South Africa v India, only T20, Johannesburg,Probables

India fly miles for match without context

Big Picture

If you thought India's away season had finally ended with the Asia Cup, then you are wrong. There's one more game, a Twenty20 against South Africa at the Wanderers, shoehorned into the tiny gap between the Asia Cup and the start of the IPL, which starts five days later. It's the sort of scheduling usually reserved for unofficial charity games. South Africa have just arrived from a full tour of New Zealand. When this game was announced officially earlier this month, the big question was not why not, but why.

Cricket South Africa has announced that this will be an annual affair, following last year's Twenty20 game between the two sides at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. That match was Makhaya Ntini's farewell game. Tomorrow's match is dedicated to Jacques Kallis, and the proceeds will go to his scholarship foundation. The game might be for a noble cause, but is anybody aware that it is even happening? National newspapers in India have dedicated vast amounts of column space to the lead-up to the IPL. There's little mention that the national team has flown to the southern hemisphere again, to play a solitary match. The channel broadcasting the game in India have started a countdown to the game as a bid to aggressively market it in the middle of two ongoing international series.

Fans can be forgiven if they say they are fatigued, but MS Dhoni, the India captain, insists his team is not. It is his style to put a positive spin on everything, even when the ship is sinking. His team and the support-staff have clocked so many air miles in the last few months that they probably feel sick at the sight of airport lounges and hotel rooms. A one-off match with little context is the last thing they would have wanted.

South Africa have shown some compassion, resting their jet-lagged senior Test players (except Kallis and Lonwabo Tsotsobe). There's no rest for India's seniors, bar Sachin Tendulkar (though he doesn't play T20 internationals). Perhaps this could be seen as a last-ditch attempt to end a horrific season with a win. The IPL franchises have already vented their displeasure about the odd scheduling of this game because the India players are missing from the pre-tournament camps. The hosts are winding down their domestic season so this game hardly disrupts their plans.

A year down the line, if you forget this game took place, don't beat yourself up. In this era of "cricket excess", it's hard enough to remember a game which finished yesterday.

Form Guide

(most recent first)
South Africa WWLWL
India WLLLW

In the spotlight

When Richard Levi's name was called out at the IPL auction this year, it did not create a ripple. A blazing century off 45 balls (a record for Twenty20 internationals) in Hamilton made those franchises sit up. He was promptly signed up by Mumbai Indians. This will be most Indian fans' first chance to see him.

India's bowlers conceded 329 and 289 in their last two one-day internationals. Their generosity peaked in the match against Bangladesh, where they dished out full-tosses by the dozen. That malaise affected Australia recently. Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan have shown they can bowl swinging yorkers, though sporadically. Death bowling could be the difference for India.

Pitch and conditions

A batting track is expected. The altitude in Johannesburg, though, could test the India players.

Teams

The hosts seem to be approaching the game quite casually. The 13 players did not train, and the captain Johan Botha hadn't even met the coach Gary Kirsten the day before the game. There were rumours that the uncapped batsman Farhaan Behardian will play.

South Africa (probable) 1 Richard Levi, 2 Farhaan Behardian, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Faf du Plessis, 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Dane Vilas/Morne van Wyk (wk), 8 Johan Botha (capt), 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Rusty Theron, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe

India, for whatever logic, picked 15 players for a solitary match. There were no announcements from the India camp. Robin Uthappa, coming off good form for Karnataka in the domestic one-dayers, looks good for a recall. Manoj Tiwary has sat on the bench ever since he scored a one-day century in December. Will his wait end?

India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Ashok Dinda

Stats and Trivia

• India are returning to the venue where they played their first ever Twenty20. Albie Morkel is the only survivor for South Africa from that game.
• India lead the head-to-head in Twenty20s by an overwhelming 4-1.
• The Wanderers has the highest runs-per-over - 8.23 - among grounds which have hosted a minimum of eight games.

Quotes

"There are a lot of young players we are trying to groom, and hopefully it will pay dividends in the future. From our point of view there is a lot of talent around, we need to give them the exposure they require."
Duncan Fletcher, India's coach, says this game has value after all.

"With the World Twenty20 coming up in October, every T20 game is important and you can learn in every game."
Johan Botha says preparation for the World Twenty20 will be the focus in the one-off game.

Bangladesh Vs Pakistan Only T20 Live Score,Cricinfo

20 overs Pakistan 135 for 7 (Hafeez 25, Kapali 2-12) v Bangladesh

It was a tough initiation for Pakistan on their tour as Bangladesh played to their strength - spin - to restrict the tourists to 135 at the Shere Bangla Stadium. Pakistan started brightly after winning the toss, but the going got tough once the slower bowlers - five in all - began operating at either end on a typically dark Dhaka pitch.

The captain Mushfiqur Rahim didn't waste any time getting his spinners on, bringing in Abdur Razzak as early as the second over. Razzak began by floating one down the leg side, which went for five wides. It was hardly a sign of things to come as he and the rest applied the brakes on the scoring and chipped away at the wickets to keep the packed weekday crowd delighted.

Imran Farhat smacked two consecutive fours off Shakib Al Hasan before the bowler hit back, slipping in a quicker delivery to induce a feather edge to the keeper. The in-form Hafeez went on the attack and while he was around, Pakistan were motoring along at eight an over.

The ninth over was significant for Bangladesh as Shakib managed to keep the aggressive Hafeez quiet for five balls. Determined to break the shackles, Hafeez attempted a slog and lost his wicket. Bangladesh didn't look back after that wicket-maiden.

Umar Akmal appeared comfortable against the quicker bowlers, hitting Rubel Hossain for consecutive fours, but he perished trying to charge Alok Kapali. It was another blow for Pakistan, just when another partnership was developing, with Misbah-ul-Haq. Kapali sensed Umar's instinct and cleverly dropped the ball short.

Asad Shafiq and Shahid Afridi both perished in similar fashion, getting caught in the deep. The captain Misbah tried restoring some order but he kept running out of partners.

Despite Pakistan being restricted to a below-par total, the chase promises to be absorbing given that the Pakistan spinners were in top form against Sri Lanka in the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Only t20 SL Vs Pak Cricinfo,Highlights,Score Card

Pakistan 142 for 5 (Misbah 48*, Shafiq 33) beat Sri Lanka 141 (Chandimal 56, Cheema 4-30) by five wickets

Watch Highlights

There was no respite for Sri Lanka. In one of the more closely-fought encounters on this tour, it was Pakistan who prevailed by five wickets after their opponents promised to deliver better, only to falter and give it away. First, with their batting, when they began aggressively and scored at around nine an over in the first ten overs before slowing down considerably and eventually capitulating in the second half. And then it happened with the ball, their spinners putting them in control through tight spells and wickets, not knowing Dilhara Fernando and some fielders would fail to hold their nerve at the death.

Misbah-ul-Haq stood tall for Pakistan, doing what Dinesh Chandimal, who made an enterprising half-century, failed to achieve after guiding the innings - seeing his team through to the end and finishing on a high. Pakistan's seamers did what their counterparts failed to do - Aizaz Cheema and Umar Gul cleaned up the innings, taking five wickets in the last two overs, to restrict the visitors to a chaseable score; on the other hand, Fernando doled out length deliveries that brought down the required-rate considerably.

Ajantha Mendis, returning from injury, and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan restrained Pakistan in their pursuit of 142 after Imran Farhat began brightly. He inaugurated the innings with three crisp boundaries off the first over of the innings but brought on to bowl in the sixth over, inside the Powerplay, Mendis struck, removing Farhat, who holed out. Umar Akmal's first-ball duck was crucial in reducing the tempo of the innings further when he adventurously made room to Dilshan and was bowled playing inside the line.

The next four overs yielded just 19, but at one end was Misbah, building up for a flourish at a later stage. He warmed up by slogging a six off Dilruwan Perera over midwicket and triggered the turn in the tide when 43 were needed off four overs, Afridi just having joined him at the other end.

Fernando dropped slightly short to be pulled to the square boundary, and then overcompensated by bowling too full; Misbah unleashed a cracking drive through cover and whipped a full toss behind square to make it 14 in the over. Mendis still had an over left, but Dilshan gave Fernando another go, much to, presumably, his regret. Two length balls followed in the penultimate over - Cheema picked up three wickets at the same stage in the Sri Lankan innings while aiming at the blockhole - and Afridi dispatched them over long-on and deep midwicket. Though he fell off the final delivery, he'd brought down the equation to nine off the last over.

The win was hastened by a botched-up fielding attempt. The first ball of the final over, Misbah drove Malinga to long-off. What should have been a single became two as the fielder took time to get to the ball, and if that wasn't enough, his wayward throw, missed first by Kumar Sangakkara and then by the short fine leg backing up awkwardly, resulted in six runs in total. With two needed off four, Shoaib Malik edged one wide of third man to seal victory with Sri Lanka still appealing desperately, thinking it was a deflection off the pad.

Though Cheema was the star towards the end of Sri Lanka's innings, it was Saeed Ajmal who started the slide. Ajmal's variations have played a major role in his rise to the No.1 spot in the ODI rankings and with expert changes in flight, pace and his mastery over the doosra, he choked Sri Lanka. In a potentially risky move, he was brought on inside the Powerplay, like Mendis, and was launched over mid-off not long after. The next ball, though, was generously flighted and Dilshan was tempted into the slog-sweep which he top-edged to offer a comfortable catch. Ajmal was particularly effective round the wicket, the batsmen often caught confused about the direction of his turn.

Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez slowed down the innings further, making boundaries a rare commodity. Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's best batsman, chipped a catch back to Hafeez while Angelo Mathews and Chamara Silva, from whom the visitors would have expected a surge at the death, were run out. Racing to 91 for 3 at the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka only managed 50 in the next ten. Cheema added the finishing touches by making up for his troubles early on. In the penultimate over, he trapped Chandimal in front, had Thisara Perera caught behind and bowled Malinga. Sri Lanka fell way short of the target they were on track for. They met with the same fate with the ball.