Pakistan win over Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st Test, Harare, 5th day

We were on top for a long time - Masakadza

Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwe's stand-in captain forthe first Test against Pakistan, has urged the team "not to change too much" in the short turnaround ahead of the second match starting Tuesday against the same opposition at the same venue. Masakadza was pleased with both the batting and bowling efforts in the first innings and said if Zimbabwe built on those performances, they could continue to challenge Pakistan.

"There were definitely some positives. For us to take a 78-run lead after the first innings, for example, that was one of them," Masakadza said. "We were on top for a long time. It just shows that it doesn't take much for you to lose the game."

Zimbabwe were in a controlling position until the latter stages of Pakistan's second innings when Younis Khan powered his way to a double-hundred and shared in an unbeaten stand of 88 with No 11 Rahat Ali. "The partnership right at the end - that was what cost us," Masakadza said. "I didn't even expect them to be in a position to declare. I was wondering when we would finish them off and we just didn't."

Despite that, Masakadza did not believe Zimbabwe lacked the firepower needed to win a Test. "We took 19 wickets and we could have taken all 20 because we had two chances that we didn't take," he said. Younis was let off on 83 by Tino Mawoyo at first slip and on 117, Malcolm Waller put him down at gully. "We didn't have any problems creating chances. It's what you do after you create those chances. That's what we want to work on."

Masakadza praised the work put in by Zimbabwe's three frontline seamers, who kept the scoring-rate under three runs to the over. "They have improved a lot. In the past they didn't have this much control, especially for the period of time they were out there."

Between them, Tendai Chatara, Tinashe Panyangara and Shingi Masakadza bowled 97 of the 149.3 overs in the second innings, with Panyangara conceding only 1.40 runs per over. "I thought he was particularly good because he was not traditionally known as a workhorse but he showed he can do it," Masakadza said.

Panyangara was part of the group of youngsters who were fast-tracked into international cricket after the white-player walkout in 2004 but struggled to make an impact as an 18-year old. He was selected again for the 2011 World Cup but only began to register as a genuine possibility for the longest format recently, now that his fitness and form have improved considerably.

Masakadza hoped those gains would be on display in Panyangara's next showing, which would require him to recover quickly. With just two days between matches, Masakadza joked the bowlers will need "bed rest and maybe a drip" to ensure they can repeat or even better their showing next week.

It will likely fall on the same trio to carry Zimbabwe's hopes with Masakadza indicating changes to the pack would not be warranted unless there were injury concerns. Brian Vitori and the uncapped Michael Chinouya are available if needed but Zimbabwe would prefer not to tinker with a combination that worked.

Masakadza himself can do the work of a fifth bowler to render another specialist seamer surplus to requirements and Elton Chigumbura remains an option. However, the allrounder only bowled two overs in the first Test, and Masakadza explained he was picked only as a batsman because he has been "struggling" with the ball, although he may be called upon if needed.

With Prosper Utseya, who Masakadza called a "quality" spinner, likely to hold on to his slow-bowling role, the only adjustments will be made to the batting line-up. Regular captain Brendan Taylor is a certain starter and will slot back in at No 4 after missing the first match on paternity leave. But because both Malcolm Waller and debutant Sikandar Raza impressed, making room for Taylor could cost someone else his place.

Richmond Mutumbami, the wicketkeeper, may be dropped and Taylor asked to keep while there is also the possibility of Masakadza opening the batting in Tino Mawoyo's place to make room for Taylor. "We'll have to do something like that," Masakadza said. "But overall, we won't change too much."

 

 

England's line-up

The Morgan-Bopara impetus to England's line-up

The presence of these two batsmen has made England's lower middle order more explosive, and given the team a more formidable look in ODIs

With England resting five of their Ashes stars for the five-ODI series against Australia, the focus will be on other names. Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Joe Root - who were all part of the Ashes side - are in the ODI squad as well, but this series will also cast the spotlight on some of the other batsmen like Eoin Morgan, who's also England's captain for the series, and Ravi Bopara, who has never quite nailed a regular spot in the team despite his undoubted potential.

Both Morgan and Bopara made the right moves in the ODI against Ireland earlier this week: batting at Nos. 5 and 6, both scored hundreds to help England to an ultimately comfortable six-wicket win. Admittedly, it was only a game against Ireland, but England were under a fair amount of pressure when these two came together - they had been reduced to 48 for 4 in the 15th over, chasing 270. The 226-run partnership between Morgan and Bopara is an ODI record for the fifth wicket, and only the second instance of a No. 5 and No. 6 batsman scoring centuries in an innings: the previous such instance was 16 years ago, by India against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium, when Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja scored centuries after India had been reduced to 64 for 4 chasing 303; they ended up losing the match by two runs.

Traditionally, England haven't always had batsmen in the lower middle order who could take charge and force the pace: between 2000 and 2007, for example, the strike rate of English batsmen who batted between No. 5 and No. 7 was 76.88, sixth among all teams, and poorer than Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa and India (in matches against Test-playing sides). In the period since the 2011 World Cup, though, the strike rate of England's lower middle order (Nos. 5 to 7) has increased to 93.26, the best among all sides. The average is significantly lower than India's MS Dhoni-led line-up, but the high strike rate shows that England have found the enforcers in that part of their batting order, which is often a key element in ODIs. Bangladesh have the second-best average among all teams - a position they don't usually find themselves in - thanks to the exploits of Shakib-al-Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim.

Nos. 5-7 for each team in ODIs since the 2011 World Cup*

Team	Matches	Inngs	Runs	Average	SR	Ave*SR
India	59	144	4273	42.73	89.88	38.41
Bangladesh	29	78	2338	40.31	81.49	32.85
England	46	101	2297	30.22	93.26	28.18
Australia	47	129	24	31.17	87.18	27.17
South Africa	33	89	1910	29.84	87.33	26.06
Pakistan	51	131	2948	27.29	82.90	22.62
Zimbabwe	28	77	1887	28.59	77.39	22.13
New Zealand	30	79	1776	26.11	82.41	21.52
West Indies	55	150	3272	24.97	79.24	19.79
Sri Lanka	70	168	3580	25.21	76.51	19.29

* In ODIs against the Test-playing sides

The two batsmen who've scored the most runs for England in these three positions are Morgan and Bopara, and they've done it at a brisk rate too. (Remember, these numbers are only against Test sides, so they exclude the exploits of these batsmen against Ireland earlier this week.)

Morgan has scored at more than a run a ball during this period, with a couple of key innings at No. 5: against Australia at Lord's last year, he scored 89 off 63 balls to propel England to 272, which was enough to win them the game by 15 runs. Against South Africa at The Oval a little later that year, he scored 73 off 67 in a chase of 212, helping England win a tight game by four wickets. Both those performances won him Man-of-the-Match awards. In fact, in just 80 matches for England, Morgan has already won seven such awards, which puts him in joint 11th position for England.

Bopara has been resourceful down the order as well, even if he has only topped 50 once when batting between Nos. 5 and 7 during this period in 13 innings: that was a fine 96 against India in a tied game at Lord's a couple of year ago. Apart from that, he has made several quick 30s and 40s at faster than a run a ball, which is exactly the sort of contribution required from those batting in the lower middle order.

England's batsmen at Nos. 5-7 in ODIs since the 2011 World Cup*

Batsman	Inngs	Runs	Average	Strike rate	4s/ 6s
Eoin Morgan	27	733	36.65	101.38	55/ 19
Ravi Bopara	13	399	39.90	93.88	26/ 7
Samit Patel	16	353	39.22	92.65	29/ 8

* In ODIs against the Test-playing sides

For much of the 2000s, Paul Collingwood was England's go-to man in ODIs when they were in trouble. In 138 innings when he batted between Nos. 5 and 7, Collingwood scored four hundreds and 21 fifties, and averaged 34.12. Overall in his career, he scored four centuries from 150 innings when batting at No. 5 or lower. Incredibly, Morgan has already equalled that mark in 69 innings, and no other England batsman has scored more hundreds from these positions. Even when considering batsmen from all teams, only three - MS Dhoni, Andrew Symonds, and Yuvraj Singh - have scored more than five hundreds from No. 5 or lower in ODIs.

Most ODI hundreds from No. 5 or lower in ODIs

Batsman	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Yuvraj Singh	149	4837	39.64	86.68	7/ 33
Andrew Symonds	136	4337	40.15	92.88	6/ 25
MS Dhoni	164	5357	46.18	84.28	5/ 32
Eoin Morgan	69	2137	41.09	93.89	4/ 11
Paul Collingwood	150	4115	34.87	78.77	4/ 23
Chris Cairns	173	4461	29.93	84.05	4/ 23

In all ODIs since the 2009 Champions Trophy, Morgan is among the top run-scorers from No. 5 or lower. Not only has he scored 1976 runs - the third-highest during this period - he has done so at an average and strike rate comparable with the best. His scoring rate is as good as those of Suresh Raina and Kieron Pollard, while his average is better. Morgan's conversion rate of fifties to hundreds is outstanding too, especially given the position he bats in.

Bopara doesn't find himself among the top run-getters, but his numbers are impressive too - 739 runs at an average of 43.47, and a strike rate of 96.09. Add his useful medium pace, and he is ideal as a No. 6 or No. 7 player.

Five matches against Australia will give both Morgan, now the captain, and Bopara plenty of opportunities to further cement their places at positions which are difficult to occupy in one-day internationals. England's ODI team can only be the stronger for it.

Most runs scored from No. 5 or lower in ODIs since Sep 25, 2009

Batsman	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Suresh Raina	85	2464	36.23	94.22	1/ 16
MS Dhoni	66	2418	54.95	83.75	4/ 14
Eoin Morgan	61	1976	42.95	94.86	4/ 10
Umar Akmal	58	1861	37.97	83.75	0/ 16
Shakib Al Hasan	55	1729	36.02	81.40	2/ 12
Angelo Mathews	69	1683	35.06	83.15	0/ 12
Kieron Pollard	65	1677	27.49	94.63	3/ 6

Three consecutive Ashes series, England v Australia 2013

England v Australia, 5th Investec Test, The Oval, 5th day

Winning three consecutive Ashes series at home and fastest Test fifties

Stats highlights from the exciting final day's action at The Oval

• With this, England have won 31 Ashes series and have drawn level with Australia. Playing at home, both England and Australia have now won 17 Ashes series. This was the third consecutive Ashes series win for England at home. The last time England won three consecutive series at home was between 1977 and 1985. England won the series 3-0 in 1977, 3-1 in 1981, and 3-1 in 1985.
• After 1977, when they lost by a similar score line of 3-0, this was the first instance of Australia losing an Ashes series without winning a single Test.
• This match ranks 13th in terms of the closest drawsby runs remaining, in Tests. This was also the second closest draw in the Ashes, in terms of runs remaining. The closest draw in terms of runs remaining, in the Ashes, was this match at the MCG in 1974.
• A total of 447 runs were scored in the day, which is the most scored in the fifth day ever in an Ashes Test. The previous highest on the fifth day of an Ashes Test was 407 runs at Leeds in 1948. This was only the fifth instance of 400 or more runs being scored on the fifth day of a Test match. All these instances have involved Australia. Overall, the most runs scored on the fifth day of a Test was between Australia and New Zealand at Brisbane when 459 runs were scored. Click here for a list of most runs scored in a day in Tests.
• Brad Haddin's catch off Ryan Harris to dismiss Joe Root* was his 29th of this series. With that catch he broke Rod Marsh's record for the highest number of catches taken by a wicketkeeper in a Test series and also the highest number of dismissals collected by a wicketkeeper in a Test series. Marsh, Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist have collected 20 or more dismissals in a Test series five times in their careers, which is a record for wicketkeepers in Tests. For England, the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper is held by Jack Russell who collected 27 dismissals in a series against South Africa in 1995-96.
• Kevin Pietersen's half-century off 36 balls in England's fourth-innings chase was the fastest fifty by an England batsman in the Ashes. Pietersen took one fewer than Matt Prior, who held this record previously with a 37-ball half-century at Lord's in 2009. The record for the fastest fifty in Tests by an England batsman is held by Ian Botham, who scored a half-century off 28 balls against India in 1982 at Delhi. The record for thefastest half-century in Tests is held by Jacques Kallis, who hit a fifty off 24 balls against Zimbabwe at Cape Town.
• Including the runs scored in this match, Kevin Pietersen has scored 897 runs at The Oval in Tests. He is averaging 59.80 at the venue and has hit four centuries and three half-centuries. He is now one of the seven batsmen to score 800 or more runs at The Oval.
• Jonathan Trott - whose strike rate in ODIs has been the topic of debate of late - did his bit for England in their chase by scoring at a strike-rate of 67.81, which was his second highest strike-rate in an innings of fifty or more runs. His fastest innings of fifty or more runs came against Sri Lanka at Lord's, when he scored at a strike rate of 77.33.
• Alastair Cook scored 277 runs from five matches in the series at an average of 27.70. This was only thesixth instance of an England captain, and a recognised batsman, winning the Ashes series despite averaging 30 or less from five or more matches in the series. Mike Brearley won the Ashes twice, in 1977 and 1978, in spite of averaging less than 30 as a batsman in the series. Cook is also the third England opener-captain, after Len Hutton and Brearley, to win an Ashes-series while averaging less than 30 as a batsman in the series.

England v Australia, 2013

England v Australia, 2nd NatWest ODI, Old Trafford

Anticipation increases after washout

 

 

Match Facts

September 8, Old Trafford
Start time 10.15am (0915 GMT)

The Big Picture

Now the traditional Headingley washout has been concluded, it is time to move on to the cricket. Four remaining matches in the NatWest series still give two fresh and experimental squads time to show their true flavour. The sense of anticipation remains, although too many of the showers forecast for Manchester on Sunday might put a bit of a damper on proceedings.

England have expectations that Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara can make the sort of impact batting at Nos. 5 and 6 that will carry them through to the 2015 World Cup. Confidence abounds following their hundreds against Ireland in Malahide and a partnership of 226, which was an ODI record for the fifth wicket. S Rajesh, in Numbers Game, has reflected upon England's commitment since another failed World Cup campaign in 2011 to lifting the strike rate at this stage of the innings.

Australia's tour of England has so far included a 3-0 Ashes series loss, a Champions Trophy campaign in which they failed to win a match and only two international victories: a Twenty20 game against England and an ODI win over minnows Scotland.

Fifty miles east of Manchester, Yorkshire will be rueing their ill luck. A third washout in five one-day internationals was not the sort of news that Yorkshire need when they are still wrestling with debts not far short of £20m. Profits of half a million from a capacity crowd of 17,250 have been washed away, leaving Yorkshire with no chance to recover the losses made on an under-budget Test against New Zealand in May. One money-saving scheme has been abandoned as Yorkshire have concluded that the floodlights at the defunct Don Valley athletics stadium are unsuitable.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
England WLWWL
Australia WLLWW

Watch out for...

Fawad Ahmed has attracted attention in the pre-match build-up because of criticism of Cricket Australia's willingness to allow him to follow his religious beliefs and not wear a brewers' logo on his shirt. The discord that has sounded from the wings cannot have eased his integration and he will be eager to do what he does best and remind everybody of his legspin prowess. For England, Ravi Bopara has had a decent summer. He played with a new maturity in the Champions Trophy and that century in Ireland furthered hopes that, at 28, he can yet have a consistently rewarding England career.

Team news

Ben Stokes has the capacity to make the grade as a fully fledged allrounder. He batted as low as No. 8 in Ireland but England have resisted the temptation to award a first cap to Chris Jordan, whose bowling suit is a little stronger. Australia are expected to retain the side that gave Scotland a 200-run thumping.

England (possible) 1 Michael Carberry, 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Ben Stokes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Steven Finn

Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Matthew Wade, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Fawad Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

After one of the warmest summers in northern England for many years, the weather has turned a little grouchy, which considering the 10.15am start could make bowling first a big temptation. The Old Trafford pitch was one of the better ones in the Ashes series, although the pace and bounce that was often apparent a few years ago is no longer as common.

Stats and trivia

• England's last one-day defeat at Old Trafford came in 2006 against Sri Lanka. Since then they have won four in a row, including twice against Australia.
• Australia have won five and lost five of their ten ODIs at the ground.
• George Bailey needs 112 runs to reach 1000 in one-day internationals; Mitchell Johnson is five wickets short of 200.
• Ravi Bopara's hundred against Ireland took him past Neil Fairbrother, Mike Gatting and Ian Botham on England's run-scorers list.

Quotes

"My plan is to be annoying, just tick along at that door and hope one day someone comes along and opens it - and I get my chance."
Ravi Bopara reveals his masterplan to get into the Ashes Test squad

"He talked up his table tennis, and he's let himself down a little bit there. That's probably been a bigger issue for him."
George Bailey suggests that Fawad Ahmed has more important things on his mind that a debate over shirt logos

New Zealand news

Devcich keen to turn out for New Zealand Croatia

 

Had Anton Devcich not been a part of the New Zealand A team playing in Visakhapatnam, he would have been an important part of the New Zealand Croatia team's maiden cricket tour to Cook Islands.

The side, comprising New Zealand cricketers of Croatian origin, recently participated in a tri-series against the senior men's team and the under-19 team of Cook Islands, and Devich explained that he intended to be a regular part of the team whenever he could. New Zealand Croatia are now planning a tour to England later this year and aim to tour Croatia in the long term.

"Obviously being here as a part of the New Zealand A team takes precedence," Devcich told the Indian Express. "But I do plan to be an integral part of NZC. They played four T20s in Roratunga and I heard it was a blast. Our overall aim is to give Croatian cricket more exposure. Despite a long history, they haven't had the players to raise their game and no money with most of our ancestors having moved to New Zealand due to civil war."

Before the tour, Joseph Yovich, one of the founders of the New Zealand Croatia side, said the team was a place for cricketers to discover their links to Croatia's cricketing history. Four members of the New Zealand Croatia side are also a part of Croatia's cricket team:Paul and John Vujnovich (the current Croatia captain),Anthony Govorko and former international Anton Vujcich.

Devcich said he was pleased to find so many cricketers of similar origin in New Zealand: "Every town has its own settlement of Croatians and I have been surprised over the last five or six years how many there are in New Zealand and Australia. Four, including Joseph, Dusan Hakaraia and me are playing first-class cricket back home, and across the Tasman, there were Simon Katich and Michael Kasprowicz."

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st Test, Harare, 5th day

Incremental gains squandered by Zimbabwe

The final day was written off as nothing more than an exercise in time keeping and it became evident the clock had been speeded up as early as the eighth ball of the morning

Disappointment, like many things in life, comes in more than one form. There is the dark, foreboding type which like a bad smell or storm clouds, hangs in the air for too long and spoils a sunny day. And there is the lighter, less serious kind which can be dealt with by masking it in cynicism and humour. Zimbabwean fans' acceptance of their loss to Pakistan was the latter. 

They gave each other knowing looks and managed wry smiles and jokes as they watched Zimbabwe's resistance crumble quicker than a pillar of salt. The truth is that the match was considered lost on Friday evening when Younis Khan and Rahat Ali took the target beyond reach. The final day was written off as nothing more than an exercise in time keeping and it became evident the clock had been speeded up as early as the eighth ball of the morning. 

Hamilton Masakadza was dismissed before the first coffees had been sipped and when Vusi Sibanda followed nine balls later, Zimbabwe's hopes of batting out a long period were all but stubbed out in those early exchanges. 

The possibility of an embarrassingly hefty loss became more real when two first-innings heroes, Malcolm Waller and Sikandar Raza, fell to Abdur Rehman. Both played shots they will, in hindsight, not be happy with - Waller sweeping a flighted ball and Raza pushing forward for turn to a straight one - and their departure underlined the feebleness of Zimbabwe's challenge. 

Their preoccupation with the threat Saeed Ajmal would pose on a surface that was keeping low and taking more turn than Hamilton Masakadza seemed to suggest it would when he decided Zimbabwe would bat last, meant they almost forgot about the rest of the attack. Junaid Khan and Rehman had the advantage of surprise and used it well. 

Junaid bowled an incisive spell, moving the ball back into the batsmen and startling them with the occasional bouncer while Ajmal kept the batsmen guessing from the other end. By the time they were replaced with Rahat and Rehman, Zimbabwe made the mistake of thinking the pressure was off. Waller, having just hit Rehman for four, had no reason to take him on the very next ball. Similarly Raza, who had been confident against spin throughout, perhaps became overly so. 

With the middle order snuffed out, Zimbabwe's quick end was being predicted by everyone including the television crew. They took a media sweepstake from 48 people, including cameramen, technicians and journalists, on when the last wicket would fall. Before lunch was the popular choice.

There were some cheers when Elton Chigumbura played his natural, attacking game but that quickly turned to jeers when he gave Mohammad Hafeez catching practice at slip. Attention turned firmly to the South African rugby team's match against Australia, which was being broadcast in the Centurion Pub at the end of the next over when Ajmal had accounted for both Prosper Utseya and Shingi Masakadza. 

Some took farcical solace in the fact that the interval - once considered cricket's only immovable apart from Rahul Dravid - was extended to allow Pakistan to finish Zimbabwe off. At least Zimbabwe had lasted more than a session, they joked to each other. When Tendai Chatara had some fun at the end, with a couple of swipes over midwicket, the noise levels through clapping and whistling were the highest they had been all match. 

It was a pity they were tinged with such irony and an even greater pity that on the day more people were able to come to the ground than any other, by virtue of it being a weekend, they saw the home team at their worst. Some of those people have been keeping an eye on Zimbabwe's progress over the match and although they did not want to get their hopes too high, were heartened by what they saw.

For an hour short of four days, Zimbabwe had the better of Pakistan. They managed to shelve their off-field troubles and conjured up a performance with heart. Tinashe Panyangara, Chatara and Shingi Masakadza showed discipline Zimbabwe's bowlers have lacked in the past, Utseya found some turn and there was a middle-order fightback that Zimbabwe have not had in recent times. All that unravelled in the time it took Younis to push on his accelerator pedal and made Zimbabwe's second innings irrelevant. 

Long-suffering supporters will remember only that. Incremental gains don't mean much to them because the end result is still the same. At the Centurion Pub, there is nothing to celebrate to. The usual drowning of sorrows will take place before many of them return again next week, hoping for a different outcome but not actually expecting one.

They do not regard the incremental gains as small victories and, unless those can eventually add up to something, one can understand why they dismiss them that way. As far as people at Harare Sports Club are concerned, the only winner from this match apart from Pakistan was commentator Ed Rainsford, who correctly predicted the last man would troop back to the change room at 12:36. He has US$48 to show for it.