India in South africa 2010/2011

Smith and Amla cleared for first Test
Monday 13-December-2010 11:54
Amla and Smith - fit for opening Test.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith and batsman Hashim Amla have been cleared to play for South Africa in the three-Test series against India starting at SuperSport Park on Thursday."Graeme's hand is good. Doctors have cleared him and he's ready to go," coach Corrie van Zyl said on Monday.
"He's confident and looking forward to this week's preparation. We just hope that we can get out there and prepare.
"Hashim seems to be fine and started his preparations last week."
The ring finger on Smith's left hand was broken while batting in the first ODI against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in November.
Amla was struck on the left wrist while fielding in the last day of the second Test against Pakistan.
Looking ahead to the game, Van Zyl said that he would be stupid to underestimate the Indian bowling attack even though they would be playing in less familiar conditions.

There has been much hype about the pace and bounce of the wickets in South Africa and how this will favour the South African seamers rather than the Indian bowling attack.
"We're not going to give them turning tracks here. That's not going to happen, but we would be stupid to underestimate the Indian bowlers," he said.
"We're going to play on wickets which are going to benefit our style of play, but it is one thing playing on them, it's another thing executing."
India are ranked number one on the ICC's test rankings, but have not yet won a test series in South Africa.
Much is expected from players like Sachin Tendulkar, who will be seeking his 50th test century on this tour; Rahul Dravid, who boasts a test average of 53,31; and the aggressive Virender Sehwag, who averages 54,71.

Van Zyl said the South Africans are not focusing on these stars.
"It's an excellent Indian team which comes to our shores, but as far as individuals are concerned, if you're talking about a very good Indian team, then you can't single out individuals.
"They're not number one because of one individual, they're number one because they're a very good unit.
"If we're going to look at one or two individuals we're going to miss the boat here.
"We're making sure that we're not focused on one individual. We're preparing for the whole Indian team," he said.
Pre-match preparations for the first Test have been marred by wet weather, which has made it difficult to practice outdoors.
"We put in place specific plans for all the players who weren't involved in the MTN finals to work with their franchise coaches," said Van Zyl.
"The idea was that we wanted to have a week off after the Pakistan series to refresh, but at the same time also be ready for the practice week.
"Yesterday we got together and did the planning session and obviously we wanted to start working today, but it's not happening the way we wanted it to happen [because of the weather]."
He said some members of the Indian team arrived last week and had been practising in Cape Town to familiarise themselves with the local conditions.

Ashes: Andy Flower guarded on Chris Tremlett inclusion

Third Ashes Test: Australia v England
Venue: Perth Dates: 16-20 December Start time: 0230 GMT
Coverage: Listen live on Test Match Special on BBC 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW & online; highlights (UK only) and day's review on the TMS podcast; live text commentary on BBC Sport website; live on Sky Sports 1; highlights on ITV4

England coach Andy Flower has decided which of his three reserve seam bowlers will replace the injured Stuart Broad.
Rumours sweeping Perth suggest Surrey paceman Chris Tremlett will get the nod ahead of Yorkshire pair Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad for the third Test.
But following the tour match against Victoria, when the trio took only one wicket between them, Flower is refusing to confirm he has gone for Tremlett.
He said: "You can't put words in my mouth. It's pretty clear in our minds."
With Thursday's match moving swiftly into focus, Flower added: "We've got two days prep, and we'll tell our squad what the XI is the day before the game."
With Broad out of the rest of the series with an abdominal injury and his new-ball partner James Anderson tired from two long flights after a brief trip back to England to be present at the birth of his second child, England's bowling attack is under the spotlight for the first time in the tour.
The players' families have also arrived here in Perth, as agreed with team management, and Flower concedes that there are new challenges to be dealt with as a result.

Tamim's effort Bangladesh to series win

Tamim Iqbal's explosive 95 blew away Zimbabwe on a slow Chittagong pitch on which the visitors had limped to 188 for 6, giving Bangladesh a six-wicket victory and a sixth-consecutive series win over Zimbabwe. On a track where the rest of the batsmen managed ten boundaries, Tamim clattered seven sixes and five fours after starting cautiously and surviving some anxious moments. Despite three of the top five batsmen contributing 13 runs between them, and Junaid Siddique taking 105 deliveries to reach a half-century, Tamim's charge allowed Bangladesh to canter to victory as they took the series 3-1.

He had curbed his natural attacking instincts after Imrul Kayes fell to the fourth delivery of the chase, before opening up with a pull over square leg off Chris Mpofu in the seventh over. Mpofu's next over was an example of how the chase progressed - in sporadic spurts amid fortuitous let-offs. Tamim went for his favourite heave down the ground off the first delivery, but got an inside-edge that went just past the stumps for a boundary. The third delivery was lifted cleanly over long-off for six, before Mpofu made a mess of a straightforward chance as Tamim chipped a slower one in the air.

Tamim continued to take his chances, treating the spinners with disdain and repeatedly targeting the area between deep midwicket and long-off. He also played-and-missed in between, highlighting the slow nature of the pitch though it had quickened up a touch compared to when Zimbabwe were batting. Flicks and drives just cleared the infield, but what stood out in Tamim's effort was the urgency with which he approached the modest target, in stark contrast to Zimbabwe's batsmen who had crawled at around two an over for more than half their innings.

Siddique's effort was far scratchier as he struggled to find the gaps. But Tamim's briskness at the other end meant he could get away with working the ball around. Elton Chigumbura rotated his bowlers but it didn't have any effect on Tamim, who reached his half-century in the 20th over off 61 balls. Zimbabwe didn't help themselves as Tamim was left off once again, Tatenda Taibu failing to catch the bottom-edge off Ray Price. Tamim responded by moving from 50 to 95 in 34 deliveries, smashing five more sixes before falling while attempting yet another six, holing out to Graeme Cremer who took a diving catch running in from the deep midwicket boundary. By then, however, Bangladesh needed only 50 off 21 overs.

Taibu and Craig Ervine had earlier put on Zimbabwe's highest partnership of the series but their progress was painfully slow, before a late charge in the batting Powerplay took the visitors to 188 on a surface that didn't turn much. Only nine boundaries were hit - six of them in the final six overs - partly because of the low and slow nature of the surface and the damp outfield, but largely due to the lack of intent Zimbabwe displayed.

The first boundary came in the 24th over when Taibu stepped out and lifted Naeem Islam over mid-off. The batsmen showed more purpose after that and the duo had added 95 before Ervine fell, going for another reverse-sweep and getting a top edge that Mushfiqur Rahim gobbled up. Taibu, who made his first half-century of the series, continued to hustle between the wickets. From 137 for 4 after 44 overs, Zimbabwe took 42 off the batting Powerplay, using the lofted shot over the infield to good effect.

Zimbabwe's downward spiral had continued in the morning after Chigumbura opted to bat, and their confused state was typified by some mindless running. Bangladesh usually rely on their spinners to contain the runs but today their quicks, Mashrafe Mortaza and Shafiul Islam, did that job by being on target right from the start.

Zimbabwe helped Bangladesh with repeated attempts at self-destruction, the first of which came as early as the first legitimate delivery of the match, also the first free-hit of the series. Brendan Taylor pushed a full swinging delivery to extra cover and rushed more than halfway down the pitch before he glanced at Hamilton Masakadza, who was rightly rooted at the non-striker's end. Suhrawadi Shuvo had already swooped down on the ball, and waited for an instant before aiming at the striker's stumps and scoring a direct hit.

Mortaza deserved some rewards for his efforts, and soon trapped Masakadza and Dabengwa leg-before. Zimbabwe had slipped to 21 for 3, and the 11th over was already on. They never really recovered after that, and Tamim's blistering knock in his first series after wrist surgery shut them out completely.