Morris heads home from New Zealand

Allrounder Chris Morris will return home from South Africa’s touring party in New Zealand on Friday, reducing their contingent of quicks to five.With offspinner Dane Piedt joining the squad at the weekend, to bolster the spin options for the Hamilton Test, Morris has been deemed surplus to requirements.That means Morris’ hopes of adding to his two Test caps, which he earned against England last January, will have to wait until at least July when South Africa travel to England.Morris’ departure leaves South Africa with Wayne Parnell and Duanne Olivier was back-up to the pace pack of Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel.

Stokes brought down to earth but England's batting fires

ScorecardBen Stokes was in the runs, but the bowling wasn’t quite so successful•Getty Images

What a great leveller this game can be.A few days after becoming the most expensive overseas player in the IPL’s history, Ben Stokes saw his only complete over of England’s first warm-up match in St Kitts thrashed for 23 by a 20-year-old playing only his eighth List A game.To be fair to Stokes, who had earlier made a half-century, the 20-year-old is some talent. Shimron Hetmyer, the former captain of the West Indies side that won the Under-19 World Cup, timed the ball beautifully and, having clipped Stokes’ first ball for six over square leg, laced a couple of boundaries through the off side before finishing the over with a pull over mid-wicket for another six. Two wides and a no-ball completed the picture and meant that, at that stage, Stokes’ last 10 deliveries in an England shirt against Caribbean opposition – going back to Carlos Braithwaite’s four sixes – had cost an eye-watering 47 runs.Under normal circumstances, none of this would warrant much attention. Even the best endure bad days, after all, and warm-up days like this exist to help brush off the rust. All recent evidence suggests that, come the big occasion, Stokes will be the man England rely upon.But coming, as it did, a few days after Stokes’ auction success, it demonstrated the pressure that he will be under every time he steps on to a pitch these days. He can no longer be considered a promising allrounder in the developmental stage of his career; he is a world star whose every move will be studied and followed. There will always be great expectation; there will always be scrutiny. His life has changed and it may not all be for the better.Still, with four of their top five making half-centuries and a final victory margin of 117 runs, Stokes’ tough over was a minor blip in a generally satisfactory day for England.It showed how far they had come since they last visited St Kitts. At that time, less than two years ago, they were still reeling in the aftermath of their wretched 2015 World Cup performance. During their match against a St Kitts Invitational XI, it was announced that Paul Downton, the managing director of the England teams, had been sacked and the coaching staff were informed, ominously as it transpired, there would be no further changes “while they were on tour.” Peter Moores was subsequently sacked the moment England returned.They are a much-changed white ball side now. It’s not just the personnel that is different, though the absence of the top run-scorer and wicket-taker in their ODI history (Ian Bell and James Anderson respectively) is notable, but that the mentality has changed. Remarkably, given how poorly they performed in the most recent global ODI event, several bookies make them favourites for the Champions Trophy to be played in June. It seemed unthinkable in April 2015.Chadwick Walton made 121 in the run chase•Getty Images

It’s not hard to see what their resurgence has been built upon. Their uncompromisingly aggressive batting helped them race to 239 for 2 at the 30-over mark here and, with Joe Root and Eoin Morgan well set, it appeared a world record List A score might be achievable. Only one side in history (Surrey against Gloucestershire at The Oval in 2007) have ever reached 450 in a List A game and there seemed every chance England could become the second.As it was, they scored a relatively modest 140 from the final 20 overs of the innings despite nearly 100 in the final 10. With the balls softer and the pitch slowing, timing the ball became more difficult and it took some muscular late hitting from Stokes, who was dropped three times in an innings that become more fluent as it progressed, and Liam Dawson to take them above 350.Still, with Jason Roy looking in sublime form – he did not field due to a hand bruised by a succession of tough fielding drills but is not a serious injury concern – and runs for Root and Morgan, England could be well satisfied with this work out for their batsmen.Only Sam Billings, who was brilliantly caught at point, and Jos Buttler, who played-on attempting to force the pace, missed out but both are likely to have another chance on Monday. Billings, in particular, probably needs to take every chance with Alex Hales potentially returning imminently.The bowling was less impressive. While Steven Finn, who had not taken a wicket in any form of cricket since September despite having racked up some air miles, all but ended the match as a contest with wickets from the second and fourth balls of the second over of University of West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI reply, there were times when Morgan seemed to lack the options required to stem the flow of runs.Not for the first time, the edge offered to the side by the extra pace of Mark Wood was sorely missed. Chris Woakes (rested) and David Willey (injured) were also missed, but it may be upon Wood’s seemingly fragile ankle that England’s Champions Trophy hopes rest.That the UWI side made over 250 was largely due to the excellence of Chadwick Walton. A good enough player to have represented West Indies in two Tests – albeit during the Floyd Reifer period of captaincy when the best players were unavailable due to a disagreement with the board – he was also part of a record Caribbean List A score only a couple of weeks ago when he made a century as Jamaica amassed 434 against Trinidad and Tobago in the Super 50 competition. He has played a few ODIs, too, and made it into a full strength Test squad as a reserve keeper.At one stage, he thrashed Dawson (who was otherwise admirably frugal) for three successive sixes, while Liam Plunkett was hit for the shot of the day: a straight driven six that thundered back over the bowler’s head.Such things will happen in limited-overs cricket. As Jermaine Levy, the latest man to concede 100 in a List A match, will tell you: modern white-ball cricket is very much a batsman’s game.

Pakistan end 12-year win drought in Australia

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJunaid Khan pushed Australia to the backfoot early in his comeback game•Getty Images

Not since the days of a young Wasim Akram and a befuddled Allan Border had Pakistan beaten Australia at the MCG, in a match played as part of the one-off World Championship of Cricket. And not since January 2005 had Pakistan beaten Australia in Australia, in format.Pakistan ended both those dry spells in a contest that illustrated familiar strengths for the visitors and plenty of increasingly tiresome weaknesses among the hosts. On a sluggish surface Australia’s batsmen were cornered by Pakistan’s spinners, allowing for a chase within the modest reach of their batsmen.Earlier in the day Australia had unveiled their touring party for a Test series in India next month, with the spin bowler Mitchell Swepson speaking outside the MCG. About the same time on the other side of the gates, eight members of the same squad were demonstrating why Swepson and his counterparts may not often have many runs to defend.Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik and stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez combined to expose Australia’s familiar troubles against spin. While the pitch did not take much in the way of turn, its variable pace was expertly utilised to prevent the home team batsmen from finding rhythm.Captain Steven Smith got closest with 60, but even he was forced to play well within himself. Matthew Wade made another useful contribution, but he was bowled, playing outside a straight delivery in a fashion eerily similar to so many Australian dismissals on the Test tour of Sri Lanka last year.Left to chase a mere 221, Hafeez led the way with 72 and found useful support from Malik to guide the visitors home. Importantly, the Australians were denied the opportunity to use their own spinners, as Hafeez took 10 (after a single from his opening partner Sharjeel Khan) from Travis Head’s first over, duly persuading Smith to rely almost totally on seam bowlers for the rest of the night. Glenn Maxwell, chosen for his allround skills for India, is yet to bowl a ball this series.Australia were forced to shuffle around the batting order by the omission of Chris Lynn due to an apparent neck injury, and neither Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh nor Head were able to prosper in their new positions. Junaid Khan also bowled neatly for the visitors in his first ODI in over one-and-a-half years.It had been Junaid who made his presence felt early. He procured an edge from the bat of David Warner, which sent Australia’s vice-captain back for his second low score of the series. Then, he coaxed Khawaja to cut a ball too close to him, resulting in a fine low catch by Sharjeel Khan at slip.Next over, the promoted Marsh threw hard hands playing his first ball, against Mohammad Amir, and offered up a catch to cover point, leaving Smith and Head with a considerable salvage job. Head was fluent for the second time in as many innings, but was again unable to capitalise on his start, a fate that also befell Glenn Maxwell when he sallied forth to Imad and was bowled off his pads.Mohammad Hafeez had an excellent match as stand-in captain, finishing with 0 for 45 from his ten overs and anchoring Pakistan’s chase with a steady 72•Getty Images

Wade and Smith then put together the most substantial stand of the innings, and it appeared to have given the hosts a chance of posting a similar tally to their Brisbane effort. However, Smith was somewhat unfortunately bowled off the inside edge and body when he tried to attack the persistent Imad, signalling another twist in the innings.The remaining overs were decidedly underwhelming for Australia, even if Pat Cummins escaped a caught behind first ball via a clear outside edge that escaped the attention of umpire Chris Gaffaney. Pakistan were duly left with a chase that would appear within their reach, so long as the batsmen can improve after the fashion of the bowlers.In order to defend the total successfully, the Australians needed early wickets, and fourth ball of the innings Hafeez edged an attempt to drive Mitchell Starc. The ball arrowed straight into the lap of Smith, but burst through his hands; the pain of the missed chance was compounded by the sensitive region the ball struck.From there the visitors built a diligent chase around Hafeez’s spinal innings, never pressured by the run rate and so able to defuse some challenging spells from Starc and Pat Cummins in particular. Malik’s skills in modulating a chase were useful towards the finish, and after he evaded a caught behind appeal by Cummins, the Pakistani supporters among a crowd of 31,390 were able to toast a drought-breaker – and a series-squarer.

New Zealand face must-win after forgettable start

Match facts

December 6, 2016
Start time 1420 local (0320 GMT)1:18

‘We need to take our innings deeper’ – Munro

Big Picture

New Zealand must have left the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday night thinking, “if only”. If only they had asked for a review when Steven Smith was given not-out by umpire Mick Martell after being trapped lbw on 14, the first ODI might have unfolded quite differently. Trent Boult’s fine delivery had swung in and trapped Smith in front, but New Zealand declined to refer Martell’s decision upstairs. “There was plenty of chat afterwards about that,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “There were two sounds and the possibility of an inside edge. We’re all well aware there wasn’t. That was the thinking and you could understand it. It was a little bit frustrating.” The reason it was frustrating was that Smith went on to accumulate 164 and set up a big win for Australia.The teams now move on to Canberra with Australia 1-0 up in the three-match series, so New Zealand must win at the Manuka Oval on Tuesday to have any hope of retaining the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. The good news for New Zealand is that they had one batsman who looked every bit as dangerous as Smith at the SCG, but unfortunately for them, Martin Guptill couldn’t go quite as deep into the innings as Smith, and fell for 114 off 102 balls. The toss may be particularly important in Canberra, where big runs are generally available, and the team batting first has won the six most recent ODIs.

Form guide

Australia: WLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand: LLWLW

In the spotlight

A golden duck in Sydney was hardly the start Aaron Finch wanted in this series, but he will be pleased to arrive in Canberra for the second game. Take a look at Finch’s scores in his three ODIs at the Manuka Oval: 38, 109 and 107. His last two hundreds at the venue have come against South Africa and India, and Finch could use a big score again: in 18 ODIs since the end of the previous home summer, Finch has averaged just 26.25.After New Zealand lost Guptill, their hopes of chasing down the hefty target in Sydney faded. But, while Colin Munro was at the crease, there remained at least a tiny glimmer of hope. Munro struck four fours and one six in his innings of 49, and put on 50 for the eighth wicket with Matt Henry. While they were together, the required run rate hovered around nine an over, but at least it didn’t balloon too much further. But when they both holed out in one Pat Cummins over – the 44th of the innings – the dream was dashed. “It was a different sort of knock than what I’m used to playing,” Munro said. “Given that role to try and take things a bit deeper in the innings sort of suits my game. Hopefully, in the games to come, we can have a few extra batters around me at the end and have a bit of a hit.”Lockie Ferguson had a forgettable debut in Sydney and may make way for Tim Southee•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Team news

Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner were the two members of Australia’s 13-man squad left out in Sydney, and the selectors may wish to retain the winning XI in an attempt to secure the series.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3, Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Travis Head, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Pat Cummins, 11 Josh Hazlewood.Lockie Ferguson picked up a wicket in his first international over, but the rest of his debut was rather costly: he leaked 73 runs from nine overs, sent down four no-balls and therefore four free hits, and also cramped up. Tim Southee might come in for Ferguson in Canberra. New Zealand may also wonder if their batting order could be strengthened by the inclusion of Henry Nicholls.New Zealand (possible) 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Jimmy Neesham, 5 Colin Munro, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Colin de Grandhomme, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult.

Pitch and conditions

Manuka Oval is the kind of venue where big totals are on offer batting first, and chasing can be a challenge. The forecast for Tuesday is for a shower or two and a top temperature of 28 degrees centigrade.

Stats and trivia

  • In Sydney, Guptill became the tenth-fastest player to 5000 ODI runs, behind Hashim Amla, Viv Richards, Virat Kohli, Brian Lara, Gordon Greenidge, AB de Villiers, Sourav Ganguly, Dean Jones and Graeme Smith.
  • This will be Kane Williamson’s 100th one-day international.
  • Adam Zampa enters this game as the world’s leading ODI wicket-taker in 2016, with 30 scalps at 27.80. His feat is all the more impressive given he didn’t make his ODI debut until February in New Zealand.

Quotes

“We were a little bit frustrated with the fact we chased the game with the ball. We had some good plans in place and perhaps we need to back those a bit more. We weren’t far off.”

Bairstow shines but India take charge against careless England

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:41

Ganguly: Haven’t seen a surface as dry as this in Mohali

“There was a glint in his eye,” Alastair Cook said of Jonny Bairstow’s reaction to being moved up England’s order amid a batting reshuffle for the Mohali Test. After a year of rescuing the side from No. 7, this time he kept their head just above water from No. 5 after England had gift-wrapped the advantage for India despite having won the toss.England’s 268 for 8 was a huge missed opportunity especially as India dropped four catches. But without Bairstow’s 89 off 177 balls – ended when he was lbw the ball after being dropped by Parthiv Patel – this Test would have escaped them already. And they would only have had themselves to blame. Winning the toss needs luck, but when the important ones fall your way it is careless not to embrace the opportunity.Five of England’s eight wickets fell to shots that could be classed as careless at best, reckless at worst. Bairstow, who helped add consecutive stands of 57, 69 and 45, gave them a chance although the late loss of Chris Woakes dented the prospect of a lower-order boost. Compared to last year’s Test involving South Africa, the total is already handsome although local judgement is that this pitch is not at that level of mischief.

184 runs, 1 dismissal

  • 184.00 Jonny Bairstow’s batting average in this series against spinners – the highest for any batsman from either side. India’s Cheteshwar Pujara averages the next-best among batsmen who have faced at least 50 balls from spinners.

  • 10 Number of fifty-plus scores by Jonny Bairstow batting at No. 5 or lower this year. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in 2002, and Angelo Mathews, in 2014, are the only other batsmen to get as many fifty-plus scores from that low in the order in any calendar year.

  • 72.73 Bairstow’s average batting in the first innings of Tests. Among batsmen to score at least 1000 runs, his average is the sixth-highest. Bairstow has made 1091 runs in the first innings of a match, including three hundreds and six fifties in 17 innings.

  • 4 Number of catches dropped by India’s fielders on the first day. Alastair Cook was given two reprieves and Bairstow benefited from the other two drops.

  • 60.75 Jos Buttler’s batting average in Tests against India – his best against any team. He has scores of 85, 70, 45 and 43 in his four innings against them. Buttler is playing his first Test and only his second first-class match in over a year.

India’s bowling was exacting throughout the day. Ravindra Jadeja performed an excellent holding role either side of tea and claimed two wickets, after the run rate had briefly got away from India in the afternoon session, the pacemen challenged with new ball and old and Jayant Yadav continued his impressive start to Test cricket with the scalps of Bairstow and Joe Root.There was turn from early, but nothing extravagant, and after the brutish delivery received by Haseeb Hameed, which reared off a length, the bounce largely behaved itself. Reverse swing, especially a spell before tea by Umesh Yadav, posed a significant challenge which was repelled by Bairstow and Jos Buttler, but in the final session it was the squeezing of the run rate – a boundary took Bairstow to 53 off 76 balls, then he needed 99 balls for his next 36 – more than devilish deliveries that made life hard work.Buttler, playing just his second first-class match since being dropped from the Test side last October, played the other significant innings of the day. Ended with a loose drive to cover, as India throttled the scoring after tea, it was not substantial enough to satisfy England’s needs but he played with confidence that belied his lack of recent cricket.During a frenetic morning, Alastair Cook and Root gifted their wickets to India, as did Moeen Ali to leave England 92 for 4 at lunch. In the afternoon, Ben Stokes joined the list of haphazard dismissals when he charged at and missed a straighter delivery from Jadeja. He had begun the rebuilding job alongside his regular partner-in-crime, Bairstow, as the pair added 57 for the fifth wicket, rather than their usual sixth, which took their tally together for the year to over 800 runs.Only Hameed could reflect that he did not have a hand in his dismissal in the first session. England were 32 for no loss in the tenth over when the first sign of the tricks that the surface could play brought Hameed’s wicket. A delivery from Umesh spat off a length and smashed into Hameed’s top glove, forcing him to drop the bat as the ball looped to gully. As with the grubber he received in the second innings of the previous Test, there was little Hameed could do except curse his bad luck.Cook’s was an incident-filled stay as he was twice offered lives. His first came in the third over of the day when he had 3 and was squared up by Mohammed Shami. The leading edge flew quickly towards third slip where Jadeja did not even get a hand on the chance. Then, when Cook had 23, R Ashwin spilled a simple chance at midwicket as Cook flicked at Shami’s first ball from round the wicket.It was shaping up as a morning to forget for Ashwin who also made a mess of trying to intercept a leg-slide flick from Root – with Virat Kohli’s expression growing more angered by the minute – but he quickly made amends when tossed the ball, striking first delivery as Cook thin-edged a cut off a wide delivery.Cook’s dismissal meant England had lost their two key batsmen in the space of seven deliveries after Root had absent-mindedly swiped across the line at Jayant having skipped his way to 15 at better than a run-a-ball. After his first-innings dismissal in Vizag, it was another poor moment that England could ill-afford from their best player.Moeen, one of the England batsmen most comfortable using his feet against the spin, attempted a counter-attack when he came down the pitch to Jayant, who had started with four consecutive maidens, sending back-to-back deliveries straight for four and six. But a return to pace ended his stay when Shami produced a well-directed bouncer towards Moeen’s shoulder that he could not control and a top edge picked out fine leg.It meant a familiar pairing had to come to the rescue. During Bairstow’s stellar year there has been much debate as to whether he is wasted down at No. 7, particularly given the struggles of others tried higher up by England. His footwork was confident whether playing forward or back, which enabled him to pick the lengths of the spinners instead of being caught betwixt and between.Stokes, too, had looked in good order – with a stinging straight drive off Shami being particularly eye-catching – before Jadeja earned reward for keeping him quiet. He had only been able to take Jadeja for three runs off 30 deliveries before using his feet and driving around a delivery that did not turn, giving Parthiv plenty of time to complete the stumping. Words were briefly exchange between Stokes and Kohli, two cricketers who don’t take a backward step, leading the umpires to intervene.Bairstow was reprieved on 54 when Parthiv, playing his first Test for eight years and now slated to open the batting after an injury to KL Rahul, could not hold a thin edge off Ashwin. Initially it appeared to be a missed stumping, as Bairstow dragged his back foot out of the crease, but subsequent replays confirmed the nick. Parthiv later spilled another as Bairstow edged Jayant but he only needed to stew for a matter of seconds before Jayant straightened one into Bairstow’s front pad.Woakes and Adil Rashid almost made it through to the close but Umesh capped India’s day by knocking back Woakes’ off stump after working over the outside edge. Both sides will know they made mistakes, but India will feel like they got away with theirs. For England it was a day of what could have been.

Rain threatens to dampen heated decider

Match facts

October 12, Chittagong
Start time 2.30pm (0830GMT)1:09

‘Very un-cricketing weather in Chittagong’

Big picture

There has been 30mm of rain in Chittagong in the last 24 hours and there is heavy rain in the forecast throughout Wednesday, leaving the third ODI in doubt. If rain does play a decisive part, it will be a huge anti-climax to a one-day series that has spiced up on and off the field.But if the weather does relent, it promises to be a humdinger even though it could be a shortened game. The teams have gone through every dramatic turn possible during the course of the first two ODIs. Top-order struggles, two magnificent centuries, two debutants’ strong showing, a batting and fielding collapse, the captains’ performance and off-the-ball shenanigans have all made it an intriguing contest.Both teams have shown vulnerability, which has added to the context of another big occasion. Bangladesh have the chance to become only the second team in the sub-continent to win seven home bilateral ODI series in a row, and England would like to stop them from doing that.Jos Buttler is leading a feisty unit that bats as deep as No. 11, now that Jake Ball has also shown that he can hold his own. Ball has been impressive on his first outing in the sub-continent. His attitude is an asset that can spread through the team over the long winter in Bangladesh and India.Bangladesh, meanwhile, will have another chance to right their top and middle-order wrongs, and find a way to raise their run-rate in the last ten overs.All of this can happen only if the weather plays its part but the leaden skies aren’t saying an encouraging story.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)Bangladesh WLWLW
England LWLWW

In the spotlight

There was a social media uproar after the first ODI to include Nasir Hossain and, after the team management relented, he did the job with bat, ball and in the field. He scored a run-a-ball 27, took 1 for 29 in ten econmoical overs which kept the pressure on England, and calmly held the winning catch on the boundary. Now for some consistency from the “peoples’ player”.Ben Stokes has had an eventful tour so far. After scoring his maiden hundred, his war cry was inspiring to his team-mates as they made a dramatic turnaround. After a duck in the second match, Stokes got involved in an end-of-match spat with Tamim Iqbal. He has promised never to back down. There will be much focus on him in this game.

Team news

Bangladesh’s musical chairs approach with the left-arm spinner has Taijul Islam back in the squad, but it is unlikely that he will make it into the XI. The home team are likely to go with the winning combination.Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Nasir Hossain, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Taskin AhmedEngland may have a case for Sam Billings in the top order, with Ben Duckett replacing James Vince as the opener. There is very little chance for any other changes given how their bowlers have performed.England (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 James Vince, 3 Ben Duckett, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 David Willey, 11 Jake Ball

Pitch and conditions

The pitch has been under covers for most of the 72 hours leading up to the game, and there is more rain in the forecast throughout Wednesday. Overall, Chittagong isn’t the best batting-first ground: in 2011, the pitch was relayed and there has only been one 300+ score and that was in the venue’s first match in 2006

Stats and trivia

  • In the last game, Mushfiqur Rahim became the third Bangladesh batsman to reach 4,000 ODI runs. The other two are Tamim Iqbal (4,962) and Shakib Al Hasan (4,562).
  • Jake Ball was only the third England No. 11 to score more than 25 runs. The other two are Steven Finn (35) and Angus Fraser (30).
  • Adil Rashid needs three wickets to reach 50 in ODIs.

Quotes

“If the wicket is sweaty, the toss becomes a factor. The in-and-out that may occur due to rain interruptions can make it difficult. These can bother both teams.”
Mashrafe Mortaza was keeping a close on eye on conditions”We believe we should have won the last game.”
Moeen Ali keeps it simple

Still behind Finch in order of preference – Khawaja

Usman Khawaja expects to be dropped from Australia’s ODI team the moment Aaron Finch is fit after a finger fracture, despite his Man of the Match-winning turn against Ireland in the opening match of the South Africa tour.Clearly benefiting from conditions more familiar than those witnessed recently in Sri Lanka, Khawaja stroked his way to an unbeaten 82 in the company of David Warner and Steven Smith. While hopeful the innings meant a turnaround from his wretched times in Sri Lanka, Khawaja had no illusions about where he now stood in the limited-overs order of preference.”You can never count your chickens in cricket or in life, you can’t get too far ahead,” he said. “I’m only here because Shaun Marsh hurt a finger and Finch was out with a broken finger as well, so I got an opportunity opening the batting. To get out there and be Man of the Match first game of the tour is a really nice feeling.”Nice to get out there early on, I enjoy opening the batting in shorter form cricket, so it was good fun and with Davey at the other end going berserk it made life a lot easier.”It was a tough time over there [in Sri Lanka], it’s been a tough couple of months. So from an individual point of view it’s nice to get out there and score some runs. We played some really good cricket the back half of Sri Lanka, but I still didn’t contribute the way I wanted to contribute over there, so I had a tough time there, but glad I could contribute to a win first up here.”The Australians were quickly into a groove against Ireland, and now face a South Africa side shorn of AB de Villiers due to injury. Khawaja said it was useful to pick up the winning habit instantly in South Africa, and acknowledged the hosts would have to be weakened by de Villiers’ enforced absence.”We won and that’s the main thing,” Khawaja said. “You want to win as much as you can and keep reaffirming that winning feeling. Winning is a habit, it’s a cliche but it’s true, the more you win, the more natural it becomes. Every game you play we want to win every time, whether it’s a dead rubber or a final, because that’ll keep us in good stead for really close games.”I don’t know who’s going to take over [AB’s] role but they’ve got big shoes to fill, he’s one of the best batsmen in the world. Looking at it from that point of view it’s never nice to see a player not play, especially someone like AB because he brings a lot of people through the gates and that’s what it’s all about in the end. But he’s a big player for them, so they are weakened, but South Africa have a lot of depth.”

Duckett's blast follows Keogh's remarkable feat

ScorecardRob Keogh will be signing more autographs after his eye-catching feat•Getty Images

Rob Keogh’s 9 for 52 and Ben Duckett’s 185 from 159 balls put Northamptonshire in complete control after day two against Glamorgan at Wantage Road. The home side declared their second innings 305 for 7 leaving Glamorgan 451 to win and they survived three overs to the close without score.The day turned remarkably after Rob Keogh’s morning spell – his 9 for 52 was the sixth-best return in Northamptonshire’s history – helped bowl Glamorgan out for just 124 in the morning session.”Three-for was my best before so it wasn’t expected but it’s spinning, we saw their young bowler spin a couple and we were saying if he can get wickets, we must have a chance too,” Keogh said. “It’s been coming out really nicely this year, I’ve been bowling pretty well but I haven’t had much luck but together it came together.”With the ball spitting out of rough outside the right handers’ off stump from the Wilson End, it appeared the game would move on very quickly after Glamorgan lasted only one session on the second day. But Duckett was seemingly playing on a different wicket as Northants looked to build on a first-innings lead of 145.He slapped seven fours and two sixes – the second a graceful lofted drive off Owen Morgan – to race to fifty in just 30 balls. His second fifty was more sedate but a glorious extra-cover drive off Michael Hogan and a steered pull against Tim van der Gugten, raised a century in 81 balls and then past a thousand Championship runs for the summer for the first time – the first Northants batsman to achieve the feat since Stephen Peters in 2010.Duckett went on to post his third best first-class score. Taking three consecutive boundaries from Graham Wagg – bowling his left-arm spin – with sweeps either side of deep midwicket. But trying to loft van der Gugten down the ground, he found Michael Hogan at mid-on. His season strike-rate (from all the cricket he has played) stands at 99.42It ended the second fabulous performance of the day after Keogh’s exploits in the first session. His return was the seventh instance of a nine-wicket innings haul for Northants and the best figures for the county against Glamorgan.Finding significant help outside the right-handers’ off stump from the Wilson End – from where Kiran Carlson took four of his 5 for 28 on day one – Keogh floated Glamorgan to destruction. Genuine dismissals were mixed in with poor strokes as the visitors found no way to overcome the off spinner.Keogh struck in the fourth over of the morning with Nick Selman sharply held at short leg by Saif Zaib. Will Bragg followed lbw to Keogh’s arm ball. David Lloyd tried to be positive and use his feet but found a sharply turning ball beat his off drive.Then followed two naive sweeps from out of the rough by Anuerin Donald and Carlson – both caught by Chad Barrett at backward square-leg. Graham Wagg advanced to both his deliveries – the second of which he wasn’t to the pitch off and gloved a catch to short leg.At that stage, Keogh had 6 for 25. But any dreams of just the second 10-wicket haul for Northamptonshire were dashed as Graeme White found turn into the left-handed Jacques Rudolph, whose composed innings of 37 came to an end with a catch at leg slip. But Keogh cleaned up the tail to complete a nine-for and put Northants firmly in control of the match.

Hameed stacks up landmarks before Yorkshire's strange call

ScorecardHaseeb Hameed continued to notch up the landmarks in a memorable season•Getty Images

A day that began with the acclamation due to a new young champion ended with many spectators questioning the tactical judgement of the current champions after the 269th Roses match had ended in a somewhat mystifying draw at Old Trafford. However, since cricket is, above all, a team game, let us leave the glittering talent of Haseeb Hameed for later consideration and proceed immediately to the issues that were puzzling some spectators as they left the ground on Tuesday evening.The facts are these and it is important to keep a tight grip on them: in the morning session Lancashire scored 162 runs in 23 overs before declaring on 232 for 3. That closure challenged Yorkshire to score 367 in 71 overs to win the game and thereby close the gap on  Middlesex to 15 points, with Andrew Gale’s team having a game in hand on the leaders.Although Adam Lyth was dropped in the gully by Alviro Petersen when he had made 3, he and Alex Lees batted in untroubled fashion for the entire afternoon session and Yorkshire were 148 for 0 off 41 overs at tea. At that point the visitors needed 219 off 30 overs, an asking rate of 7.3 runs an over. Demanding? Most certainly, but nothing that this Yorkshire side is not used to tackling in an era of T20 cricket.This is not T20, though, and that needs to be borne in mind when considering Yorkshire’s decisions. Bowlers can bowl higher and wider than they can in the short-form game and they can bowl as many overs as needed. Moreover, fields can be set more or less as a skipper wishes: nine men on the boundary if you like. This was also, of course, a fourth day wicket, although the ease with which Lees and Lyth added 188 runs in 52 overs suggested that it was hardly littered with unexploded bombs.All the same, with absolutely nothing to lose but a few wickets in an attempt to secure what would have been a most wonderful victory Yorkshire agreed the draw when they required 179 runs off 19 overs with all their wickets to spend. Fifty years ago such a decision may have seemed explicable although it is doubtful whether Brian Close would have opted against having a gamble. After all, who turns down a free lottery ticket, even if the odds are massively stacked against winning? Yorkshire, one thought, might at least have given it a go.Their first team coach, Jason Gillespie, took a different view. “Chasing was in the back of our minds. We thought we’d assess at tea, which we did. We thought ‘let’s keeping batting and we’ll get feedback from Lythy and Leesy’ he said. “They are the two lads who were out there. Their feedback was that with the deteriorating pitch, it would be a big challenge for them to go for it, let alone a new batter coming in. If it was 40 or 50 fewer runs, absolutely we’d have had a crack.”There were a couple of those moments where we thought ‘come on, we can do this’. Leesy and Lythy are always very much if push comes to shove, they want to take the attacking option. But both their feedback was the same. They felt that the pitch was deteriorating.”Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lancashire’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, took a slightly different view. “We were a little bit nervous on the balcony,” he admitted. “When they got to that position with none down we perhaps thought they might have gone on a little bit longer. But that’s their decision and nothing to do with us. We are happy to come out if it with a strong draw against a very good team.”And perhaps no one wearing the red rose was happier in his humble, self-effacing fashion on Tuesday evening than Hameed, who, when he reached a century off the ball immediately before Lancashire’s declaration, became the youngest batsman in the history English first-class cricket to score two centuries in a match.There is going to be ballyhoo and there is going to be hype. That was almost certain well before half-past twelve when Hameed pushed Adil Rashid to cover point for the single which made him the first Lancashire batsman to score two centuries in a Roses match and only the third batsman from either side to do so. Percy Holmes, in 1920, and Ted Lester, in 1948, were the others. Once Hameed had joined them, however, a tide of remarkable statistics continued to flow in, proclaiming the emergence of one of the most talented opening batsmen the English game has seen, at least since the emergence of Alastair Cook.When he reached 70 in this innings, Hameed became the youngest Lancashire player to make a thousand runs in a Championship season. He is also the first teenage opener from any county to make four centuries in a Championship season. And he hasn’t stopped breaking records yet. In fact, he has only just begun.So the glare of national publicity will soon be turned on the head of this 19-year-old Boltonian who wants nothing more from life than to be allowed to pursue his vocation as a professional cricketer. Fortunately, one senses that despite his inexperience, Hameed is well able to cope with all the attention that will come his way. Amid all the questions and doubts that surrounded this day’s cricket, that much is certain. It is a comforting thought on a strange evening.

PCB buys bulletproof buses to improve security

The PCB has bought four bulletproof buses as part of its effort to provide the “best possible arrangements” in terms of security for players visiting the country. The board hopes the additional measure, first proposed during the chairmanship of Zaka Ashraf in 2012 and sanctioned last year, will help in convincing overseas players and teams to tour Pakistan.Barring Zimbabwe’s limited-overs tour in May 2015, Pakistan have not hosted an international game since the attacks on the touring Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009. In that incident, gunmen shot at the team bus near Gaddafi Stadium, injuring five cricketers and killing six security personnel and two civilians.The PCB has since struggled to convince teams to tour the country and Pakistan have had to play their “home” matches at neutral venues, mostly in the UAE, which has been their base for the past several years.”We have bought these four Coaster buses as part of our efforts to revive international cricket in the country,” a PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “There will be high expectations from teams willing to visit Pakistan and we want to ensure that we provide them with the best possible arrangements. Having these bulletproof vehicles would play a major part in convincing teams [about security arrangements].”The PCB relies heavily on the government for security arrangements for visiting teams and the bulletproof buses will be an additional safety measure for teams travelling within the city. The buses were initially sanctioned at a PCB governing board meeting in 2012, but with the change of leadership the purchase was delayed. The matter was taken up again by PCB executive committee head Najam Sethi last year.”We are actually planning to host the PSL final in Lahore, but this requires us to convince overseas players to come,” the PCB spokesman said. “We have to have discussions with the players about their safety and security and I think this new addition in our security facilities will definitely give us an edge. Our ultimate goal is to revive international cricket, and we are doing our best to make sure we can.”The PCB has suffered financially from having to arrange matches in the UAE and from missing out on bilateral series against India. This prompted PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan to suggest that the Pakistan board should receive a “higher percentage of the income” from matches against India at ICC events.