Stephan Myburgh and Ahsan Malik, who had played key roles in the first T20, were at the forefront of another Netherlands win, the 18-run victory helping the hosts wrap up the series

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Ahsan Malik claimed figures of 4 for 21 to dismantle Nepal’s chase•Getty Images

Stephan Myburgh and Ahsan Malik, who had played key roles in the first T20, were at the forefront of another Netherlands win, the 18-run victory in Rotterdam helping the hosts wrap up the four-match series with one game to spare.Having opted to bat, Netherlands got off to a brisk start with Myburgh quickly getting into his shot-making stride and adding 37 for the opening partnership with debutant Rahil Ahmed. Netherlands reached fifty by the eighth over, and despite a middle-order wobble, they ended with 149 for 6, Myburgh striking five fours and two sixes on his way to an unbeaten 71 off 56 balls.Malik then wrecked Nepal’s chase, claiming impressive figures of 4 for 21. Thijs van Schelven, Pieter Seelar and Peter Borren pitched in with a wicket each as Nepal managed only 131 for 9. Paras Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar mounted a brief fight, adding 48 for the fifth wicket after being reduced to 59 for 4, but Nepal collapsed, losing five wickets in their last three overs.

Pakistan have already wrapped up the series 3-1, but with the Champions Trophy deadline approaching they will aim not to take the foot off the pedal

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Jul-2015

Match facts

Sunday, July 26, 2015
Start time 1430 local (0900 GMT)Lasith Malinga’s bulging waistline has dragged Sri Lanka down•AFP

Big Picture

“We’re not too worried about losing,” Angelo Mathews keeps saying, as his side reels from the high-profile exits. A dip in results might have been expected as new men came in and launched careers, but the meekness with which this series has been surrendered has rankled. The three losses have been heavy, and the team’s willpower, seemingly weak.Copping a portion of the blame is Lasith Malinga, who has turned up bloated, and lives on the memory of past glories, like a late-period Elvis. In Malinga’s defence, he has been dealing with serious injury for much of the last year, but even allowing for that, there seem to be flaws in his preparation. Head coach Marvan Atapattu said Malinga’s lack of penetration was “one of the reasons we have lost the series”. Former bowling coach Chaminda Vaas didn’t mince words. “Our fast bowlers are currently overweight,” he told . “They need to train hard and make sure they emphasise on fitness.” Vaas didn’t single a bowler out, but it isn’t difficult to imagine at whom the criticism was mostly aimed.The visitors, meanwhile, are ever closer to that Champions Trophy berth. On this series’ evidence at least, they deserve to be there ahead of Sri Lanka. The Pakistan top order is so often a rollercoaster, rarely missing the chance to follow up a dizzying high with a gut-churning collapse. Here, Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez have been the engine room of S.S. Consistency, as it surges through the debris of Sri Lanka’s great exodus.Not to tempt fate, but their dominance of this attack has almost been… predictable. Each game, the top-order gains have been consolidated, before Shoaib Malik has turned up to give the innings its frenetic finish. The attack might be missing Wahab Riaz, but the new batting prowess has not come at the expense of that Pakistani knack for finding bowlers who are almost as good as the men they replace.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: LLWLLPakistan: WWLWW

In the spotlight

Kusal Perera may never become a fifty-every-other-match kind of player. He’s more likely to make sparse, but high-impact contributions, similar to the half-century that formed the basis of Sri Lanka’s Pallekele win. But he would nevertheless feel a little more comfortable if the substantial innings come more frequently. So far in his career, he has hit a fifty every 7.5 innings. A good outing at Hambantota will help lift that average.Ahmed Shehzad had gone through the tour making significant enough contributions to keep his place in the side, until he played his first truly big innings on Wednesday. He had a lucky escape against Malinga, when he edged two through the slips in quick succession, but otherwise seemed to play himself into excellent form, finding plenty of boundaries square of the wicket when the bowlers erred in length.

Teams news

Nuwan Pradeep’s hamstring strain makes him unavailable for this match, and rookie seamer Lahiru Gamage has been added to the squad. There is also a chance Sachithra Senanayake could play his first match of the series. Mathews said there may be “a few” changes to the team.*Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 5 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 6 Ashan Priyanjan, 7 Milinda Siriwardene, 8 Sachith Pathirana/ Sachithra Senanayake, 9 Thisara Perera/ Lahiru Gamage, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Suranga LakmalThe match may be a dead rubber, but with rankings points on the line and the Champions Trophy deadline approaching, Pakistan will likely play their top side.Pakistan (probable): 1 Azhar Ali (capt.), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Mohammad Rizwan, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Rahat Ali, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Pitch and conditions

The weather is expected to be fine, but there is often a furious crosswind at Hambantota, particularly in the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• Tillakaratne Dilshan needs 55 runs to complete 10,000 ODI runs. He would be the fourth Sri Lankan to the milestone, and the 11th batsman overall.
• Pakistan have the four of the top run-scorers, and five of the top wicket-takers in the series. Malinga has actually been Sri Lanka’s most penetrative bowler, with four wickets at 61.50.

Quotes

“We expect a lot from Lasith and he knows that. He needs to stamp his authority as well. He’s been given a lot of opportunities – he played the last four games. He knows that he hasn’t done that well. It happens. He will work hard on his fitness and come back strong.””The pitch looks like it has a bit of moisture in it, but the sun has been shining on it, so it might dry out by tomorrow.”*Team news updated after pre-match press conference

Worcestershire are 13 points adrift from safety with two games remaining after suffering a thumping defeat, by an innings and 63 runs, against Sussex at New Road

David Hopps at New Road04-Sep-2015
ScorecardJoe Clarke stood out with his maiden Championship hundred – a shining light on a bleak day for Worcestershire•Getty Images

Worcestershire are 13 points adrift from safety with two games remaining after suffering a thumping defeat, by an innings and 63 runs, against Sussex at New Road. To make matters worse, the two counties above them, Somerset and Hampshire, have a match in hand. The upshot is that they will need to win their last two matches to have a chance of staying up – a depressing state of affairs for their director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, as he marks 10 years in charge.They are the bald facts. But even on this forlorn day, as they lost with 26 overs remaining, there was rich consolation. Joe Clarke’s maiden Championship hundred, from 174 balls with 14 fours, filled the afternoon with optimism, his achievement coming amid considerable tension with Worcestershire’s last pair at the crease.A delightful cover drive when Chris Jordan overpitched, with the last man Saeed Ajmal looking on from the other end, brought a rare purr on a day when Worcestershire returned to the bottom of the table for the first time since mid-June. Sussex, by virtue of their first Championship win in nine matches, advanced to fourth from bottom.It was a close run thing for Clarke, if not for Worcestershire. When a succession of deliveries thudding into Jack Shantry’s pads finally brought an lbw decision for Luke Wells – the fifth of the innings – Clarke was 97, the tea interval was pushed back and, with the new ball only two balls away, Ajmal walked out for his last contribution of the season for Worcestershire – perhaps his last ever – before he departs for the Hajj festival. That exit came with spread-eagled stumps against Steve Magoffin, armed with the new ball.

The relegation battle

Sussex 14 matches – 146 points
Somerset 13-133
Hampshire 13-128
Worcestershire 14-120

Rhodes’ work ethic and determination has helped to keep Worcestershire honest since his rapid elevation to the top role upon Tom Moody’s departure to coach Sri Lanka in 2005. He takes fierce pride in Worcestershire’s self-sufficiency, committing himself ceaselessly to the development of young players, of which Clarke, a 19-year-old from Shrewsbury, is set to be a fine representative. Sussex’s change bowling was limited, and the pitch remained quite sound, but he repelled two fine bowlers in Magoffin and Jordan as he played Worcestershire’s one innings of true quality in the match.Michael Vaughan watched him make 88 at Scarborough, his previous career best, and immediately tipped him as a future England batsman. England’s selectors are already excited by his potential, regarding him as one of the best young batsmen in the country. Having signed a new contract, he may need to further his education in Division Two.Worcestershire deserve that faith. This season, their overseas bowler Ajmal apart, they have at times fielded a side that has only ever played county cricket for the club. “Quite a feat I reckon,” Dave Bradley, of BBC Hereford and Worcester, has observed, and so it is.With three wickets already down overnight, and still 241 needed to make Sussex bat again, Worcestershire’s fate looked as good as sealed at the start of the final day.Three more fell by lunchtime despite showers robbing 12 overs from the morning. Slight unease began to gather for Sussex when the seventh-wicket pair resisted until mid-afternoon, but OIlie Robinson switched to offspin guise, which he first unveiled in county cricket against Warwickshire earlier this season, to bowl Ben Cox on the slog-sweep with a lavishly-flighted delivery. Seam is still very much his lead suit, but the affable manner of his offspin captures his laid-back personality. After that, it was a matter of awaiting Sussex’s victory and hoping for Clarke’s hundred. Both duly came.As debates take place about the structure of county cricket, it is not a good time for Worcestershire to be a yo-yo club. If the decision is taken to reshape the Championship into two divisions of eight and 10 in 2017 then the likelihood is that there would be only one promotion place on offer next season. A lot of ifs perhaps, but not the sort of outcome that would suit a county that has had five promotions and five relegations in the past 12 years. For Rhodes, it has literally been a decade of ups and downs.No side is too good to go down, as is habitually observed, but Sussex come closer to that assessment than most. They have been stricken by bowling injuries for much of the season, and like many counties their spin options are limited, but they have been vastly superior in this game. It helps, of course, when Jordan is fit again and giving every indication of a vigorous end to the season.But Sussex, despite this win, cannot entirely relax. They have moved up to fourth bottom, 13 points clear of Somerset, 18 ahead of Hampshire, but both these counties have a game in hand and meet next week at Taunton in another significant relegation encounter.At least one of these counties will be close enough to disturb Sussex with two matches remaining, making their final home match of the season, against Somerset the following week, another game that will have a major bearing on the relegation places.

Charl Langeveldt, South Africa’s bowling coach, has admitted that it will be “hard” for Kagiso Rabada to break into the Test side due to the presence of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel

Firdose Moonda15-Sep-20151:51

SA bowling coach Langeveldt impressed with fast-bowling reserves

Pace, precision and a penchant for plucking wickets would ordinarily lead to a Test debut, but 20-year old Kagiso Rabada may have to wait just a little while longer to wear the whites. Rabada is part of South Africa’s squad in all three formats for the upcoming tour of India, but remains a reserve in the Test ranks for now.”We’re winning Test matches at the moment, so it’s going to be hard for Kagiso to get into the side and India is going to be even harder because we might even play two spinners,” Charl Langeveldt, South Africa’s bowling coach, said at a training camp for the Johannesburg-based bowlers. “We’ve got three seam bowlers that have done well for South Africa for a number of years now but if an injury comes along then you never know.”That means Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel remain South Africa’s first choice, but this will be the first time they bowl as a trio in India. The trio first came together in November 2011 and have since toured other parts of the sub-continent such as Sri Lanka where Steyn, in particular, was impressive. Langeveldt expects nothing less even in India.”Our fast bowling attack is still key. Steyn bowls well with the ball reversing and with the new ball; although it’s an SG ball, he does bowl well and he gets the ball to reverse,” Langeveldt said.Where Langeveldt expects things to be different is with Philander, who could move from a frontline attacking bowler to the last line of defence.”When Vernon bowled in Bangladesh, he was was one of our best bowlers. He made guys play a lot more than others,” Langeveldt explained. “If he can strike with the new ball in India, that’s key for us. He brings that consistency to our attack and he can keep the run rate down. He went for about one-and-a-half runs an over in Bangladesh recently.”He didn’t get the results but if you talk about keeping the run-rate down and creating pressure from one end while the spinner is attacking from the other end, he can do that.”A strategy where Philander is used as a container could also mean a return for Imran Tahir as the specialist spinner ahead of Simon Harmer and Dane Piedt, both offspinners. That move could further confine Rabada to the bench, where Langeveldt said he will learn what’s expected of him when he makes the step up.”I will make sure he is prepared so if the opportunity does come he is ready to play. I can’t say when he’s going to play, it’s out of my control, it’s out of his control, all he can control is that he will be ready.”Part of the preparation will involve the study of reverse swing, something Langeveldt believes Rabada can master. “KG has got a good wrist position so the ball will reverse for him as well,” he said.”It’s all about looking after the ball. That’s the key to teach him now: to prepare the ball, to look to shine, even throwing from the boundary, those are the things we will discuss. Everyone knows how to prepare the ball for when it does reverse, or when it is reversing or how to get it to reverse.”The more Rabada learns, the more the rest will have to look over their shoulder, which is exactly what Langeveldt wants. Already, Rabada is holding down a fairly regular place in South Africa’s limited-overs sides and with time, he is expected to challenge for a Test spot.”You want a battery of bowlers who are competing. When you’ve got guys competing for the same spot, everyone will lift their game – a senior player will lift his game,” Langeveldt said, while warning his bowlers that no one is safe. “I just don’t want to say he is going to play and that’s it. You have to earn your rights to play for South Africa, and I am a big fan of competition.”

With MS Dhoni’s retirement from Tests, Dinesh Karthik’s hopes of making an India comeback have increased

Amol Karhadkar in Mumbai 16-Oct-2015Dinesh Karthik has been a specialist wicketkeeper. He has been a specialist batsman. A wicketkeeper who can bat and a batsman who can keep. But despite his domestic success, his time the Indian team has been quite sporadic.But MS Dhoni’s retirement from Tests at the end of 2014 has given Karthik a glimmer of hope and he knows he has no option but to score big and knock on the selectors’ doors. “I am at a stage where I want to score so much runs that they cannot ignore me,” he said after scoring 167 for Tamil Nadu against Mumbai.”That’s what I am looking at. I want to set the bar really high for me and keep trying my best to achieve that. I mean as a player that’s a big challenge for me and I am going to try and do so well that they find it hard to ignore me at the national level and that’s what I am aiming to do.”Wriddhiman Saha, the incumbent wicketkeeper in Tests, has stiff competition from the likes of Naman Ojha, Karthik and Parthiv Patel. And Karthik feels he has an edge over the rest: “For me, unlike other keepers it’s totally a different ball game. I have played as a batsman so I always back myself to play as a batsman and fielding comes to me pretty naturally so it’s never been a problem.”I have always batted in all slots right from opening to No 7. I have been versatile in that way. I have always looked at myself differently. I feel I am more a batsman who can keep wicket as well. So I can do each thing individually [well] so in that I am very confident. I don’t look at myself as a wicketkeeper-batsman who is only into that sort of mould because I have played as a batsman, so I think a little bit different that way.”The fact that he is backing himself to be considered purely as a batsman hasn’t pulled his focus from wicketkeeping. According to him, he has been working harder with the gloves. “I have really worked on my keeping and it’s coming out really well,” he said. “I had a couple of good games. I am really confident of my keeping .The key is to keep carrying on from here, so as I said I am going to set the bar so high that they are going to say that there is no way to stop him.”

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2015

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the BCB’s cricket operations committee-proposed solitary Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Test in January is unlikely to take place

Mohammad Isam26-Dec-2015BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the cricket operations committee-proposed solitary Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Test in January is unlikely to take place. Instead, he has suggested that the one-off Test could take place after the World T20, in May or June.Hassan, who underlined the challenges of playing two different formats in the span of a few weeks, said he wanted to consult the Bangladesh players and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha about the matter before discussing it with the board.”Basically the cricket operations [committee] told me that they want the team to play both Test and T20s [against Zimbabwe in January],” Hassan said on Friday. “But the problem is they [BCB’s cricket operations] want the T20 first and then the Test match; so to play a Test before the Asia Cup T20 won’t be possible. There’s problem with the grounds too, since the Under-19 World Cup will be ongoing.”The BCB’s cricket operations committee had said that they were mindful of venue shortages and had earmarked Khulna (where no U-19 World Cup matches will take place) and Sylhet (where five U-19 World Cup matches will be held in two stadiums) when they proposed a series comprising one Test and three T20s.Hassan is worried about the lack of time to accommodate such a schedule as well. “Zimbabwe won’t be arriving before January 14 [after finishing their away series against Afghanistan]. They have responded to the Test proposal by saying that they want to play only T20s. They have to send two separate teams for Test and T20s, like many nations. We more or less have the same team. If they can’t come before January 14, the problem will be quite big.”Another hindrance to the proposed one-off Test could be a lack of frontline personnel for Bangladesh. Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal are set to take part in the Pakistan Super League from February 4 and Hassan said it was “absurd” to even think of playing a five-day game without them with ICC rankings on the line.”We want to play T20s but Tamim, Shakib and Mushfiqur will be playing in the Pakistan League at the same time. Will I play Test against Zimbabwe without them? It is just absurd. We have to understand that ranking points is very important. If we win against them, we get nothing. But we lose six points if we lose to them. So we have to keep that in mind too.”There is the option of scheduling the Zimbabwe Test before the T20s, but considering the calendars of both teams would be relatively free after the World T20, Hassan felt there was no need to rush things.”The players may say, ‘we don’t want to play Test just before the Asia Cup T20’. They may want to play the Test first. We are not denying that Test cricket is necessary, good and important. We are playing more Tests than previous years.”We will play this [Zimbabwe] Test in May or June. There’s no reason to worry about it. We will discuss with everyone what’s best for the team. We are both available for a long time [after the World T20]. We have time to play Test cricket.”Hassan bolstered his argument to retaining a full T20 series by saying West Indies were also interested in playing Bangladesh in January. So the BCB may consider a Bangladesh-Zimbabwe-West Indies tri-nation series.”A third country is also interested to play T20s when we will play against Zimbabwe. We will arrange something. West Indies has shown interest. If it is a tri-nation, it will be of a different format. It is very hard to say anything now,” he said.

Jeff Thomson and Wally Grout will become the newest inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2016Jeff Thomson and Wally Grout will become the newest inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne on Wednesday.Thomson was one of cricket’s most fearsome pacemen and took 200 wickets at 28.00 from 51 Tests, and was also regarded by many who faced him as the fastest bowler the game has seen. He formed a terrifying partnership with Dennis Lillee during the 1970s and in particular demolished England during the 1974-75 Ashes, which was just Thomson’s second Test series.”Only a handful of Australian cricketers had taken 200 Test wickets and Jeff did it at a strike rate of almost four wickets a Test, which is exceptional,” David Crow, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame chairman, said. “But of course he was most famous for his pace and outright aggression, and it is was these qualities that people came to see when he played. He was a major drawcard for Australian cricket.”Thomson, now 65, rates the 1974-75 Ashes as a career highlight, along with playing in the 1975 World Cup final, and beating West Indies during 1975-76. He had made his Test debut in 1972-73 against Pakistan but went wicketless in his one Test appearance that season, which he played with a broken foot, and he was finally given another chance two years later.”I had to work really hard to get back (into the Test side), and I never doubted I was good enough,” Thomson said. “I always knew I was going to brain them, I just needed the opportunity.”Of the Hall of Fame honour, Thomson said: “It’s for my wife and kids, my parents, my brothers, my mates, all those people who took me to cricket when I was young and helped me along the way. I got a ring from a mate of my brother’s who I hadn’t spoken to for 30 years. He was rapt and said how weird it was for a bunch of kids who used to play cricket for hours against a telephone pole that one of us was now in the Hall of Fame.”Like Thomson, Grout also played 51 Tests, and he finished his career with 187 wicketkeeping dismissals, which at the time made him the Australian record holder and the second most prolific keeper in Test history behind England’s Godfrey Evans. His Test career lasted from 1957 to 1966, and he died of a heart attack at the age of 41, less than three years after his last Test.”Wally Grout was one of Australia’s finest wicketkeepers,” Crow said. “Luminaries such as Bob Simpson and Wes Hall claimed he was the finest gloveman they had ever seen. Wally Grout was the first player in Test history to claim six dismissals in an innings and that remains an Australian record which has since been matched by Rod Marsh, Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist.”Wally also set the record for the most catches taken in a Sheffield Shield innings, eight, which is now held jointly with Darren Berry. But Wally’s contribution went beyond immaculate wicketkeeping. He was highly regarded for his honesty, integrity and sense of humour. As captain, Richie Benaud relied on Wally for the team’s strategy because of his great understanding of the game.”Grout and Thomson take the number of Hall of Fame inductees to 43 since its inception in 1996.Hall of Fame inductees Warwick Armstrong, Richie Benaud, John Blackham, Allan Border, Sir Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alan Davidson, George Giffen, Adam Gilchrist, Clarrie Grimmett, Wally Grout, Neil Harvey, Lindsay Hassett, Ian Healy, Clem Hill, Bill Lawry, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Charles Macartney, Rod Marsh, Stan McCabe, Glenn McGrath, Graham McKenzie, Keith Miller, Arthur Morris, Monty Noble, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Ponsford, Jack Ryder, Bob Simpson, Fred Spofforth, Mark Taylor, Jeff Thomson, Hugh Trumble, Victor Trumper, Charlie Turner, Doug Walters, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Bill Woodfull.

Lance Klusener, the former South Africa allrounder, has been sacked as Dolphins’ coach after his contract was not renewed

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2016Lance Klusener, the former South Africa allrounder, has been sacked as Dolphins’ coach after his contract was not renewed. He told ESPNcricinfo he was given “no reason,” for his dismissal and thought the decision was “very strange.”Coaching duties for the remainder of the Sunfoil Series, which concludes South Africa’s domestic season, will be immediately handed to Yashin Ebrahim and Roger Telemachus as joint caretaker coaches.”I am obviously very disappointed and surprised with the board’s decision, considering the progress of the team in the last four years,” Klusener said in the official statement. “I am a proud son of the soil of KwaZulu-Natal and I have relished every moment of coaching the Sunfoil Dolphins”I have no doubt that the squad has the talent to win more trophies like the Ram Slam title we won in the 2013-14 season, and while I won’t be their coach they will all know that I will be backing them all the way.”When contacted on Saturday, Dolphins CEO Pete de Wet said rumours of Klusener’s sacking were “not true at all” but on Monday said that the decision had been “difficult”.”Lance has been a loyal servant of KZN cricket and the Sunfoil Dolphins and his passion and loyalty to the team is unquestionable,” de Wet said. “That has made the decision taken by the board all the more difficult”.”The board felt that the time was right to refresh the team dynamic to enable this talented group of players to reach the next level, and agreed that a new coach was an integral part of that process,”Klusener was appointed interim coach at the Dolphins in January 2012, when Graham Ford left the franchise to take over as Sri Lanka’s national coach before confirmed in the role later that year.Under his tenure, Dolphins won one trophy – the 2013-14 T20 competition – and have maintained good form in the shortest format. This season, they lost the final of the Ram Slam to Titans. They have not done as well in other competitions, finishing fifth in the one-day cup with four wins from 10 matches and lie fourth in the fourth in the Sunfoil Series, which is only at its halfway stage, but have only won one match.Klusener was considered very much part of South Africa’s coaching structures and was even roped in as a lower-order batting consultant for the national team ahead of the Boxing Day Test against England.

Eoin Morgan has said that he is not worried about his dip in form during the ODI series and suggested that England are close to settling on their best XI ahead of the World T20

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2016Eoin Morgan has said that he is not worried about his dip in form during the ODI series with South Africa and suggested that England are close to settling on their best XI ahead of the World T20.Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, made just 64 runs from five innings during the ODIs, which England lost 3-2 despite taking a 2-0 lead. Morgan enjoyed a productive 2015, during which his team made great strides in white-ball cricket, and made a mark on the warm-up match against South Africa A in Paarl on Wednesday, where he smashed 42 from 13 balls.”It felt great. I haven’t felt out of form, just short on runs, and it was nice to come in and play with the freedom I like playing with,” he said of the innings. “I’d like to come out and score some runs in these next two games – it might happen, it might not – but I’ll stay true to what’s worked for me in recent times. That has come with experience.”If you’re practising well and hitting close to the middle of the bat more often than not, you don’t feel out of form.”For me, it’s balance – getting back and forward off front and back foot. If that’s pretty clear and clinical, you should get close to the middle of the bat more often than not. But when I’m out of form, it can be thrown a little bit – and you miss the ball, or nick it.”England intend to select their first-choice side against South Africa, rather than experiment in the lead up to the World T20 in India – a strategy that differs from the one set out by Faf du Plessis.While du Plessis is more concerned about his side’s preparations than results, Morgan wants England to maintain their momentum in the T20 format, having won their last six games stretching back to 2014 – although he said winning was “not the be all and end all”.”Good performances here will be not crucial but a huge bonus, going into the World Cup,” he said. “Starting a quite a high intensity and stamping our mark on these two games is quite a big thing. They’re playing at home, are a very strong side at home, and will be difficult to beat.”The performances we put in are going to be more crucial than actually getting over the line. If you get over the line, that goes a long way to keeping the momentum we do have and the feelgood attitude within the group.”England’s line-up is likely to include two allrounders in Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, after they sat out the 44-run win in Paarl. The batting is largely settled – although James Vince, England’s Man of the Series in the UAE last year, is set to miss out – and Morgan expressed confidence in the wicket-taking abilities of David Willey and Reece Topley with the new ball, as well as spinners Moeen and Adi Rashid.”I think this attack can win games for us,” Morgan said. “With the spin department covered, and the two left-armers coming in and being a threat up front, it adds a huge dynamic to our game. A big strength is the fact we do bat deep. But with these strings to our bow, it makes us a bigger threat.”Ben Stokes will come back in. Our best team at the moment, we’re very close to selecting it or having a really good idea of what it is – which is good, considering we’re a few weeks out from a World Cup. But there’s still probably a couple of options we might be able to take, given the pitches we might come up against.”We’re allowed to bat deep because of Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, and we’ll look to continue that.”