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ScorecardA flooded outfield put paid to England U-19s game against Ireland U-19s•Getty Images

The hard work of the England Under-19s bowlers went to waste after a heavy downpour flooded the pitch at Grace Road and caused the abandonment of their run chase. Set 95 to win by Ireland Under-19s, England had reached 22 for the loss of one wicket off 4.1 overs, before the rain set in.Having put Ireland in to bat, England’s bowlers set about their task by suffocating the Ireland batting. No bowler conceded three runs an over, with Adam Ball, Aneesh Kapil and Tom Knight each picking up two wickets. Ryan Hunter top-scored with 25 but once he was the third wicket to fall in the 19th over, Ireland lost their remaining seven wickets for 44 in 20.3 overs.The amount of water that fell was so great that the second match of the series on Friday has been moved from Grace Road to Loughborough.

ScorecardDavid Balcombe, seen here last year when on loan at Kent, took four wickets as Essex were bowled out cheaply at West End•PA Photos

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ron Allsopp, the skilled head groundsman atTrent Bridge, would leave a thick coating of grass on the pitches hecut, specifically for Richard Hadlee and Clive Rice to exploit. This worked to good effect, not least through continuallywinning the toss. That same good fortune is being enjoyed now by JimmyAdams and Hampshire’s seamers, who, with considerable assistance fromtheir slip fielders, dismissed Essex for 180.This is not to say that the pitches cut by Nigel Gray here areanything like as difficult to bat on as was the case by the Trent inthe past. The bounce is even and there is good carry. Yet it is fair to saythat run-making was rather more straightforward when the one dayinternational was staged here a week ago than it was now. Every Essexbatsman fell through a catch in the slips or behind the wicket, withthe exception of one tail-ender who was bowled. There was considerablemovement.Gray is no less skilled than Alsopp and his pitches play better thelonger the match continues. The drawback in all this is not so muchthat the side winning the toss is more likely to win the match, butthat there is little scope for spin. Danny Briggs, unavailable becausehe is with England’s one-day party, would probably not have been picked,anyway. That has been the situation for most of the season.Essex, facing an attack in which David Griffiths was preferred toKabir Ali and Chris Wood, were five wickets down by lunch. The slipcatching was extremely sharp. As Neil McKenzie has returned to SouthAfrica, no longer required now that Michael Carberry is fit, Adamshimself has gone to first slip. He accounted for Tom Westley and Ryanten Doeschate; Liam Dawson is perhaps the best second slip in thecountry, and James Vince is pretty competent alongside him. They alsotook two catches each. Add Sean Ervine in the gully and this is a finecordon.Some of the shot selection was unnecessary. Rather like late cuttingbefore May is out, cover driving before lunch made for extravagance.Jaik Mickleburgh and Owais Shah both were out in that way, to DavidBalcombe, who finished with four wickets, and James Tomlinsonrespectively. Adam Wheater was neatly held by Michael Bates behind thewicket.Mark Pettini was the sole batsman to flourish, reaching 58 with eightfours before he, too, fell to a slip catch. Tom Craddock played on toErvine after lunch and Maurice Chambers soon edged to Bates. ForGriffiths, playing his first Championship match since May, there werethree wickets. The question now was whether Hampshire, who have to winthis match to have a chance of promotion, could bat any better againsta similarly pace-dominated attack.To a fair extent they did. Adams swung at a short ball from Chambersand sent up a catch to square leg, but Carberry, so powerful in hishitting in the CB40 semi-final at Hove last weekend, made 42 witheight fours and Bilal Shafayat, who is far from in form, looked justabout in touch towards the end of the day.

Alastair Cook admitted he wished that England had been confronted with more spin bowling as they completed their warm-up games ahead of the first Test of the series against India. While England’s captain declared himself satisfied with his team’s preparations, he did suggest that “a message” had been conveyed to the opposition to ensure the tourists were denied meaningful exposure to spin bowling ahead of the series.A draw against Haryana meant England had drawn all three of their warm-up matches. But, although every batsman in England’s top-order has enjoyed a lengthy innings at some stage, Cook knows that such success may prove deceptive. Some of the opposition has been surprisingly modest.The absence of spin has been particularly noticeable. Fewer than 11% of the overs bowled against England in the second innings of the three matches has come from spinners and, arguably, none of it has come from what might be described as a quality spinner. It was typical that, in England’s second innings against Haryana Amit Misha, the legspinner who has played 13 Tests for India, did not deliver a single ball. It means that England, with a less than illustrious record against top-quality spin bowling in recent times, will go into a series in which spin is expected to play a major role, having had very little meaningful practise against it.”Clearly we can’t control the standard of the opposition,” Cook said. “We would have liked to have faced more spin in the matches but that hasn’t happened. If anyone has been watching our training sessions while these games have been going on, we’ve had some good spinners bowling to us in the nets. We’d rather them in the middle but they’ve been turning out there and all the lads have been putting in some really good practice.”I don’t know who it has come from but clearly there’s been a message of some sort. Obviously we’ve had Amit Mishra missing here. I don’t know if he was injured or not but he didn’t bowl that many overs, so clearly there’s been a message of some kind.”England could have tried to force the win against Haryana. Not only did they decline to enforce the follow-on, but they agreed to an early finish when they had a minimum of 10 more overs to take only four more wickets. Instead, though, Cook opted to rest his bowlers in case they were required on Thursday.”Clearly we would have liked to have won a game but sometimes common sense has to be used,” he said. “There’s no point busting a gut today on a very flat wicket with a Test match just around the corner and with [the condition of] our fast bowlers at the moment, especially with a few injury concerns as well.”Cook’s caution was understandable. While Steven Finn and Stuart Broad both returned to bowling in practice, there are still question marks over the availability of both of them. Cook is adamant that they will not be selected if there are any doubts over their fitness. Indeed, the fact that there are doubts over both of them renders the decision even more tricky for England.”It’s great to see them back bowling,” Cook said. “The next few days are vital for them and we must go into that game with a fully fit attack. They have to be 100%. You’ve seen how hot it is out here and how flat the wickets are. They won’t be in the ideal state, the preparation period hasn’t quite gone right with those two not playing and getting overs under their belts. We’re going to have to see over the next few days and make a decision on that, but clearly we’ve got to be very careful. In an ideal world, they’d certainly have liked to have more match bowling.”But what we do know is that they’re quality performers. Stuart, especially, has got a lot of experience. He knows what he’s doing and he knows when his body is right. We’re going to have to assess these guys over the next 24 hours and then make a decision. As a captain, you’d want them to have more match practice but they are world-class bowlers. It would be great if they were fully fit and had some overs under their belt but they haven’t.”The performance of Tim Bresnan in Haryana’s second innings may have made England’s decision a little easier. Bresnan bowled with good control, decent pace and, along with Stuart Meaker, gained enough reverse swing to trouble all the batsmen. His 2 for 13 took his tally to nine wickets in two tour matches.”In the last session, with the reversing ball, all three of them – Bresnan, Graham Onions and Meaker – showed good control, which is encouraging,” Cook said. “We’ve got six bowlers out here fully fit and on a tough tour like this I’m sure we’re going to need that. Tim Bresnan has been an integral part of our attack for last couple of years and he’s certainly done himself no harm in this game.”Cook was also encouraged by the news that Graeme Swann returning to India having flown back to the UK due to a family illness. “All the reports have been good and he is coming back on Monday. That’s fantastic for us and it’s fantastic that all’s well at home as well. He’s an experienced campaigner and he knows what’s he doing. I have no doubts or concerns about Swanny.”

Apart from the No.1 ranking, and the knowledge that they are the first team in nearly two decades to win Test series in Australia twice, South Africa have more to take away from their 1-0 victory.They will take the recognition of Graeme Smith as one the great leaders of his time, the ever-growing appreciation for Jacques Kallis, the quiet quality of Hashim Amla’s contribution and the more brash ones of Dale Steyn. However, the most precious thing they will take is the birth of a new Test player and the rebirth of an old one.Faf du Plessis and Robin Peterson underlined what really gives a team the ability to dominate: a continuum. Both have been members of South Africa’s squads across all formats and when the time came for them to step up in a Test situation, they did.In du Plessis, South Africa have a reader of the game that will serve them better than a kindle does a frequent traveller. In Peterson, they have a blend of experience and exuberance, which helped deepen his understanding of his role and how it can fit the needs of the team.Du Plessis succeeded because he is able to see opportunity and take it. He learnt that in an unlikely place: the IPL. At Chennai Super Kings, he was acquired as bench strength and had to challenge Michael Hussey for a place in the starting XI. When Hussey was unavailable for part of a season, du Plessis saw a small chance and snatched it. “Competition is great for the team,” he said. “I grew a lot from the experience of competing with Hussey and I learnt to make sure that when I get the chance to score runs, I do.”The situation on the fourth day of the Adelaide Test was not what most would call an opening. With a rampant Australian attack on the prowl for six wickets to take an unassailable lead in the series, du Plessis’ best hope, to those on the outside, was to try and survive. Not much more could have been expected from a rookie, especially after he had already done his bit in the first innings, but du Plessis wanted to be more than a sacrificial lamb.”I’ve really pushed the ceiling in four-day cricket over the last two years and I really enjoy trying to score hundreds,” he said. Du Plessis transferred his domestic form to Tests effortlessly and displayed a maturity of someone who had played 78 first-class games before making a debut.After his resistance in Adelaide, du Plessis understood the extent of the psychological dent he had caused in the opposition camp. “For us, just to hang on was important,” he said. “Afterwards, the whole team had the sense that the Australians threw everything at us and we still managed to hang on. We knew that to turn around, mentally and physically, after that would be tough for them.”It’s those two aspects of Test cricket that du Plessis enjoys most. The game is played in the mind as much as it is on the field. “After five days, you feel like you have run the Comrades Marathon. I love it.”Peterson also regards Test cricket as the “purest” form of the game, although he did not think he would ever play it again. After appearing four times for South Africa, his only mark on the format was being hit for 28 runs in an over by Brian Lara. Now, he can joke about that. “It always comes up but really, it was just the way I bowl. I kept tossing it up and I felt I was in with a chance. There’s no disgrace in being tonked by Brian Lara.”Peterson’s style of bowling was never considered good enough for South Africa over a sustained period, and he is now the perfect advertisement for recycling. With the amount of time he spent on the fringes, he could easily have been forgotten. Peterson had only played 40 ODIs in nine years before the 2011 World Cup, when he was finally given more than just a smattering of matches.With a little bit of backing, Petersen finished as the leading wicket-taker for South Africa at the World Cup and that, along with his stint at Derbyshire, helped his confidence. “With county cricket, you learned to play cricket week in and week out and having to get yourself up mentally to perform all the time.” Dismissing players like Mark Ramprakash and Younis Khan helped Peterson realise he could do it without changing his fundamentals.It took a little longer than that for South African cricket to warm to him. Peterson said he felt like he needed to be someone he wasn’t, but that changed after the World Cup. “I’m being myself more now. The skill level never changed but it’s more about being comfortable with who you are as a person. It comes with maturity and growing up.”Peterson’s development is a microcosm for what has happened with the whole South African side. Ricky Ponting noted it when he said they were “not scared” to pull the rug so far from under Australia’s feet that it caused them to fall over. That may sound like an obvious thing for a sporting unit to do but it is not. Sometimes they hold back from annihilating an opponent as completely as they can.South Africa are slowly shedding that tendency. Peterson has been part of the squad for long enough to have witnessed it firsthand. “We’re a lot smarter and lot more prepared to take risks, which we wouldn’t have been in the past,” he said. “It comes with maturity as people. If you look around, Hashim is playing the best he has ever played, Graeme has also gone to a new level, and guys like Faf are coming in and performing under pressure.”It’s the last of those examples that matters most. A good team can be built on a few exceptional players but great teams have to be built on generations. South Africa’s may be beginning.

Somewhere between Alistair Cook’s admission that defeat in England’s two one-day warm-up games was “not an ideal start” and his reference to the Champions Trophy, to be held in England in June, as “high on our priorities” it was possible to sense what the five-match ODI series against India means.With the commencing of England’s split coaching arrangement – Ashley Giles taking over from Andy Flower in charge of the limited-overs sides – an inexperienced squad and a recent one-day record in India featuring far more winces than wins, Cook will be looking for incremental gains in a testing environment. England’s last – and only – ODI series win in India came in 1984-85 and although Cook led his team to a first Test series victory in 28 years last month, a history-making repeat would be even more outlandish.England enter the series as the No. 1-ranked ODI side, after winning 12 of their 14 completed matches in 2012, but they were whitewashed 5-0 on their last two visits to India, in 2011 and 2008, and lost 5-1 in 2006. If England returned to India last week full of festive cheer, following their success in the Tests and a last-ball win to draw the T20 series before Christmas, it was rudely knocked out them by defeats to India A and Delhi. Cook was spared watching both by a bout of illness that kept him out of the first match but acknowledged England must work hard to compete.”I didn’t see the first game and in the second game I think we improved a lot,” Cook said. “For us to win, I think, it showed the challenge we are going to have in our hands. Our skill levels will need to improve a lot. It’s going to be hell of a challenge, like the Test series in a way. We have to do something that no English team has done for a while.”Although England’s batsmen faltered chasing 229 against India A, with only Ian Bell making a significant contribution, and then the bowlers not defending 294 against Delhi, Cook had only positive things to say about Giles’ initial impact on the squad. “He has done well, it’s obviously been testing conditions for him so far. It’s very early days but he has done well. These things take time for him to get used to everyone but I think he is an excellent coach.”The surface at Rajkot is likely to be conducive to run-scoring and while there may not be much green on the pitch, there will be more than a tinge of it to England’s attack, which is missing James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad. Despite the new ODI rules on bouncers and fielders in the circle and the pace at England’s disposal, particularly in the shape of Steven Finn and Stuart Meaker, Cook said it was important that his bowlers did not get carried away.”I think in these conditions, these rules will have less of an impact than say in Australia or England on bouncier pitches,” he said. “I captained the other day and having five men up was obviously different. And it’s tough to bowl on these wickets, there is always a boundary option with the other man up. It’s about trying out your skills and trying to make it as hard as possible for the opposition to get that boundary.”There is very little margin for error. We found that out the last time we were here and in the two warm-up matches. Here, you get punished if you are off line and length. So that’s tough on bowlers in these conditions and these quick outfields as well, there are going to be high-scoring games. We’ve got to try and nail those skills and keep those freebies down as much as you can.”We have got an inexperienced side, a few experienced players missing through injuries and rotational policy. So, it will be a real big test to us as players and real good test to these guys who have been around now a bit on the international scene to try and step up.”But for all the talk of taking early wickets, keeping it tight and developing strength in depth, England are already looking beyond this series. Cook, a man once considered unsuited to ODI cricket, is now in charge of a side that can approach the Champions Trophy with genuine hopes of winning the tournament and filling a significant gap in the cabinet. “I think it’s very important,” Cook said. “I don’t think we have won any 50-over ICC tournaments as an England side. So as a group of players, having returned home and in conditions which we are comfortable, we will try and win that. So, it’s very high on our priorities.”

ScorecardDhawal Kulkarni picked up five wickets•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai entered their 44th Ranji Trophy final, doing the clinical business that was expected of them, despite hurdles of inclement weather and wet wickets in their semi-final against Services. In an extended session of an extra sixth day at the Air Force Station Palam ground, they dismissed Services for 240 and progressed into the final on first-innings lead.Dhawal Kulkarni picked up five wickets, which included a precise demolition of the lower order with figures of 4 for 15 on the final morning when the Services batting came undone. They lost their last seven wickets for 54 runs in 27.1 overs, extending the play shortly into the lunch break. For Services, who finished this Ranji season with results well beyond expectations, it was a particularly disappointing morning. “It’s not losing that matters,” said a sombre Services manager Deepak Bhaskar, “it was the manner of how we lost.” Once their overnight batsmen were gone, Services lost, well, very quickly.For Mumbai, the result brought with it relief as a hailstorm had rendered the match beyond an outright result and the weather had complicated the simplicity of trying to set up the first-innings lead. The semi-final witnessed late starts, a hailstorm that led to a sopping wet wicket and weak light that kept cutting off scheduled hours. Monday was the first of the six days in which play started on time and Mumbai made it count.Mumbai captain Ajit Agarkar, who was named the Man of the Match, said, “You don’t want it to end that way. [through a toss]. We were hoping to get 100-120 overs to bowl at Services but we were lucky to get more than that.”Mumbai struck early when they broke the 114-run partnership of the overnight batsmen Soumya Swain and Yashpal Singh, just over half an hour into the morning. The Mumbai attack had concentrated on Yashpal’s off-side, in the belief that he would nick one to the cordon behind him. Trying to defend one from Shardul Thakur that moved away, Yashpal was out for 58, caught behind by Aditya Tare.Left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar got the old ball to jump, pushed Swain on the back foot and had him caught by first slip Wasim Jaffer in his second over of the morning. Rajat Paliwal, Services’ most consistent batsman all season, then played on to Kulkarni. His defensive dab left enough space between bat and pad for the ball to rattle the stumps. The new ball was just over four overs away and Services were 203 for 6.Once it was taken, Kulkarni and Thakur went after the tail with menace and precision, three of the last four wickets caught behind by Tare. Agarkar said his medium-pacers had “bowled their hearts out” on a wicket that had actually eased up and rid itself off the vagaries of the first two days.The cruelty of the situation will not be lost on Services who had the best of the wicket to play on, having being rolled diligently for two days following the hailstorm and heavy showers late Friday and early Saturday.Bhaskar said the Services batsmen had let themselves down. “We wanted to bat through the day and were capable of doing so,” he said, adding that the Uttar Pradesh bowling that the Services batsmen had overcome contained more “variety” than Mumbai. That would no doubt elicit a snarl out of the Mumbai pacemen, who wrapped up the Services first innings in less than 35 overs on Monday. Mumbai’s big picture plan involved few words and all deeds, Agarkar saying, “It had been a question of bowling seven good balls today.”The moment the last wicket fell, Avishek Sinha’s, after a defiant 22 which lasted over an hour, play was called off. Both sets of players were given a brief talk by the match referee B Kalyanasundaram, who announced the reasons for giving the Man of the Match to Agarkar and offered appreciation and applause for the ground staff to enable a sufficient portion of play to push this game into a result beyond the toss.As the Services management had planned, even while trying to consider Sachin Tendulkar “just a player”, Tendulkar came into their dressing room after the match and five minutes turned to 15. Tendulkar discussed preparation and application and approach, and of all he said, strike bowler Suraj Yadav remembered this one: “You will meet with difficulties of all types from all directions – only you can find and you have to find your way out of them.” Yashpal Singh’s mind was drawn to advice about attitude: for success in any field comes with immersing yourself in it to a degree of extreme involvement and madness.It marked an end to the Services campaign this season which began as early as May with an Inter-Services tournament that was brought forward by a few months. It helped them pick a team well in time for the start of the Ranji season. Services will be left dealing with mixed feelings: having earned a few stripes for their effort and, from this semi-final, a few emotional wounds.Mumbai now move onto a home final, with Agarkar himself having played and won six. The last time Mumbai lost a Ranji Trophy final, they were still called Bombay when Haryana beat them in 1990-91. If there are calls to induct Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja into the Saurashtra squad, Mumbai believes there is good reason to call up Rohit Sharma and if available, Ajinkya Rahane too.

England carried out a round tour from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again during the T20 series against New Zealand, which they secured 2-1 with a crushing ten-wicket victory in Wellington. Talk before the match had been of New Zealand comebacks but England produced the the ideal response to defeat in Hamilton, with the captain, Stuart Broad, describing their performance as “perfect” – though he needed to take a deep breath before deciding to insert New Zealand again.The pace bowlers’ use of a short length paid off and England took regular wickets, before Alex Hales and Michael Lumb peppered the boundaries to complete the highest successful chase without losing a wicket in T20 internationals. While in the second match, England’s batsmen struggled against a moving ball under lights, the only swing on offer in Wellington came in the form of another dramatic shift in fortunes between the teams.”All round, it was probably the most powerful [T20] performance I’ve seen from an England side really,” Broad said. “The result, and the way we adapted to the conditions with the ball, was brilliant. The fielding was strong as well, catches being held. It was a pretty perfect performance really.””We know early wickets kill you in Twenty20, so it was great to see the guys take their time and get used to the wicket a little bit for two or three overs … then once Alex Hales got going, it looked hard to stop him. Some of the sixes were huge. Lumby’s almost went out of the ground to finish the game.”Broad accepted responsibility for bowling first in Hamilton but his team justified the decision this time, continuing a run that has seen the chasing side win all five T20 internationals played at the Westpac Stadium. Having taken 4 for 24 in the first match in Auckland – then going for 53 in the second – Broad collected his second-best T20 figures of 3 for 15 to finish the series on a positive personal note ahead of England’s ODI and Test commitments.”After winning the toss and deciding to bowl – it took a little time to make that decision – it was important we put our wrongs right,” Broad said. “We hung into a heavy length, and the way we started with the ball, the tone we set, was fantastic. We probably kept them to 20 or 30 under par. But the power the two openers have shown there was pretty spectacular.”For Brendon McCullum, New Zealand’s captain, it was a return to lauding the opposition after his side was comprehensively outplayed. The batsmen could only manage three sixes in limping to 139 for 8 and then New Zealand’s sloppy series in the field continued as Hales was dropped twice early the England chase.”We were blown off the park tonight. [Our] batting, bowling and fielding was nowhere near the standards they need to be – and England were ruthless, and thoroughly deserved the series victory,” McCullum said. “There was some excellent hitting. We served them up … and I thought we bowled too straight; we weren’t able to get any swing whatsoever.”We were aware, once we were batting, we’d need to get somewhere near 170 – because it would skid on later – to be competitive. But in the end we probably needed 200, the way they played. We were just poor across the board, and they were excellent across the board; hence the gulf between the two teams.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlex Hales overcame a sticky start to lead England to victory with a string of boundaries•Getty Images

It was probably fitting that England sealed victory against New Zealand with an enormous six over midwicket: they had dominated this game throughout and the margin of victory – 10-wickets with 44 deliveries to spare – does not mislead. This was slaughter. The result secured a 2-1 series victory for England.Michael Lumb and Alex Hales rushed them to victory with the team’s highest-ever opening stand in T20, but this was a result that also owed plenty to an excellent performance in the field. England bowled with pace and discipline and fielded with consistent skill to limit New Zealand to total that always looked inadequate on another good T20 surface. It was only the second time that England have won a T20 by 10 wickets; they also beat West Indies by 10-wickets at The Oval in 2011.Lumb and Hales will take the plaudits and probably rightly so. By the latter stages of their run chase they were treating the bowling with a disdain rarely seen at this level. With victory in sight, Hales thumped Mitchell McClenaghan for 22 in four deliveries – three sixes and a four – driving anything pitched-up over long-on and pulling anything short over midwicket.It must have seemed a long time for McClenaghan since he started his spell with a maiden. Lumb and Hales’ stand was the second highest for any wicket England have achieved in this format, following the partnership of 159 between Hales and Ravi Bopara against West Indies at Trent Bridge in 2012.In truth, New Zealand had not set a competitive total with the bat. Limited to 139 by an excellent performance in the field from England, they were never able to find any fluency and were always chasing the game.It was no surprise that England elected to bowl after winning the toss, despite Stuart Broad admitting he was wrong in the previous match. All four previous T20s at this ground had seen the side batting second winning the game and, with dew expected as the game wore on, it was anticipated that gripping the ball could become difficult for bowlers later in the match.Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, admitted that he would have bowled first*, too, though ultimately the match was over before the dew became relevant. New Zealand’s bowlers were unable to replicate the tight control of line and length of their counterparts and offered too much width and too many over-pitched, short or wayward deliveries.That New Zealand were able to set any sort of total was largely due to Martin Guptill. The opener, while far from fluent for most of the innings, batted into the 19th over and contributed 59 runs to give his side some sort of target to defend. But he could not hit a boundary until the eighth over of the innings and did not manage another until the 18th as New Zealand struggled to get going against a purposeful performance from England’s bowlers.Broad and Steven Finn were particularly impressive. Both bowled with pace and found enough assistance in the pitch to allow them to stick to their natural length. Broad bounced back from his mauling in Hamilton with a frugal spell. He was thrashed for 53 in his four overs in the previous game, including 22 in his final over, but here conceded just 15. Each of his three wickets came with sharp, well-directed short deliveries which may bode well for a man seeking to prove his fitness ahead of an ODI and Test series.But England’s spinners also claimed the key wickets. Joe Root, called into the side in place of Samit Patel, provided another demonstration of the calm head that has seen him step-up to international cricket with apparent ease in his encounter with Ross Taylor. Taylor had just slog-swept Root for six over midwicket but the bowler, keeping his head, tossed the next ball up a little slower and little further outside off stump and drew the batsman into the shot once more. This time Taylor was unable to connect so cleanly and top-edged the ball to deep midwicket where Jonny Bairstow, as reliable a catcher as England have, held on safely.James Tredwell accounted for Brendon McCullum who had won the game for New Zealand in Hamilton with an innings of 74 in 38 balls, but might have been a victim of the larger boundary in Wellington. Certainly the slow-sweep he played would have travelled for six in Hamilton but here it again found its way to the sure hands of Bairstow at deep midwicket.James Franklin thrashed three boundaries, including two in a row off Jade Dernbach in the last over, to keep New Zealand’s head just above water but, with Finn and Broad conceding just 33 between them in their eight overs, England could feel very satisfied with the first half of their evening’s work.If New Zealand were to have any chance of defending such a modest total they had to take their chances. But Hales was dropped on 6 by Taylor – a desperately difficult chance – jumping at slip in an attempt to cling on to a top-edge off Ian Butler, and then again on 11 as Brendon McCullum, running round from behind the stumps to square leg, insisted on trying to claim a top-edge off McClenaghan that might have been best left to a closer fielder.Lumb should have been run out on 46, too, Nathan McCullum failing to remove the bails despite standing right by the stumps, but by then it was too late anyway. England were all but home.While Hales’ late assault was eye-catching, Lumb had looked assured throughout. It was Lumb who kick-started the England chase by hitting McClenaghan for successive sixes in the fourth over – the first a drive and the second, when the bowler pulled his length back, a pull – and his fluency allowed Hales the chance to find his form. A wild over from Butler, the fifth of the innings, cost New Zealand 23 – and helped Hales pick-up three leg-side boundaries and begin to settle. Neither he or Lumb looked back.11.15am GMT, February 15. This story was amended to correct Brendon McCullum’s remark

Andy Waller has confirmed that he will begin his new job as Zimbabwe’s head coach on May 1. Waller has just returned to the UK from Sri Lanka, where he was on a tour with the Eastbourne College first team, which he currently coaches.In an email from the school, Waller told ESPNCricinfo that he will arrive in Zimbabwe on April 15 and will begin work the next month. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) have yet to officially announce his appointment.Waller will not be involved in the two Tests against Bangladesh, but will take over for the ODIs and Twenty20s, which start on May 3. Stephen Mangongo will be in charge at the start of the tour and will continue in his role as assistant coach under Waller.Grant Flower, the batting coach, has been involved in preparations for the series but there is no word on the future of Heath Streak, the bowling coach, whose contract expired on March 31, along with that of former coach Alan Butcher. It is likely Streak will continue as a bowling consultant, because none of the three coaches currently involved have expertise in that discipline, but the decision is yet to be made.Streak and Flower were pushed to the fringes of Zimbabwe’s structures when they were left at home during the recent tour to West Indies because of a change in ZC’s touring policy. The decision irked captain Brendan Taylor, who said at the time, that the team needed the pair’s experience especially when away from home. Zimbabwe went on to lose all seven matches, across all formats, in the Caribbean.The team has not played at home since late 2011 when they made their Test comeback, and hosted Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand, and have endured a tough year in-between. Things do not appear to be getting any easier in the lead up to the busy home programme, which includes home series with Bangladesh, India (for three ODIs), Sri Lanka and Pakistan.As most of Zimbabwe’s inbound tours take place during the winter, those franchise cricketers who are not centrally contracted often look for opportunity to play club cricket in the UK in order to make some money. A group of those players approached ZC about their financial situation and asked for winter contracts as security, but a source close to the situation said their request had been denied. Instead, ZC has only made provision for a small daily allowance.As a result, many of those players have indicated they will continue to pursue money-making opportunities overseas and not stay at home through the winter. That will leave Zimbabwe with only the 15 centrally contracted players to choose from while most of their next best will be unavailable. Should injuries or poor form strike, Zimbabwe could be in a dire situation with a lack of cricketers to play matches.

If actions reveal more than words, the behaviour of South Africa’s think tank cancel out AB de Villiers’ claim that the Kingsmead pitch is not a worry ahead of what could be a series-deciding ODI against Pakistan.For half-an-hour on Tuesday, Gary Kirsten and team manager Mohammad Moosajee held animated conversation with the chief executive of the Dolphins, Jesse Chellan and groundsman Wilson Ngobese and they were not just catching up. The topic of conversation was the strip and it was clear South Africa were not happy.They complained about the surface being too dry and were concerned it would take too much turn, which would play into Pakistan’s hands perfectly. They wanted something that would suit their own team better – specifically a harder surface. Later in the afternoon, Ngobese and his staff watered the strip. On Wednesday, there was no meeting, only polite hellos.Such is South Africa’s paranoia with Durban. Over the past two seasons, South Africa have labelled Kingsmead, “subcontinental,” after losing Test matches to both India and Sri Lanka. Mysteriously, this season Durban did not host any Test and was only given a Twenty20 against New Zealand and another against Pakistan, along with tomorrow’s ODI.South Africa earned an emphatic eight-wicket win over New Zealand but T20 against Pakistan was washed out. As a result, no-one was able to judge whether conditions in Durban would continue to suit visitors from Asia more than it does the hosts. With the one-day series on the line, it seems that is not a chance management is willing to take.Pakistan’s obvious strength is their spinners. Although South Africa have played them well they do not want to give them any additional advantage, especially not with the series poised as it is. If Pakistan win in Durban, the contest will be level again at 2-2. If South Africa win, they take the trophy.De Villiers insisted he is not the “kind of guy who worries about stuff like that,” but got in a subtle snipe at Kingsmead for not offering the team wickets they are used to. “We’re playing at home and we’d like to get bouncy and pacy tracks, which we haven’t got the whole of the season. In the last two years, the wickets in South Africa have slowed up quite a bit. It’s just one of those things you’ve got to deal with. The Kingsmead wicket looks a bit drier than normal,” he said.He quickly countered the criticism by saying if South Africa want to dominate the shortest format as they currently do in the longer one, they will have to learn to adapt. “If we want to be the No. 1 team in the world, which is the main goal eventually, we’ll have to beat any team in any conditions. If there is turn we’ll have to adapt as quickly as possible and beat Pakistan at their own game.”He went one further too and challenged the current team to prove they can perform even when the situation is not tailor-made for them. “That kind of win would give me a lot more satisfaction than beating them on a bouncy and pacy track,” he said and pointed to the performance in Johannesburg on Sunday as an example.”At the Wanderers, we got the bad end of the toss. The ball was moving around the first 10 overs and it was a very flat wicket in the afternoon. It wasn’t a bouncy, pacy track; it was a flat wicket. It suited Pakistan quite well and we just outplayed them. We’re beating them by playing good cricket and doing the basics better than them.”In particular, de Villiers was impressed with the efforts in the field where he points to the bowlers’ improvement in the absence of Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis. “The guys are coming up with very clear game plans and they know exactly what they want to do. We were put under the pump at the Wanderers and we came through. It’s a step in the right direction to defend successfully in a game like that. Things like the death overs have always been a worry in the past and we did better in that department,” he said.The spotlight will be on the batsmen in Durban, though. If the pitch does allow Pakistan’s spinners an opening, it will also provide a stern examination of the South African middle-orders’ ability to counter them.Without Faf du Plessis, South Africa go back to being fairly inexperienced in that area. De Villiers indicated that du Plessis’ spot will be taken by David Miller and not Quinton de Kock at first. “For this game, Dave is next in line,” he said. Known as a classy, big-hitter, Miller will have to bring out his softer side to face the spin and if he can do successfully, he may earn himself a ticket to the Champions Trophy in June and his home ground, Kingsmead, a few points in the patriotism stakes.