South Africa thrash Windies by 66 runs in ODI

South Africa eased to a 66-run victory over West Indies thanks to centuries by Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers and some aggressive bowling in the first one-day international on Saturday.

West Indies’ batsmen wilted to 215 all out from 44.1 overs as they chased the tourists’ total of 280-7 from 48 overs which was powered by Amla and de Villiers who both scored 102.

Amla registered his second career ODI century while de Villiers struck his third ODI ton on the trot as they put on 129 for the third wicket to lay the foundation for a big total.

Amla struck eight fours at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds from 109 deliveries while de Villiers hit five fours and two sixes off 101 balls.

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo bowled with control to finish with figures of three for 40 from 10 overs.

In the run chase Chris Gayle top scored for the hosts with 45 from 39 balls including eight powerful fours while Kieron Pollard blasted 44 from 37 deliveries with five fours and a six.

Their efforts were not nearly adequate enough to threaten South Africa’s total as lanky pacer Morne Morkel captured three for 40 from eight overs. He was supported by Dale Steyn and Ryan McLaren (both two for 37) and Johan Botha (two for 47).

The second game in the five-match series will take place on Monday at the same venue before the teams move to Dominica for a double header and Jamaica for the final game.

(Editing by Ken Ferris and Peter Rutherford; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Windies squad unchanged for last two ODIs

St. John’s (Antigua, West Indies), June 30 (ANI): The West Indies selectors have named an unchanged 13-man squad for the two final games of the four-match series against India, to be played at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia.

West Indies and India are levelled one all in the series. While India clinched a high-scoring thriller by 20 runs in the first ODI, the hosts stormed to an eight-wicket victory to draw level in the second. Both matches were played at Jamaica’s Sabina Park.

The third ODI will be played on Friday while the fourth is scheduled for Sunday.

The squad is as follows: Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor. (ANI)

Pakistan could still win UAE series : Intikhab Alam

Abu Dhabi, May 1 (ANI): Despite being 2-1 down in the five game series against Australia, Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam believes his side could still manage to win the remaining two games to pocket the series.

After defeating the Kangaroos in the first match by four wickets, Pakistan lost two consecutive games, but Alam believes Australia is still beatable.

Alam said it was not because of some extraordinary performance which helped Australia win the last two matches, but he blamed his own team for failure to apply themselves.

When asked about the reason why Pakistan failed to chase a modest target of 199 runs in the third ODI despite being cruising along on 95-0, Alam said : “If you look at the results of the last two matches, they did not outplay us. We made mistakes in batting, especially in the third match.”

Alam said senior players must recognize their role in the team, and play according to the situation.

“We had a pep talk for two hours before training and I told my senior batsmen that they must stay at the wicket and put a value on their wickets,” The News quoted Alam,as saying.

Pakistan is expected to change the team line-up for the fourth match on Friday.

Speedster Shoaib Akhtar, who was rested in the previous game, is certain to replace Sohail Tanvir.

All rounder Fawad Alam could also find a place in the team replacing off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who has been reported of suspected bowling action.

On the other hand, Oz captain Michael Clarke is also geared up to take the challenge,and is aware of the fact that the Pakistani would be pushing for a victory to keep their hopes alive in the series.

“Obviously, they need to win on Friday but don’t worry, we will be doing our best to make sure that we prepare better than we have done thus far in this series,” Clarke said.

“It’s a big game for us too, we really want to win… Pakistan have to be under pressure because they have to win to stay in the series, so we need to be more focused on what we are doing,” he added. (ANI)

Ponting asks top five batsman to perform after conceding 2-1 lead to Proteas

Melbourne, Apr 10 (ANI): Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has asked his teammates to start “putting their hands up” after the top five batsmen let the side down again, giving a 2-1 lead to South Africa in the five match series.

Needing to win their five-game one-day series against South Africa to claim the world No.1 ODI ranking, Australia lost the third ODI by 25 runs.

South Africa won the toss in game three, scoring 6-289 on a slow-paced pitch. In reply Australia slumped to 5-114 and managed 7-264 in total, with Hopes hitting an unbeaten 63 and Callum Ferguson also making 63, a career-best tally for both batsmen.

After calling on his top three of Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke and himself to lead the way in game three, the trio scored 15, 35 and 20 respectively, FOX Sports reported.

David Hussey (20) also failed to turn a start into a big score while Mike Hussey (1) was out to a dubious lbw decision.

Game four is in Port Elizabeth on Monday and it’s do-or-die time for Australia.

“It’s about all of us understanding what our roles are and performing our roles to the best of our ability all the time. Right at the moment we’ve just got too few that are doing that and that’s what is costing us the games,” Ponting said.

“If you look at the Durban game (which Australia won by 141 runs) that’s probably what we had there, more so on the bowling front than the batting front. That was the trademark of our cricket in the Test series. We had guys putting their hand up and getting the jobs done when it was their turn to do that.

“In the last two games we’ve had too few guys trying to carry the load and win the game for the team. If you look at us tonight, the top three all got starts, 15, 20 and 35. No one went on and got that big score,” Ponting said.

“We do need more runs out of our batting full stop, it’s just not just the top three. We just need a better and more rounded team performance if we’re going to win in Port Elizabeth,” he added. (ANI)

Australia considers making changes ahead of crucial third ODI

Melbourne, Apr 9 (ANI): Australia are considering making changes to their line-up for the crucial third one-day international against South Africa in Cape Town.he tourists opened the five-match series with a 141-run win in Durban last Friday, but were beaten by seven wickets two days later at Centurion as the Proteas bowled Australia out for 131, FOX Sports reported.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting was reminded at his pre-match press conference of his team’s effort in the one-dayer in Cape Town on the 2006 tour, when Makhaya Ntini’s 6-22 helped the Proteas rout the tourists for 93 chasing 290 to win.

“We won’t be able to finalise our team until Thursday morning. We just want to have a closer look at that wicket and see what the overhead conditions are like when we start the game,” Ponting said.

“We’ll name the eleven in the morning. There are some changes that we could make if we wanted to so we’ll wait and see what turns out in the morning. Probably the good thing for us is that not many guys who played in that (2006) game are here for this game.

“There are not many of us who have that memory. As it turned out I didn’t play that game either, I had torn a stomach muscle. Maybe only Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke (and pace bowler Nathan Bracken) who played in that game,” Ponting said.

Cameron White and Marcus North, who can bat in the middle order and also bowl spin, and paceman Brett Geeves are the three members of the 14-man squad who could possibly come into the side. (ANI)

Ponting confident about team bouncing back in third ODI

Sydney, Apr 7 (ANI): Australian Skipper Ricky Ponting has backed his openers Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke to bounce back and has publicly challenged himself to lift his game after being thrashed by South Africa in the second game of their one-day international series.

Australia were blown away by pace duo Wayne Parnell (4-25) and Dale Steyn (4-27) at Centurion as South Africa bowled the tourists out for 131 and scored 3-132 in 26.2 overs in reply.

“We don’t need wholesale changes. We need to get those guys to play a little bit better,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying.

“I’m in exactly the same boat. It’s a while since I’ve made a hundred in one-day cricket (14 months) so I’ve got to really knuckle down and get stuck in as well and make a big score. Batting in the top order in one-day cricket is all about making big scores and taking the responsibility upon yourself to do that,” he said.

“Michael Clarke’s had success there, Brad Haddin has been very good and I’ve been in the No.3 position for a long time. We need to get a lot more consistency out of us for the remainder of this series,” he said.

“We’ve got a few days to try to turn things around. I’m sure that you’ll see a better team on Thursday. That was as bad as we’ve played in a long time,” Ponting added.

Australian team arrived in Cape Town in a confident mood and will resume net practice on Tuesday. (ANI)