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Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Peter Chingoka believes their chances of returning to Test cricket in 18 months are “very realistic”

Cricinfo staff24-Feb-2010Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Peter Chingoka believes their chances of returning to Test cricket in 18 months are “very realistic”. His confidence stems from the appointment of a new coaching team – Alan Butcher was announced as Zimbabwe’s new coach over the weekend, and will be supported by assistant Stephen Mangongo along with former international players Heath Streak and Grant Flower.The country lost several leading players in an exodus following Heath Streak’s removal from the captaincy in 2004 and the situation became worse in 2006 when the Zimbabwe board suspended the weakened national team from Tests.”We endorsed them [the new coaching setup] unanimously,” Chingoka told . “They have the full support of the board. If you talk to experts like Dave Houghton and Alan Butcher they will tell you it’s very realistic, and I fully agree with them.”We just need to play a lot of games against ‘A’ sides from the leading Test nations. When we get back to Tests, we would want to start with lower sides like Bangladesh and then work ourselves upwards. The management is working on a program to take us to where we want.”Chingoka said cricket in Zimbabwe was making progress following a period of deterioration that mirrored the economic and political problems in the country. “It’s healthy and long may it continue,” Chingoka said. “The game is bigger than all of us. Everyone is just concentrating on cricket.”Zimbabwe announced in 2006 that they were temporarily withdrawing from Tests, having last played India at home in September 2005. Only a few players from the exodus, including Steak and left-arm spinner Ray Price, made comebacks. The country continues to play ODIs and Twenty20s but languishes at the bottom of the world rankings.However, the domestic structure has been overhauled and restructured competitions like the Logan Cup have convinced former internationals like Sean Ervine to return home from England. The country’s first Twenty20 competition – the Stanbic Bank 20 Series – was also played recently and featured former Australia allrounder Ian Harvey and England’s Chris Silverwood as player-coaches.Zimbabwe are scheduled to play one Twenty20 international and five ODIs on their tour of West Indies starting on Sunday.

Coach Langer said “it’ll be probably difficult” for Mayank to play in the playoffs

Neeraj Pandey04-May-2024Mayank Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) quick, is set to miss the remainder of IPL 2024, although there may be a small chance that he could still feature in the playoffs if LSG make it.When asked if Mayank was completely out of the tournament, head coach Justin Langer said: “No, we’ll be praying that he can play, hopefully, in the playoffs, but I’m a realist as well. It’ll be probably difficult for him to get up for the back-end of the tournament.”He’s had a scan. He’s got a small tear in a similar area to where his last one was. So it’s very unfortunate. We saw the impact he had when he came back into the game. But we can all sleep.”There will always be a lot of discussion about fast bowlers, and I know he spoke to [Jasprit] Bumrah after the game and he reassured him that if he’s going to be a fast bowler, part of his journey as a young fast bowler, he’s going to get injuries.”So in my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience different injuries. And it’s the most unfortunate. He’s got huge potential. But his rehabilitation was excellent. He went into the game [against MI], had a couple of bowls before the game. He was completely pain free. So it’s very sad for him and it’s disappointing for LSG as well that he might [not] play the rest of the tournament.”Related

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Mayank, 21, set the tournament alight when he made his debut for LSG on March 30. He was blowing teams away with pace. Generating speeds of 155kph – and consistently at that – he became the first man in IPL history to win the Player-of-the-Match award in his first two matches. But then, after combined figures of 6 for 41 against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he hit a setback. Mayank bowled only one over in his third game of the season, and sat out the next five that followed as a result of pain in his abdomen.Mayank made his comeback earlier this week, in the win against Mumbai Indians, but had to leave prematurely again. “Looks like he is sore in the same spot,” Langer said at the time.Later, at the post-match presentation, KL Rahul, the LSG captain, said, “He was out in the last game because of a slight pain in his side, not a side strain, but slight pain is there. After the first ball [of his fourth over vs MI], he said the same thing: ‘ [it’s hurting a bit]’. So I said [he] might as well go out and not risk the next five balls. He is still young and precious to us, so we need to look after him.”Rahul had been keen to get Mayank back in the playing XI as quickly as possible. At the toss for the MI game, he said, “[Mayank] has bowled really well in the couple of games that he has played and has a huge impact for us. As a captain, I am always tempted to bring him in the team as quickly as possible,” Rahul said. “So I have been pushing the physios and the medical team to get him ready as quickly as possible. Even if he is about 95[% fit], I keep pushing them to give him the confidence to play the game. But obviously, they know better than I do. I will make emotional decisions, and so will Mayank.”That raised questions about whether Mayank was fielded before he was ready, but that day Langer said, “His rehab has been perfect, he bowled pain-free in the last week and looked in great condition.”Against MI, Mayank had bowled his first three overs – cranking up his pace as he went – for 31 runs before he was given the 19th over. His first ball crashed into Mohammad Nabi’s stumps but Mayank then went off the field, and his over was completed by Naveen-ul-Haq. Mayank did not look in visible discomfort when he went off and was later subbed out as the Impact Player for Arshin Kulkarni.Mayank had started his day in dramatic fashion when he came on after the powerplay and his first delivery, at 144.1kph, struck Nehal Wadhera in the helmet. He also went past the 150kph mark later in the over but largely bowled in the 140-147kph range and pitched most of his deliveries in the short or short-of-good-length area.LSG are currently placed third on the table with six wins from 10 games and will play their next one at home against KKR on Sunday before hitting the road for three away games – against SRH, DC and MI – which will end their league stage on May 17.

Tourists declare on 413 after 67-over innings on opening day of tour in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2023SL President’s XI 93 for 2 trail England Lions 413 for 8 dec (Lees 103, Haynes 64*, Bohannon 58, Abell 57, Smith 50) by 320 runsAlex Lees lived up to the fast-paced standards that he had instilled in him during his summer in England’s Test ranks, by striking a 94-ball century on the opening day of England Lions’ tour of Sri Lanka.Lees, who debuted in the Caribbean in March last year, played all seven of England’s Tests in a remarkable summer under the new leadership of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, but was dropped for the recent tour of Pakistan after making 327 runs at 25.15, including two half-centuries.His omission from the ECB’s list of centrally contracted players was a further sign that he had slipped down the pecking order, with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett preferred in Pakistan, but his performance against a Sri Lanka President’s XI was clear evidence that the Test team’s new mindset is firmly entrenched in his psyche.He struck 12 fours and two sixes in his innings of 103, the second-fastest century in England Lions’ history, behind Luke Wright – the new national selector – who reached the mark in 91 balls in New Zealand in 2009.Speaking ahead of the tour, Lees acknowledged that an England recall might not be on the immediate horizon, given the importance of backing the Test incumbents in the current regime. But despite his intermittent success, particularly in two key run-chases against New Zealand and India, he admitted that a top score of 67 in ten Tests had been his downfall.”I think I enjoyed being in that environment, especially in the summer playing in a successful side,” he said. “It was brilliant. I think my reflections on playing those games, I sort of played pretty competently but just lacked that big score which is obviously the difference. As a top-order batter, you’re averaging mid-twenties to mid-forties for the summer which, in essence, is what your Test summer is built around.”Nevertheless, Lees’ influence rubbed off throughout a Lions batting card with a very “Bazball” look to it, as England declared on 413 for 8 after 67 overs, a performance that came at better than a run a ball, and included four further half-centuries for Tom Abell (57), Josh Bohannon (58), Jack Haynes (64 not out) and Jamie Smith, whose 35-ball at No.8 was the quickest by an England player at Lions level.Haseeb Hameed was another man who featured at the top of the Test batting order in 2022, with his most recent appearance coming in the Ashes at Sydney in January, but he fared rather less well in his first outing as Lions captain. He fell to his first ball of the match, caught off Kavindu Pathiratne in the first over of the match.In reply, the President’s XI reached 93 for 2 in 19.5 overs before the close, with spinners Liam Patterson-White and Jack Carson both picking up a wicket.The Lions are playing all 16 of their players in this match in Colombo, which is not being classified as first-class. The President’s XI used ten bowlers in the course of England’s innings.

“Not sure we’ve seen the end of him but we’ll wait and see, that will be his decision”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2021Justin Langer retains hope that Tim Paine will return to international cricket after terming the former Australia captain “one of the best people in the game” following his whistle-stop visit to Hobart ahead of the Ashes.Langer made the trip south after being released from quarantine last week with Paine’s captaincy having come to end while he was with the group of players and staff returning from the T20 World Cup.Having initially remained available for selection for the Ashes, with all indications he would have been picked had he proved his fitness after neck surgery, Paine then opted to step away from the game to manage his mental health which has led to a debut for Alex Carey.Related

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It has created the possibility that Paine has played his last Test and while Langer said the immediate priority was his health and family he did not believe it had to be the end.”He absolutely loves cricket,” Langer said. “He’s 37, he’s as fit as any athlete, certainly in our squad and we’ve got some fit athlete’s. He looks after himself so well. Who knows. His No. 1 priority at the moment is his family and that’s how it should be. Not sure we’ve seen the end of him but we’ll wait and see, that will be his decision.Justin Langer visited Tim Paine last week•Getty Images

“He’s one of my really close friends and someone I admire enormously. Certainly in this generation of players he’s one of the best people I’ve met in the game. He’s been our captain for a long time, me and him have been through a journey like we have with all this group, so it was nice to see him.”Langer confirmed that he first knew of the text messages in mid-2018 as the squad was heading to England for a limited-overs tour and added he had not heard about them again until shortly before Paine stepped down.Paine has not put a timeframe on his break and Australia have named a squad for the first two Ashes Tests. It had been considered likely that this series would mark the end of his Test career.Langer, who came into the role after the ball-tampering scandal, also lamented the situation Paine had been left in”We live in a world of perfectionism, don’t we? We’re a very judgemental society,” he said. “As I said at my very first press conference when I was asked about Steve Smith and David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, there’s not one person asking questions or watching this who hasn’t made a mistake in their life.”There’s not a single person. And our captain, one of the best, made a mistake and is paying a heavy price for it.”

Pacer asks cricket authorities to counterbalance prohibition of saliva for ball shining by another measure

Daniel Brettig26-May-2020Cricket runs the risk producing “boring” contests, losing followers of the game and reducing the number of young aspirants to bowl fast if a better balance isn’t struck between bat and ball. These are Mitchell Starc’s views in reaction to the interim ruling offered by the ICC to ban saliva from shining the ball in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.Having bent his back on a succession of unhelpful pitches in home Test matches over the past few summers, Starc argued similarly to his colleagues Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. He thinks the ICC’s prohibition of saliva, but not sweat, from being used to shine the ball out of health concerns needed to be counterbalanced by another measure.While the ICC’s cricket committee has suggested more sporting pitches could be a solution currently, Starc was understandably wary about the prospect of administrators and ground staff acquiescing to this instruction, and instead pushed for a temporary allowance for an artificial substance with which to polish the ball. This concept, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, was discussed by the ICC committee before being ruled out on the basis that it took the game too far from its existing laws.ALSO READ: Social distancing, ‘safe’ ball management among ICC’s dos and don’ts“I understand that completely and hear what they’re saying in terms of a foreign substance, but whether that can be controlled by the umpires in terms of they have a portion of the wax and you can only use a small amount, I don’t know, but there needs to be a maintaining of the even contest,” Starc said. “I understand what they’re saying with foreign substances and that it’s black and white in terms of that, but it’s an unusual time for the world and if they’re going to remove saliva shining for a portion of time they need to think of something else for that portion of time as well.Getty Images

“Whether it be the wickets being not as flat or at least considering this shining wax to a degree, there needs to be some thought on that I think. I guess you use both those things [saliva and sweat] to shine the ball. I’ve probably been a bit more on the sweat side, just trying to not get my hands in my mouth too much, but yeah, I agree completely with what Pat commented on last week – that contest with bat and ball, we don’t want to lose that or get further away from that even contest, so there needs to be something in place to either keep that ball swinging.”They’ve mentioned that it’s only going to be there for a period of time and then once the world gets back to a relatively normal situation then saliva can come back into shining the ball. But if it’s going to be a window of time there, maybe then instruct people to leave more grass on the wickets to have that contest or if they’re going to take away a portion of maintaining the ball, there needs to be that even contest between bat and ball, otherwise people are going to stop watching, and kids aren’t going to want to be bowlers.”Administrators have long supported the concept of more lively pitches for bowlers, but far too often the practical outcome has been the preparation of surfaces devised to see a Test last for five days, typically producing a very attritional brand of cricket. Starc was clearly casting his mind back to India’s previous tour of Australia in 2018-19, where after two evenly-fought matches on fair pitches in Adelaide and Perth, Virat Kohli’s team ground the Australians into the beige turf of the MCG and SCG to close out the series.”I think as we saw in Australia the last couple of years, there’s some pretty flat wickets, and if that ball’s going straight, it’s a pretty boring contest,” Starc said. “I think Kookaburra have been developing a shining wax or something of the sort, so whether there’s consideration of that, there needs to be some [thought to] maintaining that even contest. Generally the spinners reckon that the wickets that seam a bit also spin, so maybe if you bring the bowlers back into the game, you’ll tick all the boxes.”

His 115 off only 109 deliveries was key to overhauling a target of 255 with four wickets and 32 balls to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2019Paras Khadka struck both his and Nepal’s maiden ODI century as he led the team to a memorable four-wicket victory over UAE in Dubai. His 115 off only 109 deliveries was key to overhauling a target of 255 with four wickets and 32 balls to spare.Nepal were actually struggling in the chase at one point. From 81 for 1 in the 15th over, they slipped to 129 for 4 in the 26th as spinners Imran Haider and Ashfaq Ahmed took control in the middle overs. The series was tied at 1-1. The game was starting to drift away. A big innings was needed and as is often the case, the captain stood up.Khadka batted through to the 39th over, acting as both the sticky-tape that held his team together, and also a source of rapid runs. He struck 15 fours and a six, ensuring that Nepal were never too far behind the asking rate. He finally fell with only 40 runs needed, which proved an easy ask for Sompal Kami and Aarif Sheikh as they raced to the target.The fireworks at the end were in stark contrast to the start of the game, when UAE’s openers were dismissed for ducks even though they faced a combined 28 deliveries. Kami removed Ashfaq and KC Karan took out Chirag Suri as the score stuttered to 2 for 2 in the sixth over. It took some insane hitting by the middle order to get to a decent total, with Shaiman Anwar coming in at No. 6 and hammering 87 off 70 balls and Mohammad Boota scoring his maiden ODI fifty and a blistering one at that – 59 off only 31 balls. UAE were 47 for 5 in the 21st over but somehow they managed to get to 254 and would have had high hopes of defending it. But Khadka just wouldn’t give in.

A round-up of the latest Ranji Trophy news ahead of the fourth round of matches

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2017Irfan axed as Baroda captainIrfan Pathan has been stripped of the Baroda captaincy following the team’s lackluster showing in the first two rounds of the Ranji Trophy, from which they have a solitary point. Deepak Hooda, the allrounder, has been promoted to lead Baroda, who are currently languishing at the bottom of Group C.Irfan, who has picked up just two wickets in the tournament so far, has also been dropped from the 15-man squad for their third game, against Tripura. Irfan told media outlets he was unsure of the reasons for his exclusion. “I am as fit as ever and there is no issue with my performances and commitment to serve Team Baroda,” he told . “I felt very proud when I was made the captain and was told that I would be the perfect mentor to the youngsters. I have worked hard with the boys for the last couple of months and they are very happy with whatever we have been doing. I really don’t know what has gone wrong after just two games. Had I been told that my services won’t be required before the domestic season started, I would have happily stepped aside. Although I love Baroda and take a lot of pride in representing the team, I might have gone and played for another team.”Snehal Parikh, the Baroda Cricket Association secretary, said the captaincy switch was a collective decision taken by the selectors. “The selectors have categorically said that this team is only for one game,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They have dropped around four-five players.”Among those dropped is Pinal Shah, the experienced wicketkeeper. Yusuf Pathan will miss the game due to an illness. Kedar Devdhar has been named vice-captain.Rahane, Shardul boost for MumbaiMumbai will be strengthened by the inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur, who were on national duty during the ODI series against New Zealand, for their game against Odisha in Bhubaneshwar. Seamer Tushar Deshpande, who picked up 21 wickets last season, has been added to the 16-member squad in place of Minad Manjrekar.Rahane notched up fifty-plus scores in each of his last four ODI innings against Australia, while Thakur has played A-team cricket over the last month.Rahane’s inclusion will be a boost to the batting department in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who has been called up to the national side for the T20I series against New Zealand. Iyer has been in tremendous form recently, and smashed a 57 and 138 in Mumbai’s last game against Tamil Nadu.Mumbai’s form, however, has been patchy. While they secured the first-innings lead against Madhya Pradesh in the opening game, they dropped points against Tamil Nadu at home. With four points from two games, they are currently fourth in the Group C standings.

Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan announced his retirement from all cricket on Thursday at a ceremony at his school, Stella Maris, in Guyana

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2016Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday at a ceremony at his school, Stella Maris, in Guyana*. Sarwan’s last international match was an ODI against India at The Oval during the 2013 Champions Trophy. He made 286 international appearances for West Indies in his career.Sarwan, 36, who made his first-class debut for Guyana, against Barbados in the Red Stripe Cup of 1995-96 at the age of 15, played the first of his 87 Tests four years later, in May 2000 against Pakistan in Barbados, and scored 84 and 11*. He struck his maiden Test century in his 28th match, against Bangladesh in Dhaka, and gradually cemented his place at No. 3 in West Indies’ Test line-up.One of his best performances came in May 2003, in a home Test against Australia in Antigua, where he scored a crucial 105 at No. 5 to help West Indies chase down 418, the highest successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket. He followed that up by scoring 392 runs in a four-Test series in South Africa, although West Indies lost the series 3-0.Fourteen of his 15 Test centuries came at No. 3, including a career-best 291 against England in Barbados in 2009, which equalled Viv Richards’ personal best. His record of 4197 runs from 60 matches is the third highest among West Indies batsmen at No. 3, and he also equalled Richie Richardson for the most centuries by a West Indies batsman at this position – 14. Overall, Sarwan will finish with a Test average of 40.01, having scored 5842 runs in 87 Tests. His last match in the format came in Barbados against India in 2011.Sarwan made his ODI debut on the tour of England in July 2000 and in a career that spanned almost 13 years, he earned a reputation as a finisher. Signs of that ability came early on in his limited-overs career when he struck an unbeaten 83 to seal a last-ball win in Jamshedpur against India in November 2002. He also played an important role in West Indies’ series victories in the Natwest Series in July 2004 and the Champions Trophy later that year.He was the second-highest run-scorer in the 2004 Champions Trophy, with 166 runs in four matches at an average of 83. Sarwan played three World Cups for West Indies – 2003, 2007 and 2011 – scoring 739 runs. However, he lost his place in the ODI side after a home series against India in 2011, despite finishing as the second-highest run-getter with 216 runs in five games, which included three fifties. India had won the series 3-2.Sarwan was recalled in January 2013, after 18 months out of the ODI side, for the limited-overs series in Australia. He scored only 12 in three matches on his return, before striking an unbeaten 120 against Zimbabwe in a home series in February. He was dropped from the ODI side later that year. Sarwan is ranked as the seventh-highest run-getter for West Indies in ODIs, with a tally of 5804 runs from 181 matches at an average of 42.67, including five centuries and 38 fifties. He also played 18 T20Is between 2007 and 2010, scoring 298 runs with two fifties.Sarwan captained West Indies in four Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is. He had been named stand-in captain for a home ODI series against Bangladesh in 2004 but took over as full-time captain when Brian Lara retired in 2007. A series of injuries, however, limited his time as captain and he eventually lost the role to Chris Gayle.Sarwan also faced a few controversies during his international career. In March 2005, Sarwan was one of seven players – the group also included Lara and Gayle – who were dropped from the list of probables for the series against Pakistan and South Africa following a contract conflict between an individual sponsor (Cable and Wireless) and the team sponsor (Digicel), with the WICB insisting that the players could not be considered for selection until their individual sponsorship contracts were examined. Sarwan was later considered for selection after terminating his agreement with Cable and Wireless.In 2007, Sarwan, then captain, criticised former coach Bennett King, calling the latter “one of the worst coaches” he had played under, and alleged that King was abusive to players.Sarwan was also cut from the contract list in 2010, after his fitness was “deemed unsatisfactory”, and he was subsequently dropped from the ODI sides, before being recalled for the 2011 World Cup. He was picked for the home Tests against Pakistan and India after a gap of nearly 18 months, but played only four Tests before being excluded again.Following the contract snub, Sarwan lodged an appeal against the WICB in March 2011, for “unfairly questioning in public his fitness and attitude”. The matter was heard in arbitration and in March 2012, Sarwan was awarded $161,000 in damages.After his international career wound down, Sarwan continued to keep himself busy in the first-class and Twenty20 circuit. Sarwan played in only three List A games after his final international appearance, against India in the 2013 Champions Trophy, all of them for Guyana in the 2013-14 domestic 50-over tournament. He played two seasons of county cricket, however, as part of Leicestershire. While he had decent returns in 2013, scoring 255 runs in five matches at 36.42, his performances fell apart the following season in which 10 innings yielded only 184 runs. That happened to be his last season in first-class cricket.Sarwan was part of the Guyana team that made the finals of the Caribbean T20 in 2012-13 and the Caribbean Premier League in 2013, but had lukewarm returns. Despite batting at Nos. 3 and 4 in the Caribbean T20, he ended the tournament with 61 runs in eight matches. In the CPL, he initially came out at No. 4, he was later pushed down the order and batted mostly at Nos. 6 and 7. He ended the tournament with 80 runs in nine matches at 20. In the latest edition of the tournament, he made only two appearances for the Trinbago Knight Riders and batted once, scoring 9.* 0707 hrs GMT, September 17, 2016. This copy was updated following Sarwan’s formal announcement

Impressive bowling in the third ODI and that Zimbabwe also chased down 304 in the first match of the ongoing tour augurs well for the hosts for the only T20 against New Zealand on Sunday

The Preview by Vishal Dikshit08-Aug-2015

Match facts

August 9, 2015
Start time 1300 local (1100 GMT)Regis Chakabva had a poor time behind the stumps in the third ODI and has even run out of big scores•AFP

Big picture

Zimbabwe opted to bowl in the three ODIs against India last month and lost all three matches. However, they opted to bat in the second T20I and their bowlers restricted India to 135, setting up Zimbabwe’s first ever T20 win against the maiden World T20 champions. Graeme Cremer produced a match-turning spell of 4-0-18-3 that day, and in the third ODI against New Zealand on Friday, he finished with 10-0-44-3, albeit in a losing cause. Those numbers, and the fact that Zimbabwe also chased down 304 in the first match of the ongoing tour augurs well for the hosts ahead of the only T20 on Sunday.Opener Chamu Chibhabha will also look to replicate his performance of a quick fifty against India, after his solid but slow 65-ball 32 on Friday. Still, Zimbabwe’s slow batting approach was not to blame for their ODI series loss, as the team simply served their wickets on a platter and squandered a golden chance to register another series win against the World Cup finalists. Zimbabwe may not be too worried about their bowling – Tinashe Panyangara led a disciplined attack after seven of their bowlers failed to pick a single wicket in the 10-wicket mauling in the second ODI.New Zealand have played only one T20 this year and three in the last 12 months, losing two out of those. Out of their last eight matches, going back to March 2014, they have won only three. The uplifting statistic for New Zealand will be that they have never lost to Zimbabwe. Yet. Work remains to be done in their bowling line-up to ensure that record remains intact. They allowed Zimbabwe to chase down 304 in the first ODI, lost steam after early wickets for a Sikandar Raza hundred at No. 7 in the second, and let the hosts cruise to 97 for 0 before Zimbabwe derailed on their own. While the spinners – Ish Sodhi and Nathan McCullum – lead the wicket charts with five apiece and an economy of just around five, the pacers need to step up for more convincing wins in the absence of Trent Boult and Tim Southee.With two wins from their last four international matches, Zimbabwe’s chances are not as bad as everyone thought they would be.

Form guide

(Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe WLLLW
New Zealand LWLLW

In the spotlight

The racks of New Zealand’s middle order cupboard seem a bit bare after Ross Taylor was ruled out of the remainder of the tour. His hundred in the first ODI was the only contribution from the middle order as the bulk of the runs have come from Kane Williamson (187), Martin Guptill (169) and Tom Latham (140). No other batsman, who will play tomorrow, has put together 80 runs so far.Wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva got two innings in the ODI series and produced scores of 2 and 3 at Nos. 4 and 7 respectively. He has also dropped catches and missed stumpings. Zimbabwe have fielded three men behind the stumps recently – Richmond Mutumbami, Charles Coventry and Chakabva. A quick start, or even a fifty, could help Chakbava’s place in the squad before Pakistan arrive for three T20s and as many ODIs next month.

Team news

From the ODI squad, Neville Madziva makes way for Taurai Muzarabani, who made his debut against India. And Regis Chakabva, Tinashe Panyangara, Sean Williams and Luke Jongwe continue to be a part of the squad for the T20 even though they weren’t in fray against India. The selectors chose to leave out Charles Coventry, Donald Tiripano and Brian Vitori from the squad of 15 that was picked for the India T20s.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Chamu Chibhabha, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Elton Chigumbura (captain), 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Regis Chakabva (wk), 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Tinashe Panyangara, 10 Taurai Muzarabani, 11 John NyumbuNew Zealand may not feel the need to change their winning XI from Friday, especially after Ben Wheeler returned frugal figures of 9-1-34-0 after coming in for Matt Henry.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Colin Munro, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 James Neesham, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Ben Wheeler, 11 Ish Sodhi

Pitch and conditions

The Harare pitch that was used for the first and third ODIs did assist pacers a little bit early on, but those were morning starts. With a 1pm start scheduled for Sunday, batting first may not be as bad an option because the team batting first in the previous two T20s won here and the sun will only help them.

Stats and trivia

• Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwe’s leading run-scorer in T20 internationals, is 38 away from 1000 runs
• No Zimbabwe bowler besides Prosper Utseya (25) has taken more than 20 wickets in T20Is.
• New Zealand’s win-loss ratio of 0.972 in T20Is places them seventh among the top ten teams, behind Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, India, Australia and West Indies

Quotes

“Chakabva is a decent player but it hasn’t clicked. He’s still a good player.”
The boys are stoked. We lost our last Twenty20 match so we’re looking to really put in a good performance and come out with a win. The wicket is likely to be a bit quicker and more bouncy, so we’re going to have to adjust our line and lengths.

Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq put on Pakistan’s biggest partnership in South Africa to even up the match on the first day

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran14-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYounis Khan enhanced his reputation for scoring when it matters•Getty Images

Pakistan cricket continues to confound. In the morning, South Africa’s ruthless pack of quick bowlers ran through the opposition top order yet again and all the fears over Pakistan’s brittle batting seemed to have come to pass. Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, however, showed there was plenty of backbone in the batting by putting on Pakistan’s biggest Test partnership against South Africa to even up the match on the first day in Cape Town.Against the finest attack in the world, Younis enhanced his reputation of scoring runs when his team was in distress. The famous Younis smile was frequently on display, after particularly good deliveries – a Dale Steyn curler which beat him, a Morne Morkel bouncer which struck him on the body – and especially after completing his first Test hundred in a year.Shafiq’s century is likely to rank as the finest innings of his career so far. Initially, he wasn’t in the best touch: there was a leading edge beyond mid-off, and there were several loose drives outside off which didn’t connect, but he grew in confidence once the pitch started to lose its venom. After that he unveiled his strokes, uppercutting Jacques Kallis behind point for four and picking off the usually accurate Vernon Philander for two leg-side boundaries in an over.What really allowed the Pakistan batsmen to break free was the introduction of the weak link in the South Africa attack, Robin Peterson. His job description, especially on day one, is to keep it tight while the quicks get a breather, but he couldn’t quite play that role as he struggled to settle into a consistent line and length. There were far too many short balls early on and the pressure built up by the fast bowlers – who gave away only 14 runs in the first 12 overs after lunch – quickly evaporated as he gave away four boundaries in his first five overs.

Smart stats

• The 219-run stand between Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq is Pakistan’s first double-century partnership against South Africa. Younis features in each of the three top stands for Pakistan against South Africa.

• The partnership is also the second-best for Pakistan’s fifth wicket outside Asia, next only to the 258-run stand between Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saleem Malik in Wellington in 1994.

• Younis’ 111 is his first Test century in 13 innings in South Africa. His previous-highest was 68.

• Shafiq’s unbeaten 111 is his third Test century in 27 innings, and his highest score. It’s also his first hundred outside the subcontinent.

• It’s only the fifth time in Test history that a pair has added more than 200 for the fifth wicket after the team’s been four down for less than 50.

Pakistan’s most dominant phase came after tea, when South Africa were waiting for the second new ball. There wasn’t much reverse swing on offer, and South Africa rotated Kallis, Peterson and Dean Elgar to keep their main bowlers fresh. Younis opened out, hitting a couple of straight sixes and Shafiq launched a flighted delivery well over long-on and then crashed one behind backward point as 62 runs came in the final 10 overs with the old ball.Both batsmen reached their century just before the new ball, and Pakistan had moved along to 238 for 4 after 80 overs. Then came a critical phase of play as South Africa’s attack reverted to menacing. Steyn and Philander bowled several unplayable deliveries; Philander had the ball buzzing past the outside edge and Hot Spot saved Younis against Steyn in the first over with the second new ball. It was Hot Spot that provided the evidence to end Younis’ innings two overs before stumps, though, as South Africa reviewed an lbw decision, only to find that Younis had edged the ball through to the keeper.South Africa were just as threatening in the morning. Slicing through the opposition has become so common to them that when Philander took his first wicket of the day, he barely bothered to celebrate, merely completing his follow-through as though the batsman had left the ball alone. Even wicketkeeper AB de Villiers didn’t belt out an appeal or jump for joy after taking a regulation catch, merely tossing the ball aside and jogging up to Philander to congratulate him.Once again, the fast bowlers had the ball hooping around, the purists ooh-ing and aah-ing over the late movement and the batsmen flailing outside off. Midway through the session, Pakistan were down to 33 for 4, and any attempts to forget their record low of 49 all out in Johannesburg were pointless.For the second Test in a row, South Africa captain Graeme Smith took the unconventional decision at the toss. After choosing to bat on a difficult track in Johannesburg, he opted to bowl on a Cape Town surface that was expected to ease out after the first hour. Towards lunch, it did settle down but, as Smith hoped, serious damage had already been done.Philander started the procession with that celebration-free wicket of Nasir Jamshed, who flirted with one outside off without moving his feet. Steyn joined in with his usual away-cutters, one of which Mohammad Hafeez nicked to first slip. Morkel then had Azhar Ali wafting outside off, to give de Villiers another simple catch before he produced another of those patented rearing deliveries that Misbah-ul-Haq could only glove to short leg for a duck.It all seemed one-way traffic, before Younis and Shafiq led the recovery with centuries that gave South Africa’s bowlers increasingly rare sessions of frustration.