Thursday 15 January 2015
New Zealand look for batting lift
For much of the tour, Sri Lanka seemed to find ways to lose, but with a flat pitch underfoot and the sun at their backs in Hamilton, shoes switched feet and tables were turned. A run-out epidemic swept through the New Zealand middle order, and batsmen were being carried out of their crease almost involuntarily, by their own legs. Sri Lanka were slick enough in the field to capitalise, which has not always been the case in the past three weeks.
New Zealand will seek to shake the match off like a bad dream. Brendon McCullum has already said his team would almost certainly not concede four run-outs again in the series, and that their running between the wickets remains in good order despite the collapse.
More worrying, perhaps, has been the top order's over-reliance on McCullum in the first two matches. Each of Sri Lanka's top six batsmen has crossed fifty at least once some time in the tour (in either the Tests or ODIs), but in Ross Taylor and Tom Latham New Zealand are carrying two batsmen who are yet to make a substantial contribution, though they have had several starts. With Williamson unavailable again in Auckland, Latham and Taylor are the hosts' Nos.3 and 4. As the opposition fields Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in those positions, this is perhaps where New Zealand are presently giving away most ground.
Sri Lanka have concerns of their own too, particularly with the ball, but in Hamilton found the means to scramble together an adequate bowling effort, via heavy reliance on their teeming spin stocks. The attack has been stripped of much of its menace by Lasith Malinga's absence, and though Nuwan Kulasekara has regained his rhythm, the other seam bowlers have not adequately supported him.
Westindies win the T20i Series against South Africa 2-1
For South Africa, it is the culmination of something which began six months ago when they started intense preparation for the tournament. They hoped by the time this series came around, they would be able to field their full World Cup squad to give them a dummy run - or five - ahead of the event. But one of the most important members of that outfit is unavailable so the perfect practice will not happen. Quinton de Kock, although recovering well from an ankle ligament tear, will not feature in the series, which leaves South Africa with a stand-in opening batsman and gloveman. They are likely to be Rilee Rossouw and AB de Villiers, although Morne van Wyk could fill both roles if required. In all other departments South Africa are at full strength but not fully settled. JP Duminy's return will require some rejigging in the line-up while they still need to consider the composition of the lower order. The time for experimentation is not completely over for the hosts, but this is their last chance to come up with a formula that works. South Africa may not be comfortable with that level of uncertainty but West Indies will be envious of it, especially as for them, this series is about starting over. Their most recent ODI outing was the abandoned tour of India and the aftermath of that walkout is being strongly felt. There is a new captain in place and a significant senior core missing but for an outfit used to operating on the fringes of crisis, that may not be so bad after all
England dismissed for 234 despite Morgan ton
England 234 (Morgan 121, Starc 4-42, Faulkner 3-47) v Australia
England's captain Eoin Morgan located his batting touch at precisely the right moment to lift his side to 234 against Australia after Mitchell Starc had swung to two wickets in the first over of the ODI triangular series opener at the SCG.
Ian Bell and James Taylor barely had time to adjust their eyes to a brilliantly sunny Sydney afternoon before Starc's fast new-ball inswing pinned both lbw, but Morgan marshalled the lower order to drive the visitors to a tally they could not have contemplated at a forlorn 5 for 69.
Morgan's appetite for Australian pitches and bowling is well known, but he had only once passed 50 in the 12 months since he performed well down under last summer, including a century in Brisbane that was to be overshadowed by James Faulkner's rescue act when Australia chased. England needed something from their new captain, and Morgan delivered with a combination of smart placement and the odd blazing blow.
Starc and Pat Cummins were fast and accurate with the new ball, the latter also finding the outside edge of Joe Root's bat before the match was four overs old. Faulkner and Xavier Doherty offered sturdy support through the middle of the innings, but the likes of Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell were less able to put a clamp on the English scoring rate.
A bare-looking Sydney pitch and a warm, sunny day had Australia selecting Doherty ahead of Gurinder Sandhu, while George Bailey led in the absence of Michael Clarke. England elected not to choose James Anderson as he continued to build his workloads after his recovery from knee problems.
Only around two overs of swing could be coaxed from the white Kookaburra, but in that time Starc bent it past Bell - who may have edged the ball - and Taylor. Root drove at the line of Cummins without noting the length nor the pace, and a bold cameo by Moeen Ali was ended when he found deep cover, though one steel-wristed flick over the long-on fence will linger in the memory.
Morgan had much to do, and Ravi Bopara contrived to cut Doherty straight to backward point. But Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan were able to hang around while a pair of 50 stands were raised, and Morgan's confidence grew in direct proportion to his score. No fewer than 11 boundaries and three sixes flowed from his bat, leaving Australia to wonder about their prospects of chasing on a pitch that was starting to wear.
Morgan hit out once too often after passing his century, picking out the man at deep midwicket having already carted Starc for a six and a four in the 48th over. The last man Finn was yorked the very next ball - England have only batted out their 50 overs six times in the past 21 matches
Brett Lee retires from Twenty20s
Fast bowler Brett Lee has announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket, effective from the end of this year's BBL campaign. Lee, 38, became a domestic T20 specialist after retiring from internationals in 2012 and he has played in the IPL and New Zealand's HRV Cup, although since his last appearance for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2013 he has been solely a Sydney Sixers player.
So far this season he has taken nine wickets at 22.22 and an economy rate of 7.14, making him the leading wicket taker for the Sixers in the tournament. He has taken 105 wickets at 30.27 in 117 Twenty20 appearances in a career spanning nearly ten years in the format; his debut was in the inaugural T20 international between Australia and New Zealand in February 2005.
Lee's retirement from T20s also brings an end to a career that began at the elite level nearly 20 years ago; he made his first-class debut in April 1995. The Sixers have only one regular match left in their campaign, against the Sydney Thunder on Thursday next week, but they also have a good chance to be part of the finals.
"I knew before the season started that this was going to be my last season," Lee said. "I met with [coach] Trevor Bayliss and the talk was will I play for another two or three years, and I had that option, but I said to him straight away I want to make this my last year, I really want to enjoy this year.
"I think I've certainly had a lot more fun in the last six weeks than I ever have in my life. That's because I haven't put pressure on myself.
"Cricket has given me so many great memories, it has given me so many great opportunities. I've been lucky enough to play for 20 years, whereas most people might get a year or two. To play for two decades at the top level, really happy."
Sohail, Yasir handed central contracts
Fast bowler Sohail Khan and legpspinner Yasir Shah have been awarded central contracts in category D by the PCB till March 31, while senior batsman Younis Khan has been retained in category A.
As the terms of the previous contract, awarded to 31 players in June last year, expired on December 31, the PCB decided to extend the players' central contracts by three more months, till the end of the World Cup.
Younis had been originally downgraded to a category B contract last year but was promoted to A a few days later. In September, he was dropped for the ODI series against Australia in the UAE, raising questions over the future of his international career, with the batsman himself lashing out at the PCB. However, Younis batted himself back into form and World Cup contention with a stellar performance in the Tests against Australia and New Zealand, scoring four hundreds - including a double-century - and a fifty in five matches.
Sohail was one of the surprise inclusions in Pakistan's 15-man squad for the World Cup, having not played for the country since 2011. He, however, was given a spot in the team on the back of a strong domestic season in which he ended as the leading wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Gold League, with 64 scalps at an average of 22. Yasir's inclusion in the squad also raised eyebrows as it meant Pakistan would be travelling without a specialist offspinner, but Moin defended the pick as a "pure cricketing decision", calling Yasir a "wicket-taking bowler and a good prospect."
The central contracts for 2015 will be awarded from April 1.
Category A: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Junaid Khan
Category B: Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul
Category C: Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Adnan Akmal, Khurram Manzoor, Nasir Jamshed, Abdur Rehman
Category D: Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfraz Ahmed, Bilawal Bhatti, Sharjeel Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Fawad Alam, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Raza Hasan, Umar Amin, Haris Sohail, Rahat Ali, Shaan Masood, Mohammad Talha, Anwar Ali, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan
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