Preparation for South Africa Series

#MSDhoni & #ViratKohli #want to #play #ODI #series #against #BangladeshA from #Sep16.#INDvBAN#Preparation for #SouthAfrica Series#ProteaFire

Posted by Cricket Funnda on Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Proteas New Look

#New #T20 #Kit for #Team #SouthAfrica!#Proteas#ProteaFire#T20I

Posted by Cricket Funnda on Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Petersen back in grounds

Former South African batsman Alviro Petersen signed two year contract with English county Lankashire as non overseas players. Contract will extendable for 1 year, Petersen required NOC from government for play in England.

34 year old Petersen scored 2093 runs in 36 tests with average of 34.88 and retired recently from international cricket.

Steyn's new mark

Star fast bowler Dale Steyn completed his 150 ODI wickets in 96th match, and get a 7th place in the list of top bowlers for South Africa. Steyn's partner Morne Morkel also get this mark in just 89 matches.

Steyn rest to next matches

South Africa decided to give the rest to fast bowler Dale Steyn for remaining matches of ODI series against West Indies. Hashim Amla and Ab dE Villiers also take rest in 4th & 5th ODI repectively.

South Africa already secured the five matches series with 3-0.

South Africa win the series

The West Indies have suffered a humiliating nine-wicket defeat having collapsed to 122 all out as South Africa clinched their five-match one-day series after just three games.

Marlon Samuels made 26 but no other West Indian batsmen reached 20 in a dismal performance on a good pitch at Buffalo Park on Wednesday.

Man of the match Vernon Philander took two wickets inside the first two overs and finished with 3-27, while leg-spinner Imran Tahir claimed a career-best 4-28.

South Africa needed just 24.4 overs to complete the series-clinching win.

Hashim Amla's unbeaten 61 not out took his runs tally for the series to 280 with just one dismissal, while Faf du Plessis made 51 not out.

It was another crushing defeat for the West Indies following a one-sided encounter in the second match in Johannesburg last Sunday when South Africa made 2-439 on the way to winning by 148 runs.

With the series secured, De Villiers said the remaining members of the World Cup squad would get an opportunity to play in the two remaining matches.

De Villiers blasts fastest ODI century

AB de Villiers smashed the fastest century in ODI history - from just 31 balls - to propel South Africa to 2-439 from their 50 overs in the second One-Day International in Johannesburg. 

Opening pair Hashim Amla (153 not out) and Rilee Rossouw (128) also made centuries, the first time three players have reached three figures in the same ODI innings. 

But it was all about De Villiers, who didn't arrive at the crease until the 39th over but went on to make an astonishing 149 from 44 deliveries, equalling the world record mark of 16 sixes in an ODI innings in the process. 

De Villiers and Amla put on 192 for the second wicket, from just 68 balls, as South Africa eclipsed their highest-ever ODI total by a single run.

Amla makes history

Amla made a run-a-ball 66 at the top of the order to reach the 5,000 ODI run mark in his 101st innings, comfortably quicker than the legendary Viv Richards and current Indian superstar Virat Kohli, both of whom took 114 innings to get to the milestone. 

Amla and de Villiers sets up easy SA win

Hashim Amla became the fastest South African batsmen to reach 5000 ODI runs a run-a-ball 66 in his 101st innings and set South Africa up to take the series lead. He starred in a 99-run third-wicket stand with AB de Villiers, in which runs were scored at 6.82 to the over before de Villiers and David Miller posted 123. That ensured even when South Africa fell away and lost 5 for 34, they still had enough despite the two-hour-45-minute rain interruption.

West Indies' target was adjusted to a 229 off 33 overs and then 226 off 32 overs when rain returned again but they were only in with a chance of chasing it when Chris Gayle was at the crease. He plundered 41 runs off 24 balls but his high-risk style of play left him vulnerable to an early dismissal. When it came in the sixth over, it sparked a top-order collapse of 4 for 38 which gave way to a lower-order folding of 6 for 46. Imran Tahir claimed three of those wickets chiefly through well-executed googlies and sliders to bring up his 50th ODI scalp.

Jason Holder, in his first match as captain, would have wanted more from the men he said were ready to show fight. He shouldered the bulk of that responsibility when he opened the bowling, brought himself back on at crucial times, tasked himself with targeting the South African lower-order and ran an impressive 9.8 kilometres in the field but he learnt that one man cannot do the job on his own. Just ask Gayle.

After missing out on Wednesday night's T20, also at Kingsmead, with a recurrence of his back problem, Gayle approached this innings as though it was two days' ago. He flung his bat at everything, despite the steep target. "I am trying to understand it, but I can't," Michael Holding lamented, when discussing Gayle's strategy, or lack thereof. It only took the introduction of Dale Steyn to cause Gayle to run out of luck and allow South Africa the only inroad they needed.

Gayle should have modelled his innings on Amla's to start with. He saw off a tricky opening period, when Jerome Taylor found the right length to dismiss both Rilee Rossouw, who racked up a fifth duck in 10 innings, and Faf du Plessis, a first duck in 61, in the Powerplay. But West Indies failed to cash in on their early breakthroughs and lost their lines.

They offered so much width. Amla was able to treble his score from 13 off the first 19 balls he faced to 39 by the time he'd faced 40. AB de Villiers, sent in earlier than usual at No. 4, was also off to a speedy start. 17 runs came off 15 balls.

Andre Russell tried to make the extra bounce work in his favour by holding back his length but the South African pair were quick to pounce on anything short. They brought up a hundred inside 17 overs and a massive total was looming but Amla was in such a hurry to get there, he underestimated Russell's arm. He was run-out but South Africa's momentum was not.

They promoted David Miller ahead of JP Duminy and de Villiers immediately adjusted his pace. He slowed down to allow Miller to settle and the pair formed the spine of South Africa's total. They shared the highest partnership of the innings of 123 runs and batted for a ball shy of 20 overs, to take South Africa to the brink of a flourishing finish as West Indies flagged in the searing heat.

It was only when both holed out that West Indies had the opportunity to come back into the match. Russell used fancy footwork to run Farhaan Behardien out - the second time on this tour his boot has ushered the ball on its way to breaking the stumps - had Duminy caught behind off a short ball and Philander in the deep before a storm swept through.

It was accompanied by gale-force winds, of the literal kind, which only made it more difficult for South Africa when they took the field and met the other Gayle-force. West Indies were off to a flier but they needed support from the rest of the line-up, particularly the experience.

But Marlon Samuels was run out lazily, Dwayne Smith was deceived by a slider and Jonathan Carter beaten by the googly. Vernon Philander was rewarded for consistent effort towards the end and Steyn cleaned up the tail as the inevitable outcome was completed.

South Africa 15 Man Squad for ICC CWC 2015

Cricket South Africa announced final squad for ICC Cricket Worldcup 2015

Injured wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has been named in South Africa's squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup.

De Kock, 22, tore ligaments in his right ankle while warming up during the first Test against the West Indies on December 19.

It was estimated the free-scoring left-handed opening batsman could be out of action for between 10 and 12 weeks, which would probably mean him missing at least South Africa's first two World Cup matches, against Zimbabwe on February 15 and India on February 22.

De Kock has such become a valuable member of the one-day side, with six centuries in his first 35 one-day internationals, that the selectors are willing to gamble on him recovering in time to play the team's later pool games and in the knock-out stages, with AB de Villiers taking the gloves in the interim.

View: View the Cup squads named so far

Read: Australian squad form guide

World Cup regulations make provision for teams to name injured players and replace them before the tournament, or if they aggravate the injury at the tournament, provided a medical certificate is produced.

There are no major surprises in the squad, although there are two changes from the 15 that were beaten 4-1 in the Carlton Mid One-Day series in Australia in November.

Left-handed batsman and off-spin bowler JP Duminy and left-arm spin bowler Aaron Phangiso return after missing the November tour because of injury.

All-rounder Ryan McLaren, the side's leading wicket-taker in both 2013 and 2014, was dropped after a dramatic fall-off in form since suffering a broken arm against Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in a Test match last season.

Robin Peterson, a veteran of three World Cups who replaced Phangiso in Australia, was also omitted.

South Africa's challenge will be spearheaded by a strong batting line-up, in which De Villiers and Hashim Amla have outstanding records, while the powerful fast bowling trio of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander will be complemented by leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who has taken 47 wickets in 27 one-day internationals.

De Villiers said he was confident the right squad had been chosen.

"It's a huge honour," de Villiers said. 

"I'm very confident. We know we have to keep our feet on the ground and work hard. It's a huge tournament which we have never won before and we want to bring it home."

In contrast to previous South African teams, there is a shortage of top-quality all-rounders.

Duminy is likely to be a key player but batting all-rounder Farhaan Behardien and bowling all-rounder Wayne Parnell are not guaranteed places in the starting line-up.

AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn

Petersen quits after Proteas seal series

Proteas opening batsman calls time on international cricket at age 34

South Africa opening batsman Alviro Petersen has retired from international cricket after the top-ranked Proteas sealed a 2-0 test series win over the West Indies.

Petersen's teammates came out from their dressing room on Tuesday to stand by him in a gesture of respect as he made his announcement at a news conference at Newlands following South Africa's eight-wicket victory in the third and final test.

"I feel that at 34 it is time for me to retire from international cricket and to move on with my career," Petersen said, adding he would focus on playing domestic cricket in South Africa and English county cricket for the next three years.

"It's something I started thinking about over the last six or eight months, but when I woke up on Saturday I realised that it was the right time because there are some good young players coming through."

Petersen made a century on debut against India in 2010 and finished with five centuries and eight half-centuries in 36 tests at an average of 34.88. He made over 2000 test runs.

His career-best 182 against England in 2012 "was pivotal to the Proteas beating England 2-0 and starting our standing as one of the best teams in the world," Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

Petersen played professionally for nine years before his call-up to South Africa's test team, and then made 100 in his first innings in Kolkata and became a solid opening partner for former captain Graeme Smith.

Bidding farewell, Petersen, who hasn't been part of South Africa's limited-overs plans since 2013, also wished the team luck for the 50-over World Cup starting next month.

"I will miss the Proteas' amazing team culture that we have built, international cricket, and especially my teammates, but it is time to move on," he said.

Dean Elgar guided the Proteas to the series-clinching eight-wicket win on the fifth day that will also secure them the ICC Test Championship mace and cash prize of USD$500,000.

The series win means irrespective of how both the fourth Test between Australia and India, and the second Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, pan out, South Africa cannot be removed from the top Test pedestal at the 1 April annual cut-off date.

South Africa now has 124 ratings points. Irrespective of the result in the Sydney Test, Australia will still finish second which will earn them USD$390,000. England and Pakistan are ranked third and fourth.

The left-handed Elgar made 60 not out as South Africa reached a victory target of 124 shortly before lunch.

It was tough going for South Africa at the start of the day after they resumed on 1-9.

Fast bowler Jerome Taylor and left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn did not concede a run until Elgar pulled Taylor for four after 26 minutes and off the 45th ball of the day.

The tall Benn was particularly difficult to score off, getting turn and bounce from a wearing pitch, with Faf du Plessis completely tied down.

Benn, who bowled Alviro Petersen with the last ball of the fourth day, did not give up a run until Du Plessis took a single off the fifth ball of his sixth over.

Du Plessis struggled to 14 off 69 balls before a ball from Benn kicked viciously and took the shoulder of his bat for Jermaine Blackwood to take a catch running back from gully.

Benn took two for 24 in an unbroken spell of 17 overs.

Elgar, who spoiled Benn's figures slightly by hitting him for six, went to his fifty off 86 balls with six fours and a six.

The scoring rate accelerated when captain Hashim Amla joined Elgar in an unbeaten partnership of 73 off 91 balls. Amla made 38 not out.

South Africa won the first Test in Centurion by an innings and 220 runs. The second match in Port Elizabeth was drawn after more than two days of playing time was lost to rain.

The sides start a three-match Twenty20 international series at Newlands on Friday, to be followed by five one-day internationals.