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Cricket Ireland have named a full-strength squad for their upcoming ODI’s against Canada that will be played at Clontarf next week

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011Trent Johnston has recovered from a knee injury and has been named in a full-strength Ireland squad for their upcoming ODI’s against Canada that will be played at Clontarf next week. Boyd Rankin, Niall O’Brien and Ed Joyce, the three players who missed the Intercontinental Cup game against Namibia because of their county commitments, are also back in the side for the two one-dayers on September 19 and 20, as is captain William Porterfield. Kevin O’Brian led the team against Namibia in Porterfield’s absence.Johnston has suffered through an injury plagued season, but took a cortisone injection two weeks ago and said his knee has felt a lot better since then. “I’ve a lot more mobility, and I’m due to start bowling again in the nets tomorrow while the I-Cup game is going on. I’ll be building up my workload as the week progresses, and I’d be pretty confident of playing next week.”Having said that, I’ll probably still have the operation on my knee on the 29th of this month. If that goes to plan, I’ll be back in full training in December ahead of the tour of Kenya and the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in UAE in mid March.”Ireland coach Phil Simmons said the return of Trent gives the side a boost. “I like experience in my squad as everyone knows, and it’s no surprise that it’s the World Cup squad, with the exception of Andre Botha,” Ireland coach Phil Simmons said. “We’ve been boosted by the return of Trent, who always gives the squad a lift by his very presence.”Ireland take on Canada in a four-day game that starts on September 13.Ireland ODI squad: William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert Van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has decided to not sign a central contract with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), ESPNcricinfo has learnt

Tariq Engineer29-Sep-2010Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has turned down a central contract with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Gayle is the third prominent West Indies player to opt out of a central contract, after allrounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo did the same earlier this month.”Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, who were both offered A contracts, and Kieron Pollard, who was offered a C contract, have indicated to the WICB that they were not minded to take up the offers,” confirmed a press release from the board. “The WICB has written to Gayle, Bravo and Pollard seeking details of the issues which caused them not to take up the offer in an attempt to understand same and so that the issues can be addressed for future contract offers.”The contracts on offer had required players to make themselves available for the West Indies team at all times, something that the three players – all of whom have forged prominent careers in domestic Twenty20 competitions including the IPL – were reluctant to do.The board release subsequently confirmed that Gayle, Pollard and Bravo would be available for selection in the West Indies team if they meet the board’s criteria which makes it mandatory for players to participate in regional tournaments, unless under “exceptional circumstances”, to be in contention. It also confirmed that possession of a retainer contract is not a pre-requisite for selection to the West Indies team.According to the criteria that was outlined in August, those players seeking selection into a particular format will have to make themselves available for participation in the corresponding regional version – the first-class four-day competition, the 50-over one-day tournament or the Caribbean T20.The WICB had offered 25 players contracts on August 31 – ten of them were development contracts worth $25,000 – and gave the players until September 10 to accept them. If any player chose not to accept the contract, the board said it would make alternate offers. Twenty-three of the players have now signed their contracts, 15 on full retainers across three bands, plus eight further names on Developmental contracts.”The WICB is delighted to have a full complement of players on Central Retainer and Developmental contracts,” said WICB CEO Dr. Ernest Hilaire. “We see this as a clear demonstration by the players themselves that they are committed to working with the WICB towards the development and success of West Indies cricket.”The WICB is encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response from the players and we look forward to working very closely with each of them in the coming year,” Dr. Hilaire added.”Gayle, Bravo and Pollard have each indicated to the WICB that they remain committed to West Indies cricket and are available for selection to the West Indies team,” continued the statement. “The WICB appreciates the stated commitment to West Indies cricket.”West Indies contracted players Shivnarine Chanderpaul – A, Sulieman Benn – B, Darren Sammy – B, Kemar Roach – C, Brendan Nash – C, Adrian Barath – C, Darren Bravo – C, Shane Shillingford – C, Nikita Miller – C, Devon Smith – C, Ravi Rampaul – C, Nelon Pascal – C, David Bernard Jr – C, Andre Russell – C, Carlton Baugh Jr – CDevelopmental contracts Kirk Edwards, Gavin Tonge, Andre Fletcher, Chadwick Walton, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin, Imran Khan, Kevin Stoute

England captain stands down from Hundred duty to manage workload

Valkerie Baynes28-Jun-2025Nat Sciver-Brunt has opted not to captain Trent Rockets in the Hundred this year to manage her workloads.ESPNcricinfo understands that Sciver-Brunt has made the decision to play for her Hundred team but will step aside as their skipper to ease the pressure of her responsibilities, having been appointed as the England Women’s captain two months ago.England’s T20I series against India, starting at Trent Bridge on Saturday, will be her third in charge after leading the side to twin 3-0 sweeps of the T20I and ODI series against West Indies.Trent Rockets are yet to appoint a replacement captain, but options could include Australian allrounder Ash Gardner, who led Gujarat Giants at this year’s WPL and stood in for one game at WBBL side Sydney Sixers while Ellyse Perry served a suspension for over-rates penalties in 2023.Grace Scrivens, the former England Under-19 captain who has been mooted as a potential senior captain despite being yet to make her international debut at that level, could take the next step in her leadership development after she led England Women A on the T20 and four-day legs of their recent tour of Australia.Related

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Sciver-Brunt played as a batter only through the West Indies series while continuing her recovery from a long-standing Achilles tendon injury which she hopes will allow her to return to an allrounder role at the 50-over World Cup in India later this year.She also became a mother in March when wife Katherine gave birth to their son, Theo. It is a role that team-mate Tammy Beaumont told ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast she had taken to with admirable ease.”Nat is just a complete natural,” Beaumont said. “She’s always been great with kids and being with her own son is absolutely no different.”She’s almost superhuman at times, just to be able to be a mother and a new England captain and perform at the level that she always has done. I think it’s just a testament to her character that she can always take anything and everything in her stride.”Sciver-Brunt scored three fifties during West Indies’ tour of England, including the first ODI, which was dominated by a 222-run opening partnership between Beaumont and Amy Jones. She scored an unbeaten 55 in the second T20I at Hove.India are expected to pose a more difficult opposition for England and new head coach Charlotte Edwards, who replaced Jon Lewis in the aftermath of a dire Ashes campaign, in which Australia won the points series 16-0.England and India will play five T20Is followed by three ODIs, the latter series starting at Southampton on July 16.

India captain also confirms Jadeja’s return to fitness, which gives the team more depth and options

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-20245:24

Rohit: ‘When you have an inexperienced attack, you have to show faith in them’

Ravindra Jadeja is fit and available for selection, giving India more batting depth and options when it comes to bowling combinations. He is also the only left-hand batter outside opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Jadeja had missed the first Test with spasms in the upper back on the morning of the match.While confirming Jadeja’s return to fitness, Rohit Sharma spoke of the importance of not judging inexperienced bowlers too harshly. “Although we’ve had a brief chat with the management, the coaching staff about what we want from this game, and what we want from the bowlers in this game, we’ve not completely finalised our playing XI. Everyone is available for selection. There’s no injury concern. All of them who are here are available to play. We’ll sit down in the evening and decide what is the right one.”Having said that, I still feel that, sometimes we’ve got a little bit of inexperience in our bowling, and sometimes when you have that, you’ve got to show some faith in them, show trust in them, and that can happen to any team. Like I said in the last post-match press-conference [in Centurion] about Prasidh [Krishna] playing his first game, we all get nervous when you are playing your first game. It’s understandable, but I thought, and I’ll still back that thought of mine, that he’s got good ability to succeed at this level and especially in this format. So it’s just about showing faith and trust in everyone and getting the job done from them.”Related

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Apart from Krishna, it was Shardul Thakur, in his 11th Test, who disappointed with the ball in the first Test. Jadeja’s return opens up the possibility of playing two spinners as R Ashwin brings with the bat more than what Thakur does.However, the conditions might not support that idea. Rohit was asked if he expected the conditions to be less hostile to India in Cape Town. “I honestly don’t know too much about that,” he said. “You know, the conditions look pretty similar to what it was. I mean, the pitch looks similar to what it was in Centurion, maybe not so much grass, but there is enough covering of grass on the pitch.”But yeah, the overhead conditions will matter. I think it’s pretty hot here compared to Centurion, which was a little cooler the first two days. Again, when we played last time here, 2018 and ’21… I wasn’t here in ’21, but the guys were telling me it was pretty similar conditions. We know exactly what is required when the conditions are like that. Based on the pitches, how the conditions are, you gotta respond to that.”India do have reinforcements in the squad. Avesh Khan, who played for India A at the same time as the first Test, has been called up to provide the team management that option of a tall bowler. He took a five-for in that game. That India are giving themselves these options tells you how much they need a hit-the-deck bowler. They already have Mukesh Kumar, who has the best body of work in domestic cricket among contenders for a fast-bowling spot, but is a skiddy, shorter bowler.With Thakur struggling with the ball in his last six Tests, India could even think of sacrificing the batting depth and play four out-and-out fast bowlers. Any two of Thakur, Krishna, Avesh and Mukesh could play at Newlands.

Billy Root adds 77 not out in clash between third and fourth-placed sides in Division Two

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2022A career-best double-century for Glamorgan captain David Lloyd put his side in the driving seat in this third vs fourth clash.Glamorgan finished the first day on 380 for 3, gaining four batting bonus points, with Lloyd on 203 not out, his second century coming off just 101 balls as Derbyshire’s bowlers toiled.Glamorgan first class debutant Tom Bevan offered good support with 48 in a century partnership which set the platform, while Billy Root made the most of a move up the order to No. 5 by contributing 77 not out in a partnership of 197.Derbyshire needed a win to overtake Glamorgan and stay in contention for promotion going into the final round of fixtures, but now find themselves with their backs against the wall with the Welsh County looking to push on to a huge first-innings total.Glamorgan were without India’s Shubman Gill with a heavy cold, while they also brought in off spinner Andrew Salter for all-rounder Kiran Carlson. Derbyshire gave a debut to South Wales-born paceman Adam Sylvester.Related

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With a winner between these sides having a chance to challenge second-placed Middlesex in the final round of matches, Lloyd’s day did not start so well when he lost the toss and was asked to bat on a pitch which had a greenish tinge.Three balls later and Derbyshire had lost opening bowler Ben Aitchison with a rolled ankle, which made the decision to bowl seem a little unfortunate. He did return to bowl one more over, and fielded at slip, but his future fitness in the game is doubtful.Anuj Dal took over the rest of that over and also made the first breakthrough, getting opener Ed Byrom caught behind.Bevan made his first class debut having made his breakthrough this season with a century against Hampshire in the Royal London Cup.He was slower than Lloyd at the other end, but also showed enough promise to mark him out as one for the future. While he has helped steer local side St Fagans to the South Wales Premier League title this season, he is likely to be otherwise engaged next year.He would have been disappointed to miss out on a half-century, attempting to get there in style hitting across the line at spinner Alex Thomson and skying the ball instead.Sam Northeast looked comfortable until he was clean bowled out of the blue with Luis Reece getting the ball to move off the seam.While wickets fell at the other end, Lloyd got better and better. Having moved to his half-century just before lunch, he moved to three figures comfortably before tea, no sign of nerves about his first hundred of the season as he smashed the ball aerially through mid on off Thomson to bring up the landmark.His previous highest score this season was 84, his average in the mid 20s with the allrounder having moved to regularly opening the batting.Soon after tea he surpassed his career-best score of 121 and carried on past 150, with Root offering steady support in another century partnership. Root moved to his half-century off 94 balls as the run rate increased with the second new ball.

Tom Lace makes light work of 90-run chase to seal fourth win in five

Andrew Miller08-May-2021Gloucestershire 93 for 3 (Lace 31*) and 273 (Bracey 75) beat Middlesex 210 (White 76*, Payne 5-31) and 152 (Gubbins 52, Payne 6-56) by seven wicketsDavid Payne has been an under-sung asset in Gloucestershire’s ranks for more than a decade now, but he chose quite the stage, and the circumstances, in which to produce the finest performance of his career. With Sky’s commentators looking on for their impromptu feature match at Lord’s, Payne followed up his first-innings five-for with another haul of 6 for 56 – 11 for 87 all told – to cement his side’s table-topping form with a crushing seven-wicket win over Middlesex.It was Gloucestershire’s fourth win in five, with a draw against Hampshire completing the set, and once again, their batters sealed the deal with ease in the fourth innings – the easiest chase of the lot this time, as Tom Lace, the ex-Middlesex man, completed their pursuit of 90 with a fluent unbeaten 31.It would have been with some foreboding that Middlesex assessed the rain radar as the third day dawned to dank skies across London. It is one of the curses of playing their cricket at Lord’s – a venue that has had drainage like a sieve since the outfield was relaid almost two decades ago – that play was inevitable at some stage of the day, even as the rest of the country’s first-class cricketers were able to peep through their curtains and hit the snooze button on their alarms.And so when play resumed after an early lunch at 1.10pm, the challenge for Middlesex was plain. Get a lead, any lead, before an innings that had already been crippled by three wickets late last night caved in completely. Such is the lack of confidence in a line-up that had already been bowled out for less than 150 in all four of its completed matches this season. In that sort of company, their eventual total of 152 was arguably a sign of progress.What credit Middlesex deserved for their signs of life belonged mainly to Nick Gubbins, who gave himself some sighters in Payne’s opening over of the day, before taking it upon himself to climb into the remaining deficit with three fours in his second – a thick outside edge for four followed by two fuller swings of the bat, through point and long-off respectively, as he aped the proactive approach that Gloucestershire, through James Bracey and Ian Cockbain, had taken in tricky conditions on day two.Gloucestershire, though, reasserted themselves immediately. Ryan Higgins extracted Ethan Bamber, the nightwatchman, before he could open his account, and with a new man now in his sights, Payne dealt Robbie White – Middlesex’s first-innings resistor – an early sucker punch. White’s fifth delivery was a pinpoint inswinger on an off-stump line that he could neither leave nor play, and ended up chopping onto his own stumps for 1.Related

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John Simpson, however, arrived with the right mindset, as he and Gubbins carried Middlesex into credit before doubling down to give their bowlers something to defend in an assertive counterattack.Gubbins climbed into Matt Taylor’s second over of the day with another trio of boundaries, including a blistering drive through extra cover, and as the pair brought up their fifty stand from exactly 50 balls, Gloucestershire’s captain Chris Dent was forced to change tack and bowl dry rather than chasing the magic balls in the helpful conditions.Sure enough, the ploy worked, though with a touch of good fortune. Moments after bringing up an excellent fifty with a flick off the pads, Gubbins was sent on his way for 52 as Payne thudded another swinger into his front pad. It would have been hitting the stumps for sure, but as for the line, DRS would have been in business had Gubbins had recourse to a review. Sadly for him, Sky had only brought their skeleton resources to HQ.At 109 for 6, with a brittle lead of 46, there was only one option left for Middlesex. Simpson sounded the charge with back-to-back fours off Higgins, and Martin Andersson responded by crunching Payne down the ground twice in three balls as he used his reach to cover the movement with a pair of big strides.But when Simpson took the same approach in Payne’s next over, he merely plopped a return catch straight back to the bowler, and three balls later, James Harris had been served his marching orders too, via another perfect full-length inswinger that was far too good for his as-yet static feet. It was Payne’s fifth wicket of the innings and tenth of the match, and the simple but deadly method summed up the consistency of his menace throughout this contest.All that remained was the mopping-up. Andersson attempted to take Payne down before he could get stuck into the tail but flashed a sharp chance to Brathwaite at a solitary slip, who clung on well with a juggle. Thilan Wallalawita then landed some late lusty blows, including a pulled six into the building works that caused a replacement ball to be brought out, but Tim Murtagh couldn’t emulate his young team-mate as he snicked to slip while trying to dump Dan Worrall into the top tier of the new Edrich Stand.Gloucestershire’s reply was as serene as it needed to be in awkward conditions. Dent made the early running before his off-stump was sent cartwheeling by the ever-eager Bamber, while Bracey will perhaps rue an impetuous lofted drive on 13 that plopped into the hands of mid-on – after his excellent 75 on day two, it rather ruined the impression of a man striving for an England berth.Lace, however, didn’t miss a beat. His six boundaries, including a series of sparkling drives, snuffed out any prospect of jitters, as he quickly overhauled a labouring Brathwaite, who barely hit it off the square in a dour 21 from 61 balls. West Indies’ captain, however, seemed to have done enough for a red-inker until Harris slammed an inswinger into his knee-roll, but it mattered not. Gloucestershire are top of the league, and they are looking a very serious outfit right now.

Most of the other major venues have been updated well enough to host international cricket again

Umar Farooq in Rawalpindi15-Dec-2019Day 1: 68 overs of play
Day 2: 17.5 overs
Day 3: 5.2 overs
Day 4: Called off without a ball (teams remained at hotel)
Day 5: Predictable draw
Nine sessions of the Rawalpindi Test were effectively washed out but a full house still turned up for the final day’s play and they were treated to a remarkable innings from Abid Ali. The 32-year old became the first male cricketer to score a century on both his Test and ODI debuts but even his performance couldn’t distract from the fact that the return of Test cricket to Pakistan – the end of 10 years of exile – literally turned into a washout.No ground outside of Rawalpindi and Karachi was considered to host the Sri Lanka Tests, although originally the series itself was expected to take place in October, the best time for cricket in Pakistan.So, over the last four days as rain doused the prospect of an outright result, the PCB has been under the spotlight for their choice of venue. The last 10 Test matches played in northern Punjab in the month of December have all failed to produce a result with an exception of one game against Zimbabwe in 1993. There was one Test in Faisalabad which was abandoned without a ball bowled. Another, in Gujranwala, had weather that was good enough for only 36 overs of cricket.Even so, Rawalpindi was the best option available to the PCB. Multan, Faisalabad and Peshawar have not been upgraded well enough to host international cricket again. Lahore and Karachi do but one city is experiencing heavy smog and the other will host the second Test on Thursday.In the aftermath of the 2009 attacks, logistics – direct flights in and out – and security clearances play a huge part in any match that is played in Pakistan. PCB had prioritised getting Lahore and Karachi ready first and had only recently invited ICC security consultant Reg Dickason to assess the state of affairs in Rawalpindi. Multan is next on the list; it is currently being considered to host four games in PSL 2020. Peshawar is already under renovation. Faisalabad, however, is yet to receive much attention.

It will help with the day-to-day activities of the Competent Authority, which is currently heading up the SLC until fresh elections take place

Madushka Balasuriya12-Nov-2018Sri Lanka’s sports ministry has appointed a five-member advisory committee to assist in Sri Lanka Cricket’s day-to-day operations, until yet-to-be-announced board elections are held. It is expected to share duties with the sports ministry-appointed Competent Authority, which has been heading up SLC since June 1.Comprising president’s counsel Dinal Philips, Samantha Rajapaksa, Mohamed Hisham Jamaldeen, Ranil Pathirana and Lasantha Wickremasinghe, the committee has been mandated with “inculcating corporate and operational efficiency.”An SLC release said: “The new committee will provide guidelines for the SLC management to continue its operations unhindered, whilst it will also focus on inculcating corporate and operational efficiency to SLC operations, going forward”The appointment of this advisory committee – effective November 9 – comes on the heels of three other committee appointments last week, though SLC confirmed that each committee would retain a degree of autonomy and exist independent of each other.”The recently appointed Cricket Advisory Committee, Tournament Committee and the Umpires Committee will co-exist independently and are authorised to take decisions, without interference from any parties on cricket-related matters,” the release concluded.SLC elections have been delayed indefinitely since May 31 after a Court of Appeal found that SLC election protocol had been flouted in the run-up to the elections. While the court subsequently lifted the ban, elections failed to materialise in the months since. The ICC has set a deadline of February 9, 2019 for the SLC to hold its elections.

The West Indies head coach showers praise on his team for dealing with all the negativity so well and turning it around. He also tags Shai Hope a “man of stone”

Alan Gardner30-Aug-2017Having given a steadfast defence of his players in the build-up to the Headingley Test, West Indies head coach Stuart Law has stoked the embers of the criticism aimed at the tourists from all quarters last week and said it would only help fire them up for the series decider at Lord’s.West Indies lost the first Test against England at Edgbaston by an innings and 209 runs, but hit back in Leeds to claim a famous win. Speaking afterwards to Australian radio station , Law said his team had been unfairly written off, but relished their status as underdogs and would be readying themselves to bite England “on the backside” once again when the third Test begins on September 7.”We weren’t given a chance to beat England, since we landed here,” Law said. “We’ve heard it from every part of the media, the written press, , all the ex-cricketers – we weren’t given a chance, mate, so that actually provided us with a lot of fire, a lot of fuel to produce what we’ve done over the last five days.”I know there’s a lot of people eating humble pie, they’re saying nice things about us, but deep down, they don’t believe in us – which is great for us. We’re going to Lord’s, we’ll still be the underdog… I know Aussies love an underdog, I love being an underdog as well, because you can sneak up and bite your opponent on the backside.”We’re going to celebrate this one long and hard, and so we should. But come tomorrow, we start planning and getting ourselves ready for that showdown at Lord’s.”After West Indies lost 19 wickets on the third day at Edgbaston, they met with a fiercely negative reaction. Curtly Ambrose, a West Indies legend who was previously the team’s bowling coach, called their performance “embarrassing”, while former England opener Geoffrey Boycott described Jason Holder’s side as the worst he had seen in 50 years of playing and commentating.Law, who took over as West Indies head coach at the start of the year, said his main focus has been on convincing an inexperienced group that they were good enough to compete.”Credit to the boys, to put up with the amount of criticism that they copped, not just from opposition fans but also their home fans, to come out and turn it around and produce a performance over the last five days was an outstanding effort.”If you get told you’re rubbish nine times out of ten, you’re going to start believing it pretty soon. These guys have copped it every time they’ve taken on the national duties, so for me, it was just a job of instilling that belief and getting people to understand they’re good enough to play at this level. They’ve got the skills, they’ve got the determination, they’ve got the work ethic. Something’s just got to click out in the middle, you’ve got to believe and trust your own game – that was the conversation we had with the batsmen, particularly.”Our bowling’s been pretty good, our fielding’s still not there – we dropped eight chances, so, theoretically, we should have finished the game some time mid-morning yesterday, but that wasn’t the case. Just their belief in their own abilities. Once they believe in themselves, they can play cricket, these kids. I believe that they’re as talented as any other player going around on the planet.”Stuart Law reserved special praise for Shai Hope and likened his strokemaking to Mark Waugh’s•Getty Images

When asked about 23-year old Shai Hope, who hit the winning runs and created history by becoming the first man to score twin centuries in a first-class match at Headingley, Law compared him to former Australia team-mate Mark Waugh, adding that Hope was a “man of stone” who England had been unable to crack.”He’s had a pretty torrid time in international cricket since his introduction. But he has got the talent, and when he gets going, he’s one of the nicest guys to watch. He plays some beautiful drives, cuts and the whip work off his pads – a bit like Mark Waugh. He put it all together, he’s got determination beyond belief, he’s a man of stone. You talk to him, try and crack a joke and he just stonewalls you. I can’t crack him, England haven’t been able to crack him, hopefully that remains the same at Lord’s.”Although West Indies have a chance to win a Test series in England for the first time since 1988, Law was keen not to put additional pressure on the team. He said that the management was in the process of trying to “create a different culture” that would put West Indies on an upward trajectory during his time in the job – initially on a two-year contract.”Improvement for me isn’t necessarily winning the series,” he said. “It means we go out and give a really good account of ourselves at Lord’s again. And if we don’t capitulate and lose in three days, like we did at Edgbaston, I think we’ve improved out of sight and that’s a great step forward for this group.”So far, the signs are looking good. We’re trying to break the culture and create a different culture, which sometimes can take two years. These guys are embracing it, the hard work is now starting to pay off for them… I don’t want to put them under that much pressure. I want them a) to play with a smile on their face, and b) just go out and express themselves. I’m here give them a bit of guidance, a bit of support, a bit of love, and hopefully, they go out and achieve what they want to achieve.”

When it’s the bold brush strokes of a flamboyant dasher like Herschelle Gibbs, watching the paint dry isn’t quite as boring as it’s made out to be

Anand Vasu27-May-2016When it’s the bold brush strokes of a flamboyant dasher like Herschelle Gibbs, watching the paint dry isn’t quite as boring as it’s made out to be. An emphatic display from the South Africans saw them reach the victory target of 109 in just 12 overs to collect four more easy points from their mis-match against Bangladesh at Bloemfontein.With debate raging over the omission of ace paceman Allan Donald, South Africa could not afford to slip up when the match got underway. Well, they didn’t as Bangladesh never really gave the home side a chance to make a mistake. With Monde Zondeki coming in for Donald, Andrew Hall taking Graeme Smith’s place and Robin Peterson getting an outing in place of Nicky Boje, South Africa had no hesitation in putting Bangladesh in when they won the toss.There was no joy whatsoever for the Bangladeshis who are fast becoming the whipping boys of this tournament. Having lost even to Canada, there was little way for Bangladesh to heap fresh disgrace on themselves.Al-Sahariar set the Proteas fast bowlers on their way, losing his wicket before he could get off the mark.Makhaya Ntini then struck, having Mohammad Ashraful (6) caught behind. Next, Pollock accounted for Ehsanul Haq and Bangladesh were down in the dumps at 21/3.Andrew Hall coming into the playing eleven for the first time in this tournament proved his utility straightaway, picking up a wicket with his second delivery. Bowling a good line, Hall tempted batsmen to drive and just a touch of movement was enough to induce edges. Sanwar Hossain, who looked promising for 11 that included one boundary, fell to Hall’s tidy bowling, edging to Jacques Kallis.The constant fall of wickets did nothing to help the Bangladeshi cause. The arrival of fresh legs in the form of Monde Zondeki encouraged the home side. Despite being a bit wayward, Zondeki’s whippy action helped beat the batsmen for pace. If he had bowled a fuller length, the youngster playing in just his second ODI would certainly have better results to show for his effort. In any case, Zondeki removed the dangerous Alok Kapali, caught well by Boeta Dippenaar in the slips and Bangladesh had slipped further towards ruin at 33/5.Eventually, Bangladesh were shot out for a mere 108 in 35.1 overs. The hard hitting of Khaled Mashud and Khaled Mahmud helped Bangladesh avert utter humiliation but was not enough to take them to a respectable total.Skipper Khaled Mashud struck three boundaries in his 67-ball stay at the wicket that earned him 29 runs. Mashud was the top-scorer of the Bangladesh innings.The shot of the Bangladesh innings, however, came from the free-stroking Mahmud, who lofted Robin Peterson over long on for the only six of the innings. In 35 balls, Mahmud contributed 23.With no other batsman reaching 20, extras was the next highest scorer on 20.
For South Africa, Makhaya Ntini was the most successful bowler, picking up 4/24 from 7.1 overs of intense medium-pace bowling.With just 109 needed for an amble to victory, South Africa got off to a brisk start.Nine overs were possible before the scheduled lunch break was taken. In those 54 balls, the South African opening pair of Gibbs and Gary Kirsten clattered 75 runs at a run-rate of 8.33. The openers in their contrasting styles and strengths achieved the same results, scoring 34 each with seven boundaries apiece.Just 34 more runs were required after the resumption of play and there were no frights at all. Only three more overs were required, and no more wickets lost, as South Africa breezed to victory with 38 overs to spare.In putting up an opening partnership of 109, the Gibbs-Kirsten pair became the third most prolific in the game with nine century opening stands. They are now behind the Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly (17 century stands) pairing and the legendary pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, who managed to reach three figures together on 12 occasions.Gibbs (49 not out) and Kirsten (52 not out) barely broke into a sweat in the process.But then again, which of the South Africans were made to sweat in this one-sided game?