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Ben Duckett struck his second ODI hundred but England collapsed in Bristol and couldn’t contain the visitors’ top order

Andrew McGlashan29-Sep-2024A power-packed powerplay by Travis Head and Matthew Short, followed by astute batting by stand-in captain Steven Smith, ensured Australia beat the rain and England in the nick of time to take the one-day series in Bristol on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern. For the second time in the five matches, their spinners engineering a collapse, including a career-best for Head, after Ben Duckett’s second ODI hundred alongside a Harry Brook onslaught had put the home side on track for a huge total.Australia’s chase was never going to be about 310 in 50 overs – the 20-over DLS, which moved with wickets lost, was the vital figure. The visitors clearly knew the sums and after a watchful first three overs, Head and Short cut loose as 62 came off the next four. Being 100 for 1 after 10 overs put them so far ahead they had breathing space for the loss of a couple of wickets.Brydon Carse struck first ball to remove Head and Short edged behind after a 23-ball maiden ODI fifty. But Smith, who successfully reviewed being given lbw to Matthew Potts on 10, and Josh Inglis ensured against further setbacks although England missed reviewing for an edge off Inglis at 122 for 2 in the 15th. However, England needed more than one further breakthrough given Australia’s flying start and the tactics became clear when Brook returned to all pace instead of Adil Rashid on a pitch assisting spin (and Potts suddenly realised he needed a new boot).The rain, which had initially arrived during the interval, then returned four balls after a result had been assured with a DLS of 116 for 2. Australia didn’t entirely defend their way there as the weather closed in a little more slowly than first looked likely: Inglis pulled consecutive sixes off Carse in the 20th over. In normal circumstances, Rashid and England’s other spinners might have turned the game around but Australia were good value for victory given the way they fought back in the field.Ben Duckett capped a strong series with a fine century•AFP

Like at Trent Bridge, it was a game that fell away for England from a very strong batting foundation. A ferocious stand of 132 off 98 balls between Duckett and Brook brought up their 200 in the 25th over but from the moment Brook fell to Zampa the innings fell away with the final collapse being 107 for 8. Smith used 23 consecutive overs of spin and 28 off the last 29 in total.After 2.2 overs Zampa’s figures read 0 for 42 but he became a significant threat on a dry surface that offered increasing help to the spinners. Head winkled out a List A best of 4 for 28, including the key scalp of Duckett for a 91-ball 107, the highlight of which had been how quickly he picked up length against the quicks early on, a trademark of his batting during a productive home summer. Yet such was the change of momentum that England only hit one boundary between the 27th and 43rd overs. The 194 balls of spin was a record for Australia in a men’s ODI.At the end of a tour marked by illness and injury they had again been forced to shuffle their pack after Marsh pulled up sore after Lord’s where he bowled for the first time since early April. Aaron Hardie also replaced Sean Abbott and Cooper Connolly was handed an ODI debut. Speaking on TV before the game, Ricky Ponting said Australia would rate a series win very highly given the challenges within the squad.Phil Salt set the tone in the opening over which included three boundaries off Mitchell Starc and two plays and misses. It meant, at that moment, Starc’s last two overs of the series had cost 40 following his pasting at the hands of Liam Livingstone at Lord’s. Salt continued to alternate between missing and connecting, outside edging a swish over deep third for six against Starc before a brace of far more convincing sixes against Hardie’s first two deliveries which brought up England’s fifty in the seventh over.But Hardie struck back. Firstly, he had Salt well taken at deep point by Marnus Labuschagne, the ball after adjusting the field, then produced a gem of a delivery to clean up Will Jacks for a duck. There were a few overs of consolidation from England before Brook scooped his first boundary off Josh Hazlewood from his ninth delivery then he continued the team’s approach of being aggressive to Zampa by ending his first over with a four and six; a delightful late cut which drew comparisons to Mahela Jayawardene by Eoin Morgan on commentary then a blow to the short, straight boundary.Adam Zampa started poorly but went on to induce a collapse•Getty Images

Much more was to come from Brook when he took three further sixes from Zampa’s second over leaving Smith searching for options. Duckett went to his fifty from 45 balls and Brook raced to the mark from 39 with another six over the leg side against Hardie. Brook took his sixes tally to seven with another back-to-back brace off Zampa when he returned for the start of his second spell and had the attack at his mercy.But then came a break for Australia when Brook miscued Zampa down the ground and found Glenn Maxwell at long-off. Maxwell continued to do an excellent job with the ball, finding significant grip from the surface, and pushed one through Jamie Smith. Zampa then found Livingstone’s top edge with one that turned and bounced and all of a sudden, the lower middle-order was exposed.The onus was on Duckett to try and guide the remainder of the innings as he brought up an outstanding century. Both he and Jacob Bethell held themselves back for a period, but after sending Head’s third ball over long-on Duckett tried a repeat and skewed a catch to long-off which meant Carse was walking in during the 34th over.Head then turned deliveries sharply to have Bethell stumped and Carse lbw, leaving Rashid to nurse the total towards 300, but eyes were already turning to the sky and Australia flicked successfully into T20 mode to earn the spoils.

The hosts need to figure out their team balance and find a way to match India in every department if they are to keep the series alive

The Preview by Firdose Moonda20-Feb-2018

BCCI

Big picture

South Africa are less than 24 hours away from what could become groundhog day. After having conceded the ODI series, South Africa will lose the T20I series too if they don’t win at SuperSport Park, and they will be no closer to the answers to their questions about team balance and candidates for the future tournaments. And they will have to wait until mid-year to find out.Their next limited-overs assignment will come in Sri Lanka, when South Africa hope to have put most of their World Cup puzzle together. Though the T20s have very little to do with that, they will have the more immediate effect that could spill over into what remains of a big summer. South Africa cannot afford to go into a series against Australia low on morale and probably shouldn’t because they won the Test series against India, but these defeats – their magnitude and their manner, will sting.India have dominated since winning the Wanderers Test with a formula that just works. Their top three keep piling the runs on, Bhuvneshwar Kumar continues to impress and the spinners do the rest. They’ve even become adept at defending a total.For South Africa to have any say in the series, they have to find a way of matching India in each of the areas. The experienced batsmen have to score runs, the inexperienced bowlers have to channel their discipline and whichever spinner plays has to become less of a target. But it is difficult to see all of that coming together in the space of a few days, especially given how hangdog South Africa appear to be. Perhaps all they’re doing is counting down, not to avoid groundhog day, but until this series is over.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: LWWLW
India: WWWWW

In the spotlight

With the Test series against Australia looming, Chris Morris will want to make a statement in an otherwise quiet summer if he wants to force himself into contention. Morris has neither batted nor bowled with the impact a player of his reputation should and in a sea of underperforming players, he will want to stand out. Morris scored 39 in the ODI series opener and his numbers have dwindled since. His bowling form isn’t encouraging either: he has only taken three wickets in the six limited-overs matches he’s played against India this summer.Suresh Raina had the shots of a man who wants to play in the 2019 World Cup but was dismissed in a way that suggested he may not get there unless there is some focus behind his intent. He smacked two fours and a six off seven balls and then cleared his front leg aiming for the rope again but sent a leading edge back to the bowler. Raina will want more time in the middle as he looks to make his case for the World Cup.

Team news

The only changes South Africa could make to the batting line-up is the inclusion of uncapped batsman Christiaan Jonker, but it will have to be at the expense of one of their experienced players, so they might save him for Cape Town. Aaron Phangiso could get a look-in instead of Tabraiz Shamsi.South Africa (probable): 1 Reeza Hendricks 2 Jon-Jon Smuts 3 JP Duminy (capt), 4 David Miller, 5 Farhaan Behardien, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Dane Paterson, 10 Junior Dala, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi/Aaron PhangisoWith India looking to close out the series after a strong performance in the opener, they are unlikely to make any changes.India: (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

It’s SuperSport Park groundsman Bryan Bloy’s last chance this summer to prepare a pitch the South African team are satisfied with. Despite winning the Test at this venue, South Africa complained about the slowness and turn in the surface and then went on to lose by nine wickets and eight wickets in the second and sixth ODI respectively. India’s spinners took 11 wickets in those two matches, so Bloy’s main challenge will be to create a surface that does not spin. South Africa will want a high-scoring surface with no turn if Bloy is to get into their good books by next summer. There is an 80% chance of afternoon thundershowers, which could delay the start of the match.

Stats and trivia

• The only time India have lost a T20 against South Africa in South Africa was in March 2012, in Johannesburg.
• David Miller has scored exactly 1000 T20 runs for South Africa.

Quotes

“You are going to go through periods in your career, where you go through slumps, be it a senior player or a new player and unfortunately, throughout the series quite a few senior players have come up short, including myself.”

One change to side that lost in Visakhapatnam, with Rehan visa issue resolved

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2024Mark Wood has been recalled to England’s attack at the expense of the offspinner Shoaib Bashir, as England confirmed their team for the third Test against India, which gets underway in Rajkot on Thursday.Wood played as a lone seamer in England’s victory in the first Test at Hyderabad but went wicketless on a surface that did not suit his express pace. However, he has been recalled to partner James Anderson, who impressed with five wickets at Visakhapatnam last week, on a surface that had been more green-tinged in the lead-up to the match.He is the only change to the starting XI, with Bashir sitting out after claiming four wickets on debut in the second Test. It means that England will be playing two seamers for the first time in the series, after fielding a spin-dominant attack in each of the last two matches.Related

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Rehan Ahmed’s participation in this match had been in some doubt after he encountered visa issues on his return to India, following the team’s mid-series break in Abu Dhabi. However, that issue has been resolved.Stokes confirmed England were under no doubt that Rehan’s paperwork would be authorised in time for the third Test, and has backed the 19-year-old legspinner to pick up where he left off from the first two.Rehan Ahmed’s visa issue has been resolved•Associated Press

“It’s always an anxious period but thankfully we’ve got it through this morning. First of all, the guys at the airport did a great job at giving him his visa initially to get through and then everyone at the BCCI and the government to get the visa through quickly. We don’t have to worry about any more of those issues.”We were very confident we would get the visa for Rehan before the game started. There was no thoughts around not playing him this week. The great thing about youth is they just take everything in their stride and I thought he handled a situation that could have affected quite a lot of people in a different way very, very well for such a young kid.”The Test matches he’s played so far, he’s done very, very well and everything we’ve asked of him he’s gone out and tried to deliver. I’m looking forward to him getting another game this week.”Having gone into Wednesday with 12 names, Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum decided on the extra seamer in Wood after one last look at the pitch. They were swayed by cracks in the pitch which they believe will lead to uneven bounce as the Test goes on.Otherwise, they anticipate a surface not too dissimilar to the one that resulted in a high-scoring draw in the 2016 series.”I know it was a very long time ago when we played here, but it looks a good wicket,” Stokes said. “Yesterday it actually looked quite English. It’s a little bit different today. We weren’t quite sure what we were going to do with the team but today made us realise that we are definitely going to go with two seamers.”It just looks a good wicket. It’s a bit platey. Over the five days, those plates might become a little but uneven. There might be some reverse swing which brings Woody into the game – and Jimmy as well.”England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Tom Hartley, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James Anderson

No play possible on final day at Grace Road after heavy showers

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2024Frequent heavy showers killed off any prospect of a positive result from Sussex’s visit to Leicestershire in the Vitality County Championship, meaning no play was possible at all on the final scheduled day of their Division Two clash.Skipper John Simpson’s maiden double century had put Sussex in a strong position on day three, which ended with Leicestershire 270 in arrears at 86 for 1 in their second innings after Sussex had declared at 694 for 9 just after tea, a lead of 356 on first innings.But after a saturated outfield delayed the start on day four, the combination of more showers and the safety issues raised by trying to remove the covering sheets in winds gusting to gale force gave umpires James Middlebrook and Paul Pollard little option but to abandon the match as a draw shortly before 1pm.Related

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“It’s disappointing, but looking at it another way, we’ve had three days of good cricket,” Paul Farbrace, Sussex’s coach, said. “The groundstaff did brilliantly to get us on considering the outfield is very soft and they’ve had a lot of rain here, like everywhere else… it was a shame for both sides that it couldn’t be finished in the way both sides would have wanted, but I guess that’s cricket in April.”We can take a lot of positives from the game. We played good cricket last week and couldn’t quite get over the line, and here we’ve bowled the opposition out for 330 and then batted ourselves into a position where there was only one side going to win the game. In both the first two games we’ve been in with a good chance of winning going into the last day, which is what we’ve talked about doing.”Alfonso Thomas, Leicestershire’s coach, said that his side’s bowling attack was “undercooked” with Josh Hull yet to return from injury, Rehan Ahmed on a pilgrimage and Chris Wright absent for “personal reasons”.Thomas said: “We knew it would be hard work for the bowlers. They stuck at it well for a long period of time but they were probably a little bit undercooked after the pre-season we have had, not the best of pre-seasons.He also called for the ECB to reconsider their decision to introduce the Kookaburra ball for four rounds of the Championship season. “There has been a lot said about wanting to get rid of average bowlers in the English game but what the Kookaburra has done when it has been in use here is make average batters look very good,” Thomas said. “Is that good for the game? Probably not.”Would you rather have a guy like [Chris] Rushworth taking 70 wickets with the Dukes, or average batters making hundreds? And in a Test match played in England in English conditions I would back a Rushworth to bowl a team out but I probably wouldn’t back a lot of the batters who’ve got runs against it here to go to Australia and score hundreds.It means both sides have two draws from two matches so far, with Sussex the more frustrated, having seen a winning position come to nothing against Northamptonshire at Hove last week, with weather again having the last word.Sussex take 14 points from this match, giving them 29 from two, with Leicestershire taking 12 to swell their early-season total to 25.

Chief Nick Hockley said South Africa sending a second-string side for Tests in New Zealand was a “wake-up call” for the format

Andrew McGlashan04-Jan-2024CA will push for series in the World Test Championship (WTC) to be of a minimum of three matches each amid the increasing debate about the health of the format.CA chief executive Nick Hockley admitted the situation with South Africa sending a severely weakened team to New Zealand had been a “wake-up call” and that Test cricket was operating in a “two-speed economy”, but he retained the belief there was a way to keep the game vibrant beyond the big three countries of Australia, England and India.Under the current WTC regulations, a series has to be a minimum of only two matches. The ongoing South Africa vs India series may finish at 1-1, while West Indies will shortly play Australia in two games, although the ongoing contest against Pakistan has included three matches. The last series of at least three Tests not involving Australia, India or England was when Pakistan had toured South Africa in 2018-19.Related

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“The preference is a minimum three-Test series,” Hockley told SEN. “So we’ll keep advocating and championing that. I do think there is work to be done on the FTP (Future Tours Programme) going forward, and it’s really [about] cementing the World Test Championship, [and] really advocating for three-Test series as an absolute minimum.”And then as best as we possibly can, making sure that [when it comes to] domestic T20 competitions, we minimise the overlap for those countries where it is an important source of revenue, so that every country is prioritising international – and particularly Test – cricket.”Australian cricket has felt the effect of the emergence of the SA20, which has brought much-needed revenue to the South African game, with an ODI series being cancelled last home season. But South Africa’s decision to send a second-string Test side to New Zealand has taken the debate to a new level. Cricket South Africa have insisted they remain committed to Test cricket, and that they are working to ensure future clashes to not emerge.”That’s been a wake-up call for everyone,” Hockley said. “The role of T20 [in] bringing new kids and new people into the game can’t be underestimated. The belief is that the two can coexist. This was suboptimal scheduling.”I think we in Australia – it’s very clear that throughout the whole period the Big Bash has been around – have always prioritised international cricket. But this has shone a light. And certainly, we’ll be working with the ICC through scheduling groups to make sure those types of clashes don’t manifest and really champion the fact that people need to be prioritising international cricket.”Hockley was confident that nations outside of Australia, England and India were committed to the future of Test cricket, but acknowledged the financial side of the format brought challenges.”The challenge is the economics,” he said. “There are parts of the world where the revenue from the T20, ODI and a Test are the same, yet the costs of putting on a Test are significantly higher.”What we’ve seen over the last few years in Australia, what we’re seeing this summer, and what we saw in the UK over the English summer is that Test cricket is really thriving in certain countries. And in that sense, it is a bit of a two-speed economy. The challenge is that we continue to support those countries that are struggling a little bit more in terms of Test cricket.”

Oshane Thomas and Johnson Charles have been called into the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2023Shimron Hetmyer has been dropped from West Indies’ T20I squad for the final two matches against England while fast bowler Alzarri Joseph is rested.Hetmyer has struggled for form over the last few weeks with scores of 1 and 2 in the first two T20Is against England, and was left out for the third game in Grenada, which followed 32, 0 and 12 in the three ODIs. He is replaced by Johnson Charles who played the most recent of his 44 T20Is against India in August.Related

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Joseph, meanwhile, has been given a break ahead of West Indies’ tour of Australia next month which includes two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is with the fast bowler likely to feature across all three formats. That tour begins with the opening Test in Adelaide on January 17.Joseph put in a key display in the second T20I with 3 for 39 – claiming the wickets of Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Sam Curran – as West Indies won by 10 runs but went for 50 in the third match when England pulled off a chase of 223.Fellow fast bowler Oshane Thomas comes into the squad for the final two matches of the series in Trinidad. West Indies currently lead 2-1 having claimed the ODI series by the same margin.West Indies squad for last two T20Is vs England Rovman Powell (capt), Shai Hope, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Oshane Thomas

It is understood a group of players wrote to CSA wanting to see change following Moreeng’s lengthy tenure

Firdose Moonda11-Aug-2023Hilton Moreeng will stay on as coach of the South African national women’s team, extending his tenure beyond 11 years. Moreeng has been in charge since 2012 and was expected to move on after the home T20 World Cup, in which South Africa reached the final, but will continue for at least the 2023-24 season.ESPNcricinfo understands that a group of players are unhappy with Moreeng’s continuance and some of them took their complaints to Cricket South Africa via email. This move stems from what sources have called a desire to see a change in the coaching style following Moreeng’s lengthy tenure. However, the players have been unable to get CSA to see eye-to-eye with their thinking and Moreeng has been rewarded for a string of good results which includes qualifying for the last two 50-over World Cup semi-finals and becoming the first coach to take a senior South African team to a World Cup final.”It was never going to make sense not to extend (Moreeng’s deal) because of the back-to-back tours we have coming up now,” Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s CEO told ESPNcricinfo.Related

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Although South Africa have not played since the T20 World Cup in February, they have a full schedule over the next few months, starting with a trip to Pakistan in August. They will then return home to host New Zealand and also have visits from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka already penciled in on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) before an all-format trip to Australia in early 2024. The time between the end of Moreeng’s contract in April and this season’s fixtures was deemed too short to replace him. “It would have not been fair to ask a new person to take over and have only a month or so to prepare the team for the Pakistan series [which begins on September 1],” Moseki said.Instead, CSA has turned its attention to creating a new position in the women’s game: head of women’s cricket. Applications for the post closed on July 14 and ESPNcricinfo understands that the process of finalising the appointment is ongoing. The head of women’s cricket will report to the current Director of Cricket, Enoch Nkwe, who has been in meetings with the women’s team management this week.At the time of writing, Nkwe was unavailable for comment.

India coach says if there was enough time, they could have tried Mayank Agarwal as an opener with KL Rahul dropping back to the middle order

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2019India coach Ravi Shastri has acknowledged that the team missed a “solid” middle-order batsman, particularly in the semi-final, where their leading run-scorers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed cheaply. His statements come in the context of the talk – from before the World Cup – focused on the No. 4 spot and the middle order in general, which cropped up again following the 18-run defeat to New Zealand on Tuesday.The uncertainty in India’s batting order was further compounded by injuries. KL Rahul and Vijay Shankar had been seen as No. 4 options when the World Cup squad was picked, and India began the tournament with Rahul at that slot. However, Rahul moved up to open the innings after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out due to a hand injury. Vijay batted at No. 4 for a couple of games before being ruled out of the tournament due to a toe injury. Vijay’s injury meant that Rishabh Pant played at No. 4 in the last four matches. Neither Vijay nor Pant managed a 50-plus score from No. 4 position.”In hindsight, yes, we did need a solid batsman out there in the middle order. But now, that’s something for the future,” Shastri told . “That’s a position that was always giving us problems, but we just couldn’t nail it. Rahul was there but then Shikhar Dhawan got injured. Then Vijay Shankar was there, and he got injured. We just couldn’t control it.”Another much-debated decision by India’s selectors was Mayank Agarwal’s selection over Ambati Rayudu as Vijay’s replacement. Agarwal, who is yet to make his ODI debut, was not part of the standby list which had only Rayudu and Pant as batsmen. Shastri stated that the team had not thought of picking Agarwal for the semi-final to allow Rahul to drop back to the middle order.”Not really, because it got too tight. By the time Mayank came to join us, there wasn’t much time,” Shastri said. “If there was one more game, that is, if this semi-final was a game later, we would have definitely done it. He flew in, and Rahul had just hit a 60, and then a hundred. But I know what you mean; if we had one more game, that could well have been done.”Ambati Rayudu flicks one to the leg side•Getty Images

Agarwal’s selection and Rayudu’s omission – first from the original squad, and then as a replacement option – drew criticism from former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and VVS Laxman.Another incident that Gavaskar came down heavily on was MS Dhoni’s batting position in the semi-final, saying Dhoni should have batted higher up the order. Dhoni came out to bat at No. 7, after India’s chase had lurched from 5 for 3 to 21 for 4. Shastri said Dhoni’s batting position was a team decision.”Everyone was in with it — and it was a simple decision, too. The last thing you wanted was Dhoni coming out to bat early and getting out — that would have killed the chase. We needed his experience later. He is the greatest finisher of all times — and it would have been criminal to not make use of him in that way. The whole team was clear on it.”And Rishabh Pant did look pretty secure when he got out to bat, even against Trent Boult, didn’t he? You could then say that if Pant had continued and not got out… but that’s sport. You grow up in quick time. He will learn, he already knows it. But I am happy that the team showed spunk. They didn’t give up even after losing Pant and Pandya. What a fightback that was.”He [Dhoni] was magnificent. The composure in the situation. And let me tell you, if not for that unfortunate run-out, I think he had his calculations going inside his head. Which ball to hit, how much to keep for [Jimmy] Neesham’s last over. You could see his brain was ticking. He wanted to do it so desperately and it was clear on his face when he came back to the dressing room.”

He will be replaced in the squad by fast bowler Kwena Maphaka

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2024In a huge blow for South Africa, fast bowler Gerald Coetzee has been ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha as well as the upcoming all-format series against Pakistan, due to a groin injury.Coetzee, who picked up the injury while bowling on day four of the Durban Test against Sri Lanka, is expected to be out for up to six weeks after scans revealed a muscle strain in his right groin. He will be replaced in the squad by fast bowler Kwena Maphaka, who made his international debut earlier this year in the T20Is against West Indies.Coetzee bowled in the morning session of the Durban Test on Saturday, beginning proceedings with Kagiso Rabada, but stopped after a three-over spell. His second spell of the morning was off just two overs, as Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal staged a spirited fightback for Sri Lanka after they had started the day five down and looking at a bigger defeat than they eventually suffered. Coetzee didn’t bowl again after that in the session, but did bowl three overs after lunch, sending back Chandimal caught and bowled.Shukri Conrad, the South Africa coach, said after the day’s play that Coetzee had spoken to him at lunch and told him he “felt a groin niggle”, and went back after the break “strapped up”.Coetzee’s absence adds to South Africa’s injury woes, as they are already without Wiaan Mulder, the fast-bowling allrounder, due to a fractured right middle finger.Two of South Africa’s three quicks that played the Durban Test – Rabada and Player-of-the-Match Marco Jansen – are fit for the second Test, and Dane Paterson is the other quick in the squad. However, Nandre Burger is out for the summer with a lower back stress fracture, while Lungi Ngidi is out till January.South Africa will play Sri Lanka in the second Test at St George’s Park between December 5 and 9. After that, they will host Pakistan for three T20Is, three ODIs, and two Tests.

None of Konstas, Bancroft and Harris could make a significant score as Australia A chased 225

Andrew McGlashan02-Nov-2024It may partly be a case of last-man standing, but Ricky Ponting has endorsed Nathan McSweeney to fill the vacancy at the top of Australia’s Test line-up on a day where he impressed again in Mackay, while the specialist opening contenders continued to falter against India A.Sam Konstas, Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris all made starts in a chase of 225 on a tricky pitch, but couldn’t convert them into big scores to leave plenty of uncertainty for the senior side heading into the second match in Melbourne next week. McSweeney, meanwhile, played positively from No. 4 at the start of his innings, and was unbeaten on 47 at the close, with Australia A just 86 runs away from their target while having seven wickets in hand.Konstas played some neat shots through the off side before shouldering arms to a delivery from Mukesh Kumar that nipped back sharply, and sent the off stump cartwheeling. As Australia coach Andrew McDonald had mentioned last week, Ponting referenced Konstas’ lack of experience of the Test venues in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, where he has never played first-class cricket, in explaining why he had changed his view, having previously backed a call-up for Konstas.Related

• Australia's opening gamble: Is Sam Konstas ready for Test cricket?

• 'My game's ready' – No. 3 McSweeney confident of opening vs India

“I thought a bit more about it, and he is so young and he has probably not even played on grounds like Optus Stadium or at the Gabba,” Ponting told the show. “He wouldn’t have played a pink-ball [match] at Adelaide Oval either. So there’s a lot of things that stack up against the young guy, although there’s no doubt that he’s got talent.”Another thing that I’d said then was that I don’t think they’d go back to a [Cameron] Bancroft or [Marcus] Harris – because if they’re willing to do that, they would’ve done it the last year.”So the only name left for me more or less is Nathan McSweeney… he got the most out of any of those guys from the A game in Australia at the moment. And he’s more experienced. He has captained Australia A in the past, and he’s captaining them now. So I’m leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer.”Ahead of the ongoing game against India A, McSweeney had said he felt his game could adapt to opening, and heading into the fourth day, he has now faced over 200 deliveries in a contest where the ball has held sway for long periods.After batting conditions eased against an older ball on Friday, bowlers again dominated at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. India A lost their last eight wickets for 86 runs following a stand of 196 between Sai Sudharsan, who made his seventh first-class hundred, and Devdutt Padikkal.Sai Sudharsan brought up his seventh first-class century early on day three•Getty Images

The new ball was a threat when Australia A set out on their chase. Bancroft, who had received a rough decision in the first innings when he was given caught off the thigh pad, had a huge stroke of fortune when he was taken at slip on 4 off Navdeep Saini, but it turned out to be a no-ball. Bancroft, though, couldn’t make the most of it even as he reached double figures for the first time in six innings in first-class cricket this season.However, the delivery which Bancroft received to be eventually dismissed by Prasidh Krishna was an excellent one – a sharp lifter which he fended into gully. It was the sort of delivery which suggested Prasidh could be a threat during the Test series on pitches that are likely to have more pace than Mackay.Harris, meanwhile, had shaped up promisingly in testing conditions with a brace of drives off Saini suggesting he was gaining in confidence. But playing forward to left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who was finding some turn, he got a thin outside edge to one which went straight on.Earlier in the day, it had been offspinner Todd Murphy who broke the game open for Australia A. He had Sudharsan dragging on shortly just after he reached a stylish century, and then added Padikkal for 88 lbw with a slider shortly before the new ball.The hosts were a fast bowler down due a side strain picked up by Jordan Buckingham, but the remaining quicks carried the extra burden. Fergus O’Neill collected three more wickets on day three after one on day two, including the crucial one of Ishan Kishan, who poked to second slip the ball after hooking him for six.Beau Webster took a sharp return catch to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy from a full toss, and Murphy closed out the innings with a deserving third wicket.