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In a tour that hasn’t gone to plan after a sparkling start, West Indies travel to a ground on which they posted both their wins on the tour so far against a formidable South African line-up.West Indies upset the hosts at St George’s Park in both the first Twenty20 international and the first Test, but have lost their way since. A loss in Sunday’s ODI would see them surrender the series, but the visitors are not the only team with a few worries.South Africa have done poorly in Port Elizabeth of late – their last win came in an ODI against India in November 2006 – and coach Mickey Arthur said the team were eager to perform.”I’m not a 100% sure why we haven’t played to the best of our abilities there, but all I do know is the team will be keen to put on a very good performance, because we’ve let Port Elizabeth down of late,” Arthur told the . South Africa, though, would take confidence from the convincing win in Cape Town, where West Indies never looked in the hunt while chasing 256.Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis failed in Cape Town, and it was the left-handed batsmen Graeme Smith and JP Duminy who did the bulk of the scoring. South Africa, however, were unable to pick up the momentum towards the close of their innings – perhaps falling 15-20 runs short – but it didn’t have a bearing on the final result.Arthur indicated there wouldn’t be many changes, given the series is still alive. The bowlers never looked in trouble against a brittle West Indian line-up. Shaun Pollock, playing his farewell ODI series, had impeccable figures of 10-5-13-2, while Morne Morkel’s career-best figures of 4 for 36 suggested he’d recovered fully from the injury that had ruled him out since South Africa’s tour to Pakistan last year.”Before we start looking to juggle the side too much, we want to try and get the series out of the way first, and then look to give our other squad guys an opportunity,” Arthur said. “We have quite a few niggles in the squad and we need to manage those. But I don’t foresee too many changes.”For West Indies, it’s the batting that’s the main concern. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was expected to play at No. 3 in Cape Town in order to provide much-needed momentum at the top, but a bruised knee meant he came in at No. 5 and batted with a runner. Chanderpaul’s 54 was the only significant resistance to South Africa’s attack and if he can’t take the field on Sunday, it would be another headache for West Indies, who are already missing the batting skills of Chris Gayle.Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards made a promising start in Cape Town. Taylor nipped out both Gibbs and Kallis, but his four-wicket haul was not backed up by his team-mates. Stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo, who bowled despite a side strain in the first ODI, might again have to send down a few overs himself. Bravo would also like to change his luck at the toss; he’s called it wrong the last three occasions, perhaps a right one could help bring about the right result.Teams (probable)
South Africa
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Johan Botha, Charl Langeveldt, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.West Indies
Brenton Parchment, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor.

It is likely to be Friday, at the earliest, before a final decision is made on Nathan Astle’s immediate playing future with the TelstraClear Black Caps.Astle returned home from Pakistan at the weekend with a patella tendon injury and surgeon Paul Armour has requested an MRI Scan be taken of Astle’s knee.New Zealand Cricket’s medical co-ordinator Warren Frost said Armour would not make a judgment until all the information was in.Frost said Astle had been struggling with his knees for a couple of seasons and wanted to get things sorted out in order to look ahead and to be better equipped to go ahead in stronger style.”It is a big year ahead and he wants no half measures to get it sorted out,” Frost said.That could mean that Astle misses the tour of the West Indies next month.A report is also being awaited on the side strain injury suffered by Jacob Oram.”They can be a nasty thing and can hang around a while,” Frost said.

Match facts

Monday, May 19, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

The Delhi Daredevils’ semi-final hopes have dimmed after four defeats in five outings but they couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to reignite their campaign. Delhi’s frustrations coming into the game are compounded by losing two close encounters over the last ten days, but they shouldn’t have too many sleepless nights ahead of their encounter with the weakest side in the tournament.Gautam Gambhir, with 465 runs at 46.50, has gained a big lead in the run-chart and is followed by his captain, Virender Sehwag, who has cracked 338 runs at 37.55. They also possess a well-oiled bowling unit, which has been further strengthened by the control show by the legspinner, Amit Mishra.The under-fire Rahul Dravid is soldiering on, as his 36-ball 75 against Rajasthan showed, and continues to solidly defend his under-performing team-mates. While the team has tried an assortment of openers, nothing it seems, can alter their early fall of wickets, something which continues to put a heavy burden on the middle order.Their problems have been further exacerbated by the failure of their bowlers, who have taken just two wickets in their last two matches. Zaheer Khan, and to a lesser extent Praveen Kumar, are the only ones who have managed to give a good account of themselves. Worryingly, Dravid admitted that “the intensity was not there” after the Rajasthan game, a situation that needs immediate addressing if Bangalore don’t want to earn the wooden spoon.

Tournament position

Delhi Daredvils: P11, W5, L6, NRR +0.295
Bangalore Royal Challengers: P10, W2, L8, NRR -1.577

Form (last five matches, most recent first)

Delhi Daredevils: LWLLL
Bangalore Royal Challengers: LLLLW

Watch out for …

Middlesex enjoyed the better of the first day at Southgate in the Frizzell County Championship match featuring two of the top three sides in Division Two. Essex just about held on to prevent Middlesex running away completely, but the home side made full use of winning the toss to reach 376 for six at the close of the first day.They lost their captain, Andrew Strauss, with only seven on the board, but his opening partner Sven Koenig went on to a century and there were solid sixties from Ben Hutton and Owais Shah. Tim Phillips had bowled Essex back into contention by taking three wickets that left Middlesex on 272 for 5 at one stage, but 67 not out from Paul Weekes towards the end of the day put the initiative firmly back with his team.The match marks a return to first-class cricket for James Foster – the Essex and England wicket-keeper who has been out of action with a broken arm. Zimbabwean Andy Flower is playing as a batsman and Foster snared his first victim when Catching Hutton off Justin Bishop. That will have pleased Foster more than the tally of 12 byes. The 20 no balls will not have pleased the Essex coaching staff very much either.

On Friday 22 November 2002 the Highveld Strikers will take on WesternProvince in the Standard Bank Series at the Wanderers Stadium. The matchstarts at 15:45 and gates open at 15:00.There will be lots of fun and entertainment including Hunky Heinz and otherIdols performing at the dinner break, and an autograph session afterwards.There will be competitions galore, where the draw for the 4 World Cuptickets courtesy of IOCORE will take place, a Highveld Strikers Foot Longeating competition, Hit the Wicket competition and also a V-Energy down-downcompetition. For the kids there will be a Climbing wall and jumpingcastles, where they can enjoy the evening.For the spectators that still have tickets of the last two days of the testmatch against Sri Lanka, we will exchange one ticket per person and give aticket for this game. No complementary tickets will be exchanged.This day promises to be an experience for the whole family. Come join usand experience Cricket Jo’burg Style.The Highveld Strikers squad for this match:Clive Eksteen [Captain], Adam Bacher, Solly Ndima, Marthinus Otto, Warren Dugmore, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Enoch Nkwe, Matthew Harris, Ashfak Abowath, David Terbrugge, Sean Andrews, Grant Elliott.

Pakistani cricket fans were left tearing their hair out in frustration after the first two matches in Kenya. Yet again, a team that promises much, fails to deliver, crumbling under the pressure exerted by the thoroughly professional Australians was the universal lament here. It was thought that Pakistan would put up a good show, having recently beaten the Aussies in the Super Challenge II competition. To say that the performance in the first two matches at Kenya was far below par, would probably be an understatement.Even though the Pakistanis may have emerged victors against the Kenyans, their standard of play was certainly not worth praise. The bowlers sprayed the ball all over with a massive number of wides and no-balls, and the batsmen limped to victory inspite being asked to chase modest totals against a very weak opposition. While the Kenyans were not good enough to take advantage, the Australians cashed in. What this points towards is an obvious lack of discipline and a major lack of planning.Firstly, the main problem plaguing the team in this triangular tournament was the absence of their top batsmen. Youhana was sent home after a squabble with the tour management and Inzamam’s injury compounded the problems for an already fragile batting order.Even more mystifying was that Misbah-ul-Haq not getting a chance even when the big guns were absent. Misbah has been touring along with the team for over 6 months but has played only one game. The lack of confidence in his abilities is obvious as the management preferred to play Shoaib Malik as a batsman. Misbah has been included in the squad as a specialist batsman, and if he cannot justify that position, then other alternatives must be sought. It is essential that any squad of 15 should contain those players who can be slotted into the playing eleven whenever needed, not just mere tourists. The selectors would do well to reconsider the likes of Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat who performed well in the domestic competitions.The next problem that must be addressed is the indiscipline of our bowling attack. Waqar and Wasim are highly experienced campaigners, and for them to be bowling such a large number of wides and no-balls is inexcusable. They were wayward in both line and length and the Australians punished them thoroughly. Shoaib Akhtar looked totally out of sorts after his return to the team, and seemed to be all over the place with his bowling. In the Super Challenge II he had bowled with great aggression and control, which was no where to be seen in Kenya. There is some way to go in this tournament, and the Pakistani attack must try and get their act together, especially cut down on the extras. The over rate is another problem for Pakistan, with the fielders and bowlers showing no interest in rushing things during the change of overs. The team has been very lucky in not being penalised for their atrocious over rate.Lastly, the Pakistanis in general need to work out a plan against the Aussies, who have come back brilliantly after their loss in the Super Challenge II. They are a very difficult side to beat, when they are on top, and a lot of hard work has to be put in if the Pakistanis are to ruffle their feathers. They need to work out what to do after winning the toss, as chasing is certainly not one of Pakistan’s strengths, even if that means exposing the batsmen to the overcast conditions at the start of play. The batting order needs to be thought about in detail, as asking Razzak to open was not a very clever idea. Afridi should be utilized a little lower down the order in such conditions, once the ball has lost its shine, so that he can be more effective. Plus the Pakistani side is playing with too many all rounders and hardly any specialist batsmen. Misbah must be given a chance to prove himself, and if he fails to do so, then its fair to axe him.

MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN was the lone spinner named today in Sri Lanka’s teamfor the upcoming tour of South Africa as the selectors reposed their faithin fast bowlers.The 16-man squad for next month’s two-Test series has seven new ballbowlers, showing that memories of their previous tours to South Africa haveremained in the minds of those who care to remember.The squad includes rookie left-arm quick Thilin Thushara Mirando, consideredone of the fastest bowlers in the country.All-rounder Hasantha Fernando and right-arm medium pacer Tharanga Lakshithaare the other new faces in the team captained by dashing left-hander SanathJayasuriya.Seasoned Chaminda Vaas will be supported by Dilhara Fernando, Sujeewa deSilva, Chamila Gamage, Ruchira Perera, Mirando and Lakshitha.While Vaas has played 62 Tests, the remaining six have a combined experienceof only 21 Tests between them.The Tests are scheduled to be played at Johannesburg November 8-12 and atCenturion, near Pretoria, November 15-19. Both of these venues are pacefriendly and provide plenty of bounce.A separate squad will be named for five one-day internationals Sri Lankawill play in South Africa after the Test series.Aravinda de Silva’s retirement from Test cricket, announced on Thursday,gives tall left-hander Jehan Mubarak a chance to make his first tour withthe senior squad after his debut at home against Bangladesh earlier in theseason.Prasanna Jayawardene is the lone specialist wicket-keeper in the squad,although batsman Kumar Sangakkara has kept wickets in both Test and one-daycricket.Sri Lanka’s Test squad (age, number of Tests in brackets):Sanath Jayasuriya (capt, 33, 75), Marvan Atapattu (vice-capt, 31, 59), KumarSangakkara (24, 24), Mahela Jayawardena (25, 45), Russel Arnold (28, 41),Hashan Tillakaratne (35, 71), Jehan Mubarak (21, 1), Hasantha Fernando (22,0), Chaminda Vaas (28, 62), Dilhara Fernando (23, 11), Sujeewa de Silva (22,2), Ruchira Perera (25, 7), Chamila Gamage (23, 1), Thilin Thushara Mirando(20, 0), Tharanga Lakshitha (20, 0), Muttiah Muralitharan (30, 76), PrasannaJayawardene (22Coach: Dave Whatmore.

From about 3:30 p.m. yesterday, the party started inside the Beausejour Stadium.Even by then, it was a forgone conclusion the West Indies would trounce New Zealand and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the Cable One-Day International series in which two matches remain.The 10,000 Mexican-waving, flag-waving, placard-waving supporters in the stands of the state-of-the-art facility were engulfed in frenzied celebrations.This victory was as convincing as they come, the West Indies winning by seven wickets with as many as ten overs in reserve.After their bowlers restricted the Black Caps to a relatively modest 210, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul launched the West Indies’ reply with a proliferation of scorching and exquisite boundaries that allowed the other batsmen who followed to bat under no pressure.Ramnaresh Sarwan followed with a couple of meaty boundaries and Brian Lara, still battling with a troublesome elbow, showed a return to some of his old touch with an unbeaten 59 that earned him the Man-Of-The-Match award.When Lara and Sarwan were in, there was a continuous cacophony of noises from one section of the ground where about 100 fans were jumping all over the place to the accompaniment of percussion instruments.On the other side of the ground, where the Piton Party Beer Stand was located, there was music from a host of DJs that triggered violent waist movements among other unprintable stuff.West Indies’ win, their 21st in 32 matches over New Zealand in the shorter form of the game, was achieved as early as 4:40 p.m. in front of excited St Lucians who have waited 18 years for another taste of international cricket.The team as a whole played pretty well. The bowlers did their part, the fielders supported them in the field and the batters came through, said coach Roger Harper.In response to their target, Gayle and Chanderpaul cracked ten boundaries in an opening stand of 63 at better than a run-a-ball before the latter drove a catch to cover and the former was bowled aiming to play slightly to leg.Their partnership was followed by another of 87 off 97 balls between Sarwan (44), who was a joy to watch when he pierced a packed off-side field with some lovely drives through the covers, and Lara, whose innings was his highest score in international matches this season.Lara was adept at guiding the ball behind the wicket on the off-side and as he settled in, he played a few authentic strokes, including a big six over long-off off Chris Harris’ trundlers that have often bemused many batsmen.We’ve been playing very well as a team and my contribution was missing for a while. It is nice to get some runs, some confidence and hopefully I can carry on for the remainder of the One-Day series and the Test series, Lara said.Whatever total we had to get, I was sure we were going to approach in the way we did yesterday (Saturday). Our guys bowled well, fielded well and we were able to restrict New Zealand to a small total.For the third successive match, New Zealand, who have now lost eight striaght One-Dayers, found themselves trying to get out of a deep hole inside the first 20 overs after they chose to bat on winning the toss.I can’t explain. To be honest, it was a disappointing performance. A 250 score would have been handy on that wicket, but 210 just wasn’t enough. Once again, we lost wickets in clumps, said captain Stephen Fleming.The previous day, they managed to post a challenging total, but this time, they could not convert the damage of 74 for four into a potential match-winning score.But they were able to get it up to something that they felt they could defend, principally on a fifth-wicket stand of 90 between Lou Vincent and Chris Harris.It was by no means explosive stuff. It was not complete control, but moreso careful consolidation and they required 23 overs for their workmanlike partnership.Vincent, a century-maker on Test debut against Australia in Perth seven months ago, batted through the last 32.4 overs of the innings for an unbeaten 60 off 85 balls after New Zealand lost the key wickets of Fleming and Craig McMillan in a brisk three-wicket slide.Vincent found the boundary just twice, but unleashed the shot of the innings, which sailed over Corey Collymore’s head and onto the sight-screen for the only six of the New Zealand effort.The balding Harris, the only player in the New Zealand team with more than 200 One-Day appearances, used his vast experience in the shorter version of the game to compile an even 50 off 79 balls before pulling a catch to deep mid-wicket in the 43rd over.It brought in the big-hitting Scott Styris but there was no repeat of his Saturday onslaught. He attracted a perfect leg-cutter from Corey Collymore that hit off-stump after pitching on middle.Collymore, replacing the rested Cameron Cuffy, sent down a tidy opening spell after his fellow Barbadian Pedro Collins was roughed up in his six overs with the new ball at the opposite end from which he successfully operated the previous day.Collymore and Meryn Dillon each took two wickets, but the most economical of the West Indies’ bowlers was Chris Gayle, whose ten overs of off-spin went for 34 runs and included the wickets of Fleming and McMillan.Fleming reached 34 before missing a defensive prod and was lbw, while McMillan skied a catch to mid-on that was well held by Collins.The catch, taken as he ran back about 15 metres, typified the West Indies’ overall effort on the day.

Leicestershire will be looking to boost their Norwich Union League title hopes with their fifth victory in a row at Edgbaston on Sunday.Their four-match winning streak includes a four-wicket success over the Warwickshire Bears at Grace Road three weeks ago, and coach Phil Whitticase is looking for his side to complete a memorable double.He said: “We have got our act together again in one-day cricket, and this run has given us real a chance of challenging for the title.”We are in a good position and this is a big game for us. We have won four in a row while Warwickshire have lost their last four.If we can win this one we will be right up there keeping the pressure on Worcestershire, who we have to play in the final match of the season.”The Foxes have named an unchanged 12 for the game with batsman Rob Cunliffe standing by to come into the side. There are slight doubts about Phil Whitticase and Matt Whiley but both are expected to be fit.The Leicestershire 12 is: Wells(captain), Ward, Sutcliffe, Stevens, Bevan, DeFreitas, Burns(wicket-keeper), Maddy, Crowe, Grove, Whiley, Cunliffe.

He had every reason in the world not to come out and bowl. Everyrational, pragmatic advisor would have told him to put up his feet,nurse his fractured jaw, thumb the pages of a paperback and watchIndia bowl at West Indies from the cool confines of the pavilion atthe Antigua Recreation Ground. Perhaps even sipping a cool, tall PinaColada. But then, even that might be hard to do with a newly-repairedjaw.God help you if you were one of the kind souls who made any of theabove suggestions to Anil Kumble. He’s the kind of man who iscomposed, thinks intensely about his game and when it comes to crickettakes no prisoners. After waiting patiently by the sidelines, sittingout two Tests, Kumble finally got a crack at the whip. Once he did, hewas not going to be a spectator once more – injury or not.And as they say, beware the anger of a patient man.Before reports filtered through that Kumble was out of action and thathe would be making the Antigua-Barbados-London-Mumbai flight, there hewas, all strapped up and asking Sourav Ganguly for a crack at the WestIndians. Clearly, Brian Lara was surprised to see Kumble coming out tothe middle. Clearly, the batsmen were rattled by the prospect offacing upto a few sliders and top spinners on a wicket that wasbeginning to lose its top.But that’s strategy. That’s for coaches and captains and turbanedexpert analysts in studios. It’s not what made Kumble take the field.”I knew that I had to go back home because of this injury so I thoughtI’ll give it one last try,” Kumble told pressmen at the end of theday’s play. One last try was not the kind of bowling that has causedcritics to bay about his 40-plus bowling average overseas. It was ahigh adrenalin burst. Heavily strapped up, with bands going around hisjaw, over his head and across the back of it, a semi-mummified Kumbleran in and presto, scalped the wicket of Lara.Classic Kumble, ball not turning much, skidding through, trapping thebatsman in front of the stumps.And make no mistake about it. This is not a case of Kumble doing aRick McCosker. Knocked over by a Bob Willis bouncer on day one of theCentenary Test at Melbourne in 1976-77, McCosker came back todo battle later in the game. Strapped up much more heavily than Kumble,McCosker famously came back to bat at No 10 in the second innings,made 25, was involved in a 54-run partnership with Rod Marsh who madea century and helped Australia win. The eventual margin of victory was 45runs, making the last wicket partnership crucial.There’s no such thing at stake here. India have 500-plus on the board,the wicket is less than conducive to bowling sides out and the gameseems to be heading for a draw.So what then was Kumble trying to achieve?Some say his appearance and bowling was simply a case of insecurity -he was booking a place in the squad that will tour England later. Somesay it was a calculated stunt to gain the sympathy of the public andthe media. Andrew Leipus, team physio, made it clear that localdentists had patched up Kumble’s jaw and there was little chance ofworsening the injury by playing. That should be good enough to takethe conspiracy theorists and nay-sayers out of the picture. But thatnever happens. People will believe what they want.There are others who feel this was a defining moment in Kumble’scareer. A testament to the man’s approach to the game. His job is tobowl and take wickets, he thought it was well within him to pushhimself and give his best. “At least I’ll go back home havingthought that I tried my best. If it did work it would be great, but itwas pretty tough. I just wanted to try,” said Kumble. That’s commendable to theextreme. It’s the kind of spirit rarely shown by Indian cricketers.Those are the two sides of the argument. To attribute either motiveunequivocally to Kumble would be a touch unfair and oversimplifyingmatters. Only Kumble himself will ever know why he did what he did -somewhere bang in the middle of the sentimental, pish-tosh attempt tobe a folk hero and the calculating schemer. He’s human after all. Andyet, he’s just turned in a superhuman effort.