Super Smash star Finn Allen on stand-by as New Zealand announce T20 squad

Cheteshwar Pujara nursing finger injury, not to take field today

India’s number three Cheteshwar Pujara is nursing a finger injury and will not take the field on the second day of the second Test against England, the BCCI said. Pujara was hit while batting by England pacer Olly Stone, and he is in some pain, the board said on Twitter. Pujara has been a vital cog for the Indian cricket since the time he started batting at the number three position. He was instrumental in India’s historic series win in Australia and looked good in the middle in both Tests before getting out in bizarre fashion. India will be hopeful of his presence at the crease with the bat in the second innings. Pujara has taken a lot of blows on his hand and fingers in the two Tests against England and the series against Australia completed last month. On the fifth and final day of the series, Pujara was attacked with short-pitched bowling from the hosts’ bowlers and looked in considerable pain. Before all the blows in the field, Pujara was also hurt on his hand while batting in nets at the MCG. But, he came out strongly with the bat after that injury scare.

Buoyed by Pretorius-Shamsi brilliance, Proteas aim to upset Pakistan in the decider

Having claimed a scintillating win in their last game to draw level against an experienced Pakistan side, the Heinrich Klassen led South Africans have their eyes firmly set on the series decider to be played on Sunday, 14th February. The Proteas know that it wasn’t a mean feat to be able to beat Pakistan on their own turf at the Gaddafi Stadium, with a second string South African side. It took some brilliant bowling by Dwaine Pretorius who recorded the best-ever figures for a South African bowler in T20I cricket. But it wasn’t Pretorious alone, others like Tabraiz Shamsi and JJ Smuts too contributed immensely with the ball. In batting too there was an improvement as the experienced men in Reeza Hendricks and David Miller stayed at the crease for a longer period of time. Miller even went on to see the team through. Not only senior guys, but young Pite Van Bijlon in the second game and Janemann Malan in the first were also up to the mark as well. The only department that South Africa is still lacking is a good fast bowler to complement Pretorious. If they are able to find that, it would become really difficult for Pakistan to come back. For the home team, nothing is going right in the batting department apart from Mohammad Rizwan’s form. Skipper Babar Azam looks badly out of touch, there is no commitment or application shown by the likes of Haider Ali and Talat Hussain. The fact that they won the first game was courtesy of brilliant individual performances by Rizwan and Usman Qadir with bat and ball respectively. As soon as they both failed to live up to the expectations, the home side struggled big time. It is therefore important that some changes are made in the batting department at least. Asif Ali could be a great inclusion in place of Talat. Shaheen Afridi has shown how lethal he could be. It is Haris Rauf that needs to pull up his socks and get going before it becomes embarrassing for Pakistan to lose a series against a Second-String South African team. Pakistan vs South Africa: Match Details Match Number-3 Date and Time: Feb 14, 2021, 6:30:00 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 01: 00 pm GMT Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Ten and Sony LIV Players to Watch Out Pakistan Mohammad Rizwan: The Peshawar born is going through a golden patch right now and thus his utilisation is the most important thing for Pakistan. With a hundred and a fifty in the last two games, he has very well shown how crucial his role is going to be if Pakistan were to win the game. Shaheen Afridi: In-swinging deliveries ta the start of the innings combined with the lethal toe breakers at the end makes Shaheen Afridi a genuine threat for the opposition and a genuine asset for his own team. He also bowled the first maiden of his t20i career in the last game and with some more runs on the board or while bowling first, he would be itching to get to his best and show to the world what he is made up of. Strongest XI Some changes would definitely be welcomed in the Pakistani team. One of them is getting in Asif Ali at the place of Hussain Talat. Secondly, to lend some balance to the side in the middle, the experience and the ability to make quick runs make a case for Sarfaraz Ahmed to play as a pure batsman in place of Iftikhar Ahmed. Similarly, Hasan Ali must get a chance and Haris Rauf being very expensive needs time off the ground to accommodate a fit and fiery Hasan Ali in the squad. XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Shaheen Afridi South Africa Dwaine Pretorius: Without any doubt, Pretorius is the most dangerous player in the South African ranks right now. He has the ability to bowl quick and with control making him a great bowling asset. But at the same time, his ability to handle the willow quite effectively makes hi even more potent as a player. Tabraiz Shamsi: Shamsi in the last two games has shown how dot balls are of the value of gold in T20 cricket. His dot ball percentage in both the games ( giving away 20 and 16 runs in first and second t20i) have been outstanding which has helped the Proteas choke the flow of runs in the middle overs. Thus Shamsi would be required to carry out the same job once again for one last time in this series. Strongest XI Not changing the winning combination is the norm. But even if the Proteas thought of experimenting, they could get in Bjorn Fortuin in place of Glenton Stuurman with the rest of the team remaining the same. XI: Janneman Malan, Reeza Hendricks, JJ Smuts, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (c & wk), Pite van Biljon, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Dwaine Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Tabraiz Shamsi Pitch Report The pitch used in the game played on 13th was a new one and hence the same wicket would be used for this game too. It provided purchase for spinners till dew started getting heavy. Once the dew settled down, it was a batsman’s delight. Qadir and Nawaz were still able to turn the ball though. Thus it is going to be tough to chase anything above 160. Skipper winning the toss would definitely be looking to bowl first. Weather and Toss The weather forecast for tomorrow tells that there won’t be any rain and hazy moonlight will lighten up the skies. There would be dew and hence fielding first would be the best option.

Dwaine Pretorius' record-breaking spell helps young Proteas pin down Pakistan

Dwaine Pretorius bowled the spell of his life picking five wickets for just 17 runs in his four overs quota to break the back of the Pakistani batting lineup at Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. Riding on his brilliant performance, the South Africa team chased down a minuscule total of 145 with 22 balls remaining and six wickets in hand. With this win, the South Africans have now pushed the series into the decider which will take place on Sunday, 14th February. The figures of Pretorious were also the best for any South African bowler in T20I cricket. Not only that, but they were also the best against Pakistan for any bowler and counted as a first five-for in T20i cricket on the Pakistani soil. Skipper Heinrich Klassen and David Miller remained not out at the crease at 17 and 25 respectively when the winning shot was hit. The opening batsmen didn’t start the chase in a manner that the Proteas would have wanted with Janneman Malan getting dismissed in the very first over. Soon after JJ Smuts became the second victim of Shaheen Afridi. But after that, the South African pair of Reeza Hendricks and Pite Van Bijon didn’t offer any chance to the Pakistanis, adding 77 runs in just 53 balls to take the game away from the opposition. There was a chance when Hendricks was bowled by last match hero Usman Qadir. But it turned out to be a no-ball, sinking Pakistani hopes further down. When the wicket finally fell, it was too little too late for the home team. Qadir, the Trump card for the Babar Azam led team was taken for cleaners, vanishing any hopes of a comeback for the Pakistanis after a horrific batting display. Earlier in the evening, South Africa once again won the toss and decided to bowl first. The pitch was really slow in the first innings and the Proteas bowlers made good use of it. Babar Azam failed once again, getting plumbed in front of the wicket. Mohammad Rizwan tried to hold one end up, but couldn’t accelerate the run rate as the South African spinners, especially Tabrez Shamsi choked the flow of runs by bowling very tight line. Pretorius too varied his peace brilliantly. At one point in the game, Pakistan could score only 12 runs in four overs. Tanks to Faheem Asharaf’s 12 balls 30 that Pakistan was able to reach a fighting total of 144 in their 20 overs. Rizwan top-scored with 51 off 41 balls.

2nd Test, Day 1 Report: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane silence critics, resurrect India

It was known from the outset that the pitch for the second Test will assist spinners more than it did on the first couple of days in the last game, and it unturned out no different from the expectations. India were coming in this game with huge pressure on them after facing a big defeat in the first Test of the series, and there was no quick end to their misery. Shubman Gill, who according to Virat Kohli was the best Indian batsman in the first Test was proved to be inefficient by an express Ollie Stone who was picked only for his extra pace over a more reliable Chris Woakes. Gill has always been good on judging the line of the balls, but only in the second over of the game, one back off the length moved off the pitch to find him ‘stoned’ dead in front of the stumps shouldering his arms in hope of the ball going away from the off stump line. The next man in—Pujara, had once again the task of resurrecting the batting and he started to soak up the pressure from the one end. He was composed as usual and used his feet sparingly to combat spinners as the pitch started to explode a lot earlier than predicted. At the other end, Rohit Sharma appeared to be batting on a completely different strip. He was severe against pacers who committed mistakes of providing him short deliveries while full balls were also dealt with immaculate placements. He looked hungrily for runs after missing out in the first Test on the pitch as flat as a road and was in no mood to allow the bowlers, especially spinners to dictate terms to him. He was eager to sweep spinners off their lengths but was vigilant enough to not sweep from the line of the stumps. His sweeps at regular intervals kept on dragging Moeen Ali away from the off stump, and a smart Rohit was quick to pounce on with cut shots through the off-side. Pujara looked certain, but after spending quite a bit of time in the middle, he tried to rotate strike and Root and Leach were proactive to tempt him with an open field on the off-side. Pujara was opening the face of the bat to nudge the ball in gaps for singles, but eventually, a ball turned to take the outside edge of his bat and England’s plan worked perfectly well for them. Virat Kohli entered the fray after the first hour which threw a lot of actions with wickets falling and Rohit scoring at a rate of knots. He started with good defence but a tossed up delivery outside off stump from Moeen Ali outside tempted him to go for a big booming drive through the cover which was left vacant by Root and Moeen. Until his dismissal, Kohli had done everything correctly for his team as he finally won an all-important toss and he was delighted to bat first on the pitch he said will start crumbling fairly quickly. Kohli went for the drive, the ball dipped, and took a puff of dust along with it to sneak through the big gap Kohli left between his pad and bat in pursuit of his signature cover drive against spinners to hit the stumps. He was so shocked that he could barely believe it and rather asked the umpires if the ball actually hit the stumps after beating him. After Kohli’s departure, it was the moment of reckoning for the pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, who faced the ire and scrutiny of fans after the loss in the first game to bail the team out of the big hole. Rahane had defended Rohit saying his value can’t be measured by the failure in four-five innings, and he got the best seat in the ground to see Rohit justifying the huge confidence shown on him before the start of the Test. Both Rahane and Rohit batted with authority and control as England spinners started to lose control over the line and lengths with the ball getting older, Rohit was extremely severe while Rahane was measured in his approach. Rohit marched on to hit a critics-silencing century and with the ease, he batted in such a tricky pitch must have also exonerated him from the tag of being a ‘flat-track bully.’ He converted his hundred into a daddy hundred and never looked finished. He was willing to wait for loose deliveries which kept on coming his way courtesy of his proactiveness in the crease. He was distraught after getting caught at the boundary after mistiming a sweep shot which he was playing the whole day with so much fence. He looked really disappointed even after scoring a mammoth 161 runs that could well be the difference between the teams on this pitch that has all in it to be called a dustbowl. At the other end, Rahane too brought up a much-needed fifty to shed off all rounds of questions around his place in the team and the value he brings to the table for the Kohli’s side. He was decisive in his footwork and rad the lengths of the spinners well until he got out attempting to sweep a very full delivery off Moeen Ali. England got back in the game with three wickets in the late third session of the day otherwise the game would have been lost on the very first day itself. Rishabh Pant has launched yet another assault on them and he did not look in a lot of hurry like the first Test and it appeared that he was eyeing the big opportunity of scoring on the second day. Root’s hands were tied due to possible injury concerns to Ben Stokes who could bowl only two overs on the first day and hence the skipper had to go back to Moeen Ali again and again, albeit the off-spinner was struggling to find his length where he could bowl for a lengthy spell or even an over. Ali leaked 112 runs which could not be a satisfactory performance by any stretch of the imagination, although he got the big wickets of Virat Kohli and Rahane. He was brought into the team in place of Dominic Bess to provide control and a helpless Root had to bring himself on from one end to make good use of the turning pitch. Root will be hopeful England will strike early tomorrow to check India running away with the game. This is not a pitch supporting 500 runs and hence anything above 350 runs will make their challenge steeper and steeper. Root will be banking on his pacers to get the best of Pant as he does not have the leverage of too many runs on the board to keep the heat on Pant and wait for him to be found out hitting one shot too many. All will depend on the battle between Pant and England bowler tomorrow as it will dictate the terms of the challenges of England’s challenge when they will walk out to bat.