced on that length. With attacking fields and the short deliveries sitting up, Kohli laid into cross-batted strokes on either side of the pitch. He blazed away to 38 off 25. Dhawan, on the other hand, struggling for timing, was 14 off 30. Dhawan's 34 ball struggle ended when he nailed a cut to backward point, for 18, South Africa's last moment of respite in an effortless chase.
Kohli and Rahane added an unbeaten 129 off just 117 balls. Rahane contributed 34 off 50 balls, playing adeptly around the belligerence of Kohli. In stark contrast to his usual mode of operation in ODIs, Kohli's ton was filled with boundaries: 19 fours and two sixes, making up 68.21% of his runs. The trouble he faced in mustering all those runs, though, was nearly zero.
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