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Zimbabwe batsman Vusi Sibanda suffered an injury to his right ankle during a warm-up session on Friday, but is likely to recover in time to make the squad for the upcoming home series against India according to the coach Dav Whatmore

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2015Zimbabwe batsman Vusi Sibanda suffered an injury to his right ankle during a warm-up session on Friday, but is likely to recover in time for the upcoming home series against India according to the coach Dav Whatmore.The injury occurred at the Harare Sports Club during training when a back-pedaling Sibanda rolled over his right ankle after accidentally stepping on team analyst Stanley Chioza’s foot. Sibanda was immediately taken for an x-ray scan and later given a crutch, but Whatmore played down the incident as a “minor accident” and said that the player “should be okay in a week”.”I took Vusi for an x-ray, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging scans and the results are expected this afternoon,” Anesu Mupotaringa, the team physiotherapist, said. “He is currently in pain and I have given him a crutch to avoid pressure on the ankle. I also gave him medication to help with the pain and swelling, and he will receive treatment twice daily to speed up recovery with the hope of him being fit for the India tour.”Sibanda has played 154 international matches for Zimbabwe since making his debut in 2003. He was left out of the 2015 World Cup squad, but returned to the side for Zimbabwe’s historic tour of Pakistan last month.Zimbabwe will host India for three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals, starting July 10 in Harare.

A round-up of ICC World Cricket League Division Five matches that took place on February 19 in Singapore

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2012Bahrain bounced back after a poor opening day on which they were bowled out for 49 to beat Argentina by 65 runs at the Kallang Ground in Singapore. After being put in, Bahrain opener Adnan Butt delivered a quick start, racing to 49 off 33 balls including four sixes.Though the innings slowed down considerably – Argentina struck at regular intervals – there were a series of steady contributions that kept Bahrain afloat. Adil Hanif (39) and Azeem ul Haq (27) were involved in a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket but the crucial innings came from Tahir Dar, whose unbeaten 46 off 44 balls helped Bahrain recover from the depths of 152 for 8. Together with Nos. 9 and 10, he added 61 for the last two wickets and Bahrain posted 213.Dar was also instrumental in Bahrain’s win with a fine bowling performance, taking 6 for 18 in a stand-out all-round effort. The Argentinian top order got starts but neither batsman managed a substantial contribution. Martin Siri made 46 but a collapse ensued, the last seven wickets fell for 20 runs and Dar made inroads. Argentina folded for 148, their second straight defeat.Malysia thrashed Cayman Islands by nine wickets at The Padang. Cayman Islands were in serious trouble after choosing to bat. They collapsed to a miserable 36 for 8 in the 21st over before the tail gave the tally some respectability by taking it past three-figures. Conroy Wright made 56 at No.9, and he was supported by Kervin Ebanks (19) and Alessandro Morris (14). For Malaysia, Suresh Navaratnam picked up 4 for 15, and Hiran Ralalage and Hassan Ghulam shared five wickets.
Shafiq Sharif led the way in the chase, making an unbeaten 74, while captain Ahmed Faiz, who had to retire hurt, chipped in with 33. The victory was sealed in the 31st over.Singapore‘s bowlers ensured that a late collapse by their batsmen wasn’t enough to prevent the hosts from brushing Guernsey aside by 78 runs at the Indian Association Ground. Buddika Mendis’ patient 77 had Singapore sitting strong on 191 for 3. None of the last six batsmen, though, could reach double figures as Singapore were dismissed for 223. The hosts began strongly when Amjab Mahboob dismissed Ross Kneller in the fourth over and Guernsey were soon struggling at 67 for 4. Jeremy Frith was the lone batsmen to resist with his 76, but the next-highest score by a Guernsey batsman was 18. Shoaib Razzak and Saad Janjua finished with three wickets each as Guernsey were bowled out for 145 in the 44th over.

AB de Villiers broke records and Pakistani spirits as South Africa took control on the second day at the Sheikh Abu Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi

The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin21-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
AB de Villiers was at ease during his double-ton•Associated Press

AB de Villiers broke records and Pakistani spirits as South Africa took control on the second day at the Sheikh Abu Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. de Villiers compiled a monumental unvanquished 278, the highest individual score by a South African to help his side declare on 584 for 9. Pakistani resistance was by turns futile and worthwhile; debutante Tanvir Ahmed bagged a six-for by the close and an important unbroken 57-run stand between Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar allowed them to return to fight another day.The story and direction of the Test so far was set by de Villiers. Initially his was a muted, inevitable progression; a continuation of the stealthy way in which he went along on the first day. At no point did he choose to cut loose and it was really a matter of choice, for at no point in the day did he look insecure.A verbal dance with a luckless Umar Gul on the virtues or otherwise of walking – Pakistan thought de Villiers was out twice yesterday – was his highlight of the morning’s first hour. He did break out 80 minutes in to the morning in one over against a tiring Ahmed, a delicious drive sandwiched by a pull and punch through midwicket; the last brought up 150.The damage to Pakistan didn’t seem apparent at first: 74 runs and two wickets in the morning, in fact, was even-stevens. But as the day wore on, de Villiers killed Pakistan gradually, orchestrating a succession of useful lower-order stands. He put on 73 with Mark Boucher, 42 with Johan Botha and, irritatingly for Pakistan, 59 with Dale Steyn.Through them all were regular reminders of the simplicity of de Villiers’ strokeplay, such as an easy glide through gully of Mohammad Sami. To bring up the double as tea approached, he first pulled Gul in front of square before guiding him through gully for another boundary.Steyn’s post-lunch cameo was where the fun really began. There were flick-pulls, drives hit as hard as concrete as well as a magnificent dance-down six over long-on. Paul Harris added a handy 35 but a grand humiliation was served up in an unbeaten 107-run partnership unbeaten with Morne Morkel. The stand broke the South African 10th wicket partnership record that had stood since 1929, when Tuppy Owen-Smith and Sandy Bell put on 103 at Headingley against England.A flurry of boundaries as matters came to an end amply demonstrated de Villiers’ complete and total superiority, as well as that of his side’s. In the second session he scored an even 100. Two overs after tea, as he deftly took a single to midwicket, Graeme Smith stood tallest and loudest in the dressing room applauding as de Villiers went past his captain as holder of the highest individual Test score for South Africa.By then Pakistan were dead men walking. de Villiers had drained them thoroughly and every tailend boundary was simply another prick on a numbed spirit. They had actually begun well, with Gul and Ahmed particularly tight. The latter struck first, a sharp, late inswinger surprising Boucher. The Flintoff-esque celebration was impressive and understandable. Another wicket later ensured the second-best figures on debut for a Pakistani, though by then the fizz had gone.Even Sami bowled an outstanding spell pre-lunch, full of whizzing outswingers. One such caught the edge but two truths of Sami’s career remained unchallenged: one, he has no luck and two, catching is not an Akmal family strength.All things considered they didn’t end badly either. Mohammad Hafeez went in the very first over, but Umar and Ali were firm in a session in which they probably weren’t tested as they should’ve been. The latter looked particularly good, defending and driving with equal assurance. The proper ascent up the mountain will begin tomorrow.

Division One leaders need less than two session to take the nine wickets they needed

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2024Title favourites Surrey took less than two sessions on day four to bowl out Lancashire for 177 at the Kia Oval to complete an impressive innings-and-63-run victory.Conor McKerr polished off Lancashire’s tail to finish with 4 for 27 while Dan Worrall and Jordan Clark picked up three wickets apiece as long-time Division One leaders Surrey, champions in 2022 and 2023, made it seven wins from ten Vitality County Championship matches this season. It is another big step for Surrey towards a third title in a row.Matty Hurst, Lancashire’s highly rated 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, tried hard to hold up Surrey by adding a fine 64 to a first-innings 46 in what is only his 12th first-class appearance but there was never any real doubt about the eventual result as wickets fell regularlyLancashire resumed still 214 runs adrift on 26 for 1 from 11.1 overs, after a rain-hit third day had seemingly given them a chance of escaping with a draw, but lost their last nine wickets for 151 runs as Surrey’s five-man pace attack proved too hot for them to handle for the second time in the game.Worrall, the Championship’s leading wicket-taker with 40 at an average of only 15.55 runs apiece, made the initial breakthroughs by dismissing Lancashire captain Keaton Jennings for 13 and 16-year-old debutant Rocky Flintoff in successive balls in the fifth full over of the morning.First, coming from around the wicket to left-hander Jennings, he swung one back into the former England Test opener who offered no shot and saw the ball thud into the top of his off stump. And another fine piece of bowling by Worrall immediately inflicted a first ball duck on young Flintoff, the son of former England captain Andrew who had batted so promisingly for 32 on day one as Lancashire’s youngest first-class cricketer.Pushing forward to an outswinger that also bounced perhaps more than he expected, Flintoff edged to keeper Ben Foakes who took an excellent diving catch in front of first slip.That left Lancashire 33 for 3 and they soon declined further to 82 for 5 as Josh Bohannon chopped a short, rising ball from Clark into his stumps to go for 29 and George Balderson edged a returning Worrall to second slip on four.Hurst, however, was then joined by Venkatesh Iyer in a sixth-wicket stand of 36 that at least took Lancashire through to lunch, with Iyer even having the temerity to flip Worrall over the short leg-side boundary for six. Yet it took only two balls after the interval for Surrey to break the stand, with Iyer nibbling at Clark outside off stump and thin-edging through to Foakes.Tom Hartley also offered some lower resistance, battling through a testing spell from Sam Curran in which he was beaten several times before hitting Will Jacks’ off spin over long-on for six.Hurst, though, was disgusted with himself for clipping the first ball of McKerr’s second spell – an innocuous loosener – straight into Ryan Patel’s hands at midwicket after a defiant 116-ball stay featuring seven fours. And the end was nigh when McKerr took two more wickets in his eighth over, Tom Aspinwall lofting a full toss straight to mid off and Josh Boyden losing his off stump to depart for a second-ball duck.Hartley was last man out, for 22, fending McKerr to Patel at short leg just after 3pm. Worrall finished with 3 for 34 while Clark took his own season’s Championship wicket tally to 32 with his 3 for 43.

Former South Africa captain hopes to finish his Test career in Cape Town, his “favourite stadium in the world”

Firdose Moonda22-Dec-2023Dean Elgar, South Africa’s former Test captain and stalwart opening batter, will play his last international series against India this summer. Elgar, 36, announced his decision to retire from international cricket after the New Year’s match, which is scheduled to start on January 3 in Cape Town.If in the playing XI for both Tests against India, Elgar will finish on 86 Tests in a career that has spanned 12 years. “Playing the game of cricket has always been a dream of mine but having the opportunity to represent your country is the ultimate! Having had the privilege to do it for 12 years internationally is simply beyond my wildest dreams,” he said in a statement. “It has been an incredible journey that I have been fortunate enough to have.”The Cape Town Test will be my last. My favourite stadium in the world. A place I scored my first Test run against New Zealand and hopefully my last too.”With 5146 runs, Elgar is South Africa’s eighth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket – only eight have gone past 5000 runs – and 352 runs behind Mark Boucher, who is seventh on the list.ESPNcricinfo understands that Elgar was informed that he was not part of red-ball coach Shukri Conrad’s long-term plans. He has been linked with Essex as an overseas player for the 2024 season.Elgar’s decision means he will be unavailable for South Africa’s two-Test series in New Zealand, where they will be forced to send a makeshift side because several frontline players will be involved in the SA20 league. Elgar does not have an SA20 deal and would have been the most experienced player in the squad, and potentially even asked to captain in Temba Bavuma’s absence. Instead, Titans’ batter Neil Brand is expected to lead South Africa and partner Tony de Zorzi at the top of the order. Brand and de Zorzi opened the batting together for South Africa A against West Indies A in a recent three-match series.Asked ten days ago whether Elgar was considering ending his international career, CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe told ESPNcricinfo that “nothing has come to my table”, but would be meeting with players and their agents “over the next couple of weeks”. Nkwe has held several discussions in the interim and paid tribute to Elgar’s contributions over the years.”Dean Elgar represents a rare brand of cricketer in an age where everything is about innovation and power-hitting. He is a real old-school cricketer that can dig in, absorb and fight. I have no doubt the game will dearly miss him,” Nkwe said. “He has always given everything for his country and never showed any fear, no matter the opposition. He was always there to take on the challenge, leading as captain when the country needed him most.”Dean Elgar led South Africa in 17 Tests, winning nine of them•AFP/Getty Images

Elgar made his debut in Perth on South Africa’s tour of Australia in 2012, when they were ranked No. 1 in the world, and became the 38th player to record a pair on debut – a list that stands at 45 now – but scored a century in his third match and went on to record 13 hundreds, against all Test opposition other than Pakistan and Zimbabwe. His favourite opponents were Sri Lanka, against whom he scored a match-winning hundred in Galle in 2014, followed by two more centuries in 2017 and 2021.Elgar stood in as captain for Faf du Plessis, who was on paternity leave, for the first Test of South Africa’s 2017 tour of England and again for two Tests against Pakistan in 2019, and was named permanent captain of the Test side in mid-2021. He led South Africa to series wins in the West Indies and against India at home, and drew a series against New Zealand in early 2022, which saw them top the World Test Championship (WTC) table at the time. But away losses to England and Australia in 2022-23 meant South Africa missed out on the WTC final earlier this year. Elgar was replaced as captain when there was a reshuffle of the coaching staff in February but continued to play under Bavuma.It is understood that Elgar was unhappy with the decision to be stood down but accepted a new central contract at the end of March. With South Africa only due to play two Test series in the 2023-2025 WTC cycle, Elgar felt his Test career would be limited by the schedule and sources have confirmed he wanted to finish on a high at home.

The BCCI ethics officer has given her until September 2 to respond

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2022Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani has been asked by the BCCI ethics officer Vineet Saran to respond to a conflict-of-interest complaint filed against her.The complaint was made by former Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) member Sanjeev Gupta, who raised the issue that Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai franchise in the IPL, is also a director at Reliance Industries (RIL), whose subsidiary Viacom 18 bought broadcast rights for the IPL from 2023 to 2027 for a sum of INR 23,758 crore (US$ 3 billion approx).Viacom 18 secured the digital rights to stream the IPL in India, and also the media rights (both TV and digital) for Australia and New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa, at the e-auction* conducted by the BCCI in June.According to Gupta, Ambani’s positions as a team owner in the IPL and as a director in the company that owns the subsidiary that has acquired IPL broadcast rights, represents a conflict of interest.”It is submitted that RIL website states that Viacom 18 is a subsidiary company of RIL,” Mr. Gupta wrote in his complaint about the alleged conflict of interest, according to PTI.Saran, a former Supreme Court judge, has given Ambani until September 2 to file a written response to the complaint.”You are hereby informed that a complaint has been received by the Ethics Officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India under rule 39(b) of the rules and regulations of BCCI, regarding certain acts, allegedly constituting ‘conflict of interest’ on your part,” Saran wrote in his notice to Ambani. “You are directed to file your written response to the accompanying complaint on or before 2-9-2022.”Gupta, the person who filed the complaint, has a history of raising conflict-of-interest issues in Indian cricket. In the past, he has filed such complaints against Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla among others.*ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of the Walt Disney Company. Disney Star was also part of the e-auction and acquired the IPL TV rights for India from 2023 to 2027

Hard-hitting century proves too much in spite of Scott Steel’s doughty 64 in reply

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2022Northamptonshire 227 for 1 (Lynn 106*, Neesham 75*) beat Leicestershire 185 for 9 (Steel 64) by 42 runsChris Lynn played another destructive, big-hitting innings for Northamptonshire Steelbacks, posting the third T20 century of his career as he put Leicestershire Foxes bowlers to the sword in this Vitality Blast clash.Amid an onslaught of boundaries at Wantage Road, Lynn bludgeoned 106 from just 66 balls with 12 fours and three huge sixes as Northamptonshire closed on 227 for one.Lynn picked up where he left off against Durham on this ground last Friday, sharing another century opening stand with Ben Curran (31). He was then joined by New Zealand international Jimmy Neesham who made a blistering 75 off just 30 deliveries featuring six enormous maximums on Steelbacks debut. The pair put on 118 in just 53 balls of mayhem in front of a near-capacity crowd who gave both batters a standing ovation.In reply, Foxes opener Scott Steel hit 64 from 45 deliveries. His stand of 65 in seven overs with skipper Colin Ackerman offered a glimpse of hope, before young left-arm wrist spinner Freddie Helreich came back from an early mauling to take three wickets for the second time in a week.The Steelbacks’ total was all the more notable given some sharp Foxes bowling and fielding restricted them to 48 in the powerplay. Naveen-ul-Haq was particularly impressive, beating the bat on several occasions.But Lynn soon found his stride targeting all the Foxes bowlers, clubbing them straight down the ground and over deep midwicket. He also found plenty of runs through the covers and past backward point.Not to be outdone, Neesham, fresh from a stint in the IPL, was soon into the fun, adding five fours to go with his six-hitting.The Steelbacks struck early when Ben Sanderson removed Hamish Rutherford. The bowler followed that by taking a running catch off Tom Taylor when Arron Lilley could not quite clear the infield.It left the Foxes in real trouble at 8 for two, but Ackerman led a fightback, cutting Neesham for successive boundaries and then swinging Sanderson over midwicket for another. He took four boundaries off Heldreich’s first over to take the Foxes to 50 for two at the end of the powerplay.Heldreich finally got his man when Ackerman hit straight to Graeme White on the long-leg boundary. Rishi Patel then fell to a stunning one-handed leaping catch by Rob Keogh on the deep midwicket boundary to give Heldreich his second scalp and leave the Foxes at 87 for four.Steel was joined by Ben Mike who struck some lusty blows off the slower bowlers but despite that, the Foxes were left needing 94 off the final five overs. When Mike offered a tame catch in the ring and departed for 30, the end was nigh.Steel continued his aggression, surviving one dropped catch off Heldreich before falling to an excellent catch from Curran at point off Neesham who finished with two wickets.The Foxes went down in a flurry of wickets, Sanderson also collecting three scalps in the process as the visitors closed on 185 for nine.

Pradeep hailed by his team for keeping them in the contest against Afghanistan

Sharda Ugra in Cardiff04-Jun-2019Two yorkers from Lasith Malinga crashed into the stumps and had zing bails light up the growing gloom around the Cardiff Wales Stadium and Afghan hearts, but by then Sri Lanka were as good as home.An oxygen-depleted win but a win all the same in their second game of the 2019 World Cup. Against the event’s sweetheart qualifiers, Afghanistan, by 34 runs (D/L method), which doesn’t prove anything except give Sri Lanka valuable points and a breather – and certainly for Malinga, his first win after 21 ODI defeats and one NR since July 6, 2017.WATCH – Highlights from the Afghanistan-Sri Lanka game on Hotstar (India only)Sri Lanka’s last ODI win against a frontline team outside of Asia was almost two years ago, against India at the Champions Trophy. In between then and now, purgatory, doubt, batting collapses (not that those have gone away) and one defeat after another.Tuesday’s win, says coach Chandika Hathurusingha gives the team the booster shot of confidence they needed. “We really needed a win. We haven’t got much success lately… We need this badly.”The Sri Lankans were to make the single change that may be what is needed to alter their narrative. Even if that meant putting all their eggs in the one basket that Cardiff offered them – picking five seamers in conditions with clouds overhead that made the swinging ball sing. It was this fifth horsemen that was to prevent their apocalypse.Nuwan Pradeep, hipster haircut, gunslinger walk, slinger action, biting pace and mean inswing – and left out on the weekend, turned up and did his job during the work week and produced his career-best ODI figures that made victory possible. Once it was done, the Sri Lankans gathered together in a huddle of relief, bunting Man of the Match Pradeep on his head over and over.Captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s grin was visible from a distance; never mind the fates and losing the toss again, his team had climbed out of the hole they had dug for themselves after recording the highest power play total of the competition and then imploding (7 for 36 in 11 overs.) Twenty runs across the last two wickets did take Sri Lanka past 200 but Hathurusingha said while the score had never seemed enough they had expected the seamers to “bowl well on the wicket, hit the deck hard and hit the seam”. The innings break had not featured a pep talk but a talking-to: “I tell them what has to be done. That they have to come and perform.”It is what the Sri Lankan bowlers did; the 15 wides at the end of the innings will cost them heavily elsewhere, but the extravagance of the Afghan batsmen allowed them to get away with it. The key was to just to pitch the ball up or back of a length, depending on who disliked what, hit the pitch hard when required to create dot ball pressure and extract the error. Or as Thisara Perera put it, “Keep our line and length and don’t panic.” Isuru Udana and Pradeep, the least experienced of the five, were particularly efficient in tandem, Pradeep sending home the two most dangerous Afghan batsmen on the day – the first, opener Hazratullah Zazai and the second captain, Gulbadin Naib.Hathurusingha said Pradeep had “single-handedly” kept Sri Lanka in the game. In conditions like Cardiff where the ball swings and often climbs, he finds himself in his element and there was no better day to put it out on display. Left-arm paceman Udana said of Pradeep: “He was the main man today he was the man who changed the game.” Pradeep had never played with a cricket ball until the age of 20, was discovered through a soft-ball competition, and has had a career for Sri Lanka restricted by a series of injuries. His last ODI was against New Zealand in January, missing out on the March tour of New Zealand due to injury. On Tuesday in Cardiff, Pradeep was quick enough and sharp enough to be the bowler Sri Lanka required to give their world cup campaign the buoyancy it needed.Nuwan Pradeep celebrates dismissing Rashid Khan•Getty Images

On our Smart Stats Forecaster, Naib’s wicket brought down Afghanistan’s win probability from 61% to just under 50%. When Mohammed Nabi went, it nosedived further from 44 to 28 and was spot on in predicting the trend of the contest. The Malinga yorkers were just the celebratory, flashy outlet Sri Lanka needed at the end of a tense game.The combined experience of the senior seamers – Malinga, Lakmal and Perera have played 455 ODIs between them – was to help pass on wisdom and calmness to the younger two. Udana, playing only his seventh ODI, used his experience from the Bangladesh and Afghan T20 leagues to offer insights into the Afghan batsmen to his team-mates. Malinga’s last two wickets with his signature yorkers were the Afghan Nos. 9 and 10 and ended the game, but it was Pradeep that had virtually dragged it out of Afghanistan’s reach and imagination.Sri Lanka on the field were far from ship-shape but they were to find moments of inspiration – Thisara’s diving catch off Zazai on the long-leg boundary, Karunaratne’s direct hit to run out Najibullah Zadran – that made them buzz, bouncing on the balls of their feet, backing each other up. There was Malinga, the angry lion in winter, patting Pradeep on the back after he conceded five wides in the 25th over in an attempt to bounce out the batsman. The Lankans had found the energy and the collective will to compete.Hathurusingha hoped this game was going to change Sri Lankan ODI fortunes, especially at the event where it is most urgent and most noticed. When asked about Malinga’s tongue lashing and whether he agreed with it, he said: “When you play for your country there is a lot of pride at stake. They are all hurting. I’m sure about that. They really, really want to perform well for the country. What Lasith said, whatever he said, is what he believes and I think all the players get a lot of confidence after this win for sure.”Now if only the batsmen could follow.

Former South Africa fast bowler Andre Nel is set to coach provincial side Easterns at the Africa Cup T20 tournament

Firdose Moonda02-Sep-2015Andre Nel, South Africa cricket’s original scary eyes, is back. Not to inflict another bruise on a hero, like he did when he felled Allan Donald with a fierce bouncer in a first-class match, or to stick his tongue out at the opposition and induce impromptu bat-swinging breakdance like he did against Sreesanth, but to teach others how to.Nel, who has been coaching at a school and a university academy, will coach provincial side Easterns at the Africa Cup T20 tournament, a coming-of-age position for the now-placid paceman. “I feel like life has come full circle for me because this is where I started and now I just want to help Easterns get back to the where they were,” he told ESPNcricinfo. Nel was part of the Easterns provincial side that won the premier first-class competition in the 2002-03 season, before South African domestic cricket was franchised.Since the franchise system formed, Easterns have been one of the feeder teams to the Titans. But as a semi-professional side, Easterns have underwhelmed in the three-day and List A competitions, with no titles to their name. Nel wants to begin changing that in his first assignment, a T20 competition, played between South Africa’s provincial teams as well as invited outfits from Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia, which starts this weekend.Easterns are grouped with their franchise partners, Northerns, Western Province and Zimbabwe. Only the top team in each pool advances to the knockouts, so Nel knows he has a difficult task ahead. “We’re in a tough pool and everybody expects us not to win so it’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Nel said. “But if everything in life was easy, everyone would be doing it.”But Easterns have two major advantages. The weekend’s fixtures, which incorporate all six matches in the group, will be played at their home ground, Willowmoore Park and they have a rejuvenated international in their squad. Quinton de Kock will turn out for Easterns in a bid to continue with his new-found form and play himself back into the national team after he was dropped during the Bangladesh series.Nel hopes to nudge de Kock in the right direction by putting no pressure on him and providing advice as someone who also had to work his way back into the senior side.”He has been through a tough time. I know what it is like to be dropped and then have find your way back and the most important thing is to be humble. When you get in quite young, there is extra pressure on you to stay in the side and you have to take that out of the equation.”I just want to give him the freedom to go out and express himself. Sometimes maybe he gets too nervous. He must just go out and be Quinton de Kock and not try to be someone else.” Although Nel was no batsman, his only other advice for de Kock is “work on his on-side game.”The technical tidbits will be saved for the bowlers and Nel has a number to work with, including Junior Dala, who featured regularly for the Titans last season.Dala is quick with an unusual slingy action and Nel is looking forward to moulding him for future success. “I worked with Junior at the University of Johannesburg academy so I know him pretty well. He has just come back from Sri Lanka with the South African Emerging side so he is definitely on the radar and he should be. He is looking strong and fit and he offers something different.”

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the SLPL final between Nagenahira Nagas and Uva Next

The Preview by Andrew Fernando30-Aug-2012

Match facts

August 31, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)
Uva’s Jacob Oram has been the SLPL’s most miserly bowler with an economy rate of 3.94•Shaun Roy/SPORTZPICS/SLPL

Big Picture

Before the tournament, few would have imagined either Nagenahira Nagas or Uva Next would reach the final, let alone both at once. On paper, Ruhuna Royals boasted bigger overseas stars, Basnahira Cricket Dundee the better local talent, and Wayamba United the X-factor players. Yet, the finalists have each performed at crucial moments to earn their passage.Both sides have ridden their fortune too. Nagenahira were lucky that a washout in the semi-final against Kandurata Warriors granted them automatic qualification, but were luckier still that the resurgent Kandurata were unable to play Uva Next in their round robin match on Saturday, robbing Kandurata of the chance to leap above them on the points table and go through to the final instead. For Uva, Jacob Oram’s all-round brilliance happily coincided with an off-colour Wayamba show on Tuesday, in the heist of the tournament.Nagenahira will have the psychological advantage of having beaten Uva comfortably on Monday, and are slight favourites. They may lack for a few star names, but they have relied on a few key players to lift the side. Imran Nazir’s blazing starts and Angelo Mathews’ calculated finishes have provided formidable bookends to their innings, while the attack has taken its cues from Shaminda Eranga and Ajantha Mendis.Bowling, meanwhile has been Uva’s forte. Following his three-wicket haul in the semi-final, Oram is now not only the league’s most miserly bowler with an economy rate of 3.94, he is also only one scalp short of being among the tournament’s top wicket-takers. Umar Gul may not have been picked for Pakistan’s ODIs against Australia, but his yorkers remain fearsome at the death, while Sachithra Senanayake and Seekuge Prasanna provide both variety and penetration with spin. If the Uva attack can topple Nazir early and silence Mathews towards the end, they will be favourites to win the trophy after qualifying fourth for the semi-finals.

Path to final

Nagenahira Nagas – Four wins and two losses in the round robin, qualified for the semi-finals at second place. Through to final on points after Wednesday’s semi-final was abandoned due to rain.Uva Next – Three wins, two losses and one draw (match abandoned due to rain) in the round robin, qualified for the semi-finals in fourth place. Through to the final after defeating top-placed Wayamba by 20 runs.

Watch out for

Ajantha Mendis (Nagenahira) has reclaimed a spot in Sri Lanka’s World Twenty20 side through a strong SLPL performance and seems to have rediscovered the accuracy that saw him demolish international sides at the beginning of his career. He has added more flight to his deliveries as well, and his mystery remains largely intact in a domestic tournament that lacks the video analysis resources available at the top level.Dilhara Fernando (Uva) is tipped to return for the final, after missing all but three matches through injury, and will augment an already impressive seam battery. Fernando has the only five-wicket haul in the SLPL, and his split-finger slower ball still deceives batsmen who have played him for years. Overs from him at the beginning of the innings will allow the captain Thilina Kandamby to reserve more of Gul’s yorkers for later.

Team news

Nagenahira will be without Mushfiqur Rahim, who left the country on the eve of the final to join the Bangladesh tour to the West Indies, extending the trend of overseas players leaving for national duty just as the tournament reaches its climax. TM Sampath is likely to take over the gloves instead.Nagenahira Nagas (probable) : 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Udara Jayasundera, 3 Travis Birt, 4 Colin de Grandhomme, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Angelo Perera, 7 TM Sampath (wk), 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Shaminda Eranga, 10 Ben Laughlin/ Kanishka Alvitigala, 11 Ajantha MendisGul and Fernando having recovered from their niggles, Uva have a fully fit squad to choose from. None of their major players have left the tournament either.Uva Next (probable): 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Upul Tharanga (wk), 3 Thilina Kandamby (capt), 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Chinthaka Jayasinghe, 6 Andrew McDonald, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Sachithra Senanayake, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Charith Jayampathi

Stats and trivia

• Shaminda Eranga and Ajantha Mendis have taken 11 and 10 wickets respectively. The remaining Nagenahira bowlers have 14 between them
• Jacob Oram’s most expensive figures, 1 for 22 from three overs, came against Nagenahira
• Dilshan Munaweera is the only batsman from either team among the tournament’s five top runscorers, with 168 runs and a strike-rate of 135.
  

  Pitch and conditions

  Three days of heavy rain in the lead-up does not bode well for the final, particularly as scattered thunderstorms are forecast for Friday evening. A shortened final may well be on the cards. The Premadasa pitch may also be more conducive to swing, having had precious little sunshine to dry it out over the past week.

  Quotes

  “I don’t think Jacob [Oram] gets the new ball much when he plays for New Zealand. We’ve given him the new ball here and he has become a totally different bowler.”
  “I always try to give myself a chance to bat till the end because I know I can catch up later on. I know how to approach the game from that position and go about finishing off an innings.”
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