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Martin Guptill has been ruled out of the remainder of the England series due to a thumb injury

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2013Martin Guptill, the New Zealand batsman, has been ruled out of the remainder of the England series due to a thumb injury. Guptill needs surgery to repair the ligament damage he suffered on his left thumb earlier in the series. He will be replaced by Otago’s Hamish Rutherford, who made his debut earlier this week, in the one-day squad.Guptill has been a regular at the top of the order for several years across all formats, and his injury will further weaken an already fragile Test batting line-up in the three matches coming up against England.He played a key role in New Zealand’s win in the first one-dayer on Sunday, when he batted on one leg after a hamstring injury to help complete a narrow victory.The New Zealand team physiotherapist, Paul Close, said that Guptill could have continued to play in the short term despite the thumb injury, but decided to push for the operation early. “We felt it was best to get Martin right for the tour to England in May and June,” Close said, “so the next couple of months were seen as the best window to have the surgery.”The one-day series is tied 1-1 with the final match on Saturday. The first of the three Tests in the series starts on March 6th in Dunedin.

A round-up of the action from the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches played on February 26

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2012

South Zone

Hyderabad upset Tamil Nadu by 36 runs at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground in Bangalore to make the knockouts. Hyderabad’s 333 for 9 was set up by an opening stand of 151 between T Suman and Ravi Teja. Suman hit 122 off 117 with 17 boundaries while Teja contributed 69 off 78. There were three cameos down the order that lifted Hyderabad well above 300. Tamil Nadu began with a big opening partnership as well, when S Anirudha and Abhinav Mukund put on 135 in quick time. Anirudha’s dismissal for 77 off 70 led to wickets falling regularly even as Mukund kept scoring at the other end. It was Teja who did the damage with his legbreaks, taking his maiden List A five-for. His victims included S Badrinath, Arun Karthik and eventually, Mukund, who was the sixth man to be dismissed with the score on 257. Teja also took the last wicket to fall as Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 297 in the 48th over to be knocked out of the tournament.

Robin Uthappa made a century and Abrar Kazi took four wickets as Karnataka finished on top of the South Zone points table with a 56-run defeat of Andhra at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Uthappa, who cracked 104 off 95, added 78 upfront with Mayank Agarwal (42) and 117 with Ganesh Satish (67). Karnataka were in a dominant position at 195 for 1 in the 31st over but fell apart after Uthappa’s dismissal . They managed 275 in the end but it was to prove more than enough. Only opener Prasanth Kumar (61) challenged Karnataka’s attack as the rest subsided in several wasted starts. Kazi ended with 4 for 33 as Andhra were dismissed for 219.

Goa beat Kerala by 98 runs in an inconsequential match at the Aditya Academy Ground in Bangalore. Reagan Pinto (65) and Rohit Asnodkar (45) laid the base for Robin D’Souza to smash an unbeaten 44 off 29 which took Goa to 250 for 8. Kerala had a disastrous start to their chase when they were reduced to 26 for 4. Robert Fernandez (52) and P Anthaf (44) took the score past 100 but once they were dismissed, Kerala crumbled to be bowled out for 152 in the 40th over. Sher Yadav took 4 for 21 for Goa.

North Zone

Delhi secured progress from North Zone with what ended up being a tense win against Haryana at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi were cruising at 174 for 3 in the 41st over, chasing 214, but a couple of wickets caused a slowdown, and the game went into the final over before captain Rajat Bhatia struck the winning runs to maintain Delhi’s 100% record in this year’s tournament. It did not look like the game would be that close when Mohit Sharma was in the middle. He scored 68 off 65 balls, and after a slow start seemed to have put Delhi on course for an easy win. A couple of strikes from Haryana kept them in the game but their total of 213 was not enough.The below-par total was a result of Haryana losing three wickets in the first 20 overs, and their middle order not being able to accelerate. Parvinder Awana took two early wickets, and then returned to take another, to finish with figures of 3 for 31 from his 10 overs, with three maidens. Sachin Rana and Rahul Dewan put together a partnership of 75 to help Haryana recover from the early losses, but the runs came slowly. Haryana left the acceleration too later – Kuldeep Hooda played a couple of big shots right at the end – and their total was not big enough.

Punjab gave themselves a good chance of qualifying for the next round, with a 131-run hiding of Services, at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi, that earned them a bonus point. It was a comprehensive performance from Punjab: the top order fired to get them to a total of 288 for 6, and the bowlers skittled Services for 157. Gurkirat Ahluwalia, playing only his fifth List A game, scored 108 off 103 balls, and was given company first by Ravi Inder Singh, who scored 51, and then India Under-19 star Mandeep Singh, who got 62 off 65 balls.Services were out of the contest as early as 10.3 overs into the chase, by when they had slipped to 23 for 3. Ravi Inder Singh kept the middle order in check with his offspin, and finished with 3 for 38. Services lumbered to 157 in 43 overs before being bowled out.

Jammu & Kashmir’s winless run continued as they lost to Himachal Pradesh by three wickets at the Model Sports Club in Delhi. J & K did well to get back into the game, after Himachal were 152 for 3 chasing 212, and pushed the game till the penultimate over. Left-arm spinner Raman Dutta took 3 for 32 and helped make the game close, but Himachal’s top three had done enough to ensure the target was achieved. J & K had lost wickets regularly in the first innings with No. 10 Ram Dayal top-scoring with 34 not out off 25 balls. The wickets were shared around by Himachal’s bowlers. Rahul Singh was the most successful, taking 3 for 39.

Central Zone

A century by Shivakant Shukla helped Railways beat Rajasthan in Nagpur and finish top of the Central Zone table. Shukla’s 122 guided Railways’ chase of 246 and got them home with three overs and seven wickets to spare. Rajasthan lost early wickets after being put in but Robin Bist and Puneet Yadav helped them recover. Yadav’s 81 came off 91 balls, but Bist took 110 balls to reach 74, which meant Rajasthan’s run-rate did not rise much above four till the 40th over. Yadav and Raman Chahar accelerated towards the end but the total of 245 was not enough to challenge Railways, who finished the group stage with a 100% record.

A 37-run ninth wicket partnership gave Vidarbha a two-wicket win against Madhya Pradesh at Jamtha, but MP still qualified ahead of Vidarbha on account of having scored more bonus points in the group stages. Urvesh Patel was Vidarbha’s hero, as he helped them recover from 144 for 6 to chase 234 in 44.5 overs. Amol Ubarhande had given Vidarbha a platform with a half-century, but his dismissal in the 22nd over started a slide. Urvesh Patel stayed solid at one end as Vidarbha slipped to 163 for 7 and then 197 for 8. He found support in Nos. 9 and 10, and moved to 86 not out to take his team to victory. MP had reached 233 thanks to Rameez Khan’s 97, and though they lost they are still in the tournament.*

West Zone

Yusuf Pathan smashed ten sixes in making an unbeaten hundred as Baroda beat Saurashtra by 52 runs at the Bandra Kurla Complex ground in Mumbai. Yusuf built on the start given by Kedar Devdhar and Aditya Waghmode who put on 75 upfront. There weren’t any big contributions from the middle order apart from Yusuf, who kept hitting sixes all around the ground. He was finally bowled on 114 off 78 deliveries with six fours and ten sixes. Baroda set a stiff target of 316 and Munaf Patel immediately jolted Saurasthra, bowling Sagar Jogiyani off his fourth delivery which jagged in from short of a length. Shitanshu Kotak and Cheteshwar Pujara could not carry on for long but Sheldon Jackson kept Saurashtra in the game with his maiden List A hundred. Jackson benefitted from a few dropped chances but did not back off from playing his strokes in making 117 off 120 with seven fours and five sixes. As with Yusuf, there wasn’t much help for Jackson from the rest of the line-up and Saurashtra were dismissed for 263 in the 45th over. Left-arm spinners Bhargav Bhatt and Swapnil Singh finished with three wickets each.

Ankit Bawne and Akshay Darekar starred as Maharashtra defeated Mumbai by 15 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Bawne made an unbeaten 93 to take Maharashtra to a competitive 254 for 8. Sangram Atitkar chipped in with 54. Dhawal Kulkarni and Abhishek Nayar took two wickets each for Mumbai. Mumbai’s top order failed again with only Nayar (42) managing to make more than 20. Anupam Sanklecha and Darekar soon had Mumbai reeling at 130 for 6 before Iqbal Abdulla and Ankeet Chavan started the repair job. The duo hit fifties to take Mumbai past 200 but Darekar had both batsmen caught by Nikhil Paradkar and dismissed Kshemal Waingankar for a duck to end the innings on 239 in the 49th over. With this result, though, Maharashtra and Mumbai have both progressed to the knockouts.

East Zone

Assam entered the knockouts with a 46-run victory over Jharkhand at Eden Gardens. Dheeraj Jadhav made yet another century this season and R Sathish was not far behind with a quick 82 as Assam surged to 301 for 9. While Jadhav was relatively patient in his 107 off 120, Sathish clubbed nine boundaries in racing to 82 off 59. Shiv Gautam and Saurabh Tiwary did for Jharkhand what Jadhav and Sathish had done for Assam. Gautam struck 124 off 129 while Tiwary made 76 off 83 in helping Jharkhand recover from 27 for 2. The rest of the line-up, though, did not turn up and the third-highest score by a Jharkhand batsman was just 11. Deepak Gohain led Assam’s assault with 4 for 46 while Abu Nechim, back after injuring himself during the Duleep Trophy semi-final against North Zone, claimed 3 for 68.

Bengal also made the knockouts from East Zone with a 30-run win over Tripura in a low-scoring game at the Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata. Wriddhiman Saha held a faltering innings together with a patient 66 after Rana Dutta and Sanjay Majumder had rocked the Bengal top order. Saha took Bengal to 198 in the end. Laxmi Shukla and Sanjib Sanyal grabbed four wickets apiece in Tripura’s chase which seemed to be over at 80 for 8 in the 22nd over. Manisankar Murasingh (66) and Dutta (24 not out) more than doubled the score, though, in an 86-run partnership to bring the visitors back. Sanyal ensured Bengal would come out on top when he had Murasingh caught in the 37th over. The innings ended on 168 in the next over when Bengal captain Sourav Ganguly trapped Majumder lbw. Ganguly had gone lbw as well, for 8.*February 27, 2012 9:49 GMT: This report originally said Vidarbha had qualified ahead of Madhya Pradesh from Central Zone. It has been corrected.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the second ODI between Australia and England in Hobart

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale20-Jan-2011

Match Facts

Matt Prior’s Big Bash stint with Victoria was short-lived, and he is back in England’s one-day side•Getty Images

January 21, Hobart

Start time 14.20 (03.20 GMT)

The Big Picture

The first game at the MCG was the last chance for both teams to answer any selection queries before finalising their World Cup squads. And not everyone who played has made the cut – Steven Davies, Chris Tremlett and Xavier Doherty, for example. Now both teams can really begin their World Cup preparations in earnest.Shane Watson’s brilliant unbeaten 161 on Sunday gave Australia a 1-0 series lead, but the reality is that apart from Watson’s innings, the rest of Australia’s performance was no more than middling. Michael Clarke took up 57 balls and got out without hitting a boundary, and in the field his team allowed England to post nearly 300, with a few too many missed run-outs and stumpings and dropped catches. Australia’s World Cup defence begins in just over a month, and they need to be working better as a unit instead of being carried by one magnificent individual effort.Not that England can be very pleased with their display at the MCG, either. After 30 overs they’d posted 3 for 174, a position from which they should have reached well over 300. And their attack, without James Anderson, didn’t look terribly threatening. They too need to hone their form ahead of the World Cup, and they’ll do so in Hobart without Graeme Swann, who has a knee problem.Both teams have been hit by fitness concerns, with Michael Hussey now at home in Perth after undergoing surgery on a serious hamstring injury he picked up while running a sharp two during the win at the MCG. The Australians are also without Mitchell Johnson, who has a throat infection and didn’t fly to Hobart with the team. “He has improved in the last 24 hours and is expected to meet the team in Sydney on Saturday,” the physio Alex Kountouris said.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWLLL

England LWLLW

Watch out for…

Remember Nathan Hauritz? He’s that spinner Australia had been grooming for two years only to discard him on the eve of the Ashes in favour of a one-day specialist who failed to hold his place after two Tests. And now that one-day specialist, Xavier Doherty, has been cut from the limited-overs team, leaving Hauritz as the main man for the World Cup. He hasn’t played for his country since November 5, and rest assured he wants to stick it to the selectors who didn’t stick with him.Like Hauritz, Matt Prior didn’t play the opening ODI in Melbourne. Davies was the preferred gloveman, which was an odd choice given Prior’s powerful striking and impressive form during the Ashes. But come World Cup selection time, England went with the experience of Prior, and as a result he’s finished his Twenty20 stint with Victoria and flown to Hobart to join the one-day squad. He’ll open the batting with Andrew Strauss, and the Australians know that if they don’t get rid of Prior early, he could be a matchwinner.

Team news

Things have changed since the first match. Australia’s World Cup squad has been settled, so Doherty has made way for Hauritz, but there are also a couple of other issues for Australia. Hussey’s place in the middle order is likely to be filled by Shaun Marsh, who didn’t make the World Cup squad but is a possible replacement if Hussey is ruled out of that tournament. And Johnson’s throat infection should mean a place for Shaun Tait, who had back stiffness in Melbourne and was rested as a precaution.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 Cameron White, 5 David Hussey, 6 Shaun Marsh, 7 Steven Smith, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Doug Bollinger, 11 Shaun Tait.Prior has come in to take the place of Davies, and it will be a straight swap at the top of the order. Swann will also miss out due to a knee injury, and his spot should be taken by James Tredwell, who is set to play his third one-day international. Paul Collingwood will have to wait for his chance to break back in to the side.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Matt Prior (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Michael Yardy, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 Ajmal Shahzad.

Stats and trivia

• The teams have only met once before in an ODI at Bellerive Oval, back in 2002-03, when Australia won by seven runs
• With no Anderson, England’s attack is so inexperienced that Tim Bresnan is the leading wicket-taker amongst the bowlers, with 38 ODI victims
• Australia’s win-loss ratio at Bellerive is better than at any other venue in the country – they have won 10 of the 14 ODIs they’ve played in Hobart

Quotes

“We’ve got a lot of improvement to do, definitely, with the ball and in the field at the start of our innings especially.”
“You look at Shane Watson in the last game getting 161 – it’s a match-winning total. Those are the types of innings that all batsmen are looking to get and realising that their 40s, 50s and 60s don’t win games.”

England Lions opened their three-week tour with a comfortable 52-run victory against UAE A, but it needed an impressive spell from James Tredwell to restrict the home side

Cricinfo staff10-Feb-2010
ScorecardEngland Lions opened their three-week tour with a comfortable 52-run victory against UAE A, but it needed a three-wicket spell from James Tredwell and a tight burst from Peter Trego to restrict the home side after a rapid start from their openers as they chased 185.Amjad Ali and Indika Sampath added 51 in 5.2 overs against the pace bowlers with Sajid Mahmood being dispatched for 19 from his one over and, as so often in Twenty20, it took the introduction of spin to slow the scoring rate. Tredwell, who will switch to the full England squad for the Bangladesh tour later this month, struck with his second ball to remove Ali (24) and also added Sampath (33) followed by Swapnil Patil, while Adil Rashid played his part with the wicket of Shaiman Anwar.Trego then ensured there was no late charge from the hosts with a miserly spell of four overs that cost 14 runs and also brought two wickets. Trego, the Somerset allrounder, had early provided the late punch to the Lions innings with 25 off 10 balls including three sixes and was named Man of the Match.He added 47 in 18 balls with Ian Bell who ended unbeaten on 37 from 21 deliveries. The Lions had opened the innings with two wicketkeepers and both Steven Davies and Craig Kieswetter scored at a good rate before Michael Lumb kept up the tempo at No. 3 with 42 from 32 balls.The scoring slowed after Kieswetter and Lumb departed as offspinner Salman Farooq bowled his four overs for 18 and Rohan Mustafa also contained well as he conceded a run-a-ball. However, the Lions were able to press the accelerator in the closing overs in a performance that will have helped shake off the early-tour rust.

South Africa will look to continue building their white-ball brand of cricket under all-format coach Shukri Conrad

Firdose Moonda01-Sep-2025

Big picture

Have you caught your breath? Had a cuppa? Realised that barely 40 hours have passed since Joe Root was playing in the Hundred final and he will be at it again, this time for England in a 50-over contest against South Africa? It’s still (sort of) summer, England, and even though the rains have started to roll in, this is your swansong.South Africa are back, with far less at stake than was the case three months ago, when they competed in the World Test Championship final. Then, everything was on the line, including their reputation as bottlers. Now, with a mace in the cabinet and a captain who is celebrated as a national hero, there is relief and expectation that the next trophy they lift will be the 2027 ODI World Cup, at home.Of course, the small matter of next year’s T20 World Cup remains and, of course, South Africa will be among the contenders but the longer white-ball format is in focus now, especially after they completed a fifth straight successive series win over Australia. South Africa have travelled 16,500 kilometres from Brisbane to Leeds to continue their process of building their white-ball brand of play under all-format coach Shukri Conrad.Related

• Brook challenges Crawley, Cox to push for England white-ball call-ups

• Sonny Baker set for England ODI debut against South Africa

• Jamie Overton out of Ashes amid 'indefinite break' from red-ball cricket

• Miller 'within the mix' in South Africa's ODI plans

Much like his counterpart, Brendon McCullum, Conrad believes in giving his players freedom to play fearlessly and encourages them to be bold in their decision-making. Two sides with that kind of mindset is a recipe for entertainment, so expect the next two weeks could be explosive, especially given the history.The last time these sides met in a bilateral series, South Africa had to pause the inaugural edition of the SA20 and win the contest to secure their spots at the 2023 ODI World Cup. It’s not exactly the same situation for England, but you would argue there are similarities. Next season’s Hundred will be the first played with private investment, and there are whispers of a format change to bring it in line with other T20 leagues, while England currently sit eighth in the ICC’s ODI rankings. The top eight teams (excluding co-hosts South Africa, who are sixth, and Zimbabwe, who are 11th) qualify automatically for the 2027 tournament and England will want to be careful they don’t get too close to the bone as the event draws nearer.Much more immediate is the SA20 auction, which takes place next week. While no one from the England ODI squad is on the list, many South Africans, including opening batter Aiden Markram, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and seamers Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger and Kwena Maphaka, will be hoping to put in performances that can sway franchise owners into giving them a big payday.Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum will oversee the white-ball series against South Africa•PA Photos/Getty Images

Form guide

England WWWLL (last five ODIs, most recent first)
South Africa LWWLW

In the spotlight

All eyes will be on Jacob Bethell, who will become England’s youngest captain on their T20I tour of Ireland later this month but has had a quiet summer so far. Bethell had a tough time at the Hundred. In eight matches, he only got into double figures three times. But he offers an all-round package: dynamic in the field and effective with the ball. His left-arm spin picked up several key wickets, including Andre Russell’s at a crucial stage in the first T20I against West Indies in June. With leadership around the corner for him, he will want to use this series to show he is ready to take on the challenge of seniority so early in his career.Jacob Bethell will want to use this series to show he is ready for bigger challenges•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Late last week, South Africa’s batting coach Ashwell Prince called Tony de Zorzi “on the fringes” of the first XI and said de Zorzi would be “a little bit disappointed with himself” for his recent performances. Scores of 38 and 33 in Australia would ordinarily not have been enough to keep de Zorzi in the team but Matthew Breetzke is managing a hamstring concern, which gives him another opportunity. De Zorzi has got starts and usually looks organised in the middle but will want to watch out for how he handles the short ball in particular, as he tries to make a case for a longer run.

Team news

England confirmed a debut for 22-year-old quick Sonny Baker, who will play just his 12th List A match. Baker will partner Jofra Archer, who has been injury-free this summer and played in six out of eight matches in the Hundred. The two seamers are the only changes from the last time England played an ODI, against West Indies in June, and replace Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Potts. The batting line-up is unchanged.England: 1 Jamie Smith, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Sonny Baker.Codi Yusuf has been added to the South Africa squad•PA Photos/Getty Images

Kagiso Rabada has not completely recovered from the ankle inflammation that kept him out of the Australia ODIs and will not be risked at the start of this tour. Codi Yusuf, currently playing for Durham, has been called up but not named for the first match. That leaves it to Ngidi to lead a four-man pace pack that includes Burger, Corbin Bosch and Wiaan Mulder. Captain Temba Bavuma, who is managing his workload after sustaining a hamstring injury at the World Test Championship final in June, will start the series, though he may not play all three games.South Africa: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Ryan Rickleton (wk), 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Tony de Zorzi, 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Dewald Brevis, 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Lungi Ngidi.

Pitch and conditions

Headingley is known as one of the best batting pitches for white-ball cricket in the UK, with an average first-innings score of 274 since 2005 and only one score of under 200 (in a rain-affected match) in that time. Both line-ups boast batters capable of keeping those numbers high. This will be the first ODI played in England under the new regulations, in which the fielding team must choose one ball to use after 34 overs and it will be interesting to see how that affects run-scoring. It’s also worth keeping an eye on the weather, with rain expected from 3pm and again at 9pm.

Stats and trivia

• Bavuma is 69 runs away from 2000 in ODI cricket. He will be the 22nd South African batter to reach the landmark.
• The sample size is small but, eight games into his captaincy, Harry Brook currently has the best ODI average by an England captain who led in at least five games: 73.83.
• Two of the last three bilateral series between these two sides have been drawn, and the third was won by South Africa. The last time England won a bilateral series against South Africa was in 2017.

Quotes

“We’re trying to create an environment where we are working towards something, like Morgs [Eoin Morgan] did when he took over years ago. South Africa will be a new challenge to play against, slightly different to West Indies, and we have got to try and assess situations and execute our skills as well as we can.”
“This series will give us another opportunity to improve on the facets within our game. For the younger guys, it’s giving them more opportunities to see the extent of the role that they can fulfil within the team. Then, just make sure we keep winning as a team and making sure we are where we need to be.”

After securing a big first-innings lead the home side built steadily through the day and can bat as long as they wish

Tristan Lavalette23-Mar-2024Western Australia 347 and 221 for 3 (Cartwright 62*, Goodwin 46) lead Tasmania 186 (Jewell 45, Rocchiccioli 4-48) by 382 runsWestern Australia weathered a short-pitched assault from Tasmania’s pace attack late on day three to move into a commanding position in the Sheffield Shield final.WA reached stumps on day two at 221 for 3 with a lead of 382 runs. Hilton Cartwright overcame the bumper barrage to notch his second half-century of the match and shared in an unbroken 95-run partnership with Aaron Hardie.They batted cautiously with WA in no rush after securing the lead on first-innings bonus points. A draw is enough for them to claim a third straight title and WA’s plan will be to bat for the long haul.Related