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Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed the itinerary for Russell Domingo’s first assignment as head coach. South Africa will play five ODIs and three Twenty20s in Sri Lanka between July 20 and August 6.The tour was initially supposed to include three Tests but SLC asked for those to be postponed to accommodate the Sri Lankan Premier League. That means Domingo will not have to worry about the defence of the No.1 Test ranking until October, when South Africa are scheduled to play Pakistan in the UAE.

Full tour fixtures

July 20, 1st ODI, Colombo
July 23, 2nd ODI, Colombo
July 26, 3rd ODI, Kandy
July 28, 4th ODI, Kandy
July 31, 5th ODI, Colombo
August 2, 1st T20, Colombo
August 4, 2nd T20, Hambantota
August 6, 3rd T20, Hambantota

The limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka is likely to be an experimental one for South Africa. They would have just completed the Champions Trophy and may toy with combinations as they look to build towards the 2014 World T20 and 2015 World Cup.Graeme Smith, who will miss the Champions Trophy with an ankle problem, is unlikely to make a comeback for this tour. His injury requires at least four months of recovery, and he may not play until the end of August. His wife, Morgan, is also due to give birth to the couple’s second child during the Sri Lanka tour.With Jacques Kallis also out because he does not play bilateral one-day series, the squad that goes to the Champions Trophy will have an opportunity to gel in Sri Lanka. South Africa are likely to have a new ODI vice-captain, after Hashim Amla relinquished the role, and it will present Faf du Plessis with a chance to develop as the T20 leader.The series will be Sri Lanka’s third limited-overs assignment in two months, with the Champions Trophy and the tri-series in the West Indies preceding it. The Sri Lanka Premier League will begin shortly after the end of the tour.South Africa and Sri Lanka last played against each other in January 2012. South Africa won a hard fought one-day series 3-2 at home, with Sri Lanka coming back to win the last two games.

The Champions League T20 2013 will be held in India from September 17 to October 6 and there will be no team from England in the tournament. The West Indian champions, who had to play Qualifiers in the last two editions, will feature in the main draw.The schedule, announced on Friday, has ten teams split in two groups, with the top two in each group making the semi-finals. Eight teams have been seeded directly into the main competition and will be joined by two of the four qualifiers.One of those qualifiers is the Pakistan side Faisalabad Wolves, who recently won the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup; their participation in the tournament will be interesting given the fragile diplomatic and sporting ties between India and Pakistan.Trinidad & Tobago find a place in the main draw, after sustained public pressure following strong performances in previous seasons. They had finished runners-up in the inaugural edition in 2009, but had to play the qualifying round in 2011 and 2012.The ECB’s announcement that no teams from England will take part in this year’s competition has opened up slots for other domestic teams.Group A: IPL 1st ranked team (India),Highveld Lions (South Africa),Perth Scorchers (Australia),IPL 3rd ranked team (India),Q1 (Qualifier)Group B: IPL 2nd ranked team (India),Titans (South Africa),Brisbane Heat (Australia),Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies),Q2 (Qualifier)Qualifier: IPL 4th ranked team (India),Otago Volts (New Zealand),Sri Lanka qualifier,Faisalabad Wolves (Pakistan)

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s Test and ODI captain, has revealed he refused a a lucrative two-year deal to play for Worcestershire, due to it clashing with his national team commitments.Worcestershire, relegated last season, were looking for an overseas batsman after it became clear Australian Phil Hughes, who played at New Road in 2012, was not going to be available. Worcs held exploratory talks with Misbah earlier this year but failed to reach an agreement on a lengthy deal for the entire season.”It was potentially a lucrative deal for me but it was actually clashing with my international commitment,” Misbah told ESPNcricinfo. “They actually offered me a two-year contract with an extension of one more year on mutual agreement.”Playing county is obviously a great experience but for a while I think I have a key role in Pakistan cricket and I am fully committed to the team.”Worcestershire, who drew their opening Championship fixture against Lancashire, ultimately signed former Sri Lanka middle-order batsman Thilan Samaraweera for the 2013 season.

In his five innings in India on this tour, Michael Clarke has been dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja four times. His scores in those dismissals have gone from 130 to 91, 16 to a first-ball duck in Mohali.It is, in any batsman-bowler combination, the beginning of the ‘bunny’ syndrome. When Jadeja was asked if he was trying to make Australia’s best batsman his bunny, he laughed, ” (That’s what’s happening at the moment).”Three times, Clarke has been beaten by the ball turning away from the face of his bat. In Chennai, he charged out and ended up miscuing one to long-off. In Hyderabad, he defended with poise only to find the ball whizzing past his eyeline and knocking the top of off. In Mohali, Clarke walked in at a time loaded with significance. Australia have faced a few hairy days – four players were axed from the Test due to disciplinary reasons, the side’s best opening partnership of the tour had just been broken and Clarke had moved himself two spots up the order to come in at No. 3.Off his first ball, Clarke once again charged out to Jadeja. Then he watched mortified as the ball spun past the bat and headed into Dhoni’s gloves for a simple stumping. Australia could only stutter through the rest of the day. Jadeja said of his nemesis status against Clarke: “It’s not that I only want to get him out. But luckily when I’m bowling he’s coming to bat.” He said getting Clarke four times “feels good” because Australia are heavily dependent on his form. “So it’s very important to get him out as soon as possible.”The failure to take a wicket in the first session did not affect India’s morale, Jadeja said, because they had tried to keep the runs down – Australia scored 109 in 35 overs. “We were waiting to get a wicket or two. We wanted to bowl where we had planned. We knew that if we gave them too many runs, they’d be able to score more comfortably. In the first session, we didn’t give too many runs; we didn’t get wickets, but that we covered in the last two sessions.”Jadeja said India’s chances of getting a result from this Test depend on how the first half of the third day’s play would go. “We’ll try to get the three wickets early tomorrow, and then bat well and see the situation over the next two days.”The Mohali pitch, Jadeja said, didn’t turn as much it had on day one in Hyderabad or Chennai. “It was a good wicket for the first day, good for batting too.”

Julian Hunte and Whycliffe Cameron of Jamaica will contest the WICB presidential elections after former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd failed in his nomination bid. To secure a nomination, a candidate needs the backing of two full members (regional boards) and Lloyd only had the approval his native Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) before the deadline for filing the application expired on February 22. The elections will be held as part of the WICB AGM, on March 27 in Barbados.The presidential race is now a two-way fight between Hunte, who currently heads the WICB, and Cameron, who is vice-president. According to the amended rules of the WICB, none of the directors, who are part of the executive board, have voting powers from this year. That was one of the recommendations of the Wilkins Committee report, which was ratified by the board at its last meeting. Each of the six regional boards (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands) have selected two representatives who are allowed to vote, with the new president to be elected via a secret ballot.The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president, Joel Garner, who was an integral part of the dominating West Indies team of the 1970s and ’80s that Lloyd led, has put his hat into the ring for the vice-president’s role. Garner, who is one of the WICB directors, will face-off against Dominican Emmanuel Nanthan, president of the Windward Islands Cricket Association.This was Lloyd’s second failed attempt to get a nomination. In the past he was not allowed to enter the presidential race on the grounds that he did not satisfy the required residential conditions, as he was staying outside of the Caribbean at the time. This time Lloyd had fulfilled that obligation, having moved back to Guyana after been appointed by the government as chairman of the interim management committee formed in the aftermath of the disputed GCB elections in 2011.Despite Lloyd calling the controversial GCB elections held on January 27 this year “illegal”, a special executive board meeting held last Thursday nominated him as its delegate for the WICB presidential elections. But Lloyd needed the one of the other five regional boards to second his nomination.In his attempt to garner more support Lloyd had even sent his manifesto to the T&T and Barbados cricket boards. Titled ‘Clive Lloyd’s manifesto – WICB presidency’, the three-page document stressed that West Indies cricket desperately needed a “second growth curve”and argued he had the right expertise and international experience as a former professional cricketer and ICC administrator to lead the board.”My vision for West Indies cricket is to take our cricket out of the doldrums and to put us back at the top. To use my expertise, knowledge of and passion for the game, my credibility, integrity and international professional standing and every moral fibre within to reverse the fortunes of our WI cricket,” Lloyd wrote.He signed off the document by quoting Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister: “‘To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents.’ Today I believe I have been ‘figuratively tapped’ and offered an opportunity to do a very special thing. Cricket is one of the great unifying forces in West Indian history and culture and I would like to offer my services to people of the West Indies as the next president of WICB.”However, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board sidestepped the issue by deciding to act as a neutral observer instead of supporting any candidate, while the BCA’s stance remained unclear.

Justin Ontong, the Cape Cobras captain, has been found not guilty of ball tampering after an incident in the Cobras’ match against Lions in January. Ontong was called to face a disciplinary hearing in relation to a charge of “changing the condition of the ball” but he has now been cleared.The ball had been sent to Australia for examination by manufacturer Kookaburra. Despite a superficial appearance of the seam being interfered with, Kookaburra director Rob Elliot said the damage “could be a manufacturing anomaly in so far as the stitch has pulled through the leather” and was unable to prove ball tampering with any certainty.Cricket South Africa disciplinary commissioner Professsor Rian Cloete said: “In view of this report and the lack of any other evidence, I find that there is no conclusive evidence substantiating the allegation of ball tampering as stated in the Match Report.”The accusation arose during a heated episode in the Sunfoil Series match, which Lions won to close the gap at the top of the table. Umpires Brian Jerling and Shaun George decided to change the ball after concluding that its condition had been altered and offered Lions batsman Quinton de Kock the choice of a replacement. Cobras were reportedly unhappy with the substitute ball, as it was significantly older.De Kock was subsequently involved in an on-field scuffle with Cobras’ Alistair Gray and was suspended for one match after pleading guilty to a Level 2 offence. Cape Cobras had always disputed the charge levelled against Ontong.

A collective batting performance and a 12-wicket haul by legspinner Imran Tahir propelled Lions to a 252-run win over Dolphins in Durban. Chasing 416, Dolphins were bowled out for 163 in the morning session on the final day, as Tahir ran through their middle and lower order. Besides Tahir, middle-order batsman Neil McKenzie starred in Lions’ win, scoring a century in the second innings to help cement their dominance in the contest.The seeds of the win were sown by a 93-run lead in the first innings. After scoring 248, a total built around half-centuries from Zander de Bruyn and Brett Pelser, Lions bowled Dolphins out for 155, as seamer Ethan O’Reilly and Tahir took eight wickets between them. Tahir claimed 5 for 42.Lions consolidated their advantage by scoring 322 for 4 before declaring their second innings on the third day. Besides McKenzie, wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and de Bruyn also played productive knocks. Dolphins were already five wickets down by the end of the third day.Tahir, who had already taken three wickets, struck with the second ball of the final day, dismissing Cody Chetty for a duck. After a slow 42-run stand between Daryn Smit and Khaya Zondo, Tahir took his fifth wicket, trapping Smit lbw to leave Dolphins struggling at 160 for 7. Khayelihle Zondo, who scored 34, was then removed by de Bruyn before Tahir cleaned up the tail to lead his team to the win.The result left Lions in third position in the points table, with Dolphins behind them.

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, has been ruled out of the first two of five ODIs against West Indies because of a shin injury. Shakib went for a scan after the fourth day of the second Test in Khulna and was diagnosed with a stress reaction of the right tibia.”We have decided that he [Shakib Al Hasan] will take no further part in the second Test match and will miss the two ODIs in Khulna,” Bangladesh’s physio Vibhav Singh said. “We will review his scan report with an orthopedic specialist in Dhaka to decide the best management plan for Shakib.”Shakib had a huge workload during the Khulna Test, bowling 52 overs in West Indies’ innings and scoring 97 on the fourth day before he was dismissed in the final over.Bangladesh haven’t named a replacement yet because of the unexpectedness of the scan results. “We haven’t decided upon a replacement,” chief selector Akram Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “We will announce the name in a day or two.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIresh Saxena and Anustup Majumdar shared nine wickets between them to script East Zone’s Duleep Trophy triumph•K Sivaraman

East Zone’s spinners, led by left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena’s 5-58, and part-time legspinner Anustup Majumdar, helped them to a 43-run lead against Central Zone, thereby ensuring they took the Duleep Trophy title after a rain-affected final in Chennai.Central Zone’s wickets kept falling regularly on the final day before Majumdar twisted the game, which hung in the balance at tea time. He took three quick wickets to leave Central Zone struggling at 167 for 8, after they had been in control at 147 for 4. Opener Tanmay Srivastava kept Central Zone’s hopes alive when wickets fell around him. But when he became the ninth wicket to fall, caught by the short-leg fielder for 94 off Iresh Saxena, East Zone had virtually ended Central Zone’s chances of going past the first-innings total.After being bowled out for 189, essentially conceding the game, Central Zone quickly bowled the final five overs that remained in the day without much enthusiasm; medium-pacer Praveen Kumar bowled off a couple of steps.The 43-run first-innings lead came about, apart from the spinners contributing, through Ishank Jaggi’s responsible unbeaten ton that helped East Zone achieve a moderate 232. After being adjudged the Man of the Match for his knock, he said his game-plan of patiently staying at the crease and building partnerships helped him top-score. He dominated the last-wicket stand of 42, which proved to be the margin between the two innings.Central Zone had squandered positions of dominance at various junctures in the game. They allowed their opponent’s lower order to add vital runs after having reduced them to 117 for 6. While batting, they were off to a strong start through their openers to be in command at 68 for 0 but wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat and No. 10 Murali Kartik were the only other batsmen to register double-digit scores.After the start of day five was delayed due to a wet outfield, East Zone struck in the fourth over, removing Robin Bist for two. It was the only wicket in the innings to be taken by a seamer, Basant Mohanty, who surprised Bist with a short delivery. Maneria fell to Iresh Saxena after nine more overs, but a stand of 50 between Rawat and Srivastava appeared to be taking their team towards 232. After tea, the introduction of Majumdar broke their back.Majumdar, whom his captain Natraj Behera had never seen bowl, first removed Rawat, who edged a spinning delivery to the wicketkeeper for 24. Jalaj Saxena then fell to Iresh Saxena through a rash shot, as he tried to smash a waist-high full toss towards deep midwicket, only to edge the delivery to first slip. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the hero of Central Zone’s semi-final against North Zone, arrived, and departed after facing three of Majumdar’s deliveries. He fell to his well-directed googly, to be trapped in front.Central Zone then lost their eighth wicket when Praveen Kumar attempted to slog Majumdar’s legspinner, to be caught at cover. The innings ended after five more overs, with Majumdar aptly taking the last wicket, that of Kartik, to complete the collapse.Mohammad Kaif, the losing captain, admitted his team should have completed the task. “We needed two 70-80 run partnerships; we started well, but we should have won. East Zone fought really well, defending a small target.”The win gave East Zone their second successive Duleep Trophy win.

Match facts

Saeed Ajmal has taken 7 for 62 from 20 overs so far in this series•AFP

September 3-4, 2012
Start time 1800 (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

Pakistan and Australia return to Sharjah for the third one-day international, which has become the series decider after Australia took the first match and Pakistan won the second. For Pakistan, this is a chance to end a decade-long era without a one-day series win over Australia. Last time they beat Australia was in 2002 and it was also the last time Pakistan came back from losing the first match in a three-game series to win. They will rely heavily on Saeed Ajmal, who has caused real problems for Australia’s batsmen in the first two games and has taken seven of the 15 wickets collected by Pakistan bowlers so far, at the remarkable average of 8.85. The Australians will consider attacking Ajmal more in this game, but if they continue to misread his doosra it may make little difference.Australia need more runs from their openers, Matthew Wade and David Warner, and they might be keen to take a more aggressive approach after Warner took 19 balls to get off the mark in the second game. They also need to work out the best make-up of their attack should Mitchell Starc be ruled out due to injury after he left the field late in the second match. Choosing a frontline spinner, Xavier Doherty, would not be a bad option, although if they end up bowling second and find the conditions as dewy as they were on Friday in Abu Dhabi, it might not matter. Both matches have been won by the team chasing and Michael Clarke is unlikely to make the mistake of batting first again should he win the toss.

Form guide (Complete matches, most recent first)

Pakistan WLLLW
Australia LWLLL

Watch out for

Saeed Ajmal has taken 7 for 62 in the series so far and is far and were in not for his fine work on Friday, the Australians could well have posted a much heftier total. His variations leave the Australians muddled, and after they chose to be cautious with him in the first two games they might be considering a different approach this time. “He’s a fantastic bowler. But we have to change our game plan,” David Hussey said on Sunday. “We’re defending him a little bit and to our peril. Maybe the best form of defence is attacking him. We’ve seen the Sri Lankans play him, we’ve seen the Indians play him, and we might think that’s the better route to go.”There is no question that Australia have found a dynamic and useful one-day player in Glenn Maxwell, but his challenge is to finish the series by displaying his all-round talents. He made 38 from 38 in the first game and a brisk 28 from 27 in the second game, which featured two mighty sixes. Both were impressive short-burst innings for an ODI No.7. But he is yet to take a wicket and by offering a little more with the ball he could help himself stay ahead of Steven Smith in the minds of the selectors.

Team news

Shahid Afridi missed the second match due to back soreness but is believed to be fit for the third game and a straight swap with Abdur Rehman seems the most likely scenario.Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid KhanMitchell Starc left the field late in the second ODI with what was later revealed to a problem with his side/chest and if he doesn’t play, the Australians can bring in the uncapped Alister McDermott or one of the spinners, Xavier Doherty or Steven Smith, as his replacement. Doherty would appear the most likely candidate given the conditions and the lack a frontline spinner in their line-up in the first two games.Australia (possible) 1 Matthew Wade (wk), 2 David Warner, 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 David Hussey, 6 George Bailey, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Daniel Christian, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Mitchell Starc/Xavier Doherty, 11 James Pattinson

Pitch and conditions

After the extremely dewy conditions in Abu Dhabi on Friday, the teams return to Sharjah for this third match. In the first two matches of the series it was the chasing team that emerged triumphant, so don’t expect the captains to rush into a decision to bat first at the toss.

Stats and trivia

• Should Pakistan win the third match it will be their first ODI series victory against Australia in ten years, since they took the honours in a winter series played in Australia that included two matches under the roof of Melbourne’s Docklands stadium
• In the past 12 months, only Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga has taken more ODI wickets than Saeed Ajmal’s 44 at an average of 20.38
• In the same period, Australia’s leading ODI wicket takers have been Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay and Brett Lee – none of whom has played a match in this series
  

  Quotes

  “We played really well and we fought really well in the first game in Sharjah so we can take some confidence into that.”