All posts by csb10.top

File photo: Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten century handed India a the series title•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

A quickfire unbeaten century from Shreyas Iyer and a half-century from Vijay Shankar steered India A to a seven-wicket win against South Africa A to seal the tri-series final in Pretoria. Iyer and Shankar put on 141 for the third wicket to eclipse Farhaan Behardien’s century earlier in the day, when five wickets between Shardul Thakur and Siddarth Kaul had restricted the hosts to 267 for 7 in 50 overs.India A were jolted early when Junior Dala removed openers Sanju Samson and Karun Nair in the first six overs, leaving them in trouble at 20 for 2. But Iyer, who had not scored a fifty earlier in the series, and Shankar, who had scored a duck in his previous match, joined forces to deny South Africa another wicket for more than 28 overs, while lifting India’s run rate towards five an over. Shankar fell for 72 off 86 after striking nine fours, before Manish Pandey joined Iyer, who went on to register his highest List A score of 140 off 131 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes. The fourth-wicket pair put on an unbroken 109 in only 12.3 overs to seal the win with 19 balls to spare. Pandey, with scores of 55, 41*, 86*, 93* and 32*, was named Man of the Series.India A had capitalised on their decision to bowl when Kaul and Thakur cut through the top order and left South Africa A 32 for 3 in the ninth over. Khaya Zondo and Behardien steered them past 100 before No. 7 Dwaine Pretorius scored a quick 58 off 61 balls, which featured five fours and two sixes, to help them past 200. Behardien remained unbeaten on 101, having helped set India A a challenging target, but it wouldn’t prove enough against their middle order. Thakur ended with 3 for 52 and Kaul with 2 for 55.

India have a “50-50” chance of beating defending champions Australia in the Women’s World Cup semi-final on Thursday, an opinion the former India captain Anjum Chopra insists isn’t merely the “hope” of a positive outcome. Chopra has been closely following the fortunes of Mithali Raj’s team as a commentator, but concedes Australia’s superior experience and pedigree will be a factor going into the clash.Australia have won six of the 10 World Cup tournaments prior to this and hold an overwhelming 34-8 win-loss record against India in ODIs. Since the last World Cup in 2013, India have won just one of their four ODIs against Australia. In the group stages of this edition, Australia won six of their seven games while India won five.”Yes, I think India can beat Australia,” Chopra told ESPNcricinfo from London. “When I say that, I am not just being hopeful that India should be in a final. The reason I say that is, I’ve always felt that anytime you get into a quarter-final or a semi-final, there’s always one match that as a team you need to play well together, even if they are the current world champions.”Definitely they are a beatable side. Yes they have been world champions often, so they’ve seen themselves as an Australian team in this situation many more times than the Indian team. So yes, the confidence is there, they know how to come to this stage and how to conquer this stage, which will apparently be missing in the Indian line-up.”One of India’s major concerns going into the game will be the sharp decline in the form of their opener Smriti Mandhana. Mandhana, who turned 21 on Tuesday, started the tournament with scores of 90 and 106*, helping the team secure wins over England and West Indies, but has subsequently been dismissed for 2, 8, 4, 3 and 13. India do have the option to promote 19-year old Deepti Sharma, a specialist opener who has been playing in the middle order, but Chopra believes such a move could only have been contemplated had Deepti been tested in the role in the group stages.”Against an Australian line-up where Smriti as an attacking left-hander will be required to come good at the top, I don’t think the Indian team will be looking at that change,” she said. “As players, we have seen ourselves go in and out of form. In the last four days, the Indian team would have had the time to relax, if required, or go and hit the nets. I think four days is good enough time for any cricketer to make that turnaround. At the top, that strong partnership that India can come up with it, like they did against England, I think that will be very crucial.”While Mandhana’s form has tapered off, her opening partner Punam Raut has been consistently providing solidity to the top order. Raut is, in fact, second behind captain Mithali Raj among India’s leading run-getters in the tournament and made a hundred against Australia in the league stage. India will also be encouraged by the contributions of Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy, who struck half-centuries in their final game of the league phase, a must-win encounter against New Zealand.”At this level, it is a mental game,” Chopra said. “It is not just about realising that you are playing for India, it’s about making your presence felt that you are an Indian player, where the world is actually watching and following you. Veda, of course, has good shots down the ground, she has the power to clear the field as well. You just have to make sure that as a player you give yourself enough time to get yourself in such a position that you can play in an attacking way. Harman, too, wasn’t getting enough time out in the middle, she got it against New Zealand and she really made it count.”Currently the second-highest run-getter in the tournament, Ellyse Perry is one of the more significant threats for India in the semi-final•ICC/Getty Images

Although Australia are brimming with skilled players, the biggest threat to India will come from their captain, Meg Lanning. Though Lanning has missed two matches due to shoulder problems, she is still among the top run-scorers of the tournament. In fact, she made a serene, unbeaten 76 to guide her team to a comfortable win in their league encounter against India. Chopra reckons while Lanning is a big thorn in India’s flesh, they have to be wary of the threat from other players, too.”She is a world-class batter, there is no doubt about her ability to lead the team,” Chopra said. “She has been a prolific run-getter for Australia, someone you as a spectator would like to pay money to watch. She is so good, playing front foot or back foot, fast-bowling or spin, she provides class to her batting. But I think a very important factor here is also Ellyse Perry. She’s been batting at No. 3 or 4 for Australia. Remember the partnerships she’s been stitching together with Lanning or whoever else she has been batting with.”India’s bowling tactics for this make-or-break encounter will also be carefully watched. India’s spin bowlers have taken 36 wickets in the tournament so far, while the seamers have taken just 13. Considering their area of strength, could India contemplate opening their attack with an off-spinner, especially as Australia’s opening pair of Nicole Bolton and Beth Mooney are both left-handed?Chopra isn’t sold on the idea and says any strategy India employ will rely heavily on how well they do with the bat, if they win the toss and take first strike.”All these tactics will come into play if the Indian team is able to put up a good score in excess of 250-260 on the board and then come out defending it,” she said. “I am not a big fan of bowling the second over in English conditions with a spinner, no matter what the wicket is like. I still feel in these conditions the first few overs should be bowled by the quicks. In women’s cricket, only one ball is used throughout the innings, so the shine of the ball can only be utilised in those initial overs, not later.”If India do get past Australia, it will be their second entry into a World Cup final. Chopra was a member of the team that reached the final in 2005, losing to Australia by 98 runs in Centurion. After a lifetime in the game, including an international career spanning 17 years, she is enthused by the positive vibes around women’s cricket at the moment and confesses to being pleasantly surprised at the scale of interest.”It is wonderful to see the response back home,” she said. “I have to confess I never expected it. I knew it would be a very big coverage before the start of the World Cup or before the build-up but the way the response has come about, I think it is phenomenal. The reason is the Indian team is winning and also that the men aren’t playing a series presently! Even the men’s cricketers, their support coming in the form of tweets, with encouraging words to the players, it has been phenomenal.”

Surrey earned a spot in the Royal London Cup playoffs after both their match in Bristol and Sussex’s game against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl were washed out.The point meant Surrey clinched third spot in the south group ahead of Sussex and Glamorgan and they will now face Yorkshire at Headingley on June 13 with the winner of that match playing Worcestershire at New Road in the semi-finals.A washout for Somerset at Lord’s meant they took second spot in the group and will face Nottinghamshire in the other playoff, the winner of that match facing Essex in the semis.In Bristol, umpires Jeff Evans and Billy Taylor delayed the abandonment for as long as possible. But there was no let-up in the rain and after a 3pm inspection they decided there was no chance of the ground drying out sufficiently.That left Surrey hoping that Sussex, the one team with a chance of snatching third place from them, would suffer a similar fate at Southampton at that match was abandoned a short while later.At Lord’s umpires Richard Evans and Rob Bailey called off play at Lord’s at 5pm following an afternoon of persistent rain and with a bleak evening forecast.Middlesex, who had no chance of qualifying, finished eighth in the group with just two wins from their eight matches.

England and Pakistan were the biggest gainers in the ICC’s annual T20I rankings update, climbing to second and third place respectively. New Zealand held on to the top spot despite losing two points, while India and South Africa slipped down the table.

ICC T20I rankings update

1.New Zealand (125 points)
2. England (121)
3. Pakistan (121)
4. India (118)
5. South Africa (111)
6. Australia (110)
7. West Indies (109)
8. Sri Lanka (95)
9. Afghanistan (90)
10. Bangladesh (78)
11. Scotland (67)
12. Zimbabwe (65)
13. UAE (52)
14. Netherlands (49)
15 Hong Kong (46)
16. PNG (39)
17. Oman (38)
18. Ireland (36)

England gained seven points and climbed three places on the table to second, while Pakistan, who were ranked seventh last year, climbed to third place after gaining five points. Both teams had 121 points but Pakistan were ranked behind England by a fraction. India and South Africa both lost six points and dropped to fourth and fifth on the table.Older results – between May 2013 and April 2014 – were disregarded for the points calculation while matches played from May 2014 to April 2016 were weighted at 50%, and matches played from May 1, 2016 weighted at 100%.Both India [14 wins in 20 matches] and South Africa [10 wins in 15 matches] had good results between May 2015 and April 2016, which were weighted at 100% in the previous cycle; these results are now weighted at 50%. Over the last 12 months, however, both teams have played fewer matches and have not had as much success: India played eight games with four wins, while South Africa won two of their four T20Is.Pakistan, on the other hand, had consistent results over the last year. They beat West Indies by margins of 3-0 and 3-1 in the UAE and the Caribbean respectively, while also winning a one-off T20I against England.Australia moved up one place from last year to sixth on the table, while West Indies dropped to seventh. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan remained at eighth and ninth respectively – Afghanistan gained six points over this cycle to take a 12-point lead over tenth-placed Bangladesh.The rankings are important for qualification for the 2020 World T20. Australia, hosts for the tournament, and nine other top-ranked teams as on December 31, 2018 will gain automatic entry. The bottom eight sides will join regional qualifiers in the 2019 World T20 Qualifier. Six sides from the qualifier will then join the 16-team World T20 pool.

ScorecardMahmudullah found some form after a string of poor performances saw his exclusion from the second Test against Sri Lanka•AFP

Mahmudullah hit an unbeaten 71 off 68 balls and strode into some form in Bangladesh’s practice match against the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI, but his half-century could not see the visitors through as they lost by two runs, chasing 355. Also making fifties in the high-scoring encounter were Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Kusal Perera, Sandun Weerakkody and Dhananjaya de Silva.In pursuit of the President’s XI’s 354 for 7, Bangladesh’s result was of little consequence: the visitors rifled through eight bowlers, and the match did not have List A status. However, a brisk half-century against bowlers who have all played for Sri Lanka may buoy Mahmudullah, who was chastened by his omission for the second Test in Colombo, hit four fours and a six. Bangladesh’s chances had seemed dim at 239 for 7 in the 39th over, until Mahmudullah put on a 101-run partnership with Mashrafe Mortaza, who hit a 35-ball 58. They couldn’t quite push the visitors to victory as Mahmudullah could manage just one run – needing four – off the final ball.Setting up the chase was Sabbir, who hit 11 fours and a six in his 72 from the No. 3 position, before Mosaddek contributed 53. Soumya Sarkar had also hit a 43-ball 47 to follow his good run in the Test series.Meanwhile, at the top of the President’s XI’s innings, Kusal had struck the latest in a series of uncharacteristically slow limited-over fifties. His 64 (retired out) came off 78 balls and featured only four fours. His two half-centuries for Sri Lanka A had also come at less than a run-a-ball. These three fifties came after a long slump for Kusal, during which he was dropped from the Sri Lanka side in all three formats.Nevertheless, his fifty and de Silva’s half century now creates a little competition at the top of the order, with captain Upul Tharanga, and wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella also having opened the batting for Sri Lanka over the last few months. Sandun Weerakkody, who had played in the South Africa series, but has not been chosen for the forthcoming one, also struck a fifty.There were no eminent bowling performances for the hosts, save for Akila Dananjaya’s 3 for 61.

Shadab Khan has taken to international cricket in style. The 18-year old legspinner’s statistics after only two matches for Pakistan read seven wickets at an average of 3, a strike-rate of 6.8 and an economy rate of 2.6. And the opposition he dismantled is not at all happy. West Indies coach Stuart Law thought his batsmen “gifted” some wickets away to Shadab and the best way to combat him was to be “more ruthless.”

Pakistan waiting on Shehzad’s injury

There were three collisions during the second T20I between Pakistan and West Indies at Queens Park Oval and perhaps the worst of them involved Ahmed Shehzad. Fielding at point, he ran in to get the ball, but lost balance and crashed into Chadwick Walton. Shehzad appeared to have hurt himself in the back of the neck and had to be stretchered off the field for treatment. He did, however, come back on a few overs later.
“Ahmed returned from hospital after imaging found nothing wrong with his spine,” Shane Hayes, the physiotherapist, said. “On concussion examination before return to play he was found normal on symptoms, neck examination, cognitive ability, and balance assessments. We will continue to monitor him further.”

“We have plans for everyone. He’s not the only one we’re talking about, we’re talking about everyone else. So we just need to come up with better execution when we’re out in the middle and that’s what it boils down to,” Law said, “He’s bowled very well, but I think we’ve gifted him a few wickets as well. I think we just need to be a little bit more ruthless against him and see what transpires after that.”The Pakistan camp, meanwhile, is reveling in their new young talent. Shadab has played such a starring role in their victories in the Caribbean so far that on each night he was named Man of the Match.Among his 4 for 14 on Thursday were the wickets of Marlon Samuels, who top-scored with 44, and the finisher Kieron Pollard. If removing such key batsmen wasn’t enough, Shadab got rid of them within 13 overs leaving the lower order vulnerable in a chase that should have been straightforward.”I must appreciate and praise Shadab for the way he has been conducting himself, and taking wickets,” team-mate Shoaib Malik said. “Obviously we all know, if you’re playing against West Indies, you have to keep taking wickets. They are big guys, they hit boundaries and I think this is what we have been doing.”As a result, West Indies are stuck with a lot of questions and no ready answers. They have gone 0-2 down in a four-match T20I series and have to win Saturday’s match to stay alive. Since they were crowned World T20 champions in March 2016 – and then beat India in a high-scoring match in Florida – the team has lost five matches in a row. All to Pakistan. Coach Law, while admitting the need to “start playing better cricket,” cautioned against taking reactionary decisions.”It’s pretty new at this stage,” he said. “We just want to take the emotion out of it tonight. Get up with a clear head tomorrow morning and start thinking about it.”I think we are clicking. We’re getting better. We’ve gelled really well as a team over the last couple of days. I don’t think that’s the case. I think we’ve just got to start playing better cricket. There’s glimpses of our talent, we just need to have that glimpse for a lot longer.”Our bowling has been excellent over the last couple of games, our catching’s been outstanding, few mistakes in the ground fielding but our batting is where we need to really have a look. Apart from Marlon, no one’s really gone in and got the scores. We’ve had a couple of starts, but I just think we need someone to go on and I think it’s getting better. Fingers crossed on Saturday we turn up and play a proper game of cricket.”Pakistan have their mind firmly on winning their second straight T20I series against West Indies. In a SWOT analysis of the team’s performance so far, Malik picked out their fielding as an improvement and their batting in the Powerplay as needing work.”Positives, if you look at our fielding, that’s where we’ve always lacked. But the way the guys are putting in an effort here, I think that’s a great sign for Pakistan cricket. And our physical fitness. You could see even in the field, the guys roaming around, moving fast. And negatives. We really need to improve our first six overs in the batting. I think we’re going to sit and talk about it and we will come up with something.”

After a few questions about South Africa’s continued swarming of a Sri Lankan side with little sting, AB de Villiers suddenly could not believe where his post-match conversation was actually going.”Guys, we are talking about bees,” the captain balked. And they were.Some asked how de Villiers knew the bees had arrived at the Wanderers? “When the slips went down,” was the answer. Others wondered whether the break in play affected concentration? “It was annoying,” de Villiers said, while Niroshan Dickwella offered a much more stern assessment. “Our momentum was taken away by that break,” he lamented. The rest of the reporters may have opted to skip the player interviews in search of the beekeeper who saved the day. Requests to talk to him were coming in even as play continued.But novelty aside, South Africa had something really sweet to enjoy afterwards.They have now won their sixth successive ODI series at home and have racked up a record 12 wins since beating England last February. Their previous best – 11 victories in a row in their own conditions – came in the 1996-97 season. They are stacking up well ahead of the Champions Trophy and de Villiers’ only hope is that they keep on winning, especially over the next week.Sri Lanka appear unable to keep up, which has given South Africa a chance at a whitewash, even though de Villiers is wary of putting too much pressure on the side too soon. “There were too many 3-2 results in the past and we’ve had many opportunities to win series 5-0 and 4-1. We are all a bit sick and tired of not taking our opportunities and we are sitting here with another opportunity,” he said. “We try to be clinical about every game we play, with a bit more emphasis and importance on getting results in every single game we play and not just trying to win a series. Having said that, I don’t want to mention it too often and I don’t want to make it our main thing that we play for 5-0 whitewashes, because that can backfire quickly.”Dwaine Pretorius, who replaced Wayne Parnell, took three wickets in his seven overs•AFP

As much as winning is a priority, South Africa may also use the next two matches to experiment because “we are trying to give the whole squad a chance of playing,” de Villiers explained. They’ve already been forced to use bench strength in the batting department because David Miller was ruled out of the series with a finger injury. Farhaan Behardien, who replaced Miller, was not needed at the Wanderers but he will hope for some time at the crease in Cape Town and Centurion. The other player South Africa may want to look at is chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, who is being kept out by the evergreen Imran Tahir, but has a reputation for being a secret weapon. But the real battle will be between the allrounders.Wayne Parnell, who played in the first two matches and did “fantastically well” according to de Villiers, was left out in Johannesburg in favour of local lad Dwaine Pretorius and de Villiers liked what he saw. “He is pretty accurate. He is consistent in his areas and is open for advice from some of the senior players. It’s an open door to chat to him, I always like to work with bowlers like that,” de Villiers said.Pretorius’ tight line and effective use of the short ball saw him finish with a career-best 3 for 19 and stake a claim for a more regular spot in the XI. It’s little wonder that he, too, could not stop buzzing. “This is the biggest crowd I have played in front of and it was amazing. It was a great atmosphere the whole time. I know there were bees on the field but it sounded like bees were everywhere,” Pretorius said.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said he is against the idea of splitting Test cricket into a two-tier structure, ahead of an ICC meeting in Dubai next week to discuss the proposal. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Thakur said the proposal was “fundamentally against the basic purpose and identity of the ICC.”According to the proposal, which enjoys the support of the cricket boards of Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, the two-tier system would comprise seven teams in the top tier and five in the bottom. Afghanistan and Ireland, as the leading Associate teams, will join the three regular Test playing nations in the bottom tier.”As the governing body of the game, the ICC’s job is to popularise the game and increase its global reach,” Thakur said. “On the contrary, this system may be good for the top five countries, but apart from that, everyone else will suffer. On the one hand, we say we need to support teams like West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while on the other, by bringing up something like this, we will cut their legs.”This is the third time in the past month that Thakur has spoken publicly about the BCCI’s reservations on the subject. In early August too, he had reasoned it would hurt the smaller countries, whose interests the BCCI wants to guard. Last week again, he alluded to his opposition to the system on the sidelines of the two T20Is between India and West Indies in Florida.Thakur said the one big ramification, if the ICC was to adopt the proposed two-tier system, was that it would directly impact the smaller countries financially.”Currently, these teams make good revenue from TV rights when bigger nations like India and other countries go and play against them. Their revenues will nosedive and they will struggle further to support their cricket at the grassroots level.”Elaborating further on his stance, Thakur said that going by the logic of the two-tier system, marquee series like India v South Africa or England v Australia were top draws.”And Bangladesh v England or Sri Lanka v Australia won’t have that much support from the viewer. Just imagine if people are not watching a top team against a lower-ranked team, will they watch two lower-ranked teams playing against each other? This will further escalate the problem of viewers losing interest. At least today, when a so-called weaker nation is playing against a top-ranked team, exceptional performances are noticed, improvements are sought and benchmarks are set.”But going by rankings alone, Thakur pointed out, would be turning a blind eye to reality. As an example, he provided Sri Lanka’s whitewash of Australia at home in the three-match Test series. “In a game of cricket, no nation should be taken lightly. The recently-concluded Australia versus Sri Lanka series is evidence of that. Sri Lanka, who are in danger of falling under the tier two category, annihilated Australia 3-0. How would that have happened had there been no series between them? So, it can’t be said that only top nations will produce top cricket.”It is understood that apart from the support of some leading boards, the move to implement a two-tier system is being backed by one of the ICC’s main commercial partners. Concerned about the fall in TV ratings in bilateral Test series, the system has been designed to enable more frequent “marquee clashes” that can generate more eyeballs, and, as a direct result, attract greater value from broadcasters. Thakur was unconvinced that a formula such as this could work in the long run.”Commercial partners have a key role to play in the growth of the game,” Thakur said. “Their concerns should be addressed and we should give them a fair hearing. But, at the same time, we have to see that the administration of the game cannot be seen from the standpoint of the balance sheet only. There needs to be a balance and we need to look at the overall health and growth of the game.”Dipping TV viewership of Test series is a cause of concern, but two big nations playing against each other all the time won’t guarantee you viewership. The recently-concluded India versus South Africa series was a battle between two top nations, but the TV ratings didn’t reflect the stature of the teams. The reasons for decline in viewer interest in Tests are far more complicated than what they appear. Changing the format of the FTP will be like applying band-aid to an issue that needs proper scanning and research. On one hand, we say we want to develop the game in new areas, and on the other, we are making top countries wealthier and the lower-rung countries weaker.”We oppose the system despite knowing that it will result in a financial windfall for the BCCI if implemented. But, as one of the key stakeholders of the game, we can’t be shortsighted and we need to take everyone along.”According to Thakur, the proposal should have been discussed by a “limited” set of people instead of being deliberated at the board level. “This proposal should have been discussed by a limited number of people before being brought to the ICC table, and, frankly, should have been rejected at the proposal stage itself. Our focus is to hand-hold and strengthen global cricket. As a leader, BCCI is clear in its goal to expand the game, make it popular in new areas and strengthen existing members as well.”This kind of two tier system works very well to support domestic cricket or where you have a larger pool of teams and the staging state associations are supported by their parent body and are not under pressure to generate their own revenues, or in leagues where things are considered strictly from a commercial perspective. As the global guardian of the game, we should have a larger perspective and bigger objectives.”Thakur’s comments can be expected to resonate positively with the boards that will be directly impacted if such a system is implemented. Sri Lanka Cricket, for instance, already made its opposition to the split format clear in July, as have the Bangladesh Cricket Board. The West Indies and Zimbabwe boards, already battling financial troubles, are also unlikely to back any move that will dent their bottom line further.

It feels too early to start shouting this, so let’s whisper it: it looks like South Africa are back. Perhaps not back to their absolute best and definitely not back to the team they were when they were No.1, but back in business.This series win is not going to become the stuff of legend and there were times when it seemed like New Zealand cared it about it more – after all, it is New Zealand who have never won a series against South Africa – but it will become seen as the marker for when South Africa began anew.Calling themselves a team in transition more than two years after the retirements of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis and four years after Mark Boucher’s had become a crutch, and South Africa knew it. They had already transitioned but they did not like what they had transitioned into. They were a team stuck in a rut. They lost five out of eight Tests last summer, in their worst season since readmission, and were badly affected by injuries and uncertainty.To solve those problems, they did not hold a training camp before the series. They sat around and talked.A large group of members of the national squad and those who might be considered for selection in the next few years were summoned to a bonding and strategy session. They plotted what they have started to call their “new mission.” They don’t want to share all the details but they have revealed that part of the plan will be to play more aggressively.In their first attempt at applying that, in Durban, it failed when over-eager batsmen gave their wickets away. In their second, at Centurion, they attacked with their traditional strength – the bowling – and it worked as well, if not better than it always has.Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada have formed a formidable fast-bowling trio that offers everything from swing and seam movement to pace and bounce but those are only half the reason they are so dangerous. The other half is that they just don’t let up. Philander is the one with the reputation for putting the ball in the same area and the moving it just enough to create uncertainty but Steyn and Rabada maintain the same intensity through long periods of time.There is never a stage in a Steyn spell when a batsmen thinks he can relax. Even when he has been hit for a few runs, even at the end of the day, even when it seems one over can just meander into the next, Steyn runs in with blood on the brain. Just when you think he is out of your face, in steps Rabada. He does not intimidate in the same way – there are no eyes, no veins, no tattoos – there is just pace, a lot of it. Rabada averaged 142.6kph in the first innings, more than anyone else.That is the big difference between the two sides. Even though New Zealand’s quicks have many of the same qualities as South Africa’s, they are not as regularly ruthless. In Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell, in particular, batsmen can rely on getting enough loose balls to be able to score off. Trent Boult’s skill and Neil Wagner determination were stand-out aspects for New Zealand but they needed more discipline from the rest of their attack if they wanted to properly challenge the South African batsmen.In Durban, New Zealand encountered a South African line-up coming in from the cold with some of its biggest names out of form, and cashed in on that. At Centurion, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis hit their stride and were more difficult to dislodge. South Africa’s second innings gave New Zealand a glimpse of what could have been but by then, they had conceded a massive lead and their focus had to shift to how their own line-up could put on an improved showing.That was where New Zealand let themselves down most. Their line-up went from solid to soft in the space of two sub-Saharan African countries and it has as much to do with the quality of the opposition as it does with the weak spots in their current set-up.At the top, Tom Latham could not replicate his form in Zimbabwe but it is Martin Guptill who will concern them most. Three years after making 1, 0 and 1 in his first three Test innings in South Africa, nothing had changed. Guptill still struggles against the moving ball and there is evidence of that everywhere. In the 59 times Guptill has been dismissed by fast bowlers, he has been caught by the wicketkeeper or in the slips 24 times.That alone made the case for New Zealand to have tried Jeet Raval in Zimbabwe to see what he could do but they may not have wanted to use him in South Africa because it would add to their inexperience. WIth Henry Nicholls at No.5 and Mitchell Santner batting as high as No.7, there was the risk of an over-reliance on Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. When neither fired, New Zealand could not sustain their flickers of promise.The difference came down to that: South Africa had more experience and more quality and even New Zealand’s best efforts at preparation could not overcome those things. Rightfully, South Africa displaced them from fifth on the rankings to occupy the spot themselves.It will be another eight weeks before South Africa are able to build on the gains they have made and they will have to do so in someone else’s backyard. A three-Test tour of Australia in November is their next assignment, before they host Sri Lanka and travel to New Zealand. That gives them nine more Tests before Russell Domingo’s contract as head coach is up and enough opportunity to climb even higher. It is too early to say whether it will keep him his job but the noise that he was the reason for their decline and could not possibly oversee their rise will become whispers.South Africa’s under-fire coach kept a low profile all series, even on the day they won. It was the same day he turned 42. At least he had a happy birthday.

ScorecardJohnson Charles added 151 in 13.4 overs with Shane Watson•Getty Images

An unbeaten 94 from Johnson Charles at a venue where a stand has been named in his honour helped St Lucia Zouks record their third successive win at home and surge to No. 3 in the CPL 2016 points table.Charles’ unbeaten second-wicket stand of 151 with Shane Watson helped Zouks chase down Guyana Amazon Warriors’ 159 for 5 with 23 balls to spare. Despite a deflating loss, Warriors, currently No. 2 with five wins in eight matches, were well placed to secure a berth in the top four.Jerome Taylor struck in the fourth over to dismiss Nic Maddinson after Darren Sammy, the Zouks captain, had chosen to field. But any semblance of control they may have had over proceedings soon disappeared as Dwayne Smith and Chris Lynn sent them on a leather hunt. The pair brought up a century stand for the second wicket before Sammy dismissed Smith. At that stage, Warriors were 113 for 2 in 15.3 overs, with Smith’s measured 51-ball 56 containing five fours and two sixes.Four of Lynn’s six sixes in his 45-ball 86 came following Smith’s dismissal. But quick strikes at the other end helped Zouks go into the break with momentum on their side. Watson was largely responsible for that, finishing with 2 for 27 in four overs.Sohail Tanvir gave Warriors a near-perfect start with the ball when he clean bowled Andre Fletcher in the third over. But it didn’t seem to have any effect on Watson as he crashed two boundaries off his first three deliveries to kickstart Zouks’ chase. At 33 for 1 in five overs, the match was on an even keel, before Zouks broke away courtesy an 19-run over from Orlando Peters, the medium pacer, with Charles hitting two sixes and a four.Comfortably placed at 91 for 1 at the halfway mark, Zouks needed just 37 more deliveries to complete the victory. Charles sealed the win with a boundary off Adam Zampa, the legspinner, as Zouks recorded their fourth win in seven matches.