All posts by h716a5.icu

Aizaz Cheema has been declared unfit by doctors, and will be replaced in Pakistan’s squad for the West Indies tour by Sadaf Hussain, a left-arm fast bowler from Rawalpindi

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2011Aizaz Cheema, the 31-year-old seamer who was picked for the limited-overs’ leg of Pakistan’s tour of West Indies, has been declared unfit by doctors. Aizaz will be replaced by Sadaf Hussain, a left-arm fast bowler from Rawalpindi.Hussain, 21, was one of the reserve players named by the selectors when they announced the team yesterday. He had a prolific Quaid-e-Azam season, capturing 64 wickets, with a career-best haul of 6 for 40. He has taken 90 wickets in 18 first-class games, including nine five-wicket hauls, and two ten-wicket match-hauls.The tour kicks off with a warm-up game from April 18, while the only Twenty20 will be played on April 21 in St Lucia. The five-match ODI series will begin on April 23, and the Test leg of the tour will commence on May 12. The squad for the Tests hasn’t yet been named.

Warwickshire overcame a major batting failure before beating Scotland by six runs to register their second Clydesdale Bank 40 victory in two days at Edgbaston

02-May-2011
ScorecardWarwickshire overcame a major batting failure before beating Scotland by sixruns to register their second Clydesdale Bank 40 victory in two days atEdgbaston.Scotland seamers Matthew Parker and Gordon Goudie shared nine wickets as theBears lurched to 118 for 6 following a century opening stand and thenrecovered to make 224 after Keith Barker’s first half-century in one-daycricket.Parker, who went with Sussex on a winter trip to South Africa, finished with5 for 47, the best performance for Scotland against county opposition sinceAustralian overseas player Ian Moran took 5 for 28 against Northamptonshirein 2006.Josh Davey’s 91 from 98 balls – the highest of his two fifties in successivedays – gave Scotland hopes of reaching their target but Darren Maddy claimed twotop order wickets in his first nine balls and the required rate escalated out ofrange.Needing 92 from the last 10 overs, they could only reach 218 for 9 despitePreston Mommsen’s 42 from 44 balls in a stand of 104 with Davey, who was caughtat deep mid-wicket after hitting six fours. Three players were run out in a desperate bid to keep up the chase but the day will be remembered for all the hardship heaped on Warwickshire’s batsmen.There was not a hint of trouble ahead as Varun Chopra’s bandwagon rolled onduring the three-figure start with William Porterfield. Even Parker and Goudiewere muted as they conceded 42 runs in seven overs with the new ball.The former Essex opener went past 700 runs for the season as he made 31 in hisninth innings in all competitions. No one would have imagined what chaos would set in from the moment he got himself out, hoisting the second ball of Parker’s second spell straight to Josh Davey on the deep square-leg boundary.Porterfield, well known to the Scots after scoring two centuries against themwhen playing for Ireland, was looking set for another until he fell for 64,scooping up a return chance to Parker in the following over.The medium pacer, who now plays his league cricket for Forfarshire, continuedto wreak havoc. Suddenly he had four wickets in 16 balls when Mohammad Yousufshovelled another catch to Davey and Jim Troughton was taken at point.Goudie took over from Parker and made it six wickets in the space of four oversfrom the new Pavilion End by bowling Maddy and Rikki Clarke. Offspinner Mommsen accounted for Tim Ambrose, but luckily for Warwickshire they still had two all-rounders who were able to put on 66 for the eighth wicket.Barker hit five fours in making 56 and Chris Woakes chipped in with 31 beforeScotland’s two destroyers had the last word. Barker was caught at cover from Parker’s last ball and Goudie (4 for 36) bowled Woakes and Maurice Holmes in his final over.

Canada will take on defending champions Afghanistan in the opening game for both teams in the 2011-13 ICC Intercontinental Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2011Itinerary for Afghanistan’s tour of Canada

August 2-5: Intercontinental Cup match

August 8: 1st ODI

August 9: 2nd ODI

August 11: 1st T20

August 12: 2nd T20

Canada will take on defending champions Afghanistan in the opening game for both teams in the 2011-13 ICC Intercontinental Cup. The game will be played in Canada from August 2-5. The teams will also play two ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals.Though first-time participants, Afghanistan were surprise winners of the 2009-10 edition of the tournament, beating Scotland in the final after topping the points table. Their finest hour during the league stages came when they chased down 474 against Canada for the loss of just four wickets. That match was emblematic of Canada’s season as they struggled to convert early advantages into wins and finished last in the table.Cricket Canada is still in the process of determining the venues for the games against Afghanistan and will announce them shortly. Overall, Afghanistan have won three out of five games against Canada, with a two-to-one record in ODIs.The Intercontinental Cup is part of the ICC’s cricket development programme and was designed to give Associate Members the opportunity to play first-class cricket against teams of similar abilities and to prepare them for eventual promotion to Test status. The winners of the four-day tournament will receive US$ 100,000 with US$ 40,000 for second place from a total prize fund of US$ 254,000. Unsurprisingly, Ireland are the tournament’s most successful side, having won three straight titles from 2005 to 2007-08.

At the end of an eventful day at Chelmsford, Essex had secured a slender first-innings lead, and taken one Sri Lankan wicket without the advantage being erased

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2011
Scorecard
The Sri Lankans collapsed first, and then Essex wobbled. Ryan ten Doeschate rallied with a century, Tom Westley missed his by one run, and Suraj Randiv took a hat-trick. At the end of an eventful day at Chelmsford, the home side had secured a slender first-innings lead, and taken one Sri Lankan wicket without the advantage being erased.When the second day began, Sri Lanka had the comfort of 324 runs with six wickets in hand, and Kumar Sangakkara was batting on a century. It all went wrong rather quickly, though, as fast bowler Reece Topley struck repeatedly.Having gone wicketless on the opening day, Topley made amends by picking up the first three to fall on day two. He dismissed Prasanna Jayawardene, Suraj Randiv and Sangakkara to reduce Sri Lanka to 336 for 7. Maurice Chambers accounted for Thisara Perera, and when Topley bowled Ajantha Mendis to pick up his fourth wicket, the Sri Lankans declared on 337 for 9.The visitors then reduced Essex to 24 for 3 in quick time, Farveez Maharoof and Perera doing the damage. Westley and ten Doeschate were entrusted with the repair job and they produced a 195-run partnership at brisk pace. Westley was on 99 when he edged Dilhara Fernando to the wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal. There was no such mishap for ten Doeschate. He reached his century and built on it substantially, leading Essex towards a first-innings lead. He had scored 164 off 174 balls, with 24 fours and a six, when Randiv bowled him.And then it was the turn of Essex’s lower order to fold. Chambers, Topley and Tom Craddock were Randiv’s hat-trick victims as the innings crumbled to 328 for 9. Tim Phillips’ unbeaten 37 helped secure a 14-run lead before Ajantha Mendis ended the innings on 351.Topley wasn’t done though. He capped a good day by taking his fifth wicket of the match, getting first-innings centurion Lahiru Thirimanne to edge behind. Sri Lanka ended on 7 for 1 at stumps, trailing by seven runs.

The chalk-and-cheese nature of England and Sri Lanka’s cricketers once again came to the fore in the opening exchanges of the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge

The Bulletin by Andrew Miller06-Jul-2011 England 171 for 0 (Cook 95*, Kieswetter 72*) beat Sri Lanka 174 (Sangakkara 75, Anderson 3-24) by ten wickets – D/L
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook answered his critics in fine style•PA PhotosAlastair Cook made a mockery of his dour one-day reputation by galloping along to an extraordinary 75-ball 95, as England crushed Sri Lanka by ten wickets in the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge. The final margin was exactly the same as Sri Lanka themselves had inflicted on England in the World Cup quarter-final in Colombo back in March, and though this display hardly atoned for that drubbing on the game’s biggest stage, it was nevertheless a hugely significant performance. The series is now squared at 2-2 with one to play, but more importantly, Cook has stated his credentials as a one-day cricketer in the plainest terms imaginable.Admittedly, he will face tougher days at the crease, for Sri Lanka’s bowlers performed dreadfully in defence of a substandard total of 174, serving up a diet of half-volleys, long-hops and leg-stump deliveries that fed every one of Cook’s renowned strengths. But, as Mahela Jayawardene had demonstrated in his matchwinning displays at Headingley and Lord’s last week, the secret to one-day opening is finding the gaps in the field. Cook struck 64 of his runs from 16 perfectly timed and placed fours, and he was only denied a century when Craig Kieswetter, at the behest of his captain, cleared the ropes twice in his last ten deliveries, as England hustled to victory in 23.5 overs.This was England’s first ten-wicket victory since South Africa played at the same ground in 2008, but the target on that occasion had been a meagre 83. Cook and Kieswetter’s eventual stand of 171 (after a brief shower had shaved two overs off the chase) was England’s highest for any wicket against Sri Lanka, and apart from anything else, it served to demonstrate just how inadequate their opponents’ own batting had been earlier in the day.After two matches played out in glorious sunshine at Headingley and Lord’s, today’s overcast conditions were a throwback to Sri Lanka’s thumping defeat in the first match at The Oval. And once again, England’s bowlers thrived in the swinging conditions. James Anderson reprised his new-ball performance in that Oval game to take 3 for 24 in eight overs, as Sri Lanka collapsed to 20 for 4 inside the first nine overs. Kumar Sangakkara prevented a complete meltdown with a gutsy 75, but only Angelo Mathews, who made 39 in a sixth-wicket stand of 72, could provide any lasting support.Though it was overshadowed in the final analysis, Sangakkara’s innings was as significant as Cook’s in terms of timing. Following on from his majestic speech to the MCC at Lord’s on Monday, he showed that his attack on the “cronies” who are ruining the game in his country had not distracted him from his principal role of run-scoring. After bearing the brunt of England’s new-ball attack to reach an 80-ball half-century, he was last man out in the 44th over, caught off a leading edge to give Jade Dernbach his best ODI figures of 3 for 38.Smart stats

England’s ten-wicket win is only their fourth such win in ODIs. Their previous ten-wicket win also came in Nottingham against South Africa in 2008. It is also the second ten-wicket loss for Sri Lanka in ODIs after the loss to India in the Asia Cup in 1984.

The 171-run stand between Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter is the sixth-highest opening stand for England in ODIs. The highest is 200 between Vikram Solanki and Marcus Trescothick in 2003.

The 171-run opening stand is also England’s highest for any wicket in ODIs against Sri Lanka surpassing the 154-run partnership between Graeme Hick and Neil Fairbrother in Adelaide in 1999.

The 145 balls remaining at the end of England’s chase is fourth on the list of the most deliveries remaining after a successful chase by England in ODIs (only scores over 150).

Cook’s strike rate in his unbeaten 95 is the sixth-highest strike rate in a fifty-plus score by an English batsman against Sri Lanka.

The 72-run stand between Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews is the fifth-highest for the sixth wicket for Sri Lanka in ODIs against England.

The key bowler, however, was Anderson, who set the tone by extracting Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck in the first over of the day. A full-length delivery swung just a fraction to graze the edge of the bat, and was easily pouched by Kieswetter behind the stumps. Three overs later, Tim Bresnan provided a variation on the same theme to dislodge Sri Lanka’s form batsman, Jayawardene, for 9 – the ball nibbled off the seam and took the splice of a poorly-judged push outside off.Within five deliveries, Anderson had struck again, as Dinesh Chandimal was pinned lbw for a duck by a full-length inducker, as if to suggest that Cook’s invocation of the cricketing gods after Chandimal’s Lord’s century had paid dividends. And Anderson soon made it three in five overs, as Thilina Kandamby continued his poor series with a limp fence to second slip.Stuart Broad’s introduction to the attack started inauspiciously when he was edged second-ball through the vacant third slip for four, and his figures were starting to suffer at the hands of Suraj Randiv when he extracted a thin edge down the legside, to claim his first wicket of the series. He doubled his tally when Jeevan Mendis edged a lifter to the keeper, while Bresnan took the Catch of the Day award with a superb finger-tipped chance off Mathews, as he dived forward in his followthrough to scoop a leading edge.With rain in the air and an onus on fast scoring to get ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis requirement, Cook was set on his way by three fours in the space of consecutive deliveries from Nuwan Kulasekara – two on a driveable length, and one ripe for a clip off the toes. Lasith Malinga then offered a rank long-hop that Cook carved past point, before Kulasekara’s figures were further desecrated in a dreadful third over that went for 15 – seven in two balls to Cook, followed by a brace of boundaries for Kieswetter, whose method was agricultural but unquestionably effective in the circumstances.Sri Lanka’s bowling did not improve. Suranga Lakmal’s line and length was non-existent as Cook cashed in on two half-volleys and a long-hop in the space of 10 deliveries to hurtle along to a 37-ball half-century, and England’s only moment of alarm came when the clouds closed in midway through the eighth over. The 20-minute break served only to sharpen England’s focus, and by the time Kieswetter slog-swept Randiv over midwicket for six to reach a 48-ball fifty, the only relevant target was the 20-over mark that would ensure a victory in the event of rain.As with Mike Atherton’s 98 not out on this ground against South Africa in 1998, Cook declined the opportunity to put personal milestones ahead of team glory as Kieswetter took control of the innings tempo in the final overs of the game. A second hundred in as many ODIs would have been richly deserved in the circumstances, but seeing as he has scored seven in his past 17 international innings, Cook will not be mourning the one that got away.

It’s a mark of the high standards that England now set that India’s eventual total of 224 felt a few too many but the openers reached 84 without loss

The Report by Andrew McGlashan10-Aug-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTim Bresnan continued his fine form and produced a superb delivery to remove Rahul Dravid•Getty ImagesIt’s a mark of the high standards which England now set that India’s eventual total of 224 felt a few too many after the pace attack had made short work of the top order, but the openers reached 84 without loss to ensure England remained firmly in control at Edgbaston. The visitors slumped to 111 for 7 before MS Dhoni rediscovered his form with a counter-attacking 77 as Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan shared eight wickets to do the bulk of the damage.Andrew Strauss won his first toss of the series and was happy to insert – as his opposite number had twice done in the series – but though conditions were helpful the pitch was slow and the Indian batsmen mostly aided in their own demise. The only real exception was Rahul Dravid, removed by a wonderful ball from Bresnan moments before lunch, while Virender Sehwag’s return lasted one ball and Sachin Tendulkar fell for 1 as England surged either side of the interval.If it wasn’t for Dhoni this match could well have been over as a contest already, but India still have a huge task to keep the series alive after Strauss and Alastair Cook made a significant dent in the total during the final 23 overs. Strauss reached his first international fifty of the season as the pace bowlers struggled to make an impression and Amit Mishra didn’t pose many problems.England’s quicks, on the other hand, are a handful in most conditions so a well-grassed pitch and cloudy skies just added to the threat. James Anderson wasn’t quite at his best, but Bresnan continued to demonstrate his development as a Test cricketer – and it’s worth remembering his place was only confirmed when Chris Tremlett was ruled out on Tuesday – while Broad’s resurgence shows no sign of abating.Yet it wasn’t perfect from the home side. While Dhoni and Praveen Kumar were adding 84 in 14 overs there was a strange loss of direction in the field. Strauss was very quick to go on the defensive to Dhoni, at one stage with eight fielders on the boundary, and the bowlers diverted from their successful strategy. As with the Broad-Swann stand at Trent Bridge it showed the impact of a positive approach and India were served well by the captain coming out of his shell.Dhoni had taken 16 balls to get off the mark, and India were going nowhere as the main batsman had departed in a rush, but he burst into life with a string of boundaries and the strut so often associated with his batting hinted at returning. His fifty came from 62 balls and included three mighty sixes to various corners of the impressively redeveloped ground.Still, Dhoni’s innings only papered over the ever-expanding cracks in India’s batting. It would have seemed inconceivable at the start of the series that such a strong line-up (even allowing for the missing Sehwag and other injuries) would have failed to pass 300 in five innings. Sehwag’s return couldn’t have been briefer when he failed to lower his hands and gloved Broad’s first delivery to the wicketkeeper. The umpire, Steve Davis, initially said not out and Strauss was swift to call for the DRS, which clearly showed the mark on HotSpot. Sehwag was seemingly carrying the hopes of a nation on his dodgy shoulder, but the odds were always stacked against him having an impact even if he’s one player who often goes against convention.Smart stats

India were dismissed under 300 in the team first innings for the tenth time in Tests since January 2009. Seven of these occasions have come in the last nine innings.

Stuart Broad picked up four or more wickets in an innings for the eighth time in Tests and the third time in his last five innings. In 16 previous innings, he had just one four-wicket haul.

MS Dhoni’s 77 is only his second half-century in 2011. He has now scored 223 runs this year at an average of 20.27.

Virender Sehwag was dismissed off the first ball he faced. It is the fifth time that he has been dismissed off his very first delivery.

The 113 runs added for the eighth and ninth wickets is the fourth-highest aggregate partnership runs for the eighth and ninth wickets for India against England.

Since the Brisbane Test in November 2010, England have bowled out the opposition team in 17 out of 19 innings. The only two times they failed to bowl out the opposition were in rain-affected matches against Sri Lanka.

The half-century opening stand for England is only their second in Tests this year. The previous fifty-plus opening stand came in the Sydney Test in January.

Andrew Strauss’ half-century is his first in nine innings after his 60 in the Sydney Test in January 2011. In eight innings prior to this one, he scored 129 runs at an average of 16.12.

Given the form of England’s pace attack, a grassy pitch and cloudy skies, further wickets seemed there for the taking but India responded solidly. Gautam Gambhir, also returning from injury after the blow to his elbow at Lord’s, had already collected two boundaries in Anderson’s first over and moved along at a pace more akin to Sehwag’s. Dravid, who wasn’t given much of a break despite a return to No. 3, showed the judgement and skill that made him India’s stand-out batsman in the series.However, as India were sensing stability England burst through as Bresnan, who had bowled with nagging accuracy and immediately located the right length for the pitch, was rewarded when Gambhir inside-edged a drive onto leg stump. Tendulkar was greeted with the cheers that have followed him throughout the series and Anderson was recalled immediately to target someone he has removed seven times.This time, though, Anderson had to settle for a helping hand in the wicket when Broad found the outside edge and he held the catch at third slip. It was the third time in the series that Broad had removed Tendulkar, whose 100th hundred is proving elusive, and India’s problems didn’t stop as Dravid received an unplayable leg cutter that took off stump in the final over of the session. England have had to work hard to dislodge Dravid in this series and Bresnan won’t have bowled many better deliveries in his career.Suresh Raina was again unconvincing as the quicks toyed with him before he loosely drove over a delivery from round the wicket, then Laxman joined the list of poor shots when he flicked a pull straight to long leg much as he did at Lord’s. Mishra, who replaced the injured Harbhajan Singh, was batting high at No. 8 and soon edged a drive to give Broad his fourth.The innings was at its low point, and England will have expected to be batting by tea, but India responded with some gusto. Praveen more than played his part with an idiosyncratic innings which included crunching drives and haphazard defence. The partnership was ended when Praveen top edged a pull off Bresnan, but it again needed DRS to confirm the edge after Davis said not out for the second time.Given the ultra-defensive fields set by Strauss it was ironic that Dhoni’s resistance was ended when an edge flew to the one close man – Strauss, himself, at first slip. The innings was ended when Cook, at silly point, managed to cling onto a well-timed punch that lodged in his elbow. When a team is playing confident cricket those are the sorts of things that go their way. One more good day can seal the series and No. 1 spot.

Eoin Morgan will captain England for the first time in career when he faces his former countrymen, Ireland, in a one-off ODI in Dublin next week

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2011Eoin Morgan will captain England for the first time in career when he faces his former countrymen, Ireland, in a one-off ODI in Dublin next week.Morgan, who did not play in England’s sensational World Cup defeat against Ireland in Bangalore due to injury, will lead a new-look 13-man squad including several up-and-coming members of the England Lions, after the selectors decided to rest a number of its senior players ahead of the five-match ODI series against India later this month,Leicestershire’s James Taylor, Yorkshire’s Jonathan Bairstow and Durham’s Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick all recently featured in the England Lions’ ODI series win over Sri Lanka A. None of them has yet been selected in a senior international, but with Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, James Anderson and Stuart Broad among the key absentees, a draft of debutants can be expected in the fixture.”The squad we’re looking to take to Ireland involves a number of exciting young England players as we rest several players currently involved in the npower Test series against India,” said the national selector, Geoff Miller.”By resting several players that have played international cricket since the start of the summer the opportunity has arisen for a number of talented up and coming players to continue their development on the international stage. We know from previous encounters that Ireland are a tough ODI outfit and we’ll be fielding a very strong England side that will need to play well.”We’re also presented with the opportunity to provide Eoin Morgan with further leadership experience and I know he is very much looking forward to assuming the captaincy and developing his leadership credentials while in charge of a young England squad.”One senior player who will making the trip is Jonathan Trott, who has recovered from the shoulder injury he sustained during the second Test at Trent Bridge, and is expected to be fit to play. His replacement in the third and fourth Tests, Ravi Bopara, also makes the trip, as do Steven Finn and Graham Onions, the two unused fast bowlers from the Oval Test squad.Last week it was confirmed that Andy Flower, the team director, would also be missing the trip to Ireland. He will link up with the squad ahead of the Twenty20 international against India on August 31. In his absence, England’s assistant coach Richard Halsall will take charge.Morgan, who is England’s official Twenty20 vice-captain, becomes the fourth England captain of the 2011 summer, following on from the Test skipper Andrew Strauss, the regular ODI captain Cook, and Stuart Broad, the Twenty20 captain.It promises to be a tough baptism against an Ireland side who came uncomfortably close to winning their last bilateral fixture against England, at Belfast in 2009. That match, which took place in the immediate aftermath of the Ashes victory at The Oval, finished with England sneaking over the line by three runs, only after Morgan, fielding as a substitute at long-on, parried a Trent Johnston six back into play with one ball of the match remaining.Squad Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonathan Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Graham Onions, Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes

The debutant batsman Peter Handscomb showed impressive composure to keep Victoria steady on the second day at the Gabba, where they chipped away at Queensland’s first innings of 355

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2011
ScorecardChris Rogers made 72 for Victoria•Getty ImagesThe debutant batsman Peter Handscomb showed impressive composure to keep Victoria steady on the second day at the Gabba, where they chipped away at Queensland’s first innings of 355. But despite Handscomb’s half-century, the Bushrangers faced a tough challenge to take first-innings points, still trailing by 143 runs at the close of play, with only the bowlers still to bat.The last two recognised batsmen were at the crease, Alex Keath on 16 and Ryan Carters on 4, as Victoria reached 5 for 212 at stumps. They had lost Handscomb for 71 late in the day when he edged Ben Cutting to slip, to give Cutting a well-deserved second wicket, as he finished the day with figures of 2 for 37 from 20 overs.Batting at No.3, Handscomb had stayed at the crease for four and a half hours and put on a valuable 90-run stand for the second wicket with Chris Rogers, who eventually lobbed a return catch to the legspinner Cameron Boyce for 72. Scott Walter picked up two wickets, including Victoria’s captain Andrew McDonald for 33, after he finished unbeaten on 14 in Queensland’s innings earlier in the day.The Bulls resumed at 6 for 306 and added 49 to their overnight total, with Peter Siddle collecting two wickets on the second morning. Darren Pattinson finished with 3 for 75.

Ireland made it back-to-back one-day victories against Canada with a 56-run win at Clontarf despite an improved showing in the field from the visitors

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2011
ScorecardIreland made it back-to-back one-day victories against Canada with a 56-run win at Clontarf despite an improved showing in the field from the visitors. After piling up 328 in the first ODI, Ireland had to work hard to post 249 for 7 but it was still enough to come out on top.William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, top-scored with 53 but it needed Kevin O’Brien’s brisk 43 to ensure the home side gave themselves some breathing space. Canada made a brisk start in reply but soon started losing regular wickets with three of their top four being run out.Trent Johnston made the first breakthrough when Hiral Patel’s top-edged pull flew down to third man, then Ireland’s excellence in the field started to show through. Johnston, despite his dodgy knees, swooped from mid-off to remove Ruvindu Gunasekera then Porterfield pounced at cover with a good return to the stumps that found Nitish Kumar short of his ground.Canada weren’t learning from their mistakes and Usman Limbada was a third to be run out as they slipped to 99 for 4. Rizwan Cheema, who has a reputation for big-hitting, immediately tried to live up to that billing but could only pick out long-on off George Dockrell. As well as the fielding, Ireland’s spinners – Dockrell, who conceded less than three-an-over, and Albert van der Merwe – strangled the scoring as Canada continued to fall behind the rate.Canada had at least shown more fight in the field. They chipped away at Ireland’s top order who didn’t race away with the scoring rate. When Niall O’Brien was run out the hosts were 118 for 4 and threatening to lose their way, but the experienced heads of Gary Wilson and Kevin O’Brien settled the innings.O’Brien was the aggressor while Wilson provided an anchor and ensured he was there for the closing overs after O’Brien had been caught at long-on. Johnston provided a useful, unbeaten 22 down the order and although the total was not imposing it proved more than enough.

Hashim Amla says he will take time to consider it if he is offered the opportunity to captain South Africa again

Firdose Moonda in Durban 27-Oct-2011When Hashim Amla arrived for the last pre-match press conference of his stint as South Africa’s stand-in one-day captain, he looked a relieved man. He sat down a little too casually, facing the room at an oblique angle instead of straight on, with his arm draped across the chair next to him. He wore a shirt that hung lazily down to his pants, a cap tilted a little too much to one side and a Sunday-afternoon smile that said he was quite pleased he would only have to perform this duty once more.”If I have to do it in the future, I would take some time to consider it,” Amla said. A reluctant leader, Amla was thrust into the job after a finger injury to AB de Villiers ruled him out of the limited-overs leg of the home series against Australia. Knowing that his acceptance of the vice-captaincy meant the possibility of having to fill in, Amla took on the role with little complaint.He put aside the reservation he had before and must have been trying to forget that he had stepped down from captaining his franchise, the Dolphins, because it affected his batting. A freak run-out in the first Twenty20 international in Cape Town might have reignited his doubts, a shaky four before being bowled by Doug Bollinger in the second T20 would have fuelled them, but a solid-looking 24 in the first ODI might have eased his nerves. It was the duck, off the leading edge, in Port Elizabeth, that may have rubber-stamped Amla’s concerns about taking on the dual role. A few years ago, he may have wanted nothing more than to take cover and spurn the captaincy, but now he is able to see the more positive side of leadership.”Although I haven’t contributed with the bat, if I wasn’t captain I probably wouldn’t have much to smile about,” Amla said, joking about his form. His lean patch has meant that he has had to measure success in other ways and the captaincy has allowed him to do that. Although he hopes to end the run-drought at his home ground in Durban, he said clinching the series would provide him with as much to celebrate. “It will mean a lot. Everyone wants to have a positive impact so it would be fantastic.”If South Africa win the series, Amla will be the fifth South African captain since readmission to earn a trophy in his first ODI series, after Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Johan Botha. It will go a long way to proving his credentials as a leader and show whether he has developed enough as a player to perform the task again. “It does take a bit of time getting used to. I don’t want to rush into things,” he said. “I’ve learnt a lot. I try and keep an open mind about learning as I go along.”Amla has been able to call on the experience of two former captains, Smith and Botha, and said he felt secure knowing that “I’ve some very solid guys in the field who can give me advice.”South Africa will need all their resources to break the series deadlock, after coming back from being 1-0 down. It’s a situation from which they have managed to win series from before but after their quarter-final loss in the 2011 World Cup their resilience in tough situations is not yet trusted. While Michael Hussey billed the game a “grand final,” Amla said South Africa do not see it that way. “We are not putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. The last game was a final for us; we had to win it, and the way the guys came out to play was an inspiration.”He said elements such as “team culture and playing with a positive mind-set” are more important to South Africa than just results. “The way JP [Duminy] and David Miller played in the last game, those are important things for the team in the long-term,” he said.With rain almost certain to play a part in Friday’s match and South Africa’s poor record both in Duckworth-Lewis-affected matches and in Durban, the odds appear stacked against them. In typically calm fashion, Amla said none of those things will have an impact on him or his team-mates. “I don’t think anybody has too much baggage from what happened in the past.”