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Match facts

Sunday July 19, 2015
Start time 1pm (11am, GMT)0:34

‘Focussing on our own strengths’ – Uthappa

Big picture

Whatever rustiness India may have felt in their tour opener last weekend appears to have been well and truly shaken off. Their slick, measured performance in the first Twenty20 suggested they weren’t exactly stretching themselves, and Zimbabwe will need to step up their game enormously if they are to bridge the yawning gulf in experience between the two sides in this format.India charged to 178 on Friday on a pitch that wasn’t entirely conducive to strokeplay, and a slightly less frenetic performance from Zimbabwe’s bowlers could have helped them keep the visitors to a slightly more manageable total. The brevity of this format means that every delivery matters, and for Zimbabwe to gift India 25 extras was unforgivable. After Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha’s steady start to the chase, the middle order wilted with a string of soft dismissals.Their win on Friday made it 4-0 to India on the tour, and everything has gone to plan for them. In each match, someone has performed with both bat and ball, and they’ve also blooded a number of uncapped players. India are clear favourites and will also not want to blot their copybook with a slip-up in the final match.Zimbabwe’s inexperience in this format was clearly evidenced by their approach to the chase in the first game, in which their dot-ball percentage was 50%. Against tight bowling, on a pitch that didn’t immediately lend itself to aggressive batting, they were found wanting and this will be a key area for them to improve upon.

Form guide

(Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe: LLLWW
India: WLLWW

In the spotlight

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time early in Hamilton Masakadza‘s career when he was considered too sedentary for limited-overs cricket. He’s yet to make a real impact in this series though, and Zimbabwe need Mount Masakadza to erupt at the top of the order if they are to take the pressure off their middle order and challenge India.Robin Uthappa‘s returns on this tour have been increasing with each outing, and though his innings in the first T20 match was less than explosive, it was the adhesive that held India’s lower order together. Given his position at No. 3 and the fact that he seemed to come to terms with the pitch and conditions quickly, he may be the key player to bat through and set up another big total.

Team news

Zimbabwe’s top six should be settled for the second match, although Craig Ervine is the sort of batsman who would probably be better utilised up the order. Offspinner John Nyumbu is the only man in the squad not to have played a game yet during India’s visit, and given the slowness of the pitch, and his control as a bowler, he could be a good pick.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Elton Chigumbura (captain), 5 Charles Coventry (wk), 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Graeme Cremer, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Neville Madzia, 10 John Nyumbu, 11 Chris Mpofu.Such was India’s dominance in the first T20 that they will probably feel safe giving a chance to a sixth debutant in Sanju Samson, who came in for the injured Ambati Rayudu.India (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane (captain), 2 M Vijay, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Kedar Jadhav/Sanju Samson, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Harbhajan Singh, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Sandeep Sharma.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch being used for this game is the same one used in the second ODI, and though it will have had a week to recover from that match, one can expect it to behave sluggishly. While the Dukes ball has offered some movement through the air to the quicks throughout, the pitches have played slow and low in the afternoon, and Sunday should be no different. Expect another bright, sunny day.

Stats and trivia

• Hamilton Masakadza is Zimbabwe’s leading runscorer in T20 internationals, with 943 runs, including seven fifties, in the format.
• India’s 178 for 5 was the fourth highest T20I total scored at Harare Sports Club. At the top of the pile is Pakistan’s 198 for 4 scored four years ago.
• Axar Patel is now India’s leading wicket-taker on this tour, with eight scalps at an average of 17.13 in four matches across two formats.

Quotes

“You’re already basically cooked when you’re coming in here, so you’re ready for it.”
“Not many people will expect us to win, but if we go out there with the attitude that we have everything to gain I think we will come out with a victory.” .

Scorecard
Ravneet Ricky and Shikhar Dhawan cracked hundreds and steered North Zone to an imposing position on the second day of their Duleep Trophy clash against Zimbabwe President’s XI at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Having shot them out for 94 on the first day, North rode on a mammoth 220-run opening stand between Ricky and Dhawan. Their promising partnership in the previous game, against East Zone, had been cut short by some doubtful umpiring decisions but the duo enjoyed a flurry of boundaries and left the Zimbabweans with hardly any chance. Graeme Cremer, the legspinner, ended with a career-best 7 for 114 but North were well on their way to a resounding victory by then. The Zimbabeans lost the wicket of Neil Ferreira before the end of the day, and will need a minor miracle to get something out of this game.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Piyush Chawla and Harvinder Singh helped Central Zone reach an imposing 478 on the second day against South at Surat. Resuming on 299 for 3, Central consolidated their position through their lower middle order with Chawla, the legspinning allrounder from Uttar Pradesh, anchoring the ship. Harvinder, the Railways fast bowler, was a surprise package and his 92-run stand with Chawla left South with a lot of catching up to do. Dinesh Karthik’s plucky unbeaten 50 helped South reach 127 for 3 by stumps, but a lot of work remains to be done if South, who lost their opening game to West, harbour hopes of staying alive in the competition.

Close of 3rd day Auckland 198 and 126 (Canning 66; McSkimming 5-56) lead Otago 154 (Cumming 39; Barnes 5-24) by 170 runs
ScorecardAaron Barnes set the panic in motion at the University Oval in Dunedin after Tama Canning had dismissed the overnight batsmen Craig Cumming (39) and Chris Gaffaney (6) at which point Otago were 90 for 3. But then Barnes, who in 66 previous first-class matches had never taken more than 4 for 60 in an innings, swept through the middle and lower-order in 11.1 overs to take 5 for 24 as Otago could score only 154, 44 short of Auckland on the first innings.Not to be outdone, Warren McSkimming picked up the cudgels after Brad Scott and Jeff Wilson undid Auckland’s top-order to have them 33 for 5, before Tama Canning hit out for a rapid 66 scored off 52 balls. McSkimming repeated Barnes’ feat and blasted through the middle and lower-order to take 5 for 56 in 10.4 overs. Auckland were all out for 126, and Otago could be excused for pinching themselves when they found that victory lay only 171 runs away.However, their chance of getting there had to wait as bad light interrupted play causing an early end to the day.Close of 3rd day Canterbury 303 and 3 for 2 lead Central Districts 178 (Taylor 66, Sinclair 54; Wisneski 5-35) by 128 runs
ScorecardWith Mathew Sinclair on 54 and Ross Taylor having scored 66 off 67 balls, and the total on 160 for 3, Central Districts could have been excused for thinking first innings points beckoned against Canterbury.But then the tea break interrupted, and whatever was in the water either caused severe problems for the CD batsmen or enlivened Wisneski considerably, because before another 18 runs had been scored, the CD innings was over.Wisneski had 5 for 35, and Canterbury were in front by 125 runs. However, all was not lost for CD. By the time Canterbury had scored three runs, they had lost two of the most prolific batsmen of the summer, Shanan Stewart and Peter Fulton.Like the New Zealand weather, the batsmen on the final day of the games will be looking for settled fortunes.Wellington, which bore the brunt of the storms, had no play for the second successive day in their game against Northern Districts. Prospects are not bright for the final day.

Thilanga Sumathipala, the former president of Sri Lanka Cricket, will take up a new formal role as the board’s official representative to International Cricket Council this weekend. Sumathipala is scheduled to attend the ICC’s executive meeting in Lahore on October 16 and 17.”The executive committee unanimously decided to request Mr. Sumathipala to attend the ICC executive meeting in Lahore on October 16 and 17,” a media release said. “Sumathipala is the longest serving ICC executive board member, who has been handling the most important affairs in the international arena for Sri Lankan Cricket.”Sumathipala decided not to run for a fourth term as board president earlier this year, after an immigration scandal led to him being held in police custody for nearly five months. But he remains a powerful and influential figure in the current administration.The position as an international envoy had been offered earlier in the year, but Sumathipala, at the time under police guard in a private hospital, turned down the post. He was released on bail in June and has now been handed back his passport.The immigration case, however, still continues with the next hearing set for later this month. The case revolves around Sumathipala’s alleged assistance of Dhammika Amarasinghe, a man implicated in more than 28 murder cases, to obtain a forged passport and travel to London as a cricket board guest in 1999.

Sharad Pawar, a political heavyweight and the agriculture minister in the Indian government, is the Indian cricket board’s new president. In what can be counted as the first electoral defeat for Jagmohan Dalmiya, Pawar defeated Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the incumbent president, and Dalmiya’s nominee, at the 76th Annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in of India in Kolkata by a margin so whopping that it left the Dalmiya camp in total disarray.Cricinfo however had predicted at least 20 votes for Pawar, which turned out to be spot on. Mahendra ended with a sorry tally of 11 and it was clear that many of Dalmiya’s traditional supporters had deserted him.To make the victory absolute, the Pawar camp swept all the important positions up for grabs by equally comfortable margins. Niranjan Shah made a comeback to the post of secretary, N Srinivasan, is the new treasurer, and MP Pandove the joint secretary. And three national selectors – Yashpal Sharma, Gopal Sharma and Pranab Roy – who were known to be close to the Dalmiya camp were shown the door too.The election, conducted under the supervision of T S Krishnamurthy,a former chief election commissioner of India at the instance of the Supreme Court, not only signalled sweet revenge for Pawar, who was pipped to the post by a single vote by Mahendra last year in controversial election in which Dalmiya voted four times, but also marked the end, at least for the time being, the Dalmiya era which lasted 21 years.After being elected, Pawar thanked Krishamurthy for a smooth and fair election. ” As I said yesterday, we were quite confident of victory and the entire election procedure,” Pawar told reporters outside the conference hall of a five-star hotel where the election was held. “I’m grateful to all those who supported me and my entire team. We will concentrate on building basic infrastructure for cricket throughout India. I’m sure our collective efforts will be able to give justice to young, budding players and the cricket loving people of the country.”Niranjan Shah said the new regime would continue to utilise Dalmiya’s services. “A man like Dalmiya with such a vast experience of running cricket affairs will always have utility for the BCCI.”Dalmiya, a former chairman of the ICC, was twice president of the BCCI and was widely acknowledged as the real power behind the throne during the tenure of Mahendra whose election he had masterminded last year. Along with I S Bindra, who is now a bitter adversary, he was instrumental in winning the bid for 1996 World Cup for the subcontinent, and making the BCCI the richest sports body in India and one of the most affluent and powerful of cricketing boards in the world.Never to take a defeat lightly, Dalmiya questioned the role of Krishnamurthy in conducting the election. “It was not a debacle for us,” he said. “One of our genuine voters was asked to sit out while a complete stranger who had nothing to do with cricket was allowed to vote.”But even he didn’t go as far as to deny Pawar his win. At best, Dalmiya said, the verdict could have been 16-15 in favour of Pawar.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have been handed a stark ultimatum by Sport England: get your act together or risk losing funding.Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England, said: “We are concerned that the governance of the ECB may threaten the future growth and success of this sport. We may have to consider future funding if significant changes are not made before cricket’s four-year business plan is submitted in November.”Draper, speaking in blunt terms, was critical of the board which he said was unaccountable and undemocratic. He was speaking following the publication of The Sports Nexus Report on English Cricket today.The survey claimed that England’s recent good form has failed to lift the pervading sense of gloom around the national team. ECB officials will be disappointed to read that nearly half of the supporters questioned said that they should be given only little or absolutely no credit at all for the national team’s success.And equally damning was the assessment of the job the ECB is doing with the grass-roots game. Around 53% of those questioned were either fairly or very dissatisfied with the structure and support given to cricket at the lower levels.A statement from Sport England said that they had, "become increasingly concerned by the governance of English cricket and have endeavoured to work with all parties to modernise this sport. The approach to the ECB has been inclusive, charting a course of reform from within. Sport England has worked with all key partners including the ECB, the MCC, cricket sponsors and broadcast partners.”

As New Zealand and Sri Lanka square off in a four-match one-day series beginning at Queenstown tomorrow, the captains of both teams know that victory will provide a huge boost do their chances of direct entry into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in India in October 2006.As of April 1, only the top six teams in the ICC’s ODI points table will gain automatic entry into the knock-out tournament, with the rest relegated to a further preliminary round of matches. New Zealand, currently placed at No.4, and Sri Lanka, at the sixth position, are tightly squeezed into the middle section of the table, with India at five. Both teams, however, have 109 points, and a series sweep will move the winner to 115 points. England, just outside the crucial top six, will undoubtedly carry an eager interest in the four-match series, as a sweep by either team will move them up a notch.John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, was looking to get off to a winning start in the first couple matches in order to seize the initiative. “Our guys have already mentioned it,” Bracewell said to AFP. “It would be nice to be in the top six, and nice to be in the top three.” New Zealand play West Indies in a one-day series in February, and this would provide them with a second shot at progressing up the rankings.In the recent Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, New Zealand were beaten 2-1 by Australia, and despite clinching a record run-chase in the final match at Christchurch, New Zealand are still struggling for form and consistency. Stephen Fleming, the captain, has taken paternity leave, while Andre Adams, the fast bowler, is out with an injured hand. With Jacob Oram struggling to regain his bowling form, and Craig McMillan dropped due to indifferent performances with the bat, New Zealand will be forced to rely on Scott Styris, Chris Cairns and Daniel Vettori, key players with plenty of experience. Vettori, who captained his side during the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, is ranked fifth in the ODI bowlers table. Shane Bond, back in form after a long injury lay-off, will lead the attack.Sri Lanka, for their part, were hammered 6-1 in India and have to contend with a hectic schedule as well. They have a more accomplished batting line-up than New Zealand – Kumar Sangakkara, Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya are ranked in the top 20 – and in Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga they have two bowlers who have troubled the home side in the past.New Zealand were victors in the Champions Trophy in 2000, comprehensively beating a strong Indian side, but have yet to achieve a series win of that magnitude since.* * *
New Zealand Cricket has announced the team for The National Bank series match against Sri Lanka at the Queenstown Events Centre tomorrow.New Zealand Daniel Vettori (capt), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Peter Fulton, Jamie How , Hamish Marshall, Brendon McCullum (wk), Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Lou Vincent.

Scorecard
Points table
Tasmania were made to fight as they closed in on first-innings points after hurting New South Wales’ hopes of defending their Pura Cup total by knocking them over for 141 on the first day at Bellerive Oval. The Blues are in a three-way tie for third with South Australia and Western Australia, but their plans for advancement were derailed when they were dismissed in 53.4 overs after being sent in.The opener Greg Mail top scored with 33, but he was part of a collapse of 4 for 13 and the only bright spot of the rest of the innings for New South Wales was Brad Haddin’s 24-ball 29, which included two fours and a couple of sixes. Adam Griffith and Ben Hilfenhaus were the main problems with three wickets while Brendan Drew and Brett Geeves each collected two victims.Tasmania’s innings followed a similar pattern to their opponents’, with Tim Paine and Michael Bevan pushing them to 105 in a 93-run second-wicket stand. However, Paine (36) fell to Grant Lambert, who also dismissed the nightwatchman Griffith in the third-last over, and Michael Bevan slipped up on 51 as they finished at 4 for 110.Trevor Bayliss, the NSW coach, said the match was still very much alive. “It’s been an interesting day’s cricket,” he told . “There was a little bit in the wicket this morning and their guys bowled very well and we made a good start but didn’t bat as well as we probably could’ve done or should’ve done.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Short Cuts

England’s bowlers did their level best to atone for another underwhelming batting display, reducing Australia to 4 for 155 in reply to 291, but Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds batted through to the close of another rain-interrupted day at Sydney, adding another 33 runs in a tricky mini-session to leave their side just 103 adrift with six wickets in hand. Hussey, who suffered his sole failure of the tour at Melbourne last week, was unbeaten on 37 at the close, with Symonds standing firm on 22 alongside him.It was, however, yet another day of Australian dominance in this series, and it was always destined to be as such after a catastrophic morning session for England. After resuming on 4 for 234 overnight, England lost their last six wickets for 57 in 23.2 overs, with only Andrew Flintoff providing any resistance. He was the ninth man out for 89, his highest score of the series.Flintoff had been desperately out of sorts as a batsman on this tour, making just 158 runs in the first four Tests at 22.57. But having found his feet in an unbeaten 42 overnight, he was back to his most solid and reliable in this innings, stroking his boundaries rather than chasing them in the manner that he had done earlier in the tour. But Kevin Pietersen would doubtless sympathise with the lack of support he received – England’s last five batsmen mustered four runs between them.Not even Justin Langer’s second and third drops of the match at third slip could prevent Australia seizing control. Langer reprieved Paul Collingwood in the very first over, bowled by Brett Lee, but Collingwood had added just two to his overnight 25 when Glenn McGrath, armed with the new ball, got one to climb at his outside edge, for Adam Gilchrist to complete a simple catch.Chris Read came and went in an unconvincing hurry. Lee this time found that trampoline bounce outside off stump for Read to fence loosely to Gilchrist again, and with his very next ball, Lee found himself on a hat-trick, as Sajid Mahmood was squared up by a hip-tickler that looped off a leading edge to Hayden in the gully.Harmison hung around for 24 deliveries – long enough for Flintoff to clobber consecutive boundaries off Lee to move into the 70s – but he became Clark’s second victim of the morning (and third of the innings) when he missed an attempted yorker that was zeroing in on leg stump. And once Flintoff had gone, caught behind flailing in vain at Clark, Monty Panesar became the 1000th international wicket for an otherwise out-of-sorts Shane Warne.

Australia’s reply started positively, with Langer crashing four fours in four overs in what could yet be his final innings in Test cricket. He was eventually strangled down the leg-side by James Anderson for 26. It was not the best ball he had received, but it was still a deserved wicket for Anderson, who shared the new ball with his captain, Flintoff, and found a tight line with a hint of movement to concede just three runs from his first five overs.Hayden had hardly played a shot in anger when he was joined by Ricky Ponting, but he came out of his shell as the shine went off the new ball, and helped to add 66 for the second wicket, before wafting inexplicably at a wide one from Steve Harmison, and offering catching practice to Paul Collingwood at second slip. It was a timely wicket for England who were in need of a lift after their morning meltdown, but once Ponting had got into his stride, it seemed nothing could slow the Aussies down.Nothing, that is, except for a run-out. On 45, Ponting pushed Panesar into the leg-side and set off for a suicidal single. Anderson, fielding at mid-on, picked up the ball and threw down the stumps in an instant – Ponting’s second run-out in the 40s against England, to go alongside his infamous Pratt-fall at Trent Bridge last summer. This aberration didn’t look like being quite as costly, however, not even when Harmison, in the midst of an attacking spell, found some extra lift outside Michael Clarke’s off stump to give Chris Read a simple catch behind the stumps.The players immediately left the field for a lengthy rain delay, but upon the resumption, Hussey and Symonds batted resolutely to the close, to ensure that Australia remained on course for their coveted whitewash.

Short CutsShot of the day
Most of the fielders were back for Andrew Flintoff when he forced Brett Leeoff the back foot to one of the few gaps at deep cover. A straight-drivenboundary next ball was also impressive.Wicket of the day
Shane Warne’s lbw of Monty Panesar was not a spectacular dismissal, but itearned Warne his 1000th international wicket.Gaffe of the day
Richard Branson might understand a lot about airlines, but what he knowsabout the Ashes couldn’t be written on a sick bag. While unveiling his planfor keeping the urn in Australia he made more mistakes than a steward on alow-cost carrier.Quote of the day
“Why the **** should we keep them. It’s the Ashes. We’re not playing for abox of chocolates.” Ian Botham

Dennis Lillee, the former Australian fast-bowling great, called for Shane Warne to replace Ricky Ponting as captain of the Australian team. Lillee weighed into the national debate over the immediate future of the team with players returning home Wednesday after losing the series 2-1 to England on Monday. Lillee, one the giants of Australian cricket with 355 wickets in 70 Tests from 1971-84, also called for coach John Buchanan to go.”If Australia want to regain the Ashes they would dramatically improve their chances by appointing Shane Warne as captain,” Lillee wrote in newspaper.Lillee, 56, believed Warne, the world’s leading wicket-taker, acted as a “pseudo captain” during the drawn fifth Test and felt Ponting should be left to concentrate on his batting.”I got the distinct impression Warne was the pseudo captain during the fifth Test at The Oval,” wrote Lillee. “Warne was heavily involved in helping set the field and whenever I turned on the television, he was speaking on behalf of the Australian team.”There is no doubt Warne has an amazing cricketing brain – but not only that, any cricket he plays is at 120 percent and full of passion, guts and determination. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but Warne led from the front throughout the tour and I wouldn’t be worried about his previous indiscretions off the field,” he said, adding that captaincy could extend the legspinner’s career.Warne, 36, was Australia’s stand-out player of the series capturing 40 wickets in the five-Test series and scoring 249 runs – more than batsmen Simon Katich, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist.Lillee was wide-ranging in his criticism of the Australian team performance, railing on Cricket Australia officials and coach Buchanan. “If we are to get this team back on the rails, the plan has to go way deeper than making a few cosmetic changes to the team,” he said.”Make no mistake, Australia were ambushed by England because way too many people right across the board were living in a comfort zone. Cricket Australia executives, the coach, the manager, the captain and support staff must all be held accountable for this disaster.”Lillee said Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn and Simon Katich were the most vulnerable batsmen with selection for next month’s Test and one-day series with a World XI and this southern summer’s tours by West Indies and South Africa.A former fast bowling coach for the national side before falling out with Cricket Australia over a pay dispute last November, Lillee said the entire coaching structure needed to be reviewed.”Do we really need a coach in John Buchanan and a manager in Steve Bernard?” he asked. “Would it be better with one person in charge with the title of manager – someone who could then call in batting, bowling and fielding experts to assist the team as England did with spectacular results.”The coffers of Cricket Australia have never been so flush, so why isn’t the money being ploughed back into helping the Test team instead of being allocated to CA executives and their wives so they can follow the team around in great luxury.”