Australia in South Africa: 4th ODI Review : Gibbs powers SA to a series win

April 13 2009: After the No.1 spot in ICC ODI Rankings changed hands through the series, South Africa have made sure that they finish in the same position thanks to Herschelle Gibbs 21 ODI century that helped them win the 4th ODI and the series 3-1 to Australia at Port Elizabeth. His 110 came almost off a run a ball after having battled the first few overs in partnership with Smith. Australi who perished in the name of Van De Merwe never looked like being in the game.



An out of form Australia were always likely to be on the back foot heading into their do or die stint. They made a couple of changes bringing in Shane hardwood for Lauglin who didn't look like taking any wickets as Gibbs and AB Develliers powered SouthAfrica to a score of 317 leaving Australia with almost no margin for error run chase. For a while they looked Flauless, Haddin and Micheal Clarke clicked as a pair for the first time in the series putting on a 129 run stand, but both men loast their wicket at the half way mark. Clarke became victim to a vicious spinner pitching on leg and turning away from him to knock the off stump, a classical Van de Merwe delivery.

Merwe playing only his 3rd ODI picked up 3 for 46, the two other wickets coming in the name of Callan Ferguson and Micheal Hussey. Ferguson, Man who restored pride in the falling top order in the previous games was promoted to No.4 lost his wicket stumped by Boucher. Hussey soon followed, out LBW playing the wrong line. 129 for 0 suddenly turned 150 for 4 in a matter of 4 overs. Haddin's aggressive approach imbued Australia with hope and he batted instinctively in compiling 78 from 61 balls, including four sixes. But after he holed out to long-on off Johan Botha it was a steady decline for Australia and the tail succumbed to Dale Steyn, who finished with 4 for 44. The chase was always going to be difficult after Gibbs and de Villiers dominated with the bat.



Both Develliers and Gibbs kept the scoreboard moving also played some aggresive shots off the bad deliveries. Australian bolwers failed to offer any threat and the biggest worry turned out to be in the name of the spinners Micheal Clarke and Nathan hauritz who between them sent down 10 overs for 73. Both suffered in the hands off Gibbs who posted a ODI century after 14 months, Develirs suddenly turned the aggresson in the partnership as he trashed consecutive deliveries off Hauritz over long on and Mid Wicket boundaries.

The 61-run victory ensured Graeme Smith's men the honor of becoming the first team to triumph in three successive bilateral ODI series against Australia - a streak that dates back to their historic victory in the 438 match in Johannesburg three years ago. It also means that when the teams return to the Wanderers for Friday's fifth and final match, it will be to contest a dead rubber. Smith and his men have now won 7 out of their 10 games against the world champions - Australia. They deserve their 1st spot in the rankings, They've earned it.

In Other News: Botha, after being reported for suspect action has been cleared after tests found that the bending of his hand is well below the limit. His doosra and the faster ball came into the line of fire after match referee decided to report it for a test. Reports suggest that the Doosra measured a 9 deg bend while the off spinner measured 11 deg bend, well below the 15 deg limit set by the ICC.





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Australia in South Africa: 4th ODI: Preview

There's not much that Australia would want to change in their side after they lost the 3rd ODI agaist South Africa. They didn't do badly in the last game, All they now have to do is bowl a decent line and bat a little longer. Fergusson has been doing the mop-up job after the top order keeps falling. Only two more matches and what has been a fascinating summer that has been played between the two sides will come to an end.South Africa lead the series 2-1 and one more victory will seal it for them. Australia on the other hand will be looking to to finish 2-2 at the end of this game which could help a fitting finale at the wanderes. Not many would have forgotten, but for the record, SA and Australia, at the same ground, three years ago, rewrote one day international history.. The 438 run match from whcih South Africa came out champions..



First things first: Australia must win this game to keep alive their hopes of a series win and of regaining the No. 1 ODI ranking that began a couple of weeks ago in South African hands and has alternated through the series. After Australia's batsmen failed in Centurion and their bowlers struggled to do a containing job at Newlands, they need to find a satisfying balance in Port Elizabeth. Specifically, they need to find a fast bowler who can adequately support Mitchell Johnson and their top order must not again leave all the work up to the young No. 6 Callum Ferguson.

Team News
There is not much that South Africans would want to change.. van De Merwe proved his position in the team with three important wickets he picked bowling his left arm orthodox spin. Every single player in the team is doing well and Smith will be hoping they continue to do so. Not many teams around the world would want to change the winning combination and there is a least possibility that SA will do otherwise. The rest of the players in the squad might have to prepare themselves for another day of spectating.

South Africa squad Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Mark Boucher (wk), Roelof van der Merwe, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Makhaya Ntini.

Australia have added the Victorian Shane Harwood to their squad for this match, calling him over from the Rajasthan Royals' camp and he may edge out Ben Laughlin in the starting line-up. Harwood, 35, played Australia's two Twenty20 internationals late last month in South Africa before being sent home. Brett Lee and Stuart Clark will both be in South Africa when the match is played but neither will come into contention. Lee is training there with his IPL side and doesn't officially join the ODI squad until the series in the UAE, while Clark will have only just arrived. Clark will meet the squad in Johannesburg ahead of Friday's fifth and final one-day international.


Australia squad Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Marcus North, James Hopes, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Stuart Clark, Nathan Bracken, Shane Harwood, Ben Laughlin.






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Australia in South Africa: 3rd One Day: Review

South Africa powered to yet another victory after they beat the touring Australians by 25 runs in the third match of the five match one day series. South Africa now lead the series 2-1. Earlier South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a slow and dry wicket. Australian quickies made a good start as they restricted Smith and Gibbs from scoring big runs. The first South African wicket came at the expense of Smith in the 7th over caught behind to Johnson. South Africa were 28-1 in 6.2 overs.


Playing his 289th match and with piles of runs,ten thousand plus, around his name South African all rounder Jacques Kallis joined Gibbs. The duo put together a partnership of just 22 off 48 balls before Gibbs lost his concentration and wicket to Johnson. He was caught behind by Haddin. Johnson was the pick of the bowlers until then with figures of 5 overs 2 maidens and just 7 runs for his 2 scalps. In the company of AB De velliers, Kallis cruised the sinking South African ship past the 100 mark.

Kallis suddenly uped the anti and powered South Africa past the 150 scoring almost at a run a ball. De velliers also played some excellent shots. The duo added 114 off a 124 balls before Kallis(70) pulled a short delivery straight into the hands of Hopes fielding at midwicket. A surprise scalp for Brett Geeves. 34 runs later De velliers(80) lost his wicket to a leading edge skier comfortably held by Hauritz at extra cover saw South Africa at 198-4 in the 41st over, just when South Africa had called the batting power play. Duminy(32) in partnership with Albie Morkel added 32 runs in 20 balls before he was held in the covers trying to make the best use of the powerplay.

Morkel (29) and Boucher(28) added 53 in 5 overs to take South Africa to 283 before Morkel lost his off stump to Johnson. Merwe scored a six off the remaining 4 balls as South Africa reached a score of 289 for 6 at the end of 50 overs. Johnson was the stand out bowler for his effort of 4-34 in his 10 overs.


Australia started off cautiously, both Clarke and Haddin played defensive shots to keep wickets intact as Steyn and Parnell whizzed past their outside edges quite a number of times. Haddin scored 15 off 34 balls before he was out run out by Duminy in what was a quick single.

Ponting joined Clarke with Australia at 30-1 in 9.4 overs. Ponting played cautiously but also dismissed the bad balls to the boundary with confidence. Clarke picked up his strike rate as the duo took Australia past the 50 in 15 overs. It looked like a strategy by South Africa to bowl at the legs of Ponting as the spinner Botha bowled quite a few deliveries on the legs of the batsman. Ponting eventually lost his cool as he tried to force a shot coming down the track popping a simple catch to Botha. He was out for 20 leaving Australia at 66-2 in 17.5 overs. Van De Marwe was called into the attack and immediately he picked Clarke out bowled to a classical left arm spinner delivery. It pitched and turn.

Micheal Hussey then lost his wicket LBW to merwe as Australia received their 4th blow at the score of 83. It was all spin, Duminy in his first over picked the in-form David Hussey caught at long on. Australia(114-5, 30.2 Overs) never looked like getting home with the last recognized pair of Ferguson and Hopes at the crease still requiring 176 off 118 balls.

Both the batsman stitched together a decent partnership and mixed caution with aggression to take Australia past the 200 run mark. 45th over of the match, Fergusson(63) lost his wicket to van de merwe caught by Develliers at long on. Johnson(9) soon followed out run out to a combination of Duminy and Boucher. All door were shut as Hopes finished not out leaving Australia 25 runs short off target.

Kallis was declared man of the match for his all round performance with the bat and the ball. It was the spinner who made the difference, Botha and Duminy kept things tight, while Van de Merwe chipped in with 3 wickets. With Spinners doing well, South Africa now look a complete side, a team that can win in any condition. The next match will be played at centurion on the 13th of April.

Do Join me then for more updates, news, previews and reviews.





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India in NewZealand: Dhoni Speaks : Team India celebrates the test series win

"Of course it is a bit disappointing not to win this Test," captain MS Dhoni said. India's disappointment was evident at not winning the Test, despite a charismatic spell of legspin bowling from Sachin Tendulkar, who combined really well with Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan, with 16 wickets, ended as the highest wicket-taker in the series. The smiles on the faces of the seniors said it all, "I have come here 3 times and I'm happy we finally won" said Rahul Dravid.

The only disappointment was when the series came to an end in a rain affected match. There was no running for the stumps for souvenirs, There was No high fives and group hugs.. There was no grabbing the Indian Flag and taking the victory lap.. History only creeped in slowly.. 2-0 or 1-0 Dhoni and his men were given the task of getting back home with series win and that is what they are coming back with.


But the obvious question was whether India brought it upon themselves by declaring too late, despite having known the forecast for rain. India were 531 ahead when they started the fourth day, but batted on for half a session. India perhaps didn't want to leave anything to chance after having come so close. "You can't really bank on the weather," Dhoni said. A lot has been said about Dhoni and his delayed declaration in media, but the only answer to silence this attack is with a smile and the trophy in the hand and that is what Dhoni did as he posed for photographs after the press conference.

"What we wanted to do in the second innings was to attack, attack and attack so that even if one ball goes in the air, you want a fielder to catch it. That's only possible when you have the extra 70-80 runs. You don't want to change your plan, whatever position you are in. With two days of play, we knew it may rain, but at that point of time, it was not certain. With the amount of wind that goes around, there was a very good chance that the clouds would have been blown away also." He added. The safety-first approach highlighted India's lack of success overseas. The value of this win was immense and its enormity is beginning to be understood. "It's a fantastic atmosphere [in the dressing room], can't get better," Dhoni said.

"We have set the benchmark," Dhoni said. "Next time when we come to New Zealand, people expect you to win. You have achieved something that's big, but the tough part is to maintain it, to sustain it. It never gets easy for a cricketer. If you have not achieved something, there's pressure on you to achieve it. Once you have achieved it, there is pressure to sustain it. Nothing comes easy, it will be tougher for the guys who come on the next tour."

Criticism: This is the worst NZ side of the past, the wickets were flat and suited the Indians. The absence of Shane Bod and other experienced players has affected the way the Kiwis perform. That probably signifies the reason for Kiwi's at no.8 in the test rankings. India on the other hand had every single person in the team in supreme form which was not when the team toured in the past. In the past the wickets were lively and Indians found it tough to stay on the wicket. It would have been bad for Indian cricket if they had not won on this easy paced tracks.


"Contributions came when they were needed," he said. "Wickets were on the flatter side, there wasn't much in it for the bowlers, so they have to keep on changing their plans and improvising at times. The same applied with the batsmen as well. Overall, the effort by the bowlers was really great, and the lower-order contribution is very important because that really takes the morale of the team up. Whenever it was really needed from them, the lower-order contributed.

"We didn't rely on one specific individual, everybody contributed. Each and every batsman scored at some point in the series and the same applies to the bowlers also. At times, there was one end, which was not favoring the seamers, maybe because of the wind or not much help from the wicket. Still, bowling your heart out from that end, you really need quite a determined body and mind to do that. Quite happy with the performance overall."

No matter what team India has achieved in terms of performance and criticism, They come back with a series win, and a tough 41 year record off their backs. This is not the first time this team has had records off their backs, here are some list of the 'First's' that India achieved in the last months (If i can recall)

1st ever CB Series win in Austrlia
1st Series win in South Africa
1st Clean sweep of 5-0 against England
Highest margin of victory of 300 + runs over Australia
Highest run chase of 342 runs in the last innings to win a test match
1st one day series win in NewZealnd soil
1st test series win in NZ after 41 years
1st one day series win in west Indies
And many other such records.

Talking about records, Rahul Dravid now holds the record of highest number of catches taken by any cricketer around the world. Every run that Sachin Tendulkar scores is a record in itself. He scored some fantastic fifties and hundreds throughout the tour. Sehwag showed his form with the bat in the one day series, Gambhir did it during the tests. Dhoni and Laxman contributed with the bat. Harbhajan took 16 wickets, highest in the series and scored a match winning 60 in the last test. Zaheer chippe in with the bat and the ball. Only disappointments for India would have been the form of Ishant Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. Third Seamer Munaf patel did well but needed t step up his game to help India dominate the matches.

with almost no test cricket for India until December 09 in Bangladesh, Team India will be hoping to find some fresh talent and more importantly a bowling all rounder to complete the test side. The players are now headed home, and after spending sometime with their families they will be off to South Africa for IPL followed by their visit to England for the world Twenty20.

All player Statements courtesy CricInfo






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England In West Indies: 5th ODI Preview : Match on

With the series hanging in balance at 2-2, the decider one day between England and West Indies was still in doubt. The West Indies Cricket Board had been locked in crisis talks with the Players' Association, with the threat looming, not only of a boycott of Friday's fixture, but - going forward - a mass withdrawal from the tour of England which commences later this month, and clashes head-on with the lucrative Indian Premier League. Chris Gayle in a statement with the media cleared all doubts, "The Final ODI will be played at St.Lucia" said Gayle.


West Indies would have had to make 11 team changes if the controversy wouldn't have ended. Thanks to the decision by the players, it was down to only one. Tall, Left arm Orthodox bowler Suleman Benn has been named in the playing 11 in place of Nikita Miller who hurt his back trying to smash the ball out of the ground off a free hit during the last match. His omission was something of a surprise to England, given his starring role in the Jamaica Test victory, as well as two Twenty20 triumphs, starting with the Stanford Superstars in Antigua last year.

West Indies Playing 11: 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Lionel Baker, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Fidel Edwards.

As for england, there couldn't have been a possible change, their bowlers did well in the last match, the batsman have been doing well. Pietersen and Flintoff will play in the final ODI, after doubts were raised of whether they would be fit as both were nursing injuries on the hands. Pietersen was forced to leave the field after the injury while Flintoff require heavy strapping to continue in the match. Scans revealed no fractures or significant damages to the fingers allowing them to be a part of the series decider.

England 11 (Which hopefully will eb unchanged) 1 Ravi Bopara, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Owais Shah, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 James Anderson.


It's been an exciting series so far. WI could have led the England team in the sixes department with a score of 23-3, but thanks to complex logic of the Duckworth Lewis England managed a win in the second match after rain forced play to abandon the match. The series is tied at 2-2 and if the weather stays good, we should have a exciting finish with both teams playing for reputation over the other. Do join me for review later this week.

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Australia in South Africa: 1st One Day: Preview

South Africa will try to retain their first spot in the ICC ODI Rankings by winning the 5 match one day series against Australia starting today. Australia conceded their first spot to South Africa after they lost both the one day and the test series in the host series prior to this tour. Australia came out strong in the test series and regained the first spot in the rankings for Test's. It just seems that every time these two teams go head to head, the No. 1 Ranking is always up for grabs.



South Africa took the top ODI spot thanks to their 4-1 victory in Australia in January but to retain their new status they need to stop Australia winning this five-game series.Captain Graeme Smith will return after a injury to the right hand, while all rounder Jaques Kallis will miss the first match because of a groin injury. He should however return to the team in the second one-day on Sunday. Morne Morkel and Makhaya Ntini have been added after being rested for the Twenty20s, while Yusuf Abdulla, Robin Peterson, Justin Ontong and Johann Louw were the Twenty20 squad members to make way. South Africa couldn't find a place for Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Roelof van der Merwe or Wayne Parnell in the starting line-up.

South Africa Starting line-up for the first one day: South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

For Australia, Shane Harwood and David Warner have flown home after the Twenty20 matches. It was a shocker when Philip Hughes was not named as the part of the squad, even after his aggressive debut in the tests. Australia will rely on their opening pair of Micheal Clarke and Brad Haddin. Ponting believes the key to their success in the one-day series will be the bowling of Nathan Bracken. He was hit for 44 runs off his four overs in the second T20 match. Ben Laughli, a carpenter by profession made a paccy debut in the T20 matches and will be hoping for a debut int he one day matches. He is nippy and exciting to watch. Australia have not named the playing XI so far.

Australia squad: Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Marcus North, James Hopes, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Geeves, Nathan Bracken, Ben Laughlin.


End of this series ends a fascinating summer between the two sides. This will be the last chance for the South African player to prove their potential as South Africa at the end of this series play no International Cricket till October except the World T20 Championship, and the Champions Trophy in September. The Australians on the other hand will head straight to Abu-Dhabi for a 5 match one day series against Pakistan. The venue was shifted to Abu-Dhabi after concerns over player security in Pakistan, this decision was however taken well before the terrorist attacks on SriLankan cricketers earlier this year.

Match starts 6PM IST.

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Australia in South Africa: Smith returns to ODI Squad

South Africa won their final test match against the touring Australian side to restore some pride and momentum back with them. With a big loss of Smith to Injury, Jaques Kallis took over captaincy as South Africa convincingly beat the Australian's by an innings, the Australian's however had won the earlier matches to take the series 2-1. That brought an end to the Test, but the real test begins now, Can South Africa restore the same pride as the host Australia for 2 T20 matches and 5 ODI matches? The real test begins now as the South African Cricket season draws to the end...



It's hard to carry momentum with you for nine months but that's the task South Africa have ahead of them after winning the third Test against Australia in Cape Town. Their next Test assignment is not until December 16, when they host England in Centurion for the first of a four-Test series. The only international action they have between the upcoming ODI series against Australia and the visit of England will be the World Twenty20 in England in June and the Champions Trophy in September. However, Jacques Kallis, the stand-in captain who oversaw their victory by an innings and 20 runs at Newlands, said the Test players would still take heart from the dead-rubber win.

Despite good performance in his debut test, Imraan khan has been left out of the ODI squad for South Africa. Albie Morkel impressed with his all round performance in the last test to retain his well established spot in the side. The rest of the squad is contained with players who have impressed not only with their current form but with performances in the past helping South Africa to a number of wins. These names include, Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher,Morne Morkel, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini.

The big doubt however lied over inclusion of Greame smith who was injured during the second test when he preffered to stay in the dressing room as SA lost the second test. The man showed no courageous efforts as against the last time in Australia where he walked out with a fractured rib to face the final few overs to save the test. He didn't manage to save the wicket for long but South Africa took the series 2-0. Refer here for more. All doubts were cleared as the ODI squad was announced. Smith will be in the team, playing as a captain.

Wayne Pannel, the tall left arm bowler who proved his skills with the game in the one day series that SA won in Australia against Australia. He also finds his spot in the team. The 14-man squad announced for the first 2 one dayers is as follows: Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Mark Boucher (wk), Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Makhaya Ntini.





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