Cricket

Woken-up Abdul Razzaq hit a belligerent unbeaten hundred to help Pakistan pull off an incredible win in the second one-day international against South Africa on Sunday.

The dashing 30-year-old all-rounder hit a quickfire 109 off just 72 balls studded with ten towering sixes and seven fours to help Pakistan overhaul a daunting 288-run target with just one wicket and one delivery to spare.

Razzaq’s third one-day hundred — crossing the fifty mark for the first time since making 75 not out against England four years ago — helped Pakistan level the five-match series 1-1 at the Abu Dhabi Stadium.

South Africa won the first match by eight wickets here on Friday. The third match will be played in Dubai on Tuesday.

Razzaq, who came to the crease at 136/5, added 81 for the sixth wicket with Fawad Alam (48) to raise hopes of Pakistan win and even after Alam fell, he did not lose heart despite Pakistan needing 87 in the last ten overs.

He hit Charl Langeveldt for three sixes in 47th over before taking a six and a boundary off the same bowler in the 49th.

Pakistan needed 14 off the last over as Razzaq cut loose, hitting sixes off the second and third balls from Albie Morkel to raise his third hundred in one-day cricket, which came off just 70 balls.

He then cut through the point for boundary to bring Pakistan’s win.

Langeveldt, who completed his 100 wickets in the match, provided his team with early breakthroughs, removing opener Asad Shafiq (one) and Younis Khan for 18.

Pakistan struggled to 70/4 before Alam and skipper Shahid Afridi (49) added 66 for the fifth wicket to lift the stuttering innings. Afridi hit two sixes and three boundaries off 40 balls before passing the buck to Razzaq.

Earlier, the 25-year-old Ingram scored exactly 100 for his second century in three weeks after scoring hundred on debut at home against Zimbabwe just two weeks ago.

The left-hander put on 84 for the second wicket with opener Amla (65) and then another 86 for the third wicket with AB de Villiers (29) as Pakistan bowlers found it hard to put brakes on the South African innings.

Jean-Paul Duminy chipped in with a swift 43-ball 54.

It was Ingram who built the innings, hitting ten boundaries and a six off paceman Razzaq before he was trapped leg-before by fast bowler Wahab Riaz who replaced Umar Gul in the Pakistan squad for the only change. He faced 119 balls.

South Africa had to leave out captain Graeme Smith and all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who were both unfit.

Amla started the run feast with three boundaries in paceman Shoaib Akhtar’s first over of the match, before fellow opener Robin Peterson fell leg-before to Razzaq in the fourth over.

Ingram then took charge and in company of Amla took the score to 108.

Pakistan broke through captain Shahid Afridi who trapped Amla leg-before. The bearded opener hit eight boundaries off 62 balls.

Duminy’s knock contained three fours and a six before he fell in the last over.

Cricket

The second ODI between Pakistan and South Africa is going to begin by 16:30 Indian Standard Time.

The Pakistan team is moving through a bad phase from a long time. They lost the T20 series to the South Africans. Even, they couldn’t win the first ODI against South Africa.

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Expected Teams:

Pakistan: Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi (c), Abdul Razzaq, Zulqarnain Haider (w), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar.

South Africa: Hashim Amla, Colin Ingram, AB de Villiers (w), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Johan Botha (c), Robin Peterson, Morne Morkel, Charl Langeveldt, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

India will be lot more confident when they take on an injury-hit Australia in the second One-day International here on Wednesday.

Apart from India’s valiant lower-order fightback, courtesy Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar, Australia did everything right and were the deserving winners in the first ODI in Vadodara.

While there is still a lot of cricket left in the seven-match series, the injuries to their frontline players have become a headache for the Australians.

Brett Lee and James Hopes will miss Wednesday’s game with elbow and hamstring problems, respectively, while Mitchell Johnson, who twisted his ankle in Vadodara, is also doubtful. As a result, New South Wales Blues’ all-rounder Moises Hendriques has been asked to fly to India as a cover for the pacers.

Australia coach Tim Nielsen is hoping that Johnson would be able to make it for the match. ‘Johnson has woken up a lot better today morning than we thought. We hope that he could be drafted in for the game,’ said Nielsen.

Left-arm medium pacer Doug Bollinger, who was impressive in the Champions League Twenty20 playing for New South Wales and right arm medium pacer Ben Hilfenhaus are expected to fill the vacant slots. In that case, Peter Siddle will have to share the workload of leading the Australian attack.

India’s top-order batsmen faltered while chasing 293 in the Vadodara One-dayer. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar looked in good touch but could not continue for long. Gautam Gambhir was the only Indian batsmen to get a half-century.

Yuvraj Singh is expected to make his international comeback after being on the sidelines with a finger injury. His presence should bolster the batting line-up.

The bowling, too, was lacklustre in the first match. Praveen Kumar was not penetrative and pressure will be on him to retain his place with Munaf Patel around.

Harbhajan might have done his bit with the bat, but he lacked the sting in his bowling. This will be the first One-Day International in Nagpur since the new stadium was built on the city’s outskirts in Jamtha.

The city last hosted the deciding Test of the India-Australia series in 2008.

The 2nd ODI in the Natwest Series between England and Australia takes place at Lords on Sunday. The Australians are 1-0 up in the 7 match series after a thrilling win in the opener.

Before we get into the preview, let’s begin with a quick recap of what happened in the 1st ODI at the Oval on Friday.

Callum Ferguson was man of the match, his 71 helped the Aussies to a total of 260 after they were asked to bat first. England were always in the chase but lost momentum as regular wickets fell. In the end, a spirited effort from the impressive Adil Rashid saw them get close, but not close enough. Australia won by 4 runs.

Lords, London

First of all, here’s a link to the weather forecast and bear in mind this is a day game.

England have won 3 of their last 4 ODI’s at Lords. In 2008, the Proteas were beaten by 7 wickets here whilst New Zealand beat the hosts by 51 runs. In 2007 England beat West Indies by 7 wickets and India by 79 runs.

When the sides met here in 2005, a century from Ponting helped Australia canter to a 7 wicket win.

The Toss

In 6 of the last 7 ODI’s the captain wining the toss has chosen to field but his team has only gone on to win the match 3 times.

The Teams

After a close game, both sides may well go in unchanged. Ponting will not return whilst the 4th ODI so Michael Clarke will continue as captain.

The Verdict

By the look of the stats, the toss may not have too much bearing on the result. I think it’s possible that Australia may have more to come as some of their players have played very little cricket but as England got so close to them at Lords, it hardly justifies taking such a short price.

The 3rd ODI takes place at Southampton on Wednesday 9th September and remember we will be previewing all the matches on CricketPulse.

The 2nd ODI between West Indies and Bangladesh takes place at Roseau, Dominica on Tuesday. Bangladesh are 1-0 up in the 3 match series and will be looking to pile on the agony for their troubled hosts.

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This series has fallen under the radar somewhat with a second string West Indies given the chance to see what they can do in the ODI’s despite the end of the players strike. The dispute between the West Indies players and the WICB has rumbled on for weeks and the cricket loving West Indian public are the victims. Credit then to the people of Dominica who still produced a decent atmosphere in the 1st ODI played here at the weekend even though their side slipped to a 52 run defeat.

Bangladesh posted 246/9 on Sunday and soon took control in the West Indian chase. Opening the bowling with spin, they took early wickets and the home side came up well short. The West Indians just don’t seem to have an answer to spin bowling, the talk was of preparing wickets for the ODI’s which would nullify the Bangladesh spinners but once again they surrendered. Having lost the test series, they are now on the verge of losing the ODI’s.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s defiant 95 went in vain as India suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat at the hands of an inspired West Indies in the lopsided second cricket One-Day International on Sunday. 

After dismissing the visitors for a modest 188 in 48.2 overs, the Caribbean team rode on openers Chris Gayle (64) and Runako Morton (85) to overhaul the target in 34.1 overs and level the four match series 1-1.

Earlier, electing to bat first, Dhoni waged a lonely battle as India succumbed to a batting collapse against a ferocious pace attack lead by West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul.

Rampaul produced a career best four-wicket haul and combined with Jerome Taylor (3/35) to rip through the top-order before joining hands with Dwayne Bravo (3/26) to polish the lower order.

Chasing 189 to win, West Indies got off to a rollicking start with Gayle taking the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck and Morton playing initially the second fiddle.

Gayle looked dangerous as he punished the bowlers at will. Ashish Nehra faced his wrath in the 8th over when he clobbered the left-handed pacer out of the park and followed it up with a couple of boundaries to amass 16 runs.

Gayle also slog swept Harbhajan Singh for a six in the 15th over to bring up the hundred before his blitzkrieg innings was brought to an end by a stunning catch by Gautam Gambhir at long off in the next over.

Ramnaresh Sarwan then added 15 runs before being deceived by Rohit Sharma as Dhoni completed an easy stumping.

However, Morton chugged along nicely and with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (18) made sure there were no more hiccups as West Indies cruised to 192 for two.

Earlier, Dhoni struck six boundaries and a couple of sixes in his innings and stitched together a record 101-run partnership for the ninth wicket with RP Singh to lead India’s recovery after they were reduced to 82 for eight in 22 overs.

Dhoni’s decision to bat first backfired as India lost half their side inside 15 overs with three batsmen going for a duck.

The visitors had a pathetic start losing Dinesh Karthik (4), Gautam Gambhir (0) and Rohit Sharma (0) — to be left tottering at eight for three in 1.4 overs.

Playing his first match in the tournament, pacer Ravi Rampaul struck twice in his first over but it was his partner Jerome Taylor who drew first blood removing Karthik in the fifth ball of the innings.

Karthik’s outside edge found Ramdin, while a lame poke at an outside delivery brought Gambhir’s demise. Rohit also followed suit when his edge flew to Ramdin, who popped it to Runako Morton at second slip.

Yuvraj Singh (35) and Dhoni then steadied the ship and indulged in singles and twos to take India across the fifty in 11 overs.

Yuvraj played some scintillating shot, which included five boundaries and a flat six off Rampaul in the 10th over, before falling prey to Taylor, two overs later.

With India on the backfoot, Skipper Chris Gayle’s decided to take the fielding powerplay after 10 overs and it paid off straight away as West Indies scalped two wickets giving away just 11 runs to reduce India to 57-5 in 14.2 overs.

After Yuvraj was sent packing, new-man Yousuf Pathan (0) also didn’t last long and was done in by a short-pitch delivery off Dwayne Bravo.

Ravinder Jadeja (7) also gave a catching practice to Denesh Ramdin off Rampaul, while Harbhajan Singh (7) edged one from Bravo. Praveen Kumar (1) also was back in the hut after some time as India reeled at 82 for eight in 22 overs.

Running short of partners, Dhoni decided to take the third powerplay after the 22nd over and along with RP singh crossed the 100-run mark in 27 overs en route to their record partnership.

Singh (23) departed in the 48th over to put an end to the partnership, while Dhoni too fell five runs short of a well-deserving century when his furniture was rocked by a slower delivery from Taylor in the 49th over.

The 2nd of 4 ODI’s in the series between West Indies and India takes place at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday. India are 1-0 up in the series after they won a thrilling opening match.

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First, a quick re-cap on the 1st ODI which was played on Friday. After winning the toss, MS Dhoni elected to bat whilst opposing captain Chris Gayle described it as a good toss to win.

Despite losing 2 early wickets, India posted 339/6 in their 50 overs, the highlight being Yuvraj Singh’s 131 off 102 balls. Yuvraj was backed up by opener Dinesh Karthik (67 off 77), MS Dhoni (41 off 46) and Yusuf Pathan (40 off 38). 

The spin of Benn was the only bowling to escape real punishment with his 10 overs costing 50 runs. The other West Indian bowlers suffered badly, mainly at the hands of Yuvraj who started slowly but stepped on the gas thereafter and took the attack to pieces.

In reply West Indies gave it a real go, Gayle (37), Morton (42), Sarwan (45), Chanderpaul (63) and some useful contributions lower down brought the home side within touching distance. They were eventually bowled out just 20 runs short. It was a most spirited chase and it was a shame a cruel decision by the umpire not to call a no ball from the chest high delivery Dwayne Bravo fell to had such a bearing on the result.

There was a degree of panic from India towards the end of the match. The wicket was expected to get slower and offer some turn, it never really happened like that. 

Here’s how the teams lined up for the first ODI and their options for changes in the 2nd game:

West Indies:

Chris Gayle (capt), Dinesh Ramdin (wk), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, , Runako Morton, , Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.

Ravi Rampaul and Narsingh Deonarine were omitted from the starting line up for the first ODI and perhaps Rampaul has the stronger claims of the two if a change is made to the bowling attack.

India: 

MS Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Ashish Nehra, Yusuf Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh. 

Already missing a few star names, India mainly opted for the tried and tested though the following will be hoping to feature at some stage of the series: Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar, Abishek Nayar

The sides head off to St. Lucia to complete the series with matches on the 3rd and 5th of July.

The Indian cricket team can surprise everyone with some of the happenings on and off the field. The ODI team certainly is capable of doing something out of the ordinary or do the unexpected when they are playing pyjama cricket.

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When you least expect the team springs a surprise on both the fans and the rivals.

That is what you would feel if you are playing India and are in the rival camp, because you never know what may happen next. While that may well be the order when it comes to international cricket, it can almost get some exasperating for rival teams.

India’s one-day unit has been re-built from the debris of the 2007 World Cup on the basis of some very closely monitored strategies. And one of the key aspects of that is the constant shuffling of the order. While this theory has a lot of critics, it can also be viewed as a measure of flexibility achieved by a playing XI.

India’s current core group of ODI cricketers are accustomed to bat anywhere in the order irrespective of their preferred spots. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma for example have moved up and down the order over the last one year.

At the other end of the spectrum you have the likes of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has now got the ability to bat at any position, not to forget the ever consistent Gautam Gambhir.

Such is the flexibility that Gambhir an otherwise consistent opener did not even get to bat in the last game. The Indian team had clearly chalked out their plans well as instead of Gambhir, it was Dhoni who walked out at No 3 when rains affected play at Napier in the first ODI.

That came as a surprise for most but for the Indian team it was perfect strategy. Vice-captain Virender Sehwag certainly backs the theory.

“It’s good for Indian team because someone is batting at 3 and 5, and they can change their batting order. They get more opportunities to score. Sometimes if you are not going by the rhytm, it’s not good for the team. We did that when we chased 16 consecutive wins. Everytime at No. 3 there would be Irfan, Dhoni, or somebody else,” reminded Sehwag.

That shuffling of the order caused a lot of commotion with then coach Greg Chappell being blasted by his critics for not letting players settle down in any position.

But now two years on the same theory is being explored by the Indian think-tank under Gary Kirsten. Now the same Sehwag who was vice-captain under Chappell regime sees this as a surprise weapon.

“They (Kiwis) were surprised when MS came to bat at 3. they didn’t know what to do. They thought maybe MS has come to hit, but he played sensibly and batted through the overs,” praised Sehwag.

The Black Caps are however not the types like South Africa of the 1990s who follow set-pieces. Even they are accustomed to such flexibility. Their skipper Daniel Vettori played down the impact of this shuffling on his team’s strategies.

“We understand that there are going to be changes but still our bowling plans remain pretty similar no matter where a batsman comes in. It’s just up to us to make sure we execute those and that’s all I can ask of the bowlers. It doesn’t matter who comes in, we know what we should we doing. That’s what we did in the T20 even though the Indian batting line-up shuffled around a bit, just got to keep asking them to do that,” said Vettori.

The Black Caps too have their floater of sorts in wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum who is now under a cloud with a right thumb injury which puts him in doubt for the second ODI. But such is the depth in Kiwi order they can stand upto the Indian juggernaut.

Elsewhere it is the same flexibility which allows India to rest their injured strike bowler Ishant Sharma and play the back-up options in Praveen Kumar.

As a cloudy Wellington greeted both teams at practice, the question on uppermost on everyone’s minds was whether there would be a full game on view on Friday.

But the Indian team is not thinking negatively. Expect more of the same when it comes to gaining momentum in the ODI series.

McCullum’s injury will lift India’s chances, but the visiting team is not thinking about it. Instead they are prepared to spring more surprises.

“Gautam and I could also open if required,” said Sehwag planting a doubt in everyone’s minds with this parting shot.

Teams: India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Prgyan Ojha.

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (Captain), Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Iain O’Brien, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Ewen Watkin.

Match starts at 6.30 am (IST).