A career-best 3 for 31 from Doug Bracewell and a ninth ODI ton from Martin Guptill set New Zealand up for a dominant, series-leveling victory in the second ODI

The Report by Firdose Moonda23-Aug-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:50

Our bowling made all the difference – Guptill

A career-best 3 for 31 from Doug Bracewell cancelled out a fighting 70 from Farhaan Behardien, and set New Zealand up for a dominant, series-leveling victory in the second ODI. On a slow surface, New Zealand’s attack squeezed and then strangled South Africa with tight lines, pace off the ball and some reverse swing, none of which the home side could replicate.New Zealand cantered to victory without many concerns. Martin Guptill and Tom Latham starred in the highest first-wicket partnership for New Zealand against South Africa, beating the previous record of 114 set by Latham’s father Rod and Mark Greatbach at the 1992 World Cup. Guptill went on to score his ninth ODI century and his first against South Africa, with the runs scored authoritatively and all around the ground.South Africa’s first error came at the toss when AB de Villiers decided to bat first despite chasing being the preferred option in Potchefstroom. Their next mistake was the over-eagerness of the openers, who both fell playing aggressive shots and exposed the middle order earlier than they would have liked. New Zealand could see straight through South Africa and plucked most of their middle order in the period between overs 16 and 33 before clipping the tail in the last five overs.South Africa’s twin collapses – 4 for 66 in the middle period and 4 for 16 at the end – were held together by Behardien, but even he could not get really get going on a pitch New Zealand understood better.Pace seemed puerile, but Adam Milne enjoyed the early success. He steamed in and offered width to Hashim Amla, who threw his bat at it, forgot to move his feet and was caught at third man. Milne could have had Rilee Rossouw out two balls later when a low full toss was driven straight back to him but he could not hold on. He did not have to wait too long to make another incision, though.Morne van Wyk tried to cut the last ball of Milne’s second over and chopped the ball onto his offstump. As if losing both openers inside four overs did not put enough pressure on South Africa, that was immediately followed by the only maiden over of the innings, delivered by Ben Wheeler.South Africa’s two cleanest hitters were at the crease but neither de Villiers nor Rilee Rossouw could really get going. Rossouw looked comfortable and timed the ball better than any of this team-mates but Doug Bracewell and Ish Sodhi were difficult to get away and ultimately, that frustrated him. After a six-over stretch in which only 21 runs were scored, Rossouw tried to clear mid-off off a full delivery from Bracewell, but found only Kane Williamson.David Miller had an opportunity to end his lean run, which has now now reached ten innings without an ODI half-century, but never looked comfortable. He was surprised by a Bracewell delivery that reared up a touch, closed the face of the bat too early and got a leading edge to short cover. De Villiers was also done in by some extra bounce, from Grant Elliot, and was caught at mid-wicket, as South Africa’s trouble deepened.By then, Behardien had made some measure of conditions and realised he would need to bat responsibly. He searched for singles, even though he seldom found them, and managed not to get frustrated. Almost. After 11 boundary-less overs, he pushed a delivery back at Milne and could have been caught in the follow through but with power behind his push, Milne had to react quickly and could not hold on.The exasperation still hung over South Africa. David Wiese only lasted five more deliveries before he was given out lbw off Sodhi. Replays showed the ball had pitched marginally outside leg stump.With only the bowlers to come, Behardien tried to up the ante. He struck the innings’ only six with a pull over mid-wicket off Sodhi to bring up his half-century off 62 balls, but was soon forced to quieten down again with the introduction of Colin Munro followed by Wheeler and Elliot.Another lean six-over period followed with just 16 runs scored, and with the innings into the final five overs, Behardien felt he had to do something. However, he holed out to Bracewell, trying to drove down the ground, to leave the seamers to bat out the remaining overs. A trio of run-outs saw South Africa finish three balls short and well short of a competitive total.De Villiers tried to be innovative in his defence and opened the bowling with a spinner, Aaron Phangiso, but Guptill made a mockery of that plan. He took four boundaries off Phangiso’s opening two overs and gave one chance – a return catch which Phangiso could not hold on to.Dale Steyn replaced Phangiso and searched for swing without much success. Then Wiese took offer but bowled a poor line and strayed onto the pads. Steyn tried again from the other end but went too wide. All the while, Guptill and Latham took advantage, steering the ball behind square, and driving and cutting with confidence to bring up New Zealand’s fifty inside nine overs.Imran Tahir managed to slow them down and could have had Guptill out twice – once when he was on 37 and offered a return catch and a second time when he was on 39 and put down at long-off – but New Zealand made steady progress. Latham’s fifty came first, off 57 balls, and Guptill’s soon followed, off 86 balls.New Zealand lost their first wicket when Latham top-edged Tahir to Rossouw at deep square leg but by then, the game was already won. Guptill batted through to the end, when his race to reach his hundred was against the total and not the bowlers. Guptill was on 97 when New Zealand needed four to win and on 99 when New Zealand needed just one. He sent a loopy full toss to the extra-cover boundary to seal his century as well as the win, setting up for a finale on Wednesday, which New Zealand will be more confident going into than South Africa.Jimmy Neesham, who did not play this match, earlier in the week warned that New Zealand had become expert comeback kings once they have had a chance to assess conditions. New Zealand lost the first ODIs in both England and Zimbabwe before winning the next two matches and in the case of Zimbabwe, the series. South Africa will be aware that the same could happen in Durban.

Sri Lanka A suffered a dramatic late collapse to lose by 15 runs against New Zealand A in the second one-dayer, as the hosts took a 2-0 lead in the four-match series

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Oct-2015
ScorecardKithuruwan Vithanage struck his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score on this tour•Getty Images

Kithuruwan Vithanage’s 120 off 104 balls had set Sri Lanka A on track to chase down New Zealand A’s 305, but a dramatic late collapse sparked by Adam Milne saw the hosts prevail by 15 runs at Hagley Oval. The victory gives New Zealand A a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.Sri Lanka A had required 29 runs from 33 balls and had six wickets in hand before Vithanage was caught off Milne’s bowling. They had batted deep, with Niroshan Dickwella and Chaturanga de Silva coming in at No. 7 and 8, but the visitors lost six wickets for 13 runs nonetheless. Milne claimed two more late wickets to finish with the game’s best figures of 3 for 49. Four Sri Lanka A dismissals, including two of the last five, had been run-outs.Earlier, a brisk 132-run fourth wicket stand between Michael Bracewell and Henry Nicholls had formed the body of New Zealand A’s total. Bracewell top-scored for his side hitting a 72-ball 83 that featured two sixes and seven fours. Nicholls remained unbeaten on 79 from 65, as he and Colin Munro combined to hit 35 runs from the last 23 balls of the innings. Michael Pollard and Grant Worker had contributed 54 and 40 respectively, while seamer Kasun Rajitha claimed 2 for 63 for the visitors.The chase had begun well for Sri Lanka A when Vithanage struck up a 119-run second-wicket stand with opener Danushka Gunathilaka. Both men have been on form on tour, having scored four consecutive fifty-plus scores. Vithanage also shared a 58-run stand with Chamara Kapugedara, but could not see his team through to the target. Milne’s charge left the visitors needing victories from the two coming unofficial ODIs in Lincoln to level the series.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group B matches on October 30, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Jiwanjot Singh was the only batsman to pass 50 on either side•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Seventeen wickets fell on the opening day in Patiala even as Punjab secured the first-innings lead.Electing to bat, Andhra were shot out for 80 in 45 overs, with only opener DB Prasanth (33) passing 20. The visitors slumped to 22 for 3 and never recovered from the poor start, as Punjab’s spin trio of captain Gurkeerat Singh (11-5-14-4), legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, who took five wickets in the last game, and left-armer Rajwinder Singh picked up eight wickets between them. Seamer Siddarth Kaul claimed the other wickets to fall.Punjab started well in their reply with opener Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul putting on 58 runs for the second wicket. But after Uday was trapped lbw by Prasanth, who took three wickets with his leg breaks, Punjab slid from 73 for 1 to 119 for 7. Jiwanjot resisted for more than two and a half hours before being bowled by Prasanth with less than four overs to go for stumps.Andhra vice-captain Prasanth said the surface was “underprepared”, but wasn’t particularly difficult to bat on. “It’s rank turner obviously, but if you have confidence on your defence you can easily negotiate,” Prasanth told ESPNcricinfo. What the pitch did today it will do the same thing tomorrow. There is not much cracks… it is not opening at all. We will fight hard tomorrow to get into the game.”
ScorecardB Indrajith’s second first-class hundred held Tamil Nadu’s innings together after they were inserted in Delhi.Tamil Nadu didn’t have the best of starts, as opener B Aparajith was bowled by seamer Anureet Singh in the seventh over with the team’s score on 6. But, captain Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik put on 61 runs before seamer Ranjit Mali dismised him
Abhinav fell one short of his 50 and then Vijay Shankar was dismissed by Anureet to reduce the visitors to 101 for 4.Indrajith, coming in at No.5, first put on 79 runs for the fifth wicket with R Prasanna before raising 78 runs in the company of J Kousik. Indrajith remained unbeaten at stumps while Anureet picked up three wickets.Tamil Nadu vice-captain Indrajith said the pitch was even-paced and good to bat on despite some movement off the surface throughout the day. “It tends to ease out once you settle down and is good for the batsmen. [A total of] 350 is ideal, but we would like to get more than 400,” he said. “Whenever they bowled short, the run-scoring opportunities opened up and it made things easy for me.”Indrajith said there were a couple of “soft dismissals”, but credited Anureet with bowling consistently well through the day.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh recovered from a wobbly beginning to post a decent total after electing to bat in Valsad.After the visitors were reduced to 87 with 4, with Umang Sharma and Mohammad Saif being dismissed in the space of two overs, Himanshu Asnora and captain Eklavya Dwivedi added 61 runs. After Dwivedi and Ali Murtaza were removed by Jasprit Bumrah, Asnora put on 58 runs. Asnora then went on to raise 43 runs for the ninth wicket in the company of Saurabh Kumar, and remained unbeaten.Rush Kalaria picked up three wickets for Gujarat.
ScorecardBaroda’s bowlers stifled Madhya Pradesh after the visitors opted to bat in Vadodara. Madhya Pradesh were reduced to 4 for 2 in the fourth over after both the openers, Aditya Shrivastava and Jalaj Saxena, were dismissed for ducks.Captain Devendra Bundela and Rajat Patidar, however, added 73 before Bhargav Bhatt had Bundela lbw. Patidar and Harpreet Singh added 50 runs for the fourth wicket. Swapnil Singh then struck twice to reduce Madhya Pradesh to 127 for 5 before the middle-order showed some resistance.

South Africa women’s tour of Bangladesh has been thrown into uncertainty again, with CSA postponing the series over “personal security concerns”

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2015South Africa women’s tour of Bangladesh has been thrown into uncertainty again, with Cricket South Africa (CSA) postponing the series over “personal security concerns”.South Africa women were initially supposed to arrive in Dhaka on October 15 to play three ODIs and five T20Is, but the tour was temporarily postponed due to the CSA’s security fears following Australia’s postponement of their men’s team tour to Bangladesh for the same reasons.As per the new schedule, South Africa women were supposed to play three ODIs on November 6, 8 and 10, and four T20s on November 12, 13, 15 and 16. However, the team did not land in Dhaka on November 3, as was previously announced by both the BCB and the CSA.A CSA release said the postponement was necessary as “South Africa will not be able to field a full squad”.”This is most unfortunate as a number of our players are unavailable to tour because of personal security concerns, work or the end of year study and exams at this time of year,” the CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat said.With Zimbabwe women also scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh later this month, the BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that the two boards were working on confirming the final fixtures.”We are expecting them [CSA] to give us the new dates over the next four-five days,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. “This is an issue for the CSA. Teams like Zimbabwe and the Australian football team are coming to Bangladesh this month. It shows that the security situation is good in Bangladesh.”

Shaharyar Khan has said the PCB wants the FTP to be drawn up by the ICC, as was the case previously, instead of the new system by which series are scheduled via bilateral agreements

Umar Farooq26-Nov-2015Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, has said the board wants the Future Tours Programme to be drawn up by the ICC, as was the case previously, instead of the new system by which series are scheduled via bilateral agreements. Khan stressed that this was essential for equality among the Full Members, and one of the main reasons why the PCB had vehemently opposed the constitutional revamping of the ICC last year.Khan’s comments come in wake of the new ICC chairman Shashank Manohar criticising the imbalance of power within cricket’s governing body because of last year’s revamp. Manohar, who replaced the out-of-favour N Srinivasan before his scheduled term was over, called the revamp “bullying”. He said there were several faults in the ICC that he hoped to rectify during his term as chairman, which ends in June 2016.Khan agreed with Manohar, pointing out to ESPNcricinfo that the PCB was the main opponent of the move when it was proposed. “We have two basic principles: everyone should be equal, and the FTP should be carefully handled. It should have the previous formula with ICC arranging series and not bilateral arrangements. Otherwise we are letting some countries suffer – some countries that don’t want to play the minor ones because playing them isn’t a lucrative deal.”Khan said that the PCB was outvoted 9-1 during the revamp by the other Full Members. He said the ICC wanted to present a united front on the revamp and offered Pakistan “lucrative series” against India as compensation. “They said we are already outvoted by 9-1, but look we want to show the world a unanimous decision. Then they offered us very lucrative series against India, as you know six series between 2015 and 2023,” Khan said. “Then we signed an agreement [for the series] before we agreed to sign the new constitution.”It was obvious that we were a reluctant supporter of the Big Three. Many people interpreted that this was because of the relations between India and Pakistan. It is always perceived that whatever we do, they oppose it, and whatever they do, we oppose. But this is not really correct as the boards have always had cordial relations. We opposed it because the Big Three should not monopolise the cricketing ties with each other – they were anticipating playing only lucrative series and countries like Zimbabwe, New Zealand were left to find their own bilateral series which obviously are not as lucrative.”Khan said he was encouraged by Manohar’s comments, even as the PCB is negotiating on the terms of the first of those six promised bilateral series with the BCCI. He expected the BCCI to honour that agreement.”We still feel that the Big Three formula is not ideal, but since we have signed it we will go along with this and be faithful to it. We signed on the basis that India will play us – that was the agreement. So we expect to play. But if there is any move initiated to revise the constitution to a more democratic formula, we will of course support it.”The PCB’s opposition to the revamp was led by the then chairman Zaka Ashraf. “The formula was clearly violating the principle of equality and with such a big international organisation, everyone should be equally treated rather than allowing the big ones to dictate everything,” Ashraf said.”The entire revamp was never really discussed, just brought in and forced on every board or else they would be isolated. Everyone obviously wants to play and they [the ones who opposed the proposals] were given lucrative offers to get to them on their [the Big Three’s] sides.”

Brendon McCullum described New Zealand’s victory in the first Test in Dunedin as “bloody hard work”, on a surface that flattened out after the second day

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Dunedin14-Dec-20151:09

‘Stepped it up another notch’ – McCullum

Brendon McCullum described New Zealand’s victory in the first Test in Dunedin as “bloody hard work”, on a surface that flattened out after the second day. The hosts were kept in the field for more than 212 overs, before they completed the 122-run victory mid-way through the fifth day.All four New Zealand seamers had heavy workloads in this Test, as the team opted to rely on the left-arm spin of allrounder Mitchell Santner over offspinner Mark Craig. Tim Southee delivered 48 overs across the five days, while Neil Wagner and Doug Bracewell bowled 42 and 40.5 overs respectively.McCullum said New Zealand’s quick scoring rate in their own innings, and a declaration early on day four had both helped give the hosts time to achieve victory. New Zealand scored at more than four runs an over in each of their innings, and had declared at 404 runs ahead with little over five sessions of the match remaining.”We knew 20 wickets was going to be tough especially when we didn’t have the best of the bowling conditions,” he said. “I think day one was the best of the conditions for the seam or swing bowlers – that was why we tried to maintain our scoring on rate on day, one because we knew we were going to have to buy some time later on.”Also the declaration looks a reasonably aggressive declaration, but for us it was really the only way we were going to allow ourselves enough time to not just win the game, but also relieve the pressure of having to win the game. I think sometimes if you don’t leave yourself enough time, then you start chasing wickets and that can lead to not getting wickets that you should.”If Sri Lanka were good enough to chase 400 and run us down in the time that they had then, fair play to them then. We can handle losing if someone else is able to go out and play as well as what they would have had to. But in the end I was pretty comfortable.”Heading into the final day, Sri Lanka had Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal – their two most experienced batsmen – at the crease. They put on 56 together in the morning session, but were dismissed within three overs of each other.”The Sri Lankans are a bloody tough opposition to get results against,” McCullum said. “Angelo and Chandimal are two world-class batters, and we knew that they were going to be key today. We knew we had to spend some resource to keep them out. There were concerns because the wicket was so flat today. They’re going to pose another tough challenge for us in Hamilton.”Sri Lanka have got some excellent young bowlers who I think asked some questions on day one, as well. We’re just thankful that we were good enough at the top of the order to withstand those pressures, and apply some pressure back on them.”McCullum also equalled Adam Gilchrist’s world record for most Test sixes, when he launched Rangana Herath over cow corner in his second innings 17 not out. McCullum said that while it would have been nice to hit one more six in the innings to take the record all for himself, the team had decided they would declare when the lead passed 400. That shot had taken it to 404.”I was hoping someone would ask me about the 100 sixes,” he said. “It’s the only record I actually care about. It’s the only record that Kane Williamson or Ross Taylor aren’t going to break as well, so I should be able to hold on to that one. I’ve been aware of it for a while, as you can probably tell by the way I bat all through my career.”

Ireland have appointed Chaminda Vaas, the former Sri Lanka seamer, as their bowling consultant ahead of the World T20

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2016Ireland have appointed Chaminda Vaas, the former Sri Lanka seamer, as their bowling consultant ahead of the World T20. Vaas will begin his short-term assignment during Ireland’s visit to Abu Dhabi, where they will play two T20Is against UAE on February 14 and 16, and remain with the squad until the end of the World T20 in India.”I’m very excited to be joining the backroom staff of the Ireland team,” Vaas said. “There’s a lot of talent and experience in the squad which I’m confident I can add to.”I’ve played with and against some of the guys during my time in county cricket with Middlesex and Northants. I’m relishing the prospect of sharing the knowledge and experience I’ve picked up during my 20-plus years in the game.”Vaas, who picked up 355 wickets in Tests and 400 in ODIs, was New Zealand’s bowling consultant on a short-term basis in 2012, and served as Sri Lanka’s bowling coach from February 2013 to April 2015.
“It’s great to have Chaminda with us through the build-up as well as during the T20 World Cup,” said John Bracewell, Ireland’s head coach. “I have long been an admirer of his skills and like all the Sri Lankan cricketers of his era he was a great problem-solver.”His ability to get wickets in all forms of the game especially on the sub-continent was extraordinary. This experience will be invaluable to our bowling group.”

Fifties from Hayley Matthews and Britney Cooper, followed by a five-wicket haul from fast bowler Deandra Dottin set up West Indies Women’s 16-run win against South Africa Women in East London

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Hayley Matthews scored 56 off 68 balls, with eight fours•Cricket Australia

Fifties from Hayley Matthews and Britney Cooper, followed by a five-wicket haul from fast bowler Deandra Dottin set up West Indies Women’s 16-run win against South Africa Women in East London.West Indies, opting to bat, lost their opener Shaquana Quintyne early, but a 56-run stand for the third wicket between Matthews and Dottin lifted the team past 100. Matthews top-scored with 56, but both she and Dottin were trapped lbw by Sune Luus in quick succession, pegging the visitors back. Cooper, though, provided West Indies with much-needed impetus, stroking an unbeaten 55 off 66 balls, with six fours and a six. Cooper added 48 runs in the company of Shemaine Campbelle, as West Indies ended with 214 for 7.South Africa’s opener Trisha Chetty made a steady start to the chase, scoring 47, but her dismissal in the 23rd over led to a slide, as quick blows from Dottin and Anisa Mohammed reduced the hosts to 120 for 7. Marizanne Kapp (69*) and Shabnim Ismail (34) put up a brief resistance, combining for a 70-run partnership, but Dottin and Quintyne eventually ran through the tail to bundle South Africa out for 198.Dottin was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 34, her maiden five-wicket haul, while Quintyne and Anisa chipped in with two scalps apiece.

West Indies’ mix of high-speed hustle with the ball and patience with the bat help them beat pre-tournament favourites India by five wickets in a tense final in Mirpur

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Mirpur14-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 69 between Keemo Paul and Keacy Carty helped West Indies clinch a last-over thriller•Getty Images

West Indies’ mix of high-speed hustle with the ball and patience with the bat help them beat pre-tournament favourites India by five wickets in a tense final in Mirpur to lift their maiden Under-19 World Cup title.India, who were bowled out for 145, held their own and fought till the end admirably until Keemo Paul and Keacy Carty’s ice-cool approach helped West Indies eat into the target and eventually cross the line with three balls to spare. That meant India lost a Youth ODI for the first time since their quarterfinal exit of the same tournament in 2014.India’s crash began with Rishabh Pant wandering outside his crease, only to find wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach flick an underarm throw back to the stumps to catch him unaware. Imlach’s match awareness that gave them a breakthrough off the fourth ball of the morning set the tone for a dominating display against a batting unit high on confidence.Anmolpreet Singh, who had done well in the two knockout games prior to the grand finale fell next as he was unable to get his bat out of the way to a rising Alzarri Joseph delivery in the third over, as he gloved a nick to the wicketkkeeper. Then came a blow that ended Ishan Kishan’s run of poor scores as he played across the line and was trapped lbw, even though replays showed the ball had pitched just outside leg stump. When Washington Sundar chipped a simple catch to mid-off, a top order wobble seemed complete at 41 for 4 in the 15th over.India needed a rescue act, but West Indies didn’t drop their intensity even by an inch as Arman Jaffer found out while driving away to the cover fielder to leave Sarfaraz Khan with the unenviable task of reviving the innings and batting through, like he had done for most parts of the tournament.He did so by adding 37 with Mahipal Lomror, who sweetly timed two fours in his 43-ball 19. Even as a recovery looked a sudden possibility came yet another blow as Chemar Holder, who was brought back in for a new spell, sent him back with an awaygoing delivery that was well pouched by Imlach behind the stumps.Sensing the inevitable, Sarfaraz tried to break the shackles and found his hitting range, sweetly timing a flick over midwicket for six. He also brought up a half-century off 83 deliveries before perishing in an effort to up the ante. While he was clearly far from his best, Sarfaraz was still miles ahead with his judgment in lengths.With India collapsing in heaps, the inaccuracy of the West Indies bowlers went unnoticed as they conceded as many as 23 extras by the time India’s innings came to a grinding hat in 45.1 overs.Any thoughts of a regulation chase was quickly put on the backburner as India came back hard; West Indies slipping from 67 for 2 to 77 for 5 in the 29th over. The man who orchestrated the comeback was Mayank Dagar, the left-arm spinner, who teased the batsmen with his gentle flight and drift.Shimron Hetmyer, the captain, lofted one to long-on, while Shamar Springer top-edged a hoick to long-off. In Dagar’s next over, Jyd Goolie’s attempt to blast him down the ground ended up in a sharp caught and bowled, making West Indies lose their third wicket in six overs.Paul and Carty had to dig deep. That Carty had an opportunity to do so was courtesy a reprieve when Sarfaraz put down a sharp chance at slip off Dagar. But the pair battled slowly to ensure India’s biggest threat was safely negotiated.As the innings progressed, India began to get edgy as Pant failed to hold on to a thin edge off Carty in Dagar’s last over. As if to break the shackles, he was lofted down the ground for six in the same over. Slowly, the equation boiled down to 24 off the last five overs.With nine needed off the last two overs, Paul’s attempted inside-out hit over cover resulted in him hitting one towards Avesh Khan, who put down a tough chance even as the ball was dying on him. Carty then reached a half-century off 122 balls. By then, the celebration had well and truly begun in the West Indies camp. The party had kickstarted in earnest when Paul’s top edge flew over the keeper’s head to bring an end to a pulsating clash.

Two days before Nagpur was set to host a World T20 match between South Africa and West Indies, the pitch for the game was switched

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur24-Mar-2016Nagpur and pitches. It has always been a tetchy relationship and it grew a little more strained when, two days before it was set to host a World T20 match between South Africa and West Indies, the pitch for the game was switched.According to media reports, the move from the pitch that hosted the low-scoring, spinner-dominated India-New Zealand match on March 15 to an adjacent one came at the behest of Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant.It remains to be seen how the new strip will play. Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s captain, surmised that the move was made to ensure a less dry playing surface, but he still expected spin to play a significant role.”When we got here, on the first day of practice the wicket was very dry, and we just prepared ourselves accordingly to play on it,” du Plessis said. “Obviously it’s changed a bit now, we’re not playing on the same wicket.”We knew that the ground will be a lot different here than it was at Mumbai [where South Africa played their first two matches]. So whether it was changed or not, it wouldn’t have made too much difference to us. I assume that the reason they’re changing it is to not be as dry, or not to spin as much as it possibly could have on that dry surface. But it’s still two teams competing and possibly going to be a spinning deck, so I don’t think too much will change.”Du Plessis said he was surprised by the variety of pitches on offer at the World T20, ranging from the square turner for the India-New Zealand game in Nagpur to a batting belter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where South Africa racked up 200-plus scores against England and Afghanistan.”To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be like this,” he said. “Obviously playing a lot of IPL cricket for years now, I’ve found that wickets in IPL have generally been quite good and consistent. Barring one or two games through the IPL, you generally get similar runs on the board right through all the venues.”This World Cup, it’s been a little different. There’s been almost both extremes, where we’ve had massive spinning wickets and real flat decks. So that will obviously produce some different quality of cricket, but it’s not something I expected and certainly it’s not something I’m used to from these conditions.”But as I said, as a team, it’s important that whatever the conditions, you have to be able to adapt. If you lose a game, you’re not going to get the game back by complaining about the wicket. You have to try and make do with what you get.”Faf du Plessis says South Africa will be prepared for a significantly different surface in Nagpur•Getty Images

Given the constantly changing conditions, du Plessis stressed the need for teams to adapt quickly.”I think for me what’s been important, and I’ve spoken a lot about it to the guys, is the fact that we do rely as a team on being smart and to make the correct decisions on whatever the surface is on the day. I think if you consistently prepare for those sort of scenarios, where you need to adapt every day and you don’t just rely on one gameplan and one specific batsman to come off, that’s all you can do.”As a team we do that very well, especially as a batting unit we adapt quickly and we’re smart in our decision making. We’ve got guys that can play quite a few different roles and that’s going to be the key here. If it’s going to be a slow Bunsen burner, then we have to make the transition quicker than the West Indian team. Obviously they are a power-hitting team, so they realise their strength and also their weakness. But for us it’s about being the smartest ones on the day.”JP Duminy has been ruled out of the West Indies match with a hamstring strain, and while he would have been a big miss anywhere, South Africa will feel his absence even more, as a batsman and an offspinner on a pitch that is expected to turn.”I think people will see how important JP is to our team now that he’s missing,” du Plessis said. “He’s an allrounder who, especially in these conditions, plays a role with both bat and ball – not even talking about his experience. There’s a lot of talk that has gone into it, especially on who can be doing that sixth bowler’s job as you would need at some time. As a captain, it’s nice to have a guy you can rely on to bowl some overs. So that has created one or two headaches but we’ll hopefully get the right combination.”With Duminy out, South Africa might be forced to include a second specialist spinner, in Aaron Phangiso, to support the legspinner Imran Tahir. It will leave du Plessis – who has already had to deal with dropping his pace spearhead Dale Steyn – with a quandary over which pace bowler to leave out.”Yes, it’s an extremely big headache to have, but it’s one that’s very nice to have – the fact that we’ve got real good options. Our bowlers stepped up, Kagiso [Rabada] has been amazing, Kyle Abbott has been almost a silent assassin. He does his job without anyone knowing, and then you’ve got the experience of Dale Steyn. It is a big headache, but it’s a nice one to have. We’ve had a few of these headaches with the selection of this game, but as I said before, the main thing for me is that we as a team have for the first time depth in our squad and we’re allowing all that depth now to come through.”