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Marizanne Kapp made a half-century but was forced to retire hurt and the visitors collapsed either side of her

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2024Australian quick Megan Schutt celebrated her milestone match with a miserly spell in an eight-wicket thumping of South Africa in the series-opening ODI.Schutt took 1-1 from five consecutive overs as the tourists were restricted to 105 at Adelaide Oval. Australia, with Beth Mooney top-scoring with an unbeaten 52, chased the runs in 19 overs to emphatically win game one of the three-match ODI series and move 6-2 up in the multi-format contest.Schutt, the sixth Australian to play 200 internationals, took the new ball, claimed a wicket on her ninth delivery, and her sole run conceded came from an inside edge.”It’s a pretty unbelievable spell,” Mooney said. “To bowl five overs and only get hit for one run in international cricket against a real quality opposition … that probably just shows the quality of bowl that Shooter has been, across an extended period of time. It’s probably, I’d say, the best bowling she’s done for a long time and across her career.”Marizanne Kapp top-scored with 50, but she was forced to retire hurt. While completing a second run to reach her half-century, Kapp was struck on her left elbow by the throw although subsequent scans cleared her of any fracture.”Scans have revealed it is a soft tissue injury on the upper left arm,” a South Africa spokesperson said.Schutt 261st international wicket was the prized scalp of South African captain Laura Wolvaardt. She is a team-mate of Schutt in the WBBL with the title-holding Adelaide Strikers. When she was on 4, Wolvaardt gifted her friend her wicket, slicing a short and wide delivery to point, where Georgia Wareham completed a simple catch.Marizanne Kapp was forced to retire hurt after a throw hit her elbow•Getty Images

South Africa soon slumped to 9 for 3 after eight overs and never recovered. Kapp kept cool amid the carnage with a stellar knock, collecting eight fours from her 58 balls before misfortune literally hit.As the allrounder safely completed her 50th run, she was struck on the elbow. Kapp was ruled out for the remainder of the game and in her absence the tourists lost their last four wickets for 11 runs.In Australia’s run chase, openers Phoebe Litchfield and Alyssa Healy were dismissed inside nine overs. But stalwarts Mooney, who struck nine fours in her 34-ball innings, and Perry then cruised to victory.”We always talk about finishing games well and I find those smaller run chases a little bit tricky,” Mooney said. “If you lose a few wickets early it can send a bit of a ripple effect through the batting order.”It’s all about making sure we win those games well and don’t leave too much for the middle to lower order to do.”The three-game ODI series continues at North Sydney Oval on Wednesday and Saturday.

If Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson prospered yesterday by swatting deliveries to midwicket and square leg constantly, Scott Styris followed a different drummer

Samanth Subramanian07-Jul-2005If Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson prospered yesterday by swatting deliveries to midwicket and square leg constantly, Scott Styris followed a different drummer. Only the results – a century, and the highest score of his career, and yet more pressure on India – were startlingly similar.Of Vincent’s 106 runs, 52 came to midwicket and square leg, while Richardson made 54 of his 145 in the same region – percentages of 49 and 37 respectively. Styris, however, made 50 of his 119 in the V between long-off and long-on – 42 percent of his runs.

Styris played balls by constantly getting behind the line rather than alongside or far across it. That enabled him to play strokes down the ground. It also enabled him to play Anil Kumble, by far the best Indian bowler on the day, and in the Test.On the second day, Kumble bowled an astounding 159 out of 186 deliveries on a good length – a percentage of 85.4. Little was offered that was either too full to drive through the covers or too short to cut or pull. Accordingly, Styris did neither; he just tapped it back past Kumble, and the rest, and started to run. As the scoreline testifies, it paid rich dividends.

Mathew Varghese looks at the performance of India’s first-change bowlers over the years

Mathew Varghese14-Aug-2007

India’s first series win in England in 21 years came largely on the back of a team performance, with Man of the Series, Zaheer Khan being first among equals. While the spotlight fell on Zaheer, fellow left-armer RP Singh also impressed in his role as the third fast bowler in the attack – and it’s no coincidence that his performance in that role had a direct bearing on the overall result.Coming in as first-change RP Singh picked up ten wickets in the first two Tests, including a five-for in England’s second innings at Lord’s. In fact, he didn’t bowl first-change during his unimpressive match-haul of 2 for 122 in the final Test at The Oval, as captain Rahul Dravid brought him on only after Anil Kumble replaced one of the opening bowlers.RP Singh’s success as first-change bowler underlined a statistical truth – that India perform better away from home when the two strike bowlers have a good support act.

The first three bowlers listed in the table helped seal rare series victories away from home. Syed Abid Ali may have only picked up six wickets – five as first-change – in India’s first away series triumph, but an economy rate below 2 per over indicated that he tied up the runs at one end. Ali’s role, though, was more about backing up the three spinners – Erapalli Prasanna, Bapu Nadkarni and Bishan Bedi, rather than new-ball bowlers.Chetan Sharma was India’s hero in their emphatic 1986 series victory in England.
Sharma missed the second of the three Tests at Headingley, but his tally of 16
wickets at Lord’s and Birmingham was more than the 12
that the opening bowlers – Kapil Dev and Roger Binny – could manage.
Sharma bagged a five-for each in the two Tests, and a ten-wicket match haul in the drawn Test at Birmingham – the only one by an Indian bowler in England.RP Singh’s performance must also be judged by the batsmen he dismissed. He accounted for England’s key batsmen – Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan – in nearly half their stints at the crease, dismissing Pietersen thrice and Vaughan twice.RP Singh’s five-for at Lord’s may have come in a draw, but the manner in which he ran through England’s middle-order definitely must have given a boost to the team ahead of Trent Bridge. In the second Test, Pietersen was the target man for RP Singh. He trapped him in front of the stumps in both innings, bowling around the wicket. The second dismissal was reminiscent of Wasim Akram – the ball pitched well outside the off stump but then it sharply jagged back in. Pietersen, who’d shaped to leave it, was plumb in front and didn’t even wait for the umpire’s decision.The performance of these three bowlers is in sharp contrast to India’s traditionally frail first-change bowling, the third seamer invariably failing to support the opening bowlers duo.
The following table compares India’s opening and first-change fast bowlers over the years. One clarification though: our records consider Sourav Ganguly as a pace bowler.

India’s recent tour of South Africa is a good example of where the new-ball
bowlers – Sreesanth and Zaheer – bowled well in tandem, taking 31
wickets at 25.48 in the three-Test series. However, VRV Singh, India’s
first-change bowler in the first two Tests, managed only three wickets
in the 44.1 overs he bowled. He averaged 66.33 per wicket but, more
significantly, conceded 4.5 runs per over in contrast to the 3.4 given by
the opening bowlers. In fact, in the deciding Test of the series at Cape Town, Dravid brought on Kumble ahead of fast bowler Munaf Patel in both innings. India went on the lose the match and the series.Over ten years ago, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad formed a potent
attack, especially on the tours of England and South Africa. However,
their efforts were sidelined by support seamers unable to sustain the
pressure on the opposition.

Australia’s array of power-hitters gives them the edge. By Peter English

Peter English05-Sep-2007

After having lifted the Champions Trophy and the World Cup over the past 12 months, Australia are aiming for an unprecedented clean sweep of the limited-overs silverware.No team is feared like Ricky Ponting’s and only Glenn McGrath (retirement) and Shaun Tait (elbow injury) are missing from the triumphant Caribbean squad. Brett Lee adds more firepower after recovering from ankle surgery while Ben Hilfenhaus, the Tasmania swing bowler, is the new baby who will benefit from the experience of his first senior overseas tour.The players enjoy the Twenty20 format, but most warn of the dangers of taking it too seriously. A potential lapse in Australia’s usually unbreakable mental spirit is one of the few things offering their rivals hope.Home truths

The Test and one-day regulars have played only a handful of these matches – Australia have three wins and two losses in Twenty20 – but the state representatives have been part of the two-week domestic competition over the past two years. After early scepticism when the game was born in England, Australia raced to join in and quickly organised the first international, which they won against New Zealand.Strengths

Power hitting is the major weapon, but the real problem for opposing teams is the depth of Australia’s batting. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden intimidate in any game, Ricky Ponting struck a 55-ball 98 not out in that game against New Zealand, showing he could be even more brutal when he thought only of free swinging; and Michael Clarke can find gaps with ease.Then come the big hitters: Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey average a six every second ODI, while Shane Watson’s 145 World Cup runs came at the staggering strike-rate of 170. Over 20 overs at least one of these men will fire, and with useful contributions an out-of-reach target can be arranged in half an innings. The two Brads, Hodge and Haddin, will provide capable back-up, and the bowlers will be ready to exact revenge for the severe treatment they will receive when they bowl. Nathan Bracken has become a key man in the absence of McGrath and his swing and across-the-seam variations make him one bankable ingredient.

Weaknesses
The bowling is not so much a weakness as an unknown. In the lead-up to the tournament the fast men travelled to the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane in an attempt to devise strategies for the carnage they would see in South Africa. However, plans the length of the alphabet will be needed to cope with the avalanche of batsmen with freedom to pummel.Lee’s speed can be match-winning or -losing, Stuart Clark is desperate to show his limited-overs output can be as immaculate as his Test work, and Mitchell Johnson and Watson are still trying to prove they belong as bowlers.Slow bowling would appear to be a casualty of the condensed game, but it has achieved some success on the domestic scene and Australia have Brad Hogg, Symonds and Clarke to call on.Player to watch
experienced his first international slump at the World Cup, leaving the Caribbean with only 87 runs – and is ready to rectify the situation if his team-mates allow him the batting time. In the past two years he has improved on the one-day international finishing role made famous by Michael Bevan and is able to turn what is shaping up as a mediocre total into an unassailable one with clean striking and clever running.Dark horse
is the only unknown player in the squad after impressing with 60 Pura Cup wickets for Tasmania last season. A swing bowler, he operates around 140kph and is a severe threat. One-day and Twenty20 international debuts came in 2006-07, but he missed the World Cup squad and was a late addition to this outfit after Tait’s injury failed to heal.

Ian Chappell’s take
There’s bad news for the rest of the cricket world – Ponting has announced that Australia are taking the Twenty20 World Championships seriously and are heading to South Africa with the intention of winning the tournament.Australia have the best balanced side as well as the side best placed to handle any situation as it occurs. The fact that the bulk of the team are in the Test side emphasises the point that a good cricketer should be able to adapt to any format of the game.They have powerful hitters in Hayden and Gilchrist at the top of the order, and then they have Symonds and Watson in the middle. Gilchrist, Hayden and Ponting are well equipped to take advantage of the field restrictions in the first six overs. The bowling has plenty of variety with the pace of Lee, the steadiness of Clark and Bracken, and the wrist-spin of Hogg. In the field they have run-out specialists in Ponting, Symonds and Clarke, and plenty of fast young legs and strong arms to patrol the outfield. In other words, Australia is a team made of complete cricketers – exactly what you would expect from a strong, international side.I expect Australia to reach the final, and with their record in all forms of the game in the last decade, I’d be surprised if they lost. However, sooner or later it’s going to happen – a Ponting-led side is going to falter in a major limited-overs competition. Rating: 8/10

Turuwar Kohli has quietly gone about being one of India’s key players at the Under-19 World Cup

George Binoy in Kuala Lumpur24-Feb-2008

If it was time to choose India’s stand-out performances at the Under-19 World Cup so far, Virat Kohli’s aggressive hundred against West Indies and Pradeep Sangwan’s swing bowling, which produced a five-wicket haul, would top the list. Perhaps even some Tanmay Srivastava’s super-calm knocks at No. 3. Think twice and Turuwar Kohli would be a deserved addition. His consistent scores as opener haven’t been the most riveting but his steady accumulation of runs has made him the highest run-scorer in the tournament.Turuwar’s consistency cannot be understated. He hasn’t had a bad match – making 40 against Papua New Guinea, 54 in the run-chase against South Africa, 50 versus West Indies, and 63 not out to eliminate England from the competition. He builds his innings patiently, taking his time to settle, and plays majority of his shots along the ground. As a result of his watchful approach, India have not lost two early wickets in the tournament even though Turuwar’s opening partner, Shreevats Goswami, is yet to hit his stride.What makes his performances more remarkable is that he did not open in the practice matches. He didn’t bat against England and made 34 batting at No. 7 against New Zealand. It was because Tamil Nadu batsman Abhinav Mukund scored 13 and 0 while opening in the warm-ups that Turuwar gained a promotion. In fact, this was the first time that Turuwar was opening in matches of significance. He bats at No. 3 for Punjab U-19s, a side he has represented for two years, and is usually a middle-order batsman. However, Turuwar shrugged off the magnitude of opening on such a large stage without much prior experience.”It’s [opening] similar to playing at No. 3, seeing off the new ball is the main aim,” Turuwar said. “I try to stick to the basics and I have patience.”He’s been a picture of calmness in the World Cup, anchoring the innings and providing a solid platform for Srivastava and the power-hitters like Virat and Saurav Tiwary. Turuwar, however, said that he was only playing according to the demands of the situation because India haven’t had a large target to chase yet. His careful style comes naturally but he says he can force the pace if necessary.”I don’t always play like this [cautiously], I have several gears,” Turuwar said. “If needed, I can play attacking cricket. This [against England] was a low-scoring game so there was no need to hit big strokes. You have to adapt to the situation, if it needs you to play shots you have to play strokes. I have played rash shots in the earlier games and I learnt from
my mistakes.”Turuwar, who is from Jalandhar, is from a sporting family: his father, Sushil, played water polo for India and was a bronze medalist at the Asian Games. His family also owns a sports goods factory ‘Beat All Sports’ which ensured that Turuwar did not have to go too far to have access to high-quality cricket gear during his formative years. He started playing cricket at the age of 10 and joined an academy at Burlton Park, which has also produced cricketers such as Harbhajan Singh and Vikram Rathore, at the age of 14. However, Turuwar said that his approach to cricket between 14 and 16 wasn’t serious and it was a paid tour to England with Mumbai’s Worli Cricket Club that made him change his outlook to the game. He’s a relatively new addition to India’s Under-19 squad and so far he’s proved to be extremely valuable.

Cricinfo asked former team-mates and players about their most memorable Anil Kumble moments

Interviews by Nagraj Gollapudi02-Nov-2008.

Venkatesh Prasad, former India and Karnataka team-mate
Anil Kumble getting his maiden Test century at The Oval in 2007 against England was a unique moment. He had a couple of opportunities before, especially in the Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens. When I walked in he was in the mid-80s but I got out and immediately he got run out on 88. He had only suggested that I “stay there”, but I disappointed him. And when he got that hundred against England I was the happiest man. Undoubtedly he was a fierce competitor.Terry Jenner, Shane Warne’s coach
The moment for me was when Kumble came back at St John’s, Antigua, with his jaw covered in bandages and bowled all those overs (14). That was courage personified. There are a lot of people who, if hit the way he was, wouldn’t come back. He came back and bowled his heart out after that. As for his bowling, it was the way he adapted in Australian conditions which was special.Sunil Joshi, former Karnataka and India room-mate
Kumble was my room-mate during my debut Test, against England at Edgbaston. In fact that was not the first time we were sharing a room as we’d been room-mates from the Under-19 days for Karnataka. On the eve of my debut he said, “Jo [Joshi], don’t worry about anything. Just go out and perform. You are the best and that’s the reason you are here.” Unfortunately I suffered a broken finger and couldn’t bowl through the game but even then Anil helped me retain my confidence. He was just keeping it positive and making me understand the pressure of international cricket. Those words still ring true even now and that’s the reason I’m still playing first-class cricket.Ajit Wadekar, former India coach
I was the chairman of selectors when Anil got the record 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan in 1999. The single most important memory was when he asked [Javagal] Srinath, who was bowling at the other end, not to worry about the record and go for the final Pakistan wicket. He just asked Srinath to finish it off. Finally Anil got it. But he never bothered about any records.Kiran More, former India wicket-keeper
He was the Muhammad Ali of cricket. I kept to him the first ball he bowled in Test cricket. He was just awesome from the word go and he was the same all those years I kept to him, with the same attitude and the bowling style. But I will pick the game against England on an uneven Wankhede pitch. In the second innings, where he picked four wickets, he was the most dangerous bowler I’d kept to till then and even after that. He was always difficult from the third day onwards. The speed with which he bowled, the quick bounce of his top-spinners, and googlies which spat off the rough areas were really difficult to pick.EAS Prasanna, former Karnataka and India offspinner
The most important moment for me was when he took 10 wickets. Why? Firstly, he was the second player to record such a feat, and secondly, he is from Karnataka. He made me proud. I always admired his personality: a strong-minded individual who was always a committed player.Vijay Bharadwaj , former Karnataka and India team-mate
It was my first day as Karnataka coach back in the 2006-07 season and we were playing Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium. Both Anil and Rahul [Dravid] were available for the first couple of games. They were pulling my leg saying, “Vijay has already retired, Venky [Venkatesh Prasad] has already retired, and both of them are coaches now but we are still playing.” On our return to Bangalore, before our second game, Anil called up to check if it was fine to get a 16-year-old legspinner as a net bowler. I just laughed. I told him he didn’t need to call me to get permission. But he knew the coach was important and didn’t want to break protocol, so he wanted to check. He could’ve straightaway taken the decision himself because of his stature. He is a guy who gave importance to each and every detail.Sandeep Patil, former India coach
Taking three wickets [in his final Test] with an injured hand spoke volumes about his commitment. He was the gentle giant of the cricketing world. Anil Kumble with the ball and Anil Kumble were two different people. With the ball he was a terror and without it he was a soft-spoken, well-mannered and truly lovable character. His commitment, his never-say-die attitude and his determination are hard to emulate. Cricket has always been about timing and again Anil got it absolutely right, even in his farewell moment.

Statistical analysis of Michael Vaughan’s Test career

Siddhartha Talya30-Jun-2009Michael Vaughan’s retirement from all cricket is a reflection of sport’s inherent cruelty. England’s most successful Test captain, who led his team to victory in the Ashes after 18 years and oversaw a phase of prosperity rare for recent England teams, Vaughan endured a tearful resignation from captaincy following a poor run, was dropped, and quit the game after failing to win a spot with Yorkshire. Nevertheless, Vaughan triggered a resurgence in English cricket and his batting has been almost peerless for its grace and consistency.In terms of just numbers, Vaughan had a relatively quiet start in Tests but soon earned a reputation for contributing in crunch games. He scored his first half-century in that infamous match against South Africa at Centurion in January 2000, and contributed a valuable 41 in the fourth innings in his team’s two-wicket win over West Indies at Lord’s the same year.Vaughan’s Test career can be analysed in three phases. In his first 19 Tests, Vaughan averaged 36.50 with two centuries. His 20th Test, against India in England’s 170-run win at Lord’s in the summer of 2002, brought him into the limelight – he finished the year as the highest run-scorer – and sowed the seeds of his success in Australia later in the year. Vaughan averaged 102.50 in the series against India, and in his 41 Tests since the start of that series, a period spanning three years, he remained England’s highest run-getter, and the fifth-highest overall.However, his last 22 Tests, despite the euphoria of an emotional century against West Indies at Headingley in 2007, which marked his return to international cricket after an injury that ruled him out for more than a year, were his least successful, and eventually proved his undoing. Scores of 16, 2, 0, 21, 0 and 17 in his last six innings, coupled with a series defeat to South Africa at Edgbaston in July 2008, his last as captain and for England, culminated in a break from the international circuit.

Vaughan scored the most when he opened, but adapted well to his role at No.3. As opener, he formed one of the world’s most successful opening combinations with Marcus Trescothick. The pair averaged 48.76 and is currently in fifth place in the list of top opening combinations since 1999 in terms of runs scored, and fifth for England overall. He favoured playing at home, scoring 13 of his 18 centuries in England, and averaging 46.07 – a difference of almost ten compared to his average overseas. (Click here for his career summary.)Despite the blip in figures outside of England, Vaughan’s career overseas has included some notable performances that have displayed his ability to challenge the best in the world, in both pace and spin. His 183 against Australia in Sydney laid the foundation for England’s solitary Test win in the 2002-03 Ashes, but probably his best outing with the bat came against Sri Lanka in Kandy in December 2003, when he scored 52 and 105 to help England fight out a draw on the final day. His unbeaten 82 and 54 in Johannesburg in 2005 proved crucial in England’s first series win in South Africa for almost 40 years -in fact, Vaughan, before the lay-off due to injury towards the end of 2005, was England’s second-highest run-getter both home and overseas since he made his debut.However, Vaughan was not as prolific as some of his competitors while he was enjoying the most fruitful phase of his career. He was one of the top run-getters in the period, but was at No.7 in the ranking list of batsmen based on averages.

Vaughan took particular liking to India, against whom he averaged 72.57 – the second-highest among England batsmen who’ve scored 1000 runs or more against India – in nine Tests with four centuries. Three of them came in that one series in 2002, but the final one was perhaps the best among them, as he battled to 124 in a losing cause after England had conceded a massive first-innings lead at Trent Bridge in 2007. The defeat eventually resulted in Vaughan’s first series defeat at home as captain, and spiralled a run that ultimately led to his resignation. (Click here for Vaughan’s series summary as captain.)Vaughan’s greatest contribution to England, though, was his captaincy. England have won more games under his leadership than any other captain, and he is one of only 13 captains to have led their team to more than 20 wins in the longest version. Thrust into the role after Nasser Hussain’s resignation during the home series against South Africa in 2003, Vaughan began poorly with an innings defeat at Lord’s, but recovered well with victory at Trent Bridge and a series-levelling win at The Oval.

But the golden phase kicked off with series wins against West Indies both home and away, whitewashes against New Zealand and Bangladesh, a historic 2-1 win in South Africa and the ultimate prize, the Ashes in the summer of 2005. Vaughan had led England to six consecutive series wins in over a year including seven successive Test wins, which, added to a win against New Zealand under Trescothick, turned out to be England’s best run of victories in Tests.

However, his second phase as captain was disappointing. England faltered in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and suffered their first series defeat at the hands of India at home since 1986. An unprecedented home loss to South Africa was decisive in Vaughan’s exit, and though his batting average in the second part of his tenure was only slightly lower than the first, a torrid final series where he managed just 40 in five innings compounded his woes. (Click here for Vaughan’s batting record as captain.)

The D/L method as applied to Twenty20 is a sawed-off version of the system governing ODIs. There’s a need to adapt the method for the short form based on actual Twenty20 match data

Rajeeva Karandikar and Srinivas Bhogle13-May-2010On May 3, 2010, there were two curious applications of the Duckworth-Lewis method in the ICC World Twenty20. West Indies defeated England even though they only scored 60 for 2 in 6 six overs in reply to England’s 191 for 5, and Sri Lanka came perilously close to being eliminated because Zimbabwe were only required to score 44 in five overs to defeat Sri Lanka’s 173 for 7.There was outrage at the D/L targets and also surprise. The D/L method is now proven in 50-over matches, so why was it giving wonky targets in Twenty20 matches? Clearly it was because the ICC was trying to fit a model designed for 50-over matches to 20-over games. The fit wasn’t working. The trousers were too big.What can a young lad do if he’s forced to wear his dad’s trousers? Essentially one of two things: cut off the long legs and walk around pretending the trousers now fit, or put the trousers in a washing machine and hope they shrink sufficiently.The ICC has so far chosen the first method. It’s surprising we didn’t have situations like the ones on May 3 earlier. Our little calculation, which we will explain as we go along, suggests that the shrunken trousers might have done a better job that day.The Duckworth-Lewis rationale
Till D/L came along, ODI targets for the team chasing were only based on overs remaining: if the team batting first scored 250 in 50 overs and then rain washed out 25 overs, the team chasing only had to score 125+1 = 126 to win, with all 10 wickets in hand, which was obviously unfair.New variants were therefore tried, including the much-maligned “most-productive overs” (MPO) idea. MPO isn’t such a bad idea if the interruption occurs between the two innings, but it wasn’t capable of handling one or more during-the-innings interruptions. The horror of a South Africa target of 22 runs in 13 balls turning into the impossible 21 runs off one ball was an extreme manifestation of this inability.The D/L method cleverly combined overs remaining and wickets in hand into a single combined resource. It wasn’t easy to model this complex interplay between the two resources, but Duckworth and Lewis did it quite brilliantly. Better still, their method solved the vexing problem of during-the-innings interruptions.Over the years the D/L method has become even better, especially after the Professional Edition, which required the use of a computer, was introduced. It would be fair to say that the method now resolves interruptions in 50-over matches almost perfectly.The D/L system currently in use in ODIs. Click for largerThe D/L method is well explained in the first graph to the right. When the team chasing begins its innings, it is like an ant sitting at the top left corner of the graph. There are 50 overs remaining and the “combined resource” available is the full 100%.There are 10 curves in the graph, corresponding, to the number of wickets remaining. At the start of the innings our ant is at the topmost point of the top curve, corresponding to “10 wickets remaining”. After every ball is bowled, the ant moves a step to the right along the curve. If a wicket falls, the ant drops vertically to the curve below.Now, suppose 20 overs have been bowled and two wickets have been lost. The ant will be in line with “30 overs remaining”, and on the green curve, corresponding to “8 wickets remaining”. A visual guess suggests that about 65% of the combined resource is still available. If, instead, five wickets are down at this stage, the ant would be on the orange curve and the combined resource would only be 45%.Finally, imagine that 20 overs are lost at this stage due to rain. What would our ant do? Well, it would simply trot down the green (or orange) curve and stop at the point corresponding to 10 overs remaining. The combined resource now available would be about 30% for the green line and about 25% for the orange line.So at every stage of the match we know exactly how much of the combined resource percentage is still available. Let’s call this R2. And let R1 be the combined resource that was available to the team batting first (would be 100% if the 50 overs are completed or all 10 wickets are lost). Let S be the score of the team batting first. The D/L target and the par score are then calculated by playing around with R1, R2 and S.If we stare a little more at these curves, we’ll find that D/L has been rather clever. Look at the higher curves (corresponding to 10, 9 or 8 wickets remaining). They aren’t coming down too quickly to start with, because wickets in hand tend to be more valuable in the early part of the chase, but towards the end all the curves seem to fuse into one single, fat curve, because as the match nears its end, overs and balls remaining are far more valuable than wickets in hand.The complete evolution of a limited-overs match can therefore be gleaned by looking at the entire span of the curves. That’s how dad’s trousers look.D/L for Twenty20 by cutting the trousers
Let’s now see what we are doing when we try to employ D/L for Twenty20. We’re cutting off our full curves and only retaining the part to the right of “20 overs remaining”, i.e. pretending that a Twenty20 is simply an ODI reduced to 20 overs a side. This is a convenient assumption, . How many ODIs can we recall in which not a single wicket has fallen after 30 overs? And what do we do about the field restrictions in the first six overs of a Twenty20?To get an idea of how things change when we look at D/L curves only to the right of “20 overs remaining”, compare the second graph with the first.The D/L system currently in use in Twenty20. Click for largerThese curves are a lot flatter, and when only five or six overs remain, the top six or seven curves collapse to become almost a diagonal. It is as if D/L is saying, “I don’t care about wickets in hand at this stage, my targets only depend on overs remaining.” In other words, we’re almost back to the pre-D/L days of run rate-based targets, even if we go through the motions of using D/L.In the England-West Indies match. England scored at 9.55 runs per over. Using a simple run rate-based target, West Indies only needed to score 9.55*6 = 58. The D/L target, if the match had been reduced to six overs at the start of the innings, would have be 66, i.e. a run rate of 11 per over. An increase of 66 – 58 = 8 runs just can’t offset the very considerable advantage that West Indies would have enjoyed: of having all 10 batsmen, favourable field restrictions for two of the six overs, and a hard ball.However, the rain interruption didn’t occur at the innings break. West Indies came out to chase believing they would play their full 20 overs. After a 14-ball blitzkrieg, in which they scored 30 runs without losing a single wicket, there was a spell of rain and the match was curtailed to six overs. This very severe “during-the-innings” interruption further hurt D/L and gave West Indies a massive advantage: they now had to get six runs fewer, i.e. 60 in six overs!West Indies further helped their cause by not losing a single wicket before the interruption. If they had been, say, 30 for 2 instead, the D/L target would have been 71. All the good fairies had apparently come together to bless West Indies and damn D/L.If the Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe match had been reduced to five overs at the start of the innings, the D/L target for Zimbabwe would have been 52, i.e. a run rate of 10.4 to counter Sri Lanka’s run rate of 8.65. This again seems excessively generous, especially with two overs of field restrictions.That match, too, went awry. It rained after Zimbabwe had scored 4 without loss after the first over. They returned to bat imagining they had about 100 more to get in 10 more overs. Sadly, they failed to stay ahead of the par score; if Zimbabwe had scored 40 in the next four overs with just the loss of that one wicket, they would have won a thoroughly undeserved victory.These examples provide further proof that D/L is in deep trouble if the overs come down to just five or six in a Twenty20, though it is noteworthy that even with a minimum of 10 overs, the D/L model regains reasonable control.D/L for Twenty20 by shrinking the trousers
Imagine for a moment that we had to describe Twenty20 cricket to someone who woke up after a ten-year slumber. Would we say that Twenty20 is “like the last 20 overs of an ODI”, or would we say that it is “like a complete ODI in which everything happens much, much faster”?We rather fancy the latter. Why not, then, assume that the complete D/L curves, designed for 50-over matches, also adequately depict the evolution of a Twenty20 match?We fiddled around with the over-by-over D/L standard tables (available in the public domain) to do exactly that. Here’s (third graph) how the curves appear now, with the recalibrated combined resources.The proposed D/L system for Twenty20. Click for largerHow would the England-West Indies match have panned out using this “shrunken trousers” model for D/L? Our calculations indicate that West Indies would have needed to score 69 in 6 overs if the match had evolved in exactly the same fashion with that interruption at 30 for no loss after 14 balls.A target of 69 certainly appears more reasonable, but what if the interruption had occurred between the innings and West Indies knew from the start that they only had six overs to bat? The target then would have been 87, or 14.4 runs per over, with only two overs of field restrictions. This appears steep, but we mustn’t forget that 191 too is a lot of runs.If Zimbabwe knew from the start that they could only bat for five overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 173, their target to win would have been 68, at 13.5 runs per over, with two overs of field restrictions. But given the way the match actually panned out, with an interruption at 4 without loss after the first over, Zimbabwe’s target using this shrinking model would have been 60 in five. This must appear much more reassuring than a mere 44.Send for the tailor
The shrunken-trousers model certainly appears to give more satisfactory results than the cut-trousers one for the two matches on May 3, but we would need to look at many more examples before we can recommend the former with any degree of authority; there is a lurking fear that it may set very high targets, especially if the interruption occurs between innings.There is also the problem of field restrictions in the first six overs. D/L has never accommodated this batting phase into its mix. The D/L explanation is that the more adventurous batting during the field-restriction phase is compensated by the greater propensity to lose wickets. This explanation seems valid in 50-over matches, where the loss of a wicket significantly reduces the combined resource percentage. But in Twenty20, especially with the cut-trousers model practiced currently, losing a wicket brings down the combined resource percentage by much less, if at all, and it is much less likely to inhibit adventurous strokeplay. Given the nature of Twenty20, and the sort of audience they attract, it may be worthwhile to retain field restrictions during the first six overs at all times, whatever the state of the match!All these fixes are only for the short term. There is a compelling and urgent need to redraw D/L-like curves for Twenty20 based on actual Twenty20 match data. The IPL repository itself contains about 175 matches, and there must be at least 100 match-data sets from international games. We feel certain that D/L can come up with these new curves, and if they don’t feel so inclined, we would be happy to participate in a parallel initiative.

Deficiency in the spin department can hurt South Africa’s prospects in the Test series, and their current spin options haven’t shown much promise

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Feb-2010Some might bill this contest as the world championship of Test cricket, but if you weigh the overall resources available to both contestants the scales are tipped against South Africa in one important area: the spin department. The lack of a good spinner, forget a match-winner, has always kept South Africa almost famous.Just like the chokers tag, South Africa have never been able to convincingly erase another dark spot – the absence of a slow bowler who can support the well-equipped fast-bowling bench. It is to their credit then that they have an enviable record in India, which even supersedes the Australians. A combination of a strong, and deep, batting line-up, lethal fast bowlers and the ability to slip into the saddle quickly has always kept the South African challenge honest. The India series gives them another chance to be No.1, but already the signs are ominous.On the first of the two-day warm-up match, played on a sporting pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium, South Africa’s spinners were a troubled lot, as 20-year-olds saw them off with ridiculous ease. Paul Harris was whipped into submission by Manish Pandey in the hour leading to the lunch break. And when he returned, an hour later, Abhishek Nayar swept and cut him, forcing Graeme Smith to dispatch his premier spinner into the deep corners of the field for the rest of the afternoon.Johan Botha flattered to deceive as he began with a quick, straighter delivery that beat the defence of Cheteshwar Pujara. But the offspinner has been rendered largely ineffective after the ICC banned his (in May 2009), a delivery that fetched him large number of wickets during his early years in first-class cricket and raised the aspirations of various South African think-tanks. Today he failed to get any break off the pitch, despite the true bounce, and was unsuccessful in lending flight consistently.JP Duminy, the third spinner, used sparingly by Smith in the past, was left practising the on the sidelines during the tea break, and never got the breadth to exercise his true potential.With Jacques Kallis being reduced to a bits-and-pieces bowler on flat Indian pitches prone to favour turn, the visitors are likely find themselves in a desperate situation unless they fix their spin problems. Fortunately for them, according to two experts, South Africa have the ability to stand strong against the might of the Indian batting order, which has demoralised spinners at home, counting among its victims Shane Warne and, most recently, Muttiah Muralitharan. Murali arrived in India for the three-Test series 17 short of becoming the first bowler to take 800 wickets, but returned home a spent force and still nine away from the historic mark.Daryl Cullinan, one of the few South Africans to work out the menace of Murali in his prime, said Smith needs to admit he lacks the spinners who could catch the Indians in the wake, and opt for a defensive approach. “I don’t think many spinners come to India and dominate. So the best contribution (from the spinners) would be in looking to contain,” Cullinan told Cricinfo. He added the peculiar nature of Indian pitches would only aggravate the visitors’ agony. “They are going to be under pressure but a lot will depend on the wicket. I don’t expect the surfaces to be sporting at all. If that is the case then our spinners might have to battle.”But, quite contrary to Cullinan, Pat Symcox, his former team-mate was positive about the spin combination being a potent force. “There is no doubt that Paul Harris, Johan Botha and even JP Duminy have the wherewithal to pull the job,” Symcox said. “If Botha can mentally overcome what has happened to him over the last two years, he is a good spinner. Duminy is extremely under-rated. The question that remains is whether they can adjust quickly to the conditions that are going to prevail.”Still, the numbers in the past have not been encouraging. Symcox, once South Africa’s premier offspinner, had a forgettable time in India: During the 1996 tour, where India won the Test series 2-1, his six wickets came an average of 54. In the same series, Paul Adams grabbed 14 wickets at 20. But the most successful South African slow bowler in India has been Nicky Boje, who played a winning hand in South Africa’s series win in 2000, picking seven wickets in two Tests at 16, including a five-for.However, Symcox has plenty of faith in the current spin attack. He also does not want to read too much into the performance in the warm-up. “Having experienced it myself I felt we should not read too much into the warm-up because it is about finding the feet, finding the rhythm and getting adjusted to the local conditions,” he said. The winning strategy, Symcox said, would be for the South African batsmen to put enough runs on the board which, then, would allow the spinners to attack for an extended period of time. “If not then they will have to adopt the defensive mode.”The stale form of Harris, though, is a growing concern, a factor acknowledged by both Smith and his bowling coach Vincent Barnes. Symcox is more sympathetic towards the tall left-arm spinner, who he reckons is just as much off the boil as India’s No. 1 spinner Harbhajan Singh had been in the past. “Form comes and goes and that is one of the mysteries of the game. Like Harbhajan Singh, who also has to answer the same questions,” he says. Symcox defended Harris, saying a big factor for his decline had been the chronic lack of support on South African tracks which have little in them for spinners.But even while playing overseas, Harris confronts a tide of numbers against him. There is a significant difference in his home and away averages: in South Africa, he has played 15 Tests, taking 44 wickets at 31, while on foreign surfaces, he has taken 38 wickets in 12 Tests at 36. Incidentally, his record against India is his worst against any opposition: in four Tests he has managed 13 wickets at 45. And his performance in India has been dispiriting – he’s played three Tests, taking eight wickets at 51.Though Harris was consistent in 2009, with 26 wickets in six Tests at 33, he’s experienced a decline since his debut in 2007 when he took 29 wickets in nine Tests at 24. But Cullinan and Symcox remain hopeful. “Both Botha and Harris are not big turners, but on wickets that have irregular turn and bounce they can be effective,” Cullinan said.

Given the lack of experience, swing, and discipline, India have it all stacked up against them on the bowling front

Sidharth Monga in Galle17-Jul-2010Sometimes some places inspire people. On their last Test tour, when India came to Galle, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma were two such inspired men. The batting had been destroyed in Colombo and, apart from Virender Sehwag, it had failed again in Galle. Harbhajan then produced perhaps his bowling effort of recent times, and Ishant followed it up with a match-winning burst in the sapping heat on the final afternoon.Back to playing in front of the magnificent Galle Fort, India will need nothing less than similar inspiration from both men if they are to harbour any thoughts of winning this match, or any other in the series. There will be no Zaheer Khan here to guide Ishant, no Anil Kumble to block the other end for Harbhajan. On top of that, they will have to contend with a reinvented Tillakaratne Dilshan and a more stable Sri Lankan batting line-up.Apart from Harbhajan, who will be hoping he doesn’t get another bout of fever overnight, the rest of the Indian attack has played only 26 Tests. Out of them, Abhimanyu Mithun, a favourite right now ahead of Munaf Patel, will be making his debut, and Pragyan Ojha, ahead of Amit Mishra who had a horrible tour game, has played only one Test.Not since the Kanpur Test in April 2008 against South Africa, when Ishant, Sreesanth, Harbhajan and Piyush Chawla were the bowlers, have India played such an inexperienced bowling attack. And this is no one-off Test: there will be no reinforcements during the series. And this is no bowlers’ heaven like Kanpur was. And in Sri Lanka’s humidity, this is as much a physical test as it is of skill.Apart from that lack of experience, at the heart of India’s problems is the lack of swing bowlers. Both Zaheer and Sreesanth swing the ball; neither of Ishant, Mithun and Munaf is a specialist swing bowler. They are not bad bowlers, but Sri Lanka is not the ideal place for their hit-the-deck style. In the tour game, Chanaka Welegedara, the most impressive of fast bowlers on either side, got the ball to swing and removed Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, and almost got Gautam Gambhir in one spell.”It’s not that our bowlers are not swing bowlers,” MS Dhoni said. “[But] their strength is bowling back of a length on the off stump. But it depends on the conditions. If you’re a good Test bowler, you have to vary your length. And Ishant has done that in the past. Depending on whether we are playing in India or Australia, he has varied his length, so a lot depends on what kind of wicket you get and what time of the day you’re bowling.”There is also the small issue of the physical weakness Harbhajan will experience after the flu that kept him out of action almost throughout the tour. Dhoni, though, sounded confident of the part Harbhajan would play in the game. “He’s a bit weak, and that’s what happens when you come out of the flu,” Dhoni said. “He spent some time bowling today, and he is batting right now as we speak in the press conference, so we are hoping that he will be 100% fit for the game.”Dhoni may have sounded positive about other aspects, but he was not at all pleased with the 36 no-balls that the Indians bowled in the tour game in Colombo. “That’s definitely a big worry because if you get a wicket in Test matches, especially on flat tracks, and that’s a no-ball, you have only yourself to blame,” he said. “Hopefully we can reduce the number. If we can get it down to zero, that’s the best we can do, but the amount of no-balls we bowled were quite a few. And surprisingly even the spinners bowled a lot of no-balls.” The chief culprit, Mishra, who overstepped 17 times, is not likely to play in Galle.Given the lack of experience, swing, and discipline (going by how they went in the tour game), India have it all stacked against them on the bowling front. Needless to say, it will also put extra pressure on the batsmen. Playing at home, the beast called Sri Lankan cricket preys on such weaknesses. At the end of three back-to-back Tests, India will have done really well to survive this test.