Somerset limped to their seventh Clydesdale Bank 40 win in seven games by beating the Unicorns by three wickets at Exmouth

08-Aug-2010

ScorecardSomerset limped to their seventh Clydesdale Bank 40 win in seven games by beating the Unicorns by three wickets at Exmouth.Marcus Trescothick’s side shook off the loss of their skipper to a second ball duck to chase down their target of 167 with two overs to spare. A second-wicket stand of 67 in 14 overs between Nick Compton (64) and Craig Kieswetter (30) broke the back of the semi-professional team’s resistance. The result was rarely in doubt after the Unicorns made just 166 for 9.Trescothick was bowled by an inswinger from Neil Saker for a duck, but the ex-Surrey seamer’s opening partner Jonathan Miles then received some punishment from Kieswetter and Compton as they took advantage of the powerplay.Kieswetter eventually pulled medium-pacer Glenn Querl to deep backward square-leg and Devon star Neil Hancock forced Zander de Bruyn to play on in the next over. Compton reached his 50 from 66 balls with four fours and one six, a lofted cover drive off Miles. And Compton and James Hildreth took the game away from the Unicorns with a stand of 58 in 13 overs before the latter was adjudged lbw to Tom Sharp for 29.Jos Buttler has developed a reputation as a one-day finisher in his first full season at senior level and he and Compton took the powerplay in the 34th over. Buttler smashed Querl straight for six but Compton attempted the same shot and picked out long-on. Pete Trego and Ben Phillips then both popped up catches off Querl but by then the game was already over as a contest.De Bruyn had been the pick of Somerset’s bowlers with 3 for 27 from his eight overs. Alfonso Thomas had Jackson Thompson caught behind in the third over before Josh Knappett pulled Trego to square-leg. Chris Murtagh cut de Bruyn to Compton at point before home captain Keith Parsons edged Murali Kartik to Trescothick at first slip for 20.Sean Park flayed de Bruyn high to Trego at third man before top-scorer Michael O’Shea’s 40 came to an end when he skied leg-spinner Max Waller to deep mid-off. Waller had a second wicket in as many balls when Hancock went back and missed a cut to be bowled for 19.De Bruyn’s third wicket saw Sharp edge him behind and Kieswetter also caught Saker to give Phillips a third wicket before Querl (28 not out) helped reach respectability.

Anil Kumble has said the speed at which teams adapt to the pitches in South Africa will be crucial to their success in the Champions League Twenty20

Siddarth Ravindran04-Sep-2010Anil Kumble, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, has said the speed at which teams adapt to the pitches in South Africa will be crucial to their success in a short tournament like the Champions League Twenty20. He also said it was too late to bring in Kevin Pietersen, who has no international commitments during the Champions League after being dropped from England’s limited-overs squads.The tournament will be played from September 10 to September 26 in South Africa. In most countries except England, the cricketing season usually kicks off in September or October, which means many sides will be rusty.”It is the first tournament for a lot of teams,” Kumble said after an interaction with more than 50 Bangalore fans on the eve of the team’s departure from India. “In South Africa, it is the beginning of the season and it is the first game of the season for some of the players in RCB as well. The biggest challenge is how quickly you acclimatise to the conditions and the need to start well in the tournament.”Bangalore reached the finals of the IPL in 2009, when it was held in South Africa, and the team’s coach and several players come from that country, giving them an advantage over other overseas teams. “We can take some confidence going to South Africa having done well there in IPL 2. Our coach Ray Jennings also understands the South African conditions well. With Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn around, those conditions should suit our bowling as well.”The team’s batting is bolstered by heavy-hitters such as Ross Taylor and Cameron White, but they will miss the services of World Twenty20 Man of the Series Pietersen, who was their big-ticket signing last year. “It’s a bit too late,” Kumble said. “We had to announce our squad about a month ago, which we did.”Most IPL players signed three year contracts in 2008 that come to an end after the Champions League. It has been nearly two years since Kumble, who will turn 40 in October, announced his international retirement and he was unwilling to commit on how much longer he would continue to play the IPL.”Once you retire, you have to take it one step at a time,” he said. “So you don’t plan and say that I am going to play for the next three years. Hopefully I will be in good shape for the six games this month and we come back victorious. That will be a great motivation to get into the next year. To think of the next year is very premature.”A week ahead of the Champions League, the cricketing headlines are dominated by the spot-fixing controversy in London. Kumble was confident the right steps would be taken to avoid such episodes during the tournament in South Africa. “Every tournament, every international match that happens is under a perceived threat,” he said. “I don’t think we need to be worried about these things but we can’t close our eyes. ACSU is there to deal with it.”

Graeme Smith’s rapid half-century helped South Africa make light work of the 169 they had been set by a promising batting performance from Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta08-Oct-2010South Africa 169 for 3 (Smith 52, Miller 36*) beat Zimbabwe 168 for 4 (Masakadza 72, Chibhabha 52, Parnell 2-29)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGraeme Smith may not have been captain of the side but his powerful fifty led South Africa to victory•Getty Images

Graeme Smith’s rapid half-century helped South Africa make light work of the 169 they had been set by a promising batting performance from Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein.Smith butchered 58 from 29 balls and received able support from Loots Bosman, JP Duminy and David Miller as South Africa rushed to an easy victory. He stepped down as South Africa’s Twenty20 captain to give himself a breather in the hectic international schedule but he came to the fore to spare his successor, Johan Botha, any embarrassment after a shoddy fielding display from South Africa gave Zimbabwe hope at the half-way stage.While Zimbabwe’s batsmen, led by fifties from Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha, may have shown the optimism surrounding the side is not entirely misplaced, the bowlers – shorn of the services of fiery left-arm spinner Ray Price – were not up to international standard.Though Bosman was under some pressure after making 8, 0, 7, and 0 in his last four innings he responded by smiting 33 in 16 deliveries to leave Zimbabwe’s new-ball bowlers reeling. Any time he found the ball in his half he cleanly dispatched it, with a pair of sixes off Ed Rainsford ending up in the stands over cover.Smith, meanwhile, had been almost anonymous in the field, but was back into the thick of the action with the bat. He punished the gentle new-ball offerings with his customary clubbing into the leg side and greeted the part-time medium pace of Masakadza with utter disdain on his way to a 26-ball fifty.By the time he was out, missing a sweep off Graeme Cremer to be trapped on the back pad, South Africa were coasting at 95 for 2 off 7.3 overs but they were given a slight scare as debutant Colin Ingram fell soon after.David Miller and JP Duminy ensured no slip ups though, as they followed in Smith’s aggressive vein. The 21-year-old Miller impressed on his Twenty20 debut against West Indies earlier this year and he again showcased his ability to see his side home. One over from Cremer was taken for 18 as he used his quick feet and power to punish the legspinner. Duminy finished the job in style, smashing a four and a six off the hapless Prosper Utseya as South Africa cantered to victory with 25 balls to spare.The rout masked a lethargic fielding effort from South Africa. Catches were put down and the ground fielding was clumsy as they responded poorly to the pressure placed on them from Zimbabwe’s lively line-up.
Coming into the game all the talk was of the return of 39-year-old Grant Flower after a six-year hiatus but it was Zimbabwe’s young batsmen who impressed as Flower was left marooned at home, unable to leave the country due to a problem with his visa.Flower, who is also the team’s batting coach, would have been impressed with what he saw as Chibhabha broke the record for the quickest Twenty20 international fifty by a Zimbabwean, reaching the landmark off 29 balls, while Masakadza anchored the innings before finishing with a flourish to end on 72 off 63 balls.After a slow start in which South Africa’s new-ball bowlers impressed, Zimbabwe used the injury to Morne Morkel, who limped off the field after twisting his ankle, to their advantage and added 102 in the final ten overs. Though it looked like carrying the tourists to a good total, Smith’s onslaught ensured it wasn’t nearly enough.

The faction-ridden Kochi franchise has asked the BCCI for more time to sort out its ownership disputes in a letter to the board president.

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Oct-2010In a last-ditch attempt to save itself, the Kochi franchise has reportedly asked the BCCI for a ten-day extension to resolve the dispute over its ownership pattern. The request was filed by two sets of solicitors representing the rival factions of the Kochi franchise a few hours before the BCCI deadline, within which time the owners were expected to form a joint venture company, lapsed.The members of the Kochi franchise were issued a show cause notice by the BCCI on October 12 ordered them to form a joint venture company to settle their internal ownership differences. The two factions, one headed by the promoters of the franchise Rendezvous Sports and the other by Mehul Shah of Anchor Group, had responded to this notice by sending identical requests this evening.”We have requested a ten-day extension because we are at an advanced stage of resolving the issue,” a Kochi franchise official told ESPNcricinfo.The groups within the five-partner consortium had failed to come to an agreement after a series of meetings held late on Tuesday night, but after talking to their solicitors decided to ask for more time rather than walk away from the discussions. The official explained that the groups would require more time, “to resolve all pending disputes in order to tie up amicably to form a fruitful joint venture into a regular company”.Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said the Kochi franchise had, “held a few meetings in the last two or three days and submitted a letter, which has been sent to the president.” The BCCI’s legal team was looking into the letter, Shetty said, but added that no meeting of the IPL’s governing council had yet been scheduled. “The president will study it, our legal team will study it before taking a decision.”By asking for more time, Kochi have prevented the rest of the IPL franchises from getting any clarity on all the major issues around the fourth IPL season, which until now has been dogged by drama and controversy. At the moment, it is not yet known how many teams will be involved, what format it would follow or how many matches would be played.In responding to the query about the doubts around IPL four, a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that despite all the uncertainty, the number of teams in IPL 4 was not in doubt. “All our contracts around the IPL tell us that the minimum teams will be eight, so I don’t think that’s a problem, we just have to get this sorted out and see what happens when the president responds to the letter from Kochi.”An IPL franchise official said that it was unlikely that the BCCI would field fewer teams in IPL4 than in its first three seasons, “Look at the Board’s attitude to Lalit Modi, there is no way they want the first IPL without Modi’s involvement to be smaller than the old IPL which Lalit controlled.”The Kochi franchise has been controversial from its very inception in March. Rendezvous Sports World, a consortium of five companies, became the tenth IPL franchise after a successful bid of US$333.33m, but almost immediately ran into trouble over the composition of its ownership, after the discovery of a few “secret partners” in the consortium. A new agreement was then signed by both the parties but fresh controversy broke when Lalit Modi, the then IPL chairman, made the ownership details public on his Twitter feed.Six months after the auction Kochi has still failed to resolve its various internal disputes, which revolve around the distribution of shares in the consortium. The investors are unhappy with the promoters, who do not want to give up the rights to lead the franchise. Despite several lengthy meetings over the past few days, the two factions remain at loggerheads.

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead

The Bulletin by Andrew Fernando25-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Bravo’s classy 80 ended in the day’s penultimate over•AFP

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead. Darren Bravo was assured as he notched up his second half-century in as many innings in Tests, even as his more illustrious team-mates struggled to come to terms with the skill and variation of the Sri Lankan attack. The visitors looked good to end the day just three down as the gloom set in over Premadasa Stadium, but a double-strike from Tillakaratne Dilshan minutes before stumps meant Sri Lanka were still well in the hunt for a win and the visitors were left to ponder how they might save the Test.Darren Bravo was difficult to tie down in his 129-ball stay, happy to settle into a steady rhythm of singles for the majority of the afternoon, but taking the attack to the spinners and forcing Kumar Sangakkara to adjust the field when it became too tight for his liking. He hit four sixes and they may as well have all been carbon copies of each other. Thrice he waltzed down to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, getting to the pitch of the ball to launch him over long-on and long-off, while Mendis, too, was treated to a lofted wallop that sailed over the ropes in the same area.Darren Bravo fell in the penultimate over of the day to a stunning catch. Having watched Brendan Nash perish two balls prior, Darren Bravo tried to hit out against Dilshan, but his attempted slog over midwicket – perhaps the first rash stroke he played all day – took the leading edge and looped in the air on the off side. Herath, who was fielding at backward point, ran towards cover and flung himself horizontally, arms outstretched, and the ball landed in his palms mid-flight and his ecstatic teammates converged to congratulate him.Sri Lanka looked to step up the scoring in the morning, as they attempted to force a win in the rain-hit match, declaring at 387 for 9, after the tail had chipped in with some valuable runs. Kumar Sangakkara departed early on, having hit a couple of imperious boundaries off Kemar Roach, and Prasanna Jayawardene’s 34 guided Sri Lanka steadily towards a formidable first-innings total.Herath batted well in the company of the other lower-order batsmen, and exploited some negative field placements to make some quick runs, tempering occasional aggression with a series of canny ones and twos. He remained unbeaten on 24 when the declaration came and the hosts had left themselves just enough time before lunch to knock over Adrian Barath.Chris Gayle began the afternoon session with some typically brutal strikes off the wayward Suranga Lakmal and his 30-ball stay was littered with glimpses of the kind of arrogance with which he flayed the Sri Lankan attack during his triple-ton in Galle. Gayle drilled boundaries through cover and point, but was not always his domineering self, as he survived a couple of close lbw shouts off Lakmal, who bowled the odd good delivery amid the rubbish. Gayle was out hooking for 31, top-edging a steepling bouncer to Angelo Mathews, who shuffled around at the square-leg boundary to snaffle the chance, giving Lakmal his first wicket in Tests.Shivnarine Chanderpaul didn’t last too long, falling to a Mendis legbreak and Nash never looked comfortable at the crease during his strained 29. The spinners tormented him outside the off stump while Lakmal, too, caused some nervous moments with the short ball. He was given a reprieve on 15 when a well-directed bouncer from Lakmal induced a top- edge, but Prasanna Jayawardene’s valiant effort – running full tilt towards backward-square for about thirty metres – was not enough to end his stay, the ball brushing past the wicketkeeper’s gloves as he put in a full-length dive. He was eventually adjudged lbw by Asad Rauf, giving Dilshan the first of his two quick wickets. Bad light intervened soon after Darren Bravo had departed and caused yet another premature end to play, with two days remaining in the Test.

England’s coach Andy Flower believes that the deathly slow surface that England encountered in their drawn three-day warm-up match against Victoria this week was the perfect reality check after the highs of the Adelaide Test, and has backed his pace bowle

Andrew Miller in Perth13-Dec-2010England’s coach Andy Flower believes that the deathly slow surface that England encountered in their drawn three-day warm-up match against Victoria this week was the perfect reality check after the highs of the Adelaide Test, and has backed his pace bowlers to take command of the livelier conditions that are anticipated at the WACA this week.England’s trip to Melbourne was billed as a three-way shoot-out between Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad, all of whom were in with a shout of replacing Stuart Broad in the Test attack following his stomach injury. However, on a tacky and docile pitch that offered little to any types of bowling, the trio returned combined figures of 1 for 216 in 78 overs to leave the selection debate somewhat cloudy.Flower, however, insisted that the identity of Broad’s replacement was still clear in his mind, although he would – as ever – wait until the morning of the match to unveil his final XI. “We’ve just had a three-day game on a pitch nothing like the Perth pitch,” he said. “It was quite hard work for fast bowlers and spinners alike, but quite a good exercise in getting back to reality for our team. After the highs of Adelaide, it was a really good workout, and now we’ve got to come and prepare for different conditions in Perth.””It was a good thing for us,” he added. “The hard work they had to put in, the number of overs they had to put in against a good Victorian side, was the perfect workout prior to this game. They have three days between the end of that match and this Test match, and it was ideal for the team as a whole. Adelaide was an important moment in the series and it was very important for us to keep our feet firmly on the floor thereafter, and the Victoria game helped us do that.”While Flower believed that the MCG wicket would be an entirely different beast come the Boxing Day Test match, he was pretty confident that this week’s WACA surface would offer significantly more life, if not quite the devastating pace and carry with which it forged its reputation from the 1970s onwards.”We don’t want to pre-judge what it will be like,” said Flower. “It hasn’t got the pace of yesteryear, but we do know this season it’s got a little quicker than past few years, which is great. We talked about it here [with the curator] during the three-day game, and he was a little disappointed with that pitch – not quite as quick as he thought it might be – and he indicated he wanted it as quick and bouncy as possible for the Test match, which I think is really exciting for everyone. It gives everyone a good chance and certainly makes for exciting cricket and that’s why we’re here. We’re here to compete and it should be an interesting spectacle for everyone.If the onus is on Australia to prepare sporting pitches in order to force the two wins in three matches that they need to regain the Ashes, then the likelihood of result-orientated surfaces could also play into the hands of the English, who would back themselves to claim 20 more wickets in conditions that play to the strengths of their spin and seam attack.”It gives everyone a chance, but in Test cricket generally those are the types of wickets we want to play on,” said Flower. “We want something that makes it interesting to watch and also interesting to play in. Some of the bland pitches that we see these huge scores and deadly boring draws on are not good for Test cricket, so we do want pitches where it’s a fair contest between bat and ball and good action for the spectators to watch.”In the short term, the focus of many of England’s players will be on the wives and children who have flown into Perth for the start of the festive season, having been forced to stay at home during the initial agenda-setting month of the trip. Some players, notably Kevin Pietersen, were less enamoured with the decision than others, but Flower maintained that the right work-play balance had been struck for the squad.”It’s quite a tricky decision to make,” he said. “Players and families are adults, and they want to be free to make their own decisions about which country they travel to or the timings of those trips. For other people, the management, to make those decisions for them is a little galling, but those are tricky decisions to make. Someone has to make them and we try to get it as right and as fair as possible.”We planned this a long time ago and the players were fully informed so we had full discussions and communication about it,” he added. “You can’t get everyone agreeing to whatever dates you put in, but the players in the end did react very well to it. We’re here to win the Test series, we aren’t here for a family holiday, and I think everyone’s handled it just fine so far.”James Anderson, who flew home after the Adelaide Test to attend the birth of his daughter, has arrived back with the squad after spending 48 hours of the past week on a plane, which Flower reiterated wasn’t an ideal situation for such a key player. But, he added: “In competition, you can’t always get perfect preparation. There are all sorts of things that can go wrong. Illness, injury, sometimes travel disruptions, family issues. This is just one of those things you’ve got to deal with, a little bit of reality that he has to deal with. He’ll have the same amount of practice as the rest of the guys.”

A round-up of matches from the third match-day of the One Day National Cup Division Two 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2011Group A
Lahore Lions handed Hyderabad Hawks a hammering at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi, winning by 222 runs. It was complete dominance by Lahore Lions as they scored 304 and then rolled over Hyderabad for 82. Their batting effort was led by opener Abid Ali and former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has been excluded from the national squad for the 2011 World Cup. Ali made 86 and Yousuf 81 off 76 as Lahore Lions reached 228 for 1. Even though they lost wickets towards the end of the innings, a quick, unbeaten 31 by Mohammad Saad took them past the 300-run mark. Hyderabad’s chase was doomed for the start as seamer Asif Ashfaq took three early wickets and they collapsed to 18 for 4. Legspinner Tanzeel Altaf ran through the rest of Hyderabad’s line-up, finishing with 4 for 21 as Hyderabad’s innings lasted only 25.3 overs.It was another one-sided game at the National Stadium in Karachi, as Karachi Zebras beat Quetta Bears by 198 runs. Karachi reached 344, with Khalid Latif scoring 127 off 108 balls and Akbar-ur-Rehman getting 77 off 48. Quetta lost their last seven wickets for 37 and were bowled out for 146 in 33.2 overs. Akbar-ur-Rehman followed up his half-century with four wickets with his seamer and spinner Atif Maqbool took 3 for 18.Group B
Lahore Eagles eased to their second win of the tournament, beating Pakistan Television by seven wickets at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Legspinning allrounder Saad Nasim starred with a five-for, undermining half-centuries from wicketkeeper Fayyaz Ahmed and Yasim Murtaza, who had put together 70 runs for the seventh wicket and rescued their team from 96 for 6. Pakistan Television could only manage 201, which was easily overhauled. Useful contributions from opener Hamza Paracha and Kashif Nizami backed up an unbeaten 74 from Usman Salahuddin. He added an unbeaten 77 with captain Intikhab Alam to seal victory with 31 balls to spare.Peshawar Panthers opened their account in the competition with a 20-run win in a low-scoring encounter against Abbottabad Falcons at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. The hosts were put in and skittled out for 146, with only opener Haroon Ahmed offering any significant resistance. He played out 86 deliveries for his 57, and while Mahfooz Sabri made a quick 20. For Abbottabad, seamers Junaid Khan and Aziz-ur-Rehman shared seven wickets, but in vain. Barring opener Fawad Khan’s 56, and Junaid’s 29 way down the order, the rest of the Abbottabad batting crumbled as Riaz Afridi led Peshawar’s charge with four wickets. The bowlers ran through the line-up to shut the visitors out for 126.

Left-arm pace bowler Junaid Khan has said he is not overawed at the prospect of making his international debut on the World Cup stage

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2011Left-arm pace bowler Junaid Khan, who replaced the injured fast bowler Sohail Tanvir in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, has said he is not overawed at the prospect of making his international debut on such a big stage.”I’ll treat it as just another game of cricket,” Junaid told . “I’ve represented my country at junior levels and Pakistan A, so I know what the responsibility of playing for your country is like. I don’t think I’ll have any nerves and I’m confident I can handle the situation.”Junaid was selected on the basis of his consistent showing on Pakistan’s domestic circuit. In 35 first-class games, he has picked up 167 wickets at an average of just above 21. He was also the second-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan A in the unofficial ODI series during their recent tour of West Indies where he picked up five wickets in three games.”I’ve been working so hard over the last couple of seasons and I feel that I have consistently improved as a bowler, “Junaid said. “I’ve also been working hard on my batting and I feel that my call-up for the World Cup is warranted as I have done consistently well at all levels for Pakistan.”There have been several high-voltage clashes between India and Pakistan in previous World Cups and Junaid said he was looking forward to another such encounter. “Just getting a chance to play in the World Cup is a dream come true for me,” he told . “But if we get to play against India in the World Cup, it would be a blast to bowl at [Sachin] Tendulkar and get him out. It is an ambition for me.”

The president of Cricket Canada has asked the ICC to step in and resolve the delay in granting Indian visas to three players in their World Cup squad

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2011The president of Cricket Canada, Ranjit Saini, has asked the ICC to step in and resolve the delay in granting India visas to three players of Pakistani origin in their World Cup squad. The team left for Dubai for a 10-day training camp ahead of the tournament, but vice-captain Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan and Hamza Tariq have still not received permission to travel to India.”We seek your kind help and attention to this matter in assisting our players to obtain their visa in Dubai, Dhaka or Colombo,” Saini wrote in a letter to ICC president Sharad Pawar. “We also do hope that the ICC has contingency plans to ensure that the matches are played elsewhere if the visa will not be processed on time or rejected all together.”Canada made a pre-World Cup preparatory visit to India in November and the visas were applied for before that. While the rest of the team had no trouble, the three Pakistan-born players were ruled out of the trip, forcing the team to go ahead without them. “We couldn’t take these players to India and as a result our training plans have suffered,” Saini told the Pakistan’s earlier this month. “[It’s] a source of distraction and is hurting team morale in general.”Canada will play practice matches against Ireland and Afghanistan in Dubai before heading to Bangladesh for their two official warm-up games against Bangladesh and England. They will face Sri Lanka in their opening game of the tournament on February 20 and their first game in India is scheduled for February 28 against Zimbabwe. While the ICC already assured Canada that the visa’s will be granted, the association said in a statement on its website that the current situation left it in an awkward position.

Imran Tahir, South Africa’s Pakistan-born legspinner, has been advised ten days’ rest to deal with a fractured left thumb

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2011Imran Tahir, South Africa’s Pakistan-born legspinner, will require ten days of rest after sustaining a chip fracture on his left thumb. He remains available for South Africa’s match against India on Saturday and could start his recovery after that.”The selection committee will decide whether that 10-day period will start before or after the game,” Mohammed Moosajee, the team manger said. “He will still be a part of the World Cup going forward.” Moosajee could not confirm when a final call will be taken on Tahir, saying that it may be “on the morning of the game.”Tahir sustained the injury during last Sunday’s six-run defeat to England, when he took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Stuart Broad. His thumb has been immobilised, is in a splint, and he was X-rayed on Wednesday in Nagpur. The scans were sent back to South Africa, to hand specialist Dr Mike Solomons, who recommended the 10-day rest period.The fracture is not on Tahir’s bowling hand and he was able to bowl in the nets on Thursday, an indication that he may be considered for the match against India. Tahir was part of South Africa’s squad that defeated India 3-2 in January, but did not play a game because he was being preserved as a secret weapon for the World Cup. He has since impressed, with 11 wickets in three matches, and is the leading wicket-taker in the team.
In the ten-day period after the India game, South Africa play Ireland and Bangladesh – a possible opportunity to rest Tahir – before the knockout stage. Johan Botha is in line to replace Tahir when his rest period begins.Tahir is not South Africa’s only injury concern. AB de Villiers has been unable to keep wicket in the last two matches because of a stiff back but was seen practicing specific drills to test his flexibility on Thursday.