14 SPORTS
Thursday, 27 August, 2015
De Villiers, pacers giVe sa series 2-1
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sPorts Desk
OUTH Africa have not lost successive ODI series in five years; a score higher than 271 has never been successfully chased at Kingsmead and neither of those records changed as the hosts sealed the series in the decider with a 62run margin. In the process, AB de Villiers became the fastest batsman to 8,000 ODI runs, reaching the milestone in 182 innings, 18 fewer than Sourav Ganguly; South Africa posted their highest opening stand in 17 ODIs, of 89; Morne van Wyk scored his first innings of substance since his recall; Farhaan Behardien’s cameo showed his ability to finish and Imran Tahir underlined why he is being regarded one of the best limited-overs spinner in operation at the moment. That’s not to say New Zealand did not turn up. Their attack adapted fairly well to a surface that did not offer the seamers as much as was expected. Adam Milne and Doug Bracewell bowled tight lines and Grant Elliott’s taking pace off the ball proved effective, but their fielding they put down four chances compared to South Africa’s three let them down and their effort with the bat fizzled out once they lost the men they usually rely on. Martin Guptill went early and Kane Williamson was dismissed seven balls before the halfway stage of their innings and
it proved a loss from which New Zealand could not recover. After taking Tuesday off to rub shoulders with the national rugby squad instead of training to save the series, South Africa’s intent was questioned but they began answering with bat in hand. Van Wyk’s reign saw no need in his natural aggression and found his first runs with a flat-batted pull. Amla played the foil and rotated strike while van Wyk beat the ball to the boundary. He almost paid for that approach when he was on 17 and top-edged a pull off Milne that should have been caught at fine leg but
Bracewell spilled an easy chance. Bracewell had salt rubbed into the wound when van Wyk took 10 runs off his next over to see South Africa through the Powerplay unscathed. He went on to survive New Zealand’s squeeze, which accounted for Amla, who sent a leading edge back to Grant Elliott, and Rilee Rossouw, who was caught at slip, and brought up a half-century off 79 balls. That score may be too late to save his international career but it played an important part in setting South Africa up. De Villiers and David Miller built on
that with a fourth-wicket partnership of 86, which came in just 10 overs. Miller found some of the touch he has been missing, perhaps because he had de Villiers at the other end launching most of the attack. The South African captain reached 8,000 runs with a swipe to midwicket and upped the ante when he dispatched an Ish Sodhi long-hop over midwicket, took three fours of Milne’s seventh over and looked in the mood for a big one, particularly with time left in the innings. But he could not negotiate a Bracewell slower ball which found his off stump and left it to Miller to take over. Miller lasted less than three overs before loosely offering a catch to Luke Ronchi but Behardien was on hand to accelerate. He timed and placed the ball well for a quickfire 40 off 28 balls to ensure South Africa scored 44 runs in the last six overs and finished strongly. Behardien’s effort proved to be the major difference between the two sides, after New Zealand’s innings started in similar fashion. Guptill fell to a rejuvenated Dale Steyn, who invited the drive with a full delivery that moved away and found the edge but Tom Latham and Williamson provided stability. Tahir changed all that with a googly that snuck under Williamson’s bat as he came down the track. Although Latham brought up his fifty three balls later, New Zealand’s fight seemed faded.
ScOREbOaRD R South africa innings 58 MN van Wyk c Latham b Elliott 44 HM Amla c & b Elliott 6 RR Rossouw c Latham b Wheeler 64 AB de Villiers b Bracewell 36 DA Miller c Ronchi b Milne 40 F Behardien c Williamson b Wheeler 12 D Wiese c Sodhi b Wheeler 3 KJ Abbott not out Extras: 20 283 Total: bowling: BM Wheeler 10 0 71 3 7.10 32 10 1 (4w) AF Milne 10 1 44 1 4.40 40 6 1 DAJ Bracewell 10 1 54 1 5.40 33 4 1 (3w) IS Sodhi 8 0 55 0 6.87 20 5 1 (1w) GD Elliott 10 0 41 2 4.10 33 2 0 (2w) C Munro 2 0 11 0 5.50 7 2 0 New Zealand innings R MJ Guptill c van Wyk b Steyn 10 TWM Latham run out (Miller) 54 KS Williamson b Imran Tahir 39 21 GH Worker b Wiese 20 GD Elliott c Rabada b Wiese 35 C Munro b Wiese 1 L Ronchi c Amla b Rabada DAJ Bracewell c Amla b Imran Tahir 13 AF Milne c Miller b Rabada 4 BM Wheeler not out 13 IS Sodhi c Rossouw b Abbott 5 6 Extras: 221 Total: bowling: DW Steyn 10 0 41 1 4.10 36 5 0 (1w) K Rabada 10 1 33 2 3.30 36 1 0 (2w) D Wiese 9 0 58 3 6.44 23 8 0 (1w) KJ Abbott 9.2 0 43 1 4.60 30 5 0 (1w) Imran Tahir 10 0 36 2 3.60 31 0 1 F Behardien 1 0 9 0 9.00 2 1 0 MaTcH DETaILS Toss South Africa, who chose to bat Series South Africa won the 3-match series 2-1 Player of the match AB de Villiers (South Africa) Player of the series HM Amla (South Africa) Umpires JD Cloete and IJ Gould (England) TV umpire S George Match referee RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka) Reserve umpire AT Holdstock
Umar Gul expresses hope to be back playing for Pakistan sorts Desk
Fara Williams tips Nikita Parris & Beth Mead for England England’s most capped player Fara Williams has tipped strikers Beth Mead and Nikita Parris to earn their senior debuts in next month’s European Championship qualifying opener. Sunderland’s Mead, 20, is Women’s Super League One’s top scorer with 11 goals, while Manchester City’s Parris, 21, has netted five times in all competitions. Mark Sampson’s England side start their qualifying campaign in Estonia. “They’re certainly two players he could look at,” Liverpool’s Williams said. “Nikita Parris has been doing well for Man City, while Beth Mead’s been scoring many goals in the league. I’m sure Mark, being the manager that he is, will give these young talents a chance in our first qualifier.” Parris, who is on loan at Manchester City from WSL 2 side Everton, and Sunderland’s Mead have represented England from Under-17 to Under-23 level. Midfielder Williams, 31, who has won 147 caps in a 14-year senior international career, is unlikely to be selected herself because of a hamstring injury. She has featured just twice for Liverpool since returning from the Women’s World Cup, where she helped seal England’s bronze medalfinish with the extra-time penalty against Germany in their third/fourth-place play-off match. SPORTS DESK
Waller’s action found to be legal Malcolm Waller’s bowling action has been found to be legal upon reassessment, and the Zimbabwe all-rounder can now resume bowling in international cricket, the ICC has announced. Following remedial work at the University of Pretoria earlier this month, Waller underwent reassessment, which concluded that the amount of elbow extension in his offspin deliveries was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under ICC regulations. Umpires can report Waller in the future if they believe his action is suspect or that he is not reproducing the action that has been declared legal during this assessment. SPORTS DESK
Taijul given break after being diagnosed with jaundice Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has been given a break from training for one week after he was diagnosed with jaundice. Medical reports confirmed the ailment on Monday after he complained of weakness during the ongoing conditioning camp in Mirpur. “We have asked him to stay back in his hometown Natore during this break,” Bangladesh physio Bayjedul Islam Khan told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday. “He will do another bilirubin level test there and let us know and if it is higher than the accepted level (0.3 -1 mg/dl), we will tell him what to do next. Right now he needs to rest properly.” SPORTS DESK
Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, has expressed his intent to return to the Pakistan team with a message on Twitter, alongside a video of him working out in a gymnasium. Gul, once a regular in the team, was sidelined from competitive cricket for about nine months, in
2013, due to a knee injury, and since then has only sporadically played limited-overs cricket for his country. His stamina and fitness has been an issue in this period, something that his absence from the Test arena suggests: his last Test was in February, 2013, against South Africa. He underwent a surgery in Australia and a rehabilitation process, after
which other injury issues have kept him away from action. Earlier this year, he played a One-Day International (ODI) and a Twenty20 International (T20I) against Bangladesh when Pakistan toured that country. But his returns were indifferent: one for 23 in two overs in the T20I and 0 for 53 in seven overs in the ODI. Pakistan will play three Tests, four ODIs and three T20Is against England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in October this year. Gul was not a part of the successful Test and ODI campaigns against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, an assignment that followed the one in Bangladesh. Gul has played only ten ODIs since March, 2013, and a single T20I In this time, he has expressed his interest in getting the captaincy of the T20I team. The bowler from Peshawar is now 31 years old, indicating he has a few more years of competitiveness in international cricket left ahead of him.
Nibali suspends his Twitter account after abuse Following the furore about Vincenzo Nibali’s expulsion from the Vuelta a Espana, the Astana rider has reportedly suspended his account on Twitter. Nibali’s Facebook account is still open but his verified Twitter account @VincenzoNibali no longer exists. The Sicillian said that he decided to suspend his account after the abuse and criticism he got via social media. “I remembered that Bradley Wiggins suspended his account after getting a lot of abuse on Twitter and I’ve decided to do the same,” Nibali said. “There are some crazy people out there who think they can abuse people via social media and the abuse made me angry. I’ve decided to take a break and suspend my account until things calm down.” SPORTS DESK
‘Tall claims by people who run PCB, but no series with India’ PakPassion.net aaMER SOHaIL
The former Pakistani cricketer Aamir Sohail talks about the trio– Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir’s return to international cricket and how they are expected to prove that they still are capable of playing for the national side. Sohail, in a column for PakPassion.net gave an insight about Pakistan’s choosing to host their domestic T20 league away from home is of no use, if the major agenda via that league was to bring players to Pakistan to play cricket. Return of the Spot-Fixing Trio to domestic and international Cricket I am quite clear on this issue, it is a case of cricket being bread and butter for the three players—that is how they earn their living. I know they made a mistake but since they have been punished and also served their ban period, they deserve another chance in international cricket. It is great news that the ICC is allowing them to continue to pursue their ca-
reer; however their entry into the Pakistan team will not be based on their past performances. Their current performances and form will need to be monitored carefully and they will have to prove that they are still capable of representing Pakistan. Butt, Asif need to Be treAted in the sAme wAy As Amir It would have been grossly unfair for the ICC to give any preferential treatment to Mohammad Amir at the expense of Salman and Asif. In that
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respect, the ICC has taken the right decision. It is quite clear that PCB have been taken aback by the ICC allowing all three players back into the fold at the same time. There is a story behind the PCB favouring Mohammad Amir’s early return to cricket but unfortunately, I cannot elaborate on that at the moment but people are free to read between the lines. PsL without A Business PLAn is A non-stArter I hear a lot said about Pakistan’s answer to the world T20 Leagues but
first and foremost, the PCB has to come out with a transparent business plan. Look at it from the point of view of a potential franchise owner who will be spending his money on this business venture, how is he to recoup his investment and also earn a profit? At the moment, it appears that there is no business plan. How are PCB expecting investors to gain from this venture? Do we expect people to earn money by fixing matches – Have we not learnt our lessons? It is a known fact that such ventures aren’t worth much without sponsors stepping in to the mix. The PCB are probably covered as they are assured to get sponsors but who will sponsor the individual franchises? Consider the fact that potential Pakistan sponsors can only spend so much on advertising/sponsorship, charity, print media, sporting events etc. According to some estimates this is close to Rs 60 Billion which is spread on various forms of advertising and commercial activity including on mega events like the ICC World Cup or World T20.