The ICC has found no evidence of corruption following an investigation stemming from a newspaper story in The Sun on the eve of the Perth Ashes Test

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2018The ICC has found no evidence of corruption following an investigation stemming from a newspaper story in on the eve of the Perth Ashes Test, which claimed the series had been targeted for spot-fixing along with various T20 tournaments around the world.In the lead-up to the third Ashes Test at the WACA in December, reported that two of their undercover reporters had been asked for GBP140,000 (USD187,000) to “spot fix” markets in the match, such as the exact amount of runs scored in an over.The ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) immediately launched an investigation, saying that they would cross-reference this new information with their existing reports, although they added, very early on, that there was no evidence that the Perth Test had been corrupted in any way.Now, two months later, the ACSU has confirmed that their investigations did not turn up anything to suggest any matches, players or officials have been involved.”We have carried out an extensive global investigation with anti-corruption colleagues from Member countries based on the allegations in and the material they shared with us,” Alex Marshall, the general manager anti-corruption, said”I am satisfied that there is no evidence to suggest any match has been corrupted by the individuals in the investigation nor is there any indication that any international players, administrators or coaches have been in contact with the alleged fixers.”The game’s most high-profile spot-fixing scandal was broken by the now-defunct – sister paper to – in 2010, which led to Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif being given prison sentences for bowling deliberate no-balls in a Test at Lord’s.

The former chairman of selectors has accused N Srinivasan and MS Dhoni of favouring the Chennai Super Kings player S Badrinath

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2018Dilip Vengsarkar believes he paid a hefty price – his job as chairman of selectors – for selecting a young Virat Kohli, Under-19 World Cup winner, ahead of S Badrinath, domestic stalwart, back in 2008. At an event to felicitate sports journalists, Vengsarkar accused N Srinivasan, the then BCCI treasurer, and then captain MS Dhoni of favouring the Chennai Super Kings and Tamil Nadu player Badrinath.Vengsarkar went on to accuse Srinivasan of costing him his job as the chairman of the selection committee and replacing him with former India and Tamil Nadu player Kris Srikkanth. However, at the time, Vengsarkar could have qualified for an extension of his term if he had given up a conflict of interest that arose from his being vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association.In July 2008, when Sharad Pawar was the president, the BCCI working committee approved a new criteria concerning any conflict of interest pertaining to a selector. The clause, which was ratified at the AGM later that year, said a selector could not hold a dual post. Vengsarkar refused to stand down as MCA vice-president despite having served only half of his four-year term.The selection that Vengsarkar spoke of was for the limited-overs leg of the 2008 tour of Sri Lanka, incidentally the first year of the IPL. Super Kings captain Dhoni had been the limited-overs captain for a year. Asked which of his roles – player, captain, chairman of selection committee – was the toughest, Vengsarkar picked selector and went on to explain.”There was an Emerging Players tournament between Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India in 2008,” Vengsarkar said. “We decided to send only Under-23 players for this tour. That year, we had won the U-19 World Cup as well, and Virat Kohli was the captain of that team. We included him in that team.”I went to Brisbane to watch those matches. This match was against New Zealand, and they had a stronger side than us. They had a few Test players too. In that match he scored 123 not out, and I knew we needed to play him in the Indian team. I felt he was mature as a batsman.”Kohli did score an unbeaten 120 as an opener in the match Vengsarkar spoke of, helping India chase down a target of 249 set by a New Zealand side that included Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, BJ Watling, Corey Anderson and Hamish Bennett.”I felt the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour was an ideal situation to include him in the squad,” Vengsarkar said. “The other four selectors told me, ‘Dilip we will do whatever you say. There is no problem at all.’ But Gary Kirsten and Dhoni were reluctant because they said they hadn’t seen Kohli before. I told them, ‘You haven’t seen him but I have. This boy needs to play.'”I knew that Badrinath was from the south and he was from Chennai Super Kings. From N Srinivasan’s team. He would have to miss out if Kohli had to be picked. And that happened. I picked Virat Kohli, and Badrinath went out.”As it turned out, Sachin Tendulkar missed the ODIs with injury, which gave Badrinath an opportunity to play. Kohli played all five matches, Badrinath three. Kohli averaged 31.50, scoring a half-century too. Badrinath averaged 19.5 in the three innings he got. India won that series, their first bilateral success in Sri Lanka.However, Vengsarkar said the selection committee meeting was not the last of the resistance he had to face. “Next day Srinivasan asked me, ‘How could you leave Badrinath?'” Vengsarkar said. “I said I had seen the Emerging tour, and that Virat Kohli was an exceptional player. He said, ‘But Badrinath has scored 800 runs for Tamil Nadu.’ I said he will get his chance. Srinivasan said, ‘When will he get his chance? He is 29 [27, actually].’ I said he will get his chance when he gets it. I cannot make guarantees.”The next day he took [Kris] Srikkanth to Sharad Pawar – the BCCI president – and sent me home. That was the end of my career as a selector.”The decision to disqualify state officials from being national selectors was ratified at BCCI’s AGM in September 2008, where Srikkanth was appointed chairman of selectors, and where Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar took over as the board’s secretary and president respectively.The contentious selection was made in early August that year. Incidentally Badrinath had called the rejection a “crushing blow” that left him numb. “Forget Emerging Players Trophy, I have scored heavily during the A series against Australia and South Africa earlier and the only player to have done better than me in domestic competitions is Gautam Gambhir,” Badrinath told then. “When Manoj Tiwary went for the tri-series in Australia earlier this year, I was intrigued. Still, I tried to keep my cool. Now it’s Virat Kohli. This is really going nowhere.”Vengsarkar is not the only selector to have spoken of Srinivasan’s influence on selections. Mohinder Amarnath, the chairman of selectors in 2011-12, has in the past accused Srinivasan of blocking a move to remove Dhoni as the limited-overs captain after India had been whitewashed in successive Test series in England and Australia. However, Srinivasan was the president of the board then. The BCCI’s constitution said all captaincy changes had to be ratified by the board president. This one wasn’t, and Dhoni went on to captain India until after the 2015 World Cup.

Selection questions over Temba Bavuma/Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi/Morne Morkel highlight the delicate balancing act for South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Cape Town21-Mar-2018On the face of it, South Africa would seem to have two normal selection debates on their hands ahead of the third Test against Australia. They are deciding between Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma in the No. 6 spot and between Lungi Ngidi and Morne Morkel as the third seamer, and there are decent arguments to be made for all four.De Bruyn has only played five Tests but his first-class numbers show great potential. He has an average of 46.27, has played in six out of the eight franchise matches this season and has scored two daddy hundreds – 195 and 190. But he has only made more than 20 once in four innings in the series against Australia, which has opened the door for Bavuma, who has not played a Test since October and any professional cricket since mid-January after suffering a broken hand, to make a return.Bavuma’s first-class average of 37.40, and Test average of 33.13, belies his nuggety nature. Though he only has one Test century to his name, scored two years ago, he has eight fifties and most of them have dug South Africa out of deep holes. So the choice is between the man who is there and has not yet lived up to his promise and the one who has started well but needs to kick on at international level.At the other end of the spectrum, Ngidi has taken to international cricket like he was born to do it. He has 14 wickets from his three Tests at an average of 16.42, is able to find movement and bowls with accuracy. He is nursing a small toe niggle which may require him to sit out at Newlands but if he is fit, including him ahead of Morkel could be justified, as it was in the second Test. Even though Morkel has played 84 Tests and is three wickets from becoming the fifth South African to 300, Ngidi is a strong competitor to keep him out. In Morkel’s favour is his experience, the fact that he has found some of his best form in the latter part of his career when he has been more prone to pitching the ball up, and the nostalgia of his impending retirement.

SA transformation numbers 2017-18

(Figures correct before Cape Town Test)
Total: 385 caps across all formats
Players of colour: 198 = 51.40%
Black African: 76 = 19.74%
Tests: 132 caps
Players of colour: 59 = 44.69%
Black African 25 = 18.93%
ODIs: 165 caps
Players of colour: 85 = 51.51%
Black African: 33 = 20%
T20Is: 88 caps
Players of colour: 54 = 61.36%
Black African: 18 = 20.45%

So, while South Africa seem to have a complex cricketing choice to make, dig a little deeper and they are also deciding between black and white.The reality of South Africa’s transformation imperatives cannot be ignored and, this season, CSA will miss the ministerial target.South Africa’s transformation numbers are calculated on an annual basis, from April to April, and require a minimum average of six players of colour, of which two must be black African, to be fielded by the national team over a season. That equates to 54.54% players of colour and 18.18% black African players in the XI.For 2017-18, across 12 Tests so far (with two to come), 15 ODIs and 8 T20s, South Africa have fielded 51.40% players of colour and 19.74% black African, thereby missing the first target but exceeding the second. The chief culprit in South Africa’s inability to meet the target is their representation in Tests, where they have only fielded 44.69% of players of colour – largely as a consequence of JP Duminy’s retirement and Bavuma’s injury – and although they have tried to make up for it in shorter formats, they have not been able to.Even if South Africa fielded an entirely non-white team in the remaining two Tests, they would still fall 13 caps short of the players of colour target. The consequences of their failure to meet targets have not been explicitly defined, especially since the sports minister has changed since the last time the audit was done.When South Africa failed to reach the target in the 2015-16 year, then-minister of sport Fikile Mbalula banned CSA from bidding for or hosting major events, which did not affect it because there was no ICC tournament in the calendar. Instead, it forced CSA to implement a national target, which was met in the 2016-17 summer. Tokozile Xasa is now the sports minister, having been appointed in February, and has yet to make any strong policy statements.While the suits wait to see Xasa’s reaction, CSA is likely to continue to impress the importance of taking steps to show an intention to meet the targets, rather than an indifference to missing them, as Faf du Plessis indicated. “As a guy that has a say in selection, I always strive to get that [targets being met],” du Plessis said. “So first priority will be to get those balances and targets right. If there were injuries that played a part then it’s difficult to make – for instance if Kagiso [Rabada] wasn’t available for this game then it’s a different story. But I also believe it’s my responsibility to look and see how we can achieve that.”That means Bavuma and Ngidi could get the nod, and it is important to note that they are both regarded as equally deserving of a spot as the men they would be displacing.As far as Bavuma is concerned, du Plessis said he had “a lot of confidence in Temba”, who he called a “high-quality” player that can slot straight back in despite not having recent game time. “Obviously he hasn’t got a lot of cricket under his belt, but the quality is there,” du Plessis said. “Ideally, you’d like guys to play cricket after an injury to get themselves back into form or time in the middle. It doesn’t always work like that. Temba hasn’t played cricket, but he looks good in the nets for a while and his hand is fully recovered.”But Ngidi’s participation is likely to rest more on his injury status than whether or not du Plessis considers him a better bet than Morkel, who is fully fit.”Lungi bowled really well in the previous game but he’s also got a little bit of a toe problem, which is probably why the consideration is happening. If he is not 100% then it is obviously an easy decision for us,” du Plessis said. “What counts in Morne’s favour is that he is a fit bowler and can bowl long spells. That’s really important going into this Test match, especially if we have three seamers and a spinner. We’ll have our three bowlers that have the biggest tanks when it comes to bowling a lot of overs.”With Morkel’s milestone of 300 Test wickets also looming and only two more opportunities for him to play, South Africa may also want to be mindful of getting Morkel over the line before sending him off. But coach Ottis Gibson expressed little sympathy with Morkel’s position, saying that selection in professional sport is only about trying to pick a team that can win.Gibson’s statement was ironic because in South Africa, that has never been the only consideration. Pre-democracy, there was only white, post-democracy there has been a push towards black and now there are all the shades of grey, when equally competent white and black players are in the mix.

Pakistan finally broke the back of Northamptonshire’s resistance as Shadab Khan completed a 10-wicket haul and Mohammad Abbas also impressed

Alex Winter at Wantage Road07-May-2018
ScorecardPakistan will head to Ireland for the first Test of their tour with a hard-fought win behind them after finally seeing off a game Northamptonshire on the fourth-afternoon at Wantage Road with a simple chase of 133.As tour matches go, this was a very worthwhile exercise for both sides and a template for preparation before a Test tour. Only on the final afternoon when Pakistan’s chase became a formality did the game lose intensity. Therefore, Shadab Khan’s 10 for 157 in the match, Asad Shafiq’s unbeaten 186, and Haris Sohail’s two half-centuries was solid form to take to Malahide.Whether conditions in Ireland in any way resemble this slow wicket under unbroken sunshine on Friday is another matter and Pakistan showed vulnerability for the brief time the ball did swing at the start of their first innings and had Shafiq been caught on 13, Northants may have run them closer.But Pakistan travel over the Irish Sea with success and some selection decisions made clearer. Shadab is surely now worthy of inclusion even if the wicket turns out as emerald green as the Pakistan caps. The way he bamboozled Northants on the first afternoon was an indication of what a good legspinner can do and Ireland’s batsman have little pedigree playing legspin either.It is also a huge threat to tailenders and Shadab duly took the final two wickets of the Northants second innings, Brett Hutton and Gareth Wade lbw, to complete a maiden 10-wicket match haul.Far less of a threat was Mohammad Amir. After taking 1 for 45 against Kent, he was somewhat wayward here and lacked the zip that has produced 95 wickets in 30 Tests – he went wicketless in 27 overs. Perhaps he was saving himself for William Porterfield and Co.It was the far-less heralded Mohammad Abbas that opened Pakistan’s route to victory. Abbas, fairly short for a fast bowler but skiddy and likely to be effective in conditions that could prevail in Malahide, has played in Pakistan’s last five Tests after making his debut in the West Indies a year ago. Having been unlucky not to take a wicket in the first innings, regularly beating the bat, he took two with the old ball on the fourth morning, breaking through in the 14th over of the day.Full deliveries slid into Rob Newton and Steven Crook to win lbw decisions before extracting two of Rob Keogh’s stumps when the new ball was taken. Newton’s wicket was key. After making a battling century on the third afternoon, he needed to lead Northants well after lunch to try and save the game. But he could only add 16 to his overnight score before being beaten by one that kept low – the first of five morning wickets for 61 runs.It left a simple target and the chance for Azhar Ali to find some form after 15 against Kent and just 9 in the first innings here. But trying to take a leg-bye running from the non-striker’s end he collided mid-pitch with his opening partner Imam-ul-Haq and was beaten by Ricardo Vasconcelos’ throw. That the nephew of Inzamam was involved in a comedy run-out was not lost on the Twitterati.So it was left to Imam and Haris to continue their earlier form, which they did with the most fluent run-scoring of the game to reach their target in 27 overs. Haris resumed in good touch from his first-innings 79 and steered a boundary through backward point off Hutton, flicked another through square leg off Wade and drove the same bowler fluently through extra-cover en route to a 66-ball half-century, his second of the game.Imam, who could be set for a Test debut in Malahide after playing in both tour matches with Sami Aslam left out here, was the only Pakistan batsman to make a significant score against Kent and here warmed to his task having scratched around for 11 from 60 balls in the first innings. He slammed Rob Keogh’s offspin back over his head for his first boundary, passed fifty in 72 balls before pulling the winning boundary to send Pakistan to Dublin with victory.

Sussex have strengthened their middle order for the Vitality T20 Blast by securing New Zealand batsman Tom Bruce for the entire tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2018Sussex have signed New Zealand international batsman Tom Bruce for the duration of their 2018 Vitality T20 Blast campaign.Bruce, a T20 specialist with 14 caps, will be available for all 14 of the team’s matches in the South Group, as well as the knockout stages should the Sharks progress.Sussex supporters will have a sneak preview of Bruce in a Sussex shirt on Friday when he forms part of the men’s side that takes on a touring Aboriginal XI at Hove.Sussex’s move for Bruce has come because of a knee injury for their South African batsman, Stiaan van Zyl, which is expected to rule him out of much of the tournament.Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie said: “The injury to Stiaan forced us to reassess our squad for the Vitality Blast and we’ve decided that we need to bring in a quality overseas batsman for the duration of the tournament.”Tom has experience on the biggest stage with New Zealand and is exactly the type of dynamic middle order strokemaker we’re looking for.”To have him available for the entirety of the competition will offer us continuity, which is very important in tournament cricket.”The extent of Van Zyl’s absence is not yet known but Sussex have suggested that he needs “an extended period of rest and rehabilitation”.Bruce’s most recent international appearance came during the tri-series between New Zealand, Australia and England earlier this year.He burst onto the New Zealand domestic T20 scene in the 2015-16 season when he finished that year’s competition as his side’s second leading run-scorer behind the Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene.In his 41 career T20s so far, he has scored 958 runs at an average of 28.17. His career strike rate of 150.39 puts him in 26th place on the all-time list.Sussex begin their Vitality Blast campaign on July 4 against Essex at Chelmsford.

ESPNcricinfo predicts the big questions facing India’s selectors as they sit down to name the Test squad for the England Tests

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jul-2018Is there space for Rohit Sharma in the middle order?
India will want a third middle-order batsman to support Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli. In South Africa, Rohit was given the opportunity to bolster the lower middle-order but he failed. The selectors felt Rohit was “less than satisfactory” in that series, in which he was played in the first two Tests ahead of Rahane. Rohit managed 78 runs in four innings and was dropped in the final Test in Johannesburg. He was also left out of the Afghanistan Test, with India A captain Karun Nair replacing him in the squad.

Likely Test squad

Openers: M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul
Middle order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma/Karun Nair
Allrounder: Hardik Pandya
Wicketkeeper: Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha/Parthiv Patel
Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja
Fast bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami

Rohit recently said that he was not going to lose sleep wondering if he would be picked or not in the longest format, given half his career was over. But he has been in top form in the limited-overs leg of the UK tour, with two centuries and a fifty. And, in the prevailing hot conditions in the UK, the selectors might be tempted to consider Rohit – once again – ahead of Karun Nair, who has got starts for India A but hasn’t scored big. However, the main question Kohli and India coach Shastri would like to figure out is whether Rohit remains a viable long-term option. India are playing four Tests in Australia later this year, and they ought to invest wisely.Will Kuldeep Yadav be the X-factor in the Tests too?
England would have thought they had sorted Kuldeep out after the second T20I, but the left-arm wristspinner proved otherwise, taking nine wickets in the first two matches of the ODI series, including a six-for in his maiden ODI in England. Kohli revealed that he would be tempted to include Kuldeep in the Test squad based on his ODI form.Kuldeep has already played two Tests and has shown the attitude and hunger to duel with the batsmen. If picked, he will ideally be part of a three-pronged spin attack alongside the senior pairing of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.Getty Images

Who will be the reserve wicketkeeper?
Rishabh Pant the batsman has rattled many a bowler in domestic and List A cricket, making a strong and legitimate case for a place in the limited-overs squad. But it is his keeping skills that have remained unconvincing, with experts pointing out that his technique as a wicketkeeper needs work. He has not played a lot of first-class cricket either.Pant is only 20 years old, so he has time to grow and should not be worried. And, despite all this, there are whispers that he could be one of the contenders for the reserve wicketkeeper’s post for the England Tests. With Wriddhiman Saha likely to miss at least part of the five-Test series, Dinesh Karthik is likely to be the first-choice wicketkeeper. If Saha’s thumb injury does not heal in time for him to even be named the reserve keeper, then India will need another back-up for Karthik.In the past decade and a bit more the selectors have turned to Karthik and Parthiv Patel each time MS Dhoni and – later – Saha missed out in Tests. Parthiv did play the last two Tests of the South Africa series this year, but the team management was not happy with his glovework.So will the selectors gamble with a left-field choice in Pant, an unfinished product as far his keeping goes? It is plausible. Pant is currently touring England as part of the India A series, and has 15 dismissals in eight matches including 14 catches and one stumping. India A arrived in England in the early part of June, which means Pant is well adapted to the conditions and the grounds.If he is picked, it will not only be a bold move, but clearly a forward-thinking one too.Should KL Rahul open or bat at No. 3?
India should retain the three openers that featured in the previous two Test series this year – South Africa in January and the one-off match in June against Afghanistan. Although M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul hit form against first-timers Afghanistan, neither of the three men lasted long in South Africa. Still they remain India’s best available options.Rahul also offers the added advantage of coming in at No. 3 as he did in the Afghanistan Test, displacing the incumbent Cheteshwar Pujara to No. 4. With Kohli’s penchant for boldness and intent, Rahul is likely to be part of the first XI, which might add pressure on Pujara to produce his very best.

No date set for his return; uncapped legspinner Shaun von Berg could be in the mix for a debut in the second Test starting Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2018Tabraiz Shamsi, the left-arm wristspinner, has left South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka for family reasons. No date has been set for his return.Shamsi took four wickets in his first red-ball Test in Galle last week, which South Africa lost by 278 runs. In the first innings, Shamsi outbowled Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm orthodox, who had been ill in the build up to the Test and subsequently went wicketless. Maharaj found his rhythm as the match progressed and picked up four second-innings wickets.Galle was the first time since their tour of India in November 2015 that South Africa played two specialist spinners in their XI. With conditions likely to remain spinner-friendly, there is a likelihood that they could keep a similar combination for the second Test starting Friday.Should Shamsi not return in time, uncapped legspinner Shaun von Berg could make his Test debut at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

Rudi Second made a combative 94 again but South Africa A were bowled out with seven balls remaining on the final day

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Bengaluru07-Aug-20181:16

My job is to challenge the India A and U-19 teams – Dravid

South Africa A wicketkeeper-batsman Rudi Second wore down India A’s attack for the second time in the game and threatened to hold them off to a draw amid fading light at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But Mohammed Siraj’s maiden first-class ten-wicket haul sewed up the hosts’ thrilling innings victory with 1.1 overs remaining on the final day.Yuzvendra Chahal, who was playing his first red-ball match since the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Jharkhand in 2016, bowled as many as nine front-foot no-balls in the game and struggled for rhythm, but he struck when it mattered, to nab Second and leave him six short of a hundred again.”Chahal has had a lot of success in white-ball cricket,” India A coach Rahul Dravid said after the win. “Even for us, I have been seeing from two-and-half years, when he first came to Australia, he wasn’t considered a red-ball player as such. But we wanted to give him opportunity to showcase how he does in red-ball cricket. It’s about what he can do in red-ball cricket and that’s really what A team is about. We are here to supplement and do what is best to make the national team stronger. We want to create good options for India team. Chahal, they [selectors] were very keen to know how he performs in red-ball cricket. The more he plays red-ball cricket, the more experience he gets.”When the last hour began, South Africa A were 286 for 7 in 115 overs, still facing a deficit of 52. Soon, Chahal trapped Second with a slider to break the game open for India A. Malusi Siboto, Beuran Hendricks and No. 11 Duanne Olivier ate up 93 balls collectively and ticked down the overs, defending resolutely. However, Siraj, who had set the game up for India, fittingly returned to provide the coup de grace.”Maturity is one thing [that stands out about Siraj],” Dravid said. The last three four-day games, in England and here has been terrific. To get 26 wickets in the last three games is terrific.”He is someone who has played very less first-class matches. He hasn’t been really part of the system as he hasn’t played much junior cricket. So he is learning all the time. So even in white-ball cricket I won’t be too harsh on him too quickly because he hasn’t played that much, maybe a little bit of IPL, he had one good season and then he was in and out. It’s been great to give him the chance to perform. He has been bowling in much better areas and he has grown better physically.”Such a tense finish did not appear as likely in the morning, when Vidarbha’s Rajneesh Gurbani had overnight batsman Zubayr Hamza jabbing a catch behind for 63. At that point, South Africa A were 121 for 5. The overnight rains in Bengaluru had juiced up a pitch that already provided seam movement and variable bounce to the bowlers. Siraj, Nitin Saini and Gurbani simply did their thing: throwing the bait outside off but the other South African batsmen showed greater restraint outside off.Second, who displayed the tightest defensive technique among the South African batsmen, however, held nothing back against the loose balls. He cracked a Chahal full-toss through midwicket and then eased him through the covers.While Chahal did turn some past the outside edge of Shaun von Berg, he could not find it. Whenever Chahal overpitched outside off, Second and von Berg leant into the drive and handsomely stroked the ball through the covers. Second also employed the flat, hard sweep effectively: the shot that brought him his fifty off 115 balls. Von Berg, who had conceded 107 in 20 overs with his legspin, had some joy with the bat and scored a fifty of his own.All told, the Indian bowlers could not find a way past Second and von Berg for 50.4 overs. They even resorted to the short-ball attack but the two batsmen evaded them or comfortably fended them off. Von Berg is a fairly competent batsman with five first-class hundreds to his name, and he reminded everyone of that when he slapped Siraj on the up through the covers.Gurbani then returned, after another spell of rain that had forced early tea, to have von Berg nicking off twice in two overs. While R Samarth dropped the first chance, a more difficult one diving to his left from slip, he pouched the second without any fuss at the same position. The reprieve cost India A nothing: von Berg’s innings ended on 50 off 175 balls, the sixth-wicket partnership on 119, the visitors’ only century stand in the match.Second continued to give South Africa A hope of pulling off a coup, when he stretched forward and drilled a drive between Siraj and wide mid-on for four in the 109th over. However, seven overs later, Chahal, who had frequently erred in lines and lengths in the first two sessions, finally found his groove and bowled an accurate flat dart to leave Second and his team heartbroken.

Those who hail Sussex’s T20 attack as the best in the world found more evidence for their case as they snuffed out Somerset by 35 runs in the second semi-final

Andrew McGlashan15-Sep-2018
ScorecardLuke Wright will bring up his 300th T20 match in the Blast final after he bulldozed 92 to set up Sussex’s semi-final victory over Somerset. Wright’s 53-ball innings was the highest on a Finals Day and, allied to David Wiese’s 52 off 29 deliveries, powered Sussex most of the way towards their 202 for 7 in a stand of 120 in 10 overs for the fourth wicket.It proved more than enough despite a stand of 84 in 7.2 overs between Tom Abell and Corey Anderson. Sussex would have been getting a little nervous as that pair developed and the partnership was only ended when Danny Briggs got a fingertip on a fierce drive from Anderson with Abell out of his ground. From there the game was closed out as Jofra Archer finished with 3 for 32 and Chris Jordan produced a masterclass of yorkers with a maiden in the 17th over.

“Nice to have two non-Test grounds in the final” – Wright

Luke Wright, Sussex captain: “We’ve still got a big job to do now. To get through to the final is very very special. I feel for Somerset because they’ve been such a great side. There’s a lot of young talent on show, and it’s nice to have two non-Test grounds in the final.”
Lewis Gregory, Somerset captain: “Whoever deals with the pressures and demands on Finals Day tends to come out on top. They put us under a lot of pressure, and on the big stage there’s some clouded thinking – guys don’t quite execute how they have done. You’ve got to take your hats off to them: Wrighty played brilliantly and Wiese at the back end struck it beautifully.
“I’m sure we’ll all sit down and have a beer with Johann Myburgh tonight. He’s been a fantastic player for us and he’s one of the genuinely nice guys you want to have around.”

Sussex’s total could have been north of 230 if it hadn’t been for an impressive finish from Somerset – the last five overs of the innings going for just 25 and there wasn’t a boundary from the last 22 deliveries. Jerome Taylor finished with 4 for 20, but the damage had been done in a mid-innings period in which the 13th and 15th overs went for a combined 58.Jamie Overton, touted for an England red-ball call-up in the near future, was dispatched for 31 and Lewis Gregory taken for 27. Gregory had the chance to atone as part of the good finish, but Overton was left with one over unbowled – his brother, Craig, who wasn’t selected, was seen offered some consoling words on the boundary.Wright was one of the early generation of England cricketers to start spreading their wings around the T20 world. It’s a mark of the riches the national team has in white-ball cricket that he is no longer really part of conversations around those sides. He remains a formidable T20 player and this was a superb innings – laying a base in the early stages, then take the innings by the scruff of the neck himself.His fifty took 34 deliveries then he started to hurtle towards three figures as he and Wiese – who struck a monstrous six onto the third tier of the newest stand at Edgbaston – ripped the Somerset bowling to shreds. Had Wright found eight more runs he would have stood alone in second place on the T20 century-makers list; instead he remains in a group on seven, staring upwards at Chris Gayle’s gargantuan figure of 21 hundreds.”I’d have taken that at the start, for sure,” he told moments after walking off. “We tried to use the wind, it is blowing. I just play when the youngsters are in, then managed to get that over off Overton.”Chris Jordan was outstanding at the death•Getty Images

On missing his hundred, he added: “I don’t have to buy a jug tonight now. Got to save the wallet these days.”When Wright fell – caught at long-off against Anderson who had been called into emergency bowling duties – the innings fell away. Wiese, whose fifty had come off 26 balls, was the second of two wickets in two balls to conclude Taylor’s impressive four overs. It had been an important hand from Wiese because when Delray Rawlins, who had started to find his range against spin, fell Sussex were 73 for 3 in the eighth and the allrounders to come.But any bounce Somerset may have felt having clawed their way back with the ball did not last long. Archer’s pace and bounce accounted for Steven Davies, caught off the shoulder of the bat at point, and then he had Johan Myburgh caught in the covers in what would become his final innings in professional cricket. When James Hildreth fell, Somerset were floundering on 48 for 4 after seven overs.Abell breathed life into the chase as he took 25 off an over from Briggs, but Anderson took time to get going. He was twice given a life on 9 – a missed stumping and a chance to deep square – before depositing consecutive sixes off Wiese to increase the tension. Then came the tip of Briggs’ index finger leaving too much even for the in-form Gregory against the pinpoint yorkers of Jordan.The result continued the rapid downturn of Somerset’s season which over the last two weeks has seen their Championship ambitions fizzle away and now another push for a trophy has come up short. One of the club’s finest collections of players still waits for silverware to show for it.

The allrounder said he was fully fit but MSK Prasad clarified that they wanted him to play at least two games before getting him back in the national side

Sidharth Monga in Delhi25-Oct-2018MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of selectors, has said Kedar Jadhav was not picked for the last three ODIs against West Indies because of his fitness history.”We did not pick Kedar because of his history of fitness,” Prasad was quoted as saying by . “There have been occasions earlier when he has come back fit and then broke down, a case in point being the Asia Cup last month.”Jadhav’s hamstrings – “compromised”, as his Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming described it during commentary – have caused him issues for a while. He injured himself in his first IPL match this season and missed the entire tournament, and then reinjured himself during the Asia Cup.When the team was announced for the first two ODIs against West Indies, Prasad had said at the press conference that Jadhav was on course to come back after the first two matches. Fit again, Jadhav was playing a Deodhar Trophy match in Delhi on the day he was left out of the India squad. Jadhav batted, bowled and fielded in the Deodhar game, running twos without any apparent trouble; he was shocked when told moments after the match that he was not part of the India squad.”I didn’t know [that I have not been selected],” Jadhav said in a press conference minutes after the match. “Obviously, I have to see [why].”When asked if he was surprised, because his form was not a concern and he had proved his fitness at both the NCA and Kotla, Jadhav said: “Let’s see. I don’t know. You are the first one to tell me this [that I have not been picked]. I have to see why they have not picked me.”Prasad clarified that they wanted Jadhav to play at least two games before they select him for India, given his fitness history, but Jadhav’s team was eliminated and he won’t get that chance. “Actually, we were thinking that if India A won today, then Kedar would have got another match, which would have given us a fair assessment of his match fitness,” Prasad said. “Maybe we could have added him as an additional player (in Indian team) before the fourth ODI as the Deodhar final is on Saturday. Players need to understand that there is a process that we follow while selecting the team.”Jadhav said that he was fully fit. “The rehab was good, I cleared all the fitness tests, I was cleared match fit, which is why I was playing here,” Jadhav said. He ran hard in his 25-ball 41, pinching three consecutive twos in the last over of the innings. He bowled and fielded too, although he did leave the field for a few minutes before coming back on. However, it is unlikely there was any assessment made on the day because the team was announced at around 3.30pm IST. Three selectors were watching the match at the Feroz Shah Kotla, so it is unlikely the selection meeting took place today.”They pick you only if you clear all the tests [at NCA] and you are completely fine,” Jadhav said.Jadhav said there was no need for doubts despite his repeated injuries, as long as there was clearance from the NCA. “Only if you have followed all the rehab, all the fitness rules, all the exercises do they clear you at NCA. As long as they clear you, you shouldn’t be having any doubt when playing on the field. You should express yourself. When I get clearance from NCA, I don’t hold myself back to play or to dive or to bowl.”Whatever injury it might be, when you are playing well, batting well, bowling well, it sets you back,” Jadhav said. “You don’t know how long you will be out for, and when you do come back whether you will rediscover the touch you were in. And you lose out on the matches in between. It hurts, but then you have to accept it and move on.”The three remaining matches against West Indies are the last ODIs India play this year. Jadhav is now expected to turn out for Maharashtra against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy at the start of November.