The visitors leave South Africa empty-handed, defeated in the Tests, ODIs and T20s with David Miller’s mauling being the final nail in the coffin

The Report by Firdose Moonda29-Oct-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:00

Knocks like this don’t come every day – Miller

David Miller smashed the fastest T20I century off 35 balls, beating countryman Richard Levi by 10 deliveries. In doing so, Miller took South Africa to a series win and a historic clean-sweep across formats against a visiting team, the first such instance in 17 tours in which they have played an opposition in all three formats. As a result, Bangladesh leave the country empty-handed, defeated in the Tests, ODIs and T20Is, with Miller’s mauling being the final nail in the coffin.South Africa, with new coach Ottis Gibson at the helm, aimed to be as ruthless as possible in this early-season series, and underlined that intention with this performance, in their 100th T20 international.Hashim Amla set the tone with his 85 off 51 balls and seemed set for a century but was dismissed in the 17th over, attempting to clear the midwicket boundary. Miller was on 42 off 20 balls at the time, with 21 balls left in the innings. Miller, however, needed only 15 of those to get the 58 runs that took him to a hundred, including five sixes in succession off Mohammad Saifuddin in the penultimate over of the innings.Bangladesh had reason to rue that assault, for they could have dismissed Miller early in his innings, even before he had a run to his name. The second ball Miller faced was short from Rubel Hossain and he gloved it down the leg side. Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper, dived one-handed to his right, got to the ball but could not hold on. In the next over, Miller charged Saifuddin and lofted a drive over the covers. Three fielders converged on the ball but the ball landed between them.At that juncture in the game, Bangladesh were more concerned about Amla, who was timing the ball well and had sauntered to his fifty off 32 balls. He held together the first half of South Africa’s innings, in which the visitors kept them fairly quiet. Shakib Al Hasan bowled both Mangaliso Mosehle and JP Duminy for single-digit scores and AB de Villiers holed out to long-off for 20. South Africa were 78 for 3 at the halfway stage when Amla began to up the ante.He took on the short ball, which Bangladesh offered in abundance, and allowed Miller ample time to settle. Miller seemed to need it and could have been out a third time when he came out of his crease and edged Mahmudullah in the 15th over, with the ball rolling towards the stumps, but missing it eventually. Miller made it back in time and avoided being stumped. That was, however, the last of the nerves shown by him.Miller slammed the next ball over long-off for the first of his nine sixes. There was much more to come. He dispatched Rubel to cow corner for four in the next over, then sent him over long-on for two sixes in the next three balls. By the time Amla was dismissed, Miller had got his eye in. He reached his half-century with a top-edge off a hook and followed that up by smashing a Taskin Ahmed full toss over long-on before the showstopper.Saifuddin, who had figures of 2 for 22 from his first three overs, started his final over with a full, slower ball. Miller clobbered it for a six. Then, he went quicker but still full, outside off. Miller went inside-out over the covers for six. The third ball was also full, Miller shuffled across and flicked behind square leg for the third six. Then Saifuddin darted the next one full down the leg side and out came another flick for another six. It was only after he had been hit for four consecutive sixes that Saifuddin received some advice from his captain but to no avail. He went short and Miller pulled. For six.AFP

Only two other players have hit six sixes in a row in an over in international cricket, one of them a South African – Herschelle Gibbs – and Miller was on the cusp of joining them. The final ball was full and wide and Miller went down on one knee but drove it along the ground for one. He was disappointed but kept strike, which enabled him to go for a hundred in the final over.Miller fell over as he reached for a full Rubel delivery that he sent for four and then under-edged a full toss for four more before a brace of twos took him to the fastest hundred in this format. Farhaan Behardien, the non-striker, was as much a spectator as the beleaguered Bangladesh attack. While Shakib conceded only 22 runs off his four overs, the other five bowlers gave away 201 runs off 16 overs at 12.5 an over. Saifuddin’s 31-run fourth over meant he finished with 2 for 53 but Miller could be heard commiserating with him as the teams left the field.”Tough luck,” Miller said. For Bangladesh, it only got tougher.They have never scored over 200 in a T20 and needed 225 this time. They started well, with 17 runs off the first over but South Africa had a trick up their sleeve. Duminy brought himself on in the second over and should have had a wicket immediately. Soumya Sarkar took him on and sent the ball straight to Robbie Frylinck at mid-on, who had to take a simple catch but could not hold on. Duminy kept Sarkar quiet for the rest of that over and on the last ball, he was desperate to get a move on and called for a suicidal single after belting the ball into the covers. Miller collected and threw the ball wide of Mosehle, who had to move to his left but had enough time to gather and run Imrul Kayes out.Rather than see himself as a novelty, Duminy continued and in his next over, struck the killer blow. Shakib made room and Duminy aimed at the stumps and bowled him. In the next over, Mushfiqur edged Frylink to Mosehle; Bangladesh were 32 for 3 before five overs were up and they had little opportunity left to stage a comeback. It was only a matter of time for them and all of South Africa’s bowlers enjoyed some reward as they wrapped up a professional, clinical victory.

Australian legend Matthew Hayden called England “no-hopers” and insisted he didn’t know who James Vince was. You learn something new every day

George Dobell in Brisbane23-Nov-2017The desire to prove his doubters wrong helped inspire James Vince on the first day of the Ashes.Vince, recalled to bat at No. 3 despite a modest season in county cricket, stroked an elegant 83 to ensure England gained a foothold in the first Test. And while he missed out on a maiden Test century, Vince hoped he had earned some respect from those who dismissed him ahead of the series.Matthew Hayden, in particular, should have sat up and taken notice, according to Vince. Hayden, the former Australia batsman, dismissed England as “no hopers” and “a rabble” ahead of the series and insisted he didn’t know who half the team – including Vince – were.It was a remarkable comment bearing in mind that Vince has played seven Tests previously – enough, you would think, for a cricket pundit to have taken notice before passing judgement – and it clearly irritated the England camp.Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder who is currently in England awaiting the outcome of a police investigation, had already called into question Hayden’s quality as a pundit as a result of the comments, while Vince has now revealed he was inspired by such doubters.”If he didn’t know who we were before the game, he probably does now,” Vince said of Hayden after sharing a stand of 125 with fellow “unknown” Mark Stoneman. It was more than England managed in any stand during the Ashes series of 2013-14.”Reading comments like that gives you the motivation to go out there and make a statement,” he said.”A few comments I’ve read said that I’m not ready for Test cricket, so hopefully I’ve proved a few people wrong. It all gives you more inspiration to prove people wrong.”While Vince admitted he was disappointed to miss out on a century – he was run-out by Nathan Lyon after attempting an unwise single – he was able to appreciate it was a good start on his return to Test cricket.”No matter what score you get you always want more,” he said. “It would have been nice to be there at the end of the day, but stuff like that happens in cricket.”It’s great to get off to a good start. If I could have my first go at Test cricket again, I would, but that’s in the past now. I’ve been focused on capitalising on this opportunity and nailing a place in the team. I felt reasonably calm considering the occasion. I tried to enjoy it and maintain focus. I didn’t want them to get on top of me and I thought I got the balance just about right.”I’m sure lying in bed I’ll have a few thoughts about missing out on a century, but if you’d offered me 80-odd before play, I’d have taken it. And we had spoken about getting overs in the bowlers’ legs – what with them only having three seamers – and if we can get through the new ball in the morning, we can built to 300, 350 even 400. The first hour in the morning will dictate how things go.”It was a disappointing way to go. It was a great piece of fielding, but in retrospect I wouldn’t take the run.”Vince defended England’s scoring rate – they scored at 2.43 runs per over – by explaining the pitch was slow and Australia bowled well throughout the day.”The lack of pace made scoring hard,” he said. “Conditions weren’t what we expected – there wasn’t much pace in the wicket, though the ball came on a bit better as the day wore on – and they bowled pretty well.”They would have wanted some more pace in the pitch. But they kept coming all day and the lack of pace made it hard to score runs when they hit their areas. We’ll see how they respond in the morning after all those overs in their legs today.”

Trevor Bayliss has provided the clearest hint yet that Jake Ball has earned the final spot in England’s XI for the Brisbane Test

George Dobell in Townsville18-Nov-2017Trevor Bayliss has provided the clearest hint yet that Jake Ball has earned the final spot in England’s XI for the Brisbane Test.While Ball has bowled only 22 first-class deliveries on the tour – he sprained his ankle early in the Adelaide warm-up game and was subsequently deemed unfit to play in Townsville – Bayliss is content he has now proved his fitness and suggested he had done enough to win selection ahead of Craig Overton.Ball bowled 15 overs at full pace on Saturday. And, while England’s bowlers claimed only one wicket in the entire day on a slow Townsville pitch, Ball bowled Moeen Ali within a few minutes on the same surface in a practice session that followed the game.”I thought Ball was our best bowler in Perth and he started off that way again in Adelaide too,” Bayliss said. “He’s fine now. He bowled on Friday and got through a few spells in the nets today [Saturday]. He should be fit and raring to go for Brisbane.”Is it Ball v Overton for selection? I see it just like that, yes. Ball is fine now. He’s fully fit and will be available for selection. I’m pretty close to knowing the XI in my mind, yes.”Bayliss insisted he was not overly concerned by England’s lack of penetration on the final day in Townsville, instead crediting some fine batting from the two Cricket Australia XI centurions and a flat surface that offered bowlers little. He also suggested England’s batsmen had failed to fully capitalise on it the previous day.”We are always a bit disappointed when we don’t take 10 for 90, but the wicket was very flat,” he said. “And those two young guys batted very well. There were two young guys out there that batted very, very well. All credit to them. They looked good. It’s good for Australian cricket.”If you play cricket long enough those days will happen. They stuck at it and that’s all you can ask.”We lost a few wickets at the end of that first innings and probably should have scored a few more runs. From the bowling point of view, we tried a few different things, but I’m sure in the Test matches we’ll be back bowling line and length.”It’s not really damaging to us before the first Test. It was good to spend some time in the field. We will probably have another one or two of them in the Test matches. It was probably good to experience it and the heat as well.”Although the surfaces and the opposition have left England short of experience against the sort of pace anticipated in the Test series, Bayliss considered himself satisfied with their progress.”Over the three games we have got as much out of it as we possibly could,” he said. “We started slow, then built it up over the last couple of games. A Test match – an Ashes Test – will see our intensity rise as high as it possibly can.”A number of guys spent time in the middle with the bat and the bowlers got a lot of overs under their belts. Hopefully everyone now has got their rhythms right and they can come out next week and go from ball one.”Mark Stoneman has been our most consistent batsman. He looks like he’s made for this. He’s tough and nuggety and likes to get on with it when he gets the opportunity.”Bayliss also admitted a couple of selections in the Australian squad had surprised him. But while he was respectful of the opposition – conceding he was close to several members of the Australian team – he made it clear friendships will be put to one side.”There were one or two names in there we maybe weren’t expecting,” he said. “But they are all good players. No matter who Australia pick, they will be good players and we will have to play well to win.”Australia, whether batting or bowling, like to hit the opposition hard early. And we have been talking about going hard ourselves. We are not here to make up the numbers. We are here to win.”I do know some of the guys in the opposition team, but I’m sure they fully respect that I’ve got a job to do. I liken it to playing backyard cricket years ago against your brothers and your best mates. It was full on in the backyard, but you walked away mates. I’m sure the same will occur after the five Tests.”We’ve played some good Test cricket over the last few years. There has been the odd game where we haven’t performed, but we’re very confident, and have played very well against Australia for the last few years.”

Alastair Cook is refusing to look beyond the next game as he prepares for his record-breaking 150th Test

George Dobell in Perth12-Dec-20172:06

‘Not many people play 150 Test matches’ – Cook

Alastair Cook is refusing to look beyond the next game as he prepares for his record-breaking 150th Test.Cook, England’s record Test run-scorer, will on Thursday become the first England player – and the eighth man from any nation – to appear in 150 Tests. But while Cook insisted those who have suggested he was on the verge of retirement (the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Mitchell Johnson) did so from a position of ignorance – “they have no contact time with me” – he did admit he had “no idea” whether this Ashes campaign could prove to be his final Test series.All of which did little to quell the rising tide of speculation that suggests Cook could be tiring of the demands of a life as an international cricketer. And while he points to the extra training sessions he is taking as proof of his enduring ambition, he did hint that a decision about his future could be taken by the selectors unless he is able to rediscover his form with the bat.Cook has never been dropped from the Test team but the scars of losing the ODI captaincy at the end of 2014 are still apparent.”At the moment, I’m very much taking things on a game-by-game basis,” Cook said ahead of the third Test at the WACA. “I’m trying to score runs, trying to set up England wins.”Could it be my last series? I’ve no idea. And I’ve said that since I gave up the captaincy. Things change incredibly quickly. I was taught a lesson in 2014 with that World Cup. In the morning I was expecting to lead England in that World Cup and in the afternoon I got a phone call saying they didn’t want me to do it. And that was an hour after a meeting when they said they wanted me to, so you end up living on the edge in professional cricket.”I wouldn’t be going to do extra gym sessions or the extra batting behind closed doors if I wasn’t keen on carrying on. The people who are saying that [I’m finished] have had no contact time with me. They wouldn’t know the extra nets I’ve been having behind closed doors. I was with the batting coach Gary Palmer for an hour-and-a-half yesterday morning desperately trying to keep working at my game. That’s probably not a guy who’s given in.”It doesn’t get any easier. I think I said before that it doesn’t matter what you’ve done before, you still go out on nought every time you bat. That’s why it’s called Test cricket. It’s meant to be hard. I’m not saying I’m absolutely flying here, because you only fly when you’re really scoring runs.”If you’re scoring runs all the time your place is guaranteed and if you don’t there are plenty of other people who want your place so that hasn’t changed. That hasn’t changed in my 12 years and it won’t change in the next 20 years. People want your place and it’s up to me to score runs to get those people off my back. It’s just judged on results.”He did, he admits, lose a little of the drive required to lead the side at the end of 2016 but says he has enjoyed the transition back into the ranks.Alastair Cook lines one up in the nets•Getty Images

“I did my stint doing the best job in the world,” he said. “And at that time, I’d run out of that motivation to really drive this side on. In that last year, we lost too many games of cricket for a side that talented. So I probably felt as if I wasn’t doing my job well enough to drive that team forward and didn’t quite have the energy that job needed.”I’ve really enjoyed the last 12 months, with Essex obviously winning the County Championship and with England winning the last two series. We’ve got the biggest game of our lives coming up now, and we’ve got to scrap unbelievably hard for the five days.”It is, Cook says, the fact that he has played so many consecutive games (this match will be his 148th in succession; only Allan Border, with 153, can claim more) that provides most cause for pride. It is a record that demonstrates consistency, sustained fitness and a good relationship with the England management who have ensured he has been extended patience during the lean days.There have been a few of those, too. And, while is he keen to remind us that it is only four Tests since he made a double-century at Edgbaston, he is in something of a lean run now. That Edgbaston effort is his only hundred in his last 25 Test innings and he has not reached 40 in the eight innings since it.”Clearly I’d like to score more runs,” he said. “My job at the top of the order, and it has been since 2006, is to try to get England off to a good start and on this tour I have struggled. I thought in Adelaide I played a bit better. Four games ago I got a double hundred. So it’s amazing how the cycle of the world goes. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m setting the world alight but you get through that first hour as a batter and you try to get a big one. That doesn’t change.”I probably didn’t think I would be here when I turned up in Nagpur [for his Test debut] all those years ago. It’s obviously a very special moment in terms of a personal milestone. Not many people play 150 Test matches so to do that and do it at the top of the order, I’m quite proud of that.”It is a very special thing to pull on that cap. It’s a special thing to walk out and play for England. And that’s why I love doing it. Hopefully there can be a few more.”

Mashrafe Mortaza has warned his batting unit against relying too much on Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan following Bangladesh’s 10-wicket loss to Sri Lanka

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur25-Jan-2018The 10-wicket drubbing by Sri Lanka has served as a wake-up call for Bangladesh, their captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said. He hoped the middle order could do better in the final in the event that both Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, the two in-form batsmen, fall cheaply again.Between them, Tamim and Shakib had scored five half-centuries in Bangladesh’s first three matches of the tri-nation series. On Thursday, both fell for single-digit scores as Bangladesh collapsed to 82 all out. The middle-order trio of Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain made 7, 10 and 3 respectively, and Mashrafe warned his team from relying too much on Shakib, whose promotion to No 3 has opened up opportunities for the rest of the batting line-up.”It is a nice wake-up call,” Mashrafe said. “We have found out how poorly we can play on our bad day. There’s no guarantee of not losing Shakib and Tamim early in the final, so now we have an idea. [Mahmudullah] Riyad has handled these situations in the past. Sabbir played his 50th ODI today. They have the ability.”I think the top-order’s failure today exposed the middle-order but this wasn’t the extent we had expected. There was no need to rush after four wickets fell. Strike-rate of 50 could have been pushed up to 75 or 80 later on. We have to discuss whether this was thought about, in the middle. Shakib has played at No 5 for the last 10-11 years. It is now up to the middle-order to take responsibility. We can’t keep playing around Shakib.”According to Mashrafe, Nasir and Sabbir are perhaps having finding it difficult to curtail their free-scoring approach when the situation demands it. With his side 57 for four in the 17th over, Sabbir charged Thisara Perera and toe-ended an attempted big hit to mid-on. Nasir, meanwhile, tickled a Dushmantha Chameera delivery that was way down the leg-side. His failure in this game left him with only five runs from his last three innings.”Possibly they are not able to absorb the pressure,” Mashrafe said. “Maybe they like to score runs quickly rather than spend time in the middle. In our first-class cricket, they have 100 strike-rate after early wickets. It is possibly beyond our nature to slow down after the fall of few wickets.”I think they are feeling guilty, probably more than me. I would want them to think about it before the final, but they should also remain positive.”Anamul Haque remains a cause for concern as well. He was the first wicket to fall in this game, dragging a wide delivery back onto his stumps, giving him a total of 55 runs in four innings thus far in the series. He hasn’t managed to replicate his domestic form upon his return to international cricket after two years, which has coincided with plenty of social-media clamor calling for his selection.”There has been a lot of talk about [Anamul] Bijoy, that he is scoring runs in all levels,” Mashrafe said. “I think more than us, you have exposed him more, which is true. But we have full faith in him, which is why he is still playing continuously.”

Tim Paine and Pat Cummins showed fight with the bat, and Cummins was a constant threat with the ball, too, but South Africa remained firmly in control of the match, and almost certain to complete a historic home series win against Australia

The Report by Brydon Coverdale01-Apr-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:53