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Australia 328 (Smith 141*, Marsh 51) and 0 for 114 (Warner 60*, Bancroft 51*) trail England 302 and 195 (Root 51, Bairstow 42) by 56 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn the final analysis, it has been a slaughter, but England’s latest trip to the Gabbatoir has turned out to be a more humane affair than some of their more gory predecessors.Their decisive second innings may have been topped and tailed by some traditional fast-bowling savagery, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins claiming 4 for 10 in 21 balls to finish the work that Josh Hazlewood had started with the new ball on the third evening. But the extinguishing of English hope was left to David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, whose utterly unhurried opening partnership of 114 in 34 overs made mincemeat of what could have been an awkward victory target of 170.It was a curiously flat finale to a contest in which the momentum had not so much swung as vibrated from session to session. But, after a final burst of violent lurches one way and then the other on the fourth afternoon, Australia’s traditional dominance at their favourite home venue came flooding to the fore in a one-sided finale.Warner, whose second-innings onslaughts had been such a crucial factor in the 5-0 whitewash in 2013-14, took a more measured route to his latest Ashes half-century, which came from 74 balls with not so much as a boundary until his 27th delivery.But he did not need to rush on this occasion – worryingly for England, where the Aussie quicks had been able to threaten with pace through the air, even when the wicket had been at its most sluggish, England’s own mid-80mph seamers relied exclusively on the new ball for their breakthroughs, and once James Anderson and Stuart Broad had been neutered in a watchful start from Australia’s openers, the rest of the attack proved toothless.In particular, Moeen Ali – whose spinning finger was glued together after being lacerated by the Kookaburra seam in the first innings – was unable to replicate either the turn or the bounce generated by Australia’s own offspinner, Nathan Lyon. Emboldened by his lack of threat, the debutant Bancroft pumped him over long-off for six en route to a maiden Test half-century, as Moeen’s contribution was limited to four unthreatening overs.Moeen was, however, involved in arguably the decisive moment of the fourth day, and certainly the most controversial, when he was adjudged stumped for 40 off the bowling of Lyon – the very definition of a line call as the third umpire Chris Gaffaney adjudged his toe to be on the crease but not behind it as wicketkeeper Tim Paine whipped off the bails.It was a crucial moment of what had been a gripping afternoon session, for Moeen’s positive attitude to England’s adversity had taken the attack back to Australia after their hopes of posting a defendable total had taken a big hit in the final moments before lunch, when Hazlewood had pinned Joe Root lbw for 51 to undermine the foundations of their innings.With Jonny Bairstow alongside him to chivvy the ones into twos and force Australia to keep an eye on the scoring rate as well as the wickets column, Moeen came out swinging after lunch. From the outset, he used his feet against Lyon where his fellow left-handers, Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan, had been caught on the crease, dumping a four over long-on in the first over of the resumption before nailing a sweep through midwicket two balls later.His approach did not trigger a deluge of runs by current Test standards, but in the context of an atypically low-scoring contest, it provided England with crucial breathing space, after they had lost five wickets for 113 in a frenetic start to their second innings. But, Lyon – such a threat in both innings – eventually got his revenge, ripping a sharp turner past Moeen’s long stretch down the wicket, and Paine, whose glovework has been maligned since his drop of James Vince on the first day, showed lightning reflexes to whip off the bails before Moeen could ensure his foot was fully grounded.Reaction to the decision was predictably polarised. Some viewers saw no controversy whatsoever, others quibbled both with the notion of the benefit of any doubt going to the batsman, and with the geometry of the crease itself, with images on Twitter suggesting that the line was wider in the middle of the crease than at either end. Either way, it all added up to a whole lot of not-a-lot. In the post-mortem of this contest, England’s inability to press home several moments of apparent dominance will be of far greater concern that one 50-50 umpiring call.Chris Woakes, on a pair, came through a skittish start to help Bairstow add 30 runs for the seventh wicket, and take the lead past 150, but with tea approaching, Starc struck with a vengeance to rip England’s resistance to shreds.Despite appearing to feel pain in his right ankle on a couple of occasions, Starc summoned the fury that had served Australia so well on the third evening to extract three wickets in ten balls – another example of his matchless ability to dock Test-match tails.Woakes was the first to go, caught fencing in the cordon as he was shocked by the short ball, and sent on his way for 17. But it was Bairstow’s departure, one over later, that truly wrecked England’s hopes. Another sharp short ball lured Bairstow into a ramp to third man, but Peter Handscomb had just been brought into a catching position and gleefully accepted the offering to send Bairstow on his way for 42.At 8 for 194 with just the bowlers to come, England’s prospects were looking bleak. But even so, their next wicket came as a surprise to both Starc and the batsman, Broad, who appeared to have been beaten by a full-length snorter outside off. However, Paine was adamant he had heard a noise, and with little to lose, Steve Smith opted for a review. Sure enough, a thin nick showed up on Hot Spot, and Broad was gone for 2.And it was left to Cummins to head-hunt the final wicket, as Jake Ball flapped another fierce bouncer over the cordon to Handscomb at a well-positioned fly slip. It all amounted to England’s second bona fide batting collapse of the Test. And Warner was lying in wait to snuff out any lingering hope.

Mustafizur Rahman suffered an ankle twist during training on Saturday, ruling him out of the first ODI in Kimberley on Sunday. Bangladesh manager Minhajul Abedin said that Mustafizur could be out for the rest of the tour.”Mustafizur twisted his ankle during the warm-up before training,” Minhajul, Bangladesh’s chief selector and team manager for this tour, told the . “He won’t play tomorrow.”We can’t tell yet if he will be available for the rest of the series. We’ll know more after we go to Cape Town [for the second ODI in Paarl], we haven’t done a scan yet.”The incident reportedly took place while playing football ahead of a training session in Kimberley.Bangladesh have suffered a difficult tour so far, after big defeats in the Test series, with Mustafizur one of the bright spots in an otherwise abysmal bowling performance. They do, however, have Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan back for the ODIs.

Worcestershire have given themselves an excellent chance of securing promotion after a third successive County Championship victory.It may have taken them longer than anticipated – entry to New Road was free on Friday with a possibility that matters could be settled within an hour, but play ultimately stretched until around 3.20pm – but the result takes Worcestershire top of the table with only a couple of weeks of the season remaining.The result from Cardiff means promotion is not assured as Northants have a game in hand. But the worst case scenario means Worcestershire will require a maximum of 11 points from their final match against Durham. As their captain, Joe Leach, put it: “It’s in our own hands.”With Northants needing to defeat Nottinghamshire next week to sustain their own promotion hopes, it is entirely possible Worcestershire’s promotion will be guaranteed before their next match begins. If so, it would be their fifth promotion in 11 years under director of cricket Steve Rhodes and the first time in the history of two divisions they will have found themselves in the division above Warwickshire.It is a scenario that seemed unlikely only a few weeks ago. After the fall-out of the Tom Kohler-Cadmore affair and a gruesome T20 campaign – no team won fewer or lost more games – it seemed their Championship form was falling away. They won just one (and lost three) out of six Championship games in the middle of the season.But a brief break and the acquisition of Ravi Ashwin has given them renewed life. While Ashwin’s figures are relatively modest – he has claimed 13 wickets at an average of 33.46 in his three games to date – his presence has lifted the side. He is clearly relaxed in the environment – he is enjoying walking around the city without being recognised – and has inspired some of his young team-mates to this revival. Ashwin was the only man in this side not to have graduated through the Worcestershire system.They are a couple of exceptional young players in this Worcestershire side. In 19-year-old Josh Tongue (who has 45 first-class wickets this season) they have one of the outstanding fast bowling prospects in the country – it is a long, long time since such a bowler came through the system here – while in 21-year-old Joe Clarke (who has 850 first-class runs this summer) they have one of the outstanding young batsmen. Both are set to be included in performance squads this winter.”To be top of the league with predominantly home grown talent, we are very proud of that fact,” Rhodes said afterwards. “To pick up maximum points with 10 Academy players makes you feel very proud.”The new-ball spell on Thursday, when Leicestershire were reduced to 10 for 4, was a pivotal moment in the game.”They did not have life completely their own way on the final day. Leicestershire’s eighth-wicket pair, coming together with the lead only 22, put on 103 in 23 overs as Worcestershire’s ploy of testing them with the short ball backfired. Zak Chappell, in particular, produced some nice pulls as he recorded the second half-century of his career – the first, an innings of 96, was made on his first-class debut – with Lewis Hill adding measured support.They played Ashwin well, too. Chappell brought up his 50 from 63 balls with a straight six back over the off-spinner’s head and, as the lead grew beyond 100 and rain necessitated a couple of brief interruptions, Worcestershire nerves began to grow.Finally, the short ball worked, though. Chappell and Doeter Klein pulled long-hops to midwicket before Lewis, left only with the No. 11, slog-swept to the square-leg boundary where Brett D’Oliveira held on to a well-judged catch. Leicestershire had lost their last three wickets for the addition of just six runs and Worcestershire required just 132 to win.The pursuit was not entirely straightforward – D’Oliveira missed an attempted scoop, Daryl Mitchell played on and Tom Fell, with a top score of 39 in all formats this season, looks as if he needs a holiday – but the pitch remained true and Leicestershire, without a win this season, lacked the belief to turn the screw as some sides might have done.It was, though, a day that offered some encouragement for Leicestershire, too. In 21-year-old Chappell they have one of the most outstanding prospects in the county game: an allrounder capable of bowling fast. He is raw, certainly – he is prone to fall away as he bowls and he doesn’t seem to gain much lateral movement – but he has the potential to be fine player.And in Callum Parkinson, who followed his eight wickets in the first innings – the best haul by a Leicestershire bowler since Devon Malcolm took 8 for 63 against Surrey in 2001 – with two more in the second to claim a first 10-for, they have one of the best young, left-arm spinners. Mark Cosgrove, the Leicestershire captain, went as far as describing him as “the best spinner in the game.” While that might be wishful thinking, he is one of the players that provides hope of better times ahead for long-suffering Leicestershire supporters.”Everyone’s attention was on Ashwin, but Parky outshone him quite easily,” Cosgrove said. “He’s got a massive future in front of him and hopefully we can get the pitch to turn at Grace Road.”They could do worse than learn from Worcestershire. While some clubs look for their cheque book when they require a player, Worcestershire look to their youth teams. The England management and selectors talk of Rhodes as the most helpful and committed of all county coaches, one of the few who never questions why a player might be called into a Lions squad or rested from a key match. He, and the likes of the academy coach Elliot Wilson are producing players who could serve their club and country with distinction. For that, the entire English game should be grateful. Promotion seems a just reward.

A lack of first-class cricket could be hampering England’s plans ahead of the first Investec Test against West Indies.With the domestic schedule currently dominated by the white-ball game – there is only one round of County Championship cricket scheduled after the first week of July and the last week of August – the likes of Chris Woakes and Gary Ballance are struggling to find the game-time required to prove their fitness ahead of the day-night Test at Edgbaston which starts on August 17.While Woakes has returned to first-class cricket in the current round of Championship matches – his Warwickshire side are playing Middlesex at Lord’s – it appears he is unlikely to gain the amount of overs required to prove his preparedness for Test cricket before the England squad is selected and announced this Friday. Woakes sustained a side strain at the start of England’s Champions Trophy campaign in June.Ballance, meanwhile, was not deemed ready to return for Yorkshire in their Championship match against Essex and will not have another opportunity to play first-class cricket until August 28. He sustained a broken finger in the Trent Bridge Test.The idea of playing limited-overs cricket in a block was favoured by the players and coaches as they believed the opportunity to focus on the skills prevalent in one form of the game would help improve the standard. The downside of that is there is very little red-ball cricket played in July and August, which reduces players’ ability to find form or fitness for Test cricket.No date has yet been set for Mark Wood’s return. He has not featured in the last two Tests against South Africa after sustaining a bruised left heel earlier in the series. While the England management insist the injury is unrelated to the ankle problems that have necessitated three bouts of surgery (and say there are no plans to operate this time), they are determined to take no risks with his long-term recovery. It may well be that he requires custom-made bowling boots to provide his left foot and ankle increased protection before he returns.All this means that Wood, Woakes and Ballance will probably not be considered for selection until at least the second Test against West Indies at Headingley, starting on August 25. With the England selectors expected to stick with Tom Westley and Dawid Malan, the only change likely for Edgbaston is at the top of the order where Keaton Jennings may well be dropped.That means that either Nick Gubbins of Middlesex or Mark Stoneman of Surrey is set to become Alastair Cook’s 12th opening partner in Test cricket since the retirement of Andrew Strauss at the end of the 2012 English season.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDilani Manodara struck a career-best 84 off 111 balls•Getty/ICC

Pakistan flirted with their first victory in 14 World Cup matches several times over the course of the action in Leicester. They had Sri Lanka at 98 for 5 in the 27th over but somehow let them scramble to 221. Then, in the chase, they were 134 for 4 with a well-set Nain Abidi finding the boundaries at will. But she would be run out – the result of a mix up with her captain Sana Mir – as self-inflicted wounds eventually led to a defeat most agonising. They needed 16 runs in 21 balls when their last wicket fell.

Will come back stronger – Mir

After finishing a second successive World Cup campaign without a victory, Pakistan captain Sana Mir highlighted weaknesses in their batting line-up as a major area that needed improvement.
“Our batters have been under pressure throughout the tournament but they put up a fight today,” she said. “Mostly we are not able to finish matches when we get on top as we give away wickets at crucial times and that happened again today.
“We are very disappointed. But in life, these things happen but you have to bounce back. We will learn from the tournament and the younger players will come back stronger.”

Watching the chaos unfold from behind the wicket was Dilani Manodara. Thirty-four years old, and perhaps playing her last World Cup game, she couldn’t have hoped for more as she first resurrected Sri Lanka’s innings with a career-best 84 off 111 balls and then savoured a hard-fought victory – the only one her team will take home. Could she have imagined that when she had been at the crease, trying determinedly to glue Sri Lanka together? She might have despaired as her top four couldn’t move past a score of 27, but in Eshani Lokusuriyage, she found someone willing to stick around. The two batsmen put on a pivotal 76 runs in 16.2 overs and the momentum shifted.The other major contributor was left-arm spinner Chandima Gunaratne, who, also, at 35, might wonder if she can stay on the radar until 2021. Perhaps that had only spurred her on to grab her chance. She was given the new ball and it worked for her so well that her first spell lasted eight overs and fetched two wickets – Nahida Khan, bowled by the quicker ball, and Ayesha Zafar, caught off the slower one. Sri Lanka saved the last of her overs for the death, and that too proved a master stroke – she was brought back in the 34th and with her first ball she pinned Mir lbw and eventually finished with 4 for 41.Abidi, by this time, was left to stew in the dressing room. Having come in at 43 for 2 in the 14th over, she did her best to upset the strangle Sri Lanka were so desperate to pull off. She was adept at finding gaps through point, third man and fine leg and her her free-flowing innings – 57 off only 68 balls with nine fours – seemed to suggest Pakistan might not have to walk away from another World Cup winless; they had lost all of their four matches in 2013.But it was not to be. She was run out with the target 88 runs away. Asmavia Iqbal took up her place and fought bravely, guiding a brittle tail so very close to the finish line. But she ended up at the non-strikers end, with 38 off 45 balls, when Sri Lanka captain Inoka Ranaweera bowled No. 11 Sadia Yousuf to cap a special spell. Forty-six of her 58 deliveries were dots and then she took the match-sealing wicket.It was Sri Lanka’s first win in seven World-Cup matches, secured under the watchful eyes of Kathy Cross and Sue Redfern, the first set of female on-field umpires to officiate an international game since at least 2000.

ScorecardThe warnings were there for Somerset in their first match of the season, slightly less than three months ago, when they began their Division One campaign with an eight-wicket home defeat to Essex, new to the rigours of First Division life. Their situation became graver by the week as they remained stuck at the foot of Division One and their young captain, Tom Abell, stood down from the side because of a loss of form.Finally, at Scarborough, at the eighth time of asking, and with a new captain at the helm, Somerset’s cricketers ended their torment in 2017 with a 179-run victory over the once highly-fancied Yorkshire at Scarborough.”It’s been a tough year, and there’s been some tough words,” said Gregory as Somerset prepared for a long trek home in happy frame of mind. “It’s brilliant to get that first win on the board, and to put in a performance like that is very special. I think I’ll call it quits there and just go with the 100 per cent record as captain.”Somerset remained stoically winless until Liam Plunkett attempted to hit Jack Leach for a fourth six but only nicked the ball to Jim Allenby at slip. Cue delight in Stogumber. Cue street parties in Lydeard St. Lawrence.In truth, though, the cricket had descended into late-innings carnival by the time that last wicket fell. Yorkshire’s attempt to score 337 in 90 overs had long been a laughably optimistic enterprise and the chief giggler was a 6ft 5ins seamer from North Devon whose pace and hostility were appreciated by everyone at North Marine Road, not only the band of hardy supporters with wyverns on their chests.This was Craig Overton’s day and it was Craig Overton’s match. The giant all-rounder took 4 for 47 on this final day at Scarborough and finished the match with career-best figures of 9 for 134. Making good use of a pitch which offered him bounce and carry, Overton discomfited all the batsmen in this game and dismissed every member of Yorkshire’s top order at least once.On the day when Somerset at last took closer order on the counties above them, the all-rounder’s cricket displayed the brio that may sustain his county in dark times. No doubt the absent captain, Abell, who has played a couple of second team T20 games this week, was quick to text the players with his congratulations. Abell is that sort of bloke.As for Yorkshire, the bitter truth is that supporters at North Marine Road were more surprised by the rapidity of their side’s collapse than the fact of it. A once formidable batting order which used to cope serenely with England calls now seems riven with an unlucky bag of fallibilities. These weaknesses have been largely responsible for their team losing two of their last three Division One games and trailing leaders Essex by 38 points having played a game more.Harry Brook, who now has three championship appearances on his CV, looked the most secure of the top order and his appearances may be restricted by the broken hand he sustained in the nets on the final morning of this game. Seeking to explain this defeat by referring to the injuries which befell Plunkett and Ryan Sidebottom avoids the central problem which has suddenly befallen Yorkshire cricket. “It won’t do” said someone at North Marine Road before explaining himself in some detail.”We’ve spoken at length about our batting for a long time now but it’s got past the point of talking about it,” said the Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale. “It’s about doing it now and we need to back things up on the field. We didn’t work hard enough and we now want players to respond to what’s happened. Whether that’s by going into the second team and making big runs or by making runs in the T20, you just want to see a response. We’ve been here many a time before with Yorkshire cricket and we can turn this on its head.”Yorkshire’s woes began with the fifth ball of their innings when Alex Lees drove carelessly outside a Lewis Gregory inswinger and heard the ash dancing behind him. But it was not until the fourth over that West Country hope trespassed into the land of belief and it was Overton who led that cautious advance.The delivery which dismissed Brook would have moved the bowels of a Test cricketer, let alone a batsman whose memories of Peppa Pig are still fresh. Short, quick and deeply nasty, it reared up at the 18-year-old and brushed his glove. Steve Davies completed a difficult one-handed catch with deceptive aplomb. Rather less allowance can be made for Peter Handscomb, who pushed forward a trifle at his first ball but was hit on his front pad. Some thought the ball but might have been going over the top but Tim Robinson sent the batsman on his way. Yorkshire were 12 for 3 and the North Devonian did his best to disappear into the arms of his colleagues, a task that proved well beyond him.Four overs later Tom Kohler-Cadmore hooked Overton into the pavilion, where a spectator received a glancing blow but proved himself the sort of chap with whom one would go flying by brushing away all solicitous enquiries. Next ball Kohler-Cadmore failed to cover Overton’s steep bounce and edged the ball to slip where Tim Rouse held on. .For ten overs Adam Lyth and Tim Bresnan scored freely against attacking fields before Lyth, having flattered his supporters briefly, deceived them grievously when he drove at Overton and inside-edged the ball into his wicket. That left Yorkshire on 67 for 5 and all but doomed. The folded arms and the grim expressions said as much.An hour after lunch the players were shaking hands. Jack Leach, who had not been required to bowl in the first innings, took four of the wickets, bowling Tim Bresnan with a ball that pitched on leg but hit off and having Rashid caught at slip. Another tasty bouncer from Overton left Andy Hodd with little option but to scoop the ball to Eddie Byrom at square leg.”I’d like to bowl on that sort of wicket every day,” said Overton. “It was ideal for me and I don’t think I’ve bowled better than I did at the start of the second innings. I’m not sure Harry could have done too much about the ball that got him this morning. It’s one of those you just try and avoid and it can be a tough one to take.”As Overton spoke he was interrupted by Somerset supporters offering their congratulations. This victory is not enough to take their side out of the bottom two places in the table but it offers them hope, enough at any rate to speed them home in good heart this summer evening.

Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club kept themselves in contention for the 2017 Dhaka Premier League title with a 97-run win over Mohammedan Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.Doleshwar moved to 22 points to draw level with Abahani Limited, while Gazi Group Cricketers occupy the top spot with 24 points. If Gazi Group beat Doleshwar on June 5, the last day of the Super League, they are assured of becoming champions, even if Abahani win against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.But if Gazi lose to Doleshwar, and Abahani beat Dhanmondi Club, then Gazi, Doleshwar and Abahani will be level on 24 points, making for a three-way tie. In that case, Gazi Group’s three wins in matches against Abahani and Doleshwar will see them to the title.If, however, Abahani and Gazi both lose, Gazi and Doleshwar will be on 24 points each. And with both teams having beaten each other once, it will come down to net run rate to determine the champions. Given how close they are currently in that regard – Gazi have a net run rate of 0.687 and Doleshwar of 0.532 – it is more than likely that Doleshwar will win the title.During the match on Saturday, Doleshwar lost wicketkeeper and opener Jaker Ali after being inserted. Shahriar Nafees, who top-scored with 70, and Imtiaz Hossain (48) then stitched together 79 runs for the second wicket. Nafees added a further 51 with Marshall Ayub, the only other half-centurion of the match, before being caught off Bipul Sharma’s left-arm spin.Marshall’s 50 came off 60 balls. Following his dismissal in the 45th over, contributions from Rajat Bhatia (37 off 32) and Farhad Reza (20 0ff 12) shored up Doleshwar to 264 for 6.Mohammedan were reduced to 24 for 2 in the fifth over, before Shamsur Rahman and Bipul added 69 for the third wicket. The dismissal of Bipul, who top-scored with 48, triggered a slide as Mohammedan went from 93 for 2 to 103 for 6. They never quite recovered thereafter, and were bowled out for 167 in 34.5 overs despite a late 31 from Sajedul Islam.Offspinner Sharifullah took 3 for 32 in seven overs, while Reza, Delwar Hossain and Rahatul Ferdous took two wickets each.

Warwickshire have hailed the decision to host a day-night Test a “great success” after better than anticipated ticket sales.The club have already sold more than 45,000 tickets for the first three days of the Test (against West Indies) and expect that number to exceed 60,000 before the match starts on August 17. Sales for day two and three – Friday and Saturday – are particularly strong.Day-night Tests have been played with success in Australia and the UAE but, given the unpredictable climate in the UK, there is some trepidation about how the first day-night Test in England will go. There were also fears that a relatively modest West Indies Test team might not represent the attractive proposition it once did.From a ticketing perspective, though, the idea has clearly been well-received. Warwickshire are especially delighted with the fact that more than 40 percent of the sales have been made to people who have never previously bought Test tickets which suggests either the timing – with the game stretching into the evening – or the spectacle is helping the game appeal to a new market.While it is hard to provide more than a rough estimate, the club believe that, had the game been scheduled as a normal day encounter, they might well not have reached 30,000 sales by this point.”This is a Test that could have proved a pretty tough sell,” Warwickshire’s chief executive, Neil Snowball, told ESPNcricinfo. “But we’ve seen there are clear benefits from the novelty value and we’re looking forward to a great event.”The match – the first day-night Test in which England have played – will be preceded by a round of day-night Championship matches at the end of June in which all of England’s Test players are scheduled to be made available. That means that James Anderson, who is likely to take the new, pink ball in the Test against West Indies, will have the chance to bowl with it when Warwickshire host his Lancashire team at Edgbaston in a game starting on June 26.England will also play a day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide in November.

Royal Challengers Bangalore might have to start IPL 2017 without their captain Virat Kohli, as he battles against time to recover from the shoulder injury he picked up during the Australia Tests. The IPL starts on April 5, with Royal Challengers playing defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the tournament opener.”It’s still a few weeks to go before I can be 100% on the field,” Kohli said at the end of the Dharamsala Test, when asked about his fitness. “But these things happen in your career. Got to take it in my strike and move forward.”Kohli had hurt his right shoulder during the third Test in Ranchi, when he dived in an attempt to stop a boundary. He sat out the final Test as a result.Royal Challengers were yet to offer an official comment on Kohli’s availability. Kohli has missed only one game for the franchise so far, in the inaugural season in 2008. In 2016, he scored 973 runs for RCB and could have become the first player to score 1000 runs in an IPL season.

Match Facts

March 4, 2017
Start time 1400 local (0100GMT)1:38

McGlashan: de Villiers could decide fate of series

The Big Picture

Neither side has wanted to grasp hold of this series. There has been some impressive cricket from both, headlined by Martin Guptill in Hamilton and AB de Villiers throughout, but also vulnerabilities exposed – perhaps more than expected in the case of South Africa who arrived as the No. 1 side. It has made for compelling viewing.New Zealand have made it their thing this season to dethrone the top one-day side. Firstly they did it to Australia and now they have done it to South Africa (at least briefly). Whatever the outcome at Eden Park it is unlikely to change each sides’ thinking too much in terms of the Champions Trophy, but South Africa have a few unwanted concerns over the middle order while New Zealand remain in a muddle over the wicketkeeping position which has a knock-on impact to the middle order.Talk of momentum heading into the decider would appear pointless given how New Zealand responded to being bowled out for 112 in Wellington. South Africa need to find a similar reply after being Guptill-ed. If they don’t, de Villiers will leave Eden Park with that sinking feeling again.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WLWLW
South Africa LWLWW

In the spotlight

Tim Southee has had an interesting series. He has bowled some superb deliveries, and his four-over spell of cutters in Hamilton helped throttle the South Africa middle order, but overall he has gone for 6.59. Although it needs to be qualified that he bowled to de Villiers at the death and, crucially, got his yorkers in to seal the Christchurch victory. He returns to the ground where he (just about) held his nerve against Marcus Stoinis’ onslaught earlier this season.AB de Villiers has barely put a foot wrong with the bat – although some help from his middle order would not go amiss – but he now needs to steel himself and his team for a crunch encounter. Was it fate that there would be a deciding match at Eden Park? Before the T20I, he had noticed now much semi-final was replayed on TV. This is another excuse for the sports channels in New Zealand to re-run the match again.

Team news

New Zealand have added Matt Henry to the squad on duty in Hamilton. It is unlikely they will play two frontline spinners at this ground although Jeetan Patel’s offspin added a new dimension to the attack. Henry bowled well in the recent Plunket Shield match, even if it wasn’t enough to keep him in the Test squad, while Lockie Ferguson was expensive in the Wellington ODI.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, Dean Brownlie, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 James Neesham, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson/Matt Henry, 11 Trent BoultAndile Phehlukwayo sat out the previous match with a tight groin – his changes of pace were missed – but is fit and could rotate with one of the other allrounders. South Africa would have liked a chance to rest Kagiso Rabada, but with the series on the line may find it difficult. After backing from de Villiers, it appears unlikely JP Duminy or David Miller will be replaced by Farhaan Behardien.South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Andile Phehlukwayo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

This could be the truest wicket of a series where the pitches have provided unexpected assistance, especially for the spinners. De Villiers said that Imran Tahir, who took 5 for 24 in the T20I here, would enjoy the extra pace in the wicket. There is the chance of late showers. Rain in an Eden Park match between these two. Where have we seen that before?

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have won just two of their nine one-day series against South Africa: 2004 at home and 2013 away.
• In 73 ODIs at Eden Park, New Zealand’s record is level-pegging: 34 wins and 34 losses (with two ties and three no results)
• AB de Villiers averages 203 against New Zealand on their home soil. He has only been dismissed three times in 11 innings. The most runs by a visiting batsman to New Zealand in a series of up to five matches is Rahul Dravid’s 309 in 1998-99 – De Villiers is on 239.

Quotes

“Really looking forward to it, it’s a nice challenge for us as team. Don’t think this series has seen the best cricket we capable of, so tomorrow is a little opportunity to play in big pressure game.”
“I don’t think either side has played the perfect game. There have been patches of brilliance but not a complete performance.”