The 23-run win put the hosts on the path to promotion with two wins out of two games. Vanuatu, meanwhile, may be on the road to relegation after starting with two losses

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur30-Apr-2018In a tense low-scoring affair, Ahmed Faiz was the difference with an innings of 86 off 101 balls – the next-best score from the line-up was 27 – in a 23-run win over Vanuatu at Kinrara Oval to put Malaysia on the path to promotion with two wins out of two games. Vanuatu, meanwhile, may be on the road to relegation after starting off with two losses at WCL Division Four.Vanuatu took wickets at regular intervals after sending Malaysia in as the hosts’ best partnership of the day was 44 runs. But Faiz stuck around till the 35th over after arriving at the crease 11 balls into the match, anchoring Malaysia and providing them just enough runs to defend for the second day in a row at Kinrara.After 20 overs, Vanuatu were well on course in their 197-run chase having reached 63 for 2. But Patrick Matautaava edged behind off the spin of Virandeep Singh in the next over. Captain Andrew Mansale and player-coach Shane Deitz rallied Vanuatu back in contention with a 54-run fourth-wicket stand but Vanuatu lost Mansale for 26 and key allrounder Nalin Nipiko for a golden duck in the space of four balls to make it 119 for 5 in the 38th.Deitz struggled to get adequate support down the stretch from Vanuatu’s long tail as the run rate climbed dramatically. By the end of the 45th, Vanuatu needed more than ten per over to win. Deitz slammed a boundary straight past Syed Aziz in the following over, Vanuatu’s first boundary since Deitz hit one in the 34th, but Aziz foxed him with a change of pace on the next delivery to bowl Deitz for 46. The 42-year-old has top-scored for Vanuatu in both matches at Division Four – 36 against Jersey and 46 against Malaysia – since his remarkable international debut following a right-hip replacement surgery just seven months ago, but both his efforts have been in vain.Aziz finished with figures of 2 for 22 to lead the way for Malaysia with the ball while offspinner Mohammad Shukri helped spin out the tail with 2 for 39. For the second day in a row, a run-out by wicketkeeper Shafiq Sharif – this one far less controversial than the one against Uganda – clinched victory as Sharif’s throw into the non-striker’s stumps denied Callum Blake’s attempt to steal a leg bye in the final over.

Follow ESPNcricinfo’s live report of Afghanistan’s entry to Test cricket, against India in Bengaluru

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2018

After a series of meetings with players, coaching staff, selectors and BCB officials, he will put forward recommendations for the appointment of a full-time head coach

Mohammad Isam21-May-2018Gary Kirsten will complete an internal audit of the Bangladesh team before giving his recommendations for the appointment of a full-time head coach. The position has been vacant since the resignation of Chandika Hathurusingha in November 2017. Nizamuddin Chowdhury, BCB’s chief executive, has said Kirsten’s role is limited to these two duties since he has declined the BCB’s offer to stay in a long-term role until the 2019 World Cup.Kirsten, who arrived in Dhaka on Sunday evening, met Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mashrafe Mortaza on Monday morning in three separate meetings. He is scheduled to meet Bangladesh’s coaching staff present in Dhaka later in the evening, and over the next 24 hours will also meet the national selectors and board directors connected to the senior side. Kirsten is also slated to meet BCB chief Nazmul Hassan.While it might seem like too little time for such an assessment, Kirsten’s appointment as an independent auditor of the senior team is a first in Bangladesh cricket. It is certainly a more professional approach than ever before. Never before in Bangladesh cricket have the players been asked for their opinion on the inner workings of the team and on potential coaching candidates.But given how difficult it has been for the BCB to find a head coach who they believe can take the team further, it is believed to be a positive approach to take a little more time during which they conduct an objective analysis of what is required.Chowdhury said Kirsten will first assess the Bangladesh team and, based on that, will tell the board which coach is more suitable to the team’s needs. He said Kirsten’s analysis was essential to the board.”Gary Kirsten is doing an internal audit of the Bangladesh team,” Chowdhury said. “He will give an assessment to the cricket board about how the team can improve looking ahead to ICC competitions like the World Cup and World T20. At the same time, he is also working with us on coach recruitment. We have shortlisted some coaches, and Kirsten also has some names. At this stage he will advise us about which areas to work on, and then he will say which available coach will be effective for us.”The team assessment is more important to us. He is trying to sit with every player, and everyone related to the national team, for this internal audit. There’s also a plan for him to speak to the selectors and relevant directors individually. He is working independently. We are providing logistical support. He is contacting the relevant persons to set up meetings.”Chowdhury said Kirsten had been working with the BCB for some time now, speaking to coaching candidates. He said Kirsten had initially agreed on a long-term relationship, but later decided only to work on a short assignment.”Maybe his work is more visible today as he is working in Dhaka but Kirsten has been working for us for some time now,” Chowdhury said. “He spoke to our current captain already. He has been in contact with the candidates that we are discussing for different coaching positions. He is also in touch with those in his list.”He is working as our consultant in this process. We had initially planned to have him till the 2019 World Cup and he had agreed too. But later after taking account of his various commitments, he said he will work till the appointment of the coach.”

Australia’s search for a consolation victory moves to Edgbaston, and a return to a format in which they have plenty of form

The Preview by Andrew Miller26-Jun-20181:23

T20 a chance for Australia to ‘strut our stuff’ – Finch

Big Picture

As one-sided series go, England’s bagelling of Australia in the fifth and final ODI at Old Trafford on Sunday was about as fraught as they come – a low-scoring epic, sealed by a high-achieving white-ball wizard at the absolute peak of his powers. Jos Buttler’s refusal to be beaten while his team-mates were being skittled around him was inspiring to behold, as he sealed a one-wicket win that felt as far removed from a dead-rubber contest as is humanly possible.Australia desperately wanted to get themselves off the mark in a dismal tour; England desperately wanted to hone their killer instinct, and capitalise on a rare opportunity to leave their most consistent cricketing tormentors with no place to hide. It meant that there was a cup final vibe in evidence throughout the day, and the fact that England held their nerve in extreme adversity – regardless of the strength of their opponents – has to augur well for next year’s defining challenge.So how should we read the runes going into Australia’s final, final opportunity to make an impression on this tour? Clearly, a one-off T20 at Edgbaston lacks the context of what has gone before it, but as Alex Carey warned in the build-up to the match, Australia are ready to give it a “red-hot” go in a format that they have found infinitely more favourable in recent months.They are, after all, the reigning T20 tri-series champions – having put England emphatically in their place in the round-robin stage of February’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.Unlike in the 50-over format, in which Australia’s batsmen have seemed reluctant to give full rein to their instincts for fear of making a mistake, there’s less reason to be reserved across 20 overs. And with a team that’s been honed in the competitive environs of the Big Bash, there’s plenty to suggest that this one could also go down to the wire.Nevertheless, Australia’s T20 squad cannot have been immune to the general sense of chaos that has enveloped their set-up since the events in Cape Town in March – not least because their captain during their recent run of short-form success was none other than David Warner. In a parallel universe, he might currently be sharpening his credentials as the obvious hard-nosed choice to lead his country into next year’s World Cup. How quickly things can change.Aaron Finch plays into the leg side•Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLLLL
Australia WWWWW

In the spotlight

For a man who has now scored more one-day hundreds (six) against England than any other batsman, Aaron Finch endured a curious ODI campaign. He was a victim of his team’s shortcomings elsewhere in their line-up, as he was shunted down the card in mid-series to provide ballast to the lower-order, before returning to his rightful opening berth for the latter stages. And now he is captain – and that in itself offers an intriguing subplot, given that Tim Paine, the ODI captain, more or less conceded that his position was untenable after the whitewash. If Finch can be the man to deliver Australia the victory that a nation craves, who knows where that may lead?England’s man of the moment, Jos Buttler, displayed the finishing skills of a master carpenter as he repaired his team’s run-chase in the fifth ODI on Sunday. But he’s tasked with a different challenge at Edgbaston after it was confirmed by Paul Farbrace, the interim coach, that he will be opening the innings. It’s a no-brainer really – Buttler was a revelation at the IPL in May after being pushed up to open for Rajasthan Royals, and it’s not as if England are short of men who can tonk it at the death.

Teams news

With Buttler opening alongside Jason Roy, Alex Hales is expected to come in at No. 3, which could mean Jonny Bairstow dropping to the middle order. Chris Jordan looks set to pip Sam Curran for the final berth in a five-man England attack, though Joe Root has been getting plenty of offspin practice of late.England (probable) 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Jason Roy, 3 Alex Hales, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 David WilleyPaine makes way as wicketkeeper as well as captain, with Carey taking over the gloves, and assuming Glenn Maxwell recovers from his shoulder injury, he will slot back into the middle order, from where he gave England quite the schooling in Hobart in February. Andrew Tye’s variations are likely to have more mileage in the shorter format than they found in a chastening ODI campaign. And given the heat, and the prospect of a dry surface, the leggie Mitchell Swepson might well find a way into the starting XI.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 D’Arcy Short, 3 Travis Head, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Nic Maddinson, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Marcus Stoinis/Mitchell Swepson 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Andrew Tye, 11 Billy Stanlake

Pitch and conditions

Perfect weather, belting pitch, full house. It’ll be loud. The ground is expected to open early to encourage people to watch the World Cup (Mexico v Sweden and Germany v South Korea, kick-off 3pm) on the big screen.

Stats and trivia

• Australia won all five of their fixtures in the aforementioned tri-series, making it six out of seven victories (plus one abandonment) since February 2017.
• England, by contrast, have rather lost their mojo since reaching the final of the World T20 in April 2016. They have won five and lost eight of their last 13 games.
• They did, however, hold their nerve in their most recent outing, defending a total of 194 to win by two runs against New Zealand in Hamilton.

Quotes

“He will open tomorrow. In 120 balls in an innings, you want to get your best strikers facing as many balls as possible. The form he’s in, the way he’s playing, it makes sense to get him at the top of the order.”
“In the one-day format the confidence was definitely affected, England put us on the back foot from the word go and we weren’t able to catch up. But we’ve had success in this format … The confidence took a hit in the one-dayers but I don’t think there will be anything to worry about in this format.”

Defending champions Western Storm moved to the top of the KSL table thanks to a brilliant innings from Smriti Mandhana

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2018

ScorecardDefending champions Western Storm moved to the top of the Kia Super League table at the halfway stage thanks to a brilliant innings from Smriti Mandhana.The India international, who was already top-scorer in the competition, struck her first T20 century to guide Storm to a routine win over Lancashire Thunder.It was a match defined by two left-hand internationals, as Thunder’s Amy Satterthwaite produced her best-ever score for Lancashire with an unbeaten 85 to guide her side to 153 for 7, but it proved not to be enough.Thunder got off to an ideal start to the defence of their total as Rachel Priest fell to Kate Cross in the first over for just five.But Mandhana took the attack to Lancashire from the off and began to break the back of the chase. In the third over, bowled by Cross, she struck two sweet sixes to take Storm to 29 for 1.Graphic: Smriti Mandhana has raced to the top of the KSL runs charts•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The India international continued to time the ball perfectly, dismissing Thunder’s battery of spinners to the fence with ease. She lost partner Heather Knight for just eight, caught in the deep off Emma Lamb.Mandhana though would march on, supported ably by West Indian Stafanie Taylor. Mandhana’s half-century was reached from just 34 balls and she pressed the accelerator after reaching that landmark.She took 15 from the 12th over, delivered by England international Alex Hartley, to move to 78 from just 45 balls and bring the required equation down to 51 from 48.From there, it was a simple chase as Mandhana and Taylor put on 105. Mandhana fell for 102 from 61 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes in her superb innings. Victory came two balls later, with 10 balls to spare.Earlier, Lancashire’s innings was dominated by Satterthwaite’s brilliant knock. But early on it was Australian Nicole Bolton, fresh from her 87 from 61 balls in the last game against Surrey Stars, who delivered the early fireworks.She hit three glorious boundaries in the third over, bowled by Anya Shrubsole, but perished to the final delivery – edging behind as she attempted a fine cut.Her opening partner Eve Jones was then undone by a fantastic slower ball from Freya Davies, trapping the left-hander lbw for 4.At the end of the powerplay Thunder were 31 for 2, with India Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur, on her home debut, at the crease. She went without scoring, however, run out by Claire Nicholas attempting a quick single.But Satterthwaite moved through the gears during her innings. The New Zealander struck a six off Heather Knight in the seventh over and also deposited a Stafanie Taylor full-toss into the stands in the 10th.Her fifty arrived from 41 balls and she had soon passed her best for Thunder – made last week against Yorkshire.She shared a half-century stand with Emma Lamb from just 39 balls. A flurry of wickets fell in the late pursuit of runs, but Satterthwaite remained unbeaten at the end on 85 from 57 balls as Thunder posted 153-7.Thanks to Mandhana, it was a total that proved not to be enough. Defeat ends a run of three successive victories for Thunder and extends Storms’ winning run to three.Storm move on to face Yorkshire Diamonds at Scarborough on Sunday while Thunder are back at Old Trafford on Tuesday to face Surrey Stars.

The allrounder, who last played Test cricket in August 2016, will be the 18th member of Pakistan’s squad for the two-Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2018Pakistan have added allrounder Mohammad Hafeez to their squad for the two-Test series against Australia in the UAE. Hafeez will fly to Dubai on the first available flight, ahead of the first Test that begins on October 7.

Pakistan squad

Azhar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Hafeez

Hafeez’s inclusion is understood to have been made to bolster an inexperienced Pakistan top order that features Imam-ul-Haq, who has played three Tests, and Fakhar Zaman, who is uncapped, alongside regular Test opener Azhar Ali.The move comes at a time when Hafeez’s international career appeared to be winding down after months of being overlooked. Hafeez played the last of his 50 Tests in August 2016 and had since fallen out of favour with the selectors, who most recently ignored him for the Asia Cup that concluded last week. He last played for Pakistan in July this year, in a T20I against Australia, but was never a consistent fixture in the side, being named in Pakistan’s ODI squad for a bilateral series against Zimbabwe but not featuring in any of the matches. In a further indictment of how far he had fallen, Hafeez was demoted to category B in the PCB’s list of centrally contracted players that was announced in August.Hafeez has been outspoken about his non-selection in recent months, going so far as to nearly call for a press conference against the selection committee. However, he decided against that at the last minute and called his being dropped unfortunate, while making a brief statement about always being available for Pakistan. He has also been critical of Mickey Arthur, the head coach, who reportedly did not view Hafeez as part of his plans.All of that meant Hafeez was left to play domestic cricket, where he had an excellent run in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament. Hafeez opened his tournament with a six-wicket haul that consigned Federally Administered Tribal Areas to an innings defeat. He also slammed 280 runs in three matches, including a double-century against Peshawar.

Fast bowler believes he is one of five bowlers vying for a single spot in squad, as countdown continues to showpiece tournament

George Dobell in Colombo22-Oct-2018Mark Wood admits he is battling “against the clock” if he is to win a spot in England’s World Cup side.Wood returns to the England side for the final ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Tuesday but, having not played a game in the series to date, fears he may have fallen behind several others in the race for selection.Now, with only one more ODI series to come (the five-match series in the Caribbean in February and March) before England pick their World Cup squad, he feels he is one of five men competing to complete the 15-man party.”In my mind, there’s one spot in the squad for five of us,” Wood said. “Liam Plunkett is going to play: he’s been our best bowler for a while. Chris Woakes has been so consistent. He is a great bowler and he is going to take the new ball. And Ben Stokes balances the team.”So you’ve got one spot between me, Tom Curran, who feels he has got his slower ball back, Olly Stone, who bowls rockets and is ahead of me at the moment, Sam Curran, who can bat, and David Willey, who had a good summer. We’re all probably vying for that one spot.”It’s hard to disagree with Wood’s assessment. With England’s tactic of playing two spinners in most circumstances working well for them, and the management understandably keen to have some left-arm variation – provided by either Sam Curran or Willey – in their attack, it may well prove that Wood is now an outside bet for that final place.With the World Cup having been a focal point of England’s cricket for the last four years – and Wood having been a regular part of the ODI side in that period – it would heart-breaking to miss out at this stage. As a result he is hoping to improve his game in the final months before the tournament, both by lengthening his run-up in order to avoid some of the stress he puts on his body and by developing a new slower ball.”It can be frustrating when you are just on the outside with a World Cup around the corner,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have one eye on that. I know that, if I don’t do well here, I am one tour away from not making that World Cup squad. And that’s something we’ve been building up to for over four years. Ever since the last one. So I’ve got to do the business.””I’ve managed to swing the new ball out here so that has been a plus. And I have been trying to work on a few new slower balls. I feel I can get better with a few slower balls.”But I’m against the clock a little bit. Everyone is fighting for that one spot so it is not like I can keep working on a slower ball for the next three years.”While such competition for place could disturb the equilibrium in the squad, Wood insists it will not be allowed to do so in this England camp. With Eoin Morgan having confirmed he would drop himself from the team if his form was not up to scratch – he may rest himself on Tuesday to provide opportunity elsewhere – the mood in the camp is, Wood says, selfless and positive.”We’re one team,” he said. “We’re all together. I want my friends to do well. I’m an England fan and I want England to win.”You don’t win nine series on the bounce [a statistic that excludes the one-off defeat against Scotland]. It’s good to have healthy competition without being all bitter or sour. That doesn’t help anyone. And I don’t think Eoin Morgan would have you around if you weren’t behind the team.”Some of the net sessions have been pretty hairy as all the bowlers have been charging in trying to get a spot in the side. I’ve just got to prove myself and get better. And if I can do that, hopefully I should get my spot back.”Meanwhile Chris Jordan, who has recently arrived in Sri Lanka, trained with the squad on Tuesday. Jordan has been added to the squad with a view to playing in the one-off T20I match that follows the ODI series.But while Jordan took part in the warm-up football, there was no sign at training of Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow’s ankle injury remains a concern and it is doubtful that he will be fit to play in the first Test.England may well call up Ben Foakes, the uncapped Surrey keeper, within the next day or two. Olly Stone and Joe Denly, who could make his first ODI appearance this decade on Tuesday, also sat out the football section of training.

The low quality of Australia’s batting, particularly in the first innings of both Tests, reflected a wider pattern, not only for the national team but also the domestic system beneath

Daniel Brettig in Abu Dhabi19-Oct-2018A week after rejoicing in the saving of a Test match they had never been in, Tim Paine’s Australians were flattened by the fact they had been beaten out of sight in a game that, at lunch on day one, was theirs for the taking.Through Nathan Lyon’s burst of four wickets in six balls, Pakistan had been 5 for 57 in Abu Dhabi, their plight summed up by the coach Mickey Arthur holding his head in his hands. Yet somehow the captain Sarfraz Ahmed and the debutant Fakhar Zaman wriggled free to help the hosts to a defensible 282, and Australia then collapsed obligingly in both innings.It meant that two of Australia’s four heaviest defeats had taken place in their past three Tests, with Paine at the helm for both. Though this team had made numerous strides since the humiliation of Johannesburg in the wake of the ball tampering scandal, the sense of an opportunity lost hung heavy in Paine’s thoughts. He has clearly run the day one lunch break through his mind many times already.”It’s bitterly disappointing no doubt,” he said. “We had some momentum from the first Test, started really well here and then from 5 for 57 it went a bit pear-shaped to be honest, all over the field. It’s hard to swallow, I’d love to go back to that lunch break and come back out and start again but we just weren’t up to it, weren’t able to sustain it for long enough.”It’s disappointing. We came here to win this series and we did ok in the first Test and showed at least some fight and the style and brand of cricket we wanted to play in that second innings and then to come out and do that this Test, it’s kind of like we’ve taken one step forward and then two steps back. So it’s really frustrating.”Adding to Paine’s sense of irritation was the fact that the low quality of Australia’s batting, particularly in the first innings of both Tests, reflected a wider pattern, not only for the national team but also the domestic system beneath. Sheffield Shield hundreds have been in dwindling supply for some time, leaving it unsurprising that in their past six Tests, the Australians have averaged a dismal 236 in their first innings, comfortably more than 100 short of the average tally for winning Test matches teams over the history of the long-form.”There’s no doubt this has been happening for too long for the Australian cricket team, not just our Test team but probably domestically, there’s a lot of collapses throughout our batting group,” Paine said. “A lot of it can be technical, some guys will be mental and other guys will be tactical or your plans not being right for certain bowlers. There’s no shying away from the fact we’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do with our batting, and that’s not just this team, it’s throughout the whole country.”Guys that are testing our defence for long enough, whether that’s spin or medium pace or quick bowlers are getting rewards, and I think teams around the world are probably recognising that and knowing if they can just keep at us, keep at us, keep at us, these collapses are happening.”When you give them a bit of a sniff of that, they’re always in the game and they always feel like they’re not far away. So great Australian teams of the past have been completely the opposite of that, it’s hard to get players out, then the next guy comes in and it starts all over again. We know as a batting group and as a team we’re certainly a long way off the finished product, and we’ve got some work to do.”Asked to identify where improvement must be found ahead of the home Test series against India, Paine homed in once more on Australia’s batting. “We keep having these collapses and we keep talking about it,” he said. “I thought the fight we showed in the second innings of the first Test was outstanding and I thought the guys applied themselves really well and actually showed themselves and people around the world that when we do play our best we are up to it. But it’s just at the moment there’s a really big gap between our best and our worst and we need to become more consistent.”I don’t know what the stats are but they don’t lie. It’d be interesting to have a look at. Certainly within our Test team we’re not scoring the 100s that Test teams should be scoring, and past Australian teams have. It’s something that the guys are working so hard at doing, and we’re seeing small glimpses of it at times, but it’s just being able to repeat that and bat for a long time, and put bowling attacks back under pressure, and we haven’t been able to do it.”Some guys will have different issues to other guys, but it’s about finding what works for you and being able to be strong mentally to stick to it when we’re under pressure in test cricket. Everyone that’s played out in this Test team we know is a very good player when they’re playing well, we’ve just got to be able to take it out onto the Test arena when guys like Yasir [Shah] and Mohammad [Abbas] are coming at us and have belief in your plans. If you get through them for an hour or so then they get tired, you get bad balls. At the moment we have not been able to get through those challenging periods.”For Paine and the rest of the touring team some more challenging periods lie ahead before the next Test in Adelaide in December. The Twenty20 squad remains in the UAE, the as yet unannounced ODI squad warms up for a series against South Africa, and the rest have numerous rounds of the Sheffield Shield before reconvening – provided they are selected.”Clearly it’d be a pretty exciting time to be a batsman around Shield cricket at the moment if you’re scoring hundreds,” Paine said. “There’s no doubt about that. There’s opportunity for everyone and the batting group that are here are also a part of that.”

Andile Phehlukwayo picked up three wickets in an outstanding collective bowling display but Australia’s batsmen aided in their downfall

The Report by Daniel Brettig04-Nov-2018Elite honesty, meet elite performance. Australia’s home summer without their best two batsmen began in sickening style for the hosts, shot out for 152 by South Africa’s high quality pace attack and consigned to a six-wicket hiding on a fast and fiery Perth Stadium pitch in front of a disappointing crowd.Where 53,781 had been present at the new venue for a January ODI against England, only a fraction of that assembly were in attendance as the side captained by Aaron Finch were sent in to bat after Faf du Plessis won a more than useful toss. They were to be witness to Australia’s lowest total in a home ODI against South Africa for 21 years, since cobbling 125 at the MCG in 1997.A target of 153 was to prove a simple task for South Africa, guided with some panache by Quinton de Kock with the assistance of Reeza Hendricks. Their calm and positive approach to Australia’s new ball attack contrasted greatly with that of Finch’s team, reflecting a mental gulf between the two sides that will take some bridging in the remaining two matches.The bounce and seam on offer was exploited brilliantly by Dale Steyn and company, as the Australians slid to 3 for 8 then 6 for 66 against bowling perfectly suited to the conditions. Even so, the technical shortcomings recently bemoaned by the coach Justin Langer were on show as batsmen went hard at the seaming ball outside off stump, resulting either in edges behind the wicket or miscues in front of it.Finch meanwhile succumbed to a lapse in judgment, given lbw by Aleem Dar then failing to review a ball that ball-tracking showed would have cleared the stumps. Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi all delivered their share of fiendishly prancing deliveries, but it was the lesser pace of Andile Phehlukwayo who capitalised most noticeably with a trio of victims, as the Australians tried to attack after being tied down by his faster teammates.Granted five overs of their pursuit before the full innings break, the visitors were swiftly into gear through the positive footwork and shot selection of de Kock, while there was also a curious call in terms of Australia’s new-ball combination. Not since the 2015 Ashes had Mitchell Starc not taken the new ball in an international match, but here he was consigned to first change. Nathan Coulter-Nile served up a nervous first over that went for 16, and Starc was on for the fourth over, but many were left to wonder at the choice.After dinner, Starc and Josh Hazlewood drifted into de Kock’s cover driving and leg-side flicking zones, either side of a raucous lbw appeal by the left-armer that replays showed to be comfortably missing leg stump. When Hendricks chimed in with a percussive cover drive of his own, the 50 was raised well inside eight overs.Dale Steyn celebrates removing D’arcy Short•Getty Images

Pat Cummins proved a more difficult proposition with his sharp trajectory, and one ball flew from just short of a good length to strike Hendricks a stinging blow on the shoulder. After seeking treatment for the blow, Hendricks responded well with a couple of solid defensive strokes and then a back foot punch for three, to underline South Africa’s composure.De Kock made it as far as a fluent 47 before skying an attempt to muscle Coulter-Nile down the ground, and Australia may have had a brief glimmer when Aiden Markram was given out caught down the legside off Cummins. But unlike Finch, Markram reviewed successfully, with closer inspection showing the ball had missed his glove, making it a wide instead of a wicket.A handful of smart strokes from Markram, opposite Hendricks’ level young head, had South Africa hurtling towards the win, also maintaining their strong record against Australia in the closest Antipodean city to their homeland. Hendricks’ dismissal late in the piece, followed by two more to the medium pace of Marcus Stoinis, allowed du Plessis the pleasure of being in the middle for the winning runs – with all of 20.4 overs to spare.The margin meant Australia avoided their second 10-wicket ODI defeat – the first took place in Wellington in early 2007. That team, with some high profile reinforcements, went on to win the World Cup a matter of weeks later. Langer’s team have around six months to prepare for their own global tournament, but seem a long way from being competitive.Plenty of grass on the surface had led both sides to favour pace in their bowling lineups. Shaun Marsh could not be considered due to requiring surgery for an abscess on his buttocks, with D’Arcy Short coming into the lineup and batting at No. 3. The loss of Marsh is a significant blow as he was Australia’s leading batsman in their previous series, a 5-0 loss to England in the UK in mid-year.The match was Australia’s first on home turf since the Newlands ball tampering scandal. It was also the first home international for the new broadcaster Fox Sports, the first time in history that any such matches have moved behind a paywall – albeit still available free on the Cricket Australia live app for the time being.Walking out to bat alongside Finch, Travis Head was beaten by Steyn’s perfectly pitched first ball, and in the third over edged behind when trying to drive at the first ball Steyn flung further up to the bat. Two balls later and Short fell similarly, offering a chance very well taken by du Plessis, leaping off the ground to reel it in.Finch weathered 16 deliveries before being pinned in front of the stumps by Ngidi, and was on his way after a brief nod of the head by the non-striker Chris Lynn. However, the considerable bounce in the pitch provided cause for doubt about a ball that struck Finch above the knee roll of the pad, and technology duly confirmed a reprieve would have occurred if the captain had reviewed.Lynn and Alex Carey tried to right the ship for a time, as the run rate crept along at barely two an over and the first boundary was not collected until Lynn punched a Rabada full toss down the ground at the end of the 12th over. Lynn, though, was to fall to a thin edge behind off Phehlukwayo, who was also to capture the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Stoinis when both were pouched at mid-on. In Maxwell’s case, the dismissal arrived a ball after he had been struck a painful blow on the thumb, and did not take place without rancour form the batsman, who believed a low chance had not carried to Heinrich Klaasen – replays suggested otherwise.After Cummins was well run out by David Miller’s side arm flick, Carey’s long and unsupported occupation was to be ended by a top edged attempt to paddle Imran Tahir, who would go on to find Starc lbw. Coulter-Nile offered a selection of strong blows, but it said everything about this innings, and ultimately the match, that the top score was registered by Australia’s No. 9 in the batting order.

Their fifties and Pujara’s vigil helped India trim their deficit to 154 after Australia were dismissed for 326 on the second morning in Perth

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu15-Dec-2018
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane led India’s riposte to Pat Cummins’ tour de force to help the visitors cut their deficit to 154 at stumps on an absorbing second day at the new Perth Stadium. After Australia were dismissed for 326, India lost both M Vijay and KL Rahul to hooping inswingers, but Kohli got cracking with three boundaries off Josh Hazlewood in the 10th over. Enter Cummins and then Nathan Lyon. Their combined genius and relentless accuracy meant Kohli and India had to wait 22 more overs for their next boundary.This was the passage of play that defined the day. Cummins first attacked Kohli’s off stump and then shifted his lines wider to tease the India captain’s outside edge. At the other end, Lyon found sharp turn and bounce to remind India what they were missing: a frontline spinner. A biting offbreak, which Kohli left alone, nearly trimmed the bails while a non-turning ball drew a leading edge to point. In the 10 overs Cummins and Lyon bowled in tandem during the post-lunch session, India managed only 12 runs. Kohli, though, weathered the storm and reached his first fifty of the series, with his first boundary off Cummins this series.He ground out 74 for the third wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara, who also played his part in keeping Australia’s attack at bay till tea. His duel with Lyon in particular was intriguing, again. While Pujara often took trips down the pitch and even hid his bat behind pad, like he had done in Adelaide, the loose ball did not come from Lyon here.Cummins then returned after the break to trouble Pujara with incoming deliveries. One of them skidded off the pitch and pinged the back thigh when he was on 23. The on-field decision was not-out but Tim Paine gambled on a review and lost it because the ball was always bouncing over the stumps.Virat Kohli pulls•Getty Images

After Lyon and Cummins had built up all the pressure, it was Mitchell Starc who made the incision when he snaffled Pujara down the leg side for 24 off 103 balls. It was Starc who had produced the first breakthrough, too, when he blazed through the weak defences of Vijay off what turned out to be the last ball before lunch. Rahul, the other opener, was bowled by a sharp inswinger as well. It was the 11th time that he had been dismissed bowled or lbw in his last 15 Test innings.All of that disappeared into the background when Kohli took centerstage, hitting Hazlewood for four rousing boundaries in a mere nine deliveries, the pick of them being a checked on-drive. After seeing off two immaculate spells from Cummins, he brought up his half-century with an adventurous upper-cut over the slip cordon.Rahane showed greater attacking enterprise and eased the pressure off Kohli in an unbroken 90-run stand. He hooked Starc over backward square leg for four and then ramped him over third man for a six, evoking memories of his more famous battles with Mitchell Johnson in the country. Once the bowlers adjusted their lengths, Rahane unfurled serene front-foot drives to keep India ticking.Lyon and Cummins ended with combined figures of 39-7-74-0. On another day they could have run through the opposition with the irresistible pressure they applied, but on Saturday both Kohli and Rahane were immovable.The day had started more promisingly for Australia with Paine and Cummins taking the hosts past 300 with a nuggety 59-run stand for the seventh wicket. However, they lost their last four wickets for 16 runs to be bowled out about 25 minutes before lunch. Kohli and Rahane then thrilled a crowd of 19,042 and seized the day for India.