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.

Live Cricket Score

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.

South Africa beat Pakistan by eight wickets at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in their five-match series.

South Africa reached 207 for 2 in 39.3 overs to win the game after Pakistan, which won the toss and elected to bat, reached 203 all out in 49 overs.

Jacques Kallis scored an unbeaten 66 before he retired hurt while AB de Villiers made 51. South Africa skipper Graeme Smith also retired hurt on 18 after injuring his finger.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe did much of the damage for South Africa, taking four for 27.

Pakistan had looked to be heading for a respectable total but South Africa paceman Tsotsobe picked up three wickets in nine balls to leave Shahid Afridi’s men struggling.

After reaching 157-2 Pakistan slumped to 183-8, losing six wickets for 26 runs. Only opener Hafeez, with a patient 68-run innings off 84 balls and Younis Khan’s 54-run knock on his comeback, saved Pakistan’s blushes.

Tsotsobe bowled an initial spell of six overs for a mere 13 runs and picked up opener Asad Shafiq’s wicket before coming back with the deadly spell.

Charl Langeveldt and spinner Johan Botha picked up two wickets each as Pakistan were bowled out.

The second ODI will be played in Abu Dhabi on October 31.

Cricket India

South Africa and Pakistan gear up for next year’s World Cup with a five-match one-day series starting from Friday, as captains Graeme Smith and Shahid Afridi urged their teams to keep focus.

South Africa are in top form after thumping a hapless Zimbabwe 3-0 in a one-day series at home and beat Pakistan in both the Twenty20 matches comfortably in a prelude to the 50-over matches.

Smith, who handed Twenty20 captaincy to Johan Botha last month to prolong his career, said development of the side is key ahead of the 2011 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh starting February.

“It will be the first taste of the sub-continent conditions before the World Cup,” Smith said of the series. “South Africa is keen on the development of the side before the World Cup and are excited to be here.”

South Africa, one of the top teams not to have won the World Cup, will also play two Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in a series shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to security fears in Pakistan.

Smith hoped cricket will remain in focus after Pakistan’s recent tour of England marred by spot-fixing allegations which damaged the game at international level.

“We hope cricket would be played the right way and in the end it will be cricket that makes the headlines for the performances on the field,” said Smith, whose team is playing in the UAE for the first time since 2000.

Three Pakistan players – Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer – were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over allegations of spot-fixing during August’s Lord’s Tests against England.

Afridi admitted Pakistan team will miss the three suspended players.

“There is no doubt that they are our key players and we are going to miss them, but we have plenty of talent and we will try our best to overcome that loss because World Cup is so close,” said Afridi, who played down Twenty20 defeats.

“We batted poorly in both the games, but we are a good one-day side and if we play to our potential we can beat South Africa,” said Afridi, whose team also lost both the Twenty20 matches and five-match one-day series in England.

Afridi said his players were focused and will not let the team down.

“What happened on the England tour is now past and this is a new series and a new challenge for which we are fully focused,” said Afridi.

South Africa still sweat on the fitness of fast bowler Dale Steyn and all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who both missed the Twenty20 series due to injuries.

Teams (from):

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Imran Farhat, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Zulqarnain Haider, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Wahab Riaz, Tanveer Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Johan Botha, Jean-Paul Duminy, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Umpires: Asad Rauf (PAK) and Rodney Tucker (AUS)

TV umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

The Proteas are keen to have their former star batsman Gary Kirsten as national team’s coach next year, but Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is reportedly among those pushing to have the South African’s contract as Indian coach renewed.

Kirsten had gained respect and popularity after taking over as coach of the Indian side in March 2008, a weekly said, adding that this was boosted by India’s victory against Australia earlier this month in Test series.

With Corrie van Zyl having announced his decision to retire as South African coach after the World Cup in March next year, Kirsten is one of those being eyed for the position by Cricket South Africa (CSA), according to insiders.

But whether Kirsten would be available when his contract with India ends after the World Cup, will also depend on India’s performance in the tournament.

Current Indian players, especially the senior members of the team like Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni are believed to be so impressed with Kirsten that they might even put pressure on the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to offer him a new contract, the weekly reported.

It further said that Kirsten would be able to dictate his own pay cheque if India won the tournament.

Rusty Theron took a career-best 4-27 to help a clinical South Africa upstage Pakistan by six wickets in the second Twenty20 international to take the two match series 2-0.

The 26-year-old Theron bowled with purpose as South Africa once again restricted the former World Twenty20 champions to a low score of 120-9 on a flat Abu Dhabi cricket Stadium for a second day in succession on Wednesday.

South Africa won the first match by the same margin on Tuesday.

Graeme Smith (38) and Colin Ingram (31) led the South African reply with Jean-Paul Duminy (19 not out) hitting the winning runs to complete the team’s chase with eight balls to spare.

Smith and Loots Bosman (11) gave South Africa a sound start of 38 before Bosman fell to Shahid Afridi. AB de Villiers and Smith took the score to 63 when Pakistan took two quick wickets.

Smith and De Villers fell in quick succession, but Duminy and Ingram added 41 for the fourth wicket, batting with guts and application as Pakistani spinners failed to extract any life out of the track.

Ingram hit four boundaries and a six during his robust 17-ball innings.

Earlier, Theron (4-27) built on some early knocks by fellow fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe (2-20) to stop Pakistan from posting a fighting total for a second day in succession.

Only Misbah-ul-Haq, who top scored with 27 in the first match, survived the effective South African bowling, with a resolute 38-ball 33, hitting two boundaries and a six.

It was Haq who gave Pakistan’s total some respectability through a 45-run sixth wicket stand with Abdul Razzaq (25) after Pakistan lost half of its side for a paltry 39 inside eight overs.

Tsotsobe, who took 3-16 to restrict Pakistan to 119 on Tuesday, once again removed both the openers Shahzaib Hasan (six) and Imran Farhat (nine) to give South Africa an ideal start after their opponents won the toss and elected to bat.

Theron then took charge as he removed Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi (three) before dismissing Haq and Umar Gul off successive deliveries. He finished his spell by bowling Zulqarnain Haider (17) off the last ball of the innings.

The two teams now play the first of five one-day internationals on Friday.

Cricket India

A desperate India will look to hit back at South Africa in the decisive second and final Test starting on Sunday after suffering a humiliating defeat in the opening tie.

India’s reputation as the number one Test side in the world took a massive blow after they lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs to the second-ranked Proteas.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men need a series-levelling win at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to stop South Africa from snatching the coveted ranking.

India’s hopes received a timely boost when key middle-order batsman Venkatsai Laxman was cleared to play after having recovered from a finger injury.

With star batsmen Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh ruled out at the start of the series with injuries, Laxman was sorely missed in Nagpur as India crashed for 233 and 319 in reply to South Africa’s 558-6 declared.

Laxman, 35, has scored 6,993 runs in 109 Tests at an average of 45.70 with 14 centuries.

India were forced to play rookie wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha as a specialist batsman in Nagpur after Rohit Sharma, the first-choice replacement for Laxman, got injured just before the toss.

“We definitely missed some important players due to injuries,” said Dhoni after suffering his first Test defeat since taking over as captain in 2008.

“That pushed us to the back foot. Injuries can cause a bit of panic in the dressing room.

“It was a test of our bench strength. So I won’t complain, I’ll only say that we were completely outplayed by South Africa.”

India’s bowling attack also lacked firepower, with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and frontline off-spinner Harbhajan Singh paling in comparison to their South African rivals, Dale Steyn and Paul Harris.

Steyn, with a match haul of 10-108, underlined his reputation as the leading fast bowler in the world, while left-arm spinner Harris proved effective with three vital wickets in the second innings.

During their last series in India in 2008, South Africa won the second Test in Ahmedabad by an innings and 90 runs to take the lead in the three-match series after the first match was drawn.

India drew the series on an under-prepared wicket in Kanpur, raising fears that a similar ploy may be used at the Eden Gardens.

South Africa’s coach Corrie van Zyl, however, said his team will not be intimidated, whatever the nature of the wicket.

“Mentally, the South African team is better prepared than they were in 2008,” said van Zyl, who took over as interim coach from Mickey Arthur just before the start of the India tour.

“I won’t say it will be a minefield, but I do expect something that will help the Indian team. We know that if the first Test was a challenge, then the second Test is going to be a bigger challenge.”

The Kolkata Test will be followed by three one-day internationals in Jaipur (February 21), Gwalior (February 24) and Ahmedabad (February 27).

Their defeat against Sri Lanka in the tri-series followed by Australia’s win over England in the fourth One-dayer resulted to India dropping to third place in the ICC ODI rankings list.

India were displaced from the top spot within 24 hours of gaining it after their morale-shattering 139-run defeat against the hosts Sri Lanka.

After India’s defeat, Australia defeated England by seven wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the seven-match series, which pushed India to third.

Both India and Australia have 125 points each but the latter are ahead when points were calculated upto decimals, according to the ICC website.

South Africa occupy the top slot. India will take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation series on Monday in Colombo.

The one-team domination in Test cricket has ended with Australia’s decline, feels veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who foresees the number one spot changing hands every few months between India, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

“I don’t think you’ll see one team dominating like Australia did, at least not in the immediate future,” Dravid said.

“There are three or four teams that are evenly matched and you could see the number one spot change hands a few times in the next couple of years,” the 36-year-old, who makes a comeback to the Indian One-day side after two years, added.

Asked whether India would also face the transitional crisis that the Australians are battling once the likes of Sachin Tendulkar retire, Dravid said it would boil down to how well the Indian pace bowling attack shapes up.

“We’ve got a great blend of experienced cricketers, and promising talent coming through. We’ve done really well over the past couple of years and if we can keep a core group of fast bowlers fit enough to support the spinners then we have as good a chance as anyone,” he told ‘The Guardian’.

“When Australia dominated, it was the bowling of (Glenn) McGrath and (Shane) Warne that was the key and I believe that England won Ashes series because they had the more balanced bowling attack. We certainly have that balance, and so do Sri Lanka and South Africa. I think the bowling strength will determine which team gets to top,” he added.

On his assessment of the Ashes that England won 2-1, Dravid said the series never looked one-sided and could have gone either way.

“I always expected it to be close, and it was. But England won the moments that mattered, and over the course of the five Tests, I’d say that they just about edged it,” he said.

South Africa is taking their new tag of world No.1 in Test cricket very seriously. They have vowed to create an Australian-style dynasty and prevent them from recapturing the mantle of top Test nation.

Australia slumped to No. 4 after its Ashes loss. It had been rated the world’s best team since Mark Taylor’s side defeated the West Indies in 1995.

“We would love to create that sort of aura and the sort of results that Australia had for so long,” South African coach Mickey Arthur was quoted as saying by Herald Sun.

“The results we have achieved in the past 18 months vindicate us being the No. 1 side in world cricket.”

South Africa scripted its maiden Test series win in Australia last summer, but surprisingly lost the return series at home.

Arthur said that was his team’s “one big blemish” and his outfit was superior to the Australian team.

Arthur was astonished by Australia’s 2-1 Ashes loss.

“Had Australia played as well against England as they did against us, I firmly believe they would have won the Ashes,” Arthur said.

“It was a huge thing that guys like Mitchell Johnson and Phil Hughes didn’t play well against England. We found when we played Australia last summer that they lost the big moments and we won them. If you look at the Ashes, the same thing happened when England applied pressure,” he said.