Latest ICC Test Rankings - Philander Moves to Top Spot

Vernon Philander deservedly moved past Dale Steyn in the ICC Test rankings after the first Sunfoil Test at the Wanderers against India, where he took 6 wickets in the match. (Rankings supplied by http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/)

Furthermore, South Africa remains the number one Test team in the world, going into the second and last Test against India at Kingsmead, Durban on Thursday, the 26th. AB de Villiers is still ranked as the number 1 batsman, while Amla hangs onto second spot after a mediocre first test performance at the Bullring. 

ID	Rat.	Name	Nat.
1	912	V.D. Philander
2	890	D.W. Steyn
3	831	H.M.R.K.B. Herath
4	824	Saeed Ajmal
5	796	R.J. Harris
6	786	P.M. Siddle
7	767	R. Ashwin
8	748	P.P. Ojha
9	745	S.C.J. Broad
10	729	T.A. Boult
		Top 100

ID	Rat.	Name	Nat.
1	906	A.B. de Villiers
2	881	H.M. Amla
3	876	S. Chanderpaul
4	871	R.L. Taylor
5	868	M.J. Clarke
6	866	K.C. Sangakkara
7	838	C.A. Pujara
8	783	Misbah-ul-Haq
9	775	G.C. Smith
10	769	Younus Khan
		Top 100

 

Day 1: Sa vs India - First Sunfoil Test at Wanderers - Report

When you look at the scorecard from Day 1 of this first test between South Africa and India, it seems as if it was a very evenly balanced day. The South African bowlers did not, apart from during the first spell of the day before lunch, manage to assert themselves as much as were expected by many. The day, according to me, belonged to Virat Kohli, who made a very patient and vital century for his team.

Kohli's 119 came off a patient 257 balls and he anchored the Indian innings for most of the day, until he threw his wicket away with a badly timed shot off Kallis. Morne Morkel was probably the pick of the Proteas bowlers and especially his first spell was electrifying, when he hit that perfect short-of-good-length spot almost with every delivery. The Indian batsmen had no answer to these Morkel deliveries and he was unlucky not to pick up more than just the one wicket. Dale Steyn showed at times why he is the number one test bowler right now, but it seemed as if he was repeatedly trying to bowl to fast, as his line was not that accurate.

 

Day 2 is going to be interesting and it will be crucial for both sides to stamp a bit of authority on the game one way or another, because it is all pretty much even-Stevens right now...!

India 255/5 (90.0 ov)

South Africa

India won the toss and elected to bat

Stumps - Day 1

• India in South Africa Test Series - 1st Test
• Test no. 2108 | 2013/14 season
• Played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
• 18,19,20,21,22 December 2013 (5-day match)

	India 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	M Vijay	c †de Villiers b Morkel	6	69	42	1	0	14.28
	S Dhawan	c Imran Tahir b Steyn	13	37	27	2	0	48.14
	CA Pujara	run out (Imran Tahir/Amla)	25	148	98	2	0	25.51
	V Kohli	c Duminy b Kallis	119	257	181	18	0	65.74
	RG Sharma	c †de Villiers b Philander	14	48	42	1	0	33.33
	AM Rahane	not out	43		105	7	0	40.95
	MS Dhoni*†	not out	17		46	3	0	36.95
	Extras	(lb 3, w 14, nb 1)	18
	Total	(5 wickets; 90 overs)	255	(2.83 runs per over)

To bat R Ashwin, I Sharma, Z Khan, Mohammed Shami

Fall of wickets 1-17 (Dhawan, 8.6 ov), 2-24 (Vijay, 15.1 ov), 3-113 (Pujara, 42.4 ov), 4-151 (RG Sharma, 53.2 ov),5-219 (Kohli, 75.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	DW Steyn	23	5	56	1	2.43	(2w)
	VD Philander	21	2	55	1	2.61
	M Morkel	19	10	27	1	1.42	(1nb, 2w)
	JH Kallis	14	4	37	1	2.64	(2w)
	Imran Tahir	8	0	47	0	5.87
	JP Duminy	5	0	30	0	6.00

3rd ODI - Proteas vs India: AB Won Toss For Proteas - Team Sheets

Information provided by  http://live.cricketworld4u.com

Teams:

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Henry Davids, Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy, AB de Villiers(c), David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

One change for India. Yuvraj Singh is back in place of Ajinkya Rahane.

MS Dhoni: 'We were looking to bat first. It looks a good wicket. When you are young, you want to play fire with fire. That's the reason they played a lot of shots. The more games they play, the more they will learn. I'm not really disappointed. We want to have wickets in hand and then accelerate in the middle. That's how it has been working for us.'

South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat

AB de Villiers: 'We are going to bat first. It looks a good wicket. We do not have a lot of big totals here but we are looking forward to doing better here. In ODI cricket we have to be aggressive. We need to pick up wickets. We have been doing it. We have three changes. Kallis, Morkel and Steyn resting. Tahir is in, Henry Davids and Wayne Parnell are in as well.'

Pitch report: 'There is little grass and the track has a dry look to it. Win the toss and bat first,' says Shaun Pollock.

On the weather front, there is some rain around. However, it will not affect the match too much. Stay tuned. We will bring you the toss and teams in a few mintues....

Proteas vs India ODI: South Africa Record a Resounding Victory

• South Africa won by 141 runs

• RSA - 358/4 (50.0 Ovs)

  IND - 217-all out (41.0 Ovs)

South Africa's national cricket team, the Proteas managed to beat India by a massive 141 runs after they sent a very strong message to the visitors with a confident batting display after losing the toss of the first ODI at the Wanderers, and was asked to bat first on a typical greenish-looking "Bullring" pitch. Man of the Match Quinton De Kock (135), Hashim Amla ( 65), AB de Villiers (77 ), and JP Duminy (59* ) cashed in on the run-feast. 

With the ball, Steyn (3/15) and McClaren (3/49) were the main destroyers. 

LOCAL Pro20 Semi-Finals announced...

FIRST LEG PLAY-OFF GAMES FOR THE 2011 Pro20 SEMI-FINALS

Warriors vs Dolphins

St. George's Park - Friday, 25 February (18h00 start)

Cape Cobras vs Titans

Newlands - Sunday, 27 February (14h30 start)

Let us know who you back to win this year's Pro20 crown?

The return legs will be on the following dates - March 4 and March 9 at Kingsmead and SuperSport Park while the third legs, if necessary, planned for March 11 and 13 at the exact same venues.

The final will be held on March 18 with the venue being decided by the higher log position of the two competing teams.

Day & Date: Friday, February 25 (Reserve Day, Saturday, February 26 Day)
Type: Day Night
Match: Warriors v Dolphins
Venue: St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

Day & Date: Sunday, February 27 (Reserve Day, Monday, February 28 Day Night)
Type: Day
Match: Cobras v Titans
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town

Day & Date: Friday, March 4 (Reserve Day, Saturday, March 5 Day)
Type: Day Night
Match: Dolphins v Warriors
Venue: Kingsmead

Day & Date: Wednesday, March 9 (Reserve Day, Thursday, March 10 Day Night)
Type: Day Night
Match: Titans v Cobras
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion

Third Leg (s) if required:

Day & Date: Friday, March 11 (Reserve Day, Saturday, March 12 Day)
Type: Day Night
Match: Dolphins v Warriors
Venue: Kingsmead

Day & Date: Sunday, March 13 (Reserve Day, Monday, March 14 Day Night)
Type: Day
Match: Titans v Cobras
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion