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William Porterfield claims games could end up lasting “15 hours” if all keepers started following Ben Foakes’ lead

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2019Brilliant piece of wicketkeeping or pushing the Laws of the game? Ben Foakes’ stumping of Andy Balbirnie in Friday’s ODI between Ireland and England left many praising his smart glovework, but Ireland’s captain, William Porterfield, was less impressed and afterwards suggested the ball was “pretty much dead”.The issue of a wicketkeeper waiting behind the stumps for the merest hint of a batsman lifting his foot is not quite as contentious as running out a batsman backing up – and Porterfield declined to make a comparison with Mankad dismissals – but similar questions were asked in some quarters about the legitimacy of such stumpings by stealth.Porterfield was more concerned about the tactic delaying play, if wicketkeepers regularly sought to wait for a batsman to accidentally leave his ground, and suggested games could end up lasting “15 hours” .”You can say it was great wicketkeeping or you can say it’s a bit of a grey area of ‘when is the ball dead?'” Porterfield said. “The ball was pretty much dead. The batsman wasn’t going anywhere or over-balanced. The keeper has waited for three or four seconds. If we do that all day, it’s going be a pretty long game. How long do you wait? We’ll be playing 15-hour games if you wait that long.”
On the subject of whether it was similar to Mankading a batsman at the non-striker’s end – recently (and controversially) employed by R Ashwin when running out Jos Buttler in the IPL – Porterfield suggested this was a different matter.”He [Balbirnie] was probably more unhappy that he did lift his foot a little bit as he wasn’t going anywhere or trying to do anything,” he said. “The ball is pretty much dead like. On another day, that ball is probably [thrown by Foakes] into the covers.”Foakes himself saw the dismissal as simply going about his normal business. “When it’s a sweep you think they might fall over and I just saw he lifted his foot and nicked [the bails] off,” he said.

New South Wales needed just 29 runs with three wickets in hand when the legspinner turned the game, which Victoria won by 23 runs to move one step closer to a fourth successive Sheffield Shield final

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2018
ScorecardFive wickets from legspinner Fawad Ahmed helped Victoria move one step closer to making a fourth successive Sheffield Shield final after a nailbiting win over New South Wales at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.The Blues needed just 29 runs with three wickets in hand when Fawad turned the game. He had Trent Copeland caught behind with a big, fizzing legbreak. Four balls later he completely deceived Sean Abbott. The Blues quick shouldered arms to a wrong ‘un and was clean bowled.In Fawad’s next over he lured Peter Nevill down the track and did him with flight and spin to have the Blues keeper stumped to end the game.Earlier, the Blues had put themselves in a strong position despite making some mistakes. Daniel Hughes trod on his stumps without adding to his overnight 59. Kurtis Patterson made a half-century before he was run out by Glenn Maxwell while Moises Henriques was trapped in front by Peter Siddle for 49.The Bushrangers now move seven points clear of the Blues in second spot on the table but there are still two other matches to be completed in the penultimate round.

A round-up of the WICB Regional Super50 matches that took place on January 30, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2017Barbados secured a one-wicket win in a low-scoring Group B clash against Jamaica at the Kensington Oval, to keep their unbeaten streak intact in the competition so far.After Jamaica were bowled out for 190, Barbados lost half their side for 83, before recovering through late contributions and eventually limping past the finish line with two overs to spare. They rode on a vital 40 from Shane Dowrich who came out with the score on 62 for 4; by the time he fell, caught behind in the 38th over, Barbados were eight down and still needed 48. The ninth-wicket partnership between Ashley Nurse and Kemar Roach knocked off 42 of those runs, with Nurse calmly seeing the side to the win and finishing on 21 not out. Jamaica’s new-ball duo of Jerome Taylor and Reynard Leveridge took five wickets between them, while Nikita Miller impressed with 1 for 22 in 10 overs.When Jamaica batted, after winning the toss, they were in an early wobble at 27 for 3. Jermaine Blackwood held up his end for 40, but his wicket left the side at 97 for 6. They recovered through a seventh-wicket partnership of 77 between Rovman Powell, who top-scored with 74, and Damion Jacobs, who struck 31. Powell’s knock, which came at a strike rate of 93.67, included three fours and six sixes. He was the eighth man to be dismissed, seven balls before Jamaica were all out. Barbados’ new-ball duo did the bulk of the damage with Roach and Jason Holder snaring three wickets each.ICC Americas continued to languish at the bottom of Group B after conceding a five-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis method against Guyana, their third defeat is as many matches. In a match reduced to 45 overs a side at the start, ICC Americas rode on contributions from the middle order to put up 220 for 7. In reply, Guyana were 212 for 4 with nine to get off as many balls when bad light forced the match to be called off. Guyana were found to be four runs ahead of the target at that stage and picked up their second win.ICC Americas got into a solid position of 120 for 2 in the 31st over after being invited to bat, before Alex Amsterdam and captain Nitish Kumar, who top-scored with 66, fell in quick succession. Timroy Allen (37) and Srimantha Wijeratne (27) got off to starts at No. 5 and 6 but the side could not finish strongly. bowler Ronsford Beaton took 4 for 28 in nine overs for Guyana.Guyana were reduced to 29 for 2 by the 11th over of the chase but they got back on track through a third-wicket stand of 131 between opener Assad Fudadin (54) and captain Leon Johnson (78). The batsmen fell in successive overs, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Barnwell struck unbeaten 20s to see their team through.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the third Test between Australia and West Indies in Sydney

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale02-Jan-2016

Match facts

January 3-7, 2016

Start time 1030 local (2330 GMT)4:05

Brettig: Too much professionalism in Australia to let WI win

Big Picture

New year, same old story? Maybe, maybe not, for it is worth noting that over the final two days in Melbourne, West Indies put up more fight than they had at any point in the series. If they can bring that to the start of the Sydney Test then the gap between the teams might close up just a little bit. Much like New Zealand earlier in the summer, West Indies took until midway through the second Test before they started to look comfortable in the Australian conditions. At least, their batsmen did. Their bowling has remained lacklustre throughout, and taking the 20 wickets required to win a Test might be a bridge too far, bearing in mind they have so far taken only 10 for the series.The conditions they will be confronted with in Sydney might be slightly different to the first two Tests, with curator Tom Parker expecting some of the traditional SCG turn. Australia have chosen two spinners with Steve O’Keefe to join Nathan Lyon, but there should also be plenty of runs in the wicket. The Frank Worrell Trophy has already been retained and Australia’s task now is to finish off the summer with a 3-0 series win, before they look ahead to ODI matches against India, a Test tour of New Zealand and the World T20. For Jason Holder’s men, the next five days in Sydney is a chance to build on what they showed in Melbourne, and display the consistency they crave.

Form guide

Australia: WWWDW (last five completed matches, most recent first)


West Indies: LLLLL

In the spotlight

Adam Voges will be over 40 by the time Australia next play West Indies in a Test, so this should be his last chance to plunder more gold from the Caribbean. Voges has played four Tests against West Indies for scores of 130*, 37, 269* and 106*, and since he has been dismissed only once he has the incredible average of 542.00 against them. The next highest average by any Test batsman against a single opposition is 293.00, from Jacques Rudolph’s two Tests against Bangladesh.Darren Bravo is the only West Indian in the top six run scorers this series, his 214 putting him equal second on the list with Steven Smith. He has stood up in the first innings in both Tests, with 108 in Hobart and 81 at the MCG, and while West Indies again need a strong display from him in Sydney they also require some greater support to allow him to build a really big innings.

Team news

Australia’s XI has been confirmed, with left-arm spinner O’Keefe to play his second Test in a twin spin attack with Lyon. Peter Siddle was left out after struggling with an ankle problem in Melbourne.Australia 1 Joe Burns, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Steve O’Keefe, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan LyonAustralia’s decision to include two spinners might have encouraged West Indies to do the same had legspinner Devendra Bishoo been fit, but he has not recovered from a shoulder injury suffered during training in Melbourne. It is hard to see how Kemar Roach can be retained after his bowling struggles over the first two Tests: his pace and confidence have been down, and he has series figures of 0 for 218. Perhaps the selectors will view this as a chance to see what fast bowler Miguel Cummins has to offer at Test level.West Indies (possible) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Rajendra Chandrika, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Jomel Warrican, 11 Miguel Cummins

Pitch and conditions

Curator Tom Parker said it was a traditional SCG pitch, extremely hard but with a little bit of grass. “I think there will be some turn, the pitch has been turning in the Shield games this year and also during the Sixers matches,” Parker said. The forecast is for showers across the first four days, so the teams could be in for more than a few interruptions.

Stats and trivia

• The chasm between the two sides in this series is shown by the average runs per wicket lost: Australia have scored 131.30 to West Indies’ 24.31
• The five leading wicket takers in the series are all Australians; Jomel Warrican tops the West Indies list with three at 106.00
• Last time Australia played two specialist spinners in a Sydney Test (not counting Steven Smith’s legspin) was 2006, when Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill played together against South Africa

Quotes

“It’s going to spin and it gives us an opportunity now to see Steve and see how he goes. They have bowled well together. Hopefully they can do that this week.”

Dale Steyn is in doubt for South Africa’s first fixture against India with a side strain, Robin Peterson took a blow to the left foot and Quinton de Kock has unofficially joined the group as cover for AB de Villiers

Firdose Moonda04-Jun-2013A hat-trick of concerns descended on South Africa two days before their Champions Trophy opener against India on Thursday. Dale Steyn is in doubt for the match with a side strain, Quinton de Kock has unofficially joined the group as cover for AB de Villiers and first-choice spinner Robin Peterson suffered a blow to the left foot.Steyn’s injury appears to be the most serious. He could only bowl five overs in Monday’s warm-up match against Pakistan at the Oval before he left the field in obvious discomfort. He was taken for an MRI scan which revealed “mild swelling in a left-intercostal muscle,” according to team manager Mohammed Moosajee.South Africa will take a call on Steyn’s availability as late as possible to give the paceman as much time as they can to recover. Should he be ruled out, the side will be without their bowling spearhead whose form at the IPL (19 wickets in 17 games at 20.21) was promising. Rory Kleinveldt is likely to replace him to form a three-pronged seam attack with Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.While Steyn’s case is straightforward, de Villiers’ is more complicated. CSA did not state exactly why he needs cover in their statement. After clarification was sought by ESPNcricinfo, Moosajee revealed the captain is “absolutely fine” and said it was “always part of the plan” to include de Kock, because it would be logistically easier to have him around should de Villiers suffer a last-minute injury.However, if de Kock needs to play he will still need approval from the ICC’s event technical committee because he is not a part of the 15-man squad. According to Moosajee, de Kock was aware he would be in England even before he went to the IPL, where he played three matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad and scored six runs. His domestic franchise, the Lions, however, were not aware of any national call-up when contacted earlier this morning.Worth remembering here, among the unclear circumstances surrounding de Kock’s call-up, is that de Villiers has a history of chronic back problems which flare up after he has played for a long period of time. He came through a full IPL and took part in South Africa’s two warm-up matches, against the Netherlands and Pakistan. He did not bat in the first match but kept wicket in both.De Villiers did not appear to experience any problems apart from one incident when he addressed the media after the Pakistan game. Although not audible at the event, on recordings of the press conference he can he heard whispering “Eina” (Afrikaans for “Ouch”) as he sat down. There may be nothing to that or it may explain why a nervous looking de Villiers chewed his nails for a significant part of the interaction.Should he become unavailable, the side will be without their captain and most experienced batsman. Faf du Plessis, who is the Twenty20 captain, would most likely to step in with de Kock taking de Villiers’ place behind the stumps and in the batting line-up.Peterson’s niggle is not a cause for worry. He was hit on the left foot while batting during the Pakistan match and could not bowl because of the swelling. He has responded to overnight treatment and should be able to play but South Africa have Aaron Phangiso in reserve, if Peterson is unfit.South Africa’s three group stage matches take place in eight days, so the severity of the injuries could significantly impact their hopes of making the semi-finals.

You can’t rule out Chennai Super Kings. They are no strangers to wriggling out of a difficult situation, and they did it again when it seemed their qualification prospects were in peril in Jaipur

The Report by Siddhartha Talya10-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ben Hilfenhaus’ economical spell gave Chennai Super Kings the early advantage•AFP

You can’t rule out Chennai Super Kings. They are no strangers to wriggling out of a difficult situation, and they did it again in Jaipur, when it seemed their playoff prospects were in peril. The teams, at a crucial juncture in the season, could ill-afford a slip-up, and Super Kings huffed and puffed in a low-scoring chase but made it thanks to a late onslaught from Albie Morkel and S Anirudha. They completely altered the flow of a game heading for a close finish and, with 13 points in the bag, Super Kings broke into the top four.Royals were favourites when they had Super Kings at 84 for 6 in the 17th over, the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja, caught in the deep, prompting a roar of relief from a usually calm Rahul Dravid. But Super Kings were always in the game with Morkel around, and Anirudha matched him shot for shot as the Royals bowlers buckled under pressure. That surge, which produced 43 off 13 balls, left the home crowd deflated and Royals stunned by the sudden transformation it wrought.As has often been the case this IPL, the seamers erred at the death, with attempts at bowling yorkers failing miserably to end up as length deliveries. With 41 needed off 21, Morkel launched Pankaj Singh just over the long-off boundary, a mistimed hit carrying all the way. A top-edged four and a single later, the equation was down to 30 required off three overs.Not even the experienced Shane Watson could maintain Royals’ hold. A length ball was smashed over long-on, and Anirudha, having a go himself instead of giving his senior partner the strike, pulled over the midwicket fence before steering a full toss past point for a boundary. Shaun Tait was brought back with 12 needed off 12, but another pitched up delivery was swung towards cow corner. Tait then bowled Anirudha with a perfect yorker, only to find out he’d overstepped, just marginally, before doling out five wides down the leg side to hasten the finish.Morkel and Anirudha undid an impressive performance from the Royals bowlers for the bulk of the innings; they had given the hosts hope of defending their lowest score this season. Suresh Raina had looked threatening, finding boundaries with effortless ease but his attempt to go over extra cover failed against Pankaj. Michael Hussey and Dwayne Bravo tried to consolidate but the ball was not coming on well enough on a slow track, and the Royals bowlers, especially Siddharth Trivedi, kept the pressure on with their accuracy. Bravo holed out, Hussey was run out, MS Dhoni slashed one to point and Jadeja soon followed. That was until Morkel and Anirudha got together.Royals’ below-par score owed partly to the frustration of having their innings interrupted three times by rain, but largely to some disciplined bowling by the Super Kings seamers, especially Ben Hilfenhaus, that kept the batsmen in check. Hilfenhaus beat the bat often, getting the ball to nip away past the outside edge, and maintained a tight line in the channel outside off. His victims were Dravid and Watson, both caught while trying to accelerate during a troubling spell; Watson was brilliantly taken by R Ashwin, diving forward at third man.While Hilfenhaus finished with figures of 2 for 8 in four overs, Yo Mahesh backed him up with the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Stuart Binny, out after a brief counterattack. Though Brad Hodge targeted the spinners for a couple of boundaries, and an erratic Bravo was taken for runs, the good work done at the start of the game by Super Kings’ bowlers was to serve their middle order well in the end.

Mark Wallace became Glamorgan’s first century-maker of the first-class season as the Welsh county beat Kent by an innings and eight runs with a day to spare

12-May-2011
Scorecard
Mark Wallace became Glamorgan’s first century-maker of the first-class season as the Welsh county beat Kent by an innings and eight runs with a day to spare of their County Championship Division Two clash at Cardiff.The wicketkeeper made 107 out of 434 all out – a first-innings lead of 192 over Kent, and in reply the visitors could only make 184 as they were bowled out in the penultimate over of the day. Glamorgan, who have not beaten Kent at Cardiff in a Championship game since 1967, took a maximum 24 points from the win to Kent’s three.At the start of the day Glamorgan had resumed on 366 for seven – a lead of 124 – and wicketkeeper Wallace soon scored the 10 runs he needed to pass 7,000 first-class runs for the hosts. James Harris, who was omitted from the England Lions squad, chipped in with his second-successive fifty – the sixth of his career – which came in 106 balls with six fours.Wallace and Harris followed up their individual milestones by then setting the record eighth-wicket partnership for Glamorgan against Kent, passing the 116-run stand between John Derrick and Rodney Ontong in Cardiff in 1988.Wallace hit James Tredwell for a straight six before pushing the single which brought up the 400 in the first innings – the first time the county had secured maximum batting bonus points for 15 matches since the visit of Gloucestershire last May.Rain caused the loss of 28 overs either side of lunch, and when play resumed at 2.40pm Harris soon fell to give Neil Saker (5 for 112) his fifth wicket and end a superb stand of 169 with Wallace. But the gloveman continued unperturbed and duly went to his hundred from 169 balls with seven fours and two sixes in two minutes short of four hours.He eventually departed after being trapped in front by Tredwell, with Will Owen the last man out just a few minutes later.Kent began their second innings unconvincingly by sinking to 32 for 3. Seamer Harris (3 for 43) trapped Sam Northeast lbw, and 20 for 1 became 28 for 2 when Graham Wagg struck at the other end as Rob Key edged to James Allenby at first slip.Harris then picked up his second wicket as he had Geraint Jones leg before to leave the visitors in trouble. At that stage Kent still had hope of taking the game into the fourth day until Owen took two wickets in as many balls, trapping Martin van Jaarsveld leg before and having Darren Stevens first ball, caught at first slip.There were some cavalier hitting from both Alex Blake and Matt Coles, who both scored half-centuries, but wickets fell regularly until Harris wrapped up Glamorgan’s second Division Two victory by yorking Dewald Nel.

In the end England’s eight-wicket victory came with ease on the final afternoon at Lord’s as they comfortably chased down 160 following Steven Finn’s first five-wicket haul in Test cricket

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan31-May-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Steven Finn continued his outstanding match to secure a five-wicket haul on his home grund•Getty Images

In the end England’s eight-wicket victory came with ease on the final afternoon at Lord’s as they comfortably chased down 160 following Steven Finn’s first five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Andrew Strauss guided the pursuit with a confident 82 after the visitors’ last five wickets fell for 35 under cloudy skies against Finn and Tim Bresnan, yet they have done much to enhance their standing over the last five days.With the ball new and the morning overcast the odds were always against Bangladesh delaying England long enough to put the result in serious doubt. It took ten overs to make the breakthrough but they then chipped away regularly to wrap up the innings on the stroke of lunch. Strauss and Alastair Cook were gifted a 60-run start by some woeful bowling and negative fielding settings. The only tension was to see whether the win would come before tea. Despite Kevin Pietersen playing out a maiden from Shakib Al Hasan some scurrying from the umpires ensured it did.However, without Finn England would have had serious problems dismissing Bangladesh twice in this match. The 21-year-old has led the bowling effort in both innings, impressing with his maturity, accuracy and stamina. Strauss gave him an eight-over spell on the final morning and he responded with three further wickets to earn a place on the honours board in his first Test on his home ground.Junaid Siddique and Shakib fought hard to survive and, as often happens when pressure builds, it was one of worst deliveries that made the breakthrough when Shakib cut a wide ball straight to Eoin Morgan at point. Siddique had again resisted stubbornly while England tried to pepper him with the short ball and the tactic could well have played a part in his demise as he tried to drive with his feet planted in the crease and popped a catch to mid off.That gave Finn his fourth and this time he wasn’t going to be denied a place on the board when he produced a beauty that climbed and took Mushfiqur Rahim’s outside edge. However, he couldn’t quite claim the scalp that would have made him the first since Ian Botham in 1978 to claim a 10-wicket match haul at Lord’s.James Anderson endured a frustrating morning as his rhythm continued to improve but was unable to add to his collection. He produced a testing nine-over burst and regularly beat the outside edge, but the closest he came to a breakthrough was when Bresnan spilled a tough chance at third slip off Mahmudullah.Mahmudullah, who is batting far too low even taking into account the nightwatchman, continued the defiance shown by many of his team-mates. He and Rubel Hossain resisted for 10 overs until Bresnan found Rubel’s edge as the No. 10 tried to leave the ball. It’s been a difficult match for Bresnan, and he came in for some guarded criticism from Andy Flower on the fourth evening, but he closed the innings when Mahmudullah had a wild heave in the last over before lunch and ended with 3 for 93.While Bangladesh’s batting is making huge strides, there progress will be held back by the weak pace bowling. Shahadat Hossain’s opening over went for 11 as he sprayed the ball wide at Strauss, while Rubel and Robiul were given an over apiece before spin came on from both ends.Mahmudullah removed Cook as the left hander was given out lbw on the front foot and replays showed the ball would have gone over the stumps for the second time in the game. Strauss, though, eased to his second fifty of the match from 50 balls – nothing more than a gentle net for the captain – while Jonathan Trott eked along at his own sedate pace before Strauss was caught behind cutting with 13 needed.The final result was as expected, yet Bangladesh can take great heart from the way they took the game five days and made England dig deep. Strauss and Flower will expect their side to be far more commanding in the second, at Old Trafford, on Friday but the visitors will have ambitions to make a mark of their own.

The win was set up by the South Africa fast bowlers, who combined to stop Netherlands at 103 for 9

Shashank Kishore08-Jun-20242:46

Miller: I knew I had to finish the game

South Africa made heavy weather of a modest chase in New York before David Miller and Tristan Stubbs dug deep to save them from a third straight defeat at Netherlands’ hands at an ICC tournament.Miller and Stubbs added 65 for the fifth wicket to lift them from the pits of 12 for 4 on a pitch that didn’t play anywhere as badly as the scorecard suggested, even though there was enough in it for quick bowlers – 13 of the 15 wickets fell to them, while there were two run outs.As he walked out to bat, Miller might have had a flashback of Adelaide 2022, where his wicket, with 47 needed off 28 balls, shut the door on South Africa and gave Netherlands a 13-run win. On Saturday, Miller stayed the course and remained unbeaten on 59, flicking on his best six-hitting self in the penultimate over with South Africa needing 16 off 12.In the end, in a game where 209 runs were scored in 38.5 overs, South Africa won with enough to spare.Vivian Kingma struck twice in the powerplay•AFP/Getty Images

The South African meltdown

Quinton de Kock was run out without facing a ball. Reeza Hendricks got a peach from Logan van Beek that angled in and straightened to hit the top of off. Vivian Kingma had the first of a double when he strangled Aiden Markram down leg to leave South Africa 3 for 3. And when Heinrich Klaasen’s rush of blood had him picking out Tim Pringle attempting a pull off Kingma, Netherlands dared to dream – or maybe just expected the expected, considering the recent results between the two sides at ICC events.

Miller and Stubbs take over

Both Miller and Stubbs are instinctive batters who love taking the bowlers on. But the situation they walked out to was not for that sort of batting, it was a crisis. A mis-step could have meant curtains. So they chose caution, saw off the powerplay without any further damage, and hit only a further two boundaries until the ten-over mark to leave South Africa needing 72 off the last ten overs.Stubbs was on 9 off 21 at this point, struggling to force the pace, especially when the ball was dug in to the pitch. A hint of grip for the spinners also made it difficult for him to hit out. So when Bas de Leede came on in the 11th, Stubbs gave him the charge and enjoyed a massive slice of luck as a thick inside edge flew wide of the midwicket fielder.Miller, too, rode some luck. A big hit down the ground off left-arm spinner Pringle only just eluded the long-on fielder in the 12th over with South Africa still needing 57 off 50.Stubbs finally shrug off the pressure that had built around him with a hoick for six off Vikramjit Singh, and then launched van Beek down the ground three balls later to turn the tide South Africa’s way.David Miller and Tristan Stubbs put on a match-winning 65-run stand for the fifth wicket•ICC/Getty Images

Miller lands the finishing blows

It should have been a smooth ride from there, with South Africa needing 29 off 30. But there was another twist. First, Paul van Meekeren delivered a maiden over to Miller, and the pressure showed when Stubbs holed out to deep midwicket in the next, off Bas de Leede. Then, in the 18th, van Beek came back after being walloped for six by Miller to dismiss Marco Jansen.But, with South Africa needing 16 off 12, de Leede erred in line. Miller began the penultimate over by dispatching a half-tracker over fine leg, and then finished the game with a sequence of 2, 0, 4 and 6 – cue a roar and wild fist pumping.Miller had tamed the demons of Adelaide 2022.Sybrand Engelbrecht top-scored for Netherlands after walking out at a ricky time•ICC/Getty Images

Engelbrecht props up Netherlands

Sybrand Engelbrecht, who represented South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in 2008 and only recently made his Netherlands’ debut, top-scored with a 45-ball 40 on surface where the next best among the top seven was 12.At the toss, Netherlands were put in to bat seemingly because South Africa wanted to exploit the morning conditions, and had them tottering at 32 for 4. South Africa’s four-pronged pace attack, led by Marco Jansen, was breathing fire at that stage, with pace and bounce off the pitch for assistance.South Africa’s hostility didn’t end there, with Ottneil Baartman and Anrich Nortje ensuring there weren’t any freebies. This resulted in Netherlands attempting to manufacture strokes, like Scott Edwards did when he executed a reverse scoop for six, but they simply didn’t have enough.It came down to Englebrecht’s patient knock and his 54-run association with van Beek to get them into three figures. It would have been inadequate on most days, but Netherlands can give themselves a pat on the back for making a match out of it to keep Group D very open.

The visitors restored some parity by inducing a collapse, picking seven wickets for 79 runs in the final session

Ashish Pant28-Feb-2023Aiden Markram celebrated his return to Test cricket in style notching up his sixth century but Alzarri Joseph’s pacy three-wicket burst helped West Indies storm back into the contest late in the day. South Africa ended day one of the first Test on 314 for 8.On a surface that had something in for the bowlers all day, Markram, playing his first Test since August 2022, put on a cover drive masterclass en route to 115. But West Indies restored some parity by inducing a collapse, picking seven wickets for 79 runs in the final session.Temba Bavuma won the toss in his first assignment as full-time Test captain and elected to bat first with the hosts getting in two debutants – top order batter Tony de Zorzi and fast bowler Gerald Coetzee. Kemar Roach came in for West Indies in place of Gutakesh Motie, who was out due to a back injury.Dean Elgar and Markram held their own in a near-perfect morning session for the hosts adding 99 runs in 28 overs. West Indies did have a chance to get that early wicket, with Elgar edging a straightforward catch to Jermaine Blackwood at third slip off Kyle Mayers, but the fielder made a mess of it.Shannon Gabriel troubled Elgar with the short ball, including a shoulder-high delivery that drew a top edge over the wicketkeeper’s head. There was also a leg-side trap in place for him, but the former captain survived all that and brought up his 23rd Test fifty off 84 balls.Markram, at the other end, back with renewed confidence after recently leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the SA20, played a couple of stunning cover drives to signal his intentions early. He was largely untroubled with whatever the West Indies bowlers threw at him as the duo went into the break unscathed.Markram started the second session from where he left off in the first driving Jason Holder in the gap through covers, which also brought up the hundred for South Africa in the 29th over. Gabriel continued with the short-ball ploy but Elgar, now more confident, brought out the ramp over the slip fielders.Alzarri Joseph’s scorching yorker knocked over Aiden Markram•AFP/Getty Images

Then it was Markram’s turn to bring up his half-century, his tenth in Test cricket, with a push through covers. Elgar ramped Joseph over slips again but the very shot brought about his downfall two balls later. Joseph moved the fielder to deep third and went for another bouncer, closer to Elgar’s body. He arched back, trying to ramp him again, but ended up hitting it straight to Blackwood who took a stunning catch after a bit of misjudgment.With de Zorzi in at No.3, West Indies would have harboured hopes of some sort of a comeback. The debutant, however, quickly put those thoughts to bed, adding 78 runs for the second wicket off 127 balls. South Africa went into tea 206 for 1 and eyeing a big first-innings with Markram unbeaten on 97 and de Zorzi largely comfortable on 22.Things, however, unravelled rather quickly in the final session. Markram had a scare on 99 when a caught-behind decision was sent upstairs but the on-field decision of not out was upheld. He did not waste much time, crashing Joseph’s short-of-a-length ball past point to bring up his first Test century since February 2021.However, a combination of an excellent piece of fielding and lazy running brought about de Zorzi’s wicket and opened the floodgates. De Zorzi’s cut was intercepted well at deep point by Tagenarine Chanderpaul. The duo ran two but for some reason, de Zorzi came back searching for a third only to be sent back. Chanderpaul fired in a wide throw that Joshua Da Silva palmed back onto the stumps, catching de Zorzi by surprise, who was found to be inches short.Two balls later Joseph pinned Bavuma bang in front of the stumps for a duck before a pinpoint yorker on the base of off stump left Markram’s stumps in a mess. From 206 for 1, the hosts had slipped to 236 for 5.Heinrich Klassen came out with an attacking intent even as Keegan Peterson, back after an injury, struggled for timing. Klaasen’s cameo did not last long, though, with Gabriel sending him back for 20 via a short ball that he pulled to Joseph at mid-on.The West Indies bowlers then stuck to a plan and got the ball to hoop around. Senuran Muthusamy was caught in front shouldering arms to a full-length Roach delivery, while Mayers ended Peterson’s struggle on 14.Coetzee struck two fours off his first two balls in Test cricket before bad light brought about an early close of play with only 82 overs possible on the opening day.