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The fast bowling duo will return for the ODIs as South Africa look to expand their short-format player pool

Firdose Moonda11-Nov-2024Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka will be rested for the home T20I series against England as South Africa look to expand their short-format player pool. They have recalled medium-pacer Eliz-Mari Marx, who was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the CSA Women’s Pro20 series, and allrounder Nondumiso Shangase. Kapp and Khaka will return for the three-match ODI series which follows.South Africa’s T20 squad will also be without wicketkeeper-batter Mieke de Ridder and Seshnie Naidu, who were both part of the recently completed T20 World Cup. De Ridder has been replaced by Faye Tunnicliffe, while Naidu is completing her final school exams and will then be preparing for the Under-19 T20 World Cup in Malaysia in January.The rest of the squad includes three players currently at the WBBL: captain Laura Wolvaardt and allrounders Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon, who will return from Australia in time for the first match on November 24. Bowlers Ayanda Hlubi and Tumi Sekhukhune, who were also at the T20 World Cup but did not play a game, may get an opportunity at home, where conditions are expected to suit them better.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Interim coach Dillon du Preez will continue to manage the side for now and said he hopes they can build on their performance at the T20 World Cup, where they reached a second successive final.”We would like to have the same approach that we did in the last T20 World Cup. Although the next T20 World Cup is in two years’ time, we would still like to grow as a team and continue to work on our T20 playing philosophy,” du Preez said in a statement. “We decided to give one or two players a chance in the T20I series to prove themselves and also to give us a chance to look at what stock we have available and what skill we need to work on.”South Africa have added additional resources to the 50-over squad, in batter Lara Goodall, experienced seamer Masabata Klaas while Hlubi is in line for an ODI debut. The matches are part of the Women’s Championship, which forms the qualification pathway for next year’s ODI World Cup in India. South Africa are currently in fourth place, with 23 points, five behind Australia and England. The top five teams along with hosts India will automatically advance to the event which means Australia and England have already qualified. South Africa have gone through as well, even if they are overtaken by Bangladesh or West Indies, both of whom have six matches left to play (including three against each other). That can happen if Bangladesh or West Indies win the bilateral series 3-0 and South Africa lose 3-0 to England.The tour also includes a one-off Test in Bloemfontein from December 15 to 18, for which South Africa will name the squad at a later date. The T20 games are on November 24, 27 and 30 followed by the ODIs on December 4, 8 and 11.

South Africa Women squads for England series

T20I: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Chloé Tryon, Faye TunnicliffeODI: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Lara Goodall, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Chloé Tryon

New Zealand were too slow to adjust to the nature of the Sydney pitch according to Ross Taylor who thought a total of 140 would have given them a fighting chance

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2018New Zealand were too slow to adjust to the nature of the Sydney pitch according to Ross Taylor who thought a total of 140 would have given them a fighting chance.Three wickets in the first four overs – including two from Billy Stanlake’s opening two deliveries – set back New Zealand’s innings to such an extent that they could only limp to 9 for 117 with Australia cantering to a rain-adjusted target to take the opening points of the Trans-Tasman tri-series.The start of Stanlake’s spell was the most eye-catching period of the match as he pushed the speedgun over 150kph, dismissing Colin Munro first ball then producing an unplayable delivery to take Martin Guptill’s off stump.Munro is given licence to attack at the top of New Zealand’s limited-overs line-ups, but didn’t give himself a sighter against Stanlake when he top-edged a short ball and, while Guptill could do little about his delivery, Tom Bruce then top-edged another short ball to long leg in Stanlake’s second over.”We probably didn’t assess conditions well enough, Australia bowled very well and there was a little in the wicket but we weren’t able to soak that up,” Taylor said. “Don’t know it was 160-170 wicket but if we’d scrapped our way to 140 we might have been a chance.”With New Zealand’s two top-order strikers gone in two deliveries, boundaries were hard to come by to the extent that there was just one in the Powerplay after the opening over – and that was an edge fine of slip by Taylor – as captain David Warner gave Stanlake three of his four overs on the bounce.”I thought he bowled very well and those were two big wickets with his first two balls set the tone for their innings and our batting,” Taylor said. “He’s bowled very well in the Big Bash, it wasn’t a quick wicket here but he bowled well with good pace and will be one to watch in the future for sure.”Kane Williamson soaked up 21 deliveries for his 8 before getting a leading edge into the covers and Taylor was left to hold the innings together. Tom Blundell was promoted up the order to try and ensure the innings went deep to allow Colin de Grandhomme, who finished as the top-scorer with 38 off 24 balls, the freedom to attack later on.Taylor edged Ashton Agar’s final delivery to depart for 24 off 35 balls – New Zealand’s second-slowest 20-plus score in T20Is – while de Grandhomme clubbed three of the four sixes New Zealand managed, but Taylor rejected any suggestion that the difficulty in clearing the rope was because of the transition from the small grounds in New Zealand.”You just have to back yourself that you are doing the right thing at the time, try to eliminate the dot balls. Each time we lost a wicket we had to hold back and take it as deep as possible. I think it was more the wicket than the size of the boundary… the slower balls stuck in the wicket.”

Nitish Kumar Reddy had received his maiden India call-up before being sidelined due to a hernia

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2024Nitish Kumar Reddy will have to wait for his international debut after he was sidelined from India’s T20I tour of Zimbabwe due to an injury. Shivam Dube will take his place in the 15-member squad.While the BCCI did not specify the nature of Reddy’s injury, ESPNcricinfo has learned that he has been ruled out due to a hernia.Reddy, a 21-year-old seam bowling allrounder, had earned his maiden India call-up after an impressive IPL 2024 season with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He made 303 runs in the season at a strike rate of 142.92, while also delivering 13.1 overs for three wickets.In just his second innings of the season, he scored 64 off 37 balls against Punjab Kings, which took SRH to 182 and eventually helped them seal a two-run win. Reddy also scored an unbeaten 42-ball 76 against Rajasthan Royals in a group game later in the tournament. With the ball, his three wickets included Rishabh Pant, Tristan Stubbs and Jitesh Sharma.Reddy has been a part of the BCCI’s target group of young players who have been under the NCA’s watch over the past year.Dube is part of the India squad at the T20 World Cup 2024. While his numbers in the tournament so far have been middling: 106 runs in six matches with a strike rate of 107.07 and zero wickets, he had a tremendous IPL 2024. Coming in to bat primarily in the middle overs, he was Chennai Super Kings’ spin-hitter, finishing the season with 396 runs in 14 games, striking at 162.29. He was CSK’s second highest run-scorer behind Ruturaj Gaikwad.India will play Zimbabwe in five T20Is in Harare which get underway on July 6. With the senior players rested, Shubman Gill will lead the squad which features Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Tushar Deshpande, all of whom received maiden India call-ups.

India squad for T20I series in Zimbabwe

Ꮪhubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande

Athapaththu has moved past Nat Sciver-Brunt following her match-winning unbeaten 195 not out in the final ODI in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2024Chamari Athapaththu, who scored an unbeaten 195 in just 139 balls to take Sri Lanka to a remarkable win over South Africa in their final ODI in Potchefstroom last week, has risen to the No. 1 spot in the ICC’s batting rankings for women’s ODIs.Athapaththu’s knock broke a number of records in women’s cricket, including the highest individual score in a successful ODI chase. It was also the second-highest individual score in a successful ODI chase across women’s and men’s cricket, behind Glenn Maxwell’s 201 not out against Afghanistan at the 2023 World Cup.Chasing South Africa’s 301 for 5, itself the result of Laura Wolvaardt’s outstanding 147-ball 184 not out – which took her series tally to 335 runs – Sri Lanka got home in just 44.3 overs to square the series. The second-best individual score for Sri Lanka in the chase was Nilakshika Silva’s 50 not out in 71 balls.

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Following that effort, Athapaththu achieved her highest-ever rating of 773 on the ICC table, and moved past Nat Sciver-Brunt, who has 764 points. Wolvaardt, who had entered the top five in the last update of the rankings, moved up two more spots, past Beth Mooney and Smriti Mandhana, to third place.Hayley Matthews, meanwhile, jumped seven spots to reach No. 11 on the same table after scoring 140 not out and 44 in West Indies’ wins over Pakistan in the first two ODIs of their three-match series.Among bowlers, Sadia Iqbal, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, moved up six places to enter the top 20 after returns of 2 for 38 and 1 for 36 in the two games against West Indies.

Fast bowler has ‘big smile on his face’, says captain Buttler, as he seeks to play down expectations

Matt Roller21-May-2024Jofra Archer will play an international match in England for the first time in nearly four years on Wednesday night, ending a 382-day wait since his most recent professional appearance. Jos Buttler, England’s captain, said that Archer is “desperate” to return after such a long injury lay-off and confirmed he will feature against Pakistan at Headingley if the weather allows.Back and elbow injuries have restricted Archer to seven matches for England in the last three years, all of which came on tours to South Africa and Bangladesh in early 2023. He has been gradually working his way back to competitive cricket, playing for his club Wildey in Barbados and bowling a six-over spell for Sussex’s 2nd XI last week.England have named Archer in their provisional 15-man squad for June’s T20 World Cup, which they must finalise with the ICC by Saturday. He bowled with good pace in the nets on Monday – including to Buttler – and had a lighter training session on Tuesday, in anticipation of his return on Wednesday night.Related

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• England hope Livingstone can roll out the big hits on Headingley return

“He’s got a big smile on his face,” Buttler said. “It’s great to see him back fit and bowling fast, and just being back around the group. I know how much he’s missed that. [Facing him] is never that fun, but he’s looking great.”You have to temper expectations. He’s been out of international cricket for a long time, and you can never quite replicate that. We all know what a superstar he has been, but manage those expectations: don’t expect too much too soon. He’s got such a high level of skill that he’s always going to perform well, but [he needs to] just enjoy being back playing cricket. As England captain and as a fan, people want to see him back enjoying his cricket.”Buttler confirmed that Archer will play on Wednesday night – if the rain holds off – and said England will “manage him through” the four-match series. “He’s fully fit, and the medical team will advise how best to manage that,” he said. “[He’ll play] as many as possible: he’s missed a lot of cricket and he’s desperate to get back out there and be a big part of the team.”Any player of Jofra’s calibre is a huge asset to any team. Absolutely, he makes us a better side and [gives us] a better chance of winning games. But we have to temper expectations, not put too much pressure on him, ease him back in. The great success would be him coming through this series with a big smile on his face and his body holding up. That would be a success to me.”Jofra Archer enjoys a lighter moment at England training•PA Photos/Getty Images

Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain, said his team are “looking forward” to the challenge of facing Archer but do not fear him. “As a team, we are very excited to play Archer,” Babar said. “We have that pace of bowlers: Haris Rauf, [Mohammad] Amir, Shaheen [Afridi]. We are facing it everyday. We are not [feeling] fear; we are excited.”Harry Brook will also return to international cricket on Wednesday, after missing England’s Test tour to India on compassionate leave. “He’s got a brilliant head on his shoulders,” Buttler said. “He can handle most things… watching him bat, he looks in great touch and he’s going to be an England player in all formats for a long period of time.”Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball coach, oversaw training in Leeds on Tuesday after missing Monday’s session for family reasons. While performances in the next nine days will be more important than results, his side have not won a T20I series since they became world champions in Australia 18 months ago and will want to break that streak.Mott and Buttler both came under pressure during England’s catastrophic group-stage exit at the 50-over World Cup last year and cannot afford a repeat in the Caribbean. Buttler said he had learned valuable lessons in India: “Sometimes, when results don’t go your way, it’s easy – as an individual, or a group – to go a little bit internal. [You should] keep putting the team first every time, and make decisions based around that.”But he said England will not focus too much on their 50-over struggles over the coming weeks. “It’s a different format. Times move on: there are different chapters in the book. It’s a real honour to go to another World Cup as defending champions again, but it also feels like a new time. There are guys coming into the side who are more established and proper players now. It’s their team as well to take forward.”Buttler comes into this series after hitting two centuries in three innings at the IPL last month, and said he is in “a really good space” with his batting. Across 22 innings for Paarl and Rajasthan Royals this year, he has averaged 40.36 while striking at 142.30: “Sometimes, I feel like a bit of a victim of my own expectations,” he said.He also confirmed he will keep wicket in this series, but is likely to hand the gloves to Phil Salt at least once since his wife Louise is expecting the couple’s third child imminently. “My family comes first: I’ll be at the birth,” he said. “I’m not a doctor. These things can come on at any time. But I’ve got a plan in place… fingers crossed, everything will go well.”

Heat couldn’t lift their net run-rate enough to take top spot which means they will stage the Challenger final

AAP24-Nov-2024Brisbane Heat downed Sydney Sixers by five wickets but failed to steal WBBL final hosting rights from Melbourne Renegades.Heat, chasing the Sixers’ 140 all out, reached their target from 17 overs for victory at Allan Border Field. But they to chase down their target in 13.3 overs to eclipse Renegades on net run rate and secure hosting rights for the final.Renegades will host the WBBL decider at the MCG next Sunday night after topping the table from the second-placed Heat.Related

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Heat will host the Challenger on Friday night at Allan Border Field against the winner of Wednesday night’s Knockout final between the third-placed Sydney Thunder and fourth-placed Hobart Hurricanes at Drummoyne Oval in Sydney.Heat on Sunday night made a dash for top spot in the last game of the tournament’s regular season. Jemimah Rodrigues smacked five fours and a six in making 39 from 22 balls but her rapid-fire knock ended when caught from Amelia Kerr’s bowling and Sixers spinner bowled Charli Knott next ball.The quick wickets left the Heat 58 for 3 after seven overs and, met with some miserly Sixers bowling, they changed tack to focus winning the game, rather than chasing the net run rate target.Georgia Redmayne made 25 from 29 balls and the outcome remained tight when Heat required 46 runs from the last 42 balls.Captain Jess Jonassen then called the power surge and capitalised on the field restrictions by cracking three fours and a six as Caoimhe Bray conceded 20 runs from her over. The burst from Jonassen and a late flurry from Laura Harris sealed victory.Earlier, Sixers couldn’t cash in on a bright start from their opening batters Kerr and Ellyse Perry. The pair put on 63 runs before Perry was dismissed in the 10th over.Ash Gardner became Lucy Hamilton’s first victim some two overs later and when Kerr’s 37 ball innings ended in the 14th over, Sixers had slipped from 63 for 0 to 90 for 3.From then, only Sarah Bryce, who smashed a six and four fours in making 28 from 19 balls, reached double figures.Heat’s emerging 18-year-old star Hamilton was again superb – she now has taken 10 wickets in her past three games – while skipper Jonassen claimed 3 for 26.

Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz, meanwhile, felt too many of his batters failed to capitalise on starts

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2023Pakistan will be aggressive as they attempt to knock off the 83 runs they need to get to go 1-0 up in the series. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, need three early wickets to give themselves a chance in the Galle Test.This was the latest from the two camps after play on day four. Although a target of 131 seemed like it would not present Pakistan with much of a challenge, particularly as they had hunted down 342 at this same venue on exactly the same day last year, three late wickets to Sri Lanka, including two to Prabath Jayasuriya, who has a spectacular record at this venue, made Pakistan’s position a little more precarious.Related

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Still, Pakistan have plenty of batting to come (one of those dismissed was nightwatcher Noman Ali), so there’s no cause to worry, said middle order batter Agha Salman. He also suggested there could be more of the new, attacking batting style that Pakistan embraced in the first innings.”We’re very confident, and at the same time we are very excited as well,” he said. “We’ll play the brand of cricket we have been playing since day one.”Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz was understandably not quite so upbeat about his team’s chances.”We’re going to go hard and try and put as much pressure on the Pakistan batsmen, to see what we can get out of it,” Nawaz said. ” I think if we can get through to another one or two wickets in their top order, it’s not going to be easy. The wicket seems to be taking a little bit of grip, and a bit of spin as well.”Dhananjaya de Silva followed up his first-innings 122 with 82 in the second•AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lanka were also left to rue their own batting. They had been 54 for 4 in the first innings before recovering through Dhananjaya de Silva to post 312. And in the second innings, they were 99 for 4 before another de Silva innings led a partial recovery.”Most of our batters got starts, and we needed them to carry on and make big runs,” Nawaz said. “If you look at the Pakistani batting, it was just two batters that contributed, and one of them made a big score and the others batted around them to put 400-plus on the board. That’s what we lacked. Dhananjaya was there till the end with a 120-odd. Angelo Mathews also contributed. We needed a few more contributions in the middle.”Unlike many Galle surfaces that take substantial turn from day three onwards, this one has remained reasonable for batting into day four. Sri Lanka, said Nawaz, should have taken advantage.”When we batted the pitch was good, even this morning. There wasn’t a lot of turn, though there was a bit of unevenness. There wasn’t a huge threat.”I thought we should have scored more runs in the second innings. If our batters had done well we could have got at least 100 more runs. In my head I was thinking that we should have batted for 120 overs to get to a good place in this match. Then we could have had them chasing 240 or more. If we had a score that we could have defended for 60 or 70 overs, we would have had the advantage. But that’s not how it happened.”

Skipper’s unbeaten 84 guides Tasmania to a four-wicket win over Queensland after an extraordinary Clayton century gave the hosts hope

AAP05-Feb-2024Jordan Silk has struck a classy unbeaten 84 to lead Tasmania to a four-wicket Sheffield Shield victory over Queensland inside three days at the Gabba.Chasing 224 for victory after Jack Clayton made an extraordinary 102 out of Queensland’s total of 160 in the second innings, Tasmania slumped to 13 for 2 and 99 for 4 on Monday, before Silk held the innings together with a match-winning captain’s knock.Silk was on track for his 12th first-class century, only for teammate Mitchell Owen (29 not out off 15 balls) to strike some lusty blows at the death to secure victory for Tasmania just before stumps on day three. The win keeps Tasmania on top of the Shield table, while Queensland are last with only one win and two draws from seven matches.Silk struck 13 fours in his unbeaten knock, but he paid special tribute to Tasmanian paceman Gabe Bell, who claimed player-of-the-match honours after returning figures of 4 for 40 and 6 for 39.”He’s going fantastic, career-best figures and a 10-wicket haul,” Silk said. “We don’t have that sort of [gettable] chase without his effort.”I’m really rapt with how everyone approached it. It was a good collective effort.”It’s not often we come here [to Brisbane] and get the points.”Queensland captain Jimmy Peirson was among the Bulls to struggle with sickness in the intense Brisbane heat. Clayton was physically ill during his epic 181-ball knock. Ben McDermott was the only other batter to reach double figures having fallen for 16 yesterday.”I’m feeling better today, but I was on my deathbed yesterday to be honest,” Peirson said.”It’s not fun, gastro. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win today, but [if we can get] three wins in our last three games, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”Tasmanian opener Caleb Jewell was the first wicket to fall in Tasmania’s chase when his wild slash resulted in an edge through to the keeper. The Tigers were in early trouble at 2 for 13 when Tim Ward’s attempted hook off a rising Mark Steketee delivery gave Peirson his second catch.Charlie Wakim (36) and Silk helped steady the ship with a 60-run stand. But when Gurinder Sandhu trapped Wakim lbw before finding the edge of Jake Doran’s bat 10 overs later, Tasmania were looking wobbly at four down and still needing 125 more runs to win.Silk and Beau Webster (28 off 41 balls) led the counter-attack as Tasmania got their run chase back on track. Webster struck three fours and a six, but his bid to keep the runs flowing came undone when he inside-edged Liam Guthrie onto his stumps.Bradley Hope added some handy runs, before Owen struck three fours and a six to shut the door completely on Queensland.

Trio won’t get franchise league NOCs for two years, the board statement said, while also having their national contracts delayed

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2023The Afghanistan Cricket Board has sanctioned Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen Ul Haq for “prioritizing their personal interests over playing for Afghanistan,” a board statement said on Monday. The board has therefore delayed their 2024 annual central contracts and also announced no NOCs (no-objection certificates) for the trio for the next two years, including the revokement of any NOC they currently possess.According to the ACB statement, the trio recently told the board of their desire to be released from the annual central contracts starting January 1 2024, while also asking for consent to play in franchise tournaments.”The insistence on not signing the central contract for these players was their involvement in commercial leagues, prioritising their personal interests over playing for Afghanistan, which is regarded as a national responsibility,” the board statement added. “By opting for their release, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has decided to take disciplinary measures against these players.”The sanctions come after the board assigned a committee to “thoroughly investigate the matter and develop appropriate recommendations that best serve the ACB’s interests.””The decision by the Afghanistan Cricket Board is made with a focus on national priorities, aligned with the ACB’s core values and principles,” the statement further said. “It highlights the necessity for every player to maintain the ACB’s principles and prioritise the country’s interests above their personal ones.”

Melbourne Renegades will ‘continue to support’ Mujeeb

Mujeeb was recently picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders at the IPL auction for USD 241,000. He is currently at the BBL in Australia with Melbourne Renegades. Renegades put out a statement saying the franchise had “received no communication” about a change in plans about Mujeeb’s availability, and that the franchise would “continue to support him for the rest of the BBL season”.”The Melbourne Renegades are aware of the matter between Mujeeb Ur Rahman and the Afghanistan Cricket Board,” the statement, put up on the franchise’s website, said. “The club has received no communication that Mujeeb’s availability for the BBL could change from original plans.”Mujeeb remains available for the Melbourne Renegades’ important match against Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium. Mujeeb is a world-class player and a popular member of the squad, and the club will continue to support him for the rest of the BBL season.”Naveen, who is with Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and Fazalhaq Farooqi, also retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad, recently featured in the Abu Dhabi T10 competition. All three players also featured for Afghanistan in their sixth-place ODI World Cup run.

Indian coach lauds “exceptional leader” Rohit Sharma for “giving so much of his time and energy in the dressing room to the boys”

Yash Jha19-Nov-20235:24

Dravid: ‘We gave it everything we had’

India fell “30-40 runs short” of a good total in the final, but it wasn’t because of a safety-first approach in the middle overs – that’s the line Rahul Dravid took in the wake of his team’s defeat to Australia in the 2023 World Cup title bout in Ahmedabad.”I won’t agree that we played with fear. We had 80 runs in ten overs. We had lost wickets, and when you lose wickets you have to change your strategy,” Dravid said at the post-match press conference.Rohit Sharma’s 31-ball 47 had set India on their way, with the team reaching 80 at the end of the first powerplay. But they only managed four boundaries in the rest of their innings to eventually finish on 240. Dravid attributed the slowdown to the loss of wickets at regular intervals, and not a lack of intent.Related

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“We haven’t played any fearful cricket in this final. In the middle overs, they bowled really well and we had lost three wickets. So a period of consolidation was needed, and every time we thought we could get on the attack, we would lose a wicket,” he said. “If you lose wickets, you have to rebuild. We didn’t set out to play defensively.”While Australia eventually coasted to the target with seven overs to spare and six wickets in hand, Dravid reckoned the game would have played out differently had India got 30-40 more runs on a surface he believed was tougher to bat on in the afternoon.”Just felt like the ball was stopping in the afternoon a little bit more than it did in the evening,” he said. “It felt like the ball came on to the bat a lot better in the evening. There was that period where the ball was stopping and we weren’t able to get boundaries. We were able to rotate the strike but we weren’t able to get those boundaries.”If we had got to 280-290 and they were 60 for 3 then it might have been a very different game. But 240, I think they were always one partnership away from getting there.”Sunday’s loss extended India’s run of near-misses at global events; in the last 13 months alone, they have faced a semi-final exit at the T20 World Cup, lost the World Test Championship final, and now the ODI World Cup final.”I’ve been involved in three… and I think we haven’t played really well on the day,” Dravid said. “I thought we were a bit short in Adelaide, in the semi-final [of the T20 World Cup, against England]. We lost the first day in the World Test Championship [final]. We didn’t bowl particularly well after Australia were three down. And here we didn’t bat well enough.”There’s not one particular reason you can pin it down to. I didn’t feel at any stage going into this game that there were any nerves or the guys were intimidated by the game. I thought the energy and the mental space the boys were in leading into this particular game was spot on.”Dravid, whose two-year contract as head coach runs out this month, heaped praise on Rohit for his leadership and his batting throughout the World Cup.”I think he has been an exceptional leader, always felt he’s led this team fantastically well,” Dravid said. “He’s given so much of his time and energy in the dressing room to the boys. There’s been a lot of planning, a lot of strategy, he’s always committed to those things.2:06

Should one of Kohli or Rahul have taken charge?

“His batting as well, I thought it was fantastic the way he set the tone for us. We knew that we wanted to play a certain way, we wanted to play a positive, attacking brand of cricket, and he was very committed to doing that. He wanted to lead by example, and I thought right throughout the tournament he was superb. Can’t speak more highly of him, as a person and a leader.”Dravid, who had made the walk towards the press-conference room even as Australia were being handed their winners’ medals, admitted that emotions were running high in the Indian dressing room.”There was a lot of emotions in that dressing room. It was tough to see as a coach, because I know how hard these guys have worked, what they’ve put in, the sacrifices they’ve made,” he said. “But that’s sport. That happens. It can happen. And the better team won on the day. I’m sure the sun will come up tomorrow morning.”We’ll learn from it, we’ll reflect, and we’ll move on. That’s what you do as sportsmen. You have some great highs in sport, and you have some lows in sport. And you keep moving on. You don’t stop.”