South Africa creep up on Zimbabwe

Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar made half-centuries as top-ranked South Africa slowly chased down Zimbabwe in the one-off test at Harare Sports Club. Du Plessis was 69 not out and opener Elgar earlier made 61 to take South Africa to 201-4 by stumps on the second day, 55 behind Zimbabwe’s first-innings score of 256. South Africa had to work hard against the lowly-ranked Zimbabweans on a dry, slow pitch where batsmen found it hard to score freely through the opening two days. Du Plessis ground out his 69 off 192 balls with eight fours and South Africa scored at less than 2 ½ runs per over in its first innings. Off-spinner John Nyumbu made the most of a helpful surface for slow bowlers to collect 2-71 for Zimbabwe on his test debut. Nyumbu removed opener Alviro Petersen (32) and then the dangerous AB de Villiers for seven to have Zimbabwe’s neighbor 157-4 midway through the day and in a little trouble. Du Plessis combined for an unbroken 44-run stand with wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock to take South Africa past 200 and within sight of Zimbabwe. South Africa needs to win to retain the No. 1 ranking it won back from Australia with a series victory in Sri Lanka last month. The test in Harare is the first between the African neighbors in a decade. South Africa’s only slip before lunch on day two had been the loss of opener Petersen when he tried to sweep Nyumbu and was dismissed by a superb catch by wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami, who reacted instantly after an edge hit him to dive to his right and hold the chance. Du Plessis and Elgar appeared to put the visitors firmly in charge with a 75-run partnership for the second wicket but Elgar, new captain Hashim Amla and De Villiers all fell within 25 runs as South Africa stuttered. Seamer Donald Tiripano, Zimbabwe’s second debutant in the test, took his first wicket when Elgar nicked behind and Mutumbami dived for another impressive take.

De Villiers and Amla, the No. 2 and No. 3 batsmen in the world respectively, both failed to reach double figures. But having just survived a run out chance when he was on only 1, Du Plessis fought to give South Africa back control with a typically gritty innings and found support in De Kock, who was 27 not out. At the start of the day, South African fast bowler Dale Steyn needed less than two overs to end Zimbabwe’s first innings when he had Nyumbu caught down the leg-side, giving the world’s top-ranked bowler 5-46 and his 24th career five-wicket haul. Spinner Dane Piedt finished with 4-90 for South Africa on debut after an impressive start to his international career. Skipper Brendan Taylor top-scored for Zimbabwe with his 93 on the first day.

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Lanka thwarts rain, beat Pak

Rangana Herath grabbed 6-48 as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by seven wickets on a remarkable last day of the first test. The left-arm spinner turned the game on its head when Pakistan, which trailed by 82 after the first innings, was bowled out for 180. Sri Lanka then needed 99 runs in a minimum 21 overs with dark clouds hovering over Galle International Stadium. Captain Angelo Mathews (25 not out) showed urgency by hitting two sixes and two fours as Sri Lanka reached 99-3 in 16.2 overs — just in time before the rain arrived. Mahela Jayawardene, playing in his penultimate test, set the tempo with a quick 26 as an opener before Mathews took charge under bad light. Kumar Sangakkara’s 10th double century (221) helped Sri Lanka respond solidly by declaring at 533-9 after Younis Khan hit a brilliant 177 in Pakistan’s first innings total of 451. But Pakistan’s batsmen paid a heavy price of protecting their wickets instead of scoring runs after resuming the day at 4-1 as Herath got rid of the top order before mopping up the tail just after tea. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed top scored with an unbeaten 52 before he ran out of partners.

Herath ravaged Pakistan’s innings by removing Azhar Ali (41), Younis Khan (13) and Asad Shafiq (8) while offspinner Dilruwan Perera got rid of dangerman Misbah (28) and Ahmed Shehzad (16). Pakistan showed no urgency and looked for a draw as it lost three wickets in the morning session while adding 62 runs. Misbah and Ali defied Sri Lanka briefly with a 56-run stand but not before the Pakistan captain twice survived lbw appeals. He was ruled out leg before wicket off Perera on 8 but successfully overturned umpire Bruce Oxenford’s decision as the ball had brushed his gloves off a mistimed sweep. Misbah wiped out the deficit by hoisting the off-spinner to midwicket for a six before reverse sweeping the off-spinner for another boundary. He was on 26 when Eranga went for the DRS but his high full toss hit Misbah’s pads outside the line of leg stump. However, both batsmen departed within three deliveries when Herath found Ali’s outside edge and Misbah was trapped lbw off the backfoot. Herath trapped Shafiq lbw off an arm ball before Eranga picked up his 50th test wicket when he had Abdul Rehman caught behind to reduce Pakistan to 153-8 at tea. Earlier, Pakistan scored only four boundaries in the morning session after nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal (4) was caught behind off Dhammika Prasad in the eighth over of the day. Shehzad could have overturned English umpire Ian Gould’s lbw decision against him off Perera, but didn’t use the DRS and walked off after scoring a painstaking 16 off 74 balls.

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Battle continues between Anderson and Jadeja

The fallout continues after the confrontation between Ravindra Jadeja and James Anderson as they left the field for lunch on day two of the first test at Trent Bridge. Anderson faces a hearing on Aug. 1 for allegedly pushing and abusing Jadeja, which could lead to him being banned for up to four test matches. The Indian all-rounder, meanwhile, was fined 50 percent of his match fee for his part in the incident. The acrimony between the two has made for a riveting duel on the pitch. In the second test at Lord’s, Anderson was caught out trying to reverse-sweep Jadeja in England’s first innings. Jadeja then blasted 68 from 57 balls in a game-changing knock in India’s second innings before running Anderson out with a direct hit to win the test match.

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Veterans are lacking in performance against India

After a 1-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka in June and two underwhelming performances against India, England coach Peter Moores is also under scrutiny, just four months after taking the job for the second time. At Lord’s, he said the form of his veteran players was a major concern. In addition to the struggles of Prior and Cook, Ian Bell only managed 42 runs overall against India and bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad couldn’t stop India from batting through day one at Lord’s. “They will be desperate to make a big contribution going forward,” Moores said. “The senior players have got to look at their own games and decide how they can come back and play to the level needed to be in a successful England team.”

Buttler in playing XI

England made just one change to its 13-man squad for the third test, with the uncapped Jos Buttler in for injured wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Prior announced after the loss to India he was taking an indefinite break from the game to regain his fitness after struggling with Achilles, thigh and hand injuries. This paved the way for Buttler, England’s one day keeper, to enter the test team. Buttler, an aggressive batsman when not behind the stumps, says he will not be intimidated by making his debut for a team under intense pressure to end its winless streak. “I’m an England fan, as well, but I’m not coming in expecting to be the one person who can fix English cricket,” Buttler said. “I’m coming in determined to be authentic, to be myself and to enjoy the occasion helping England.”

Cook under the dock

After England’s last-day batting collapse against India in the second test at Lord’s, the pressure and scrutiny on captain Alastair Cook seems to be reaching its peak. England slumped from 198-5 to 225 all out as India won its first test away from home in three years, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-test series. The squads drew the first test at Trent Bridge. England’s captain is without a century in 14 months and his team has lost seven of its last nine tests. Immediately after England’s collapse against India, Cook said this run of poor form has been his “darkest time” as an England cricketer. He refused to step down as skipper after the embarrassing 95-run loss at Lord’s, though, saying he wants to “stay until my position becomes untenable.” One glimmer of hope for the opening batsmen is that while he only made 10 and 22 in each of his innings at Lord’s, his footwork was noticeably better and he hit the ball much straighter.

Jadeja fined for incident

The India cricket board wasn’t satisfied with a guilty verdict against Ravindra Jadeja for an incident with England bowler James Anderson, and still believed its all-rounder was not to blame. The International Cricket Council released the decision, after a hearing the previous night involving both players. Jadeja was found guilty of “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game” for a confrontation at lunch on day two of the first test at Trent Bridge, on July 10. ICC match referee David Boon found Jadeja not guilty of the original level two charge, but guilty of a lesser level one offence, and fined him a maximum 50 percent of his match fee. “I was in no doubt that confrontation did occur, and that such conduct was not in the spirit of the game and should not have taken place,” Boon said in an ICC release. A first level one offence cannot be appealed, although the Board of Control for Cricket in India said it reserved that right.

“The BCCI wishes to make it clear that it is not satisfied with the verdict,” honorary secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement. “The BCCI believes that Jadeja was not at fault, and supports him fully.” Anderson, facing a level three charge and a possible four-test ban, has a disciplinary hearing on Aug. 1. The third test starts in Southampton on Sunday.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is India’s star performer

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a revelation for India with both the bat and ball in the series. He managed figures of 5-82 on a lifeless Trent Bridge wicket, and followed it up with a career best 6-82 in England’s first innings at Lord’s. With the bat, he has made 209 runs from ninth in the order, including three half centuries. He did not win man of the match in either test, but has arguably been the player of the series so far.

Misbah hopes players quickly reach test speed

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq hopes his players will quickly find their test match groove when they play the first match of a two-game series against Sri Lanka at Galle on Aug. 6. Pakistan hasn’t played a test since drawing the series 1-1 against Sri Lanka in January at Sharjah, where it sensationally chased down 302 runs in 57.3 overs on the last evening. In the meantime, Sri Lanka has won a first test series in England, and was trying to save the home series against South Africa. The Pakistan Cricket Board has overhauled the coaching staff, with Waqar Younis back as head coach, and Zimbabwe’s Grant Flower taking over as batting coach. The new coaches have been leading training for nine days at Lahore, where the players have been trying to reproduce match scenarios. Pakistan has not won a test series since beating England 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates in 2012.

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Rajasthan Royals
The Royals have retained Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson and James Faulkner, the five who played an important role in their success in the previous edition of the cash rich league. Unmukt Chand, the new entry, will open the innings with Ajinkya Rahane. Apart from Watson and Faulkner, the team could play Steven Smith and Tim Southee. However, Brad Hodge is another contender for the playing XI. Abhishek Nayar and Rajat Bhatia are the two capable all-rounders in the team while the spinning duties will remain in the hands of Pravin Tambe. They don't have big Indian stars in their squad.

Sunrisers Hyderabad
The team from Hyderabad had a great auction process. They have retained some of their stars while also managed to bag some famous faces in this format of the game. David Warner and Aaron Finch should play in the opening game and they will form an effective top three with Captain Shikhar Dhawan. Darren Sammy and Dale Steyn should be the other two foreign stars in the playing XI. Ishant Sharma will bowl alongside Steyn while there won't be any changes in the spin department as Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma had an impressive outing in the sixth season of the cash rich league. The presence of Irfan Pathan in the squad also gives Sunrisers Hyderabad a much required balance.

Verdict
I will go with Sunrisers Hyderabad because of their strong bowling unit.

Teams
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Brad Hodge, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny, Ankush Bains, James Faulkner, Pravin Tambe, Kevon Cooper, Unmukt Chand, Steven Smith, Ben Cutting, Deepak Hooda, Iqbal Abdullah, Karun Nair, Vikramjeet Malik, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Kane Richardson, Dishant Yagnik (wk), Tim Southee, Rahul Tewatia, Ankit Sharma, Amit Mishra.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), David Warner, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Srikkanth Anirudha, Darren Sammy, Naman Ojha (wk), Parvez Rasool, Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra, Karn Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Ricky Bhui, Amit Paunikar, Moises Henriques, Ashish Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder, Chama Milind, Manpreet Juneja, KL Rahul, Brendan Taylor, Prasanth Parmeswaran, Venugopal Rao, KL Rahul.
Note-The Royals have retained Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson and James Faulkner, the five who played an important role in their success in the previous edition of the cash rich league. Unmukt Chand, the new entry, will open the innings with Ajinkya Rahane.
The Royals have retained Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson and James Faulkner, the five who played an important role in their success in the previous edition of the cash rich league.

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