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Match facts

Oct 29-Nov 2, 2008
Start time 9.30am (0400 GMT)

Big Picture

The 320-run drubbing for Australia at the hands of India in Mohali means the hosts have all the momentum and confidence going into the third Test, in Delhi. The leadership might have changed hands – Anil Kumble takes over from the inspired Mahendra Singh Dhoni – but that is unlikely to affect the buoyant Indians, especially given the track record of team and captain at this venue: India have won the last seven Tests here, and Kumble has a rich haul of 55 wickets from six Tests at an average of 15.41. Almost all the Indian batsmen have been among the runs in this series, the fast bowlers have asked plenty of questions of the opposition batsmen with their reverse-swing and accuracy, and the spinners – including a debutant – have helped themselves to a bagful of wickets as well. Things couldn’t be any rosier for India.For Ricky Ponting, though, the tour has been full of thorns. His own form has come undone after a splendid start in Bangalore, but even worse, he could only watch helplessly as his team was completely outclassed in Mohali. The one-week break could not have come at a better time for Australia, and while Ponting has said the team’s work ethic has been outstanding during this period – “Steve Waugh was at training yesterday [Monday] and he said he’d never seen a team train as well as we did” – what matters is how the players translate that into performance in the middle. Australia have so far been badly let down by the senior players – Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Brett Lee have all been below par – and they need at least a couple of them to turn in match-winning performances to claw back in the series.

Form guide (last 5 Tests)

India WDLWL
Australia LDWDW

Watch out for

Matthew Hayden hasn’t been among the runs so far, but he is too good a player to go four Tests without making a significant contribution. He was unlucky with a couple of marginal decisions in Bangalore, and if the rub of the green goes his way Hayden could well stamp his authority on the Delhi Test.Michael Clarke has had a lean run so far, twice falling in the last over of the day, but his 69 in Mohali showed he is coming to terms with the conditions in India. His ability to use his feet against spin makes him a key member of Australia’s batting line-up.Anil Kumble: You can’t argue with his record in Delhi: 55 wickets in six Tests at an average of 15.41. Even if he isn’t at his deadliest, Kumble could be a major threat here.Sehwag and Gambhir: The Feroz Shah Kotla is the home ground for both Indian openers, and given their form in the series so far, expect more fireworks from them at the start of India’s innings.

Team news

Kumble is certain to return to the team, which means Amit Mishra, who made an outstanding debut in Mohali, or Harbhajan Singh will make way. Mishra would have sat out in normal circumstances, but a toe injury that Harbhajan sustained towards the end of the Mohali Test makes matters more uncertain, with a final decision expected only on the morning of the match.India 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble (capt), 9 Harbhajan Singh/ Amit Mishra, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ishant Sharma.Stuart Clark is back in the reckoning after missing the previous match due an elbow injury. He will replace Peter Siddle, while Jason Krejza has been named in the 12-man shortlist as well. Krejza had a terrible time in the tour game, and it’s unlikely Australia will take a chance with him even in conditions expected to favour spin.Australia (likely) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Shane Watson, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Cameron White, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Stuart Clark.

Pitch & conditions

Radhey Shyam, the curator, has a track record of making pitches which suit Kumble, and there is every likelihood of another spin-friendly surface over the next five days. If that’s the case the toss could be crucial yet again. Though the weather is expected to remain clear, the morning smog and the early sunset could both eat into playing time.

Stats & Trivia

• India have won the last seven Tests in Delhi, but in the 20-year period from 1972 to 1992, they hadn’t won a single match out of 11, losing five and drawing six.
• Kumble has won the Man-of-the-Match award in the last two Tests in Delhi. Overall, three of his ten match awards have come in Delhi.
• In all 29 Tests here, the captain winning the toss has chosen to bat. However, out of 16 decisive results, the team winning the toss has won the game only five times. England are the only overseas team to win the toss and the match.
• Even though India have won the last seven Tests here, they’ve struggled with their opening partnerships: the average stand during this period is 17.23, with only one half-century stand in 13 innings. Opposition teams have fared only slightly better, averaging 24.71 in 14 innings. The overall opening stand of 21.11 in the last seven Tests suggests there’s something in the track for the new-ball bowlers.
• Spinners have taken nearly two-thirds of the wickets here in the last seven Tests – their 141 wickets have come at an average of 27.52. Fast and medium-fast bowlers have taken 76 wickets at 39.08.

Quotes

“I’ve tried to completely dismiss last week. It was one of those games where we were totally outplayed and what you’ve got to do is look at reasons why. You learn your lessons and push on.”
“Going by the record we have at the Kotla and the kind of cricket we played in Mohali, it certainly gives us a lot of confidence going into the game. We are fully confident that we will be able to win the series here.”

Jon Holland, the left-arm orthodox spinner, is preparing for his first-class debut after being named in Victoria’s squad for their opening Sheffield Shield match of the season. Holland is also in line to play his first one-day match for his state as the Bushrangers enter the summer without the injured Bryce McGain and Cameron White, who is with the Test squad in India.Holland, 21, was one of the men who performed best for the Australian Institute of Sports against Bangladesh in the warm-up games in Darwin ahead of Australia’s ODI series. Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, said Holland deserved his opportunity.”Jon spent his winter in Brisbane at the Centre of Excellence,” Shipperd said. “His game has really come on after he played only a game or two at club level last year because of injury.”Victoria will also welcome Chris Rogers, the Test opener who has moved from Western Australia, and Damien Wright, the former Tasmania fast bowler, for both matches. One of the reasons Rogers left the Warriors was because of a lack of one-day opportunities and he will get the chance to open in Victoria’s first limited-overs match of the summer.The Bushrangers’ season starts with a one-day game against South Australia in Adelaide on Sunday followed by a Sheffield Shield match at the same venue. Victoria have again got a tough choice between wicketkeepers and chose Adam Crosthwaite for the FR Cup game and Matthew Wade for the longer version.David Hussey will captain the side in the absence of White. Darren Pattinson, the fast bowler who made a surprise Test debut for England during the Australian winter, was not available due to a groin injury.Sheffield Shield squad Chris Rogers, Nick Jewell, Brad Hodge, David Hussey (capt), Rob Quiney, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Damien Wright, Shane Harwood, Jon Holland, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes.FR Cup squad Chris Rogers, Rob Quiney, Brad Hodge, David Hussey (capt), Aiden Blizzard, Andrew McDonald, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Damien Wright, Shane Harwood, Jon Holland, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes.

Cricket South Africa have announced changes to the itinerary for the home series against Bangladesh in November. The warm-up match between the Bangladeshis and South Africa A will now be a two-day fixture with the two Tests starting a couple of days earlier, on November 19.The revised itinerary is as follows:November 5: Twenty20 International, Johannesburg (D/N)November 7: 1st ODI, Potchefstroom (D/N)November 9: 2nd ODI, BloemfonteinNovember 12: 3rd ODI, East London (D/N)November 15-16: Against South Africa A, KimberleyNovember 19: 1st Test, BloemfonteinNovember 26: 2nd Test, Centurion

Scorecard

JP Duminy made the most of a rare outing on tour with 166 against Bangladesh A as the South African top order enjoyed a productive day at New Road. Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis also spent time in the middle as runs flowed throughout.The major problem for South Africa came off the pitch with news that Dale Steyn will miss the third Test with a fractured thumb. It makes the second day of this match much more important as Andre Nel, the most likely replacement, and Monde Zondeki try to find some form.Duminy has at least bagged himself a long innings in case South Africa need any batting replacements in the remaining Tests. He came into the line-up for Neil McKenzie, who has been rested following the back-to-back Tests, and took his chance. His century came off 166 balls as the Bangladesh A bowlers were put to the sword in friendly batting conditions. The attack couldn’t dismiss him and it was eventually a run-out that ended his 234-ball innings, three short of his career-best first-class score.”I realise that the top six are doing very well at the moment and I must just keep knocking on the door and be ready if the chance comes,” Duminy said. “Opening the batting is not ideal but I must be ready to take any place in the top six that becomes available.”Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, was also impressed. “I’m hugely comfortable that our batting reserve strength is very, very well looked after,” he said. “He’s batted out of position. He normally bats at four so I’m happy that he has the ability to step up at any time if there is an injury or loss of form.”Duminy added 155 for the first wicket with Smith, who struck 87 off 88 balls, and a further 137 with Amla (55). Kallis, short of runs in the first two Tests, clocked up his own half-century during the final session and the South Africans have ten more overs to bat before the mandatory close of the innings after 100 overs.

Scorecard
Another day, another victory for West Indies who remain unbeaten in all matches this European tour. Their latest win, by 80 runs, came in the third ODI against Netherlands, leaving them 3-0 up with one to play.Stefanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin’s strong opening partnership of 105 swung things West Indies’ way from the moment they were inserted. Taylor ended with 70 and Dottin 66 as West Indies climbed to 235 for 7 at Deventer. West Indies’ batting has not always fired as a unit this tour – they have recently relied on the efforts of various lone hands – but on Monday they worked well together to build a total well beyond Netherlands’ reach. Lotte Egging took a consolation four wickets, her best haul in one-dayers.Chedean Nation gave eight of her bowlers a go and it was Stacy-Ann King who was the most successful with 3 for 33 from 7.3 overs. Caroline Salomons gave Netherlands’ total some respectability but her unbeaten 70 of the 155 once again pointed to some batting vulnerability; they have not yet topped 180 this series.The sides meet again on Wednesday for the final ODI where Netherlands will have the task of salvaging some pride. West Indies will be looking to be on the right side of another whitewash – as opposed to their men, who lost 5-0 to Australia on Sunday.

Dermot Reeve, the former England allrounder, has been named coach of New Zealand state side Central Districts.Reeve played 29 ODIs and three Tests, but was best-known as one of county cricket’s most successful captains when he led Warwickshire to consistent silverware during the 1990s. He finished his career at Somerset, where he took on the director of cricket role, before moving into TV commentary.”We are excited about having a coach of the experience and standard of Dermot join the Central Stags,” Blair Furlong, the Central Districts chief executive said. “It is a fantastic opportunity for the Stags and our up and coming players to be exposed to someone of his Dermot’s ability.”Reeve emigrated to New Zealand in 2006 and takes over the role vacated by former England batsman Graham Barlow.

Martin Crowe, Bangalore Royal Challengers’ chief cricket officer, has said that “everything went wrong” with their campaign in the first season of the IPL and that they have to start afresh next year.Crowe cited team composition, lack of preparation for key players coming out of a Test series, and poor practice facilities at the home ground as reasons for the poor performance. He also said that the team management, him included, had to share the blame and that the franchise had to bring in players with the skills required to excel in the Twenty20 format.”There is no one or particular area that deserves more blame than anyone else,” Crowe told Cricinfo. “People speculated at the start what type of team we were [a Test side] and that’s the way it has turned out. We didn’t have Twenty20 batsmen. The composition of the team, the fact that key players were coming out of a Test series and had just one day to prepare.”Our facilities at the home ground were poor – we got the worst practice facilities that I have ever seen in 25 years of international cricket so preparing was even harder. That was acknowledged after two or three practice sessions. Venkatesh Prasad was unplayable. It was up and down and doing things. It’s not the reason but it’s a reason. As for the wicket in the middle, you can see by the scores.”Crowe said that the think-tank tried all combinations but nothing worked. “We as management also have to take blame. I am sort of involved in the three-year plan but I understand that I have been long way away from the goal. I accept that, with the changes made, I could be one of them. We got off on the back end of a [Brendon] McCullum whirlwind in the opening game and we didn’t recover from it. We tried everything, every player in every combination simply because no one was putting the hand up. There is nothing to be proud of apart from, obviously, there has been some hard work that went in.”According to Crowe, the way forward was to recruit players who would be suitable to Twenty20 cricket. “Those in charge have a choice: They can start again, which is what I would do. I think you have to go in with a clean sheet and look at bringing players that would be suitable for IPL. Get as many new Twenty20 recruits as possible. Brijesh Patel is the CEO and it will be his responsibility to see who would be available and how he can build the resources within the side. We would get back Bracken but I guess we need to reduce the squad to 18 or 20, which most teams have realised.”Crowe felt Rahul Dravid grew as a Twenty20 cricketer, tried hard to adapt as a captain but “at the end of the day he had the seventh best side to work with”. Crowe said it was Dravid’s decision whether to continue as a captain next season.”Rahul was very open, he knew his limitations being a 35-year old, he wished he were ten years younger but he went out there and gave 110%. You can see that in his batting, he tried his best on the field and sometimes in this sort of the game, for someone like Shane Warne it [captaincy] comes naturally and for some others it doesn’t. Rahul is someone who would take due consideration of whether he is suited to continue or whether he needs it anymore. But I have no doubt that he would come back and make a contribution with the bat.”Crowe said franchise owner Vijay Mallya’s decision to sack the chief executive Charu Sharma was the reaction of a “disappointed owner”. “He was there from the start; he was fully involved and I think he ought to put it as a bad year and make a fresh start. I am sure he will make decisions accordingly to get us back into contention for the second year.”However, he said he didn’t understand the sacking of Sharma. “That was something we never understood inside the team. That’s a different issue. We don’t know what that was about.”Crowe also felt the initial focus was too much on entertainment rather than cricket and that hit the team hard. “There was lots of emphasis on the opening ceremony; we were not allowed inside the stadium. We were practising under the trees in the back portion, those were the things we were dealing at the time and they didn’t feel alright. It’s all about momentum and we never got any momentum.”

Railways steamrolled Vidarbha in their Central Zone Ranji one-day encounter at Indore on Thursday, but despite the five-wicket victory margin, they could not pick up the bonus point.Asked to bat first, Vidarbha racked up 241 for nine in their allotted 50 overs, with RS Jadhav top-scoring with 73 (80b, 9×4, 1×6). He was given some support by HV Shitoot’s quickfire 42 (43b, 3×4, 2×6), but no other batsman could really contribute significantly. For Railways, Jai P Yadav picked up four for 51.Railways experienced a few setbacks to get to 81 for three, but then Yere Goud and Raja Ali added 110 runs for the fourth wicket, virtually sealing the game in their team’s favour. Raja Ali made 67 (76b, 8×4, 1×6), while Goud made an unbeaten 85 (108b, 7×4, 1×6) that saw Railways home in 48.3 overs.Gagan Khoda ton spurs Railways winA sparkling 121 from opener Gagan Khoda saw Rajasthan register a 33-run win over Uttar Pradesh at the Daly College Ground in Indore on Thursday.Winning the toss, Rajasthan opted to bat first, and when 85 runs came for the first wicket, the decision proved sound. Uttar Pradesh were further tormented when Khoda and RJ Kanwat added 108 runs for the second wicket, the latter scoring 51 off 87 balls (2×4). Khoda himself hit his 121 off 133 balls (11×4, 1×6). Skipper PK Krishnakumar’s whirlwind 29 off 10 balls (4×4, 1×6) spurred Rajasthan to 276 for six in 50 overs.Despite battling scores of 56 apiece from Jyoti Yadav and R Shamshad, Uttar Pradesh were never in the hunt, and Kishan Choudhary scalped four for 61 off nine overs to send UP tumbling to 243 all out in 47.5 overs.Punjab crush Haryana at RohtakPunjab chased down Haryana’s total of 132 for the loss of only two wickets at Rohtak’s Maharaja Agarsingh Stadium to register a comfortable win. Haryana could not capitalise on winning the toss, and only Joginder Sharma at number seven could register a significant score. Sharma made 44 off 62 balls with a four and three sixes before his side was bowled out in 39.1 overs.Punjab cruised to their win largely on opener Manish Sharma’s sedate 53 (127b, 5×4, 1×6). Ravneet Ricky at number three then hit an unbeaten 42 to guide Punjab to victory in 43 overs.Services humbled by Himachal Pradesh and Aashish KapoorA solid batting performance from Himachal Pradesh saw them register a thumping 116-run win over Services at Gurgaon, garnering them a bonus point in the process.Winning the toss, Himachal started poorly, at one stage stumbling at 64 for three. But Amit Sharma and Nischal Gaur then added 137 for the fourth wicket, with the former making 94 (109b, 5×4, 2×6) and the latter 64 (82b, 2×4, 1×6). A dazzling 40 off just 19 balls (3×4, 3×6) from Aashish Kapoor then enabled Himachal to surge to 269 for eight in 50 overs.Kapoor was not content with that. Bowling his off-spinners, he took five for 38 off eight overs to hasten Services to a paltry 153 all out in 34.5 overs. Only one batsman – Yashpal Singh – managed to cross 20 before Jaya Krishnan hit out at number 11 to make 26 off 13 balls in a vain cause.Akash Chopra guides Delhi to eight-wicket winDelhi opener Akash Chopra hit a responsible 87 (100b, 7×4) to steer his side to an eight-wicket win over Jammu & Kashmir in their Ranji one-day tie at Faridabad.Batting first after winning the toss, Jammu & Kashmir could only reach 170 all out in 49.3 overs, with opener W Majeed top-scoring with 48. The target of 171 proved inadequate by far as Chopra and Mithun Manhas (53, 52b, 6×4) took their team from 59 for two to victory in just 31.5 overs, garnering a bonus point in the process.

The missing scorecard for matches played on 3 November has finally been uncovered.

KWEKWE SPORTS CLUB v ALEXANDRA SPORTS CLUBAt Kwekwe Sports Club; 3 November 2002.Kwekwe won by 82 runs.KWEKWET Duffin c du Plessis b Blignaut 25V Sibanda b Blignaut 3R W Price run out (Goosen) 35*D P Viljoen c de Grandhomme b D Marillier 55G A Lamb lbw b Anticevich 77T J Friend c Goosen b S Marillier 15J M Cornford not out 31M J Vaughan-Davies not out 21+D J R CampbellI M ChinyokaT KarambaExtras (lb 5 w 16) 21(6 wkts; 50 overs, 202 min) 283Blignaut 10 0 52 2du Plessis 3 0 22 0Benhura 4 0 29 0Stannard 10 0 32 0D A Marillier 10 0 58 1S J Marillier 10 1 64 1Anticevich 3 0 21 1ALEXANDRAD de Beer run out (Cornford) 36+G C Goosen c Campbell b Vaughan-Davies 4B Benhura c and b Viljoen 20D A Marillier c Price b Vaughan-Davies 30A M Blignaut c Viljoen b Lamb 25*B Bath b Vaughan-Davies 9I de Grandhomme not out 24C M Anticevich c Friend b Lamb 11S J Marillier b Price 1D D Stannard b Viljoen 0G du Plessis not out 15Extras (b 3 lb 4 w 17 nb 2) 26(9 wkts; 50 overs, 188 min) 201Friend 4 0 18 0Chinyoka 7 0 25 0Vaughan-Davies 9 1 35 3Price 10 1 25 1Viljoen 8 1 26 2Lamb 9 1 40 2Campbell 2 0 21 0Karamba 1 0 4 0QUEENS SPORTS CLUB v HARARE SPORTS CLUBAt Bulawayo Athletic Club; 10 November 2002.Harare Sports Club won by 110 runs.HARARE SPORTS CLUBS V Carlisle not out 128*T R Gripper lbw b Meth 4+B R M Taylor c Mabuza b Chirwa 134R Croxford not out 2A M DurhamB BalaB KoenH MutenderaA MhanduC CremerG Johnstone-RobertsonExtras (b 2 lb 3 w 10 nb 2) 17(2 wkts; 50 overs, 180 min) 285Chirwa 10 1 59 1Meth 5 0 24 1Mboyi 8 0 69 0Nyumbu 10 0 53 0van Rensburg 10 0 38 0Lombard 7 0 37 0QUEENS+W T Siziba c and b Durham 19M W Townshend c Carlisle b Durham 2*R J King b Mhandu 4N R van Rensburg c Carlisle b Gripper 16R Lombard b Durham 0M Mabuza lbw b Bala 26K Meth not out 62J Nyumbu b Johnstone-Robertson 1T Chirwa st Taylor b Cremer 11F Dube b Cremer 3T Mboyi not out 7Extras (b 3 lb 8 w 12 nb 1) 24(9 wkts; 50 overs, 160 min) 175Mhandu 8 1 28 1Durham 7 0 19 3Bala 10 2 21 1Gripper 7 0 30 1Johnstone-Robertson 8 1 28 1Cremer 7 0 25 2Mutendera 2 0 10 0Carlisle 1 0 3 0