The South Africans were given a taste of the toil that awaits them as they spent all but 20 minutes of the day on the field before losing two wickets against the Board President’s XI in Mumbai

The Report by Firdose Moonda in Mumbai30-Oct-2015
Scorecard1:30

Moonda: SA will be concerned by the form of their spinners

The South Africans were given a taste of the toil that awaits them in the upcoming Test series after they spent all but 20 minutes of the day on the field before losing two wickets against the Indian Board President’s XI in their only warm-up fixture at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.But the visitors learnt two valuable things from their prolonged stay in the sun: that Imran Tahir may be ready for a Test return ahead of Dane Piedt and Kagiso Rabada can be introduced at some stage in the series.Tahir, who carried drinks in the morning, was only introduced into the attack 10 minutes before tea. He bowled six overs and was the most effective of the three spinners in operation. Although the wicket he claimed – that of Sheldon Jackson who tried to launch him down the ground – was more a result of Dale Steyn’s athletic catching than his own ingenuity, Tahir asked more questions than the offspinners.Piedt, making a return to the highest level after a shoulder injury, was expensive and struggled for control. Simon Harmer was better and bowled cleverly at the end of the innings but neither would have inspired the confidence Tahir did. Piedt bowled like a man who understood he was competing for a place and delivered a succinct reason for why that place should be his.Rabada ran in the same way. He bowled three spells in the first two sessions, when the other seamers had only bowled two each, and showed an understanding of the areas and the lengths needed at this level. With only 14 first-class matches to his name, Rabada’s longer-form match awareness was impressive.Both Tahir and Rabada were only in action after Steyn and Vernon Philander had done what they do best as a new-ball pair, clinically carving through the President’s XI top order.The first wicket fell on the fifth ball of the morning when Unmukt Chand edged Steyn to Hashim Amla at first slip. It was the kind of dismissal Philander has made a career out of and five overs later, he showed why. After flirting with Chesteshwar Pujara’s outside edge, Philander finally found it to end a disappointing outing for the opposition captain.Shreyas Iyer was the next victim, edging to wicketkeeper Dane Vilas, who had a solid outing in his first experience on this tour. Vilas caught all three chances that came his way and like all good wicketkeepers, went relatively unnoticed otherwise.At 35 for 3, the South Africans may have hoped to bat quickly, but KL Rahul and Karun Nair denied them. Rahul, who watched wickets fall from the other end, tightened his own game to avoid falling into the off-stump trap even when the South Africans’ second wave of seamers arrived.Morne Morkel bowled an opening spell of three overs and followed that up with a one of two overs upon his return from a quad injury, even as Rabada constantly threatened. Some relief came in the form of the medium-pacers and the spinners, which may concern the South Africans as Harmer and Piedt could not find a way though.Rahul was strong on the drive and found runs behind square. He brought up 50 off 92 balls, with 80% of those runs scored in boundaries. Nair also found gaps in the field more easily than singles and it took the reintroduction of Philander to stabilise the visitors. He had Nair caught behind after lunch and continued to beat the bat until late in the day to begin answering some of the questions about his ability on subcontinental surfaces.Rahul looked well set, but perished while trying to accelerate, as a flick off Harmer found Faf du Plessis at short fine leg. With the two set men out, the South Africans may have fancied running through the President’s XI but Naman Ojha and Jackson were stubborn in their defence.While the heat and humidity began to take its toll on the visitors, Ojha milked them and brought up a half-century off 76 balls. Again, one of the front-liners had to be called, as Steyn came back after tea to dismiss Ojha in the slips off his first ball. But the President’s XI tail remained resolute and thwarted the South Africans, who put their seamers away as they day grew long, leaving Piedt and Hamer to finish off, which they did.Hardik Pandya made them work for his wicket, and enjoyed flaying the spinners about before falling to Piedt, who was rewarded with a wicket right at the end.South Africa’s day got longer when Shardul Thakur demanded the full attention of their batsmen, who were flagging. Dean Elgar played and missed several times but it was Stiaan van Zyl who was out first. The nightwatchman Harmer was bowled off the last ball of the day, leaving South Africa’s specialist batsmen with a full day to turn the tide tomorrow.

Justice AP Shah, who was appointed as the BCCI’s ombudsman to deal with conflict of interest, will also handle all investigations involving charges of misconduct against BCCI administrators

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2015Justice AP Shah, who was appointed as the BCCI’s ombudsman to deal with conflict of interest, will also handle all investigations involving charges of misconduct against BCCI administrators said its president Shashank Manohar. He added that any punishment thereafter would be determined by the board.The 67-year old Shah is a former Chief Justice of Delhi and Madras High courts. He was appointed as the first-ever BCCI ombudsman last month as Manohar, in his second term as board president took a stance against the issue of conflict of interest and said Shah would “enjoy the complete freedom and authority like the judicial body.”However, since Shah is an ombudsman he would not have the power to oust a BCCI official. “Even with regard to the administrator, the enquiry (should there be complaints of indiscipline, misconduct against him) would be conducted by the ombudsman,” Manohar told the . “He will submit his report. Because the administrator is a board member, he cannot be removed by the ombudsman. So the Board has to take a call and I don’t think when the ombudsman gives a report holding a person guilty, the board would say that ‘No, no, he’s not guilty.’ He will have the last word in conflict of interest issues, but with regard to the administrator, he will submit a report.”Manohar said having an independent authority conduct a probe against an administrator, a disciplinary panel comprised of BCCI officials, would remove the perception of bias. He even presented the case of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who was banned by the BCCI in 2010.Incidentally Manohar was the BCCI president at the time and part of the three-man disciplinary panel that handed Modi the ban. “There should not be even an allegation of bias. In the earlier system three people used to sit on the disciplinary committee; the president was a must with two other members of the board. In Lalit Modi’s case, he raised an objection against me that I have a bias against him. Then he raised an objection against Arun Jaitley also and then he raised an argument of bias against Chirayu Amin also. I am not going to give an opportunity to any administrator to say this is a biased enquiry. So now the enquiry will be conducted by an independent person who has nothing to do with the Board.”

A round-up of all the Group D matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on December 16, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2015Cheteshwar Pujara top-scored for Saurashtra, but couldn’t prevent his side from going down for the second time in four matches. Uttar Pradesh, riding on a combined effort by their India internationals, won by five wickets at the Madhavrao Scindia ground in Rajkot to put themselves in a good position to secure a berth in the quarter-finals.Saurashtra, who were sent in to bat, were tottering right at 7 for 3, with Praveen Kumar removing the openers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then chipped in with the scalp of Aarpit Vasavada (39) to expose the lower order by the halfway mark. That they managed to post 189 was courtesy the tail – the last four wickets added 90, with Kamlesh Makwana, who made 35 not out, leading the rearguard action. While the seamers did the damage upfront, Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, also reaped the rewards, finishing with 3 for 53 off 10 overs.UP lost their openers with only 33 on the board, putting the onus on Suresh Raina to steer them clear of danger. When he fell for 18, Saurashtra were in with a sniff, but their hopes were extinguished by Shubham Chaubey, the debutant, who piloted the chase with an unbeaten 85. His 82-run stand for the fourth wicket with Eklavya Dwivedi (38) took UP to the doorstep of victory. Akshdeep Nath then polished off the chase with an unbeaten 28 as UP won with 32 balls to spare.Himachal Pradesh climbed to the top of the Group D table after cruising to a seven-wicket win over Goa.Goa were given a steady start by openers Sagun Kamat (57) and Swapnil Asnodkar (37) after they were put in. The pair added an opening stand of 62 after which Kamat combined with Keenan Vaz to add 46 for the second wicket. Kamat’s dismissal in the 33rd over triggered a batting collapse as Himachal’s bowlers, led by pacer Pankaj Jaiswal, bowled out Goa for 184 in 45.4 overs; Goa lost their last seven wickets for only 45 runs. Jaiswal had returns of 3 for 26 in 7.4 overs, while Bipul Sharma, Rahul Singh and Nikhil Gangta claimed two wickets apiece.Prashant Chopra drove most of Himachal’s chase with a brisk 67, that included nine fours and two sixes. Himachal wobbled after a solid opening stand as Shadab Jakati picked up three quick wickets. Paras Dogra and Dhawan then steered Himachal to the target with an unbeaten partnership of 61 for the fourth wicket.

shar Zaidi, the former Sussex allrounder, has joined Essex on a one-year deal, and will be available in all three formats after impressing in the recent Bangladesh Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2016
Ashar Zaidi, the former Sussex allrounder, has joined Essex on a one-year deal, and will be available in all three formats after impressing in the recent Bangladesh Premier League.Zaidi, 34, a left-handed batsmand and a slow left-arm bowler, was named as Player of the Tournament after scoring 215 runs at 53.75 and taking 17 wickets at 10.41. His first-class averages of 36.89 with the bat, and 30.32 with the ball, also augur well for his new team.”We’re pleased to be able to bring Ashar in for 2016 as we look to strengthen the bowling attack,” said Chris Silverwood, Essex’s head coach. “When you consider his batting abilities, this really makes sense at this moment in time.”We have a number of young players coming through, so someone with Ashar’s experience will be invaluable to the group. We believe he can make an impact across all three competitions this coming season.”Zaidi was enthusiastic about the move: “I am delighted to have agreed terms with Essex for the 2016 season. I look forward to continuing my county career following two enjoyable years with Sussex.”I hope to be able to continue my good form from this winter into the new season. Having spoken to a few of the players at Essex, I know they are all excited for the new season under Chris Silverwood and I look forward to linking up with everyone over the next few weeks.”

Hong Kong registered a 109-run victory over Scotland in the historic first ODI played in East Asia on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Nizakat Khan boosted the Hong Kong innings with a well-paced 94 off 93 balls•Martin Hunter/IDI/Getty

Rain may have spoiled the maiden first-class match from being played on Hong Kong soil last week, but the weather behaved long enough for a historic maiden home ODI victory by Hong Kong, who defeated Scotland by 109 runs at Mission Road on Tuesday. A total of 259 after being sent in, achieved thanks to a 170-run fourth-wicket stand between Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath, turned out to be plenty for the hosts.The win for Hong Kong breaks a four-way tie to move them to the top of the WCL Championship points table. They are now two points clear of Scotland, Netherlands and Kenya, who each have six points.Hong Kong found themselves in trouble at 16 for 2 in three overs as Alasdair Evans removed Kinchit Shah for a second-ball duck before Babar Hayat fended a short ball to wicketkeeper Matthew Cross for 8. Former captain Jamie Atkinson fell shortly after the initial powerplay, slapping Safyaan Sharif to Calum MacLeod at cover for 21 to make it 55 for 3.Nizakat joined the opener Rath and the pair engaged in a dogged resistance of the Scotland attack’s pressure. It took Nizakat 12 balls to get off the mark before the shackles came undone with a lofted cover drive. The right-hander looked increasingly comfortable by the 28th over when he flayed debutant Bradley Wheal behind point for a pair of crisp cuts to the boundary.Rath was on 20 when Nizakat came to the crease but Nizakat overtook his partner in the 31st over with a straight drive over Richie Berrington’s head before flicking the part-time medium pacer through fine leg for his ninth four to bring up a half-century off 59 balls. Rath, whose momentum slowed down in the 30s after being struck on the box, grafted his way to his own fifty off 91 balls four overs later.Scotland’s frustration at being unable to break the stand grew after Rath was dropped on 75 in the 40th over off Josh Davey, when a skied chance produced by a checked drive to a slower ball was spilled by a backpedaling Preston Mommsen at midwicket. Nizakat powered a six over cover off the next ball, then smashed another over midwicket off Sharif in the 44th to break into the 90s. However, Sharif’s commitment to the slower-ball bouncer paid off by the end of the over as Nizakat gloved an attempted pull to Cross behind the stumps to finally end the partnership.At 225 for 4 and with Rath on 86, Hong Kong set out to finish the innings with a flourish but their aggressiveness backfired and they wound up being bowled out with five balls left in the innings. The slide was sparked by Evans in the 47th, who had Tanwir Afzal and Waqas Barkat out caught behind and teamed up with Cross for a third wicket when he chased down a delivery off his own bowling at midwicket before firing to the keeper’s end to run out Rath for 97.Rob Taylor had Aizaz Khan and Haseeb Amjad both caught by Mommsen at long-on in the 49th before Wheal closed out the innings by getting Nadeem Ahmed to slice a drive to Evans at third man. Evans led the way with 4 for 41 but consistent support came from Sharif and Taylor with 2 for 44 and 2 for 38 respectively.A light rain was present throughout the early part of the Scotland chase but the outlook became gloomier for the visitors when captain Afzal struck off back-to-back balls in the fifth to clean bowl Kyle Coetzer for 6 and tease Matt Machan into chasing a rising delivery for an edge behind. The rain increased enough for the players to leave the field at 9 for 2 after seven overs.Any hope Scotland might have had of being saved by rain faded when the umpires brought both sides back on 20 minutes later and before long wickets continued to tumble. Mommsen fell for 5 in the 10th to a superb sliding catch by Aizaz at mid-on after a mistimed pull off Amjad.Afzal, who bowled a near-unbroken 10 overs, changing ends midway through his spell, took one more in his final over to finish with 3 for 20 as Berrington flicked loosely to midwicket. Aizaz struck in back-to-back overs beginning in the 26th when Cross was well caught just inside the rope at long on by Barkat before MacLeod’s resistance ended for 58 in the 28th when he sliced a drive to third man.Nadeem then came on to wipe out the tail and finished with career-best List A figures of 4 for 26. Taylor was claimed at deep midwicket before Sharif was stumped overbalancing on a whiffed drive. The left-arm tweaker induced a leading edge to cover by Evans for his third wicket before a thick edge from an errant drive was sent by Davey to Afzal at point on the first ball of the 40th over to wrap up victory.The two sides are scheduled to play the second ODI at Mission Road on Thursday.

Josh Hazlewood has pleaded guilty to breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct after showing dissent at the result of a decision review during New Zealand’s second innings

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch23-Feb-2016

Umpire Ranmore Martinesz was subjected to questioning by the Australians•Getty Images

Josh Hazlewood has pleaded guilty to breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct after showing dissent at the result of a decision review during New Zealand’s second innings in Christchurch. Hazlewood, who was fined 15% of his match fee for the incident, along with captain Steven Smith was part of an ugly confrontation with umpire Ranmore Martinesz in the last over before lunch.The incident occurred after the Australians appealed for lbw from a near yorker that Hazlewood delivered to Kane Williamson, and Martinesz ruled not-out. Smith immediately asked for a review from third umpire Richard Illingworth, who saw a small Hot Spot mark near the bottom of Williamson’s inside edge and instructed Martinesz to stay with his not-out decision.The Australians, who had seen the replays on the big screen at Hagley Oval, appeared to be furious with the review, indicating to Martinesz that they thought the Hot Spot was the result of Williamson’s bat hitting his boot. Smith walked towards Martinesz to remonstrate and Hazlewood was heard on the stump microphone to say: “Who the f*** is the third umpire?”Their reaction drew immediate criticism from the TV commentators on air at the time, Mark Richardson declaring the actions of the Australians as “intolerable” and Ian Smith saying that Martinesz “does not deserve a grilling out there”. Hazlewood also appeared to express frustration as the players walked off at the lunch break, speaking to New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson.”I didn’t actually hear anything, I got told that he was saying something to me,” Anderson said after play. “But I’m actually deaf in my left ear, so he could have been on my wrong side. Whether he said something or not, I’m not too concerned. You hear a little bit every now and then when you’re out there, but you’re so focused and consumed by what you do, you end up blocking most of it out.”One factor in the drama appeared to be that the replays shown on the big screen at Hagley Oval, which the players saw at the time, were less clear than those seen by TV viewers at home. Anderson said Williamson had been “unsure” whether he had nicked the ball or not, and that it was sometimes not until the players saw replays in the change-rooms that they understood the process.”It was one of those ones where it’s so close you don’t know sometimes whether you’ve whacked your foot or if you’ve whacked the ball,” Anderson said. “I know from the big screen there’s a few bits and pieces that are harder to tell. I know there was one yesterday with Joe Burns that we thought nicked the glove and it was turned down. Once you go back in the sheds and see what has actually happened, it’s a lot clearer.”It’s always one of those things. We’ve been on the end of those where you want a wicket so badly and you want something to happen in the game and it doesn’t quite go your way. It’s part of it. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.”The incident occurred near the end of a session in which Australia had failed to take a wicket, despite a dropped catch, an edge that fell fractionally short of wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, and another lbw review that also showed an inside edge. Jackson Bird, who eventually finished with a five-wicket haul, said frustration had played a part in the response of the Australians.”We bowled pretty well in the first session and we probably thought it was out,” Bird said. “But those 50-50 calls, they either go your way or they don’t. So it was probably the frustration of the whole session. We’d bowled pretty well and hadn’t got a wicket. We’d been pretty close a couple of times. So you know – it’s one of those things. We couldn’t quite tell what was going on. It didn’t go our way but that’s how the game goes sometimes.”However, the Australians were unhappy at the fact that Hazlewood’s comment – “who the f*** is the third umpire?” – was broadcast. Stump microphones are not supposed to remain live when players and umpires are conversing.”Yeah it is a little bit [disappointing],” Bird said. “We’re all for having technology in the game, and all the new technology that comes out every year is great and great for the viewers at home. But I don’t see why the stump mics need to be broadcast to the whole world. I’m not sure why they were.”

An emotional Virat Kohli called his unbeaten, match-winning, World T20 semi-final spot sealing 82 off 51 balls as his best innings in the format

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-20163:18

Match Day: Kohli’s low dot-ball percentage was crucial

An emotional Virat Kohli has called his unbeaten, match-winning and World T20 semi-final spot sealing 82 off 51 balls as his best innings in the format. India had been set a target of 161, and they were fading away at 94 for 4 in the 14th over. The required run-rate had hit double-digits as early as the 10th over, but Kohli took it head on and did so by trusting his game.In February, he had spoken about coming to terms with not being able to hit as many sixes as he’d like, and that he had worked past that by looking for fours. The work he had done towards that goal came to fruition in Mohali as he single-handedly led India to victory. Eight of his 11 boundaries came in the last five overs.”It certainly has to be in the top three,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “Probably the top right now, because I’m a bit emotional, so I would like to put this on top. Against Australia, a world-class side, literally a quarter-final for us, we had to go over the line. There’s a lot riding on us in this World Cup, we are playing at home and the crowds want to see us and we just want to give them as much entertainment and fun as possible.”The game was packed up with five balls to spare and Kohli, who was at the non-strikers’ end, simply raised his hands in triumph and fell to his knees with nothing more than a smile. He has a reputation of not holding back while celebrating, but this innings and the weight it lent in turning the match India’s way had hit him hard.”I don’t really know what to say right now, because I’m overwhelmed by the position we were in and then to take out the match,” Kohli said. “This is what you play cricket for. You need new challenges in every game, but trust me, you don’t like these situations too much.”The man who reined those emotions in while the battle was at its peak was India’s captain MS Dhoni. “MS, in the end, kept me calm. I could have gotten over-excited so I think it was a wonderful team batting effort and very happy we crossed the line,” Kohli said.The reason Kohli, one of the best chasers in the limited-overs game, was feeling uncertain was because of how much India struggled during the middle-overs. Suresh Raina fell to the short ball in the eighth over leaving the score at 49 for 3, and the incoming batsman Yuvraj Singh hurt his left ankle off the second ball he faced. From that time, India had to settle for 40 runs in 35 balls and found the boundary only twice.”It was a bit tough at that time to focus on what we need to do,” Kohli admitted. “He’s [Yuvraj] such an explosive player, you don’t have to have him at 60-70%.”He just decided that he was just going to go for the team’s cause. He perished, but it was a good thought because if you are injured, you might as well make the most of the balls that you are going to play because you are not going to be able to push as you want to push as a runner. I think that was a great call.”Virat Kohli is floored by emotion after sealing a famous win for India•Getty Images

India began reeling back lost ground with the partnership between Kohli and Dhoni, which was kickstarted by singles and twos. “Me and him have a great understanding as to where to hit the ball and how to push the fielders on the boundary and that’s why you train in the gym,” Kohli said. “That’s why you do those fitness regimes, those sprints, and all the other tests that you go through. It all helps. I like to play for when I’m tired, I should be able to run as fast as when I’m on zero and I think that training paid off today.”Another factor in upping his game tonight was the crowd. “The support was unbelievable. Mohali has always been special. We played the 2011 World Cup semi-final here, the atmosphere was electrifying and as I said, the positive energy from the people in the stadium helps you push through those tough moments and a bit of luck goes your way as well”Kohli hit seven of his nine fours in the last five overs, and a lot of them were placed with skillful precision. It began when he picked a slower ball – the first ball of the 18th over – from James Faulkner and clattered it to the square leg boundary. The next one – a wide yorker – was calmly steered to the backward point boundary and a lofted thwack over extra cover for six provided the exclamation point. Kohli had taken control as those six balls yielded 19 runs.The penultimate over, from Nathan Coulter-Nile, was crashed for four fours despite what length the bowler bowled. Half-volleys were easy. Length balls simply provided leverage and the short ball was caned to the fine-leg boundary because the man was inside the circle.Before that sequence, India had to get 39 off 18. After it, the equation was a mere 4 off 6.”That was a pretty serious innings, that,” Australia captain Steven Smith said when asked if one man had beaten his side tonight, “Under pressure, he just hit everything out of the middle and found the gaps. And he’s done it for a very long time and credit to him, he played beautifully.”Dhoni was lavish with his praise for Kohli as well, but underneath that lay a rap for the rest of the Indian batsmen.”I think he has been playing brilliantly in the last two-three, maybe four years, and we have seen him evolve as a cricketer,” Dhoni said. “That is something that is very important. Everyday when you turn [up] on the field, when you play a big innings, you want to improve and you want to keep the learning because you will commit mistakes but what is important is to take the positives out of game and that’s what he has done.”He has kept improving his game, he is very hungry to score runs for the team and that’s what really counts and actually it’s the other batsmen who have to step up. You can’t rely on one batsman, yes the others have contributed, but still at the same time, if we can do a bit more with the bat at the top of the order and the middle overs, I think we will feel the pressure slightly less. Also, it will be good, because still we feel we are batting at 65% barring Virat”

A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches played on April 22, 2016

Mohammad Isam22-Apr-2016Mahedi Hasan struck a wonderful century as Gazi Group Cricketers stunned defending champions Prime Bank Cricket Club by 106 runs in Mirpur.Hasan, 21, on List A debut, made 103 off 89 balls with eight fours and five sixes to help Gazi Group put up 303 for 4 in 50 overs. In reply, Prime Bank were bowled out for 197 in 46.3 overs.Hasan patiently reached 50 off 58 balls, and only unleashed the hits to the leg side or the lashes over off after crossing 70. He got to his century with a hook off Rubel Hossain and punched the air in delight. Mahedi later took 1 for 22 from 10 overs and was named Man of the Match.Earlier, Anamul Haque and Shamsur Rahman made fifties, adding 113 for the opening wicket. Mahedi added 54 for the second wicket with Anamul before adding another 84 with Saeed Anwar jnr for the third.Anwar jnr returned to take 3 for 31 in Prime Bank’s reply, while Mohammad Sharif and Moinul Islam picked up two each. Only Yasir Ali and Rubel Hossain made headway for Prime Bank, scoring 56 and 45 respectively.At the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, Jubair Hossain’s 6 for 34 helped Abahani cruise past Kalabagan Krira Chakra by seven wickets.Jubair started off with the big wicket of Hamilton Masakadza, Kalabagan’s foreign recruit and their top-scorer with 41, in the 16th over. Jubair took four wickets in his first spell, reducing Kalabagan to 116 for 6 from a promising 78 for 2. He took the last two wickets too, as Kalabagan were skittled out for 140 in 33.1 overs.An unbeaten 44 from Uday Kaul, Abahani’s Indian recruit, then guided them to the target in 28.3 overs.Over at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar, Imtiaz Hossain’s 100 helped Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to an eight-wicket win over Cricket Coaching School.Batting first, CCS were bowled out for 177 in 49.2 overs, Pinak Ghosh top-scoring with 35. His fellow Under-19 teammates, Mohammad Saifuddin and Saeed Sarkar, also chipped in with thirties. Al-Amin Hossain and Rejaul Karim took three wickets each.Imtiaz struck 12 fours in his 140-ball knock, and shared a 106-run opening stand with Rony Talukdar (47), the highest scorer in last year’s tournament. The win came with 4.4 overs to spare.

Kusal Perera was banned from cricket six months ago but two days out from the Lord’s Test he was seen getting special attention in the Nursery Ground nets

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Jun-2016Two days before a Dunedin Test match in December, news broke that a doping test had found a banned substance in Kusal Perera’s body. In the grueling months that followed, Perera put himself through more tests – including a polygraph – to have his name cleared.Two days out from another Test match and Perera’s batting was seen getting special attention in the nets on the Lord’s Nursery Ground. He admitted six months out of the game had taken an emotional and physical toll, but there is an eagerness to get back to playing cricket. What better place to make his return, he asked, than the most prestigious ground of them all?”I haven’t been told if I’m playing yet, but I was thrown into trouble and to come back from that at Lord’s would be a great opportunity,” Kusal said. “I was banned just before a Test, so to return in this format would be fitting. Even the time I was out of the team I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. But these things can happen in life.”Between December 7, when he was provisionally suspended, and May 11, when he was cleared, Perera was not allowed to so much as train with the SLC coaches. He might not have had the time anyway, having had to make repeated trips overseas, including to London, where the polygraph and a separate urine test were conducted. A hair analysis was done in a Paris lab.”I couldn’t really think about cricket much in those months, because my focus was on the problem I was facing. I didn’t have any time to think about whether I was in touch, or whether I could train, or even what was happening in cricket. I started training the day after I was cleared. Before then I didn’t do much batting – just some fitness work.”Perera was in the nets at Colombo’s Khettarama on May 13, and said he has trained as much as Sri Lanka’s heavy southwest monsoon has allowed him to. He was not expected to play a part in the Test series, but injuries to others in the squad have allowed him to be fast-tracked.”When you start training after six months your body needs to get used to it again,” he said. “Your muscles start to hurt – but that’s normal. But what I’ve found is that because I’m coming into it quite fresh, I’m hitting the ball well. I’m seeing it well. So there are positives to it as well. I feel like I’m in good touch.”Perera said he hadn’t specifically trained for Test cricket since resuming practice, but was hopeful the relative ease of conditions at Lord’s might ease him into international cricket – if he is in the final XI. Temperatures are expected to remain in the 20s Centigrade during the Test, and no team has been dismissed for less than 350 at Lord’s in three county matches so far this season.”I watched the attack and it’s mostly fast bowlers,” Kusal said. “In London the conditions seem easier, because it must have been very cold in Durham. When it’s cold you are a bit stiff and your feet don’t work as well. With this weather and given the pitch as well – which looks like it will be batting-friendly – I think there’s a chance for us to dominate them.”

South Africa batsman Farhaan Behardien has said they were confident at the halfway mark of their match on Tuesday that their total of 189 would be “tough” to surpass for Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2016South Africa batsman Farhaan Behardien has said they were confident at the halfway mark of their match against Australia that their total of 189 would be “tough” to surpass. South Africa opted to bat at the Providence Stadium and were struggling at 112 for 6 in the 29th over, before Behardien’s 62 pushed them to a more competitive score.”The chat [during innings break] was to hang in there and we had a score to bowl at,” Behardien said. “We knew that the Aussie team is full of confidence but we knew that 190 would be tough. They didn’t struggle too much getting the score the other night against the West Indies but it was tough. [Today], the first eight overs, Parnell and Kagiso bowled really well and got those three wickets which put Australia on the back foot. So the chat halfway through was that we had given ourselves a chance and if you bowl really well, which we did tonight, we can win the game and I’m very glad that we did. It’s not easy beating the Australian team.”I thought it was one of those wickets where there was quite a lot happening. Finchy played an unbelievable innings considering the conditions. But we always felt that we were in the game. We went with quite a bold game plan with three spinners, and it paid off on a wicket that offers some assistance for the spinners.”Behardien top-scored for his team with his fifth ODI half-century by building partnerships with the lower order. He first put on 37 with Aaron Phangiso, who scored 9 off 41, for the seventh wicket and then 39 with Kagiso Rabada, who stayed unbeaten on 15. Behardien was satisfied to show a gutsy performance on a pitch that was not easy to bat on.”It’s nice to get a score for the team,” Behardien said. “There was a middle-order collapse against Sunil Narine, he kind of got stuck into us on that particular day. Personally, to be out there and grind it out for nearly 30 overs and…the trend of white-ball cricket over the last year has just been of big scores and free-flowing batting innings and sixes and fours. So for me to pull out that performance was pretty satisfying.”Even as teams have struggled to put on big scores at the bowler-friendly Providence Stadium pitches, Behardien hoped the forthcoming matches in the tri-series would be more batsmen-friendly.”Apparently, St Kitts and Barbados offer a bit more pace and bounce, even and through bounce,” he said. “Guyana was obviously low and slow so they brought all the spinners into play. Similarly, our spinners did really well. Phangi took three wickets against the West Indies the other night and Shamsi, Imran [Tahir] and Phangiso again did really well tonight. There’s a big emphasis on playing spin. Hopefully the tracks will be a little more in favour of the batters in St Kitts and Barbados.”Behardien also sang praises for debutant and chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, who struck in his first over with the wicket of Glenn Maxwell and finished with an impressive 1 for 36 from eight overs that included a maiden. Shamsi had two lbw appeals in his first over – against Finch and Maxwell – but got only one in his favour.”He brings new energy to the group. He made his debut today against the world champions so we had chucked him in the deep end straightaway,” Behardien said. “I played with him at the Titans, my state franchise side, in South Africa. There’s a little bit of mystery to him.”We’ve seen wrist spinners coming to the fore in the shorter formats – [Adam] Zampa’s coming, a lot of the IPL teams have one or two wrist spinners who turn the ball both ways. I think that’s the key going forward as to try and get some back-up for Imran Tahir. And we need somebody to be groomed by him. Tabraiz Shamsi offers a left-arm chinaman in the mould of Brad Hogg, bit of fire in his belly, always up for the game, always keen to put a performance in. It’s always gold dust to have a guy who turns the ball both ways.”He is tough to pick and I hope he will be tough to pick for the next couple of weeks. Like I said, he’s new so teams won’t have too much footage on him and hopefully the wickets will assist him little bit. But as I’ve heard that the wickets in Barbados and St Kitts are a bit more batter-friendly, he’ll have to work hard and work on his lengths. As a team we’re really excited about a left-arm wrist spinner playing in our starting XI. Hopefully he can be a member of our side for the years to come.”