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A cultured Hashim Amla and controlled AB de Villiers established a priceless partnership to take South Africa’s advantage to a considerable 199 over Australia on day three

The Report by Daniel Brettig19-Nov-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Pat Cummins looked a level above the other members of the touring attack on the second morning•AFP

A cultured Hashim Amla and controlled AB de Villiers established a priceless partnership to take South Africa’s advantage to a considerable 199 over Australia on day three.Each were close to being dismissed by Pat Cummins in the first over after lunch, but they survived the bullets of the 18-year-old debutant and defused the other significant threat of the spinner Nathan Lyon on a wearing pitch. Ultimately, when bad light ended play early again, they would walk off happily, having taken command at a Wanderers ground populated by the most bountiful crowd of the Test.Australia’s captain Michael Clarke sorely missed the bowling of his deputy Shane Watson, rendered immobile by a hamstring complaint, and leaned heavily on Cummins, who already looks a level above the other members of the touring attack. His morning spell to Jacques Kallis was compelling, and provided cause for Australian optimism even as Amla and de Villiers showed immense poise to build a union from the uncertain beginning of 90 for 3.What Cummins lacked most of all was support, for Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle in particular were unable to generate the sort of chances that their seniority and past experience in South Africa should have demanded. As with Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin, their international careers may soon be marked harshly on this evidence.Already 59 overs have been lost to the weather, and South Africa may be little more than another session’s batting from pushing their lead beyond Australia’s reach – even if the tourists manage to rid themselves of the batting horrors of Cape Town and the first innings in Johnannesburg.Sunnier skies at the start of the day had Johnson resuming the attack, completing his opening over with a shortened run-up. The gambit seemed to be geared towards achieving a higher-arm action and a greater chance of swing, but it brought no early wickets as Australia’s narrow lead was quickly swallowed up.Cummins was much the more vexing proposition for the openers, and after Jacques Rudolph had made a fluent start he hooked unwisely at a swift short ball and skied the simplest of chances for Haddin. Graeme Smith interspersed edges through the third-man region with the occasional sparkling drive and was looking good for more when spin was introduced.Lyon dropped onto a nice length in his first over to Amla, and then set about tempting Smith outside off stump. A modicum of rough provided the natural variation that Lyon enjoys, and when one ball bounced and turned a little more than Smith budgeted for, the airborne cut was taken in the gully.Clarke immediately took Lyon off to try Cummins, who set about Kallis with all the venom of a genuine strike bowler. In the space of 19 balls – reminiscent of Ishant Sharma’s fabled spell to Ponting in Perth in 2008 – Cummins made Kallis look decidedly uncomfortable, no more so than when one throat ball was only parried down off glove and bat handle with a fair helping of luck. An airy play and miss soon followed, and the bowler completed a comprehensive victory over his quarry when Kallis sparred at a delivery seaming away and edged to Clarke at slip.Not content with Kallis’ wicket, Cummins soon had de Villiers hopping around and calling for medical attention when a searing yorker struck him on the boot, and South Africa’s batsmen were happy to see lunch.On resumption Cummins went desperately close to removing both batsmen in the first over of the afternoon. After de Villiers presented a difficult return catch that failed to go to hand, Amla was pinned in front of his stumps, but was given not out by the umpire Billy Bowden. Australia’s referral was well-founded, but millimetres shy of matching the ICC’s parameters to overturn the original call.Two overs were all Clarke asked of Cummins, before he embarked upon something of a holding operation in which he rotated his bowlers briskly in the absence of Watson and even delivered two overs himself. Amla and de Villiers attacked when they could but also throttled back at times, careful not to over-reach as South Africa had done on day one.Lyon was partially blunted via the use of sweeps and reverse sweeps, Siddle bowled presentably, and Johnson achieved some of his desired swing from a reduced run-up. But the tourists’ hopes were now heavily pinned on Cummins, who in his second spell of the session lacked some of the rhythm and energy of the morning, spearing a few too many projectiles down the legside.Tea came and went but the skies were darkening as Amla and de Villiers resumed. They added another 38 runs against opposition that had started to look beleaguered, de Villiers advancing to swing Lyon into the stands at wide long-on and Amla showing heavenly balance to twice dispatch Johnson through the covers.As speculation swirled ever more intensely around Ponting’s future, he was brought on to bowl in dying light – to a chorus of boos, no less – and swung the ball a little. It would be the final over of a day that shaped initially towards the fielding side, but for the first time in the match ended with the batsmen very much in command.

Khurram Manzoor scored a match-saving unbeaten hundred as the first unofficial Test between Pakistan A and West Indies A at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent ended in a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2010West Indies A 305 for 3 decl (Brathwaite 130, Edwards 94, Babar 3-122) drew with Pakistan A 156 for 1 (Manzoor 100*, Brown 1-57)
ScorecardKhurram Manzoor scored an unbeaten hundred as the first unofficial Test between Pakistan A and West Indies A at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent ended in a draw. In a match badly affected by rain, West Indies made 305 for 3 declared in their first innings. Pakistan responded strongly, reaching 156 for 1 by close of play on the final day.After the third day’s play was washed out due to rain, West Indies, who were on 216 for 1, began the final day positively. Kraigg Brathwaite was dismissed for 130, but Kirk Edwards was solid before he was out for 94. His dismissal prompted West Indies’ declaration 20 minutes after the lunch break. Zulfiqar Babar picked up all the three wickets to fall.Pakistan began strongly with the openers, Manzoor and Umair Khan, putting on 51. Khan was out lbw to Odean Brown but Manzoor and Umar Amin kept the West Indies bowlers at bay. While Amin dropped anchor, making a sedate 27 in 107 minutes, Manzoor did the bulk of the scoring, reaching his century off 154 balls, with eight fours and two sixes before stumps were drawn.The second unofficial Test begins on November 24 at the same venue, but the weather forecast suggests that rain could play spoilsport again.

All eyes will be on the weather and the pitch in Providence, as Amazon Warriors look to defend their title

Deivarayan Muthu05-Oct-2024

Big picture: A rich SA flavour to the CPL final

After having had to wait 11 years for a maiden CPL trophy, Guyana Amazon Warriors are now just one step away from winning back-to-back titles. Imran Tahir was targeted when he was appointed Amazon Warriors’ captain last season at 44 – Tahir said “everyone was sending jokes” about it – and having been retained as captain this year, he will be looking to lead Amazon Warriors to glory once again, in front of their home fans, in Providence.At 45, Tahir became the first overseas bowler to 100 wickets in the CPL and continues to rock the league with his variations and celebrations. He had joined Amazon Warriors in 2018 and has remained with the side for seven seasons, which is quite rare in the cutthroat world of franchise T20 cricket. Midway through this season, Tahir suffered an injury, but he recovered to forge a potent partnership with Gudakesh Motie, the local left-arm fingerspinner, and Moeen Ali, the English offspinner. The trio has been hard to get away, especially on the spin-friendly surfaces in Providence.Amazon Warriors have also loaded their side with spin-hitters like Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Moeen. After not playing a single game in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Hetmyer has reminded the world of his T20 pedigree, hitting 391 runs in 12 innings at an average of 43.44 and strike rate of 187.98 in this CPL heading into the final.Since the start of CPL 2023, Amazon Warriors have lost just four games at home, with two of those losses coming at the hands of St Lucia Kings, including the Qualifier 1 earlier this week. Despite losing tosses and losing key personnel – like Heinrich Klaasen even before the start of the tournament – Kings have remained a formidable force under Faf du Plessis, who, like Tahir, is a familiar face at the CPL.At 40, du Plessis is still going strong. This is his most prolific CPL in terms of runs – 384 runs in 11 innings at an average of 38.40 and strike rate of 148.83 – and if it culminates in a title, it could potentially raise his stocks ahead of the IPL retention deadline and player auction. Du Plessis’ stint in CPL 2023 was cut short by a tennis-elbow injury, but he has worked his way around that this season, dovetailing well with Johnson Charles, who has reinvented himself as a 360-degree batter.Related

• Noor: gun wristspinner who turned Kings' X-factor

• Johnson Charles switches his T20 fortunes

• Barbados to host maiden CPL final in 2026

• Russell, Pooran opt out of SL T20Is; Andrew bolts into ODI squad

While this is the St Lucia franchise’s third CPL final, this will be du Plessis’ first – he had suffered an injury before the title clash in 2021, when they lost to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. However, he is used to the pressure that a final brings, having been part of Chennai Super Kings for a number of years in the IPL.Kings’ coach Daren Sammy also has some unfinished business: in his last match as CPL captain, he lost to Trinbago Knight Riders in the 2020 final. Can he and du Plessis upstage Amazon Warriors at their home ground and lead Kings to their first CPL title?

Form guide

Guyana Amazon Warriors WLWWW (last five T20s, most recent first)
St Lucia Kings WLWWWImran Tahir and Moeen Ali have produced vital breakthroughs for Guyana Amazon Warriors•CPL T20 via Getty Images

In the spotlight: Moeen Ali and Alzarri Joseph

Just over three months after in England’s T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India in Providence, Moeen Ali is now on the verge of winning a title, in his first CPL stint, at the venue. He has bagged 14 wickets in nine innings at an average of 11.35 and an economy rate of less than five. With the bat, he has floated up and down the order and in the qualifier 2, he scored an unbeaten 44 to put Amazon Warriors in the final.In another spin-dominated CPL, Alzarri Joseph is the most successful fast bowler with 15 wickets in 11 innings. His ability to hit hard lengths and generate extra bounce have served him well, and on potentially slow surfaces in Guyana, he could take the conditions out of the equation and provide a point of difference to Kings’ attack. Du Plessis, too, trusts Alzarri to bowl the tough overs, having also worked with him at the SA20 (Joburg Super Kings) and IPL (Royal Challengers Bengaluru).

Team news: Who will open the batting for GAW?

Since the start of CPL 2023, Amazon Warriors have used 14 openers with only Rahmanullah Guraz and Saim Ayub, who has missed this season for national duty, getting more than five innings each at the top. It remains to be seen if Moeen will open alongside Gurbaz again in the final on Sunday. Amazon Warriors will also have to make a choice between the fingerspin of Kevin Sinclair and the pace of Shamar Joseph.Guyana Amazon Warriors (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Romario Shepherd, 6 Keemo Paul, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Raymon Reiffer, 9 Kevin Sinclair/Shamar Joseph, 10 Gudakesh Motie, 11 Imran Tahir (capt)Will Kings stick with Johann Jeremiah, who had made his CPL debut in Qualifier 1, or will they go back to Shadrack Descarte?St Lucia Kings (probable): 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Roston Chase, 4 Ackeem Auguste, 5 Tim Seifert (wk), 6 David Wiese, 7 Johann Jeremiah/Shadrack Descarte, 8 Matthew Forde, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Khary Pierre, 11 Noor Ahmad

Pitch and conditions: Spin to win?

Though the Providence pitch used for the last two games against Kings saw the ball come on to the bat better, the venue has traditionally rolled out slow tracks. Rain had interrupted Amazon Warriors’ chase in the first qualifier and though rain has been forecast for Sunday morning as well, the forecast is more promising for the evening. Dew could be a factor later in the night.Shimron Hetmyer has been in terrific six-hitting form in CPL 2024•CPL T20/Getty Images

Stats and trivia

• The team batting first has won seven of the ten games Providence has hosted so far this season.
• Hetmyer and Charles have hit 31 sixes each in CPL 2024. Only Nicholas Pooran (35) has smashed more sixes than them this season.
• Noor Ahmad has dominated right-hand batters in this tournament, taking 16 wickets against them in ten innings. While he has managed just three wickets against left-hand batters, he has tied them down, conceding at just 5.34 an over.

Quotes

“We gelled well together last year, and we knew we had to work hard to win the competition. Coming back and defending the title is a bigger challenge.”
“I feel like we’ve adapted well wherever we’ve played, bar two games at home where he were a little bit slow on reacting to those conditions.”

The hosts fell 12 runs short in Chennai and now trail the three-match T20I series 1-0

Shashank Kishore05-Jul-2024After defeats in the ODI series and the one-off Test, South Africa began their run to the women’s T20 World Cup with a morale-boosting victory over India in the first T20I in Chennai.Starring in the win were Tazmin Brits, whose 81 – an innings of contrasts – set South Africa up along with Marizanne Kapp. The pair added 96 in just 9.2 overs; Kapp’s own contribution was a robust 33-ball 57 as the visitors posted 189 for 4.India’s chase began well with Smriti Mandhana’s 30-ball 46, but her wicket slowed things down considerably, until they found their ammunition through Jemimah Rodrigues’ punchy 29-ball half-century.Related

• Brits 'finds a way out', with a little help from her friends

• Ghosh goes off with concussion, Brits stretchered off with contusion

Eventually, the target proved steep as South Africa’s spinners used the slow pitch and the absence of dew to their advantage. In the end, India fell 12 runs short after flirting with the possibility of a heist when Rodrigues brought the equation down from 47 off 18 to 21 off six.

Wolvaardt flies, Brits stutters

Laura Wolvaardt came out all guns blazing and took Renuka Singh for 16 runs in the third over. But South Africa weren’t able to build on that with Brits, at this point, struggling to hit the ball off the square.Brits took 10 deliveries to get off the mark and the piling up of dots made Wolvaardt take more risks than she would’ve liked. One such stroke – walking across to expose all three stumps in a bid to sweep left-arm spinner Radha Yadav into acres of open space – led to her downfall in the eighth over to leave South Africa 50 for 1.

Kapp finds her gears straightaway

Kapp began with two fours off her first three balls, the first one, an inside-out drive over extra cover, particularly attractive. But she was also massively lucky to be reprieved twice in the 10th over.First, Richa Ghosh failed to hang on to a catch behind the stumps when Kapp was on 11 and then Mandhana put down a tough chance running in from long-off with the South African allrounder on 11. This helped unleash Kapp, which reduced the pressure on Brits after she had limped to a run-a-ball 25 at the 10-over mark.Jemimah Rodrigues made a half-century•BCCI

Fighting a back injury, Kapp had shelved her sweeps for large periods during the Test match between these two teams a few days ago. But in perhaps a sign that she was feeling heaps better, Kapp displayed different variations of her sweeps as her innings progressed – the full-blooded ones, the paddles, the scoops and even the reverse – during a 30-ball half-century that injected momentum into South Africa’s innings.

Brits makes the most of her luck

Brits broke the shackles in the 11th over when she heaved legspinner S Asha over the long-on boundary, even as Kapp went berserk at the other end in their near-century stand.Brits should’ve been out on 50 when she top-edged a slog, only for Ghosh to grass the opportunity. It would prove game-changing in a sense as Ghosh, who was hit on the chin by the ball rebounding off her gloves, while tumbling to the floor was ruled out of the rest of the game due to concussion.It took Brits until the 17th over of the innings to hit top gear, when she launched Radha for back-to-back sixes to offset any pressure from Kapp’s wicket in the same over. South Africa ransacked 58 runs off the last five to head into the break with momentum firmly with them.

India go off rails despite Mandhana, Rodrigues knocks

Mandhana’s cameo helped India raise their half-century in the fifth over, before Ayabonga Khaka pulled the game back by nicking off Shafali Verma. That wicket slowed things down considerably as India’s No. 3, D Hemalatha, struggled to cope with the pressure of the asking rate. She limped to 14 off 16 at the halfway mark.This may have resulted in Mandhana’s downfall as she left her crease against Chloe Tryon and got caught behind. When Hemalatha was bowled off the very next ball, looking to clip Nadine de Klerk, South Africa sensed an opportunity with India 87 for 3 in the 11th.Rodrigues kept punching, using the crease superbly to manipulate the bowlers and pick up runs behind square against spin. Her enterprise offset Harmanpreet’s struggle against cramps, which appeared to limit her hitting range. Yet, when she played a full-blooded slog for a boundary to bring the equation down to 17 off 5, India believed. However, it wasn’t to be on the night as South Africa held their nerve to close out the game and seal their first win on tour.

Injuries have forced Brandon Glover and Timm van der Gugten to miss out too

Matt Roller13-May-2024Netherlands will be without the experienced pair of Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe at the T20 World Cup 2024. The two of them made themselves unavailable for selection, choosing to fulfil their county commitments instead.Netherlands have called up Daniel Doram, the Leeward Islands left-arm spinner, to a full T20I squad for the first time.The T20 World Cup clashes with the start of the Vitality Blast, England’s county T20 competition, which has forced Associate players to choose between their primary employers and their national teams.Bas de Leede (Durham) and Fred Klaassen (Kent) will be released by their counties for the T20 World Cup, but ESPNcricinfo understands that Ackermann and van der Merwe have committed to Durham and Somerset respectively. Neither was named in the Netherlands’ provisional squad on Monday.Brandon Glover, meanwhile, wasn’t considered as he continued his comeback after an injury, while Timm van der Gugten is out of action with a calf injury.In van der Merwe’s absence, Doram has been named as one of two left-arm spinners in the squad along with Tim Pringle. He is a Dutch passport-holder from Saint Maarten, a constituent state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and played first-class and List A cricket for Netherlands as a teenager.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Doram, who is 6′ 7″ tall, has been playing for Leeward Islands in the West Indies Championship and picked up 29 wickets at 20.27 this season. He has never played a professional T20 match but was on standby when Netherlands toured Nepal earlier this year.”We have been able to select a well-balanced team, which we are confident will be able to perform in the conditions against the opposition we face in the US and West Indies,” Ryan Cook, the Netherlands head coach, said in a release. “All of the players have been training well and have been involved in the recent ProSeries with some exciting performances showing the growing depth and quality in Netherlands cricket.”We have managed to perform admirably in the last two World Cups we have participated in and will be determined to rise to the challenges we face ahead to reach the next round of the tournament.”Scott Edwards will to captain the side, as he did at the 2022 T20 World Cup, and there are several changes to the squad that finished fourth in their Super 12s group in that tournament. Shariz Ahmad, Tom Cooper, Stephen Myburgh, Ackermann, van der Merwe, Glover and van der Gugten are out; Wesley Barresi, Aryan Dutt, Michael Levitt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Vivian Kingma and Doram have come in.Netherlands will prepare for the tournament with a tri-series against Scotland and Ireland, which starts on Saturday. They have been drawn in Group D of the T20 World Cup alongside Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Netherlands provisional squad for the T20 World Cup:

Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Daniel Doram, Fred Klaassen, Logan van Beek, Max O’Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Scott Edwards (capt/wk), Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikramjit Singh, Vivian Kingma, Wesley Barresi

Northants battle through to 95 for 2 after being inserted on soggy southcoast day

ECB Reporters Network05-Apr-2024Northamptonshire had the better of the half day’s play that was possible on the opening of the Vitality County Championship match at Hove. They lost the toss but their batters battled hard and reached 95 for 2 when bad light – with no option for floodlights – drove the players from the field just after 6pm.Play started four hours late, at 3pm, with 51 overs scheduled but there were only 38.1 bowled. The good news for Sussex – and England – is that Ollie Robinson, in only his second first-class game since last July, bowled with an easy rhythm and some pace and carry from the Cromwell Road end.He opened the bowling down the hill after new Sussex captain John Simpson had won the toss and chosen to bowl under sullen skies. It was surprising that Robinson was taken off after bowling just four overs – his figures were 4-1-9-0 but his workload is being managed at this stage of the season.When Robinson opened the bowling again after tea he was even more impressive, with a spell of 5-3-5-0, and looked back to his best speeds. The only frustration for Robinson, and the other Sussex bowlers, was that there was so little movement with the Kookaburra ball.Northants were making their first visit to Hove for three years and the first runs of the season at Hove came when the left-handed opener Emilio Gay drove Robinson wide of mid-on for four. But Sussex broke through with the first ball of the fourth over when Gay glanced Jayden Seales down the leg-side and Simpson made a distance to his right to pull off a fine catch.Northants captain Luke Procter showed his intent when he pulled Seales over the square-leg boundary for a nonchalant six. And Procter was given solid support by makeshift opener Justin Broad at the other end. Broad played an excellent back-foot drive through the covers for four off Danny Lamb, the allrounder who – along with Seales and Simpson – was one of three players making his first-class debut for Sussex.At tea, Northants had reached 58 for 1 from 24 overs, with Broad on 23 and Procter 29 not out. After the interval, it was again Seales who made the breakthrough, having Broad, who was only half-forward, lbw for 27, to make it 66 for 2. Broad had hit five handsome fours in his 76-ball innings.But Procter and Karun Nair – who scored such an impressive 150 against Surrey at The Oval last season – carried Northants to the close without any further loss.

“Even if he’s still positive he can still play, [but] there’ll just be a few protocols,” Pat Cummins said

Andrew McGlashan23-Jan-20240:59

Clarke: No Australia attack will reach McGrath and Warne levels

Australia are confident that Travis Head will be able to take his place in the second Test against West Indies despite having Covid since the end of the opening game in Adelaide.Head delayed his arrival into Brisbane by a day to give himself extra time to recover at home and opted not to take part in Australia’s main training session at the Gabba on Tuesday evening in order to rest further but will take part on Wednesday. There remains hope that he will test negative before the start of the game, but even if he doesn’t, he will be able to play although there will be some additional protocols in place.”Think he’s almost out of it. He’s fine, feeling good,” Pat Cummins said. “Think he’ll train tonight. Obviously, even if he’s still positive he can still play, there’ll just be a few protocols. But think he’s pretty close to a negative.”Last season against South Africa, Matt Renshaw came down with Covid during his comeback game at the SCG and was kept separate from team-mates while off the field.Related

• Australia's marvel and crisis man, Head again shows why he's a cult hero

• Renshaw could remain available to Brisbane Heat in Test lead-up

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With Usman Khawaja having cleared his concussion tests since the blow on the head late in the game in Adelaide, Australia are set to be unchanged. Renshaw has been made available to Brisbane Heat for the BBL final at the SCG on Wednesday and will then rejoin the Test squad.Head played the decisive hand in Adelaide with his 119 off 134 balls turning around an uncertain Australia first innings into a lead, which was almost enough to win by an innings inside two days.There was considerable assistance in the Adelaide surface and two days out at the Gabba, the pitch had a distinctive green tinge although it may lose some of that colour before the first day for what will be the venue’s third day-night Test. Last year, the match against South Africa ended inside two days and the ground was handed a demerit point by the ICC, but this surface is not expected to be as wild.”The aim is definitely to wind it back from what it was last year for sure but we have to be careful we don’t go too far,” head groundsman Dave Sandurski told the last week. “We want a contest between bat and ball. We don’t want a T20 batathon. We have to find a happy [middle] ground and hopefully we will find it this year.”The early finish in Adelaide meant the ground was left with no Test cricket over the weekend given the game started on a Wednesday. As a bowler, Cummins is rarely going to shy away from early finishes – and has pinpointed the shorter Tests this summer as a reason why Australia’s attack is set to remain unchanged throughout the home season – but he also believed matches where the ball holds sway provide more enthralling cricket.”I’ve played in Tests that have fizzled out into a five-day draw and think everyone walks away feeling a bit empty whereas [have] played in two or three-day matches where everyone can’t take their eyes off the TV for a minute,” he said. “Ideally you want it to go a bit longer than two days but you want it to be a good contest between bat and ball. A couple of the Tests this summer have been fantastic, feels like every session has importance and each side can win.”With Australia’s three frontline quicks all averaging under 20 in day-night Tests, life is unlikely to get any easier for West Indies’ batters. However, one element that may yet prevent a short finish in Brisbane is the weather, with the forecast deteriorating in recent days with significant rain now expected over the weekend.

The Super Giants captain will welcome the better batting conditions in Mohali after a botched chase in the last game

Shashank Kishore27-Apr-20234:30

Shastri: Arshdeep can play all formats for India

Big Picture: Rahul back to scene of heroics

KL Rahul needs no reminding that he holds the record for the fastest IPL half-century, which he hit in Mohali. It’s a good time to rekindle those memories as he leads Lucknow Super Giants against his former franchise, the Punjab Kings, yet again, after going down narrowly the first time the two sides met earlier this month.Super Giants have had a few days off to reflect on a botched chase against Gujarat Titans. That Rahul took the game deep and batted through on a challenging surface, before he saw it all crumble, will hurt. But if he needs solace, Mohali should provide better value for shots which he’d be looking to feed off and play with more freedom than he did on that Lucknow slowburn.Kings have no such issues. They’ve backed themselves to play the high-risk, high-returns game, and find themselves on the same points – eight – as Super Giants. Without designated captain Shikhar Dhawan, they’ve had an inexperienced top three that hasn’t carried the baggage of the past and have tried to play with freedom. Liam Livingstone’s return after missing the first few games has been timely.It’s the bowling where Super Giants have a slight edge, their variety and class likely to bring the long boundaries into play. At 40, Amit Mishra continues to roll the clock back, while his apprentice Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya have been able to keep a lid on the scoring in the middle overs.Kings, meanwhile, have been over reliant on Arshdeep Singh, who’s delivered in crunch moments, like in the game against Mumbai Indians three nights ago. Rahul Chahar has looked off colour, while Nathan Ellis and Curran have proved expensive. If Kings can have a fully-fit Kagiso Rabada back and firing, they’ll add another dimension to an attack still trying to find its feet.Punjab Kings got the better of Lucknow Super Giants in their first meeting in IPL 2023•BCCI

Form guide

(Last five matches, most recent first)Punjab Kings: WLWLL (8 points from seven matches)
Lucknow Super Giants: LWLWW (8 points from seven matches)

Team News: All eyes on Dhawan and Rabada

Dhawan and Rabada’s return will lend teeth to the Kings’ batting and bowling respectively. Super Giants pacer Mark Wood remains doubtful due to an illness, having last played on April 15.

Toss and Impact Player Strategy

With Rabada set to return, it’s possible Kings will bring in Nathan Ellis as an Impact Player with the ball for Prabhsimran Singh.Possible XII: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Liam Livingstone, 4 Harpreet Singh, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Shahrukh Khan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Nathan EllisSuper Giants don’t have a lot of reasons to tinker with their line-up. Ayush Badoni could be substituted for K Gowtham’s offspin.Possible XII: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Naveen ul Haq, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Avesh Khan, 12 K Gowtham

Stats that matter: Kings openers in focus

• Legspinners bowling to a left-hander a bad idea? Well, Mishra has had tremendous success against Dhawan. He has dismissed him thrice in five innings, having conceded just 39 off the 32 balls he has bowled to him in T20 cricket.
• Curran has managed to keep a lid on Rahul’s scoring in T20s, having conceded less than a run-a-ball (97) over the 29 balls he’s bowled to him for one dismissal. With Curran likely to open the bowling, Rahul will need to find a way to break the shackles against him if Super Giants are to start well.
• Excluding the 90-run opening stand between Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh, the Kings openers have tallied just 45 runs in six innings. Their average of 19.3 is the lowest of all the teams in the tournament. They’ve also tried out three opening pairs in seven matches.

Pitch and conditions: Look out for the dew

The previous game in Mohali was played on a slightly dry surface where Royal Challengers Bangalore found enough grip to turn the tables on Kings after threatening to post a 200-plus score. But that was an afternoon game. In the evening, the effect of dew will mean the side batting first will want a little extra cushion in their defence. Spinners could have a bigger role given the ground dimensions.

With 85 needed off 30 balls, the duo launched an unsparing assault on the Stars bowlers to help Knight Riders raze the target down with a ball to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna17-Aug-2018Getty Images

After a dim start to the season, marked by three winless matches on the road, St Lucia Stars’ season had begun to look brighter on Thursday night, after a trio of half-centurions boosted them to a franchise record total. But in the end, history repeated itself, as Trinbago Knight Riders maintained their impressive record over the Stars, who crashed to a stunning five-wicket defeat at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet.David Warner, Rahkeem Cornwall and Kieron Pollard all crossed 50, each in contrasting styles, to take the home side to 212 for 2. And yet, it was far from enough, as Darren Bravo and Brendon McCullum launched a stunning late onslaught with a 137-run fourth-wicket stand. Requiring 85 runs off the last five overs, Knight Riders crossed the line with a ball to spare. The result also meant the Stars’ winless streak has been stretched to 15 games.Family feastThe end of Warner’s horrid run with the bat coincided with the arrival of his wife and younger daughter at St Lucia. With his two favourite girls watching from the stands, Warner looked at ease while compiling an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls. Most of his damage was done in the first 10 overs, beginning with an uppercut off Ali Khan in the third over for the first of his three sixes. Once Andre Fletcher got out in the sixth over, caught at backward point to a mistimed cut off Shannon Gabriel, Warner was content to ride in the slipstream of his subsequent partners.CornwallopAfter sitting out the previous match, Cornwall made an imperious return to the Stars lineup at No. 3. In the very first match of the season, Fawad Ahmed had struck on his first ball after entering in the seventh over. On this occasion, however, he was swatted with disdain over midwicket for six by Cornwall. The big man began the eighth over in the same fashion against Gabriel, swatting him back over his head for a maximum, before dragging him flat through the wind for six over square leg a few balls later.Cornwall clattered his fifth six over long-on to start the 12th over against Dwayne Bravo, at which stage he overtook Warner on the scorecard, and simultaneously brought up the fifty of their partnership, as well as the Stars 100. Cornwall eventually brought up his half-century off 25 balls, before running out of steam in the 15th over, edging behind as he tried to swing a wide delivery from Javon Searles to the leg side. That ended the partnership at 79 but the innings was hardly about to lose any steam.Pollard goes wildAt 130 for 2 in 15 overs, Tom Moody called out on the TV commentary that Stars should target 12 an over for the rest of the way to get to 190. For a team that has struggled to score runs and was bowled out for just 95 when these two sides met in the opening match of the season, the suggestion may have seemed optimistic. But by the end of the innings, hindsight showed Moody’s prediction was actually quite conservative.The Stars third-wicket pair of Warner and Kieron Pollard added 84 unbeaten runs off the final 32 balls of the innings. More than three-quarters of those came off the bat of Pollard, who sped away to the joint-fastest half-century in CPL history, getting there in just 18 balls. He stroked seven sixes in his 65 not out off 23 balls, the brunt of his damage absorbed by Dwayne Bravo, whose wretched form with the ball continued. The Knight Riders captain was once again his team’s most expensive bowler on the night, conceding 50 from four wicketless overs.Bravo leaked 20 to Pollard in the 18th, including two sixes over the leg side. Ali Khan came into the match as the CPL’s leading wicket-taker but with the exception of a searing yorker to Pollard that just missed his off stump in the 17th, the American lacked his usual bite and was clubbed for three more sixes by Pollard in the 19th over that went for 23 runs. Pollard then bludgeoned Bravo for two more maximums in the final over that brought 17 runs and catapulted the Stars to well over 200. And yet, it wasn’t close to being enough.Riders on the stormKnight Riders’ woes during a two-match losing skid were mainly down to a leaky bowling attack, but on this occasion their batsmen managed to bail them out. Cornwall backed up his impressive batting display by striking twice in the Powerplay with his offspin that claimed Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn, to dent the visitors chase early. But Knight Riders clawed back behind a 51-run stand between McCullum and Colin Munro to reach 74 for 3 after 10 overs, just 14 runs behind where Stars were at the same stage.It was at this point that Darren Bravo almost singlehandedly snuffed out the Stars, and how. Entering at the fall of Munro in the 10th over at 71 for 3, the younger Bravo dwarfed Pollard’s finishing kick. At 128 for 3 after 15, having just brought up a fifty partnership with McCullum. Darren channeled his inner Garry Sobers in the 16th by hoisting four consecutive sixes off Pollard to start the over. A two off the fifth ball was followed by another six off the final delivery to complete the most expensive over in CPL history.From there, Darren could not be stopped, romping his way to 94 unbeaten runs off 36 balls, including six fours and ten sixes. Even a brief stutter during an excellent 19th over from Mitchell McClenaghan, who snared two wickets and gave away just two runs, wasn’t enough to shake Darren, who ensured the Stars’ woeful record remained in tact. Denesh Ramdin hammered the final nail with a six – 34th of the match – off the penultimate ball that not only sealed the win but also equalled the record for most sixes in a Twenty20 match.