The legspinner showed signs of frustration early on, but recovered to bowl an accurate spell

Firdose Moonda in Dunedin08-Mar-2012It’s easy to see when Imran Tahir has something on his mind. He falls into old habits like misfielding. A fumble at fine leg to give away a second run, where he should have kept it down to a single, was an example of it. Tahir had bowled just four overs and conceded ten runs, hardly a cause for concern but he was concerned.After being brought on in the 13th over – the earliest he has been used so far – he bowled two tight overs, helping to keep up the pressure the seamers had created but not breaking through.For Tahir, for any attacking spinner, that is the measure of success. He had been replaced after the lunch interval and brought back once Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor had found a rhythm. With Jacques Kallis doing the containing job on one end, Tahir was there to take a wicket and for two overs he didn’t.All the signs were that he was getting desperate. His hands ended up on his head too often, in exaggerated fashion, as though a disaster much more serious than that which could take place on a cricket field had just happened. As he found some turn, he snarled in a way that caused his face to reshape itself into an expression that reflected an almost toxic mixture of annoyance, disappointment and frustration.At the end of his fourth over, McCullum flat-batted him over midwicket for four. Although he has previously insisted he enjoys being hit around a bit, because it gives him a greater chance of taking a wicket, it was clear that he did not enjoy that one. His irritation was evident as he kicked the ground below him. He was afraid he was not doing his job properly.Tahir, like any bowler, wants to do well for his country. Perhaps he has a little bit more want than others because South Africa is his adopted country, after he moved there six years ago for the love of a woman. Perhaps it is also because his eligibility was hyped up as the best thing to happen to South African cricket since the 438-game in light of his massive success back home. In five Tests so far, he has failed to live up to it not by any doing of his own, but because of largely unhelpful surfaces and limited opportunity.On Wednesday, at the University Oval, he had one of those. Eight wickets needed to be taken, time was on his side and he wanted to make maximum use of it. With all that weighing on his mind, it’s little wonder his mind was not entirely on saving one but on how best to make sure Smith kept him on and he delivered.From what we have seen and what we know of Tahir in the past, we thought he would have returned trying to bowl all 10 deliveries in his repertoire in the six balls he had in the next over. Each one would have drawn half an appeal, if not more, even it had been smacked straight back over his head for six. From what we know of the old style of South African cricket, he would have not have made an appearance until the over before tea. Both have changed.Tahir returned with a much better over, concentrating on getting the legbreak right and finding more pace through the air, something he has worked on extensively in South Africa as a way to take wickets. He used the googly as well but not as often as he has been prone to and he said very little while he toiled. Smith kept him on, even when McCullum carved up the space between mid-on and mid-off with a lofted shot for four.Eventually, it paid off with the wicket of McCullum, which gave him immeasurable confidence and relief – his usually emphatic celebration was a more subdued one this time – a glimpse into a more controlled version of Tahir. He paid greater attention to operating as part of a unit and building pressure with the rest of the pack, instead of focusing on a solo effort and in so doing turned in the best performance of his short career. “Every spell, he is learning more and more,” Morne Morkel said. “A lot is sometimes expected of Imran but I think he will deliver on this tour.”Morkel expects Tahir to come into play even more in the second innings with the pitch set to deteriorate and get lower and slower. He also said Tahir’s presence takes the heat off the rest of the seam bowlers, who no longer feel they are the only ones whose job it is to take wickets. “It’s important for the seam bowlers not to try too hard,” Morkel said. “We’ve got guys like Kallis who can pull the run rate back so Imran has got the freedom to go in an express himself and do the magic.”Edited by Siddarth Ravindran

Australia’s last four wickets outscored India’s by 79 runs over both innings at the MCG. In a series that could be decided by lower-order contributions, MS Dhoni may need to change his defensive tactics

Sidharth Monga31-Dec-2011India began and ended the year similarly. At Newlands, it was Mark Boucher and an injured Jacques Kallis who were allowed to get away when India were on top. At the MCG, it was the Australian lower order. At Newlands the India batsmen were in better form, and came out with a draw when they could have won. At the MCG the batsmen struggled, and India lost when they could have won.At the heart of both those disappointments was how India spread the field as soon as they saw the lower order. Not a gradual phasing out of attack, no. Not reacting to a boundary or two. MS Dhoni has been going on the defensive as soon as the lower-order players come out to bat. At Newlands, Kallis, batting at No. 5 and battling the pain of a side strain, walked out to a long-on in place, and there was a deep point the moment he reverse-swept a four. On the first day in Melbourne, Brad Haddin came out to face a hat-trick ball at 5 for 205. That soon become 6 for 214, when Ed Cowan was dismissed, but in the next over Dhoni had long-on, deep midwicket and fine leg for Haddin.Dhoni’s defence for the welcome given to Haddin says all you need to know. “You have to see who was bowling,” he said [it was R Ashwin who was bowling]. “Haddin is a good player of spin. We were bowling first, which meant there were no rough patches to play with. It could have been easy pickings. What we wanted to do was see if he is good enough and takes a single every delivery. [In that case] we look to put pressure on the other batsmen or from the other end from which the fast bowlers were bowling. It’s a strategy that goes your way or doesn’t go your way. You have to back yourself.”But Ashwin had been looking to get wickets when it was 3 for 205, and Michael Clarke and Cowan were at the crease. Why suddenly stop trying to get one of the batsmen out? Ashwin was not easy pickings for Clarke, how did he suddenly become easy pickings for Haddin? The result is no surprise. Australia’s last four wickets added a total of 211 runs over the two innings. India’s managed 132, 88 of those coming in the second innings when the match was already lost and the tail could swing the bat without any pressure.This is – at least it seemed to be for the first three days – a series between evenly matched sides. Runs scored by lower orders could decide the outcome. The last two series that India have won against Australia both featured contributions from the lower order. In 2008-09, it was Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh’s 80-run partnership that helped India draw the first Test, which proved to be a massive turning point in the series. In 2010-11, Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha hung around with VVS Laxman to win India the Mohali Test. It is no coincidence that when the Australian lower order beats India’s by 79 runs, India wind up losing the Test by 122.At the end of the game, Dhoni said his side needed to come up with a “formula” to get tailenders out. To lose the existing formula might be a start. The current formula might have worked for Dhoni on slower tracks, on smaller fields where singles are easy to defend, but such passivity against the tail is bound to hurt you at some time.Ian Chappell said the captain, more than the bowlers, had to be blamed for this. There is merit to what Chappell says. The same bowlers who have been trying to get a wicket every ball are now expected to change their game-plan to restricting boundaries for one batsman and then desperately trying to take a wicket with the last one or two deliveries of the over. Dhoni is a captain who usually knows what moments to seize; in Melbourne he looked two of them in the eye and let them pass.On the other hand, Clarke, fresher to the job, was a little more intuitive when it came to the Indian tail. After the match he defended Dhoni’s tactics, and said that he would have done the same; but actually he did not. He did not fight his own team’s momentum, and ran through the Indian Nos. 7, 8 and 9. Dhoni, unlike Haddin, was attacked in the first innings. It was only when Ashwin got into a partnership with the No. 11 that the fields went back, and that too after the partnership had begun developing.Clarke’s empathising with Dhoni says a lot about modern cricket: fearless tails, heavy bats and thick edges put the fear of a counterattack in the fielding captain’s mind. “I did the same for Ashwin in the first innings,” Clarke said. “I did the same for Dhoni on the fourth day [after Dhoni had hit a six and a couple] because the runs from the tail are important for any team, especially when the pitch is a bit bowler-friendly. As a team, every single run you get is crucial. I can see why Dhoni did it. Probably for the same reasons I did it; because you want to protect every single run.”Be that as it may, Dhoni realises the runs scored by the Australian lower order hurt India. He knows if he had knocked over the tail quickly India could have been chasing something around 230, and not 292. But he fears that had he tried to run through the tail, one or more of the batsmen could have taken advantage of close fields and scored more than they eventually did. Having put it down as one of the reasons for the defeat, Dhoni will at least revisit the strategy against lower orders. We all know it can do with a rethink.

Despite the weather forcing a draw, the Trinidad Test fit in much that was worth savouring

Daniel Brettig at Queen's Park Oval19-Apr-2012Rain giveth, and rain taketh away. The same precipitation that on day four had pushed the Trinidad Test towards a contest open to both sides had the ill manners to return about the same time on day five, and so consign the match to the dustbin of history occupied by most weather-affected draws. But the 11 overs of the West Indies chase, and the handful that had concluded the Australian second innings before them, a little more than an hour’s cricket in all, left a feeling of warmth about the leadership of both the hosts and the visitors.At the same time the rain reduced the chance that the 20 minutes of bright sunshine lost for murky reasons on the third morning would be pored over with greater intensity, for had it been played the match would not ultimately have been much closer to achieving a result. Nonetheless it will stick uncomfortably in the craw of all present at the ground at the scheduled start time that technological and commercial concerns had been deemed so critical as to stop a Test match in what were the best and sunniest conditions of its five days.Two days on, Darren Sammy and Michael Clarke tried their very best on the final afternoon to bring about a result, by whatever means they had within their power. A draw was enough to secure the Frank Worrell Trophy for Australia, retained on every occasion since it was so enterprisingly won by Mark Taylor’s men in 1995, but Clarke was thinking of victory every moment of the day until the rain closed in. Bad light was the initial cause of the players’ departure, and Clarke argued the point quite forcefully with the umpires Ian Gould and Marais Erasmus before reluctantly walking off for the last time.”Unfortunately there’s nothing I could do about the weather,” Clarke said later. “Darren and I spoke on the ground right at the end before we came off for bad light and both captains wanted to do everything we could to stay out there but as the umpires said it was just way too dark unfortunately, even though I said I’d bowl spin at both ends. I said at that stage, because I’d had Shane Watson bowl the last over from that end, is it okay if I bring on two spinners but they told me it was even too dark for that.”There’s going to be times throughout the rest of my career that it [being aggressive] might backfire and we might lose every now and then. But I enjoy the brand of cricket that we’re playing at the moment. I know the guys are really focused on the team having success and trying to win as many games of cricket as we can. And I think it’s bringing the best out of the team, to be honest. We’ll continue to do everything we can to try and keep winning.”Sammy, meanwhile, led his team with more intent and aggression in the field than at any stage of the final day in Barbados, harnessing Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Shane Shillingford adeptly while also bowling with typical intelligence himself to fields that were neatly balanced between attack and defence, albeit on a pitch less likely to punish aggressive captaincy or wayward bowling.Once Australia’s prospective target had been shrunk by the quality of the bowling that had confronted them, leaving the West Indies 215 to get in 61 overs, Sammy maintained his notable streak of pro-activity by attacking in his choice of batting order. The obstinate Kraigg Brathwaite was sent down the order to be replaced by Kieran Powell, an opener for the team in ODIs. Powell drove his first ball smartly to the cover fence, but once Ben Hilfenhaus had pinned him lbw, who walked out but Sammy, intent on a thoughtful attack on the bowling. He was making a few of the visitors sweat, too, before the rain arrived.The enthusiasm engendered in the West Indies team by Sammy, and among the Australians by Clarke, has been admirable. But all parties must take a share of blame for the ridiculous sight on the third day of the two teams walking to the middle, being informed of a power cut at the ground, then traipsing straight back off for 20 minutes of postulating about the implications of simply playing cricket without the assistance of TV. Clarke admitted after the match that he did not know the rule about continuing matches without the DRS in the event of technical difficulties, while the West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said shruggingly that it was simply an example of television’s power over sport.Jeff Crowe, the match referee, and the two umpires, were much more aware of the playing conditions, and as such should not have allowed 20 minutes to tick by without any action on the field. The rain pelting Queen’s Park Oval on the final afternoon was a staunch enough reminder that cricket has ample elemental obstacles without others being created by technology and bureaucracy. As ever, the spectators at the ground were thought of last of all, none given a satisfactory explanation why they were teased by the sight of the teams emerging and then retreating.For all of that, the Trinidad Test fit in much that was worth savouring, from the batting of Shane Watson, Michael Hussey and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Australia’s rare use of tandem spin to slide through the West Indian first innings, to the unbridled pace and keen intelligence shown by Roach. At 23, he is a bowler of tremendous promise and considerable threat to Australia’s transitional batting order, guided soundly by the professional and ECB-approved savvy of Gibson.Many greats of Caribbean cricket have lamented how subsequent generations have had little time for the wisdom they offered, but in Roach’s case there was the tangible inspiration and ingenuity of the late Malcolm Marshall in his heart and mind. His unprompted acknowledgement of what would have been Marshall’s 54th birthday on day four was a heartening moment for West Indian cricket, one that suggested the team led by Sammy is learning to take on the best lessons of the years of plenty that preceded them. Alongside the enterprise shown by Clarke and Sammy, Roach’s efforts should not be washed away from cricket’s collective memory by the showers that ended any chance of a result in this match.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the third day of the second Test in Colombo

Andrew McGlashan in Colombo05-Apr-2012Clonk of the day
A wicketkeeper’s job is tough enough without wild throws from your team-mates. Prasanna Jayawardene had a difficult day behind the stumps with low bounce not making his task easy and at the end of an over from Randiv was given a blow on the head for good measure. Randiv picked up the ball in his follow through and, as bowlers like to do, hurled it back towards the batsman who momentarily blinded Jayawardene and the ball struck his head. An inch or two lower and it would have been the eye.Warning of the day
No, not Kevin Pietersen. In the fourth over of the day Alastair Cook was facing Dhammika Prasad and will have been grateful the delivery that scooted low was outside off stump rather than straight. The previous evening Angelo Mathews had said the bowlers needed to be more consistent to exploit the cracks and Prasad had clearly located the spot. It was a warning to England to score as many as they could during the day.Bad review of the day
Sri Lanka were justified in reviewing the not-out decision when they thought Alastair Cook had gloved to leg slip. It was mighty close but only Hot Spot would have confirmed it one way or the other. Using up their second review an over later was less understandable. Suraj Randiv appealed for lbw against Jonathan Trott but replays showed a huge inside edge. Trott had even suggested as much to the fielders. Not that the batsmen can always be trusted but on this occasion Sri Lanka should have listened.Periscope of the day
There was not much bounce in the surface for Sri Lanka’s pace bowlers and it came close to costing Trott. Facing Prasad he ducked to avoid a bouncer but left his bat in the air behind him. The ball did not climb as much as Trott expected and clipped the back of his blade, deflecting wide of Jayawardene to fine leg.Bowling change of the day
Tillakaratne Dilshan has shown he can be effective with the new ball in one-day cricket so it was not a surprise to see him handed it when just four overs old. He didn’t let his captain down, producing a perfect offspinner first delivery which took the edge of Alastair Cook’s bat low to first slip. It was the second time Cook had fallen for 94 this year, after the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and meant his wait for a 20th Test hundred continued.Shot of the day
Many in Pietersen’s innings stood out, but watching him bring out the switch hit against Dilshan showed that he still retains that free-spirited approach he regularly unfurled in his earlier days. And it is not reckless batting. Far from it. Dilshan had a 7-2 leg-side field so Pietersen decided his best scoring option was the vacant off side.

Also: magpie-spotting, barramundi-eating, and interviewing players clad in towels

George Binoy23-Aug-2012August 13
Electric plugs in Australia are different from those in England and India. They are smaller, thinner, triangular. A world standard is needed for such things. A suitable converter takes some finding. A Nepal Under-19 player, Krishna Karki, comes over to the press area and wants to borrow mine. “Can I charge my camera, sir?” he asks. Plugs in Nepal are like those in India. “Of course, but don’t call me sir,” I reply. “Okay sir,” he responds.Two days later, Karki has Australia’s Jimmy Peirson caught at mid-off, giving a surprisingly large contingent of Nepal fans at the Tony Ireland Stadium early reason to celebrate. Dressed in purple jerseys, waving Nepal’s unusually shaped flag, and cheering everything, from wicket to dot-ball, they outnumber the Aussies easily.Watch Gurinder Sandhu fling a ball in anger straight at a Nepal batsman, who hurries out of the way. Wonder if Sandhu would have reacted similarly had it been England or South Africa.Despite all the attention on fast bowlers, Australia offspinner Ashton Turner is top of the wickets list with seven in two matches.August 14
Kirwan State High School, en route to Tony Ireland Stadium, has a sign outside congratulating Mathew Cameron, a Paralympian. He has popliteal web syndrome and has had 25 operations since he was born. He’s only 26, and is part of Australia’s wheelchair-relay team in London. Inspirational.Harry Conway’s hat-trick against Nepal makes the back page of the . A photograph of a vividly painted water reservoir on Castle Hill is splashed across the front.See a magpie for the first time. Only ever read about them going for shiny objects in Enid Blyton books. Apparently known for attacking people. Two cameramen shoo it away.Eat barramundi for the first time. From the size of the cut-up pieces, it seems like one massive fish. Can’t detect a distinctive flavour.August 15
Townsville is massive for the number of inhabitants it has, like most places in Australia. Space for what seems like hundreds of thousands more people. Most of the apartments are recent developments, lots of vacancy signs outside them. The older, more traditional, houses are Queenslanders – made of wood and raised on stilts, some short, some longer, to allow air to come up through the floorboards and cool the insides in summer. Each one looks quite different from the other at first glance, in terms of colour and construction, unlike row houses in England.A five-day culture festival is on at the Strand, by the beach. Food, music and dance from various countries, many of them small islands in Oceania. Watch an aggressive stage performance from Papua New Guinea – huge men with painted faces, dressed in coconut leaves, shouting each other down. Eat food from the Torres Straits Islands (mussels, and sweet potatoes cooked in coconut milk) and the Phillipines (various kinds of pork). Too full to sample Fiji and El Salvador. Stay away from the masala dosas.August 16
Catch the 208 bus at 8.05am from Walker Street to Endeavour Park for a couple of days. The next 208 is 30 minutes later. Share the ride with the same people both days – a mother and daughter, two girls going to school, and several William Ross school students. Get a couple of nods of recognition. Very rare to see the same people on the same bus in India, even if everyone is following a daily routine. Never have to wait 30 minutes between buses at home.Cover cricket the old-school way at Endeavour Park. No television to look at for replays; no ball-by-ball commentary on ESPNcricinfo either. Miss something and it’s lost forever. Two matches on at the same time: India-Papua New Guinea and West Indies-Zimbabwe, on adjacent grounds. Imagine two circles drawn next to each other with a ten-metre gap between the closest parts of their circumferences. Press tent is pitched in that gap. Turn head to the right for India-PNG, to the left for West Indies-Zimbabwe. Like watching tennis. Sightscreens for West Indies-Zimbabwe are two freight containers stacked on top of each other and covered with black tarp. No one asks for them to be moved.August 17
Taken to interview the Aussies after they finish a pool session. Speak to Kurtis Patterson dressed in just a towel. Will remind him of it if he plays international cricket one day.The quarter-finalists arrive from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Five Indians are seated on a couch in the small lobby of their service apartment building. A bus draws up and out troop the Pakistanis, wearing green blazers, dragging suitcases and huge kit bags. They crowd the lobby. The Indians watch from the couch; the England players look down from the floor above. New Zealand also arrive, dressed in crisp white shirts, dark trousers and striped ties with the white fern on it. They wait patiently outside until the Pakistanis check in. Not much talking between opponents. Imagine they’re sizing each other up.England captain Adam Ball is a Charlton Athletic fan, but finds it hard to play as them on because everyone else is playing as Real Madrid and Barcelona.Castle Hill, the pink granite monolith in the centre of Townsville•George Binoy/ESPNcricinfo LtdAugust 18
Getting tired of answering questions about what I have been up to in Australia apart from the cricket. Nothing much at all, is the answer. No games in Townsville today but there are teams to meet ahead of the quarter-finals. Grateful for the patience of the receptionists at Oaks M on Palmer as I repeatedly ask them to connect me to various rooms. Spend the day gathering information; spend the night writing. Haven’t seen the panoramic views from atop Castle Hill yet. Was five days before I wet my feet in the Pacific for the first time. Covering cricket is not as glamorous as it may look from the outside, but it’s pretty damn good.August 19
South Africa are playing England in the quarter-final at the Tony Ireland Stadium when sounds unusual for Townsville are heard: the revving of motorcycle engines and blaring of truck horns. About 200 of each pass by in a convoy that is part of an event raising money for a children’s charity. They make a din that won’t be out of place in Mumbai, during which England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes drops South Africa’s Murray Coetzee.Wasim Akram watches Pakistan practise ahead of their quarter-final against India. The team takes a group photo with him afterwards. And then they all want individual photos with Waz, who patiently strikes a pose and wears a smile and holds both for several minutes.August 20
India-Pakistan quarter-final. Indian fans outnumber the Pakistanis, who try valiantly to compete in the shouting. It’s a battle they cannot win unless their team does. The core group of Indian supporters seems to be from the Malayali Association of Townsville – someone shows up with a huge banner saying as much. The cheers are in Hindi, so that the Indian players can understand, but the chatter is in Malayalam.Ravikant Singh walks to the midwicket boundary in front of the grandstand to field, immediately after taking two Pakistan wickets in an over.”That’s not Ravikant, that’s Rajinikanth,” someone shouts. Ravikant turns and laughs.August 21
Australia’s captain, William “The Barnacle” Bosisto, finally has an average. It’s 189. After four unbeaten innings, two of which strongly influenced Australia victories, he is dismissed by South Africa, but not before his 40 takes Australia within four runs of a semi-final spot. It needs a run-out to remove Bosisto; no bowler has got the better of him yet. The South Africans drop three catches. Wonder if the ace fielders in their senior team get better after 19.August 22
Townsville being a port town, it’s quite common to see boats on the streets, being towed by cars. Try to read names of boats on the river while walking over the bridge. See painted on the side of a catamaran. Not the most reassuring name to see in the sea.Call a cab to go back to the city from Tony Ireland Stadium. The little lady driving it is old enough to be someone’s grandmother. Talks about how sprawling new shopping complexes are sprouting in the town and about how the Goods and Services Tax has made everything more expensive. “We pay a tax on tax,” she says.Get a call from the bus company saying that someone I called at 9.42am has left their phone on a bus. Check records and see it’s the New Zealand team manager. Give them details of where he’s staying and make a note to check with him at the semi-final. That’s the second lost item I’ve seen try to be returned by the bus company. Wonder if it’s common in larger Australian cities too.

Our reporters look back on their favourite World Twenty20 matches

Andrew McGlashan17-Sep-2012England v South Africa, 18th match, World Twenty20 2010When a batsman takes apart Dale Steyn, however briefly, you know you’re watching something special•Getty ImagesThe warm-up: England-South Africa contests always come with an edge. The reasons why are well documented and the matches rarely disappoint. This was a game with huge significance: a win for either team would virtually assure a semi-final place. Neither side had started the tournament smoothly, with England edging through their group after a rained-off match against Ireland. South Africa, meanwhile, had lost to India and beaten Afghanistan, but the Associate nation had restricted them to 139 for 7. However, an efficient victory against New Zealand at the beginning of the second stage suggested their game was coming together. England, too, had won convincingly against Pakistan. Who would crack first?The match itself: It did not take long for the game to come to life. Johan Botha removed Michael Lumb in the first over but the second-wicket pair of Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen launched into South Africa’s bowling in a stand worth 94 in ten overs. Pietersen was at his imperious best, winning his head-to-head with Dale Steyn in thrilling style – taking 23 off the eight balls he faced from the fast bowler. Although wickets started to fall, England had a deep batting order and there were useful contributions from Eoin Morgan and Tim Bresnan as they reached a testing 168 for 7.The match swung hugely in England’s favour when South Africa struggled for early momentum with the bat. Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis had added 19 in four overs when Stuart Broad removed Kallis. England were operating finely-tuned tactics in the field and this was a day when they all worked perfectly. Ryan Sidebottom, who had been preferred at the last minute to James Anderson because of the value of a left-arm quick, and Tim Bresnan both conceded less than six-an-over while the spinners, Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy, combined to take five wickets. The pair took wickets in four consecutive overs as South Africa’s top order subsided.Highlight: Kevin Pietersen v Dale Steyn. International cricket at its best. When Twenty20 began there was a suspicion that it would not allow time for duels to develop like in the longer formats. This, however, though a brief contest, was as gripping as you could wish for. Pietersen was off the mark with a crunching straight drive but it was later, when Steyn was brought back for 11th over, that he played the shot of match by dispatching a slower ball onto the roof of the stand and out of ground. This was followed, two balls later, by Pietersen’s ‘flamingo’ flick through midwicket as he reached fifty from 30 balls. Stunning.The aftermatch: Hours after picking up the Man of the Match award, Pietersen was on a plane back to London for the birth of his first child. “It’s my first child, so it’s a hell of an exciting time for me,” he said. “I’ll be dashing across the Atlantic, and hopefully dashing back.”Meanwhile, the ‘C’ word was soon following South Africa around again, when they lost against Pakistan by 11 runs to go out of the tournament. England, though, had the force with them and did not look like losing as they secured their first global silverware. Pietersen, when he returned, flayed Sri Lanka in the semi-final and Australia in the final to be named Man of the Tournament.

****

Australia v Pakistan, semi-final, World Twenty20 2010Michael Hussey resurrected Australia from the dead•Getty ImagesThe warm-up: The two teams could not have moved into the semi-finals in more contrasting styles: Australia were unbeaten – including an opening win against Pakistan – spearheaded by their strong pace attack and muscular batting. It had been the first time Australia had enjoyed consistent success in Twenty20 and there was a feeling that they were finally taking the format seriously. Pakistan, meanwhile, lurched into the knockouts, much like they did in 2009, squeaking in despite losing two of their Super Eight matches. Really, though, anything other than that from them would have been a surprise.The match itself: Was this the ultimate Twenty20 match? Nearly 400 runs, a penultimate-ball result, a late dramatic swing in momentum. Gros Islet is not a big ground and it was filled with 22 sixes. Pakistan had led the charge, the Akmal’s – Kamran and Umar – cracking half-centuries as Australia’s much-vaunted attack was given its first real test. Then David Warner fell second ball of the chase and wickets slipped steadily against a huge asking rate. But Michael Hussey never knows when to give in and launched an amazing assault in the closing overs. When Steve Smith fell Australia needed 48 off 17 balls – Hussey got 37 himself, ending on a phenomenal 60 off 24 balls and carrying Australia across the line.Highlight: The hitting from Hussey was breathtaking. It was the sustained quality of the striking that stood out, under pressure with a place in a final at stake. Saeed Ajmal had been entrusted with final overs during the tournament but, at the crucial time, could not spear the ball under Hussey’s bat and offered hittable length. Still, if any of his shots had gone straight up in the air that would have been it for Australia but he backed himself each time. In a format where matches can quickly fade from the memory, this is one that left a lasting mark.The aftermatch: Amazing game, nightmare to write up. Especially when your laptop picked the night before to blow up and there was a flight to catch to Barbados an hour after the game was due to finish. Hasty writing followed on a colleague’s machine in the departure lounge. Hussey could barely grasp what he had achieved during the press conference while Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, just wore a blank expression. After winning a game like that there was a feeling Australia were unstoppable, but a couple of days later they had no answer to England – the other form team of the tournament – during the final in Barbados.

David Hopps in Colombo20-Sep-2012A kindly message to the future mother-in-law of Danny Briggs, proud husband to be and excited England spinner: when he remarked in Colombo that the World Twenty20 was a priority compared to his wedding, the words probably just got tangled up and it did not quite come out as it should have.After all, he had just taken three Pakistan wickets in England’s final warm-up in Colombo and can now anticipate playing a central role in their defence of the trophy. If he did not seem entirely abreast of the detailed arrangements for his wedding, it was probably just a touch of the sun.He might be flighty as spinners go, but he does not seem at all flighty off the field. He is a softly-spoken, polite lad who still lives on the Isle of Wight and travels over for Hampshire matches on the ferry.If Briggs’ future wife, Linsey, was naïve about the itinerant life of a professional cricketer, she was naïve no longer when their wedding, scheduled for the end of September, was postponed until October so England’s up-and-coming young spinner could take part in World Twenty20.Actually, even the rearranged wedding date is far from perfect as it clashes with Hampshire’s qualification matches in the Champions League, meaning that Briggs will only fly out if Hampshire reach the final stages. For cricket obsessives, it is a bit of a shame that it was not postponed for a second time, but priorities can be tricky things.Briggs himself, the first of Isle of Wight cricketer to represent England, shrugs it off manfully. “It is so busy with cricket, you never know where you are going to be,” he said. “I do miss the Champions League qualification because of the wedding, but I changed wedding plans once for World Twenty20, which was obviously the priority. I will fly out if Hampshire qualify.”It is to be hoped that the Champions League does not cause the honeymoon too much disruption.England’s World Twenty20 campaign begins in earnest at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday and instead of his wife-to-be whispering sweet nothings in his ear under candlelight, he is likely to be faced by the wanton aggression of Afghanistan’s batsmen under floodlights. He cannot be sure of selection, though, so early in the tournament on a Premadasa surface that will favour the pace bowlers more than spinners before the pitches tire, but his time will come.The wedding is in Taunton, but his thoughts after he had seen off Pakistan were with cricket and he was not noticeably eager to discuss family arrangements with a bunch of journalists. “My wife to be and her family are organising everything,” he said. “It’s their choice, I just go along with it.”The English tabloids raised a toast with the story. The headline had him assuring the family that he would turn up on the big day under the headline: “Aisle Be There.”

Focus may fall on the No. 1 ranking changing hands again but both sides are looking further down the road

George Dobell at The Oval31-Aug-2012Like Idi Amin declaring himself the winner of a general election, so England’s return to the top of the ODI rankings should be viewed with a certain cynicism.While any victory over a decent South Africa side is to be praised, particularly a victory that showed such an improvement on the dismal performance in Southampton, the ranking flatters and misleads. England have a long way to go as an ODI side.In truth, this ODI series – like so many – is about building for the future. ODI teams are not judged on rankings, particularly ones that appear quite so arbitrary. No, ODI teams are judged on trophies. Global trophies, at that: World Cups and, to a lesser extent, the Champions Trophy. Whatever happens in the next week or so, whichever team wins this series, few will remember by the time the 2015 World Cup comes along.But England can take encouragement from this performance. As both these teams build for the future, they are developing new players and testing their bench strength. For that reason, a strong argument could be made to suggest that England have the better prospects ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy, which is to be played in the UK.In this game, South Africa looked a batsman light. With Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers all, for once, departing to somewhat loose strokes, a thin-looking middle order was exposed. While the jury remains out on Dean Elgar – it is bound to take him some time to settle at international level – Faf du Plessis and Wayne Parnell, at No. 5 and No. 7 respectively, both look at least a place too high in the order.While many of South Africa’s problems would be resolved in a stroke by the return of Jacques Kallis – he strengthens the batting, the bowling and the fielding – he is now 36. Even though he harbours ambitions to play in the 2015 World Cup, South Africa do need to start to look to the future. Replacing him will prove desperately difficult.”We didn’t play good cricket at all,” de Villiers said afterwards. “Most of our senior players got in and didn’t make it count. Including me. I was seeing it really well, but played a poor shot at a very bad time. It is those things that cost you the game.”We were about 40 runs short. It was the experienced players at fault. We were hoping for 250 at least and hopefully aim for 270. That would have been a winning score. Complacency wasn’t an issue. I wouldn’t allow that as a captain. We just didn’t play well at all.”The performance of Wayne Parnell, who bowled with controlled pace, should provide some encouragement for South Africa. After a few bumps on the road, the 23-year-old looks to be developing into the top-class performer his talent first suggested.England, meanwhile, went into this game without three men who might be considered first-choice selections: Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen. While there is no certainty about the future of any of them, there is growing hope that all should be around in 2013 and 2015. Swann does not require an elbow operation, while Pietersen will meet with ECB officials in the very near future to thrash out their difficulties. A sincere, unqualified apology made face-to-face with colleagues in the squad and the management set-up would take him a long way along the path to rehabilitation. If he really wants to return, it is the option he must take.

“Jonathan Trott may well be the most reassuring batsmen England have had since the retirement of Graham Gooch”

The pleasing thing about this display from an England perspective was that their stand-ins performed so impressively. James Tredwell, bowling with flight and dip that Swann has struggled to find of late, hardly delivered a poor ball, while Jade Dernbach utilised his variations far more judiciously than has sometimes been the case. It hints at a growing maturity. The lovely slower ball, all the more effective for being used sparingly, with which he dismissed Elgar was the delivery of the match.”We bowled better, we batted better and we fielded better than we did in Southampton,” Alastair Cook said. “It’s encouraging when we can right wrongs. Swann was fit to play, but it’s really nice when you have guys as solid as Tredwell to come into the side.”England’s reply was built around two contrasting innings by Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan. Trott, all quiet accumulation, and Morgan, full of invention and aggression, complemented each other perfectly and underlined the impression that England are building a team that can adapt and challenge. If Pietersen and Morgan can be reunited in the middle-order, they will prove a potent problem for any bowling attack.Despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary, some will never accept Trott as a limited-overs batsman. But whatever his perceived issues on the flattest of wickets, there is probably no-one in world cricket who manages the overhauling of a modest target with as much certainty. He may well be the most reassuring batsmen England have had since the retirement of Graham Gooch. Morgan, in this form, looks irrepressible. Quite why he cannot convert such talent to first-class cricket – he averages under 20 in this year’s County Championship – is hard to fathom.”We have guys with various attributes who contribute to different ways of winning a game,” Morgan said. “Trotty anchored the innings very well and I played the way I do. It worked out very well. I’ve worked hard and I’ve been hitting the ball well all summer.”Perhaps, had Trott played-on off Dale Steyn when he had scored 6, the result may have been different. But there is not a huge amount to choose between these teams and, as both teams look into the longer-term future, perhaps it is England who can be the slightly more optimistic.

England’s bowlers need to be more aware of the lines they bowl at different stages of an innings in India

Aakash Chopra22-Nov-2012As the Indian batsmen put the English fast bowlers to the sword at Motera, one couldn’t help feel sorry for the visitors. They made for a rather depressing sight: when the outcome is inversely proportional to the input, you tend to feel for the player.The ball (especially the new ball on day one) did not swing in the air or move off the surface. The faster they bowled, the quicker it went off the bat. Whenever they bowled a bouncer, it either didn’t bounce above chest height or bounced twice before reaching Matt Prior.While the odds were stacked heavily against them because of the conditions, their predicament was also a result of a few technical slip-ups. Here’s a look at a few things England may want to consider while preparing for the second Test match. If the pitch in Mumbai is remotely similar to the one in Ahmedabad, they’ll need every bit of help they can get.Vary lengths, stick to one line
Every fast bowler with a new red ball in his hand is tuned to look for early swing or lateral movement off the surface. But in India the new SG Test ball doesn’t move much in the air, and so the tried-and-tested formula of keeping it in the air for as long as possible doesn’t quite work. If you pitch the ball full, hoping for swing, you will most likely see the batsman safely play through the line.I’m not suggesting bowlers avoid bowling full, but in India, full balls should mostly be outside the off stump. An outside-off-stump line forces the batsman to play square of the wicket, and that could possibly provide a window of opportunity for the bowler if the batsman is a shade late on the ball.On the dry but not very abrasive pitches of India, the ball doesn’t dart around after pitching either. So it’s important to change your length while keeping the line of operation about six inches outside off stump. If there’s no deception in the air or off the surface, you need to ensure the batsman is kept guessing about the length at least.The odd bouncer – dug in really short to ensure that it rises above shoulder height – can also be a handy tool. There’s nothing wrong with being defensive
However tempting it may be to bowl straight at the batsman (hoping he’ll miss and you’ll hit), it’s worth remembering that quality players aren’t likely to miss straight balls, unless they’re bowled at extremely high speeds.

In India the new SG Test ball doesn’t move much in the air, and so the tried-and-tested formula of keeping it in the air for as long as possible doesn’t quite work

Since there’s little movement in the air in India, and hardly any off the surface, straight lines will not only give the opposition easy runs, they will also make it more difficult for the fielding side to create chances.While the ball is new – that is, till it hasn’t started to reverse – it’s better to pack the off-side field and bowl an outside-off-stump line consistently. Many would consider this defensive, but in India defence is interpreted as patience and is often the biggest weapon. With the new ball, it’s almost impossible to contain, and so it’s better to make sure that you’re hit only on one side of the pitch.The art of the old ball
This is the real deal, more so for the faster bowlers. It’s no surprise that Zaheer Khan regularly bowls with a scrambled seam to scuff up one half of the ball, for that’s when the SG Test ball starts moving a little in the air. The earlier you can reach that stage, the fresher your fast bowlers will be to bowl quicker in the air, and hence more effectively.Once the ball starts reversing, you must start targeting the stumps. Now you can pack the on-side field, and have at least one man catching in the midwicket region for an uppish stroke off the legs.But these tactics are effective only if every ball you bowl finishes within the stumps and does not drift too far down the leg side – which would result in easy singles for batsmen with supple wrists. And if you err towards the off side, be prepared to fetch the ball from the fence. You simply can’t (like the English bowlers were regularly in Ahmedabad) get square-cut and flicked off the legs in the same over.Don’t let them score easily
While fast bowlers are likely to have a bigger say when the ball starts reversing, spinners, at times, find it tough going once the ball has lost its hardness (which means there is less bite off the surface).Once that happens, it’s important to find other ways to bring the batsmen out of their comfort zone. Drying up the flow of runs works wonders in India. Not that it’s easy to stop uninhibited Indian batsmen from scoring, but going around the wicket to bowl into the rough for a while could work as an attacking option.In-out fields work best on slow Indian pitches, where there isn’t enough pace off the surface for the batsmen to work the ball into the gaps for easy singles. Mostly it’s either attacking shots, in search of the boundary, or defensive prods to keep the bowler at bay. If you sit back and wait for things to happen, you’re doomed.

Michael Clarke has instilled into his own side that it is possible to win from any situation. The attacking mindset was personified by James Pattinson’s fiery spell, for example

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane13-Nov-2012Over the past five days at the Gabba, Australia and South Africa played out the first draw between the sides in their past 14 Tests. The rain on the second day didn’t prevent Michael Clarke from trying to fashion a route to victory. And in a four-day game on one of the flattest, slowest Australian pitches in recent years, that his men went so close to achieving that goal was a remarkable effort.It also said much about the way the Australians approach the game under Clarke’s leadership. Though he was never captain of Australia’s Test team, Shane Warne always believed Australia could win, from virtually any position. Clarke admires Warne’s mindset and has instilled it into his own side. Since he took over as full-time captain, the only match Australia have drawn that was not rain-affected was the game that gave Australia a series victory in Colombo last year. They have lost only two Tests, and won nine.After the first day, which brought only two wickets, the Australians not only lifted, they showed an intent that the South African camp seemed to lack. Ed Cowan played his strokes and with Clarke rebuilt from a perilous 3 for 40, and when their monster partnership was broken, Michael Hussey ensured the tempo did not slip. From a position of South African dominance, the match turned firmly in Australia’s favour.While he was compiling his third double-century this year, Clarke’s mind was active. How can we win this? Do we declare behind and challenge Graeme Smith to set us a target? Should we push on, build a lead and put South Africa’s batsmen under pressure? The runs came so quickly that Clarke decided on the latter approach, giving his bowlers most of the final day to do their work. They claimed five wickets, but ultimately time beat them.”I thought it was going to be tough if we had to chase 250 or 280 on that wicket on the last day,” Clarke said. “I thought our best chance of winning, especially the way Michael Hussey was playing and scoring quite quickly last night, was to get a lead, come out this morning and be as positive as we could, and then give ourselves enough time in the game to take nine wickets. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time.”The boys deserve a lot of credit for their attitudes more than anything else. Our intent was the way it needs to be when you’re playing against such a good team. I think the way Ed Cowan and Michael Hussey batted, they certainly showed that intent and our attitude was spot on today with the ball. We were quite aggressive with our approach … We can certainly use the momentum that we take from this game and hopefully take it into Adelaide.”Australia’s attacking mindset was personified by James Pattinson on the final day. In a spell full of venom and verbal aggression, Pattinson was infuriated by Smith pulling away as a bird flew across the pitch with Pattinson in his delivery stride. Pattinson told Smith what he thought in no uncertain terms, and sent down a searing bouncer next ball, and it was the start of short but fiery contest between the two men.It didn’t take Pattinson long to have his man. Coming around the wicket, he enticed a loose shot from Smith, whose edge flew to gully. A pumped-up Pattinson gave Smith a send-off of sorts, but Clarke had no problem with the aggression showed by his young fast bowler. Pattinson collected five wickets for the match, the most by any Australian bowler, and he is rapidly making himself the spearhead of Australia’s attack.”Patto knows the rules,” Clarke said. “Like all the bowlers, I think the aggression, the intent is a big part of the way we play our best cricket. I certainly don’t want to stop that. But we understand there’s a line and you can go to the line but you can’t overstep it. Simple as that.”Patto’s enjoying being out there and playing, being on the park. I’ve said for a while we’ve got plenty of talent, it’s now about performance with the ball. It’s about guys being fit and firing at the right time. This is a great test for our quicks. We’re playing against a very good batting team, as we did against India last summer. It’s been a good start for us, especially after day one.”Day one certainly wasn’t a good start for the Australians. But there is no question they will fly out of Brisbane with more reasons for positivity than their rivals. And as Clarke knows, positive thinking is half the battle.