Fakhar Zaman's blitz topples Quetta Gladiators

Lahore Qalandars 186 for 4 (Fakhar 94, Sadaf 42*) beat Quetta Gladiators 169 for 6 (Rossouw 42, Narine 2-22, Yasir 2-35 ) by 17 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Lahore Qalandars continued their late resurgence in the PSL, notching up their third successive win after downing Quetta Gladiators by 17 runs. They had opener Fakhar Zaman to thank primarily for their two points. He put on a show of fabulous power-hitting to clout 94 off 50 balls - the highest individual score this season - and lead his side to 186.

Lahore haven't made any changes to their team since picking up their first win, and their openers Fakhar and Anton Devcich gave them a solid start again. However, when Devcich, Agha Salman and Brendon McCullum - the captain who was controversially given out off a no-ball - fell in quick succession, Fakhar held the innings together, brilliantly supported by a 27-ball 42 from wicketkeeper-batsman Gulraiz Sadaf. A cameo in the end from Sunil Narine (20*) ensured Lahore finished with a flourish.

With Jason Roy back in the Quetta side, their top order boasted a frightening quartet of Roy, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen and Rilee Rossouw. While the England opener got Quetta off to a fast start - they raced to 52 for 0 in five overs - the wicket of Watson immediately set them back. And from thereon the Quetta chase began to unravel. Narine took care of both Pietersen and Roy, and as the asking rate climbed, Quetta found themselves out of the contest. Rossouw launched a counterattack, smashing five sixes in a 22-ball 42, but it only gave Lahore a late scare. Quicks Shaheen Afridi and Sohail Khan eventually wrapped up a comfortable win.

Where the match was won

It may have taken till after Lahore were eliminated to begin working on their weaknesses, but they did illustrate the extent to which they have improved in the middle overs on Wednesday. After losing three quick wickets, Lahore's run rate had dipped below seven, and after 11 overs they were stuttering at 76 for 3. But instead of capitulating, Fakhar and Gulraiz launched an astonishing onslaught, hitting 64 in the next four overs. It included an over of fearsome hitting from Fakhar that cost 24 runs, with Rahat Ali the hapless recipient. It was the phase of the game Sarfraz Ahmed might have deemed Lahore to be most vulnerable, but they turned that weakness into a comprehensive strength.

The men that won it

While it is hard to look past Fakhar, one would be remiss to overlook vital contributions from Narine and Gulraiz. After all, Fakhar was dismissed with nearly five overs left in Lahore innings and the score only at 141, when the pair put on an unbroken 45-run stand in 28 balls.

The brain freeze


A team led by McCullum on course to win three in a row is likely to be a happy unit. That was how Lahore had been appearing all tournament. Even when they had lost six on the bounce, they never looked like a dressing room falling out with each other. But towards the end of today's contest, when both teams were almost going through the motions with the game virtually in the bag for Lahore, a bizarre scuffle erupted. Sohail Khan, who had been trying to get the attention of Yasir Shah on the boundary without success, inexplicably lost his temper and threw the ball on the full towards him. It very narrowly missed Yasir's head, and the legspinner, to put it mildly, was incandescent. It took all of McCullum's diplomatic powers to assuage the pair, but the lack of judgment from Sohail couldn't help leaving one nonplussed. The pair reconciled at the end of the game, and Yasir even laughed it off. It would have been rather different, of course, if the ball had actually made contact with Yasir.

Where they stand

Lahore drew level with Peshawar Zalmi, though they are still in last place on net run-rate. Quetta remained second, two points behind table-toppers Islamabad United.

Smith, Warner sanctions will restore cricket's 'battered' image - Morgan

Eoin Morgan hopes the sanctions imposed on Steve Smith and David Warner will have served to restore the reputation of a game he feels has been "battered" in recent days.

Morgan, England's limited-overs captain, says he was "shocked" by the Australian players' attempt to alter the behaviour of the ball with sandpaper, insisting he had never experienced such a premediated plan in any team he has represented.

But while he accepted such behaviour could damage the reputation of the game, he felt the severity of Cricket Australia's punishments - on Warner and Smith especially - sent a firm message that such tactics will not be tolerated and could improve the way the game is played around the world.

"The sanctions imposed by Cricket Australia have shown how serious the actual mistake was, how seriously they are taking it and how seriously they regard the values, principles, spirit and laws of the game," Morgan said.

"For the last two weeks, the game has been battered. But I'd like to think that the balance [between the damage done to the game and the benefits brought by the suspensions] changed when the sanctions were imposed, because they were serious sanctions.

"It's one thing to say something is wrong. But to back it up with such a sanction says a huge amount. This isn't two of their worst players, either. It's two of their best. One is possibly one of their greatest ever.

"Naturally this will pull the leash [on the way Australia play]."

Morgan accepts there are some "grey areas" around the issue of ball-tampering. The use of sugary saliva, for example, has been prevalent for years (albeit with a distinction around whether mints and sweets are directly transferred to the ball), as has the practice of fielders returning the ball to the keeper on the bounce to scuff up one side. But, the way he sees it, Cricket Australia's actions have "gone a long way" to "saying none of it is acceptable".

"I was shocked there was a premeditated plan," he said. "I've never heard talk like that in a dressing room.

"Throwing the ball in, one bounce, is fine. But if you throw to the keeper from long-on or long-off, the umpires will monitor how often the ball hits the playing surface and tell you they'll change the ball if you do it again.

"Things have changed. The LED lights on the advertising hoardings around the ground have little bulbs that stick out and they can take a huge chunk out of the ball. We have forced our bowlers to chuck it to the umpires [after it hits the board] so they don't think we have done something to the ball.

"So, yes, there are grey areas but I think Cricket Australia have gone a long way to saying none of it is acceptable."

It might have been relevant that Morgan was talking at the 2018 launch of All Stars, the ECB initiative aimed at introducing a new generation to the game. Confronted by dozens of enthusiastic children aged between five and eight, Morgan and his fellow ambassadors (Michael Vaughan, Sarah Taylor and Isa Guha) might naturally have been keen to focus on the more family-friendly aspects of the game.


But Morgan, like so many in England cricket, was deeply impressed by the example of Brendon McCullum's New Zealand side at the 2015 World Cup, in particular. Seeing New Zealand play so effectively - they thrashed England so quickly in Wellington that the game ended before the lights were turned on for the day-night fixture - without resorting to any of the posturing or 'mental disintegration' that had started to become a feature of England's Test cricket in 2013 and 2014, made a big impression.

"I massively endorse the way New Zealand play the game," Morgan said. "Just look at the Test series in New Zealand. You have two fantastic ambassadors for the game - Joe Root and Kane Williamson - playing hard but enjoying the game. Nothing has come close to being controversial. And people have enjoyed watching it.

"You can talk about it [playing the right way] all the time, but living it and breathing it is a different thing. You have to recognise when it's veering too far the wrong way. And it doesn't stop you winning."

Parents wanting their children to take part in this year's All Stars sessions can register now via allstarscricket.co.uk .

Mustafizur Rahman ruled out of T20I series against Afghanistan

Mustafizur Rahman will miss Bangladesh's three-match T20 series against Afghanistan due to a toe injury. Debashish Chowdhury, the BCB doctor, said that a scan revealed that it will take Mustafizur up to three weeks to recover.

As a result, Bangladesh are leaving Dhaka for Dehradun on Tuesday morning without their main pace bowler.

"Mustafizur damaged his left toe during the IPL, and would not be traveling with the team," Chowdhury was quoted telling the Dhaka-based New Age newspaper.

On Sunday, Bangladesh's interim head coach Courtney Walsh had mentioned Mustafizur's injury, for which he was given rest from training. Walsh had sounded confident that he would recover in time, but the scan has revealed otherwise.

Mustafizur was Bangladesh's best bowler during the Nidahas Trophy T20s in March. His replacement is now likely to be named on Tuesday.

Bangladesh take on Afghanistan in three T20s on June 3, 5 and 7. Afghanistan are also set to be without a key bowler, after Dawlat Zadransuffered a knee injury that is expected to keep him out for a month.

Amicus curiae in favour of five-member selection panel, vote for Railways

The Supreme Court of India is moving towards a final verdict over the BCCI's delays in implementing the Lodha Committee recommendations and adopting a fresh constitution as drafted by its Committee of Administrators (CoA).

At its last hearing on May 11, the court had asked amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium to study and respond to the objections and suggestions from the BCCI's member units, the state associations, regarding the draft BCCI constitution drawn up by the CoA. The states have also been asked to submit their responses to Subramanium's observations before the court convenes for the next hearing, scheduled on July 5.

Following is the summary of the submissions made by Subramanium concerning the various recommendations the BCCI members had objections to or said they could not implement.

One state one vote
The issue: As per the Lodha Committee, and seconded by the CoA, each Indian state could have only one Full Member association that would have a vote at the BCCI table. In the case of Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have multiple state associations due to their cricket history, the vote would be rotated annually. These associations - the Mumbai Cricket Association, the Maharashtra Cricket Association and the Vidarbha Cricket Association in Maharashtra, and the Gujarat Cricket Association, the Saurashtra Cricket Association and the Baroda Cricket Association in Gujarat - have opposed such a move.

Subramanium's response: The amicus curiae said he approved the Lodha Committee's reasoning to allocate a vote to each state on a "territorial" basis. He also said the court had "mandated" that each of the three associations within the state would get a vote on annual basis, which "brings parity and fairness".

Subramanium said the one-state-one-vote reform provided "democratic equality" which was essential. "Unless sufficient prejudice is shown that a member by annual rotation is not able to effectively participate in the affairs of the BCCI, the Amicus is unable to recommend deviation from the position adopted by the Hon'ble Justice Lodha Committee, and as modified by the Principal Judgment."

Railways can have a vote
The issue: The Lodha Committee and the CoA had also determined that the member associations that were either run by the government or had limited participation in BCCI events - such as the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), the Railway Sports Promotion Board ("Railways") and the Services Sports Control Board ("Services") along with the National Cricket Club (NCC), Kolkata, and the Cricket Club of India (CCI), Mumbai - would lose the vote they had enjoyed under the old BCCI constitution.

Subramanium's response: The amicus said Railways ought to be treated as an "exception" based on the fact that the institution provides "at least 90%" of the players who play for India women. "In view of the security of employment of the players from Railways as well as the ability to demonstrate playing skills and having regard to women's cricket as an integral part of Indian Cricket, it appears necessary to consider this as an exception."

Subrmanium, though, said that the person from Railways casting the vote at the BCCI table would need to be a former player and not someone "nominated" by the government. "Such a decision must be undertaken by an association of former players who belong to the Railways."

The rest of the associations in this group - the AIU, Services, NCC and CCI - did not qualify for full membership criteria, Subramaniam said.

Selection Committee strength
The issue: The BCCI has argued that the vast volume of cricket it conducts and the number of teams and tournaments under its jurisdiction justify a five-member selection panel for all three categories: men's, women's and junior. The Lodha Committee and the CoA had instead felt three-member panels were good enough.

Subramanium's response: The amicus has recommended that the selection panel strength could be "increased" to five. He has also set a fresh set of criteria for to be a national selector: the candidate should have played a minimum of: a) seven Test Matches; or b) 30 first-class matches; or c) 10 ODIs and a minimum of 20 first-class matches.

The amicus felt an enhanced selection committee was "imminent" to "relieve" the burden of the existing three-member panel. This enhanced committed, Subrmanium said, should be finalised by the CoA in consultation with the cricket advisory committee.


RM Lodha, former Chief Justice of India, at a press conference AFP
Cooling-off period
The issue: The office bearers and administrators in both the BCCI and the state associations do not want a cooling-off period of three years after every three-year term as recommended by the Lodha Committee. The break, the administrators say, does not allow them enough time to advocate and execute plans and could hamper continuity.

Subramanium's response: Subramaniam noted that the thrust of the Lodha Committee - which was "distressed" by the continued presence of office bearers, some for decades - was to "militate against self-perpetuation." Subrmanium said the court has allowed office bearers to serve nine years each at state and BCCI separately, which he found to be a "substantial "period. "A period of 18 years by any stretch of imagination is indeed a substantial period," the amicus said. "It is necessary that the expression 'cooling off' must necessarily mean that after a period of 3 years, the person is not able to migrate to the other Association and occupy the position as an office bearer or occupy any other position in the same Association."

Division of powers between general body and professional management

The issue: Under the existing system, the BCCI secretary informally carries out the role of the CEO and shares power with the board president. Under the Lodha Committee's recommendations, and as part of the new constitution, the role of the office bearers would be diminished while the CEO would be granted significant independent decision-making powers. Many of the BCCI members are against ceding control.

Subramanium's response: According to the amicus the general body, which comprises the state associations, needs to be separate from the nine-person Apex Council through which the board's chief executive officer directs the professional management of the BCCI. "It is necessary that this recommendation of the Hon'ble Justice Lodha Committee, as reflected in the Constitution, must be maintained and the professional management must be undertaken by the Apex Council through the CEO (who is also the custodian of the interests of players and fans), CFO and such other instrumentalities who are recruited on a totally transparent and professional basis."

Subramaniam also stated that it would be "appropriate' for the Court to consider whether the current BCCI office bearers - acting president CK Khanna, acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry - be asked to demit office as they had completed their "legally valid tenures of office".

Malinga misses domestic one-dayer for IPL duties

Lasith Malinga has missed his first match of Sri Lanka's Super Provincial one-day tournament, a day after Sri Lanka cricket reiterated that he must play domestic cricket to be considered for national selection. He had been named in Dambulla's squad, but has not joined the side, and has instead remained with IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, for whom he is a bowling mentor.

Despite his absence from this match, Malinga hopes to be named in Sri Lanka's squad for the ODI series against South Africa in July-August. "My work with the Mumbai Indians is due to end on about May 25 or 26," he had said in a public video last week. "But after that I am fit enough to train, play whatever practice matches that are scheduled, and if I am good enough, the selectors can pick me."

Over the past few months, Malinga has expressed displeasure at being left out of Sri Lanka's T20 side in particular by underlining his effectiveness in the format. He had played in SLC's club T20 tournament in January-February, and finished joint-highest wicket-taker, with 17 dismissals. His most-recent limited-overs appearances for Sri Lanka came against India in September last year.

Borren calls time on Netherlands career

Netherlands captain Peter Borren, 34, has retired from international cricket with immediate effect. Pieter Seelaar, the 30-year old left-arm spinner, will take over the captaincy. Jeroen Smits, the former Netherlands wicketkeeper, has been appointed the new team manager.

The Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) paid tribute via a press release issued on Wednesday evening. Though Borren is only 34, the KNCB's press release said a "mutual decision" was reached between Borren and the selectors, with an eye towards building a squad for the 2020 World T20 and 2023 World Cup.


Peter Borren
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@dutchiepdb
 It has been my absolute privilege to play and lead this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved.  I've feel very lucky indeed. Cricket in orange has been my life. I will miss it so much.  I have so many great memories. Go well boys!#metamorphosis

12:21 AM - Apr 19, 2018
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Borren had been captain since July 2010, when he took over the role from Smits. Among teams that currently have at least ODI status, the only players with longer ongoing captaincy reigns are Ireland's William Porterfield, and Nepal's Paras Khadka.

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Borren last featured for Netherlands in the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in March, where he could manage just 52 runs in six innings and passed double-figures just once. Netherlands won just once in the group stage, failing to reach the Super Sixes, before bouncing back with two wins over Hong Kong and Nepal in the playoffs to finish seventh.

Born in New Zealand, Borren was the leading wicket-taker for the country at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, where he played alongside Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Neil Broom, Rob Nicol and Michael Bates. Three months after the tournament, he began his first season in the Dutch Hoofdklasse for VRA, eventually settling for good in his adopted homeland.

After completing the four-year residency requirement under ICC eligibility guidelines, Borren made his Netherlands debut against Denmark in June 2006, and his ODI debut a month later against Sri Lanka. He ended his career with a total of 58 ODIs and 43 T20Is across 12 years, making him the most capped player in both formats for Netherlands. He is one of just four Dutch batsmen to score 1000 runs in ODIs, and is their third highest wicket-taker in the format, behind Mudassar Bukhari and Ryan ten Doeschate. In T20Is, he in their third-highest scorer with 638 runs at 19.33, just 24 behind current leader Wesley Barresi. Borren's replacement as captain, Seelaar, debuted in 2006, the same year as Borren, and has represented Netherlands in 37 ODIs and 39 T20Is.

Borren played a huge part in Netherlands establishing themselves as a thorn in England's side at the World T20. His 30 off 25 balls in a 50-run stand alongside Tom de Grooth while chasing 163 propelled Netherlands to a famous win over England on the opening day of the 2009 tournament at Lord's. Under Borren's captaincy, Netherlands repeated the feat in Bangladesh in 2014, where they won by 45 runs in Chittagong.

But perhaps Borren's finest hour came earlier in the same tournament, in a stunning chase against Ireland. Needing to get 190 in 14.2 overs to pip Ireland on the net-run-rate tiebreaker for a Super 10 spot, Borren promoted himself to open, and produced an inspired effort, his 15-ball 31 setting the tone for a stirring victory.

That win was particularly meaningful as it came just two months after one of the biggest lows in Dutch cricket, when a loss to Kenya at the World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand resulted in the loss of ODI status, and broke their streak of three consecutive World Cup appearances. The sting of that defeat could have crippled Dutch cricket, with a reduction in ICC funding resulting in the downsizing of central contracts. Instead, it chastened them to work harder to climb back up the world rankings.



Borren was reduced to tears after Netherlands' triumph in the 2015-17 World Cricket League Championship in December: the conclusion of three years of hard work to reclaim ODI status, and a spot in the upcoming 13-team ODI league, beginning in 2020. It wound up being the emotional climax for Borren as a captain and player.

For all his on-field achievements, Borren was just as well-known for being outspoken in criticising ICC decision-making that resulted in reduced opportunities for Associate teams. It earned him admirers, not just in the Netherlands, but throughout the Associate cricket community.

The KNCB said of Borren: "Peter Borren has been of tremendous value to the Dutch team, leading the national side over the last nine years.

"He has seen the Netherlands team grow into a much more professional set-up resulting in winning the World Cricket League and qualifying for the ODI Championships in December 2017. With his inspirational leadership, Peter has played a more than important role in this success."

ECB announces external review of Glamorgan payment

The ECB has bowed to increasing pressure and agreed to an external review of the process leading to the payment of 2.5m to Glamorgan. Barely 48 hours after dismissing calls for such an inquiry at a meeting of the county chairmen, the ECB has performed a U-turn which suggests chaos at the heart of the organisation.

While an ECB press release suggests the U-turn is the result of "time to reflect" on the request formally made by Somerset and Surrey on Monday, it may not be coincidental that the ECB's Audit, Risk and Governance committee met on Wednesday in order to sign off the accounts. With such a substantial and extraordinary payment having been made to Glamorgan - and the suggestion that further payments have been promised elsewhere - it is entirely possible the committee required more details before the accounts could be signed off.

"Following the ECB's meeting with the chairmen of the first-class counties and MCC on Monday we have taken time to reflect on this, as a Board," Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, said in a statement. "The Board agree that it will be valuable to have an external review into the process around the payment.

"I recognise there have been questions raised and, whilst answers have been provided, we are determined that the process is fully reviewed."

It was revealed several weeks ago by the Times that Glamorgan had received the payment in return for not applying to host a Test in the major match allocation that runs until the end of the 2024 season. While the ECB executive insists such payments were agreed, in principle, at a board teleconference in September 2016, the likes of Andy Nash and Richard Thompson, who have resigned from the board in recent days in protest at what they see as a lack of transparency behind such decisions, believe they required more detailed consideration. Both men claim such a payment amounts to favouring one county over others and conflict with the ECB's constitution.



The ECB has not yet published the terms of reference for the review. But while it is understood the county chairmen requested an entirely independent inquiry led by a respected QC, the ECB has appointed Good Governance Institute (GGI) and asked them to look only at "the process leading to the recent payment to Glamorgan". As GGI were employed by the ECB in a consultancy capacity as recently as the end of last year - they compiled a report entitled "Governance Improvement Programme" - one county has already raised questions over their independence and, as a result, their suitability for the task.

There is also concern over the breadth of the review. With several Test-hosting grounds believed to have budgeted for similar compensation payments - the suggested figure was 500,000 for every year they do not host a Test - some of the other counties want to know how they were led to believe such payments were likely. The ECB has agreed to take another look at the policy, but it is currently unclear whether it forms part of the GGI review.

"We need to know what other payments have been promised over the last few months," one county chief executive told ESPNcricinfo. "But this review does represent encouraging progress."

Hasan heroics trump Gul six-for as Quetta win

Quetta Gladiators 156 for 8 (Rossouw 27, Raja 22, Umar Gul 6-24) beat Multan Sultans 152 for 5 (Malik 65*, Maqsood 27) by two wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A thrilling contest got the finish it deserved, with teenager Hasan Khan smashing Kieron Pollard for six off the penultimate ball to sealing a much-needed two-wicket win for Quetta Gladiators. Multan Sultans had looked like they were slightly ahead for much of the Quetta's 152 chase, only to pipped at the end. This came despite a superb vintage performance from Umar Gul, who took 6 for 24 in his first game this season.

Multan's first innings total owed much to its skipper Shoaib Malik, who blazed an unbeaten 43-ball 65 after they had lost Kumar Sangakkara off the first ball. Quetta's bowlers kept the batsmen in check for the first 15 overs, Mohammad Nawaz and Rahat Ali in particular hitting their targets to ensure there would be no repeat of the massive total Multan amassed against Peshawar on Tuesday. But 57 were scored off the last five as Quetta, much like Peshawar, lost their discipline and composure towards the death overs.

Quetta's innings began on track before a quick double-strike by Gul removed both openers either side of the 50-run mark. The game remained evenly poised for much of the chase, but the early dismissal of an off-colour Kevin Pietersen was a huge blow for last year's finalists. Cameos from Rilee Rossouw and Rameez Raja Jnr kept them in the hunt, with Anwar Ali, and at the very end Hasan, sealing the win in a massive heist.

Where the match was won

While the early loss of their openers meant Multan spent their Powerplay regrouping, Quetta's opening pair gave them a fast start that kept them in touch with the asking rate for the best part of their chase. Shafiq and Watson put on 46 without loss for the first Powerplay, the most runs Multan have conceded in the first six so far. They may have lost both of them soon after, but the start meant they had a margin for error, and by the time the lower middle order began to regroup, the asking rate wasn't yet insurmountable. That was in stark contrast to Multan's first six. They were reduced to 3 for 2 by the end of the first two overs, and sent in Sohail Tanvir to try and up the ante. That didn't quite work either, and they ended up with 35 by the time the fielding restrictions were lifted. In a close contest, those 11 runs made all the difference.

The men that won it

Not many people get the chance to bookend a game like Hasan did. He took a catch to remove Sangakkara first ball at short midwicket. Nearly 40 overs later, he smashed Pollard for six off the penultimate delivery to seal a framatic win. He didn't have a great deal to do in the middle, but was stellar when called upon, conceding just nine runs in the two overs of left-arm spin he bowled. With the bat, he didn't even breach double figures, but his nine runs off three balls is guaranteed to be a more famous innings than the 65 Malik smashed earlier on.

Vintage Umar Gul

Gul rolled back the years with a scintillating performance, becoming only the second player in PSL history - after Ravi Bopara - to take six wickets in a match. It began with the removal of the openers, and he returned to remove opposition captain Sarfraz with the first ball of his second spell, swinging the game back in his side's favour. By the end of three overs, his figures read a mightily impressive 3-0-11-4. His last over was the definition of a mixed bag, as the two sixes he conceded brought Quetta right back into the game, although the two wickets he took - taking his tally to six and his overall T20 tally to 200 wickets - seemed to have edged Multan back ahead. You're unlikely to see a better bowling performance end up on the losing side all season.

Where they stand

Multan are still at the top of the table with nine points, but second-placed Karachi have two games in hand. Quetta, meanwhile, go from 5th to 4th, having won three of six games.

Got to keep yourself motivated on the sidelines - Phehlukwayo

Andile Phehlukwayo was considered to have only an outside chance of playing in this Test. As a bowling allrounder whose speeds peak in the mid-130s but who does not move the ball with the same magic as Vernon Philander, and whose long-format batting average has only peeped over 20, Phehlukwayo could easily have been confined to the shorter formats, where his ability to take pace of the ball, his death bowling and hard-hitting have proved to be match-winners.

But when the South Africa summer started and the squad had none of Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi or Chris Morris available, Phehlukwayo made his debut against Bangladesh. He played both Tests in that series and the one against Zimbabwe; but when India arrived, the big guns were brought out and Phehlukwayo was confined to drinks duty. In the lead-up to the Wanderers match, he only emerged as a contender when it was revealed that Chris Morris would need the week off on paternity leave.

Instead of wondering when he his turn would come, Phehlukwayo used the time on the sidelines to get ready for a return by watching his team-mates' success.

"Being on the sidelines, you've got to keep yourself motivated. It's such a good environment that you want to perform. I've kept myself motivated by watching the performance of the guys, learning about myself and the game. At a young age, I have been able to learn so much," Phehlukwayo said.

One of the bowlers Phehlukwayo has taken the most from is Philander, who bowls a similar pace as him but makes the ball talk, almost every time. Phehlukwayo was particularly in awe of Philander's opening spell of eight overs, seven maidens, one run and one wicket, and wants to be able to emulate that. "Vernon showed his class again. Being on the field with him was unbelievable. When I watch him bowl, I get goosebumps," Phehlukwayo said. "To imagine how consistent he can be on a length: I really look up to the type of bowler like that."

Another player Phehlukwayo admires is Ngidi, who he grew up playing against. Both Phehlukwayo and Ngidi are the children of domestic workers and both have enjoyed enormous success, both on the field and in uplifting their families and inspiring their communities.

"When I watch Lungi and his parents at the game, it reminds me a lot of how we grew up. I'm really proud to see him. I am planning on bringing my parents to a few games too," Phehlukwayo said.

Ngidi flew his parents to Johannesburg for this Test and tweeted a photograph of them enjoying their first night in a hotel room on the eve of the match. Ngidi's parents were in attendance on the first day and were spotted on television several times. Perhaps soon, Phehlukwayo's parents will join them.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

So many soft dismissals in one match hurt a lot' - Kohli

The message from a dejected and hurting Virat Kohli to the rest of his team-mates is clear: it is unacceptable to lose the way India did in home-like conditions in Centurion despite given a chance to escape by South Africa throwing their wickets in the final session on day one. Kohli asked every individual to reflect on the soft dismissals and errors made by them.

This was widely considered India's best chance to win a Test in South Africa: the pitch was flat and slow for the first three-and-a-half days, South Africa failed to seize the advantage after winning the toss, India had the best batting conditions of the match to themselves in the first innings, but they let it slip with two silly run-outs, a few loose shots, and dropped catches on the field.

"At the end of the day one team has to lose," Kohli said. "As a team you always try to win. You can accept defeat but not the way we played, the way we let the advantage slip out of our hand, that is not acceptable from a team's point of view. So many soft dismissals in one match hurt a lot. Because you work so hard, you prepare for a match, you get into good situations, shift the game towards you, and then the momentum shifts because of these mistakes. That feels very bad as a team. Individuals have to sit and reflect on these things themselves. They do it, I am not saying they don't reflect on it, but we have repeated these mistakes in both matches."

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Kohli asked the team to be ask itself tough questions. "We have not come here to play the way we have done," Kohli said. "That is something that we need to definitely speak about. We need to be hard on ourselves. We need to ask ourselves if we are giving 120% for the team every time we bowl a ball or play a ball or field a ball. That is something individuals need to reflect on themselves, but as a team we are definitely going to lay out these things in the open.

"We will ask the guys to be honest about what they were feeling at particular stages in the game. Unless you speak about it and lay it out in front of everyone, there is very little chance of improving. The mistakes that we made have been really about not putting attention to detail at important stages of the game. It is something we definitely need to take into account and sit down and discuss as a team."

However, Kohli didn't feel the selections of the XIs in both sides had any bearing on the result. Ajinkya Rahane, India's best all-conditions Test batsman, has been sitting out on "current form". It was a shocking move to Indian cricket's followers the morning Rahane was left out of the first Test, but Kohli said "no one" wanted Rahane in the XI, and the outrage has only come after the results. In this Test, India left out their best bowler from Cape Town, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and also lost out on his batting: he faced the most balls by an India batsman in Cape Town. Kohli was asked if having too many options might have confused them.

"Look when something doesn't work, obviously it's going to be spoken against," Kohli said, pointing to media and fan reaction. "We are pretty used to that. We as a team don't think of what the opinion going around is, and I've clarified that before also. There are many people that are involved in making a decision for the playing XI. A lot was spoken about Bhuvi as well but Shami performed in this game. So now no one is talking about that.

"So you know it's all about whoever goes out on the field and performs. We obviously look at the conditions that we are playing in and we decide as a management group and the captain myself sitting together that what is the best XI that we can take on the field. And then we don't sit back and think, 'Oh we could have done that or we should have done that.' You make one decision and you back it. It's always that scenario."

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'The batsmen have let the team down again' - KohliIndia captain Virat Kohli speaks right after his team lost the Centurion Test, and with it the series in South Africa
While he refused to concede that there needs to be a debate on the XIs, Kohli said the team would need to assess every move it had made on tour. He didn't agree that more preparation, or coming early to South Africa, might have helped, which somewhat went against his comments about the crowded international schedule, during the home series against Sri Lanka that preceded this tour.

"See, I don't believe in that," Kohli said when asked if coming early would have helped them counter the conditions better, particularly in Cape Town. "We had a result in three days in Cape Town, and we had no complaints and we really enjoyed the pitch we played on because we had an equal chance of winning the game there. We were not good enough to do that, that's a different thing, but it wasn't like we were set a total, the team had declared, and we were outplayed. We had opportunities in both the games, that's probably the smallest positive that we can think of at this moment.

"Look, I am not going to sit here and try to comfort anyone, we need to be hard on ourselves if we need to do special things. We need to sit down and ask ourselves whether we are giving enough every time that we go out on the field. We should be reflecting on all our decision-making and all the actions that we have made in this game and the previous game and act upon them."

Kohli said a team needed a certain obsession, a "madness", to win away from home in such conditions.

"It doesn't feel nice that you come out and you feel good as a team and then you are not able to execute what you want to," Kohli said. "It almost has to be a madness to be able to win away from home. And you have to live that every minute, every day of being on tour. As I said it is a very individual thing but we need to discuss this as a team for sure.


"I can't speak on behalf of selectors as to what they are thinking. Obviously the selectors will come into the conversation as well when we are looking at planning for future tours also because we have a lot of cricket away from home. This was not the only tour. We have to identify all the areas that need improvement. And accordingly act on those. Obviously the selectors are going to be a big part of that conversation."

Kohli admitted South Africa were the better team irrespective of the conditions, but this defeat hurt a little more because India had conditions in their favour. "Well, we were quite disappointed in Cape Town as well, there was an opportunity to win also," Kohli said. "Look, Test cricket, it doesn't matter where you are playing. Teams have beaten us also at home at times but these conditions are something that we are used to playing at and we should have certainly done better than what have.

"Having said that it's about which team plays collectively better. South Africa collectively were a much better team than us regardless of the pitches we played on. Their bowlers put relentless pressure on us as a batting unit, and their batsmen as well, after losing a few wickets, they would string in a partnership. They showed more character than us."

Top-ranked Rabada 'striving for perfection'

With just 24 Test caps to his name, Kagiso Rabada has already achieved "what I always wanted", in becoming Test cricket's top-ranked bowler, but he has promised there is much more to come. Rabada leapfrogged James Anderson to No.1 after the first Test between South Africa and India, in which he took five wickets and was part of a famous win.

"It's what I always wanted to do (reaching No.1). Now, I just want to keep performing and winning games for the team and to keep getting better and better," Rabada said. "There's always something you can improve on. Once you get something right, there's always something new that you can work on.

"I just need to just do more and more, striving for perfection. You are never going to reach perfection but at least [try to] get there and thereabouts."

At the start of the summer, in an in-depth interview with ESPNcricinfo which will be published later this month, Rabada explained how he is focusing on up-skilling himself by adding more variation to his repertoire, which already includes a searing yorker, a mean bouncer and plenty of pace. In the Newlands Test against India, Rabada was consistently South Africa's quickest bowler, delivering balls in the mid-140s throughout but he said speed wasn't everything when it came to fast-bowling.

"I don't know how fast I can get but I always try my best. I can feel when I am bowling quickly and when I am not. Sometimes I feel I am bowling quickly and the speed gun says 145 or sometimes I can feel like I bowl a decent ball and the speed gun says 131," he said. "I feel like the pace is something that's already there, what's important is the skill."

Versatility is particularly important because Rabada is now being used later in the innings. At Newlands, he bowled second change and often with a slightly older ball, which also required him to have a balanced approach between attack and defense.

Though Rabada would like to take the new ball, he understands that South Africa's plentiful resources may not always allow him to. "I just bowl wherever the team wants me to bowl. I would like to open. It's a bit tough at the moment because there's two very good bowlers in those roles," he said. "I just like to bowl wherever the team requires me to and set my own aspirations aside. I am really happy with the roles I have been given, just to try and get wickets and defend at the same time, that's important."



South Africa went into the Cape Town Test with four frontline quicks and will likely keep the same structure to their side for the rest of the series. Rabada may find himself promoted, but perhaps only as far as first change, because another bowler will have to come in for Dale Steyn, who has been ruled out of the series with a heel injury. One of Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi or Duanne Olivier, all of whom have significantly less experience than Rabada, is set to earn a spot in the starting XI, so it will be up to Rabada, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel to take on some extra responsibility as the series moves upcountry. Rabada, for one, is ready.

"Unfortunately Dale is out of the attack now. It would have been an extra bonus over the summer but I am glad that I have bowled with him and I will hopefully bowl with him again in the future," Rabada said. "Our bowling attack is very skilled as you've seen in the past and in the last game. It feels great to be playing alongside these veterans."

Finch, Bravo dominate as Sixers lose their fifth straight game

Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Sixers, BBL 2017-18, Geelong, January 3, 2017 January 3, 2018 Finch, Bravo dominate as Sixers lose their fifth straight gameTHE REPORT BY ALEX MALCOLM  Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Melbourne Renegades 2 for 112 (Finch 51, White 49*) beat Sydney Sixers 8 for 111 (Botha 32*, Bravo 3-29, Nabi 2-22) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Melbourne Renegades rocked Geelong and rolled to their third win of the season by dismembering the Sydney Sixers, and climbing to third on the BBL points table.

Sixers, last year's finalists, have slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat to start the season and look miles off the pace with both bat and ball, albeit having suffered several key absences and injuries.

Hometown hero Aaron Finch produced a stunning half-century in the Renegades chase and was ably supported by Cameron White but the game was set up by a disciplined bowling performance. Dwayne Bravo took 3 for 29 but he was only bowler to concede more than 6.5 per over as the Sixers struggled to 8 for 111. Without Johan Botha's unbeaten 32 they would have fallen well short of 100.

Snail's pace from the Sixers

A score of 3 for 40 after 10 overs would be a pulsating 45 minutes of viewing in a Test match. Not so in T20 cricket. The Sixers crawled at just four an over in the first half of the innings. Peter Nevill fell to his first ball, the fourth of the innings from Mohammad Nabi, but it was Jason Roy who really struggled. The drop-in surface look very good for batting but Roy really struggled to find his timing. He absorbed a maiden from Kane Richardson in the second over and didn't show any intent to change Richardson's lengths or upset his rhythm. Roy holed out to mid-off two overs later off Bravo. Nic Maddinson and Jordan Silk then scored just two boundaries between them in the 42 balls they faced in the first 10 overs, 20 of which came in the Powerplay.


Aaron Finch hastened Renegades' victory push with a 38-ball half-century © CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Botha's cameo

The Sixers slumped to 6 for 65 after 14.1 overs and looked set to be bowled out for under 100. Maddinson was run out by a brilliant throw from Bravo. Botha then promoted Sean Abbott and Daniel Sams ahead of himself and both failed to fire. Botha took five balls to get off the mark but then found his groove. He was the only Sixers batsman to find the boundary more than twice and the only of the four who reached double figures to strike at more than 89. He didn't try and overhit the ball, using his crease well to the spinners and picking Bravo's slower ball better than most have this season, hitting him 89m over the long boundary. Botha scored 32 from 23 balls while the other eight Sixers batsmen scored just 77 from 97.

Finch fires at home

It's very rare for Finch to go four T20 innings without a significant contribution. But his last four T20 innings had yielded just 20 runs from 24 balls. The Geelong native struggled through his first 12 balls scratching together just ten runs. His first boundary came via a top edge over the 'keepers head that carried for six. But, he then exploded in the sixth over, targeting debutant Mickey Edwards. He launched the first ball over long off for six. Mid-off was sent back to the rope and three balls later he lofted over mid-on for four. Edwards dragged his length short to avoid a third strike down the ground and Finch cracked a pull shot through midwicket. The 16-run over only just lifted the run-rate above six-an-over at the end of the Powerplay.

White gives Finch company

Marcus Harris fell in the first over but White played the perfect support role. He fed off Finch with a slog-swept six and reverse lap for four in the seventh over from Will Somerville. Together the duo added 91 runs in 75 balls.

Finch reached his 15th BBL half-century off 38 balls and his acknowledgement of his home crowd showed this one meant slightly more than the others. His innings was ended by a remarkable piece of fielding from Roy: White prodded a ball forward of point and called Finch through, but Roy zipped to his right, collected in the right hand and hit the one stump he could see while throwing off balance. White finished unbeaten on 49, one short of his third half-century of the tournament, when Bravo hit the winning runs with 27 balls to spare.

Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Perth

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Scorchers regain top spot with Klinger's 83

Perth Scorchers 4 for 170 (Klinger 83, Turner 45, Sams 2-25) beat Sydney Sixers 4 for 167 (Silk 45, Willey 2-30) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Michael Klinger's composure ensured Perth Scorchers broke fresh ground with the highest successful chase in their history, to consign the Sydney Sixers to a fourth consecutive defeat and vault over Adelaide Strikers to the top of the Big Bash League table. The hosts had appeared to be in considerable trouble when they staggered to 2 for 35 after the Powerplay following the Sixers' total of 167, but Klinger refused to panic, and took the Scorchers home with help from Ashton Turner and a cameo from the debutant Tim David.

The Sixers made a decent fist of their innings after being sent in, as the makeshift opener Peter Nevill, Jordan Silk and Sam Billings were particularly effective. But there was grim news for Steve O'Keefe when he suffered a suspected serious leg injury in the field, robbing the captain Johan Botha of one of his most economical options. The Sixers are now on the brink of an early elimination from the tournament.


Michael Klinger flicks into the leg side Getty Images
Accidental opener

Daniel Hughes has accompanied Jason Roy to the middle in both the Sixers' matches so far, but a muscle strain in the warm-ups meant that the left-hander was ruled out and replaced at the top by Peter Nevill. Not a noted power hitter, Nevill instead likes to use the pace on the ball, and another swift WACA surface gave him his chance.

Helpful, too, was Jhye Richardson, who offered up some generous width early in his spell, including one no ball that Nevill cut cleanly to the backward point boundary. The subsequent free hit was fuller and sliced through the same region to the boundary. Altogether, Nevill would get five fours in an innings that covered not only for Hughes but also for Roy's exit to a contentious lbw decision - the ball appeared to have pitched outside leg stump before rapping his front leg.

Even contributions

The Scorchers pride themselves on possessing a mean bowling and fielding unit, one that is very capable of taking wickets through economy, but also through penetration. This night, however, the Sixers were able to gain a foothold in the match by establishing partnerships throughout their innings. Once Nic Maddinson followed Nevill back to the pavilion for another handy score, Silk and Billings were able to pull together a stand of 56 in 39 deliveries, before Silk and Ben Dwarshuis hustled 30 more off the final 13 balls of the innings.

A curious subplot of the Scorchers' approach was the captain Adam Voges' choice to bowl himself alongside James Muirhead to split the duties of the hosts' fifth bowler. Muirhead has been on a rocky journey since representing Australia in 2014, and started this season in the St Kilda second-grade team in Melbourne Premier cricket. Muirhead, however, bowled well in his two overs at the WACA Ground but a hamstring strain forced Voges to bowl the remaining two. The Sixers captain conceded 23 off those 12 balls, but Muirhead can expect a full four-over stint next time out.

Injury upsets Sixers

To say O'Keefe has an benighted record with injury would be to understate his misfortune over the years, never more so than the hamstring strain he suffered midway through the Kandy Test against Sri Lanka in 2016 when he had looked like Australia's most dangerous bowler. He had bowled three tidy overs for 20 runs in Perth when he slipped at short fine leg, felt a "crack" and immediately sought treatment in the dressing rooms, never to return. A fracture is suspected.

The injury gave the Sixers captain Botha a difficult choice in terms of finding the extra over, and his choice of a like-for-like option in the shape of Maddinson's occasional left-arm spinners was to be punished for 14 runs by Turner and Klinger. Botha himself elected to only bowl one over for the night, as Klinger steadily carried the game away from the visitors.

Klinger comes through


It had been a matter of serious doubt whether Klinger would play any part at all for the Scorchers this season after finding out that his wife, Cindy, had been diagnosed with cancer. But he has so far been available for all fixtures and demonstrated a rare level of composure and skill to guide the Scorchers' chase of a larger total than what they have commonly needed to.

Starting steadily, Klinger rolled into gear with a pair of boundaries through the off side from the bowling of Dwarshuis in the fourth over of the chase, but did not panic as the Scorchers managed only a modest 2 for 35 from the Powerplay. Showcasing the skills built over nearly 20 years in first-class ranks, he scored freely around the ground, and with a hat-trick of boundaries from Sean Abbott in the 18th over, Klinger appeared to have settled the matter.

Though Klinger was to be dismissed in the penultimate over - when trying to hoist Daniel Sams into the crowd beyond wide long-on - Klinger was able to watch as Voges and the debutant David eked out the winning runs - none more vital than David's straight six from Sams' final delivery when 15 runs were still required from seven. When Abbott started the final over with five wides, the Scorchers were all but home, and the Sixers all but out of contention. Voges then finished it off with a top-edged six over Nevill to move back to first.