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Yorkshire have a lot of work to do if they are to avoid another defeat at Guildford at the hands of the Championship leaders. Surrey took a first-innings lead of 210 after Rikki Clarke (56), Saqlain Mushtaq (44) and James Ormond (39) ensured another impressive performance by the tail. Chris Silverwood and Ryan Sidebottom ended with three wickets apiece. Half centuries from Victor Craven (56), Darren Lehmann (55*) and Michael Lumb (68*) have taken Yorkshire to a slender lead of 44 at the close, with seven wickets remaining.An unbeaten opening partnership of 151 between Trevor Ward and Iain Sutcliffe has put Leicestershire back into their game with Kent after yesterday’s poor start at Grace Road. Matt Whiley took three for 60 as Kent were eventually bowled out for 339 today, before Sutcliffe (74*) and Ward (66*) came within 57 runs of wiping off the arrears.Nick Knight duly completed his double century, finishing unbeaten on 245 as Warwickshire were bowled out for 493 by Sussex at Edgbaston. Jason Lewry (four for 151) and Kevin Innes (three for 106) were the main wicket-takers. An unbeaten 105 from Tony Cottey was then at the core of the visitors’ reply, which had reached 237 for four at stumps, still 256 runs behind.Chris Tremlett (five for 68) and Shaun Udal (four for 25) made it a poor first day for Lancashire at The Rose Bowl. The visitors were dismissed for just 183, with an innings of 66 from Alec Swann the only substantial contribution from the visitors.In Division Two, Glamorgan hammered an incredible 499 runs in a day of drama for both sides at Chelmsford. James Foster, playing in only his third match of the season, broke his left thumb and is now expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks. It was much brighter for Glamorgan, though, as their batsmen steered them into a comfortable lead of 274. Steve James dominated throughout, recording his highest score of the season with an unbeaten 235. With Matthew Maynard (76) he added 156 for the fifth wicket as the Essex bowling fell apart. Glamorgan closed on 505 for six.Durham made a woeful reply to Nottinghamshire’s total of 362 at the Riverside. Greg Smith (four for 24) and Richard Logan (three for 36) were the pick of the bowlers as the home side were forced to follow on after being bowled out for just 116 in their first innings. Jonathan Lewis (70) and Bradley Hodge (42*) led the fight back with a second-wicket stand of 112, but Durham still need 62 runs to make the visitors bat again.Middlesex need a miracle if they are to avoid the follow-on against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham. The home side were eventually dismissed for 494 after Alex Gidman (94) fell narrowly short of a maiden Championship century. Middlesex started positively in reply, with Andrew Strauss (49) leading from the front. However wickets then fell at regular intervals, and despite another impressive performance by in-form Owais Shah (65), the visitors, on 218 for six at stumps, still trail by 276 runs.Derbyshire suffered a late collapse at Northampton, as they were dismissed for 388 after losing their last seven wickets for 58 runs. Earlier, opener Andrew Gait had produced a superlative batting display, with a career-best 175 to put his side in the driving seat. He put on 156 with Chris Bassano for the second wicket before off-spinner Graeme Swann claimed six quick wickets, including Gait and Dominic Cork (released from England duty) for a duck.

Essex County Cricket Club has been charged by the Cricket Regulator – the sport’s new independent disciplinary body – after a series of historical allegations of racist abuse were last year upheld by an independent report.In December, a 38-page report compiled by Katherine Newton KC found that, in a period from the mid-1990s to 2013, Essex’s club culture had been one in which ethnic, racial and religious comments were regarded as “banter”.The report centred on the testimony of three former players – not named in its pages but known to be Jahid Ahmed, Maurice Chambers and Zoheb Sharif, one of whom was nicknamed “Bomber” due to his South Asian heritage, and another taunted with bananas for being Black.In a separate incident that prompted the commissioning of the report, the former club chair, John Faragher, was alleged to have used the racist phrase “n****r in the woodpile” during a board meeting in 2017, with Essex accepting a fine of £50,000 from the ECB in May 2022 after admitting two charges relating to that meeting.The club has now been charged with a breach of ECB Directive 3.3 during the years 2001 to 2010, for “conduct, acts or omissions which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute”.In a statement, the Cricket Regulator said Essex had failed to address the “systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language and/or conduct at Essex” in that period, adding that an independent panel of the Cricket Discipline Commission would hear the case in due course.In response, Essex CCC acknowledged the scope of the breach and the club’s willingness to accept the CDC’s findings.”The club has fully cooperated with the Cricket Regulator and will continue to do so throughout the process, and intends to participate willingly with the Cricket Discipline Commission,” a statement read. “There will be no further comment from the club at this time.The Cricket Regulator came into being in December 2023, after that summer’s damning report published by Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC), which detailed structural inequalities across race, gender and class in cricket in England and Wales.In a key recommendation, the ECB’s previous dual roles as promoter and regulator of the game were found to be “irreconcilable”, in light of the board’s handling of Azeem Rafiq’s revelations of institutional racism at Yorkshire.

Azeem Rafiq has admitted he is “ashamed” of anti-Semitic remarks that he made in a text exchange with a fellow Asian player back in 2011.Rafiq, whose testimony before a parliamentary select committee this week has forced English cricket to confront accusations of institutional racism, added in a statement issued via Twitter that he had “absolutely no excuses” for his actions.The exchange, involving the former Leicestershire cricketer Ateeq Javid, appears to centre around a third Asian player, then playing for Derbyshire, who was reluctant to spend money on a meal.Related

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“Hahaha he is a Jew,” Rafiq joked. “Probs go after my 2nds again ha … Only Jews do tht sort of shit”.In response, Rafiq wrote: “I was sent an image of this exchange from early 2011 today. I have gone back to check my account and it is me. I have absolutely no excuses.”I am ashamed of this exchange and have now deleted it so as not to cause further offence. I was 19 at the time and I hope and believe I am a different person today. I am incredibly angry at myself and I apologise to the Jewish community and everyone who is rightly offended by this.”Rafiq’s admission follows the recent suspension of Yorkshire’s head coach, Andrew Gale, following his own use of the anti-Semitic slur “Y*d” in a Twitter exchange in 2010.Responding to his post, Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told PA: “Azeem Rafiq has suffered terribly at the hands of racists in cricket so he will well understand the hurt this exchange will cause to Jews who have supported him. His apology certainly seems heartfelt and we have no reason to believe he is not completely sincere.”Speaking in the wake of his testimony, Rafiq admitted that he was “not perfect”, but that “nothing excuses racism”.”At no point will I ever try and defend the indefensible,” he later added on Twitter. “For those I have hurt I am sincerely sorry. I will continue to front up & own any more mistakes I have made.”

Shemaine Campbelle and Stafanie Taylor are back in West Indies women’s squad of 15 for the three ODIs against Pakistan as well as the World Cup Qualifier 2021 in Zimbabwe.Campbelle missed the home series against Pakistan with an injury, while Taylor, who has been named captain, is back after missing the South Africa series due to covid reasons. Three reserves – Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Karishma Ramharack – will also travel with the squad for both tours.After recovering from injury, Campbelle scored a century off 107 balls, with 12 fours and a six, in the only practice match before the upcoming tours. “The upcoming Pakistan series and World Cup qualifiers are crucial as the team works towards participation in the Cricket World Cup in 2022,” lead selector Ann Browne-John said.”It is important to note that Shemaine Campbelle is once again fit and available after being away through injury. She is one of the senior players and has shown herself to be one of the premier wicket-keepers in the world. She scored runs in the practice match since her return.”The captain Stafanie Taylor who missed the South Africa series is also back which also serves to strengthen both the batting and bowling. The squad has a mix of senior and developing players and particular mention must be made of two young players, Qiana Joseph and Rashada Williams, who had very encouraging series against South Africa and hopefully they will go from strength to strength.”West Indies are set to arrive in Pakistan on November 1 with the ODIs scheduled to start on November 8 in Karachi. They will then travel to Zimbabwe for World Cup Qualifiers from November 21 to December 5. West Indies and Pakistan will be among the 10 teams there to try and secure one of three places for the World Cup in New Zealand in February 22.Squad: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Anisa Mohammed (vice-capt), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Rashada Williams. Travelling Reserves: Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Karishma Ramharack

Luke Wright has called upon Sussex’s hierarchy to ensure that players are offered extensions before entering the last year of their contracts and said that the loss of Phil Salt and Chris Jordan “hurts me to my core”.Salt and Jordan will play their final games for the club on T20 Finals Day in Birmingham on Saturday ahead of their departures to Lancashire and Surrey respectively, joining Danny Briggs, Laurie Evans, Chris Nash, Luke Wells and Michael Burgess on the list of first-team players to have left Sussex in recent seasons.And while the club have put together an impressive T20 side which has reached the quarter-finals of the Blast for four seasons in a row under Wright’s stewardship, they have implemented a youth policy for their four-day side which has seen results fall off a cliff, sitting bottom of Division Three of the County Championship ahead of next week’s final round.”I’m hugely disappointed to see those lads leave,” Wright said on Friday. “Any time you get lads going into their last year [of their contract], it’s going to be difficult – they are high-quality cricketers and there are always going to be counties that want them. Add in the Hundred now – whether it’s playing a part or not, who knows – but I’m sad to see them go.Related

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“It’s something from the club’s point of view that we need to look at because we can’t be losing our best players all the time. Myself and Ravi [Bopara] are getting older and that’s the challenge they’ve got – our recruitment process has got to be really strong and it’s something that probably hasn’t been as good as it should be at this moment in time.”Wright admitted he was sceptical as to whether the Hundred was the only influence in Salt and Jordan’s departures and instead called upon the club’s management to ensure key players were offered attractive deals in order to keep them at the club – including Jofra Archer, who is centrally contracted by the ECB but whose Sussex deal runs out at the end of next season.”It’s got to be a fear, hasn’t it?” he said. “If the so-called smaller counties are losing their best players all the time then obviously it’s a worry, but we’ve had these issues before. When the first and second division [of the Championship started], everyone thought the smaller counties might go and lose all their players, and we’ve always been able to keep them.Luke Wright will captain Sussex on T20 Finals Day•Alex Davidson/Getty Images

“Only the lads themselves will know the reason why they’re leaving. Chris Jordan’s not gone to Hampshire [where Southern Brave are based], he’s gone to Surrey, but it’s something I’m sure the ECB and the PCA are going to look at to make sure that there is enough independence between the Hundred teams and the hosting counties. Is that a factor? Who knows.”All we can know from our side as a club is that we don’t want to be letting our best players go into their last year. It’s a challenge but it’s absolutely not impossible to keep your best players. We’ve got to work hard on trying to replace them as best we can going forward.”We don’t really see him [Archer] much anyway, but obviously we don’t want to lose him – just like we don’t want to lose any of our best players. I hate seeing any of our best players leave and it hurts me to my core to see them go. I was brought up at Sussex with a strong team that was competing in days like tomorrow all the time, winning trophies and Championships, and that’s certainly where I’d still like to see the club. Sussex have helped get Jof to where he is and we certainly hope he stays with us but ultimately that’s down to him.”Sussex have already made two signings ahead of next season in Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Steven Finn, and are expected to recruit further players with Stuart Meaker (retired) off the books and a handful of others out of contract. They appear to have missed out on the signing of Ross Whiteley, who looks set to move to Hampshire instead, and Wright encouraged the club to bring in some experienced players to help the young players in the Championship side in their development.”Are we happy with where we are right now? No, of course not,” he said. “It’s been a really tough season, which I suppose it was always going to be for that young squad. It’s the way that the club have gone – they want to go really young at the moment in four-day cricket, but that’s a process that’s going to be a hard road at some times.”I feel for some of those young lads. I couldn’t imagine playing when I started my career without having senior players around me, so for those guys it is tough and they are having some lessons – they had a tough loss at Grace Road this week. On the flip side, there is some real talent which is really exciting – it’s just making sure we can package it right and I’m sure that’s what the people above me are trying to do.”Sussex will welcome Bopara and David Wiese back into their squad for Finals Day after their involvement in the Caribbean Premier League but are without Rashid Khan who is in the UAE ahead of the IPL. Jack Carson replaces him in the squad, while Ollie Robinson has not been made available after a busy summer with England.Vitality Blast Finals Day 2021 is supporting the players’ charity: the Professional Cricketers’ Trust. Saturday 18 September will see a day of fundraising and awareness for the Trust on one of the biggest days of the domestic calendar at Edgbaston. Visit bit.ly/DonateFinalsDay to find out more and donate.

By the time legspinner Rahul Tewatia came on to bowl on Tuesday night, Kolkata Knight Riders had made their now-customary dash in the Powerplay to score 61 for 1 in a chase of 168. The seamers went for runs and, as is often the case, damage-control duties were assigned to Axar Patel, who bowled a tight seventh over. Tewatia was introduced with 104 runs needed in 13 overs. It was his first match in this year’s tournament, his previous appearance in the IPL having come in 2015.Tewatia began by conceding only four runs in his first over and did even better in the second. First, he tempted Gautam Gambhir into slogging a ball deep mid-wicket’s throat before snaring Robin Uthappa first ball courtesy Axar’s brilliance in the field. After Uthappa swatted a googly uppishly, Axar hared to his right from deep mid-wicket and flung himself to complete the catch.Knight Riders managed only two boundaries between the seventh and 14th overs, with Tewatia conceding one of those in his spell of 4-0-18-2. The seamers eventually got back their mojo and, led by Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma’s cold precision at the death, ensured Kings XI clinched the game by 14 runs to keep their playoff chances alive. Mohit, who was the Man of the Match for his returns of 2 for 24, credited the spinners, especially Tewatia, for establishing a stranglehold in the middle.”The way our spinners bowled in the middle. This was the first match of the season for Rahul Tewatia and he hasn’t played too many other IPL games, overall either. His spell was the turning point,” Mohit said after the match. Axar and Tewatia later revealed to their plan to bowl slower through the air and deprive the batsmen of runs.”During the strategic time-out we had a discussion about how the pitch was playing. So you [Axar] had told me that there was some turn on offer for slower deliveries,” Tewatia said. “To Gambhir, first I bowled some sliders, and then I planned to bowl full-pitched googly. If he went to hit it then there was a chance to get a wicket. You had said that the game can change if we get one wicket.”Axar said he realised that he had to change his pace as the quicker deliveries were skidding on to the bat well: “To Gambhir, he’s always ready to play the cut and I wasn’t giving him any room at the stumps. I think he got frustrated when he didn’t get any runs.”While Kings XI had a decent cushion of 37 runs to defend in the last three overs, the biggest obstacle in their path was Chris Lynn, who eventually finished with 84 off 52 balls. After Matt Henry dismissed Manish Pandey with a slower one off the first ball of the 18th over, Lynn was run-out next ball after attempting a risky second run. Kings XI wrested control of the match thereafter as Mohit and Sandeep conceded only 14 runs off the last two overs.”Dismissing Lynn at any point in the 20 overs is important. The way he bats in T20s, it’s like he’s playing proper baseball,” Mohit said. “He never misses out on a loose ball and whenever a bowler gets his wicket, it is important. After he fell the match turned in our favour because a new batsman can’t hit shots straightaway and needs some time. And there was no time in that situation.”Mohit said it wasn’t that the Kings XI bowlers had bowled badly in the Powerplay, but that Lynn and Sunil Narine had taken them on. “If you see, they played well from the start but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t bowl well or plan properly,” he said. “After the strategic time-out we regrouped to think how Knight Riders would bat with the field spread out and then the spinners came on and bowled well and began turning the match to our side.”The pitch was a bit on the slower side but under lights, it eased out a bit. It wasn’t as dry as expected, compared to the match against Delhi Daredevils, which was a 4pm start. [With] The early start, the pitch plays out completely differently. But it’s not just about the pitch. T20 is a dot-ball game for the bowling side. So we try to bowl as many dot balls to build pressure on the batsmen and try and get wickets.”

Counties delaying the ECB’s plans for a new domestic T20 competition could be penalised according to a new document circulated by the ECB.While the ECB has previously guaranteed counties a minimum payment of £1.3m a year, they have now warned that only those counties which have signed their media rights over to the ECB will be eligible for such a fee. “Each First-class county which has signed the media deed would receive a guaranteed minimum annual sum,” the document states.They have not provided a deadline for the agreement but it could be interpreted as an attempt to ramp up the pressure on counties with reservations over the ECB’s plans ahead of what might well prove to be a pivotal vote.County chief executives and chairmen meet on March 27 when they will discuss a proposed change to the constitution of the ECB. The current constitution states that: “The board shall not have the power to deprive a first-class county club of the right to participate in all first-class county competitions authorised by the ECB.”If the new competition is to be authorised, two-thirds of those first-class counties will have to agree that such wording is changed to allow competitions that do not involve all 18 counties. It is anticipated that the vote will take place in April.It also transpires that county players appearing in the new competition will have to repay some of their salary to their counties. And, while it has previously become apparent that England’s Test players will not be available to appear in the competition, they will be used in the marketing and promotion of the competition.The key points are these:

• Test matches will be played during the window for the new competition. The document says this means: “Test Players are not anticipated to play in the new competition if selected in the relevant Test squads.”
• The intended start date of the new competition is July 24, 2020, with the final scheduled for August 30. The Blast is likely to begin at the end of May.
• The competition will consist of 36 games played in a 38-day window. Every game will be televised and each team will host four games.
• The domestic 50-over competition will continue at the same time despite the absence of the best 96 limited-overs cricketers; an average of five per county. That means, according to the ECB document, that “there is likely to be a requirement to play at out-grounds for counties whose venues are used by new teams.”
• County coaches are to be made available to coach the new teams if their county employers are willing to release them.
• Each of the eight new teams will have a 15-man squad for the new competition. There will be three overseas players per squad.
• Each team is to have a set player budget to be spent in the draft and, at the draft, 13 players will be selected per team. Two players per squad will be deemed “wildcards” and will be selected after the group stages of the T20 Blast (the existing T20 competition contested by all 18 counties). The intention, the ECB states, is “to reward in-form players not originally picked up in the draft and to link the narrative between the Blast and the new competition.”
• There will be six salary bands (A-F, with A the most expensive) with two players selected per team from each band, apart from the lowest band (F) from which three will be selected. Teams will draw lots before each round of the draft to determine who gets first pick. There will be a 24-hour trade period following the draft so teams can swap one or two players from within the same group. Overseas players will be able to pick a salary level at A, B and D grades only.
• It is proposed that teams could retain a maximum of eight players and a minimum of four players into the second year of the competition.
• It is the “the strong recommendation” of the marketing companies involved in the launch of the competition that it features “new team (i.e. non-county based) brands, to drive reappraisal and differentiation from existing cricket.”
• All commercial and ticketing matters will be centrally organised. Revenues will be taken centrally. Venues will be paid a staging fee and be allowed to keep hospitality and catering revenue.
• Venues will be chosen according to their capacity, transport links, catchment area, facilities and relationship with their local authority.
• A new sub-committee of the ECB Board, comprising a chairperson and independent directors bringing specialist skills would oversee the tournament design and implementation. A new central division within the ECB would be formed to run the tournament.

Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel have been chosen to lead the India Blue and India Red teams, respectively, in the Deodhar Trophy scheduled to begin on March 25. Tamil Nadu were the third team in the tournament, having clinched the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday.

Squads

India Blue: Rohit Sharma (capt), Mandeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Harbhajan Singh, Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddarth Kaul, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Pankaj Rao
India Red: Parthiv Patel (captain & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Kedar Jadhav, Ishank Jaggi, Gurkeerat Mann, Axar Patel, Akshay Karnewar, Ashok Dinda, Kulwant Khejroliya, Dhawal Kulkarni, Govinda Poddar

Rohit returned to competitive cricket earlier this month – with scores of 16 and 4 for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy – following a thigh injury that had sidelined him for four months. He had sustained the injury in the series-deciding fifth ODI against New Zealand in October 2016, when he top-scored with 70.The other notable players in the India Blue roster were batsman Shreyas Iyer, offspinner Harbhajan Singh, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and 19-year old wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.Rohit’s long-term opening partner in ODIs, Shikhar Dhawan, was part of the India Red squad, which also featured Kedar Jadhav, who had made 232 runs in three ODIs against England in January, and Manish Pandey, who had also played his last international game in that series-decider against New Zealand.The tournament is set to begin on March 25, with the final scheduled for March 29. All matches will be played in Vizag.

Eoin Morgan has revealed he will return to India after England’s two-match ODI series against Ireland to make himself available to Kings XI Punjab before coming home for good in preparation for this summer’s ICC Champions Trophy.Morgan, the England limited-overs captain, will arrive in England in time for a training session on May 4. Then, having played in the ODIs against Ireland on May 5 and May 7, he will return to India for two more IPL games on May 9 and May 11. He will then report for a training camp with the England squad that starts on May 14. ESPNcricinfo understands that the ECB are also considering allowing Jason Roy and Sam Billings to return to the IPL though no firm decision has yet been made.”I was pleasantly surprised to hear I’d been picked-up in the IPL auction,” Morgan said. “I wasn’t expecting to be picked up so it was good news. The perception of things was that I’d miss a lot of the IPL but in actual fact I only miss four days. I’ll only miss two games out of the 14 which is not very much.”There was, Morgan says, never any thought that he might skip the Ireland ODIs and remain at the IPL. While a few other England players have been allowed to do that, Morgan suggests that he and team director, Andrew Strauss, agreed that it was important the side had the same leadership as often as possible going into the Champions Trophy in June. Having missed the three-match ODI series in Bangladesh last October, Morgan has not had the opportunity to play with the likes of Ben Duckett, who could yet force his way into the squad.”It was a collective decision to come back,” Morgan said. “I think it’s important for me to come back for those two because, while we might not put out a full-strength team, there are players involved who might then play in the Champions Trophy. It’s a good opportunity for me to play with guys who are coming through.”Had Morgan not found a team in the IPL auction, he had been expecting to return to the Middlesex side for the start of the County Championship season, which would be his first red-ball action since July 2015 though he has conceded that the likelihood of being picked for a return to the Test side is slim. Having not played for Middlesex during the Championship-winning campaign of 2016, his availability will create quite a selection dilemma for their team management when he finally returns.”I was preparing to play in the first two first-class games of the summer for Middlesex,” Morgan said. “And potentially there’s an extra one being scheduled against Durham at the weekend and Cambridge again after that. Now I’m looking at playing three Championship games in August.”Yes, I probably could become a white-ball specialist if that’s what I wanted. But it’s not, not at the moment. It might be down the line, but it’s certainly not now. I think Test cricket has gone for me. I don’t think I’ll ever play Test cricket again. But I think it’s important for me to strive to keep working on my game in red-ball cricket, to continue to work on the first 30 balls I face in a white-ball game. Maybe not for T20, but for the 50-over game it is.”While that desire is still there, the idea in my mind that I need to keep working on the red-ball game, I’ll stick with it. And yes, the aim is to captain at the 2019 World Cup. That’s where all the plans are going towards, what we’re working towards as a side. It will be great to be a part of it.”All 14 members of England’s squad will feature across the two warm-up matches against a WICB President’s XI in St Kitts on Saturday and Monday, though each will be played as XI v XI List A games without the use of substitutes. The seam bowlers, in particular, will be rotated so as not to put them under any unnecessary strain.It was the batsmen who suffered on Friday, though. Training on surfaces described as “quite spicy” by Morgan, several batsmen sustained blows to the gloves though no damage was reported.”They’re not the best surfaces we’ve trained on,” Morgan said. “But as long as the guys can bowl and field, I think that’s more important that getting prepared for our batting.”Meanwhile Morgan suggested this ODI series may come a little too soon for Alex Hales as he recovers from a broken bone in his hand. But Morgan remains keen for Hales to join up with the rest of the squad in the next few days.”He will go back and play some county cricket after this,” Morgan explained, “and we want the team together as much as possible.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:41

Moonda: Ideal conditions for debutant Olivier

At least one Sri Lankan enjoyed himself at the Wanderers. The third Test followed a largely predictable path as South Africa went about trying to secure a 3-0 series whitewash by following up a first-innings score of 426 with four top-order wickets before the close of the second day but Nuwan Pradeep’s ferocious four-wicket burst at least gave Sri Lanka something for their tour diary as the Wanderers lived up to its billing as one of the premier arenas for fast bowling.South Africa maintained a grip on the match despite losing their last seven wickets for 88, with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada picking up a brace apiece to take their combined tally in the series to 31 at 15.03. Bad light brought an early close to the evening session, with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal having battled through several overs of insistent probing as the clouds closed in above the ground. Sri Lanka’s hopes of respectability will lie with their two senior batsmen.They needed their top order to show steady heads after Pradeep and his whirling limbs had brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by taking 4 for 1 in 18 balls before lunch but Philander reinforced South African conviction that they had established a match-defining position with his first over with the new ball. Dimuth Karunaratne survived a review for caught behind to his third delivery but made certain of his fate two balls later when some seam movement from Philander’s immaculate line drew a clearly discernible edge to Quinton de Kock.Kaushal Silva and Kusal Mendis survived the odd streaky moment to reach tea but both fell soon after to Rabada. Another thin edge behind did for Silva to end a 47-run stand before Mendis, who struck six fours and a six and also saw the debutant Duanne Olivier put down a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance during a lively knock, was chiselled out by Rabada’s bouncer, a simple catch lobbing off the gloves to gully. In the next over, Dhananjaya de Silva speared a drive point as Sri Lanka subsided to 70 for 4.

SA collapse and Pradeep’s four-fers

• 88-7 South Africa’s score on the second day. They began at 338 for 3 and were all out for 426. They scored those runs at rate of 2.57, compared to 3.75 on the first day

• 6 Number of four-wicket hauls for Nuwan Pradeep, without a five-for. Only Australia’s Wayne Clarke, with seven, has taken more such hauls in Tests.

• 68.54 Percentage of South Africa’s runs that came from the single partnership of Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, 292 out of 426 – the third-highest contribution from a partnership in an all-out innings for South Africa. The highest for them is 70.77%, when Alviro Peterson and Amla made 209 out of a total of 296 at Eden Gardens in 2009-10.

• 33 Wickets taken by Sri Lanka fast bowlers in this series – the second-most for them in any away series. Their highest is 41 wickets in New Zealand in 1990-91.

Success for the home quicks was not unexpected after Pradeep had gambolled in to cause havoc during the morning. South Africa’s position was already bulwarked by the 292-run stand between JP Duminy and Hashim Amla but any hopes they had of batting on at their leisure disappeared amid a clatter of wickets in the second hour.De Kock was the only South Africa batsman to make a notable contribution to the scorecard after the two first-day centurions and he was last man out as the persevering Lahiru Kumara also finished with four wickets. Following a slide of 4 for 14, with Pradeep on the rampage, De Kock’s 34 helped swell the total to still-daunting proportions: only once in home Tests have South Africa lost after making 400 in the first innings.The sight of the ball seaming, swinging and flying through with a hungry cordon awaiting was double-edged for Sri Lanka, foreshadowing as it did another searching examination for their batsmen. The first session was nevertheless one to savour for the tourists, arguably their best during a difficult series, as Pradeep’s interventions caused South Africa to tumble from 364 for 4 to 378 for 8 in a rambunctious 30-minute period of play.South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis – who was hit several times during his stay at the crease – may have spent lunch reflecting with satisfaction on his decision to get runs on the board first. This surface looked like only getting more treacherous to bat on.Even if the odds were stacked against Sri Lanka, after a dispiriting first day in which South Africa made 338 for 3, Suranga Lakmal and Mathews began with just the sort of tight, probing spells needed if they were to wrest the match back their way. Amla and the debutant nightwatchman, Olivier, had added just eight to the total in as many overs, during which ball regularly beat bat, when Mathews finally made an incision, with the aid of DRS. Olivier pushed at a rising ball in the channel and tickled a fine edge to Chandimal.The first hour was a cagey affair, as Amla attempted to retrench himself after marking his 100th Test with a revivifying hundred. Only 26 runs came, Olivier went and it could have been even better for Sri Lanka but for Mendis making an awful hash of taking a thick edge from du Plessis that looped to second slip, only to squirm from his grasp inches above the ground.Lakmal was the unlucky bowler on that occasion and figures of 7-4-9-0 were scant reward for a spell of controlled away swing. Pradeep had no such complaints, however. In humid conditions and with the pitch having seemingly quickened up overnight, he proceeded to rip through South Africa’s middle order.Du Plessis, who had been worked over by several blows to the body, enjoyed a let-off on 1 but was taken at the second time of asking by Mendis when Pradeep had him fending at a back-of-a-length delivery. Two balls later, Temba Bavuma reached for an ill-advised drive only to see Silva snap up a sharp, overhead chance at third slip, extending a poor series for South Africa’s No. 6.There was more to come, too, as Pradeep feasted on the Bullring’s famed pace and bounce. Amla was squared up by a beauty and Chandimal threw himself bodily to his right to cling on one-handed in front of slip; then Philander, having successfully reviewed a caught-behind off Kumara when his glove came off the handle, was removed by an absolute snorter that leapt from a length to take his thumb before settling in Chandimal’s gauntlets once again.De Kock and Wayne Parnell chanced their arm to good effect in adding 46 for the ninth wicket to stave off a complete collapse and take South Africa past 400. Pradeep was denied a maiden Test five-for when Karunaratne, the lone slip, could not hold on to diving chance to his left with Parnell on 21 but he was dismissed in the following over when he carved a square drive off Kumara straight to deep point. De Kock then fell in similar fashion two overs later, slicing a cut with only Rabada for company.