Latest News – Sanjay's Cricket World

As a supporter of the Proteas, my biggest frustration is that nothing changes.

Every ICC tournament is a failure. Just when you think it can’t get any worse…it does!

The latest failure at the T20 World Cup in the West Indies must generate an important lesson, and the lesson must be heeded, otherwise we will only ever keep getting substandard performances and a bare trophy cabinet.

Thankfully the Proteas current coach Corrie van Zyl is in agreement.

“We again could not cope with the pressure. The question has to be asked why we could not manage it and why it happens repeatedly” said Van Zyl.

“Is it our approach to batting, is it our general approach, or are we maybe too tentative? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself” continued van Zyl.

“You think about what the best way is going forward so that we can improve. We cannot keep repeating the same errors and not make changes. I think it’s time for renewal and change in certain aspects – like our approach” said van Zyl.

Many critics have called for captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher to be axed. I agree with Smith and Boucher as they have had their chances and produce very few match winning performances. But Kallis is still the best all rounder in the world and too valuable to drop. van Zyl hinted changes will be made, but will the selectors be brave enough to do what is needed?

“I don’t want to come down on individuals, but the time is right for change. We have to sit down and think about what is important to change and which players are the right ones to fit in with that change. If we need to make a few hard calls, it will be done. The point is that we cannot continue down this path. We won’t win the World Cup in 2011 if we continue like this. We’ll have to change our approach” said van Zyl.

Former South African convenor of selectors Omar Henry was more forthright in his opinion.

“I would axe Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and even Graeme Smith from the T20 team. I believe we need to build a new side and head in a new direction. Kallis is worth a lot as an all-rounder in 50-over cricket. I would retain Smith as captain, but he would have to agree to a number of changes in how he goes about his job” said Henry.

Former coach Ray Jennings raised a good point regarding Smith’s captaincy. “In seven big tournaments since Graeme Smith has been the captain not one could be won” said Jennings.

That is true and reason alone that a new captain should be found.

It is time for a new direction and look for the Proteas, the question is can the powers that be make the right call?

Once again the Proteas made a smashing exit from an ICC tournament and failed to deliver in a pressured environment. Whereas we normally choke, this time we were just made to look grossly inadequate.

The win against New Zealand could not atone for the 2 Losses to England and Pakistan. One has to say these are not the top tier sides in the world either. For a team that aspires to be the best in the world and has had the test and ODI number 1 rankings recently this is not acceptable, especially as it is a pattern that happens every ICC tournament.

Against Pakistan the bowlers did a solid if not spectacular job. Once again though we did see that we failed to deliver a knockout blow when it needed to be administered. Pakistan were able to recover from 18/3 to post a competitive 148/7.

My biggest concern is that even with different coaches we fail to learn how to chase down totals. I simply don’t believe you can leave it all for the last 10 (ODI’s) or last 5 overs of a T20 game to do the majority of the scoring.

Greater urgency needs to be shown at the beginning of an innings, getting up to or even past the required run rate so that if wickets fall you don’t lose momentum or worse still lose your way. Our batsmen take forever to get themselves set, often wasting deliveries that make them look silly if they can’t go on with the job. What’s needed is more manipulation of the ball around the field and into gaps like Jonty Rhodes used to do, and Hussey currently does for Australia.

Considering we needed a win with a massive improvement in our net run rate, I would have preferred an all or nothing approach trying to blast down the total as quick as we could. Better to go down with guns blazing! If you can’ score a single boundary between overs 7 and 15 in a T20 game, what are you trying to do? That’s embarrassing.

Until we fix this approach to the game, we’ll never win anything. I still believe the pressure of must win games holds us back as we are afraid to lose rather than brave enough to win. The record chase of 438 provides the blueprint of how to go about chasing totals. Please Graeme learn from what has worked!

Instead we get the usual dribble we always get.

“I guess you run out of excuses” said Proteas captain Graeme Smith at the post-match presentation.

“We were just not good enough again. It’s very, very disappointing. We bowled pretty well to restrict Pakistan, but we were tense with the bat and lacked fluency and positivity. Today we got strangled a bit with the bat” added Smith

“You always say you’ve got to learn your lessons. You have to say, with the talent in South Africa, it’s not good enough to perform at this level” continued Smith.

That’s an understatement! Changes have to be made, fast and permanently. This sort of rubbish is just not acceptable year after year. The question is can someone make the brave decisions?

It has taken 40 years, and 2961 ODI’s for Sachin Tendulkar to become the first man to score a double hundred.

Batting first in the second ODI against South Africa, India started badly as Virender Sehwag was out early.

From then on, Sachin Tendulkar dominated the innings, producing a flawless display of batting. He gave no half-chances, and put each South African bowler to the sword. Not one of the bowlers he faced went for less than a run a ball. Tendulkar eventually finished on 200 not out.

Tendulkar overtook Saeed Anwar’s and Charles Coventry’s ODI record of 194 and reached the elusive double century. He deserves the record and has 3 of the highest ODI scores in the top 15 of all time. No other batsmen features twice in the top 32, and Tendulkar is there 4 times!

Brilliant supporting roles by firstly Dinesh Karthik (79 off 85 balls) and then MS Dhoni who was more brutal in scoring 68 off 37 balls helped India get to 401.

No South African bowler could stop the rot, and the much vaunted attack was made to look very ordinary.

Chasing 402, South Africa started badly and things went from bad to worse very quickly.

Hashim Amla offered some initial resistance before he got out to the pull shot. In his two dismissals in India so far, both have been to the pull shot. It’s possibly the only shot he needs to work on.

When Kallis was gone at 83/4, the game was effectively over, and AB de Villiers got a consolation century. I’m not sure why you would score a century at about a run a ball when you need 8 runs+ per over. Why not have a real go and at least TRY to chase the target.

If it wasn’t for a 77 run 8th wicket partnership the South African scoreboard would look very sorry indeed.

1 year out from the World Cup, South Africa have been handed a tough lesson. Their form in ODI’s is not bad, it’s performing under pressure that is extremely shocking!

South Africa repeated their all too familiar batting problems in losing to India in the first ODI at Jaipur.

Winning the toss, South Africa elected to bowl first. India got away to a typically aggressive start thanks to Virender Sehwag, but he was involved in a mix-up with Sachin Tendulkar, which led to the little master’s demise.

From there wickets came whenever India threatened to really get away from the Proteas, although the run-rate remained healthy throughout the innings.

Captain Jacques Kallis and Charl Langeveldt were the pick of the bowlers with 3 and 1 wickets respectively, but more importantly good economy rates.

Set 299 for victory, South Africa had a good shot at it on a decent batting wicket.

Loots Bosman and Herschelle Gibbs started in aggressive fashion. When Bosman left in the 9th over the run rate was around the required levels.

Once again though we showed we really don’t know how to chase very well, especially in the middle overs.

Wickets kept falling and so did the run-rate. I’d rather see us keep the run-rate up and lose wickets, because at least then we give ourselves a chance to win. When the run-rate gets out of control, the inevitable wickets leave you too far behind.

No one supported Kallis who made a great 89, and When Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn were faced with needing 74 runs in 43 balls and only 2 wickets left, I’m sure India took their foot off the accelerator. Parnell and Steyn batted beautifully, but like the test in Kolkata just days ago, it was far too much to expect of the lower order.

Parnell was a shining light and Kallis had this to say about the young all-rounder “He’s a talented cricketer and he’s going to take a lot away from today. Every time he plays he’s going to learn. He’s still very new to the subcontinent. He’s got all the attributes of becoming a good all-rounder and that’s something that he’s working on. He’s a man for the moment, so he’s certainly got a bright future ahead of him.”

There were some moments of controversy, especially at the end of the innings when Tendulkar saved a boundary that couldn’t conclusively show on replay what had happened.

“That’s not our call – that’s what third umpires are there for and he saw that it wasn’t four and we’ve got to accept it and get on with it” Kallis said about the incident.

“I think on the whole we’re pretty happy with the way things have gone, although obviously there are things we need to work on. Our death bowling has been a problem for a while but the guys did really well there. At one stage it looked like India would make 330. On the batting front we need to make sure we don’t lose wickets along the way and get some big partnerships going to set the game up. Perhaps we’ve got to come up with ideas for the way Jadeja bowled – I thought he bowled really well and tied us down for a while, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re strong on our game plans there” said Kallis.

I’m pleased he’s not making excuses. South Africa have to alter the mindset, play more intelligently and take a few more risks. One I’d go with is putting the in-form Hashim Amla in the side and dropping Gibbs who has had a gazillion chances too many!

Hashim Amla’s career has been boosted with a marathon series effort against India.

Amla scored 490 runs in 3 innings, with only 1 dismissal. In a 2 test series, this is the second highest run aggregate ever. He is second only to Walter Hammond (England), who scored 563 runs over New Zealand way back in 1932/33! He is also streets ahead of Rahul Dravid in third place with 432.

In total he batted for 1402 minutes and faced 1032 deliveries. In Nagpur he batted for over 675 minutes in scoring an unbeaten 253, whilst in Kolkata he batted for 228 and 499 minutes respectively.

In the sub-continent large innings are often played, but many players especially foreigners, succumb to dehydration, cramps, tiredness, fatigue, spasms and mental exhaustion from the demanding conditions.

After the match Amla’s mental strength, and attitude showed why he is becoming so good. He is unflappable, complains of nothing, and seeks to rise above the challenges rather than seek excuses. (His teammates could learn a lesson or two!).

“I have learnt, after passing that stage of thirst and mental fatigue, that the limits we put on the body and mind can, and at times must, be challenged” Amla has previously said.

“When you know at the back of your mind that you have to bat the whole the day but to break it down is the key. In the change room we always talk about breaking it down hour by hour, over by over, ball by ball and there are no overs left in the day” said Amla after the match.

“Our emotions when myself and Morne were out there were enjoying it more than anything. I took a lot of confidence from Morne (Morkel) and (Wayne) Parnell who told me they were more comfortable at certain ends so that made my job easier to farm the strike. It just was a lovely experience” said Amla.

Even the opposition gain his respect, with Harbhajan Singh saying, “Obviously Amla batted very well. Most of the teams when they come here, they don’t know much about the spin, whether it is turning, bouncing or keeping low from the wicket.”

“But he was very calm throughout his batting and that was probably the key. He kept on playing his style of cricket, he never took any chances, he never looked to do something fancy, he just played cricketing shots. I think he was the best batsman in the South African batting line-up” said Singh.

Singh is King! Harbhajan spins India to a victory and ensures India remain number 1.

Day 5 went down to the wire. You could not have written a more dramatic script, and India probably deserved their victory as they were the better side. It was left to Hashim Amla to try and carry South Africa through to an unlikely draw, and he was well supported by Wayne Parnell, Paul Harris and Morne Morkel.

Starting day 5 at 115/3, much and needing to survive 98 overs, it was not an impossible task for South Africa.

Hashim Amla was a rock at one end, but he never received enough support from his teammates. Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy were massively disappointing, and didn’t last long, and they left too much to the tail and Amla to try and salvage the draw.

Harbhajan Singh has been poor in recent times, but he saves his best for Eden Gardens and the big moments. The rest of the Indian attack never really looked likely, but Singh did not disappoint. He bowled a probing line, especially testing on the left handers.

Spare a thought for Amla who deserved to lead his side to a draw. He scored 3 centuries in 3 innings and was out once. 253 not out at Nagpur, 114 in the first innings here, and an unbeaten 123 in the second innings for a series aggregate and average of 490! Well done Hash, and you have ensured you are now truly a batting superstar.

Man of the match: Hashim Amla

Man of the series: Hashim Amla

Interestingly at the most match interviews to hear Dhoni say there was not much he could do. Tendulkar said it was just a matter of getting the ball in the right areas and waiting for the wickets to fall. they didn’t need to panic as it only required 1 delivery to get the crucial wicket(s).

Graeme Smith seemed reasonable happy but we mustn’t forget South Africa were totally outplayed here and lost by over an innings. Other than Hashim Amla; and Petersen in the first innings, no one else played significant innings. The bowlers were pathetic, and this was a poor loss considering the hard work put in at Nagpur.

Disappointing South Africa seemed not to have learnt the lessons from the last tour, and there are some worrying form issues in the Proteas batting lineup, and other than Dale Steyn, where are the wickets going to come from.

Thankfully we play India at the end of the year in South Africa, where I think we’ll beat them easily enough on wickets that will have pace and bounce, but there is a lot of important cricket that needs to be played on the sub-continent (including the next World Cup), and we’ve got to get better.

Before that we have 3 one-dayers to contend with, and will give us an indication of where our one day game stands looking forward to the World Cup.

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South Africa start the day at 115/3.

Zaheer Khan has not taken the field, severly denting the Indian pace attack. Looks like it’s going to be mostly spin today.

South Africa have safely negotiated the first 10 overs of the day and currently sit at 132/3. The run rate is slow, but it’s important to keep positive as once the Proteas get 347, every run effectively is worth 2, as India would need to bat and get them.

South African 150 up. Thankfully no more wickets!

Amit Mishra has left the field with a shoulder issue. India’s attack is being blunted here.

Hashim Amla hit on the elbow by an Ishant Sharma delivery. He tried to drop his hands,  but failed to execute properly. Amla has called for the physio, he’s just a thin little guy, that would’ve hurt!

Out! Harbhajan Singh gets Prince for 23. Prince was done by the flight and played all around that delivery. A critical wicket. Harbhajan continues his great form to left-handers.

AB de Villiers is the new man, I thought they might send in JP Duminy to keep the left hand/right-hand combination.

162/4, with 68 overs reamining in the day. The next 2 partnerships will need to see off at least 40 overs I feel.

Oh dear! de Villiers is gone! Doesn’t pick the googly and South Africa wobbling at 164/5.

JP Duminy…I wrote an article in Jan 2009 called JP Duminy…a star is born. Now is the time to make my words sound prophetic JP!

Lunch on Day 5. South Africa 164/5. We need some rain or bad light…

Play has resumed after lunch. Last 10 overs…6 measly runs.

Out! Duminy is gone. Trapped in front by Harbhajan Singh. Mis-read a delivery that didn’t turn. Duminy is no hero, and now appears to be unable to play off-spin (along with the short pitched ball). What has happened to poor JP?

South Africa 174/6. Is this all over now?

Dale Steyn out for 1. South Africa 183/7. It’s amzing how well Harbhajan plays at Eden Gardens! Let’s hope Amla gets a hundred at least.

A hundred to Amla. Well played son! He’s been fantastic of late. South Africa 229/7.

Tea and South Africa are 250/7. 34 Overs left. There could be a big hero in the making…Hashim Amla.

Wicket! Wayne Parnell is gone. South Africa 250/8. 31.5 overs left in the day, hopefully we lose 10 to bad light, but South Africa will need to survive at least another 20. If Amla took 10-12, that’s 8-10 by the last 2.

262/8. Harris doing a good job supporting Amla. The unthinkable could happen, although the light looks good unfortunately.

Sharma gets Harris! Harris had pulled out of the delivery the ball prior, it upset Sharma who gets his revenge. South Africa 263/9.

277/9, 13 overs left. Can the unthinkable happen?

7 overs left. This is incredible. Whatever happens, Hashim Amla has really stood up and announced his greatness to the world.

289/9, 2 overs left!

Out! Harbhajan Singh. Singh is king! He gets a 5 wicket bag. Amla was magnificent in defeat, but other than that South Africa were poor. India run out deserved winners.

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South Africa were saved by rain on Day 4, but face the threat of 98 overs with 7 wickets in hand to save the series.

At stake is the ICC world number 1 ranking!

Form batsman Hashim Amla is at the crease, but he’ll need an ally in Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers, none of whom are in great form. Prince and Duminy have struggled massively in the last 2 series, but South Africa’s premier batsman Jacques Kallis backs them to produce under pressure.

“Hashim has been in great form so obviously he needs to keep that going and I know that he is hungry to do that. The biggest lesson of all is when you are in good form not to give it away. He is mentally a very strong player and he has excellent powers of concentration. He knows his game plan very well and he has executed it brilliantly. There are some valuable lessons there for all players around the world” said Kallis.

“It is also a great time for JP and Ashwell to turn it around. What better time to do it than on an important day like this? They have done it on occasions like this before and they can turn it around. Tomorrow is a day for heroes” continued Kallis.

Resuming day 4 at 6/0, South Africa lost 3 critical wickets, Graeme Smith, Alviro Petersen and Jacques Kallis. If it wasn’t for the rain wiping out most of day4, the Proteas would have been in a big pickle. They now only need to bat for a maximum of 98 overs to save their situation.

“We feel we can bat out tomorrow, just take it a ball at a time and be positive. The wicket is still very good for batting. There is a little bit of turn but not as much as you normally come across on day five on the sub-continent. There is not much there for the seamers either so certainly as far as batting conditions are concerned it is a good wicket to play on.”

“There is a little bit more bounce for Harbhajan than there was at Nagpur. It is probably slightly quicker but there is not a lot of turn. We have played spinners well in the past and there is no reason why we can’t do it again tomorrow” said a confident Kallis.

They may be aided by Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan carrying an injury concern. Khan left the field and appears to have a thigh injury that could restrict his effectiveness.

Indian Camp

India meanwhile were frustrated by the rain, and will be seeking the maximum number of overs to push for victory.

“It was handy getting Kallis out before the bad light. They’ve got some good players all the way through. Amit (Mishra) bowled really well today. So did Harbhajan (Singh). With the two of them bowling really well, and with Ishant (Sharma) and Zaheer (Khan) adding in as well, we are in a good position. It obviously depends on how many overs are available to us tomorrow” said Indian coach Gary Kirsten.

“It’s up to us to make sure we bowl well. There are lots of players in the South African team, as there are in the Indian side, who will punish you if you give them too many chances or let them off the hook” said Kirsten.

There is plenty to play for on the last day of the series. Who wants to stand up and be a hero?

South Africa are on 6/0 trailing by 341 and 10 wickets in hand.

Light overnight rain has delayed play, with the supersoppers working to get the bowler’s run up areas dry. This helps the South African cause, and hopefully will stop the wicket breaking up so quickly, which VVS LAxman said was starting to occur yesterday.

A further delay of half an hour, and thankfully the light is looking a bit dull too.

Latest news from the umpires. Play to start at 10:30, (75 mins late) with the first sesssion just 1 hour. A maximum of 82 hours in the day which is optimistic given the light in the evenings. South Africa probably need to survive 70 overs today, 75 tomorrow.

A safe start after 6 overs, South Africa 23/0. Aviro Petersen and Graeme Smith have looked safe bar one edge. Harbhajan Singh has opened the attack, so the new ball won’t be too much of a threat.

First wicket! Amit Mishra traps Graeme Smith in front with his first delivery. What a big wicket, we know Smith has a good record in the second innings rescuing South Africa. Not on this occasion.South Africa now 36/1, and in big trouble. Hashim Amla needs a long innings.

Lunch on day 4, South Africa 39/1.

Ishant Sharma to start proceedings after lunch. I think he’ll persist with the short deliveries he tried to Amla in the first innings.

OUT! Petersen is gone.

Harbhajan Singh gets the breakthrough. Nice drift and it claims the inside edge and pops up to short-leg where Badrinath takes the catch stretching high to his right. South Africa 54/2.

In comes Jacques Kallis. If Kallis and Amla can’t bat most of today (and once again South Africa rely on these two), I think the Proteas are going to get smashed.

Oh no! King Kallis is out! Mishra bowls a classic leg break, takes the edge of Kallis’ bat through to Dhoni, and he is gone for 20. South Africa 111/3.

Prince is the new man. I think South Africa are hoping for a right and left hand combination.

Bad light has stopped play. The players are back in the pavilion and the covers are on the pitch.

Thankfully it is now raining. Probably the best play South Africa has produced in this test match!

We are back out in the middle.

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After 1 over, bad light has stopped play again. South Africa 115/3.

Play finally looks like it is over for the day.

South Africa 115/3.

India declared their first innings at 643/6, setting a host of records along the way.

South Africa have to overcome a 347 run innings deficit and bat for 2 days to save this game.

Resuming on 342/5, India scored 301 runs for the loss of one wicket, that being a nightwatchman!

VVS Laxman finished unbeaten on 143, and MS Dhoni 132, as the two created the 3rd highest seventh wicket partnership of all time in scoring 259 together. It was incidentally the highest 7th wicket partnership for India.

There were also 4 centuries to India’s batsmen (for only the second time), and it was India’s highest ever total against South Africa. Mind you they were helped by a lacklustre bowling display.

As I’ve mentioned previously, if Dale Steyn doesn’t fire, South Africa struggle. What’s worth is they look clueless. South Africa exhibited a negative bowling display, highlighted by Paul Harris’ leg side line. You have to have plans, and aim to execute them better.

It doesn’t help when chances are put down. South Africa missed 4 chances before lunch! Both Dhoni and Sehwag could have been removed quite cheaply, instead they made South Africa pay!

Batting consultant Kepler Wessels rued the missed opportunities and felt they were costly.

“We’ve had our opportunities, on the first day with the bat and on the last two days with the ball, and if you don’t take those opportunities against a good side, you pay the price and that’s exactly what’s happened here. It wasn’t a good day for us, it was definitely disappointing. We were hopeful of bowling well in the morning and we would have been happy to concede a lead of a hundred. But they played well and we couldn’t get the breakthrough. But you can’t drop good players, that’s always going to be important,” said Wessels.

South Africa ended day 3 on 6/0, after facing just 5 deliveries, and now have to bat almost 2 days to save this game.

“The guys have faced similar challenges in the last two years and have come through okay. It will be difficult, but it’s what experienced, tough international batsmen learn to cope with. We will be doing everything in our power to save the game, but there are two tough days ahead. “You can’t just play the survival game, you have to score runs. You have to play your normal game, play your strokes and get partnerships going. And try to spend as long as possible at the crease” Wessels conceded.

South Africa seem to struggle with the weight of expectation, and have been labelled chokers in the past. This is turning into a repeat of the last series in 2007/08. Have no lessons been learnt?

“Consistency is still an issue and that’s what we have to work on” acknowledged Wessels.

However Wessesls also offered a few excuses for letting a good position in the first innings slip away.

“In the first Test match, we concentrated really well. We were very tight. We didn’t play loosely at any stage. In the first innings here, we were very loose. I think that was the problem. In Hashim’s case, you can understand it because he batted for such a long time and so well in Nagpur. He was always going to go through phases where it was tough to concentrate for as long again. For Alviro (Petersen) in his first Test, reaching a milestone was quite an emotional thing. I think the guys all accept that there were a few too many loose shots and that got us into trouble” said Wessels.

Day 4 will be critical to the outcome of this match and the series. It’s still a good track for batting on, but pressure can change that! If South Africa want to prove how good they think they are, every batsmen has to stand up and make a big contribution. This is where heroes are made, and who wants to be a hero?

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