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Reigning Specsavers county champions Middlesex appear on course for their fourth successive draw of an uninspired Division One title defence after Somerset enjoyed the best of a sun-kissed second day at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2017
ScorecardLewis Gregory celebrates his maiden Championship hundred•Getty Images

Reigning Specsavers county champions Middlesex appear on course for their fourth successive draw of an uninspired Division One title defence after Somerset enjoyed the best of a sun-kissed second day at Lord’s.As the Middlesex bowlers endured a wicketless morning session, centuries by Dean Elgar and Lewis Gregory allowed the visitors to bat on until well after tea before their declaration on 443 for nine.In the 22 remaining overs of an extended 104-over day that helped make up for Friday’s rain delays, Middlesex went in at stumps to reach the mid-point of the match on 42 without loss – a first innings deficit of 401. Their openers, Nick Compton and Nick Gubbins, endured a stern test to finish unscathed on 19 and 21 respectively.Somerset were indebted to a record sixth-wicket stand between Elgar and Gregory which rescued their side from the depths of 80 for six to the undoubted riches of four batting bonus points.Elgar crunched a season-best 158 while Gregory, in hitting 137, sailed past his previous best – an unbeaten 73 scored against Yorkshire at Headingley last season – to post his maiden first-class century in his 78th innings.The hosts spurned their one and only pre-lunch opportunity whilst gifting a life to Gregory with his score on 31. Fencing at a lifting delivery from Toby Roland-Jones, the right-hander was downed, one-handed at second slip by Ollie Rayner who, moving late to his right, appeared to lose the ball in the backdrop.Soon afterwards, Gregory rubbed salt in Middlesex wounds by plundering consecutive, cover-driven boundaries against Roland-Jones to move to an attractive 84-ball 50 with 10 fours.Elgar, the South Africa Test batsman, posted his second century of the season with a straight six against off-spinner Rayner. The left-hander danced down the pitch to deposit one over the Nursery End ropes and reach the milestone from 186 balls and with 15 fours to go with his maximum. It was the 31st first-class hundred of his career and his first at Lord’s.The pair saw off the second new ball and batted on after lunch to take their side beyond 300. In doing so they created a new sixth-wicket record for Somerset against Middlesex, beating the 196 scored by Peter White and Maurice Tremlett at Bath in 1959.Gregory marched on to secure his maiden first-class hundred with a leg glance against Tom Helm that flew to the ropes in front of the Pavilion. He punched the air, fist-bumped with Elgar and embraced his partner before holding his bat aloft to receive the acclaim for his 186-ball century which included 15 fours.The duo added 249 before Middlesex bagged their first wicket in 70 overs’ play by ending Elgar’s six-and-three-quarter-hour vigil. It needed a beauty to do so – a James Franklin leg-cutter from the Nursery End that held its own against the Lord’s slope to feather the edge and give John Simpson his fourth catch of the match.Gregory added a further 47 in tandem with Josh Davey but finally went after 333 minutes at the crease. Aiming to pull a length ball from Roland-Jones, he top-edged to long leg where Tom Helm pocketed the skier. Gregory faced 231 balls for a score that included 17 fours and a six.Davey muscled a cameo 47 against his former club before top-edging a pull to midwicket to give Helm a second scalp, then Jamie Overton (37) skied to long-on to be caught by 12th man James Harris.Substituting for Roland-Jones, Harris – who has returned from a second rolling-loan stint with Kent – made good ground running in from the ropes for Rayner’s sole wicket of the innings as Somerset declared nine down at 5.10pm. Tim Murtagh, Roland-Jones, Helm and Franklin all claimed two wickets apiece for the weary Middlesex attack.

Warwickshire allrounder hopes to represent Scotland after a change in the regulations allowing players to turn out for the country of their parents

George Dobell06-Sep-2012Neil Carter’s career with Warwickshire may be coming to an end, but his international career could be just beginning.Carter, the 37-year-old South Africa-born allrounder who is retiring from county cricket at the end of this season, is aiming to continue his career playing with Scotland after a change in recent regulations. He hopes to start his international career in the World Cup qualifiers in March.”There was a rule change about a month ago,” Carter told ESPNcricinfo. “In the past you either had to be born in the country or spend 100 days a year there. Now if your parent was Scottish – and my mum is – then you can qualify.”Carter, or “McCarter” as his team-mates have started to call him, has struggled to win a place in the Warwickshire team that won this season’s Championship title, but is expected to play in the CB40 final at Lord’s next week.He won Most Valuable Player of the 2010 domestic season and hopes that, by playing international limited-overs cricket for Scotland, he will be considered for short-term spells in T20 leagues around the worldIain Wardlaw, the Yorkshire seamer, is also thought to be considering making himself available for Scotland.

Australia were given further injury headaches ahead of the World Cup after Nathan Hauritz suffered a dislocated shoulder and Shaun Tait limped out of the attack

Andrew McGlashan at Bellerive Oval21-Jan-2011Australia were given further injury headaches ahead of the World Cup after Nathan Hauritz suffered a dislocated shoulder and Shaun Tait limped out of the attack during the second one-day international against England at Hobart.Hauritz’s injury is the more serious of the two and he went straight to hospital after being helped off the outfield in clear pain following a dive to stop the ball. He will have further scans in the morning and is unlikely to take any further part in the one-day series so it could mean a hasty reprieve for Xavier Doherty, the left-arm spinner, who missed out on the World Cup squad.Tait, meanwhile, went off five balls into his sixth over with a thigh strain that will be scanned on Saturday before any further decisions are made. The injuries add to the problems surrounding the Australia squad despite them now being 2-0 up against England after their 46-run victory. Mike Hussey is recovering from a serious hamstring injury which required surgery earlier this week and Ricky Ponting is yet to return from the broken finger he collected during the Ashes.However, with the start of the tournament on the subcontinent still a month away Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, was hopeful that both Hauritz and Tait would be fit to take their place in the 15-man unit.”We’re confident that they’ll both be alright for the World Cup,” Clarke said. “It is a setback though because you want to keep playing as much cricket as you can and get as much form under your belt as possible. Anytime anyone gets injured it’s a loss. They are disappointed personally, especially someone like Haury who has had to go back to first-class cricket where he’s been playing really well.”For this to happen now, I feel for him. Hopefully he’ll be right for the World Cup – he’ll play a big part in that.”Despite the injury blows this match continued Australia’s upward curve since the end of the Ashes. They took a share of a closely fought Twenty20 series and have now taken a significant early advantage in this seven-match contest, despite twice being in trouble with the bat on 4 for 33 and 8 for 142.They were led to a defendable total by Shaun Marsh’s 110 in his first innings as cover for Hussey, having been left out of the World Cup squad. He added an Australian-record 88 for the ninth wicket with renowned tail-end rabbit Doug Bollinger, who then made up for the late absence of Hauritz and Tait with 4 for 28.Given the batting woes the hosts have suffered this season Marsh can consider himself unfortunate not be a regular selection. “It shows we’ve got a lot of talent,” Clarke said. “What’s most pleasing for me is when you see someone come in like Shaun and get hold of his opportunity. That continues to show the depth in first-class cricket in Australia.”I know that’s been questioned this summer but I have 100 per cent belief that there is a lot of talent and good players out there. They’re just looking for an opportunity and Shaun showed that tonight. We gave him his chance and he’s grabbed it with both hands. He continues to do it at the international level,” Clarke added. “He’s performed opening the batting for Australia and he’s had success down the bottom of the order.”He’s come into this game in good form, scoring runs for Western Australia and it’s as good an innings as I’ve seen, under pressure and losing wickets around him. He really stood up today.”

A magnificent display of clean hitting from Albie Morkel, South Africa’s slog-over specialist, and good support from AB de Villiers helped South Africa to a 13-run victory against New Zealand in their opening Super Eights game at the Kensington Oval

The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran06-May-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outAlbie Morkel made a mockery of the low full tosses dished out by New Zealand, tonking five huge sixes in his 40•AFP

A magnificent display of clean hitting from Albie Morkel, South Africa’s slog-over specialist, and good support from AB de Villiers helped South Africa reach a match-winning score against New Zealand in their opening Super Eights game at the Kensington Oval. A target of 170 required a solid partnership or two from New Zealand, but a committed display in the field ensured that the initiative always remained with South Africa.The last five overs of South Africa’s innings, which produced 62, proved the difference between the teams. After a sprightly start by Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith, South Africa slumped a little in the middle overs but importantly, kept wickets in hand to allow Morkel and de Villiers to step on the gas.de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs saw off a quiet period including a boundary-drought that lasted 22 balls. The New Zealand slow bowlers kept things tight with the wicketkeeper up to the stumps and the pair pinched singles before knocking off boundaries to give the innings momentum.The bowlers lost the plot when Morkel walked in and he made a mockery of the low full tosses dished out by the bowlers. He began with a mis-hit off Vettori which cleared the rope but the rest was out of sheer power. Using the crease, he ensured he got under the ball and muscled it powerfully straight down the ground. Three of his five sixes came in a single over from Tim Southee, which leaked 21 runs. The bowlers erred by bowling too full to Morkel, in his hitting area, while he was hardly tested by the short delivery. de Villiers, who was dropped on 35 by Nathan McCullum at long-on, made New Zealand pay by smashing Shane Bond over wide long-on two balls later. His bludgeoned six off Nathan McCullum over deep midwicket to a ball which kept low, was his stand-out shot.The partnership produced 72 runs in just 6.2 overs and wrecked New Zealand’s plans of restricting South Africa to a score in the 140s, which England chased down easily a couple of hours earlier.A brilliant piece of fielding set South Africa rolling the minute they got the ball. Gibbs swooped to his right to pluck a punchy drive off Brendon McCullum in the first over. Gibbs went on to take two more catches to halt threatening partnerships as the chase progressed.The best partnership New Zealand could manage was 44 between Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill for the second wicket. But it wasn’t a very convincing stint at the crease for Guptill, who looked edgy outside the off stump. He carved two consecutive boundaries off Dale Steyn to get some semblance of momentum going, but the bowler largely got on top of him with his pace. When Guptill tried to break free against the spin of Johan Botha, he found the hands of Morkel at long-on.New Zealand needed one of their other hitters to carry on after making starts, but both Ryder and Ross Taylor failed in that regard. Ryder’s 33 featured two effortless hits over the rope but he was foxed by Botha’s flight and ended up spooning a simple catch to mid-off. With the required rate climbing beyond 10, Taylor’s powerful boundary hits on the on side seemed to give New Zealand some respite, but Gibbs’ agility at midwicket ensured that South Africa held the initiative.Curiously, New Zealand held back their biggest hitter, Jacob Oram, and instead sent in Gareth Hopkins. Though Hopkins blazed two sixes in his short stint, it came a little too late. Oram had only five overs to try and get New Zealand out of jail, but he only lasted two balls. When he walked off, the match was firmly in South Africa’s hands and it was only a matter of how close New Zealand could get.The only downside for South Africa was they were fined for being an over short of the expected rate. Smith was docked 20% of his match fee by Alan Hurst, the match referee, and his players suffered a 10% reduction.

Lewis Goldsworthy may scarcely rest easier on 93 not out with Somerset nine down

Vithushan Ehantharajah26-Sep-2022Would you rather be waiting overnight on a hat-trick or a hundred?The answer here at Canterbury was surely the former. Because Nathan Gilchrist, previously of Somerset, already has five wickets against his old team. In doing so, he has helped reduce them to 195 for 9. In Kent’s battle against relegation, the three bowling points go some way to preserving their Division One status for 2023.Confirming that is more important than the feats of an individual, even if this was Gilchrist’s first five-wicket haul of the season – and second overall in a first-class career that only began after making the shift across the south in 2020. One imagines the 22-year-old won’t mind all that much if Jack Brooks keeps him out first thing on Tuesday morning provided he’s seen off sharpish.Lewis Goldsworthy, 93 not out, is the other side of this hypothetical coin. The standout piece of resistance in a Somerset line-up who were undone by a relentlessly straight approach, with all nine dismissals hitting stumps, front pads or hands behind the wicket. The 21-year-old was not totally immune, edging behind but surviving with just five to his name. But this was an innings of learning from that misstep rather than riding luck. On another surface he might have been tested with some short stuff, but he answered all further questions posed to him, and few would begrudge a second career century. The county’s young player of the year in 2021 has grown into a reliable presence with red and white ball in 2022.Somerset had guaranteed their safety with victory over Northamptonshire last week. Kent, even after their surprise victory over Hampshire, still had that little bit more to do. A 14-point gap between them and ninth-placed Warwickshire meant a degree of comfort coming into a fixture that a month ago looked like being a “48-pointer”. Kent were also reinforced by Zak Crawley, returning to competitive action following a match- and series-winning 69 not out against South Africa at the Oval, along with Joe Denly who missed the Hampshire win to attend the birth of his third child. A freak injury to Ben Compton, who fell at home fetching a glass of water and hurt his side, ruled him out and means his season ends on an impressive 1,193 runs, four hundreds and an average of 54.22.Overnight and early rain meant play only began at 12pm in Canterbury – an hour and a half late. It was greeted with more apathy than up at Edgbaston where the hosts, needing to force a full-points win, only began their day one at 2:15pm.The maths was straightforward: 11 points would guarantee safety even if Warwickshire managed the unlikely, which equates to a draw and three bonus points. The latter was achieved with what turned out to be the final ball of the day when Gilchrist removed Sajid Khan lbw. They had their first within 28 minutes of play.Skipper Jack Leaning, who lost the toss with counterpart Tom Abell choosing to bat first, was involved in the opening dismissals. Sharp catches at second slip helped dismiss Tom Lammonby from the fourth ball of the match – delivered by Matthew Quinn – and then Abell himself off Gilchrist. When Andrew Umeed, making his first class debut for Somerset after Pakistan international Imam-Ul-Haq returned home, was trapped in front by Quinn, Somerset were reeling on 9 for 3.A fourth should have come sooner, but Ollie Robinson, off to Durham at the end of the summer, shelled a tough low chance to give Goldsworthy his life. When it did arrive – George Bartlett, six balls after the lunch break – Robinson claimed a simpler chance to make it up to Gilchrist. By then, however, Barlett had given a bit back with an engaging 28 from 30 deliveries: proactive beyond four boundaries, walking at bowlers early on, including when pulling Joey Evison for a six into the light blue seats under one of the floodlights at midwicket.Goldsworthy, who was 12 off 24 at the time, was clearly roused by his partner’s pluck, driving imperiously in the middle session as further inroads were made at the other end. Connor McKerr, on loan from Surrey, had left-hander James Rew caught smartly by Daniel Bell-Drummond tumbling to his right at third slip before Quinn nipped one through Ben Green to make it 116 for 6.Then, finally, Goldsworthy had some meaningful support in the form of Craig Overton. Quite apart from the ball being older than 40 overs old – the point when this Dukes stops playing ball – their 112-ball partnership for the seventh wicket brought 79 runs with minimal fuss. There was diligence ensuring the score was ticking over without missing out on anything slightly awry, particularly as Goldsworthy’s area for driving expanded with his confidence.The half-century came from 97 deliveries and featured seven fours, and that boundary count doubled in the space of 38 before finishing with 149 balls to his name after playing out a maiden in the penultimate over of the day and watching the late carnage from the sanctity of the nonstriker’s end.Kasey Aldridge, who played out six dots from Gilchrist, was caught behind before Khan came and went for a first-ball duck. No. 11 Brooks did make the fateful walk out to the middle to face the hat-trick ball only to be spared any immediate blushes when drops of rain fell from those clouds that had created a gloom that would have brought out the light meters.Brooks will have to do the walk again tomorrow, with Goldsworthy at the other end perhaps focusing more on his partner seeing out the over than the seven runs he has left to get.

Indian legend hopes the long gap Virat Kohli’s team has between the warm-ups and the tournament opener won’t affect preparations

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2019Sachin Tendulkar wants Rashid Khan, one of the players he is “really looking forward to watching” at the World Cup, to look for wickets at all times and bowl as he would in Test cricket.”I think he’s going to be instrumental in creating those upsets in this tournament,” Tendulkar, making his commentary debut on , said on the first day of the tournament, at the innings break in the match between England and South Africa. “If I have to tell him something, I would say, ‘Look, treat this like a Test match. Because even in the T20 format, you’ve been able to pick wickets because the batters have not read what you’ve done with your wrist. And you do that, back yourself, have an attacking field, and challenge batters to hit over mid-on and mid-off.'”Of course deep midwicket has to be there in today’s format. But I would say challenge the batters and you won’t disappoint the Afghanistan fans.”Among other players Tendulkar was eager to see – apart from those in the Indian team – he picked one each from two of the other tournament favourites – Australia and England.”It has to be David Warner, because I saw him in the IPL and he made a huge statement there,” Tendulkar said when asked about the batsman he was most excited about watching. “He looked hungry, determined, focussed and fitter. Warner was anyway fit, but he looked unbelievably fit (in the IPL). In extreme conditions, he pushed himself and ran hard. He looks determined so I think he’s the batter to watch out for.”I am looking forward to Jofra Archer bowling for England because I know, in crunch moments, England are always going to look at Jofra Archer to bowl those tight overs. Or if you need a breakthrough, you need Jofra Archer to come and give that breakthrough.”Tendulkar knows a thing or two of playing at the highest level, and has been one of the star performers at the World Cup in his six appearances. He was the top run-scorer in the 1996 and 2003 editions, and was part of the side that made the semi-finals in 1996, the final in 2003, and became champions in 2011.For the 2019 semi-finals, his thoughts were largely in line with the popular sentiment – India, England, Australia, and… “I’m slightly confused between New Zealand and South Africa, but just possibly New Zealand is ahead of South Africa”.India had a lukewarm start to their World Cup programme, losing their first warm-up game to New Zealand by six wickets, but then rode on centuries from KL Rahul and MS Dhoni to beat Bangladesh by 95 runs.”I thought the game against New Zealand was a tough one. But Virat (Kohli) won the toss and batted first in spite of knowing that the wicket was on the greener side and overcast conditions. It was always going to help the seamers. He possibly wanted to get that practice of playing out the first spell and then slowly building an innings,” Tendulkar said. “The second match, I think the batting looked good. KL Rahul and Dhoni made big statements there. So all in all, I think good preparation before a tournament like this.”The game against Bangladesh, however, was on May 28, and India’s first game in the main tournament is only on June 5 – by which time every other team would have played at least one match each.”The only thing is, they have to wait and watch. See the first match, India play South Africa. They would be watching this [England v South Africa] game. They would have figured out that, ‘Okay, these are the bowling changes, and this is how they are going to chase the target’. All these strategies are being planned, and then you don’t want to wait for too long, you know,” Tendulkar said. “You ideally would want to play against them in literally two days, and say, ‘Okay we are going to execute our plans, whatever we saw two days ago’. But when there is too much gap, I just hope they don’t forget!”

The New Zealand Cricket match officials manager said a review process had confirmed Shaun Haig’s error, and that the umpire had felt in the aftermath that he had let his fellow officials down

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2019New Zealand Cricket match officials manager Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri said on Tuesday that umpire Shaun Haig’s controversial DRS decision against Daryl Mitchell during the second T20I against India had, indeed, been an error and the on-field decision of out should have been overturned.Mitchell had been given out lbw by on-field umpire Chris Brown off Krunal Pandya, and Haig upheld the decision on review despite HotSpot showing a clear mark as the ball passed the inside edge. In a chat with , Eden-Whaitiri said on behalf of NZC that after a review of the officiating, it was acknowledged that Haig had mistakenly deemed that the mark on the bat shown by HotSpot during replays was from the inside edge of the bat brushing the pad.Eden-Whaitiri said the mistake, which was widely criticised by broadcasters, had affected Haig.”Shaun was really feeling it in the 24 hours post the match,” Eden-Whaitiri said. “He felt he let his umpire team down that night by not interpreting the information to get the right outcome. That’s in hindsight. He had to get back on the horse less than 48 hours later because he was on-field in Hamilton. Shaun took it the right way – how am I going to get better?”New Zealand Cricket make all umpiring appointments for T20Is in the country, since all umpires are from the host country and contracted to the home board. Eden-Whaitiri said the performances of New Zealand’s umpires in T20Is have generally been good, and that this was a one-off.”We made a lot of changes three seasons ago and in those three years, this is probably the only story that’s been on the back page,” he said. “So the umpiring standards internationally have been pretty strong the last three years – just one error by a TV umpire isn’t going to diminish all the good work we’ve done with Chris Brown, Shaun Haig, and Wayne Knights.”The ICC match referee logs every decision an umpire makes during an international match, while the umpires also do a self-assessment after every game. As such, it is not common for a board to come out and admit an error. But Eden-Whaitiri said the “stakeholders” of the game deserve it.”That’s the nature of the game – nine times out of ten, it’s the errors that stand out for the public, the stakeholders. We’re still talking about Wayne Barnes [Rugby referee] in 2007.”I’ve got no issue coming out and saying when we make an error; it’s part and parcel of sport, officials make errors. However, there are times when observations by commentators, journalists, etc aren’t quite correct.”Eden-Whaitiri also commented on a controversial decision in the third T20I on Sunday, when a close stumping appeal against Tim Seifert was given out by third umpire Brown.”We haven’t finished the review process of that match just yet – it’s been game-travel-game, it’s hard to get these things done and dusted. From early reports, that was deemed correct,” he said.

Chris Nash has signed a three-year deal with Nottinghamshire after begin released by Sussex last week

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2017Chris Nash has signed for Nottinghamshire after begin released from his contract by Sussex last week. The 34-year-old has agreed a three-year deal to play at Trent Bridge.Nash’s departure at Sussex was followed by that of the head coach, Mark Davis, after a difficult season in which the south-coast county failed to achieve promotion. Nash will be playing in Division One next year, however, with Notts bouncing back after relegation in 2016. The club also won the Royal London Cup and NatWest Blast.The veteran batsman, who can also bowl useful offspin, will be reunited with former Sussex coach Peter Moores, who took over at Notts a year ago. Nash’s arrival will help offset the loss of Michael Lumb, who retired through injury midway through the season.”Once Notts came in after I’d had my request for release granted by Sussex – with my former coach Peter Moores here, at such a great ground and with what the club achieved last season – it was an easy decision for me,” Nash said.”It’s great to get the chance to work again with Peter, who gave me my first contract at Sussex, and I’m really looking forward to the next three years. To look out over Trent Bridge and realise that it’s going to be my home ground is pretty special.”It’s going to be amazing to be part of helping the club defend their two white ball trophies in front of big crowds. The Outlaws were sensational last season in white-ball cricket and I’m looking forward to joining in with that.”Nash had a stop-start campaign in 2017, averaging 27.52 and scoring just a single Championship hundred after moving down to bat in the middle order. His tally of 578 first-class runs was his worst since 2006 but he is vastly experienced and passed 1000 runs four times between 2009 and 2016, usually as an opener.He was also Sussex’s leading run-scorer in the Blast last season but, having been overlooked for the captaincy, asked to leave – a request which was granted as Rob Andrew, the chief executive, decided rebuilding was in order at Hove.Nottinghamshire have also been active in recruiting. They missed out on England opener Keaton Jennings, who opted to join Lancashire, but did sign Paul Coughlin, another highly rated Durham prospect. With the retirement of captain Chris Read, Moores was pleased to bring in another senior player in Nash.Moores said: “You don’t expect a player to suddenly become available who’s such a good fit for us. It’s really exciting to have Chris join us, and I know he’s excited to come here too.”We were in the market for a senior batsman and he plays across all three formats with a good record in four-day cricket, as well as in T20 and 50-over cricket. Chris also adds some significant experience to the squad. Trent Bridge is a great place for him to showcase his skills and I think he will enjoy it.”

Grant Elliott picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award, helping Quetta Gladiators become the first team to seal a spot in PSL playoffs following their five-wicket win against Karachi Kings in Sharjah

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGrant Elliot collected 4 for 15 to rip through Karachi Kings’ top order•PSL

Grant Elliott picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award, helping Quetta Gladiators become the first team to seal a spot in PSL playoffs following their five-wicket win against Karachi Kings in Sharjah.Elliott followed up his 3 for 25 against Islamabad United on Thursday with a career-best 4 for 15, carving through Karachi’s top order and restricting the team to a below-par 126 for 9. Karachi’s captain Shoaib Malik top-scored with 45, but nobody else made more than 23, as Elliott struck at regular intervals to thwart any momentum Karachi hoped of building. Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Nabi snared a scalp apiece, as Quetta were left needing just over six an over in their chase.Ahmed Shehzad ensured Quetta aced the small chase without any major worry, as his 27-ball 41 guided the team home inside 19 overs. Karachi kept striking blows at various points, but did not have enough left to defend with, as handy knocks from Kevin Pietersen (26) and Sarfraz Ahmed (29) lifted Quetta to their fifth win of the season.

South Africa suffered a fifth successive sub-standard batting performance in Sri Lanka to concede the final match in the series – a dead rubber – to opposition who have shown their superiority

The Report by Firdose Moonda31-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTillakaratne Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne set up the win with a stand of 163•Associated Press

South Africa suffered a fifth successive sub-standard batting performance in Sri Lanka to concede the final match in the series – a dead rubber – to opposition who have shown their superiority. Throughout the 12-day contest, Sri Lanka batted with more authority and bowled with more intent and just to emphasise that, they did both even better today despite resting three senior players.Tillakaratne Dilshan followed up his century in the previous match with 99 and shared in a second-wicket stand of 163 with Lahiru Thirimanne who found confidence with a half-century, while Kumar Sangakkara racked up milestones. He overtook Misbah-ul-Haq as the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year and become the top-scorer for Sri Lanka in a bilateral series with 372 runs. With all those accolades, his best mate, Mahela Jayawardene was hardly missed.Neither was Sri Lanka’s marquee fast bowler, Lasith Malinga, or leading spinner Rangana Herath. Their replacements, Suranga Lakmal and Sachithra Senanayake, did the damage with five wickets between them to ensure even the flicker of a challenge South Africa posed was suffocated before it find any oxygen.Although South Africa have scored more runs in each innings as this series wore on, they were always unlikely to chase down a score of 300-plus. They have a lethargic bowling performance and indifferent showing in the field to thank for being asked to do that.Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe started well with probing lines outside offstump and had early success. They kept Sri Lanka’s scoring rate under four an over and Morkel had Kusal Perera out when the opener bottom-edged to Quinton de Kock.What South Africa should have used as an opening, Sri Lanka grabbed onto as an opportunity. They moved Thirimanne up the order and he responded by building steadily alongside Dilshan.They pair gave themselves time against South Africa’s ineffectual spin duo so that when Morkel was brought back, he posed little threat. Dilshan reached his half-century with a backfoot drive off him, while Thrimanne’s came with a single off Phangiso. By the halfway mark, they were consistently scoring more than four runs an over and had laid enough foundation to up the aggression.And they did. The very next over, Thirimanne charged Phangiso and drove Morkel with confidence. He could have been stumped for 62 but Quinton de Kock missed the chance. It only cost six runs before JP Duminy took a tumbling catch to see Thirimanne out but illustrated a wider South African problem.Their fielding was not up to scratch, they didn’t back up enough, their throws were wayward and de Villiers’ communication in changing his fields was almost non-existent. All this while Sangakkara arrived and smoked Duminy back over his head and hit Morkel of all of his lengths. The three fours that came in the over where off a good length ball, a full one and a short one.Sangakkara missed out on a century the last time he batted with Dilshan but this time it was Dilshan’s turn to suffer that fate. He marched into the 90s with an authoritative pull and lingered on 99 for three balls before he was bowled by a McLaren slower ball.In celebration of his wicket, South Africa seemed to forget all their plans. Tsotsobe reverted back to short balls and Morkel could not find any workable line or length. His figures were the most expensive of his career. Mathews let loose and Thisara Perera had licence to go wild but it was Sangakkara’s presence that made a score over 300 possible.He smacked 49 runs on the on-side and helped himself to extravagant shots like scoops over de Kock’s head. He was largely responsible for the addition of 52 runs in the last five overs and for South Africa’s mountain being too high.They started gallantly, with de Kock showing his promise with powerful cuts, and 32 runs scored off the first five overs. He remained loose outside the offstump and when he left a gap between bat and pad against Senanayake, he was bowled. The 35 he put on with Hashim Amla was South Africa’s highest opening stand of the series.Amla and Duminy put on 25 before Amla also failed to read Senanayake and was plumb lbw. Dumimy padded up to Dilshan and Faf du Plessis’ lean run grew longer when was caught. At 69 for 4, South Africa were only headed one way.De Villiers scored a-run-a-ball 51 but was caught at point on his first attempt to lash out. South Africa they were eventually put out of their misery in the 44th over to hand Sri Lanka a 4-1 win and leave themselves with more questions than answers about the rebuilding of their one-day unit.