1st Test
Day 1
Sri Lanka 321/4 (88.0 ov)
Bangladesh
How sweet homecomings can be. Having failed to score 300 in any of their six Test innings in South Africa, Sri Lanka rode Kusal Mendis's suave 166 not out to a score of 321 for 4 on the first day in Galle. Along the way, Mendis signed up Asela Gunaratne for a sidekick, forging with him a dominant 196-run fourth-wicket stand, of which Gunaratne's share was 85.
This Galle pitch deserves a first-innings total of at least 400, so although Sri Lanka's position is strong for now, it is certainly not an unassailable one. Bangladesh, though, will rue their falling away towards the end of the day. Their first three hours had been disciplined and energetic, the quicks squeezing a little movement from a reluctant surface in the early overs, before the spinners dealt almost exclusively in tight lines and lengths at their initial introduction. Their initial reward for this stretch of good bowling was a scoreline of 92 for 3, but then their pep waivered. The last dismissal came after several hours, not long before the close of play.
That late scalp was well-deserved by Taskin Ahmed, though - he was Bangladesh's most consistent operator through the day, and it was appropriate that he have at least one scalp to show for his toil.
Mendis's innings was not without its flaws, but the mistakes came in the early going. He was assured through the middle of the day, and by the end: sublime. The worst shot had been his first. Mendis flashed at a short ball outside off stump from Subhashis Roy, to send an under-edge to the keeper. Bangladesh were celebrating and he was trudging off when the umpires sought to run a no-ball check, with replays showing the bowler had overstepped. Though visibly relieved, the experience was enough to scare Mendis into early reticence - only 22 came from his first 60 balls.
There had been a little juice in the pitch in the early overs, too - a modicum of sideways movement, and just a hint of zip off the pitch. When this disappeared in the day's relentless heat, Mendis began to prosper. First he parsed the mild spin of Shakib Al Hasan and the moderate turn of Mehedi Hasan. He then withstood Taskin's intense second and third spells. Eventually Subashis tried to unsettle him with a short-ball assault, but though the occasional bouncer beat his hook shot, and another ball took the splice of his bat, he retained his wicket, and soon enough, began to score off the rib-high balls as well. As always with a good Mendis innings, there was that flicked on-drive, but on this occasion it was the swat-pull that defined his progress through the middle of the day. His first fifty took 101 deliveries but, in the company of Gunaratne - who was also scoring smoothly - Mendis hit his second off 64 balls.
As the day grew long, and Bangladesh began to visibly wilt, Mendis only grew more dominant. He slinked down the crease to hit Shakib over long-on in the 76th over, then slog-swept Mehedi over deep midwicket soon after. He sailed past 150 in the final overs of the day. This innings was not nearly as impressive as his maiden ton - 176 against Australia last year - but he has, nevertheless, already displayed a thirst for big hundreds.
Gunaratne, his partner for 43 overs, rarely appeared troubled at the crease, and was quick to punish anything short. Against the spinners he deployed his favoured sweep and reverse sweep. He glided to a half-century in 85 balls, and rarely failed to find gaps to release the pressure when a few dot balls had built up. This was his third fifty-plus score in five Test innings.
Before Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal had produced a long, fruitless stay at the crease. It was not tortured exactly - the ball rarely beating his bat or causing him strife - but it was unambitious in the extreme. Why he embraced this ultra-conservative approach is unclear, particularly as he had just clattered 190 off 253 against the same attack in the tour match last week. Whatever the case, he only succeeded in taking time out of the game. Midway through the afternoon, a sudden burst of energy overtook him: he attempted to flay Mustafizur Rahman through the covers, then tried to slash him a little squarer next ball. The first shot was mistimed, and yielded no run. The second attempt sent a thick outside edge directly to gully, who gobbled up the catch. Chandimal ended with 5 runs to show for 54 balls and 71 minutes at the crease.
The first session had been Bangladesh's best, as Subhashis, Taskin and Mustafizur delivered impeccable spells to corner Sri Lanka into conservatism. Subhashis had made the first incision, darting a ball back off the seam to rattle Upul Tharanga's stumps. Mehedi had Dimuth Karunaratne cutting too close to his body to make the second breakthrough. Sri Lanka were 61 for 2 at lunch, and there seemed a chance, at that stage, that their unusual decision to field only six batsmen for this Test would immediately hurt them.
Mendis ensured that would not be the case.
Day 2
Sri Lanka 494
Bangladesh 133/2 (46.0 ov)
Bangladesh trail by 361 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
On another batting day at Galle, Sri Lanka swelled their score to a 494, before Bangladesh cruised to 133 for 2 by stumps. The bowlers were relentless in their attempts to shake this Test awake - Mehedi Hasan bowled aggressively to make dents in the Sri Lanka lower order, and Lakshan Sandakan delivered some ripping left-arm wristspin in the evening - but the pitch remained somnolent, and the teams more-or-less evenly placed.
On the batting front, Kusal Mendis squandered his chance to complete a maiden double-hundred, Niroshan Dickwella cracked his way to 75, Tamim Iqbal hit a half-century before running himself out, and a charmed Soumya Sarkar saw out the day on 66 not out. Among the cricket's redeeming features, meanwhile, has been Sri Lanka's positive outlook at the crease (they scored their runs at 3.82 an over), and the emergence of first hints of big turn. If the Galle pitch continues to descend into its familiar cantankerous mood through the back end of this match, Bangladesh will have to bat very well.
For now, it is the batsmen's turn to hog the limelight, and no one has done that better than Kusal Mendis so far. He began the day on 166, but found his morning defined by two attempted sixes. The first, off Subashis Roy in the 95th over, was a hook shot gone awry - the mis-hit caught by Mustafizur Rahman at fine leg. The fielder, though, misjudged the position of the boundary, and trod on the rope while competing the catch. The umpire raised his arms to signal a six. Not seeing Mustafizur's mistake, the bowler raised his arms in celebration. Dickwella, the non-striker, also raised his arms to suggest to Subashis that the ball had been carried over the boundary. Everyone had their hands up, and for a second they were standing around looking like bank tellers during an armed robbery.
The second attempted six, however, would cost Mendis his wicket. He stepped down the pitch to Mehedi and sought to deposit him over long-on. He didn't quite get to the pitch, however, and this time, the mis-hit was controlled by Tamim Iqbal, who kept the ball in play by throwing it in the air, while he himself momentarily stepped over the boundary. That stroke had been an attempt to get to his maiden double hundred with a six - a sign that for all Mendis' seeming maturity at the crease, he is not immune to the impetuous flashes of youth. He was out for 194.
While Bangladesh's bowlers failed to muster the discipline they had managed in the first half of the first day, Mendis' partner, Dickwella, was typically lively at the crease, launching the second ball he faced on the day over the leg side for six, and at times employing the reverse sweep that has recently served him well in the shortest format. He played the ramp stroke over the slips to hit the second of his successive boundaries off Taskin Ahmed in the 97th over, and brought up his second Test half century soon after, off the 52nd ball he faced. Mehedi eventually had him top-edging an attempted swipe over the leg side to dismiss him for 75. Dilruwan Perera then hit a brisk half century - largely in the company of the tail - to help propel Sri Lanka to the brink of 500.
Tamim and Soumya would go on to register Bangladesh's first opening century stand in almost two years, but their progress was not always smooth. Soumya should have been out for 4 in the third over, had his outside edge been snared by Perera at gully off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal. Perera then became the bowler to have Tamim Iqbal dropped - on 28 - when wicketkeeper Dickwella failed to cling on to a thick outside edge.
Apart from those two errors, the openers were otherwise assured. They would often stride down the crease to knock the spinners down the ground, or launch them over the infield. Against the quicks, who were used in short spells, they rarely ventured a loose shot - Soumya lifting Lahiru Kumara languidly over the slips at one point.
It was only once both batsmen had almost reached fifty that Sandakan was brought into the attack. He began to cause problems almost immediately, regularly beating the bat and drawing inside-edges. For the first time in the Test, there seemed to be some turn in the surface. He can claim some credit in the dismissal of Tamim, though on the score sheet it went down as a run-out. A stock ball clipped Tamim's pad en route to the keeper - it perhaps collected some part of the bat as well - and though Dickwella took the ball cleanly, Tamim believed the ball to have dribbled away towards fine leg, and took off for a run. The wicketkeeper only had to take the bails off.
Bangladesh will be disappointed that Mominul Haque got himself trapped in front only a few overs before stumps were drawn, but nevertheless, may feel they have plenty of batting left.
Day 3
Sri Lanka 494
Bangladesh 312
Bangladesh trail by 182 runs
Rain, and a 106-run seventh-wicket stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehedi Hasan put the brakes on Sri Lanka's advance in Galle, but loose dismissals from the Bangladesh top order had already gifted the hosts an imposing position. When the rains came to wash out the third session of day three, the first innings had been completed, and Sri Lanka led by 182 runs. Nevertheless, they may have to move quickly if they are to turn their dominance into a win - more rain is forecast for Friday and Saturday.
Bangladesh had begun the day with a little over a quarter of Sri Lanka's score knocked off, for the loss of two wickets, but quickly did they unravel in the first session. Soumya Sarkar played the first poor stroke, swatting Suranga Lakmal heedlessly off his hips to pick out the fine leg fielder. Shakib Al Hasan batted positively for 18 deliveries, but got himself caught down the legside off the bowling of Lakshan Sandakan. Mahmudullah and Liton Das then both fell playing footless shots - Liton poking at Herath only to send slip a catch; Mahmudullah missing a straight ball from Lahiru Kumara, which had been angled in from wide of the crease.
Defying Sri Lanka, and fitting the innings with some semblance of a backbone, was Mushfiqur. He was largely passive through the first session, even as Sandakan sent down a feast of loose deliveries in between several unplayable ones. He scored only 21 runs in 70 balls as the four morning wickets fell, but became livelier after lunch. Herath was launched into the sightscreen in the first over of the session, and Mushfiqur rarely let a scoring opportunity slip by him over the next few overs: he'd score 47 runs in as many balls, hitting eight boundaries while completing a 16th career fifty. He went on to make 85.
Fresh from a good batting outing in Hyderabad, Mehedi fed off the senior man's productivity, and compiled 41 runs of his own - venturing five boundaries in all. The partnership not only helped stem a collapse, but also eliminated the option of the follow-on. Sandakan and Kumara - Sri Lanka's youthful wildcard bowlers - had helped rattle Bangladesh in the morning, but were perhaps guilty of the waywardness that allowed this stand to gain a foothold.
Once this partnership was broken, however, the end came swiftly, thanks in part to Dilruwan Perera, who was kept out of the attack for the first 40 overs, but made substantial impact when he did arrive. In his third over of the day, he nailed Mehedi in front of the stumps with a quicker ball that turned. Taskin was given not out when rapped on the pad next ball, but Herath reviewed that decision, and the ball was found to be taking out enough of leg stump to overturn that call. With No. 10 batsman Subashis Roy visibly uncomfortable at the crease, Mushfiqur attempted to farm the strike, but was perhaps caught in two minds when he came down the crease to Herath in the waning overs of the session. He could have hit Herath's slider down the ground, but instead had the ball dip on it and slip beneath his bat and into off stump.
A break for bad-light came just before tea was scheduled to be taken, but before the rains could come down, a brief break in the clouds allowed the teams to play the two further deliveries required to wipe out the Bangladesh innings - Herath having Mustafizur Rehman freakishly caught at short leg. Both he and Perera finished with three wickets from the innings.
The rain came just as the second innings was about to begin. An hour-long shower washed out the rest of the day.
Day 4
Sri Lanka 494 & 274/6d
Bangladesh 312 & 67/0 (15.0 ov)
Bangladesh require another 390 runs with 10 wickets remaining
A sparkling Soumya Sarkar fifty set Bangladesh's fourth innings off apace, but the visitors remained 390 runs adrift, on a pitch expected to become prickly on the final day. That they had as many as 457 to chase was partly thanks to Upul Tharanga, who sailed to his first home Test century in the afternoon session, as well as a conservative declaration from Rangana Herath. At the time of declaration, 125 overs remained in the match, but it is highly unlikely so many will be possible - bad light and rain ate up 12 overs at the tail end of day four.
Having been somewhat watchful in the first session, it was after lunch that Tharanga opened his shoulders. He cracked successive fours off Mustafizur Rahman and then routinely strode down the pitch to meet the spinners. Especially severe was he on errors of length, creaming languid boundaries through midwicket and square leg, though he also used the cut and sweep to good effect. He used up 109 balls to reach his half century; his next 47 runs were studded with five boundaries, and came off 44 deliveries. Tharanga paused briefly on the brink of his century, then immediately began to attack again, launching Shakib Al Hasan over long-on. Two more fours were smoked off Mehedi Hasan next over, before Tharanga was bowled trying to attempt a third - Mehedi tossing the ball bravely up, and beating the batsman in the air.
Mehedi had in fact been among Bangladesh's most impressive bowlers on a difficult day. He claimed two wickets under duress, delivering a good mix of turning balls and straighter ones, with an in-out field in place. Shakib took two wickets as well, but it was Mustafizur Rahman who delivered the most immaculate lines and lengths - in the morning session he had delivered four successive maidens, and he conceded only 24 in his nine overs in the day.
Sri Lanka's declaration did not come until after Dinesh Chandimal got to fifty after tea, but nevertheless, they batted most of the afternoon session like a declaration was imminent. Thanks largely to Tharanga, they had hit 160 runs at 5.16 an over, and happily did they burn four wickets in the pursuit of these quick runs. Sweeps and reverse sweeps against the turn were attempted. Bowlers often had batsmen running down the pitch at them. For the first time there appeared to be substantial purchase off this pitch as well, so the contest between bat and ball was roughly even. If Bangladesh had held chances off Dinesh Chandimal, who was dropped on 11, or Dimuth Karunaratne, who was dropped on seven, they may have been more successful in slowing Sri Lanka's advance.
Sri Lanka, though, were themselves unsatisfied with a lead of 350 - though no team had ever scored more than 300 at this venue - or even 400. Herath's thinking, perhaps, was to eliminate the chance of a Bangladesh victory almost entirely, which might allow him to ring the batsman with fielders with little consequence.
This is in fact what he did in the 15 overs Bangladesh batted, and perhaps it is what allowed Sarkar to hurtle to 53 off 47 balls by the close of play. He hit six fours and one six - all off the spinners, and all square of the wicket. Herath did not bring the younger, more attacking bowlers on before stumps; Lakshan Sandakan and Lahiru Kumara would be reserved for the big push on the final day.
In the morning session, neither opening batsman had seemed fluent, and with both their places in the side under some pressure, had not ventured many attacking strokes. In fact one of the few occasions that Karunaratne attempted to hit out, he supplied Bangladesh an opportunity to get him out: Shakib going on to drop the mis-hit lofted drive at short cover to deny Mehedi a wicket. He was moved to caution by that scare, but did not make much use of the second life, swatting a Taskin Ahmed ball carelessly into the legside, where Mahmudullah ran in off the rope to complete and excellent diving catch. Though Bangladesh also made plenty of fielding mistakes, there would be an even better catch later in the day, when Liton Das lunged to his left to intercept a reverse-paddle from Niroshan Dickwella.
More rain is forecast for the fifth afternoon, but to defy Sri Lanka, Bangladesh will have to resist Herath - the bowler with the most fourth-innings five-wicket hauls in cricket, bowling on a favourite strip.
Day 5
Sri Lanka's slow bowlers imposed their familiar chokehold over another fourth innings of a home Test match, uprooting batsmen as early as the second ball of the day, before sending the Test hurtling to its conclusion by the middle of the afternoon session.
Leading the final charge was Rangana Herath. He was unstoppable as ever in defence of a score, and picked up record for most career wickets for a left-arm spinner en route to figures of 6 for 59. This was his 29th five-wicket haul overall, and his 10th in the fourth innings - no one in the history of the game has got more than seven.
Batting in the fourth innings in Galle is among the most daunting of Test cricket's challenges, and although Bangladesh suggested they might approach the task with spunk on the fourth afternoon, fell away quickly on Saturday. This was their third day-five collapse in four matches, having also failed to draw matches in Wellington and Hyderabad. Save for a 19-over stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das, there was little in the way of resistance. They were eventually all out for 197 - 259 runs short of Sri Lanka.
Their woes had begun immediately on day five. Soumya Sarkar, who had sped to fifty the previous afternoon, almost sent a catch to short leg off Asela Gunaratne first ball, but was out next ball in any case, Gunaratne's offbreak jiving away from his defence to shave the top of off stump.
The top order then quickly succumbed. Dilruwan Perera came to the crease to bowl to Mominul Haque, and trapped the batsman with much the same delivery that had got him out in the first innings. Flighted in to pitch on around middle stump, Perera turned the ball, beat the shot, and rapped a leaden-footed Mominul dead in front of middle stump. So scrambled was the batsman's mind, that he even ventured a heedless review of that lbw decision though he never really thought he had a chance of surviving it - walking most of the way to the boundary before the third-umpire could even run the simulations.
Tamim Iqbal soon sent a catch to slip off Perera, before Herath made his presence known with a double-strike that drew him level with Daniel Vettori's career wicket tally of 362. Shakib Al Hasan was caught at leg slip off one that turned a little more than the batsman expected, then two balls later, Mahmudullah was lbw to a delivery that spun past his defence as well. At that stage, Bangladesh had lost five wickets in 12.4 overs.
Mushfiqur and Liton mounted a brief fight through the back end of the first session, lending hope that Bangladesh might be able to survive until the afternoon rains came. But by now Galle's pitch - itself often a force of nature - had become unfriendly, and even the bad balls turned far enough to draw mistakes. Lakshan Sandakan turned a ball way down the legside in the over after lunch, and Mushfiqur got himself out chasing it and offering a thin edge to the keeper. Sandakan had dismissed Shakib in similar style in the first innings.
Herath then soon had Liton caught off the leading edge at cover to take his 363rd Test wicket - which made him the game's most successful left-arm spinner - and the tail exposed now, the result seemed inevitable. Taskin Ahmed, Mehedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman all fell to Herath. All up, Bangladesh could only last 45.2 of the 98 overs they were due to bat on the day.
Sunday, 19 March 2017
Thursday, 9 March 2017
3 match ODI series WI 0-3 ENG
3rd ODI
England 328 (50.0 ov)
West Indies 142 (39.2 ov)
England won by 186 runs
Alex Hales delivered an immediate return on the faith shown in him by the England management as his fifth one-day hundred, a ninth from Joe Root and a merciless bowling display powered the tourists to 186-run win over West Indies and a first ever series whitewash in the Caribbean.
Fit-again after the broken hand that has largely scuppered his winter and restored to the side at the first opportunity in place of Sam Billings, Hales plundered 110 from 107 balls, an innings that, with Root’s 101 from 108, allowed Eoin Morgan’s side to post 328 all from 50 overs after being asked to bat at a Kensington Oval bathed in glorious sunshine.
While a mildly disappointing total for a power-packed team that, on a flat pitch, had reached 219 for one come the 37th over, it always felt too great for an experience-light West Indies side without a successful chase over 300 behind them. Sure enough their resistance was minimal, bowled out for 142 in 39.2 overs as the travelling supporters danced in the party stand.
Amid the harrowing second innings collapse from the hosts that at one stage saw them 87 for eight came a moment of mild catharsis for Ben Stokes, who with his first ball to Carlos Brathwaite since the Bajan’s six-hitting assault on him in the World Twenty20 final last year managed to trap his old nemesis lbw.
This intervention was but a mere cameo, however, with the plaudits among the England attack belonging chiefly to Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett and their three wickets apiece. The latter, who gutted the middle order in a spell of three for five in five overs, also finished the leading wicket-taker in the series with 10 victims.
England’s first-innings total after being put in had relied heavily on a stand of 192 between Hales and Root, with the former, who lost Jason Roy for 17 duffing a drive to mid-off, making a considerable statement at the end of a frustrating winter. His knock was one of steady accumulation pockmarked by aggressive bursts such that he still scored at over a run a ball before he was caught attempting to murder a sixth six.
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No England batsman before Hales has reached five one-day centuries quicker than his 39 innings and while it was chancy in parts – not least the top-edged six that brought up the milestone from 99 balls and prompted a fist-pumping roar from the 28-year-old – it also featured his trademark long-levered swats through leg.
Root’s century, his 20th in all international cricket and first since becoming England Test captain, followed a run of eight unconverted 50s in one-day internationals and also profited from two reprieves early in the piece, with Evin Lewis putting down a straightforward take at mid-wicket on one and Ashley Nurse a trickier diving effort at wide slip on 12.
Things scarcely got better for Lewis either, with the opener slipping on concrete in a worrying fall beyond the boundary rope when preventing a four. He then spent the rest of the first innings undergoing an x-ray on his left wrist before eventually returning, all clear, to register a third-ball duck in the home side’s reply.
From a scratchy start, and one that saw England post just 39 for one from their first 10 overs, Root began to find greater fluency as he and Hales made up for lost time. The latter targeted Devendra Bishoo in particular, hoisting the leg-spinner for 22 runs in six balls such that West Indies captain Jason Holder had to turn to his part-timers. One of them, Kraigg Brathwaite, had Hales given out lbw on 93 from around the wicket, only for the review to show it missing.
Once the pair were separated, the innings dwindled through a steady procession of wickets. Alzarri Joseph, the slippery young quick in for Shannon Gabriel, picked up four for 76 and only Ben Stokes, 34 from 20 balls, managed to truly cut loose. Plunkett was the last man to fall when run out off the final ball of the innings but not before crashing England’s 10th six.
In keeping with their two defeats in Antigua, West Indies saw their innings derailed from the outset. Finn persuaded Kieran Powell to plop his third ball to Hales at square leg, with his new-ball partner Woakes following it up with the removal of Lewis and Brathwaite in successive overs and equally tame fashion.
Plunkett, in clattering the stumps of Jason Mohammed for 10 and removing Shai Hope and Holder in successive deliveries, made it a case of when and by how many with only some late-order slogs from Joseph, with 22 runs from 13 balls, keeping the margin of defeat under 200 runs.
2nd ODI
ENG 225/6 beat West Indies 225 by four wickets [England lead 3 match series 2-0]
England 328 (50.0 ov)
West Indies 142 (39.2 ov)
England won by 186 runs
Alex Hales delivered an immediate return on the faith shown in him by the England management as his fifth one-day hundred, a ninth from Joe Root and a merciless bowling display powered the tourists to 186-run win over West Indies and a first ever series whitewash in the Caribbean.
Fit-again after the broken hand that has largely scuppered his winter and restored to the side at the first opportunity in place of Sam Billings, Hales plundered 110 from 107 balls, an innings that, with Root’s 101 from 108, allowed Eoin Morgan’s side to post 328 all from 50 overs after being asked to bat at a Kensington Oval bathed in glorious sunshine.
While a mildly disappointing total for a power-packed team that, on a flat pitch, had reached 219 for one come the 37th over, it always felt too great for an experience-light West Indies side without a successful chase over 300 behind them. Sure enough their resistance was minimal, bowled out for 142 in 39.2 overs as the travelling supporters danced in the party stand.
Amid the harrowing second innings collapse from the hosts that at one stage saw them 87 for eight came a moment of mild catharsis for Ben Stokes, who with his first ball to Carlos Brathwaite since the Bajan’s six-hitting assault on him in the World Twenty20 final last year managed to trap his old nemesis lbw.
This intervention was but a mere cameo, however, with the plaudits among the England attack belonging chiefly to Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett and their three wickets apiece. The latter, who gutted the middle order in a spell of three for five in five overs, also finished the leading wicket-taker in the series with 10 victims.
England’s first-innings total after being put in had relied heavily on a stand of 192 between Hales and Root, with the former, who lost Jason Roy for 17 duffing a drive to mid-off, making a considerable statement at the end of a frustrating winter. His knock was one of steady accumulation pockmarked by aggressive bursts such that he still scored at over a run a ball before he was caught attempting to murder a sixth six.
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No England batsman before Hales has reached five one-day centuries quicker than his 39 innings and while it was chancy in parts – not least the top-edged six that brought up the milestone from 99 balls and prompted a fist-pumping roar from the 28-year-old – it also featured his trademark long-levered swats through leg.
Root’s century, his 20th in all international cricket and first since becoming England Test captain, followed a run of eight unconverted 50s in one-day internationals and also profited from two reprieves early in the piece, with Evin Lewis putting down a straightforward take at mid-wicket on one and Ashley Nurse a trickier diving effort at wide slip on 12.
Things scarcely got better for Lewis either, with the opener slipping on concrete in a worrying fall beyond the boundary rope when preventing a four. He then spent the rest of the first innings undergoing an x-ray on his left wrist before eventually returning, all clear, to register a third-ball duck in the home side’s reply.
From a scratchy start, and one that saw England post just 39 for one from their first 10 overs, Root began to find greater fluency as he and Hales made up for lost time. The latter targeted Devendra Bishoo in particular, hoisting the leg-spinner for 22 runs in six balls such that West Indies captain Jason Holder had to turn to his part-timers. One of them, Kraigg Brathwaite, had Hales given out lbw on 93 from around the wicket, only for the review to show it missing.
Once the pair were separated, the innings dwindled through a steady procession of wickets. Alzarri Joseph, the slippery young quick in for Shannon Gabriel, picked up four for 76 and only Ben Stokes, 34 from 20 balls, managed to truly cut loose. Plunkett was the last man to fall when run out off the final ball of the innings but not before crashing England’s 10th six.
In keeping with their two defeats in Antigua, West Indies saw their innings derailed from the outset. Finn persuaded Kieran Powell to plop his third ball to Hales at square leg, with his new-ball partner Woakes following it up with the removal of Lewis and Brathwaite in successive overs and equally tame fashion.
Plunkett, in clattering the stumps of Jason Mohammed for 10 and removing Shai Hope and Holder in successive deliveries, made it a case of when and by how many with only some late-order slogs from Joseph, with 22 runs from 13 balls, keeping the margin of defeat under 200 runs.
2nd ODI
ENG 225/6 beat West Indies 225 by four wickets [England lead 3 match series 2-0]
Saturday, 4 March 2017
5 match ODI Series NZ 2-3 SA
34 overs a side South Africa 210 for 6 beat New Zealand 207 for 7 by four wickets
South Africa equalled their best winning run in ODIs with a 12th victory on the bounce, but it was not achieved without plenty of jitters in Hamilton. There was no surprise to see AB de Villiers unbeaten at the end of a tight chase, but it was Andile Phehlukwayo who struck the crucial blows with sixes in the penultimate and last over - the latter bringing the requirement down to 3 off 4 balls - before de Villiers clubbed the winning boundary with one ball to spare.
South Africa started the penultimate over, bowled by Trent Boult, needed 22 and only one run came off the first two balls. But Phehlukwayo, showing great calmness as he had done alongside David Miller in the huge chase against Australia last year, picked up a slower ball to clear long-off and in the final over, with nine needed off five balls after a wide call against Tim Southee, he repeated the dose over long-on. As the ball sailed over the boundary, de Villiers gave a little punch of the air.
That New Zealand dug deep to push the game so close was a worthy effort because they had rarely been in control. Passing 200 seemed a tall order following Chris Morris' four top-order wickets and Kane Williamson's departure for 59, but Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee clubbed 51 off 23 balls for the eighth wicket.
Then in the chase, Quinton de Kock, who was reprieved by the DRS after an lbw decision on 18, and Hashim Amla added 88 for the first wicket and, although there was significant encouragement for the spinners - this was the same surface used for the Australia ODI earlier this month - they had everything well in hand. Even when Amla chipped a return catch to Williamson it seemed a mere irritant. However, that soon changed.
Faf du Plessis was lbw sweeping at legspinner Ish Sodhi, who was recalled for this match - his first ODI since the tour of India last October. Then, in the next over, de Kock, who had eased to fifty off 47 balls, gave his innings away with a weak pull that found midwicket. All of a sudden, New Zealand sensed a chance.
It was Southee who seized the moment. He found JP Duminy's leading edge with a delightful slower ball, but out-did himself with the next delivery when he cleaned up Farhaan Behardien with a magnificent off-cutter which bit off the surface to beat the inside edge. Morris steadied things for a while alongside de Villiers before picking out long-off, and New Zealand were just about favourites, with South Africa needing 52 off 44 and their lower-order exposed.
On 2, Phehlukwayo offered a very tough, low chance to Tom Latham behind the stumps off Southee and it felt like de Villiers or bust. However, on the eve of the match, de Villiers had spoken about the belief in the South Africa side and, with him in the middle to offer a calming hand, this was a fine example of what he was talking about.
Steady morning rain topped up an already saturated outfield - 120mm has fallen in the area over the last few days, from the same storms that went through Auckland - but the ground coped well and a 34-over match was a better result than may have been the case. Both captains opted for a second specialist spinner, and their judgement of the pitch proved astute. De Villiers later said how conditions were as tough as he had faced anywhere and, with hindsight, he would have batted first.
Morris got to work early after South Africa unsurprisingly opted to field, benefiting from the DRS when Latham was given lbw as he played around a delivery swung into him late. Morris' late movement had been a feature in the T20 at Eden Park and he again found movement at encouraging pace.
While the second-wicket stand between Dean Brownlie and Williamson was forming, New Zealand appeared reasonably secure. Imran Tahir was dealt with effectively, especially by Williamson who slog-swept him for six, but Morris' return had an immediate impact.
With his first ball back, he removed Brownlie, who lazily pulled to deep square leg have worked hard to play himself in, and before the over was out, Ross Taylor had also departed when he drove too early, bunting a return catch to Morris who was alert in his follow through. Smart planning and execution brought the fourth wicket when Neil Broom was hustled for pace by a shorter delivery that he was in no position to pull, and could only splice a catch to square leg.
Not for the first time, Williamson looked a class above. He added a second six over midwicket, this time off left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, before moving to his fifty from 48 balls. Consecutive boundaries off Shamsi soon followed and New Zealand's ambitions were lifting, only for Shamsi to strike back with a delivery which spun into Williamson a touch, cramping his cut shot and finding a bottom edge into the stumps.
Short balls from Kagiso Rabada accounted for Santner and Jimmy Neesham, and the innings was threatening to end with a whimper. However, Morris' day took a turn for the worse as de Grandhomme and Southee cut loose, with some luck and some judgement, to bolster the total significantly. It gave New Zealand something to bowl at. And it almost proved enough.
2nd ODI
New Zealand 289/4 (50.0 ov)
South Africa 283/9 (50.0 ov)
New Zealand won by 6 runs
South Africa's lower order threatened another heist, but Trent Boult gave a glimpse of why he went for big money in the IPL by holding his nerve to help New Zealand secure a series-levelling six-run victory in Christchurch. Dwaine Pretorius' 26-ball fifty almost wrestled the game away from New Zealand until Boult got his yorkers on target in the penultimate over. He then cleaned up Pretorius to make amends for dropping him in the deep on 15.
The win should have been much more comfortable for New Zealand when South Africa slipped to 214 for 8, but after Pretorius was shelled he kept finding the boundary. It came down to needing 20 off two overs when Boult, who had earlier claimed the key scalps of Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers but conceded 15 off his ninth over, only went for five runs of his last. Andile Phehlukwayo was unable to locate the boundary early in the last over bowled by Tim Southee and South Africa's winning streak ended at 12.
It meant that Ross Taylor's record-breaking day did not come in vain. He became New Zealand's leading ODI century-maker, and the country's quickest batsman to reach 6000 runs in the process, while adding the innings-defining stand of 123 with Jimmy Neesham.
While Boult earned a mega payday 48 hours ago, Taylor was not picked in the auction: his T20 cricket is not valued by country or franchise at the moment. His absence from New Zealand's side has been a topic of much debate, but in the longer white-ball format he is playing as well as ever. He equalled Nathan Astle's 16 centuries against Australia, at Hamilton, earlier this month and went one better off the final ball of the innings when he drilled Wayne Parnell through the covers.
Taylor added 104 with Kane Williamson, their 11th century stand in ODIs, to set the base for the innings. Then, Neesham struck a timely 45-ball half-century which helped New Zealand add 89 in the final ten overs. The Hagley Oval pitch was slower than usual due to recent poor weather, so while five of the previous nine first-innings totals on the ground had been over 300, this one was more than workable.
However with David Miller back after his finger injury and Phehlukwayo at No. 10 (Kagiso Rabada was ruled out with a knee niggle), South Africa's batting order was even more imposing. But New Zealand kept chipping away. Southee produced an unplayable delivery to trap Hashim Amla lbw and Colin de Grandhomme nipped one back to defeat Faf du Plessis.
JP Duminy was sent in at No. 4 ahead of de Villiers - for tactical purposes it was said - but having eased to 34 he was beaten in the flight by Mitchell Santner: a chance for a match-defining innings had slipped away. The same could be said of de Kock, for the second match running, after he had glided to his fifty from 59 balls before heaving Boult deep into the leg side.
A hallmark of South Africa's winning streak has been having someone in the top order take responsibility for an innings but that wasn't the case in Christchurch. Miller, after his spell on sidelines, couldn't quite find his timing before edging Ish Sodhi's googly and de Villiers under-edged a pull against Boult in his first over back in the attack.
When Chris Morris was smartly run out by a back-handed flick from Dean Brownlie and Parnell lbw to Santner, there seemed very little chance for South Africa only for late drama. New Zealand would have struggled to recover if they had let this one slip away.
It had not been easy going for them when they were put in. Tom Latham's tricky run continued, softly clipping a leg-stump delivery from Parnell to square leg. It made his run in ODIs - since the 137 against Bangladesh on this ground - 2, 0, 0, 7, 4 and 22, potentially leaving him vulnerable when Martin Guptill returns from injury.
There was caution from Williamson and Taylor at the start of their partnership, but Williamson broke the shackles when he bunted Phehlukwayo over wide mid-on at the end of the 19th over. The next 11 overs brought 73 runs - Williamson reaching his second fifty of the series off 59 deliveries - to leave New Zealand with a strong platform of 155 for 2 after 30 overs.
The innings threatened to lose its way when Williamson picked out long-on against Imran Tahir and Neil Broom collected his second failure of the series to leave the onus very much on Taylor.
The boundary that took him to fifty off 60 balls also brought up the 6000-run milestone and alongside Neesham, whose position had been coming under scrutiny, they ensured the wobble did not become a collapse. Neesham was the first to take on the bowling inside the final ten overs, which helped take the pressure off Taylor, as he took on Tahir's last two overs and also played a blistering pull off Morris.
Taylor began the final over on 95 but lost the strike off the first ball and only got it back with two deliveries remaining. A meaty swing at the penultimate ball sent it sailing towards long-on where Miller took a fabulous catch but, sliding round the boundary, thought he would touch the rope and flicked the ball back so it became two runs. The final ball of the innings was wide outside off and Taylor thumped it through the covers to wild applause from the sellout crowd. They were cheering again a few hours later.
3rd ODI
South Africa 271 for 8 beat New Zealand 112 by 159 runs
AB de Villiers had called on his batsmen to take responsibility for an innings and he showed the way in Wellington as South Africa surged to a crushing 159-run victory. De Villiers' controlled 85, during which he became the fastest player to 9000 ODI runs, turned the tables after a middle-order slide, then the pace bowlers combined with unnerving accuracy to dismantle New Zealand for 112 in the 33rd over.
On a slower-than-normal pitch that offered assistance for seamers, especially in the evening, South Africa's 271 for 8 - bolstered by a seventh-wicket stand of 84 in 10.4 overs between de Villiers and Wayne Parnell - had the makings of a demanding chase and it soon proved that way.
Kagiso Rabada, back in the side after missing Christchurch, set the tone with an exemplary new-ball spell. He was followed by Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius who removed the cream of New Zealand's batting by nabbing Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the space of five deliveries. The pair bowled nine overs between them in their first spells, returning figures of 4 for 16, in the sort of seam-friendly conditions that could be on show in the Champions Trophy. Pretorius finished with 3 for 5 from 5.2 overs.
New Zealand had entered this match buoyed by their batting performance at Hagley Oval, but this display will raise a few concerns as they fell in a heap in a manner not often seen. Tom Latham collected his third duck in four ODI innings and there was another failure for Neil Broom.
They had made one change, replacing legspinner Ish Sodhi with the pace of Lockie Ferguson and may ponder if that was correct after he went for 71 in his 10 overs - the most expensive bowling performance of the day.
Quinton de Kock, with his fifth 50-plus ODI score in a row, and Faf du Plessis led South Africa to 114 for 1 in the 23rd over but then followed a collapse of 5 for 66. Colin de Grandhomme gave New Zealand the control they strived for, claiming two wickets in four deliveries and bowling his 10 overs straight through, while Mitchell Santner produced another impressive performance of left-arm spin.
De Grandhomme removed du Plessis who riffled a drive low to mid-off, then in what is becoming a habit on this tour, de Kock picked out the leg-side field having set himself for a century. He hung his head and could barely drag himself off.
De Villiers was greeted by a hostile delivery from Ferguson which rammed into his gloves but quickly ticked off the five runs he needed to jump past Sourav Ganguly to top the 9000 list. However, senior batsmen came and went. JP Duminy, who had struggled for fluency, was run out by a direct hit from Tim Southee at backward point and David Miller chipped a low catch to midwicket which was upheld by the third umpire.
In each of the three matches in this series, someone from the lower order has stepped forward for South Africa. It wasn't Pretorius this time - he was bowled by Ferguson - but Parnell helped de Villiers stop New Zealand in their tracks.
De Villiers had been above a run-a-ball early in his innings, but bided his time as he lost partners for the closing overs. Back-to-back boundaries off Ferguson, rasping shots through midwicket and cover, hustled him through the 40s and the half-century came from 59 deliveries. He went from 39 off 51 balls to 85 off 80; it was not one of de Villiers' more explosive innings, but it was a masterclass in repairing damage, judging conditions and not overreaching.
And his efforts were soon put into context. Latham middled a square drive but picked out point. Dean Brownlie then feathered to the keeper off Rabada who found considered seam movement and proceeded to work over Williamson.
Williamson was dropped at slip on 4 by Hashim Amla off Parnell and alongside Taylor weathered the new balls for a period although scoring was always hard work and the pressure did not relent.
Phehlukwayo had conceded just four runs into his third over when Williamson, trying to dab the ball to third man, played into his stumps and in the next over, Taylor fell across a full, straight delivery from Pretorius. He was not far off walking for the lbw decision. The stuffing had been knocked out of New Zealand's innings and there was precious little else on offer. Broom's poke outside off against Phehlukwayo was a poor shot and Pretorius' miserly spell, as he nipped the ball around off the seam under the lights, also accounted for Mitchell Santner.
New Zealand's total was their lowest completed innings at home since being bowled out for 73 by Sri Lanka, in Auckland in 2007, and the result their heaviest runs defeat to South Africa.
4th ODI
New Zealand 280 for 3 beat South Africa 279 for 8 by seven wickets
Could Martin Guptill slot back into the New Zealand line-up after a month on the sidelines and make an immediate impact? The answer to that was an emphatic 'yes' as he surged to a ferocious 180 off 138 balls at Seddon Park to set up a series decider in Auckland on Saturday. His innings enabled New Zealand to chase down what had appeared a challenging target of 280 with a massive 30 balls to spare.
His 12th century in ODI cricket came from 82 deliveries after being saved by the DRS having been given lbw to Dwaine Pretorius on 62. Guptill dominated a third-wicket stand of 180 with Ross Taylor who made 66 off 97 deliveries, the joint second-highest for New Zealand and highest for any wicket against South Africa. Guptill finished with 11 sixes - at least four of them disappearing out of the ground - and now holds the three highest innings for New Zealand in ODIs after his 237 against West Indies in the World Cup and 189 against England in 2013.
South Africa will ponder their team selection and tactics with the ball. The fact that the pitch would aid the spinners, and likely grip for the seamers, had been telegraphed a long way out. Yet they opted not to play a second frontline spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi while JP Duminy's three overs cost 26 although AB de Villiers later defended the selection. They also did not bowl the amount of cutters and slower balls that New Zealand did mid-innings, instead the extra pace from their quartet of seamers played into New Zealand's - and Guptill's - hands.
With the bat it was a familiar pattern: a solid base (128 for 2), a middle-order collapse (4 for 30) and then a revival led by de Villiers and the lower order to take South Africa to 279. De Villiers, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell plundered 100 from the last eight overs to seemingly swing the match in South Africa's favour. But then Guptill got to work.
He struck the ball with blistering power, belying his lack of match time, and the signs had been promising as early as the fourth over when he pulled Parnell onto the grass banks. He connected with an even bigger blow off Morris, speeding to his fifty off 38 deliveries and needing just another 44 for three figures. The ball rarely failed to make a thunderous crack off his bat.
Each time the asking rate threatened to edge much over a run-a-ball he would manage to go over or across the boundary. De Villiers didn't know how to stop him, a feeling many a bowler has felt against the South Africa captain. The nearest Guptill came to a problem, until a missed run out on 166 when the match had been won, was when he was struck on the helmet by Morris.
He overwhelmed the innings, but his partners were important. Kane Williamson helped add 72 for the second wicket as New Zealand got themselves ahead of the rate. He was also involved in, perhaps, the crucial decision of the innings. When given lbw to Imran Tahir's second ball he pondered the review but decided to walk off. Replays showed it was out. If Williamson had gambled, there would not have been one for Guptill.
Taylor then played the ideal second-fiddle, happy to ride in Guptill's slipstream, although brought his fifty up with a huge six over midwicket to match anything his partner managed.
New Zealand's selection was far more tailored to the surface with Jeetan Patel recalled, ahead of the unlucky Ish Sodhi, as a second spinner. He struck in the first over of the match when Quinton de Kock's run of five fifty-plus scores ended with his first golden duck in international cricket. There was an even more notable first, too, as a pair of spinners opened the bowling in the first innings of an ODI for the first time.
The move did not last long, though, and Hashim Amla enjoyed the extra pace of Trent Boult but New Zealand soon switched back to spin and pace-off. Patel nabbed Amla at the start of his second spell and New Zealand began to squeeze. Tim Southee and Jimmy Neesham bowled handy spells of cutters as South Africa lost 4 for 30 in 9.5 overs. JP Duminy's unconvincing series continued when he bottom-edged Southee, du Plessis chipped to midwicket after a 72-ball fifty, David Miller picked out deep midwicket while Pretorius was run out.
De Villiers was left to try and take the innings deep again. He was sitting on 27 off 37 balls, after a period of 12 boundary-less overs, when he pulled Mitchell Santner over deep midwicket to mark his late-overs kick. Both Southee and Boult came in for late punishment, but rather than providing a total to challenge New Zealand it just enabled Guptill to play one of New Zealand's finest one-day innings.
5th ODI
New Zealand 149 (41.1 ov)
South Africa 150/4 (32.2 ov)
South Africa won by 6 wickets (with 106 balls remaining)
South Africa's one-day side started in New Zealand as the No. 1 and they will end it there after an oscillating series went their way at a ground that now holds some good memories. There were a few jitters with the bat - there were bound to be, weren't there? - but after a commanding performance in the field, which sucked the life out of New Zealand's batting order, a target of 150 gave them breathing space.
From the moment that the hero of Hamilton, Martin Guptill, was defeated by Kagiso Rabada there was never any let-up from South Africa with the ball. Rabada was high-class on a surface offering more carry than any other in the series. Imran Tahir, who New Zealand have played well this series, then reeled off the most economical 10-over figures by a South Africa spinner - and the best by any spinner in an ODI in his country - as the innings almost came to a standstill.
Andile Phehlukwayo missed the Hamilton match with a minor groin injury and had a significant impact on his return with the wickets of Dean Brownlie and Ross Taylor. South Africa's ground-fielding also conjured two wickets, including the major scalp of Kane Williamson, as New Zealand's batting slumped for the second time in the series.
But they did not let their unbeaten one-day home record, dating back to South Africa's visit in 2014, go easily and for a moment mid-chase, another Eden Park classic was not complete fantasy. Jeetan Patel had snaffled two - and had an lbw against Faf du Plessis overturned by DRS - and when AB de Villiers was bounced out by James Neesham - not a dismissal you would have put your house on - South Africa were 88 for 4. But du Plessis, who reached fifty with the winning boundary, and David Miller, ensured against any further drama.
It was a superb set-up from Rabada, a sharp bouncer which ensured Guptill had to be wary of planting forward, then a yorker which he tried to advance to but only got in a horrid position with his stumps exposed. As ugly as Hamilton was breathtaking.
Williamson and Brownlie weathered the rest of the opening ten overs but a horror few minutes sent the innings into a spiral. It's a period Brownlie will want to forget. Firstly he decided to chance de Villiers' fielding at midwicket which left Williamson stranded when the South Africa captain dived and flicked in the blink of an eye. Williamson's bat got caught in the turf short of the crease, but he would have been short regardless.
Three balls later, Brownlie play round a full delivery from Phehlukwayo and almost walked before the finger was raised. Tahir's first four overs cost just four; eventually overs 10-20 brought 31 for 4. As in Wellington, Phehlukwayo was key to that, bowling wicket-to-wicket at brisk pace, and was rewarded again when Taylor fell across a straight one.
Luke Ronchi's stay was never convincing and he gloved a short ball as he tried to sway out of the line. Neesham, yesterday recalled to the Test squad, had looked as comfortable as any of the top order but for the second time in the series was removed by a short ball from Rabada, although it needed the DRS to confirm the top-edge.
The build-up to Mitchell Santner's demise highlighted South Africa's suffocating ground fielding. Three consecutive shots from Santner were intercepted sharply in the infield, then the fourth went to JP Duminy at backward point who slid and threw from the ground, hitting directly with Santner nowhere.
Tahir, who did not concede anything other than singles, gained his reward against the lower order. In three of the five matches, New Zealand had played him as well as anyone of late - "respect" had been the word used by both sides - but they became almost strokeless this time. The pressure of the occasion, the pitch, or just a good day for him? Only they will know.
Such was the swift end to New Zealand's innings that South Africa batted before the interval. Patel again saw off Quinton de Kock - that change of tactic had worked a treat - and scoring wasn't easy after the break. Hashim Amla completed a fifty-less series when he drove to cover as did Duminy - the latter far more of a concern - when he drove softly at Patel. Duminy had again been used ahead of de Villiers, but he has regressed during this series.
De Villiers has been far and away South Africa's best batsman and he was eager to finish things himself. He took a six apiece of Patel and Santner but was then surprised by the nip and angled of Neesham's bouncer, which followed him and took the glove to the keeper. As a single moment it was a superb spectacle, but not enough to open the game for New Zealand.
Du Plessis ticked over and for the first time in the series Miller played the type of forceful shots he has become known for. The target hurried into view. The sun had only just set. This time not on South Africa.
South Africa equalled their best winning run in ODIs with a 12th victory on the bounce, but it was not achieved without plenty of jitters in Hamilton. There was no surprise to see AB de Villiers unbeaten at the end of a tight chase, but it was Andile Phehlukwayo who struck the crucial blows with sixes in the penultimate and last over - the latter bringing the requirement down to 3 off 4 balls - before de Villiers clubbed the winning boundary with one ball to spare.
South Africa started the penultimate over, bowled by Trent Boult, needed 22 and only one run came off the first two balls. But Phehlukwayo, showing great calmness as he had done alongside David Miller in the huge chase against Australia last year, picked up a slower ball to clear long-off and in the final over, with nine needed off five balls after a wide call against Tim Southee, he repeated the dose over long-on. As the ball sailed over the boundary, de Villiers gave a little punch of the air.
That New Zealand dug deep to push the game so close was a worthy effort because they had rarely been in control. Passing 200 seemed a tall order following Chris Morris' four top-order wickets and Kane Williamson's departure for 59, but Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee clubbed 51 off 23 balls for the eighth wicket.
Then in the chase, Quinton de Kock, who was reprieved by the DRS after an lbw decision on 18, and Hashim Amla added 88 for the first wicket and, although there was significant encouragement for the spinners - this was the same surface used for the Australia ODI earlier this month - they had everything well in hand. Even when Amla chipped a return catch to Williamson it seemed a mere irritant. However, that soon changed.
Faf du Plessis was lbw sweeping at legspinner Ish Sodhi, who was recalled for this match - his first ODI since the tour of India last October. Then, in the next over, de Kock, who had eased to fifty off 47 balls, gave his innings away with a weak pull that found midwicket. All of a sudden, New Zealand sensed a chance.
It was Southee who seized the moment. He found JP Duminy's leading edge with a delightful slower ball, but out-did himself with the next delivery when he cleaned up Farhaan Behardien with a magnificent off-cutter which bit off the surface to beat the inside edge. Morris steadied things for a while alongside de Villiers before picking out long-off, and New Zealand were just about favourites, with South Africa needing 52 off 44 and their lower-order exposed.
On 2, Phehlukwayo offered a very tough, low chance to Tom Latham behind the stumps off Southee and it felt like de Villiers or bust. However, on the eve of the match, de Villiers had spoken about the belief in the South Africa side and, with him in the middle to offer a calming hand, this was a fine example of what he was talking about.
Steady morning rain topped up an already saturated outfield - 120mm has fallen in the area over the last few days, from the same storms that went through Auckland - but the ground coped well and a 34-over match was a better result than may have been the case. Both captains opted for a second specialist spinner, and their judgement of the pitch proved astute. De Villiers later said how conditions were as tough as he had faced anywhere and, with hindsight, he would have batted first.
Morris got to work early after South Africa unsurprisingly opted to field, benefiting from the DRS when Latham was given lbw as he played around a delivery swung into him late. Morris' late movement had been a feature in the T20 at Eden Park and he again found movement at encouraging pace.
While the second-wicket stand between Dean Brownlie and Williamson was forming, New Zealand appeared reasonably secure. Imran Tahir was dealt with effectively, especially by Williamson who slog-swept him for six, but Morris' return had an immediate impact.
With his first ball back, he removed Brownlie, who lazily pulled to deep square leg have worked hard to play himself in, and before the over was out, Ross Taylor had also departed when he drove too early, bunting a return catch to Morris who was alert in his follow through. Smart planning and execution brought the fourth wicket when Neil Broom was hustled for pace by a shorter delivery that he was in no position to pull, and could only splice a catch to square leg.
Not for the first time, Williamson looked a class above. He added a second six over midwicket, this time off left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, before moving to his fifty from 48 balls. Consecutive boundaries off Shamsi soon followed and New Zealand's ambitions were lifting, only for Shamsi to strike back with a delivery which spun into Williamson a touch, cramping his cut shot and finding a bottom edge into the stumps.
Short balls from Kagiso Rabada accounted for Santner and Jimmy Neesham, and the innings was threatening to end with a whimper. However, Morris' day took a turn for the worse as de Grandhomme and Southee cut loose, with some luck and some judgement, to bolster the total significantly. It gave New Zealand something to bowl at. And it almost proved enough.
2nd ODI
New Zealand 289/4 (50.0 ov)
South Africa 283/9 (50.0 ov)
New Zealand won by 6 runs
South Africa's lower order threatened another heist, but Trent Boult gave a glimpse of why he went for big money in the IPL by holding his nerve to help New Zealand secure a series-levelling six-run victory in Christchurch. Dwaine Pretorius' 26-ball fifty almost wrestled the game away from New Zealand until Boult got his yorkers on target in the penultimate over. He then cleaned up Pretorius to make amends for dropping him in the deep on 15.
The win should have been much more comfortable for New Zealand when South Africa slipped to 214 for 8, but after Pretorius was shelled he kept finding the boundary. It came down to needing 20 off two overs when Boult, who had earlier claimed the key scalps of Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers but conceded 15 off his ninth over, only went for five runs of his last. Andile Phehlukwayo was unable to locate the boundary early in the last over bowled by Tim Southee and South Africa's winning streak ended at 12.
It meant that Ross Taylor's record-breaking day did not come in vain. He became New Zealand's leading ODI century-maker, and the country's quickest batsman to reach 6000 runs in the process, while adding the innings-defining stand of 123 with Jimmy Neesham.
While Boult earned a mega payday 48 hours ago, Taylor was not picked in the auction: his T20 cricket is not valued by country or franchise at the moment. His absence from New Zealand's side has been a topic of much debate, but in the longer white-ball format he is playing as well as ever. He equalled Nathan Astle's 16 centuries against Australia, at Hamilton, earlier this month and went one better off the final ball of the innings when he drilled Wayne Parnell through the covers.
Taylor added 104 with Kane Williamson, their 11th century stand in ODIs, to set the base for the innings. Then, Neesham struck a timely 45-ball half-century which helped New Zealand add 89 in the final ten overs. The Hagley Oval pitch was slower than usual due to recent poor weather, so while five of the previous nine first-innings totals on the ground had been over 300, this one was more than workable.
However with David Miller back after his finger injury and Phehlukwayo at No. 10 (Kagiso Rabada was ruled out with a knee niggle), South Africa's batting order was even more imposing. But New Zealand kept chipping away. Southee produced an unplayable delivery to trap Hashim Amla lbw and Colin de Grandhomme nipped one back to defeat Faf du Plessis.
JP Duminy was sent in at No. 4 ahead of de Villiers - for tactical purposes it was said - but having eased to 34 he was beaten in the flight by Mitchell Santner: a chance for a match-defining innings had slipped away. The same could be said of de Kock, for the second match running, after he had glided to his fifty from 59 balls before heaving Boult deep into the leg side.
A hallmark of South Africa's winning streak has been having someone in the top order take responsibility for an innings but that wasn't the case in Christchurch. Miller, after his spell on sidelines, couldn't quite find his timing before edging Ish Sodhi's googly and de Villiers under-edged a pull against Boult in his first over back in the attack.
When Chris Morris was smartly run out by a back-handed flick from Dean Brownlie and Parnell lbw to Santner, there seemed very little chance for South Africa only for late drama. New Zealand would have struggled to recover if they had let this one slip away.
It had not been easy going for them when they were put in. Tom Latham's tricky run continued, softly clipping a leg-stump delivery from Parnell to square leg. It made his run in ODIs - since the 137 against Bangladesh on this ground - 2, 0, 0, 7, 4 and 22, potentially leaving him vulnerable when Martin Guptill returns from injury.
There was caution from Williamson and Taylor at the start of their partnership, but Williamson broke the shackles when he bunted Phehlukwayo over wide mid-on at the end of the 19th over. The next 11 overs brought 73 runs - Williamson reaching his second fifty of the series off 59 deliveries - to leave New Zealand with a strong platform of 155 for 2 after 30 overs.
The innings threatened to lose its way when Williamson picked out long-on against Imran Tahir and Neil Broom collected his second failure of the series to leave the onus very much on Taylor.
The boundary that took him to fifty off 60 balls also brought up the 6000-run milestone and alongside Neesham, whose position had been coming under scrutiny, they ensured the wobble did not become a collapse. Neesham was the first to take on the bowling inside the final ten overs, which helped take the pressure off Taylor, as he took on Tahir's last two overs and also played a blistering pull off Morris.
Taylor began the final over on 95 but lost the strike off the first ball and only got it back with two deliveries remaining. A meaty swing at the penultimate ball sent it sailing towards long-on where Miller took a fabulous catch but, sliding round the boundary, thought he would touch the rope and flicked the ball back so it became two runs. The final ball of the innings was wide outside off and Taylor thumped it through the covers to wild applause from the sellout crowd. They were cheering again a few hours later.
3rd ODI
South Africa 271 for 8 beat New Zealand 112 by 159 runs
AB de Villiers had called on his batsmen to take responsibility for an innings and he showed the way in Wellington as South Africa surged to a crushing 159-run victory. De Villiers' controlled 85, during which he became the fastest player to 9000 ODI runs, turned the tables after a middle-order slide, then the pace bowlers combined with unnerving accuracy to dismantle New Zealand for 112 in the 33rd over.
On a slower-than-normal pitch that offered assistance for seamers, especially in the evening, South Africa's 271 for 8 - bolstered by a seventh-wicket stand of 84 in 10.4 overs between de Villiers and Wayne Parnell - had the makings of a demanding chase and it soon proved that way.
Kagiso Rabada, back in the side after missing Christchurch, set the tone with an exemplary new-ball spell. He was followed by Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius who removed the cream of New Zealand's batting by nabbing Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the space of five deliveries. The pair bowled nine overs between them in their first spells, returning figures of 4 for 16, in the sort of seam-friendly conditions that could be on show in the Champions Trophy. Pretorius finished with 3 for 5 from 5.2 overs.
New Zealand had entered this match buoyed by their batting performance at Hagley Oval, but this display will raise a few concerns as they fell in a heap in a manner not often seen. Tom Latham collected his third duck in four ODI innings and there was another failure for Neil Broom.
They had made one change, replacing legspinner Ish Sodhi with the pace of Lockie Ferguson and may ponder if that was correct after he went for 71 in his 10 overs - the most expensive bowling performance of the day.
Quinton de Kock, with his fifth 50-plus ODI score in a row, and Faf du Plessis led South Africa to 114 for 1 in the 23rd over but then followed a collapse of 5 for 66. Colin de Grandhomme gave New Zealand the control they strived for, claiming two wickets in four deliveries and bowling his 10 overs straight through, while Mitchell Santner produced another impressive performance of left-arm spin.
De Grandhomme removed du Plessis who riffled a drive low to mid-off, then in what is becoming a habit on this tour, de Kock picked out the leg-side field having set himself for a century. He hung his head and could barely drag himself off.
De Villiers was greeted by a hostile delivery from Ferguson which rammed into his gloves but quickly ticked off the five runs he needed to jump past Sourav Ganguly to top the 9000 list. However, senior batsmen came and went. JP Duminy, who had struggled for fluency, was run out by a direct hit from Tim Southee at backward point and David Miller chipped a low catch to midwicket which was upheld by the third umpire.
In each of the three matches in this series, someone from the lower order has stepped forward for South Africa. It wasn't Pretorius this time - he was bowled by Ferguson - but Parnell helped de Villiers stop New Zealand in their tracks.
De Villiers had been above a run-a-ball early in his innings, but bided his time as he lost partners for the closing overs. Back-to-back boundaries off Ferguson, rasping shots through midwicket and cover, hustled him through the 40s and the half-century came from 59 deliveries. He went from 39 off 51 balls to 85 off 80; it was not one of de Villiers' more explosive innings, but it was a masterclass in repairing damage, judging conditions and not overreaching.
And his efforts were soon put into context. Latham middled a square drive but picked out point. Dean Brownlie then feathered to the keeper off Rabada who found considered seam movement and proceeded to work over Williamson.
Williamson was dropped at slip on 4 by Hashim Amla off Parnell and alongside Taylor weathered the new balls for a period although scoring was always hard work and the pressure did not relent.
Phehlukwayo had conceded just four runs into his third over when Williamson, trying to dab the ball to third man, played into his stumps and in the next over, Taylor fell across a full, straight delivery from Pretorius. He was not far off walking for the lbw decision. The stuffing had been knocked out of New Zealand's innings and there was precious little else on offer. Broom's poke outside off against Phehlukwayo was a poor shot and Pretorius' miserly spell, as he nipped the ball around off the seam under the lights, also accounted for Mitchell Santner.
New Zealand's total was their lowest completed innings at home since being bowled out for 73 by Sri Lanka, in Auckland in 2007, and the result their heaviest runs defeat to South Africa.
4th ODI
New Zealand 280 for 3 beat South Africa 279 for 8 by seven wickets
Could Martin Guptill slot back into the New Zealand line-up after a month on the sidelines and make an immediate impact? The answer to that was an emphatic 'yes' as he surged to a ferocious 180 off 138 balls at Seddon Park to set up a series decider in Auckland on Saturday. His innings enabled New Zealand to chase down what had appeared a challenging target of 280 with a massive 30 balls to spare.
His 12th century in ODI cricket came from 82 deliveries after being saved by the DRS having been given lbw to Dwaine Pretorius on 62. Guptill dominated a third-wicket stand of 180 with Ross Taylor who made 66 off 97 deliveries, the joint second-highest for New Zealand and highest for any wicket against South Africa. Guptill finished with 11 sixes - at least four of them disappearing out of the ground - and now holds the three highest innings for New Zealand in ODIs after his 237 against West Indies in the World Cup and 189 against England in 2013.
South Africa will ponder their team selection and tactics with the ball. The fact that the pitch would aid the spinners, and likely grip for the seamers, had been telegraphed a long way out. Yet they opted not to play a second frontline spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi while JP Duminy's three overs cost 26 although AB de Villiers later defended the selection. They also did not bowl the amount of cutters and slower balls that New Zealand did mid-innings, instead the extra pace from their quartet of seamers played into New Zealand's - and Guptill's - hands.
With the bat it was a familiar pattern: a solid base (128 for 2), a middle-order collapse (4 for 30) and then a revival led by de Villiers and the lower order to take South Africa to 279. De Villiers, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell plundered 100 from the last eight overs to seemingly swing the match in South Africa's favour. But then Guptill got to work.
He struck the ball with blistering power, belying his lack of match time, and the signs had been promising as early as the fourth over when he pulled Parnell onto the grass banks. He connected with an even bigger blow off Morris, speeding to his fifty off 38 deliveries and needing just another 44 for three figures. The ball rarely failed to make a thunderous crack off his bat.
Each time the asking rate threatened to edge much over a run-a-ball he would manage to go over or across the boundary. De Villiers didn't know how to stop him, a feeling many a bowler has felt against the South Africa captain. The nearest Guptill came to a problem, until a missed run out on 166 when the match had been won, was when he was struck on the helmet by Morris.
He overwhelmed the innings, but his partners were important. Kane Williamson helped add 72 for the second wicket as New Zealand got themselves ahead of the rate. He was also involved in, perhaps, the crucial decision of the innings. When given lbw to Imran Tahir's second ball he pondered the review but decided to walk off. Replays showed it was out. If Williamson had gambled, there would not have been one for Guptill.
Taylor then played the ideal second-fiddle, happy to ride in Guptill's slipstream, although brought his fifty up with a huge six over midwicket to match anything his partner managed.
New Zealand's selection was far more tailored to the surface with Jeetan Patel recalled, ahead of the unlucky Ish Sodhi, as a second spinner. He struck in the first over of the match when Quinton de Kock's run of five fifty-plus scores ended with his first golden duck in international cricket. There was an even more notable first, too, as a pair of spinners opened the bowling in the first innings of an ODI for the first time.
The move did not last long, though, and Hashim Amla enjoyed the extra pace of Trent Boult but New Zealand soon switched back to spin and pace-off. Patel nabbed Amla at the start of his second spell and New Zealand began to squeeze. Tim Southee and Jimmy Neesham bowled handy spells of cutters as South Africa lost 4 for 30 in 9.5 overs. JP Duminy's unconvincing series continued when he bottom-edged Southee, du Plessis chipped to midwicket after a 72-ball fifty, David Miller picked out deep midwicket while Pretorius was run out.
De Villiers was left to try and take the innings deep again. He was sitting on 27 off 37 balls, after a period of 12 boundary-less overs, when he pulled Mitchell Santner over deep midwicket to mark his late-overs kick. Both Southee and Boult came in for late punishment, but rather than providing a total to challenge New Zealand it just enabled Guptill to play one of New Zealand's finest one-day innings.
5th ODI
New Zealand 149 (41.1 ov)
South Africa 150/4 (32.2 ov)
South Africa won by 6 wickets (with 106 balls remaining)
South Africa's one-day side started in New Zealand as the No. 1 and they will end it there after an oscillating series went their way at a ground that now holds some good memories. There were a few jitters with the bat - there were bound to be, weren't there? - but after a commanding performance in the field, which sucked the life out of New Zealand's batting order, a target of 150 gave them breathing space.
From the moment that the hero of Hamilton, Martin Guptill, was defeated by Kagiso Rabada there was never any let-up from South Africa with the ball. Rabada was high-class on a surface offering more carry than any other in the series. Imran Tahir, who New Zealand have played well this series, then reeled off the most economical 10-over figures by a South Africa spinner - and the best by any spinner in an ODI in his country - as the innings almost came to a standstill.
Andile Phehlukwayo missed the Hamilton match with a minor groin injury and had a significant impact on his return with the wickets of Dean Brownlie and Ross Taylor. South Africa's ground-fielding also conjured two wickets, including the major scalp of Kane Williamson, as New Zealand's batting slumped for the second time in the series.
But they did not let their unbeaten one-day home record, dating back to South Africa's visit in 2014, go easily and for a moment mid-chase, another Eden Park classic was not complete fantasy. Jeetan Patel had snaffled two - and had an lbw against Faf du Plessis overturned by DRS - and when AB de Villiers was bounced out by James Neesham - not a dismissal you would have put your house on - South Africa were 88 for 4. But du Plessis, who reached fifty with the winning boundary, and David Miller, ensured against any further drama.
It was a superb set-up from Rabada, a sharp bouncer which ensured Guptill had to be wary of planting forward, then a yorker which he tried to advance to but only got in a horrid position with his stumps exposed. As ugly as Hamilton was breathtaking.
Williamson and Brownlie weathered the rest of the opening ten overs but a horror few minutes sent the innings into a spiral. It's a period Brownlie will want to forget. Firstly he decided to chance de Villiers' fielding at midwicket which left Williamson stranded when the South Africa captain dived and flicked in the blink of an eye. Williamson's bat got caught in the turf short of the crease, but he would have been short regardless.
Three balls later, Brownlie play round a full delivery from Phehlukwayo and almost walked before the finger was raised. Tahir's first four overs cost just four; eventually overs 10-20 brought 31 for 4. As in Wellington, Phehlukwayo was key to that, bowling wicket-to-wicket at brisk pace, and was rewarded again when Taylor fell across a straight one.
Luke Ronchi's stay was never convincing and he gloved a short ball as he tried to sway out of the line. Neesham, yesterday recalled to the Test squad, had looked as comfortable as any of the top order but for the second time in the series was removed by a short ball from Rabada, although it needed the DRS to confirm the top-edge.
The build-up to Mitchell Santner's demise highlighted South Africa's suffocating ground fielding. Three consecutive shots from Santner were intercepted sharply in the infield, then the fourth went to JP Duminy at backward point who slid and threw from the ground, hitting directly with Santner nowhere.
Tahir, who did not concede anything other than singles, gained his reward against the lower order. In three of the five matches, New Zealand had played him as well as anyone of late - "respect" had been the word used by both sides - but they became almost strokeless this time. The pressure of the occasion, the pitch, or just a good day for him? Only they will know.
Such was the swift end to New Zealand's innings that South Africa batted before the interval. Patel again saw off Quinton de Kock - that change of tactic had worked a treat - and scoring wasn't easy after the break. Hashim Amla completed a fifty-less series when he drove to cover as did Duminy - the latter far more of a concern - when he drove softly at Patel. Duminy had again been used ahead of de Villiers, but he has regressed during this series.
De Villiers has been far and away South Africa's best batsman and he was eager to finish things himself. He took a six apiece of Patel and Santner but was then surprised by the nip and angled of Neesham's bouncer, which followed him and took the glove to the keeper. As a single moment it was a superb spectacle, but not enough to open the game for New Zealand.
Du Plessis ticked over and for the first time in the series Miller played the type of forceful shots he has become known for. The target hurried into view. The sun had only just set. This time not on South Africa.
Monday, 27 February 2017
Tour Match West Indies Cricket Board President's XI v England
WICB Pres XI 233 (48.0 ov)
England 234/8 (48.5 ov)
England won by 2 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)
England 234/8 (48.5 ov)
England won by 2 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)
Sunday, 26 February 2017
5 Match ODI series ZIM 2-3 AFG
1st ODI
Afghanistan 215 (49.2 ov)
Zimbabwe 99/4 (27.2/27.2 ov, target 112)
Afghanistan won by 12 runs (D/L method)
A Zimbabwe wicket two balls before rain descended upon Harare helped Afghanistan complete a 12-run win courtesy Duckworth-Lewis. The hosts were ahead by a solitary run according to the D/L method at the beginning of the 28th over, but Rashid Khan's wicket of Ryan Burl - which reduced Zimbabwe to 99 for 4 - meant Afghanistan held the D/L advantage when the weather decided to play spoilsport.
Chasing 216, Zimbabwe lost both openers inside six overs. They lost their third wicket with their total at 44 in the 15th over, but a 55-run fourth-wicket partnership between Burl and Craig Ervine (38*) started what looked like a Zimbabwe recovery. Rashid trapped Burl in front of the stumps in the 28th over and Zimbabwe got no time to recover as the rain came down.
Afghanistan had chosen to bat but the hosts kept the visitors in check. After opener Mohammad Shahzad fell early, Noor Ali Zadran (39) and Rahmat Shah (31) added 67 runs for the second wicket. By the 25th over, Graeme Cremer removed both set batsmen before captain Asghar Stanikzai struck his seventh ODI half-century to help Afghanistan along. He scored 50, helping Afghanistan's total move past 150, before his dismissal was followed by a string of wickets towards the end of their innings. That meant they were all out in the 50th over for 215.
2nd ODI
Afghanistan 238/9 (50.0 ov)
Zimbabwe 184 (42.1 ov)
Afghanistan won by 54 runs
Afghanistan went 2-0 up against Zimbabwe in the five-match ODI series after their spinners Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi took three wickets each to skittle the hosts for 184 in a chase of 239 in Harare.
Zimbabwe suffered a dramatic collapse in their chase after a strong start from opener Solomon Mire - whose 54 was his highest ODI score - and Craig Ervine (34). Mire hit seven fours and a six and was involved in a 69-run stand for the first wicket with Peter Moor while Ervine and Ryal Burl (27) added 55 runs for the fourth wicket. When Ervine fell Zimbabwe were 139 for 4. They were bowled out 45 runs later as Nabi, Rashid and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza (2 for 40) ran through the hosts' middle and lower order.
Afghanistan chose to bat after winning the toss and reached 238 for 9 despite a late batting collapse. After Mohammad Shahzad (64), who struck his eighth ODI fifty, Rahmat Shah (53) and Nabi (33) set up a base for the visitors, late wickets from Tendai Chatara hurt Afghanistan; they lost their last four wickets for 26 runs. Najibullah Zadran held up one end to score 45 off 47 deliveries before he was the ninth man out, during the last over of Afghanistan's innings.
The third ODI, a must-win affair for Zimbabwe, will be on February 21 in Harare.
3rd ODI
Zimbabwe 129 (32.4 ov)
Afghanistan 126 (29.3 ov)
Zimbabwe won by 3 runs
Harare Sports Club. Afghanistan are cantering towards a target of 130. They need 16 runs more, off 24 overs, with five wickets in hand, to win a third successive ODI series against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe have never defended so low a total in one-day internationals. The match is in the bag, right? Enter seamer Chris Mpofu. Add some handy work from wicketkeeper Peter Moor, vital spin support from Sean Williams, and rash batting from Afghanistan's middle and lower order, and what you have is an unbelievable three-run win for Zimbabwe.
There was no hint of the drama to come when Mpofu began the 27th over and new batsman Mohammad Nabi dispatched the first ball over long-off for six. He took a single next ball, and the well-set Samiullah Shenwari was back on strike. Afghanistan needed nine. Shenwari went after a short, wide one, and under-edged; the ball was dying on keeper Moor, but he dived forward and held on. The very next ball, new man Najibullah Zadran's shot selection was suspect - he tried to pull a short one from outside off - and top edged. Moor held on again.
Six needed off 23 overs, three wickets in hand. Left-arm spinner Williams, bowling his fifth over, tossed it up on middle and Nabi missed the cut. Bowled. Williams sent down a maiden. The first ball of the next over, the Mpofu-Moor pairing was at it again. This time it was a short ball angling down leg, which Rashid Khan edged to be caught behind. Another wicket maiden and it was back to Williams. No. 10 Amir Hamza managed to get two off the first ball, Graeme Cremer misfielding amid all the tension. He kept out the next one, but could not hold himself back off the third ball; a big swing at a delivery tossed up on off ended in the hands of Richard Ngarava at point. Zimbabwe had won by three runs, keeping the series alive. To complete their first ever ODI series victory against a spirited Afghanistan side, they will have to win the next two games too, on February 24 and 26.
Zimbabwe seemed to have little chance of staying in the series after their batting failed. The only contribution of note came from Tarisai Musakanda, who scored 60 out of their total of 129. Only one other batsmen - Malcolm Waller, who finished unbeaten on 36 - made it past 10 as the home side imploded in 32.4 overs. Much of the damage was done by the medium pace of Gulbadin Naib and the legspin of Rashid Khan, who must have still been in a happy daze from his success at the IPL auction. He was also on a hat-trick at one point in this match.
When the players broke for lunch, Afghanistan were comfortable at 63 for 3 in 13 overs with captain Asghar Stanikzai and Shenwari at the crease. New-ball bowler Tendai Chatara got Stanikzai soon after the interval, though - another catch to keeper Moor - helping Zimbabwe take a step towards one of the most stunning comebacks.
4th ODI
Afghanistan 111 (38.5/42 ov)
Zimbabwe 107/3 (22.2/42 ov, target 105)
Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets (with 118 balls remaining) (D/L method)
Solomon Mire and Peter Moor made light work of a rain-adjusted target of 105 in 42 overs, breaking the back of their run-chase in a 79-run opening stand to square the five-match series against Afghanistan, and set the teams up for a winner-takes-all showdown in Harare on Sunday.
After keeping the series alive in a thrilling three-run victory in Tuesday's third encounter, Zimbabwe drew level with considerably fewer nerves this time around, although they were once again indebted to the accurate seam of Chris Mpofu, who followed up his three-wicket haul in that match with 3 for 25 in 7.5 overs today as Afghanistan stumbled to 111 all out.
After winning the toss and batting first, Afghanistan's ambitions of a competitive total were dented from the outset by Tendai Chatara, who conceded a solitary run in his first three overs before extracting Ihsanullah for a 20-ball duck, caught at midwicket by Tarisai Musakanda.
Chatara then made it two in six balls when Rahmat Shah was bowled for 1, and one over later, Afghanistan had slumped to 12 for 3 when the dangerous Mohammad Shahzad tried to hit his way out of trouble, but instead slapped Richard Ngarava straight to midwicket for 9.
Asghar Stanikzai, the captain, and Hashmatullah Shahidi resisted for a while in adding 29 for the fourth wicket, but Zimbabwe's bowlers had the bit between their teeth. Mpofu accounted for both men in consecutive overs, both caught behind by Moor - the former a blinding take diving away to his right.
At 46 for 5, Graeme Cremer's legbreaks were exactly what Afghanistan's belligerent lower-order didn't want to face, and he twirled through an eight-over spell at the cost of just 12 runs to ensure there would be no recovery to Afghanistan's momentum. Samiullah Shenwari top-edged a sweep to Chatara at short fine leg for 13, before Moor held onto his third catch of the innings to dismiss Karim Janat for 9.
Afghanistan were reeling at 96 for 8 in the 35th over when rain forced a lengthy delay, and though they eked out a handful of extra runs upon resumption, Mpofu picked up his third when Rashid Khan holed out to cover to end the innings.
In reply, Mire and Moor started with intent, picking off regular boundaries to eat into the target, before Mire upped the ante with a pull for six off Janat to bring up Zimbabwe's fifty in the ninth over. He added a second two overs later, a meaty drill over the covers that required a replacement ball, and though he eventually holed out in the deep off Mohammad Nabi, his hard-hitting 46 from 50 balls had sealed the game.
Zimbabwe did wobble briefly, with Musakanda and Craig Ervine falling in consecutive overs, but with Moor steadfast, it was left to Sean Williams to complete a facile victory with almost 20 overs to spare.
5th ODI
Afghanistan 253/9 (50.0 ov)
Zimbabwe 54 (13.5/22 ov, target 161)
Afghanistan won by 106 runs (D/L method)
Afghanistan's bowlers combined to roll Zimbabwe over for 54, helping the visitors seal a 3-2 series win with a 106-run D/L victory in the final ODI in Harare.
Afghanistan elected to bat and were provided a brisk start thanks to opener Noor Ali Zadran's 49-ball 46, even as Zimbabwe got regular breakthroughs early on. Noor Ali eventually fell at the end of the 15th over, a wicket that put the brakes on Afghanistan's momentum as captain Asghar Stanikzai and Rahmat Shah tried to steady the innings from 85 for 3. The pair put on 39 off 64 balls, which was followed by a fifth-wicket stand of 35 between Shah and Samiullah Shenwari. After Rahmat reached his fifty, both he and Shenwari were run-out as Afghanistan found themselves at 172 for 6 at the 40-over mark.
Allrounder Mohammad Nabi then batted with the lower order, hitting four fours and a six in his 48 off 40 balls. Dawlat Zadran hit 14 off 6 balls to lift them to 253 for 9. Medium-pacer Chris Mpofu finished with figures of 3 for 46 while the spin duo of Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams kept things tight and conceded a combined 74 in 20 overs.
Zimbabwe's response was delayed by rain and a wet outfield, leaving them with a revised target of 161 off 22 overs. They suffered an early blow, losing Peter Moor in the second over. Three balls later, left-arm spinner Amir Hamza removed Solomon Mire, before returning two more wickets off four balls in his next over to reduce Zimbabwe to 13 for 4.
There was to be no recovery, with only two batsmen getting into double-figures, as Nabi and Rashid Khan - who were both picked up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the IPL auction earlier this week - took combined figures of 5 for 22. Rahmat was named Man of the Match for his fifty.
Afghanistan 215 (49.2 ov)
Zimbabwe 99/4 (27.2/27.2 ov, target 112)
Afghanistan won by 12 runs (D/L method)
A Zimbabwe wicket two balls before rain descended upon Harare helped Afghanistan complete a 12-run win courtesy Duckworth-Lewis. The hosts were ahead by a solitary run according to the D/L method at the beginning of the 28th over, but Rashid Khan's wicket of Ryan Burl - which reduced Zimbabwe to 99 for 4 - meant Afghanistan held the D/L advantage when the weather decided to play spoilsport.
Chasing 216, Zimbabwe lost both openers inside six overs. They lost their third wicket with their total at 44 in the 15th over, but a 55-run fourth-wicket partnership between Burl and Craig Ervine (38*) started what looked like a Zimbabwe recovery. Rashid trapped Burl in front of the stumps in the 28th over and Zimbabwe got no time to recover as the rain came down.
Afghanistan had chosen to bat but the hosts kept the visitors in check. After opener Mohammad Shahzad fell early, Noor Ali Zadran (39) and Rahmat Shah (31) added 67 runs for the second wicket. By the 25th over, Graeme Cremer removed both set batsmen before captain Asghar Stanikzai struck his seventh ODI half-century to help Afghanistan along. He scored 50, helping Afghanistan's total move past 150, before his dismissal was followed by a string of wickets towards the end of their innings. That meant they were all out in the 50th over for 215.
2nd ODI
Afghanistan 238/9 (50.0 ov)
Zimbabwe 184 (42.1 ov)
Afghanistan won by 54 runs
Afghanistan went 2-0 up against Zimbabwe in the five-match ODI series after their spinners Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi took three wickets each to skittle the hosts for 184 in a chase of 239 in Harare.
Zimbabwe suffered a dramatic collapse in their chase after a strong start from opener Solomon Mire - whose 54 was his highest ODI score - and Craig Ervine (34). Mire hit seven fours and a six and was involved in a 69-run stand for the first wicket with Peter Moor while Ervine and Ryal Burl (27) added 55 runs for the fourth wicket. When Ervine fell Zimbabwe were 139 for 4. They were bowled out 45 runs later as Nabi, Rashid and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza (2 for 40) ran through the hosts' middle and lower order.
Afghanistan chose to bat after winning the toss and reached 238 for 9 despite a late batting collapse. After Mohammad Shahzad (64), who struck his eighth ODI fifty, Rahmat Shah (53) and Nabi (33) set up a base for the visitors, late wickets from Tendai Chatara hurt Afghanistan; they lost their last four wickets for 26 runs. Najibullah Zadran held up one end to score 45 off 47 deliveries before he was the ninth man out, during the last over of Afghanistan's innings.
The third ODI, a must-win affair for Zimbabwe, will be on February 21 in Harare.
3rd ODI
Zimbabwe 129 (32.4 ov)
Afghanistan 126 (29.3 ov)
Zimbabwe won by 3 runs
Harare Sports Club. Afghanistan are cantering towards a target of 130. They need 16 runs more, off 24 overs, with five wickets in hand, to win a third successive ODI series against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe have never defended so low a total in one-day internationals. The match is in the bag, right? Enter seamer Chris Mpofu. Add some handy work from wicketkeeper Peter Moor, vital spin support from Sean Williams, and rash batting from Afghanistan's middle and lower order, and what you have is an unbelievable three-run win for Zimbabwe.
There was no hint of the drama to come when Mpofu began the 27th over and new batsman Mohammad Nabi dispatched the first ball over long-off for six. He took a single next ball, and the well-set Samiullah Shenwari was back on strike. Afghanistan needed nine. Shenwari went after a short, wide one, and under-edged; the ball was dying on keeper Moor, but he dived forward and held on. The very next ball, new man Najibullah Zadran's shot selection was suspect - he tried to pull a short one from outside off - and top edged. Moor held on again.
Six needed off 23 overs, three wickets in hand. Left-arm spinner Williams, bowling his fifth over, tossed it up on middle and Nabi missed the cut. Bowled. Williams sent down a maiden. The first ball of the next over, the Mpofu-Moor pairing was at it again. This time it was a short ball angling down leg, which Rashid Khan edged to be caught behind. Another wicket maiden and it was back to Williams. No. 10 Amir Hamza managed to get two off the first ball, Graeme Cremer misfielding amid all the tension. He kept out the next one, but could not hold himself back off the third ball; a big swing at a delivery tossed up on off ended in the hands of Richard Ngarava at point. Zimbabwe had won by three runs, keeping the series alive. To complete their first ever ODI series victory against a spirited Afghanistan side, they will have to win the next two games too, on February 24 and 26.
Zimbabwe seemed to have little chance of staying in the series after their batting failed. The only contribution of note came from Tarisai Musakanda, who scored 60 out of their total of 129. Only one other batsmen - Malcolm Waller, who finished unbeaten on 36 - made it past 10 as the home side imploded in 32.4 overs. Much of the damage was done by the medium pace of Gulbadin Naib and the legspin of Rashid Khan, who must have still been in a happy daze from his success at the IPL auction. He was also on a hat-trick at one point in this match.
When the players broke for lunch, Afghanistan were comfortable at 63 for 3 in 13 overs with captain Asghar Stanikzai and Shenwari at the crease. New-ball bowler Tendai Chatara got Stanikzai soon after the interval, though - another catch to keeper Moor - helping Zimbabwe take a step towards one of the most stunning comebacks.
4th ODI
Afghanistan 111 (38.5/42 ov)
Zimbabwe 107/3 (22.2/42 ov, target 105)
Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets (with 118 balls remaining) (D/L method)
Solomon Mire and Peter Moor made light work of a rain-adjusted target of 105 in 42 overs, breaking the back of their run-chase in a 79-run opening stand to square the five-match series against Afghanistan, and set the teams up for a winner-takes-all showdown in Harare on Sunday.
After keeping the series alive in a thrilling three-run victory in Tuesday's third encounter, Zimbabwe drew level with considerably fewer nerves this time around, although they were once again indebted to the accurate seam of Chris Mpofu, who followed up his three-wicket haul in that match with 3 for 25 in 7.5 overs today as Afghanistan stumbled to 111 all out.
After winning the toss and batting first, Afghanistan's ambitions of a competitive total were dented from the outset by Tendai Chatara, who conceded a solitary run in his first three overs before extracting Ihsanullah for a 20-ball duck, caught at midwicket by Tarisai Musakanda.
Chatara then made it two in six balls when Rahmat Shah was bowled for 1, and one over later, Afghanistan had slumped to 12 for 3 when the dangerous Mohammad Shahzad tried to hit his way out of trouble, but instead slapped Richard Ngarava straight to midwicket for 9.
Asghar Stanikzai, the captain, and Hashmatullah Shahidi resisted for a while in adding 29 for the fourth wicket, but Zimbabwe's bowlers had the bit between their teeth. Mpofu accounted for both men in consecutive overs, both caught behind by Moor - the former a blinding take diving away to his right.
At 46 for 5, Graeme Cremer's legbreaks were exactly what Afghanistan's belligerent lower-order didn't want to face, and he twirled through an eight-over spell at the cost of just 12 runs to ensure there would be no recovery to Afghanistan's momentum. Samiullah Shenwari top-edged a sweep to Chatara at short fine leg for 13, before Moor held onto his third catch of the innings to dismiss Karim Janat for 9.
Afghanistan were reeling at 96 for 8 in the 35th over when rain forced a lengthy delay, and though they eked out a handful of extra runs upon resumption, Mpofu picked up his third when Rashid Khan holed out to cover to end the innings.
In reply, Mire and Moor started with intent, picking off regular boundaries to eat into the target, before Mire upped the ante with a pull for six off Janat to bring up Zimbabwe's fifty in the ninth over. He added a second two overs later, a meaty drill over the covers that required a replacement ball, and though he eventually holed out in the deep off Mohammad Nabi, his hard-hitting 46 from 50 balls had sealed the game.
Zimbabwe did wobble briefly, with Musakanda and Craig Ervine falling in consecutive overs, but with Moor steadfast, it was left to Sean Williams to complete a facile victory with almost 20 overs to spare.
5th ODI
Afghanistan 253/9 (50.0 ov)
Zimbabwe 54 (13.5/22 ov, target 161)
Afghanistan won by 106 runs (D/L method)
Afghanistan's bowlers combined to roll Zimbabwe over for 54, helping the visitors seal a 3-2 series win with a 106-run D/L victory in the final ODI in Harare.
Afghanistan elected to bat and were provided a brisk start thanks to opener Noor Ali Zadran's 49-ball 46, even as Zimbabwe got regular breakthroughs early on. Noor Ali eventually fell at the end of the 15th over, a wicket that put the brakes on Afghanistan's momentum as captain Asghar Stanikzai and Rahmat Shah tried to steady the innings from 85 for 3. The pair put on 39 off 64 balls, which was followed by a fifth-wicket stand of 35 between Shah and Samiullah Shenwari. After Rahmat reached his fifty, both he and Shenwari were run-out as Afghanistan found themselves at 172 for 6 at the 40-over mark.
Allrounder Mohammad Nabi then batted with the lower order, hitting four fours and a six in his 48 off 40 balls. Dawlat Zadran hit 14 off 6 balls to lift them to 253 for 9. Medium-pacer Chris Mpofu finished with figures of 3 for 46 while the spin duo of Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams kept things tight and conceded a combined 74 in 20 overs.
Zimbabwe's response was delayed by rain and a wet outfield, leaving them with a revised target of 161 off 22 overs. They suffered an early blow, losing Peter Moor in the second over. Three balls later, left-arm spinner Amir Hamza removed Solomon Mire, before returning two more wickets off four balls in his next over to reduce Zimbabwe to 13 for 4.
There was to be no recovery, with only two batsmen getting into double-figures, as Nabi and Rashid Khan - who were both picked up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the IPL auction earlier this week - took combined figures of 5 for 22. Rahmat was named Man of the Match for his fifty.
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
3 Match T20 series AUS 1-2 SL
1st T20
Australia 168/6 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka 172/5 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)
Australia's "best of the Big Bash League" took Sri Lanka to the final ball. The hosts and their three debutants fought to the finish against the visitors in front of a raucous crowd at the MCG, but a win offered Sri Lanka the chance to wrap up the series at Kardinia Park on Sunday.
The Perth Scorchers' Andrew Tye was left with six runs to defend from the final over, and one from the final ball. Chamara Kapugedara surveyed the ring field then punched the winning boundary through the covers to secure the result. His composure ensured Sri Lanka finished in the ascendant after looking the more likely victors throughout their chase, largely due to a boundary count that outstripped the hosts, 21 to 13.
None of Australia's batsmen were able to go on to substantial scores after Upul Tharanga sent them in to bat, as a spongy pitch and disciplined Sri Lankan bowling denied them the ability to find a domineering rhythm. Sri Lanka's pursuit was then given the desired fast start by Dilshan Munaweera after Tharanga was dismissed in the first over, and Asela Gunaratne's nimble half-century guided the tourists to within sight of victory in front of 42,511 spectators, many of them barracking for Sri Lanka.
Gunaratne also made a brief but notable contribution with the ball, goading the captain Aaron Finch into a skier after he had appeared the man most likely to produce a truly damaging tally for Australia. The dismissal came two balls after Finch had hammered the biggest six of the night, and 10 runs after Michael Klinger's long delayed international debut was ended.
Lasith Malinga, making his own return from a long absence, bowled tidily and scooped a couple of late wickets, while Seekkuge Prasanna gave up a mere 23 runs from four overs that featured 10 dot balls and should have been rewarded with the wicket of Travis Head - dropped badly by Tharanga at point.
Tharanga's night did not improve when he opened the batting, as he received a perfectly pitched ball going across him from Pat Cummins in the first over and offered a thin edge through to Tim Paine behind the stumps. While the Australians celebrated this wicket with some gusto, they were soon haring about the MCG outfield as Munaweera and Niroshan Dickwella went to work.
Their partnership ensured the run rate was not going to be much of an issue, compelling Finch and his bowlers to chase wickets and consequentially offer more scoring opportunities. Adam Zampa delivered his usual handy spell and deserved his two wickets, but oddly Finch did not try his other spin options until introducing Ashton Turner with only a modest equation required.
Turner's offbreaks were rewarded by a smart Paine stumping to end Gunaratne's innings just when he appeared to be coasting home, before a debatable lbw verdict against Milinda Siriwardana closed the gap between the teams. In the end, Kapugedara was left needing a single from the final delivery, an assignment he made light work of with a steely drive for four.
Klinger, Turner and Billy Stanlake were all named for their first T20 appearances for Australia but there was no room for Ben Dunk and only three specialist batsmen selected - Finch, Head and Klinger. The visitors included the left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who was so effective against Australia in the Test series in Sri Lanka last year.
Malinga kicked off the evening with his first ball in a full international since February last year, and also bowled the first ball faced by Klinger in an international match no fewer than 19 years after his state debut. The pitch was a little on the sluggish side, but Klinger and the acting captain Finch made a decent start with a smattering of boundaries and hustling between the wickets.
They had 76 on the board by the time Klinger tried to tug a Sandakan googly to the leg side and was pouched by Malinga via the resultant top edge. Finch had his eye on a big score as leader, but after depositing Gunaratne's first ball well into the Great Southern Stand he tried to repeat the trick two balls later against an offcutter and popped another high catch.
From there the innings was a sequence of fits and starts, as Head, Moises Henriques, Turner and James Faulkner all offered cameo contributions. However, Prasanna's spell was particularly tidy, Sri Lanka did well to keep the boundary count down - only seven fours and four sixes in total - and two wickets in successive balls for Malinga in his final over also served to aid the tourists' ultimately winning cause.
2nd T20
Australia 173 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka 176/8 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)
Asela Gunaratne orchestrated a remarkable heist to seal the T20 series for Sri Lanka with a match to play, stealing an outrageous victory over Australia in the first international match ever played at Geelong's Kardinia Park. For the second time in three days, Sri Lanka reached their target from the final ball of their chase, but whereas at the MCG they had needed only 18 off the last three overs, here they needed 48. Gunaratne ensured that they did it in style.
Forty-eight off 18 balls became 36 off 12, and then came the over that turned things firmly in Sri Lanka's favour. Moises Henriques, who earlier had struck an unbeaten half-century to set Sri Lanka a target of 174, failed to find the right lengths and was plundered for three consecutive sixes by Gunaratne, as well as a four, and it left them requiring 14 from the final over, to be bowled by Andrew Tye.
Although Tye struck with the first ball - Nuwan Kulasekara caught skying a slog - the batsmen had crossed, and Gunaratne was back on strike. Full toss, four down the ground. Six over mid-off. And then, surprisingly, a single, which brought Lasith Malinga on strike needing three off two. Malinga found the single he needed, and Gunaratne crunched the match-winning four over cover, to finish unbeaten on 84 from 46 deliveries.
The Sri Lankan squad poured onto Kardinia Park to celebrate winning the series in front of a 13,647-strong crowd, a hefty percentage of which were Sri Lankan fans. Remarkably, the win meant Sri Lanka held a 5-0 record over Australia in T20s in Australia. The best Australia can now hope for is to make that 5-1 after the third match of the series at Adelaide Oval this Wednesday.
Yet for most of the chase, Australia appeared to be in control. They had Sri Lanka five down within five overs. The rain that both sides feared might affect the game had stayed away, but still it was threatening to become a damp squib. Tye had struck twice in an over, the debutant Jhye Richardson claimed a wicket with his third ball of international cricket, and Ashton Turner had got rid of Sri Lanka's captain Upul Tharanga in the very first over of the innings.
But the small boundaries meant that while Gunaratne remained, Sri Lanka were never out of the contest. He began the rebuild with a 52-run stand with Chamara Kapugedara, which ended when Kapugedara was well caught by Ben Dunk, leaping at mid-off like an AFL player taking a mark above his head. Still, Gunaratne had enough partners, though Australia's captain Aaron Finch conceded after the match that his team had done too little to keep Gunaratne off strike.
Slowly at first and then quickly at the end, he had brought Sri Lanka back into the game. Their bowlers, though, had helped by restricting Australia in the final few overs of the first innings. Australia had cruised to 2 for 111 after 13 overs, the kind of platform from which a total nearing 200 could be achieved, but Sri Lanka found a way to halt the momentum and Australia were bowled out for 173 from the last ball of the 20th over.
The runs came largely at the top of the order - nobody outside the top four reached double-figures. Henriques, whose eight T20Is have been spread fairly evenly over eight years, made an unbeaten 56; Michael Klinger, playing his first international series at the age of 36, scored a composed 43; Dunk, a regular run-basher in the BBL, completed a whirlwind cameo of 32 off 14. But as the batsmen departed, the runs slowed, and only 14 came off the final two overs for the loss of four wickets.
Malinga picked up two important late wickets, trapping both James Faulkner and Tim Paine lbw cheaply, and Nuwan Kulasekara struck three times in the final over of the innings. Australia had needed one of their established men to stick around until the end, but the innings petered out. After Sri Lanka's early stumbles, the match itself looked like petering out too. Only Gunaratne knew differently.
3rd T20I
Australia 187/6 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka 146 (18/20 ov)
Australia won by 41 runs
Adam Zampa's dismantling of Sri Lanka arrived too late to salvage the series for Australia, and also too late for his skiddy, accurate wristspin to be considered for the Test team to face India in Pune from Thursday.
The frequent omission of Zampa from Australia's ODI and Twenty20 sides - despite an excellent record in both formats - has been a mystery for quite some time, and there appeared to be thinly veiled frustration on the part of the bowler as he accounted for the series' pivotal player Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedara and Dasun Shanaka in quick succession to push a target of 188 beyond the reach of the visitors.
His wickets came not from any extravagant turn but instead useful changes of pace and unrelenting attack on the stumps, winning a pair of back foot lbw verdicts from the umpire Paul Wilson either side of another slider that bowled Kapugedara between bat and pad. Australia's selectors had admitted to choosing an "attacking" spinner in Mitchell Swepson over what the panel's chairman Trevor Hohns called a more "defensive" operator in Zampa.
Sri Lanka made a rapid start to their chase but a sturdy Australian effort with the bat meant that they did not have much room to lose momentum. The captain Aaron Finch and his opening partner Michael Klinger both contributed half centuries, before Ben Dunk and Travis Head provided aggressive support through the middle overs.
At 0 for 41 in the fourth over, the visitors appeared well in control of proceedings, largely due to the early pyrotechnics of Dilshan Munaweera - including 20 runs off Jhye Richardson's opening over. However, James Fulkner, Richardson and Head each coaxed outfield catches from Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen, before Zampa arrived to attack the stumps with quite compelling effect.
Those wickets meant that Gunaratne was not around to perform his third Houdini act in succession, and left Faulkner to lead the mop-up operation and the Australians to enjoy the consolation of a win in the final home international of the summer. Australia will next be glimpsed in coloured clothing at the ODI Champions Trophy in May and June.
The hosts had recalled Zampa in place of Andrew Tye for the dead rubber, banking on his spin bowling at the ground where he also plays for South Australia. Sri Lanka called in Shanaka in place of the suspended Niroshan Dickwella, leaving Kusal Mendis to take over the wicketkeeper's gloves and Munaweera to open.
Finch had a hearty slice of good fortune in the first over of the evening when he tugged Lasith Malinga to midwicket and was dropped by Munaweera. He made up for it with a series of meaty blows inside the powerplay, while Klinger took some more time to get himself moving.
The openers were parted at a healthy 79 in the ninth over, before Ben Dunk and then Travis Head offered further acceleration. At one point a tally beyond 200 looked more than plausible, but Head's exit and the run out of a steadily building Klinger left the innings to peter out somewhat in the final overs. On a good pitch it appeared an open chase, before Zampa closed the door with some panache.
Australia 168/6 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka 172/5 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)
Australia's "best of the Big Bash League" took Sri Lanka to the final ball. The hosts and their three debutants fought to the finish against the visitors in front of a raucous crowd at the MCG, but a win offered Sri Lanka the chance to wrap up the series at Kardinia Park on Sunday.
The Perth Scorchers' Andrew Tye was left with six runs to defend from the final over, and one from the final ball. Chamara Kapugedara surveyed the ring field then punched the winning boundary through the covers to secure the result. His composure ensured Sri Lanka finished in the ascendant after looking the more likely victors throughout their chase, largely due to a boundary count that outstripped the hosts, 21 to 13.
None of Australia's batsmen were able to go on to substantial scores after Upul Tharanga sent them in to bat, as a spongy pitch and disciplined Sri Lankan bowling denied them the ability to find a domineering rhythm. Sri Lanka's pursuit was then given the desired fast start by Dilshan Munaweera after Tharanga was dismissed in the first over, and Asela Gunaratne's nimble half-century guided the tourists to within sight of victory in front of 42,511 spectators, many of them barracking for Sri Lanka.
Gunaratne also made a brief but notable contribution with the ball, goading the captain Aaron Finch into a skier after he had appeared the man most likely to produce a truly damaging tally for Australia. The dismissal came two balls after Finch had hammered the biggest six of the night, and 10 runs after Michael Klinger's long delayed international debut was ended.
Lasith Malinga, making his own return from a long absence, bowled tidily and scooped a couple of late wickets, while Seekkuge Prasanna gave up a mere 23 runs from four overs that featured 10 dot balls and should have been rewarded with the wicket of Travis Head - dropped badly by Tharanga at point.
Tharanga's night did not improve when he opened the batting, as he received a perfectly pitched ball going across him from Pat Cummins in the first over and offered a thin edge through to Tim Paine behind the stumps. While the Australians celebrated this wicket with some gusto, they were soon haring about the MCG outfield as Munaweera and Niroshan Dickwella went to work.
Their partnership ensured the run rate was not going to be much of an issue, compelling Finch and his bowlers to chase wickets and consequentially offer more scoring opportunities. Adam Zampa delivered his usual handy spell and deserved his two wickets, but oddly Finch did not try his other spin options until introducing Ashton Turner with only a modest equation required.
Turner's offbreaks were rewarded by a smart Paine stumping to end Gunaratne's innings just when he appeared to be coasting home, before a debatable lbw verdict against Milinda Siriwardana closed the gap between the teams. In the end, Kapugedara was left needing a single from the final delivery, an assignment he made light work of with a steely drive for four.
Klinger, Turner and Billy Stanlake were all named for their first T20 appearances for Australia but there was no room for Ben Dunk and only three specialist batsmen selected - Finch, Head and Klinger. The visitors included the left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who was so effective against Australia in the Test series in Sri Lanka last year.
Malinga kicked off the evening with his first ball in a full international since February last year, and also bowled the first ball faced by Klinger in an international match no fewer than 19 years after his state debut. The pitch was a little on the sluggish side, but Klinger and the acting captain Finch made a decent start with a smattering of boundaries and hustling between the wickets.
They had 76 on the board by the time Klinger tried to tug a Sandakan googly to the leg side and was pouched by Malinga via the resultant top edge. Finch had his eye on a big score as leader, but after depositing Gunaratne's first ball well into the Great Southern Stand he tried to repeat the trick two balls later against an offcutter and popped another high catch.
From there the innings was a sequence of fits and starts, as Head, Moises Henriques, Turner and James Faulkner all offered cameo contributions. However, Prasanna's spell was particularly tidy, Sri Lanka did well to keep the boundary count down - only seven fours and four sixes in total - and two wickets in successive balls for Malinga in his final over also served to aid the tourists' ultimately winning cause.
2nd T20
Australia 173 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka 176/8 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)
Asela Gunaratne orchestrated a remarkable heist to seal the T20 series for Sri Lanka with a match to play, stealing an outrageous victory over Australia in the first international match ever played at Geelong's Kardinia Park. For the second time in three days, Sri Lanka reached their target from the final ball of their chase, but whereas at the MCG they had needed only 18 off the last three overs, here they needed 48. Gunaratne ensured that they did it in style.
Forty-eight off 18 balls became 36 off 12, and then came the over that turned things firmly in Sri Lanka's favour. Moises Henriques, who earlier had struck an unbeaten half-century to set Sri Lanka a target of 174, failed to find the right lengths and was plundered for three consecutive sixes by Gunaratne, as well as a four, and it left them requiring 14 from the final over, to be bowled by Andrew Tye.
Although Tye struck with the first ball - Nuwan Kulasekara caught skying a slog - the batsmen had crossed, and Gunaratne was back on strike. Full toss, four down the ground. Six over mid-off. And then, surprisingly, a single, which brought Lasith Malinga on strike needing three off two. Malinga found the single he needed, and Gunaratne crunched the match-winning four over cover, to finish unbeaten on 84 from 46 deliveries.
The Sri Lankan squad poured onto Kardinia Park to celebrate winning the series in front of a 13,647-strong crowd, a hefty percentage of which were Sri Lankan fans. Remarkably, the win meant Sri Lanka held a 5-0 record over Australia in T20s in Australia. The best Australia can now hope for is to make that 5-1 after the third match of the series at Adelaide Oval this Wednesday.
Yet for most of the chase, Australia appeared to be in control. They had Sri Lanka five down within five overs. The rain that both sides feared might affect the game had stayed away, but still it was threatening to become a damp squib. Tye had struck twice in an over, the debutant Jhye Richardson claimed a wicket with his third ball of international cricket, and Ashton Turner had got rid of Sri Lanka's captain Upul Tharanga in the very first over of the innings.
But the small boundaries meant that while Gunaratne remained, Sri Lanka were never out of the contest. He began the rebuild with a 52-run stand with Chamara Kapugedara, which ended when Kapugedara was well caught by Ben Dunk, leaping at mid-off like an AFL player taking a mark above his head. Still, Gunaratne had enough partners, though Australia's captain Aaron Finch conceded after the match that his team had done too little to keep Gunaratne off strike.
Slowly at first and then quickly at the end, he had brought Sri Lanka back into the game. Their bowlers, though, had helped by restricting Australia in the final few overs of the first innings. Australia had cruised to 2 for 111 after 13 overs, the kind of platform from which a total nearing 200 could be achieved, but Sri Lanka found a way to halt the momentum and Australia were bowled out for 173 from the last ball of the 20th over.
The runs came largely at the top of the order - nobody outside the top four reached double-figures. Henriques, whose eight T20Is have been spread fairly evenly over eight years, made an unbeaten 56; Michael Klinger, playing his first international series at the age of 36, scored a composed 43; Dunk, a regular run-basher in the BBL, completed a whirlwind cameo of 32 off 14. But as the batsmen departed, the runs slowed, and only 14 came off the final two overs for the loss of four wickets.
Malinga picked up two important late wickets, trapping both James Faulkner and Tim Paine lbw cheaply, and Nuwan Kulasekara struck three times in the final over of the innings. Australia had needed one of their established men to stick around until the end, but the innings petered out. After Sri Lanka's early stumbles, the match itself looked like petering out too. Only Gunaratne knew differently.
3rd T20I
Australia 187/6 (20/20 ov)
Sri Lanka 146 (18/20 ov)
Australia won by 41 runs
Adam Zampa's dismantling of Sri Lanka arrived too late to salvage the series for Australia, and also too late for his skiddy, accurate wristspin to be considered for the Test team to face India in Pune from Thursday.
The frequent omission of Zampa from Australia's ODI and Twenty20 sides - despite an excellent record in both formats - has been a mystery for quite some time, and there appeared to be thinly veiled frustration on the part of the bowler as he accounted for the series' pivotal player Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedara and Dasun Shanaka in quick succession to push a target of 188 beyond the reach of the visitors.
His wickets came not from any extravagant turn but instead useful changes of pace and unrelenting attack on the stumps, winning a pair of back foot lbw verdicts from the umpire Paul Wilson either side of another slider that bowled Kapugedara between bat and pad. Australia's selectors had admitted to choosing an "attacking" spinner in Mitchell Swepson over what the panel's chairman Trevor Hohns called a more "defensive" operator in Zampa.
Sri Lanka made a rapid start to their chase but a sturdy Australian effort with the bat meant that they did not have much room to lose momentum. The captain Aaron Finch and his opening partner Michael Klinger both contributed half centuries, before Ben Dunk and Travis Head provided aggressive support through the middle overs.
At 0 for 41 in the fourth over, the visitors appeared well in control of proceedings, largely due to the early pyrotechnics of Dilshan Munaweera - including 20 runs off Jhye Richardson's opening over. However, James Fulkner, Richardson and Head each coaxed outfield catches from Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen, before Zampa arrived to attack the stumps with quite compelling effect.
Those wickets meant that Gunaratne was not around to perform his third Houdini act in succession, and left Faulkner to lead the mop-up operation and the Australians to enjoy the consolation of a win in the final home international of the summer. Australia will next be glimpsed in coloured clothing at the ODI Champions Trophy in May and June.
The hosts had recalled Zampa in place of Andrew Tye for the dead rubber, banking on his spin bowling at the ground where he also plays for South Australia. Sri Lanka called in Shanaka in place of the suspended Niroshan Dickwella, leaving Kusal Mendis to take over the wicketkeeper's gloves and Munaweera to open.
Finch had a hearty slice of good fortune in the first over of the evening when he tugged Lasith Malinga to midwicket and was dropped by Munaweera. He made up for it with a series of meaty blows inside the powerplay, while Klinger took some more time to get himself moving.
The openers were parted at a healthy 79 in the ninth over, before Ben Dunk and then Travis Head offered further acceleration. At one point a tally beyond 200 looked more than plausible, but Head's exit and the run out of a steadily building Klinger left the innings to peter out somewhat in the final overs. On a good pitch it appeared an open chase, before Zampa closed the door with some panache.
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