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Darren Sammy’s final-over effort did not pay off as Guyana Amazon Warriors knocked off the eight runs needed to clinch their first win of the season

The Report by Peter Della Penna14-Aug-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRayad Emrit took two wickets off his final over to finish with his best figures for the season•Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty

In a battle of the winless, Guyana Amazon Warriors got off the mark in tense fashion, securing a six-wicket win with a ball to spare courtesy a rounded batting effort chasing a target of 153. They rode their luck, behind thirties from Chadwick Walton, Jason Mohammed and Gajanand Singh. The victory for the 2016 finalists gives them a boost leading into their home-leg beginning Thursday in Providence while Stars remain without a win at the halfway point of their season.Charles in chargeThe Stars had been missing a major top-order contribution through the first nine days of the tournament but Johnson Charles produced a half-century to steer the first half of the innings after Darren Sammy elected to bat. Despite a pair of hiccups in the Powerplay that saw Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels fall cheaply, Charles battered his way to 53 off 32 balls with three fours and four sixes, showcasing some of the ferocity that made him such a valuable asset in the team’s maiden playoff appearance in their final year as the Zouks.Rashid Khan’s interventionThe Afghanistan legspinner had gone wicketless in his first three games for Amazon Warriors but on his return to the venue that saw him claim 7 for 18 against West Indies in June, Rashid Khan reprised a slice of that magic with a sterling 2 for 9, the most economical four-over spell of CPL 2017. Charles fell skying a slog to long-on two balls after the drinks break but Rashid’s next over was a sight to behold.Rashid preyed on Kamran Akmal, whose awful tournament plumbed new depths when he flailed aimlessly after charging down the wicket to be stumped for 2. Standing toe-to-toe with new batsman Sammy, Rashid ripped three balls past the outside edge and would have had a wicket maiden were it not for a googly that pitched outside off before spinning viciously down the leg side for a wide. Sammy gave Rashid a high five at the end of the over as a mark of respect for the testing spell.Emrit takes fourAfter claiming Samuels in the Powerplay, Rayad Emrit returned late to help contain the Stars. Emrit caught a slice of luck when Shane Watson spliced a full toss to Martin Guptill in the circle at cover. Bowling the final over, he conceded sixes to Sammy off the first two balls – part of a 19-run sequence for the Stars captain in four balls.But Emrit bounced back strongly, conceding just three runs off the last four balls while taking two wickets. Sammy misfired a drive to long-on before Rahkeem Cornwall’s attempt to pull Emrit against the wind found Rashid at deep midwicket. The Stars’ power failure across those final four balls proved vital. Emrit ended with 4 for 35.Gajanand’s redemptionAmazon Warriors rode middle gear through much of the chase behind three solid partnerships forged by Walton, Martin Guptill, Babar Azam and Mohammed to carry them to 88 for 3 in the 13th over. But Gajanand’s arrival marked a shift into high gear for the visitors as he cracked an unbeaten 35 off 22 balls, including a 57-run fourth-wicket stand with Mohammed.Even though Amazon Warriors had wickets in hand, Stars began to edge marginally in front with five overs to go as the required run rate crept towards 10 per over. Mohammed and Gajanand decided to make their move in the 16th over. They went after Shane Shillingford, carting him for 17, including a streaky edge to third man and an authoritative pull by Gajanand over long-on for six.Gajanand flicked Kyle Mayers for six over fine leg in the next over, before slapping two fours off Jerome Taylor in the 18th to bring the equation down to 11 off 12 balls. His knock might have erased the bad memory of losing his cool against Carlos Brathwaite in Florida last Sunday.Optimus PrimusAfter Mohammed fell at the end of the 19th over, Sammy took the ball with eight required for victory. Roshon Primus was on strike. Two singles and then a dot-ball against a yorker gave the Stars hope, but Primus tucked into a length ball from Sammy on the fourth delivery to split the two boundary fielders on the leg side for four. Sammy speared one into Primus’ legs next ball, but the allrounder tucked it easily to deep square leg’s left to come back for the second to clinch victory.

An unbroken century opening stand between Billy Godleman and Luis Reece raised Derbyshire’s hopes of a first County Championship victory since July 2015

ECB Reporters Network16-Apr-2017
ScorecardBilly Godleman has responded immediately to Derbyshire’s new regime•Getty Images

An unbroken century opening stand between Billy Godleman and Luis Reece raised Derbyshire’s hopes of a first County Championship victory since July 2015 at the end of the third day of the Division Two match against Northamptonshire at Derby.Reece made an unbeaten 69 on his Derbyshire first-class debut and Godleman 63 not out as Derbyshire closed a day when 44 overs were lost to rain on 142 without loss, a lead of 116.Max Holden had earlier top scored for Northants with 76 to earn the visitors a first innings lead of 26 but their bowlers could not breakthrough and they lost paceman Ben Sanderson with an injury.Derbyshire’s first task was to break the last wicket stand which had given Northants an unlikely lead and Tom Milnes ended Holden’s impressive innings when he beat his attempted drive in the third over with the second new ball.But Holden and Sanderson had added 47 in 10 overs which meant the last two wickets had put on 136 to swing the initiative back to the visitors but Derbyshire fought hard to see off the new ball.It was tough going for Reece and Godleman in conditions which favoured the bowlers but although they were beaten a number of times, they did not offer a chance in 22 overs before lunch although Rory Kleinveldt had a very good lbw shout against the Derbyshire captain turned down.Derbyshire scored only 38 before the interval which reflected the quality of the bowling and the determination of the openers to preserve their wickets with Reece again displaying a sound temperament and good judgement in his second first-class innings for his new county.Northants were handicapped by the loss of Sanderson from the 28th over when he pulled up after bowling a short ball at Reece and limped back to the pavilion but that should not detract from the quality of the opening stand.Reece had shown in the first innings he was prepared to be patient and his application was rewarded when his sixth four took him to 50 shortly before tea.Rain and bad light delayed play until just before 6pm but in the remaining 16 overs, Derbyshire stretched their lead past three figures to give themselves a chance of forcing a win on the final day.

Acting CEO Thabang Moroe said the board would wait for the reports of the ongoing internal investigations before making a decision

Firdose Moonda07-Nov-2017

Cricket South Africa’s board may ask for an independent inquiry into the T20 Global League organisation if reports produced by the two ongoing investigations indicate an outside voice is needed.Last month, CSA announced a “broad-scope” investigation into the processes that led to the postponement of the tournament, but despite the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) and the franchises lobbying for an overall independent examination, CSA opted to keep the matter in-house. Acting CEO Thabang Moroe said they would look beyond the office walls if forced to.”What is happening at the moment is an internal audit process. We’ve got two independent companies that are also looking into our affairs from a governance point of view. As far as the inquiry is concerned, once all these three reports, which are independent, are put in front of the board, the board will have a look at what they say. If the reports point to the board having to hold an independent inquiry, then the board will surely make that decision,” Moroe said, at the launch of the RAM SLAM in Johannesburg.Though Moroe was at pains to point out that the companies involved – an auditing firm and a law firm – are independent, CSA retains the oversight role and it is the board who will decide what course of action to take when the investigations are concluded. Conversely, if the investigation was conducted entirely independently, there would be an appointed person, likely a retired judge, who would oversee the inquiry, study the reports and then make recommendations.SACA and the franchises are two important stakeholders who have put pressure on CSA to have an independent investigation and with growing mistrust of the organisation, Moroe attempted to provide an assurance that the board would follow-suit.”The board obviously has to make the right decision in order to give confidence, not only to you guys as the media but to the entire cricketing community,” Moroe said.Reports from the current investigations are expected by mid-November or, “at the very latest, we are looking at the end of November,” Moroe said. He has been receiving weekly reports on the progress of the inquiry.

Essex are well beaten but both sides fail to make the last eight

ECB Reporters Network18-Aug-2017Sussex Sharks won their final group game in the NatWest T20 Blast when they beat Essex Eagles by 55 runs at Hove on Friday. But their convincing victory was still not enough to see them through to the quarter-finals of the competition as they were edged out of the tournament on Net Run Rate.Chris Nash’s 73 gave Sussex the edge as he batted with Luke Wright as a runner towards the end of his innings after pulling up in pain following a quick single.Chris Nash batted with a runner but his efforts were in vain•Getty Images

Essex never looked likely to get close to a target of 173 on the thrilling last night of the competition’s group stages.Unlike Sussex earlier in the evening, their Essex innings got off to an awful start. Varun Chopra was out in the first over when he hit Danny Briggs to deep midwicket. And the wickets continued to fall.Dan Lawrence was caught in the covers when he got a think edge to one from David Wiese and the bowler struck again in the same over when Ravi Bopara was well caught behind buy the diving Ben Brown to make it 33 for 3 in the fourth over.It was 45 for 4 when James Foster was caught behind and Essex were in deep trouble at 49 for 5 in the eighth over when Will Beer had Ashar Zaidi caught at deep square-leg. Everything now depended on Ryan ten Doeschate. But when he hit Beer high in the direction of cow corner Chris Jordan took an excellent running catch. After that even some late clouting from Paul Walter and Simon Harmer could not get the Eagles close.When Sussex batted Chris Nash was once again their star, with an innings of 73 off 55 deliveries. It was his sixth half-century in the competition this year as he continued to turn around his disappointing early season form.There were seven fours and two sixes in his innings which ended unluckily in the penultimate over when, playing a ramp shot off Mohammad Amir, he flicked a bail off his stumps with the stroke.Nash and Luke Wright put on 84 for the first wicket before Wright, attempting a straight six, was caught just inside the boundary by Ryan ten Doeschate for a 23-ball 37 in the ninth over.The Sussex innings stumbled as they lost three wickets while scoring 18 runs off four overs. Sussex were without skipper Ross Taylor, who had returned home to New Zealand for family reasons. But Nash finally found the support he needed in Laurie Evans, who hit an astonishing six over midwicket off Jamie Porter on his way to 47 off 34 deliveries.

قدم مدرب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي مانشستر سيتي، بيب جوارديولا، آخر التحديثات الخاصة بفريقه قبل مواجهة إيفرتون في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

ويلاقي مانشستر سيتي خصمه إيفرتون، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثامنة عشر من منافسات الدوري الإنجليزي، الخميس، على ملعب “الاتحاد”.

ويحتل مانشستر سيتي المركز السابع في ترتيب الدوري الإنجليزي برصيد 27 نقطة، بينما يأتي إيفرتون في المركز الخامس عشر برصيد 16 نقطة.

اقرأ ايضاً.. تعويضاً لإصابة ساكا.. آرسنال يقترب من ضم هدف ليفربول في الميركاتو الشتوي

وقال بيب جوارديولا في المؤتمر الصحفي قبل المباراة: “الأمر يتعلق بنا للعودة إلى أفضل مستوياتنا، سيستغرق ذلك بعض الوقت، لكن علينا تحقيق النتائج في أسرع وقت ممكن. نواجه إيفرتون وهم في لحظة جيدة ونتائجهم وأداؤهم يثبتان ذلك”.

وسخر جوارديولا من أسئلة أحد الصحفيين حينما قال أنه تفوق على شون دايتش في جميع المباريات ويعتبره خصما مثاليا، أجاب المدرب الإسباني: “أنت لطيف للغاية، في هذا الوضع لا يوجد خصم مثالي”.

وعن هالاند أوضح بيب قائلاً: “الأمر يتعلق بنا جميعًا وليس فقط بلاعب واحد. عندما كان إيرلينج يسجل الكثير من الأهداف كان الأمر يتعلق بنا كفريق. هالاند مهم جدًا لنا وسيظل كذلك ونحتاج إلى استخدامه بطريقة أفضل”.

وأكد المدرب الإسباني حول نقطة ضعف مانشستر سيتي: “اللاعبون يركضون أكثر من أي وقت مضى لكن العديد من التفاصيل الصغيرة والكبيرة تجعلنا لسنا كما كنا سابقًا، ومع ذلك لدينا فرصة أخرى في المباراة المقبلة”.

وحول جاهزية ستونز وباقي المصابين، أفاد: “ستونز ربما لا يكون جاهزًا للمباراة. وبخصوص بقية الفريق، حاليًا لا أعرف، سنجري التدريبات بعد الظهر وسنعرف كم عدد اللاعبين المتاحين لدينا”.

وأنهى حديثه قائلاً: “لدينا لاعبون سيعودون في وقت معين وسنكون أفضل بمجرد جاهزيتهم”.

Faf du Plessis has declared himself as having a “60-40” chance of playing the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe after picking up a viral infection in the week leading up to the game

Firdose Moonda25-Dec-2017

Faf du Plessis has declared himself as having a “60-40″ chance of playing the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe after picking up a viral infection in the week leading up to the game. Du Plessis had been out of action since late October, when he sustained a back injury against Bangladesh, and took no part in the recently completed domestic T20 competition. Instead, he used the time to undergo surgery on a troublesome shoulder and though he was 80% ready to play last week, his chances have diminished because of illness.”Last week I was 80-20 for playing, probably now 60-40,” du Plessis said on Christmas Eve. “My progress was really good over the last two weeks but I picked up a virus last week which has slowed me down a little bit. Right now, where we stand, trying to get to practice and see how it feels. I practised on Saturday and there was still a bit of pain in the back and when the professionals say there is pain in the disc, there is still a bit of risk.”A final call will be taken on du Plessis’ availability on the day of the Test, and if he is passed fit he is certain he will be ready despite two months on the sidelines. “I have been feeling really good in the nets,” du Plessis said. “I’ve had some time when the guys were playing Ram Slam. I was working with Neil Mckenzie (former batting coach) in Cape Town and faced Dale [Steyn], also trying to see where he was at. It was a great opportunity for me to work with him. I felt very good in the nets. I’d rather feel good and play no cricket than play cricket and not feel good.”Steyn is the other player South Africa are not wanting to rush back into the starting XI, primarily because they are mindful of managing bowlers’ workloads over the next three months. Steyn has not played international cricket in more than a year while recovering from shoulder surgery and has had numerous setbacks on his way to complete recovery. He bowled 12 over for the CSA Invitation XI in Zimbabwe’s warm-up game last week and came through well but unless South Africa are sure he is ready for the rigours of Test cricket, they may save him for later in the season.”With Dale, in terms of the amount of overs he has bowled leading up to the first Test, it’s important to assess how ready he is to bowl at full intensity which is where we want him to be,” du Plessis said. “You want a Dale at 100% ready to go when he plays. If we feel that he is there, we will make a decision. If we feel he isn’t quite where he needs to be from a Test-match-intensity point of view, there is still enough time to get him ready before that first Test against India.”While the January Tests against India are on South Africa’s mind and du Plessis admitted to “already thinking [about the] balance of the team, trying to think of combinations that would be best suited to beat India”, the Zimbabwe match is not being downplayed, especially as it serves as something of a warm-up.South Africa last played a Test in early October against Bangladesh and last played genuinely competitive Test cricket in July-August in England so finding rhythm is crucial ahead of bigger challenges. “We have an opportunity to play against Zimbabwe, whether it’s pink or red [ball], just to get some Test cricket in again. It’s going to be a nice challenge to get ourselves running again because we’ve got a jam-packed season coming up, India and Australia,” du Plessis said. “This will be a nice Test for us to get back into the swing of things.”The novelty of the pink ball has somewhat waned for South Africa – they faced it in Adelaide last year and concluded that though the idea of a day-night Test sounds totally different to a regular match, most of the match is actually played in the day – but the shortened four-day format is new. For du Plessis, an innovative, experimental captain, it provides another occasion to try something funky. “There’s even more room for the unknown and thinking out of the box and making sure you can outsmart and out-think the opposition, so definitely if there is an opportunity to do that, we’ll do it.”

Left-arm medium-pacer Tangeni Lungameni’s List A career-best 3 for 6 helped dismiss Kenya for 83, but heavy rain just five overs into the host’s chase, forced an end to play with no result

The report by Peter Della Penna in Windhoek10-Feb-2018Match abandoned
Peter Della Penna

Left-arm medium-pacer Tangeni Lungameni’s List A career-best 3 for 6 propelled Namibia’s bowling attack to wipe out Kenya for 83 at United Cricket Club Ground, but heavy rain just five overs into the host’s chase forced an end to play with no result. According to tournament rules, the match is now set to be replayed from scratch on the next tournament reserve day on Tuesday.The match had originally been scheduled for Friday but never got started due to damp bowler’s run-ups forcing tournament officials to push the match back into Saturday’s reserve day. Though the outfield dried up by Saturday morning, sweat from the pitch covers resulted in a slightly damp pitch that caused a 90-minute delay and a reduction to 45 overs.After losing a crucial toss and being sent in, Kenya struggled throughout the Powerplay to survive the generous movement on offer. Craig Williams finally made the first breakthrough three balls into his first-change spell in the ninth over, getting Alex Obanda to loft a drive to long-off.Lungameni replaced Smit at the opposite end for the 10th over and had Irfan Karim edging into the slips for his first wicket. Across his next four overs, Lungameni conceded just one run. Dhiren Gondaria drove to mid-on for Lungameni’s second wicket before Collins Obuya’s painstaking innings of 2 in 27 balls ended when he charged in frustration only to drive a bullet straight to Gerhard Erasmus at short extra cover.Captain Sarel Burger continued to set attacking fields, with no less than two men catching behind the wicket throughout the innings to the medium-pacers, as the final four men out were caught behind the wicket. After bowling out Kenya in 38.5 overs, Namibia had just under a half-hour to bat before lunch but thunder began to rumble across the field as the opening pair of Stephan Baard and Lohan Louwrens took the field. A steady drizzle came down throughout their short chase before it worsened into a downpour, robbing Namibia a golden chance of two points and a much-needed net run rate boost.

Only Claude Henderson, the spin bowling consultant and Greg King, the fitness trainer have been retained from Russell Domingo’s technical team while Prasanna Agoram remains in place as the analyst

Firdose Moonda16-Nov-2017

Warriors’ coach Malibongwe Maketa has been appointed Ottis Gibson’s assistant, pipping Lions’ coach Geoffrey Toyana to the post in a shake-up of South Africa’s support staff. Former Natal and Durham batsman Dale Benkenstein will take over as batting coach from Neil McKenzie while Justin Ontong, the Cobras’ senior statesman, has been appointed fielding coach.Only Claude Henderson, the spin bowling consultant and Greg King, the fitness trainer have been retained from Russell Domingo’s technical team while Prasanna Agoram remains in place as the analyst. Physiotherapist Brandon Jackson has been replaced by Craig Govender. Team manager and doctor Mohammed Moosajee’s contract has been extended until April 2018 – the end of the South African summer – after which CSA’s board will appoint two successors, one in a managerial role and one in a medical role. That will increase the number of backroom staff to 12, from its current 11.Full list of staff appointments

Coach – Ottis Gibson
Assistant Coach – Malibongwe Maketa
Batting Coach – Dale Benkenstein
Fielding coach – Justin Ontong
Physiotherapist – Craig Govender
Fitness Trainer – Greg King
Spin Bowling Coach – Claude Henderson
Logistics Officer – Volvo Masubelele
Media Manager – Lerato Malekutu
Security Liaison Officer – Zunaid Wadee
Technical Analyst – Prasanna Agoram

Gibson, who was appointed in September, worked with Domingo’s support staff for his first assignment, a home series against Bangladesh. On its successful completion, Gibson said he had spoken to CSA about his choices for a backroom staff and had given them a list of name, “some from overseas, some local,” and would wait on the board to make the appointments. Who he had nominated from abroad is not known but only local candidates have made the cut, in what appears to be an exercise in cost-cutting.While Gibson had previously said he would perform the bowling coach duties himself, meaning one fewer member of his support staff, the batting coach Benkenstein is going to be shared with a local school. Benkenstein, who left Hampshire in July last year to return home for family reasons, has been working at Hilton College, a prestigious school in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands and will continue there while also working with the national team. CSA have made an agreement with the school that Benkenstein will accompany the national team on tours and will be around the camp when they play home matches but will also work for Hilton College.Maketa, the new assistant and Ontong, both come from within the current system and would not have been as expensive to hire as a foreigner. CSA’s financial position has been weakened following the postponement of the T20 Global League, on which they had spent millions organising, marketing and on upgrading stadiums, and their situation may worsen once a player-payout has been agreed. The South African Cricketers’ Association and CSA will undergo mediation to determine how to resolve the contractual fallout from the T20 Global League.In the meanwhile, attention will turn to Gibson’s sidekicks.Maketa has been with the Warriors since February 2015. He took over mid-season when Piet Botha stepped down and though he has not won any trophies, Maketa has had to work without many national players in his ranks and at a franchise without a sponsor. He has led the Warriors to two limited-overs finals – the one-day and twenty-over tournament last season – and has also worked with the national academy and the South African A side. Maketa was preferred over Toyana, who has won four trophies in five seasons with the Lions and was thought to be the favourite for the head coach’s role, will remain with the Warriors for the current Ram Slam before linking up with Gibson. It is not yet known who will succeed Maketa at the Warriors.Ontong will have a similar time-frame. He is still an active player for the Cobras and played in all five of their first-class fixtures this summer (and scored a century and three fifties) but a CSA spokesperson said he “will have to,” retire in order to take up his coaching duties.This will be his first coaching role and he will become South Africa’s first fielding coach since Rob Walter left the post after the Champions Trophy in 2013. Though South Africa have a reputation as a top-fielding side, standards have slipped on occasion in the recent past and it must have been something Gibson noted when compiling his staff.”My first six weeks as head coach gave me a good indication of the areas and resources needed for me to take the team forward,” Gibson said. “I’m confident with the coaching support staff we have put together and believe we share the same vision and understanding required to achieve success in our environment.”The coaches are experienced experts in their respective fields and will add value and energy to an already high-performing environment. The Proteas have a well-run and professional setup and I have no doubt that these additions will further enhance that element during my tenure.”South Africa’s players are currently engaged in the Ram Slam domestic tournament, which will run until December 16. Ten days later, they will begin the first of eight home Tests, a four-day, day-night fixture against Zimbabwe. South Africa host India for three Tests, six ODIs and three T20s and Australia for four Tests in March in their busiest home season to date.

Vernon Philander has recovered from a slight ankle impingement and is expected to take his usual place in South Africa’s Test squad, which departs for New Zealand in the weekend

Firdose Moonda23-Feb-2017

Vernon Philander has recovered from a slight ankle impingement and is expected to take his usual place in South Africa’s Test squad, which departs for New Zealand in the weekend. Philander struggled with the niggle in the aftermath of South Africa’s home series against Sri Lanka, and did not play any cricket for over a month. But he returned to play a List A game for his franchise, Cobras, on Wednesday and will turn out for them again on Friday before leaving.Philander bowled eight overs against Warriors in East London and finished as the most economical bowler in his team’s 57-run win. He claimed 1 for 38, with Simon Harmer his victim. Philander will play Friday’s match against Titans, where another pacer, Morne Morkel, will be hopeful of staking a claim for a national comeback.Morkel has not played for South Africa since June last year and has been battling a back injury that he has revealed was considered career-ending. Morkel suffered from a bulging spinal disc during the CPL, and has only been able to take small steps towards bowling in the last eight months. He travelled with South Africa’s Test squad to Australia and played three warm-up matches. But he was not risked for the internationals and was primed for a comeback during the one-dayers against Sri Lanka, although he did not regain fitness in time. He has since played one List A game, where he gave away 53 runs in eight overs and went wicketless, and now has to hope it is enough for a recall.South Africa would welcome Morkel’s experience in a pace pack that has lost Kyle Abbott to a Kolpak deal, but may also be wary of having him break down mid-tour. If Morkel does not make the Test cut, he will likely continue to play in the domestic one-day cup in a bid for a spot in the Champions Trophy squad, where South Africa are still searching for a new-ball partner for Kagiso Rabada.Without Morkel, South Africa will seek to add a bowler, most likely an allrounder to back up their Test pace attack that will include Philander, Rabada and Duanne Olivier, who made his debut last month. Olivier should edge ahead of Wayne Parnell in the playing XI. Parnell could well be the reserve bowler, although Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius, who are currently with the ODI squad in New Zealand, are also making strong cases for inclusion.South Africa’s batting line-up is settled despite the absence of AB de Villiers, who has mostly made himself unavailable for Test cricket for the rest of 2017. Dean Elgar, Stephen Cook, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Temba Bavuma make up the top six, with Quinton de Kock, the wicket-keeper batsman, at No.7.Knights captain Theunis de Bruyn, who finished third on the first-class rankings, and was the reserve batsman for the Sri Lanka series, is expected to travel in that capacity again. Interestingly, South Africa are also likely to take a reserve glovesman as back-up for de Kock. Although Rudi Second, who finished sixth on the first-class run-charts, was considered the favourite, Titans’ Heinrich Klaasen, who was seventh, is thought to be in line for a maiden call-up.

Kolkata Knight Riders have taken on New Zealand allrounder Colin de Grandhomme, who has a strike-rate of 171 from 91 innings in all T20 cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-20174:33

‘Very happy with the players we’ve got’ – Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders have bought New Zealand allrounder Colin de Grandhomme as a replacement for Andre Russell, who is currently serving out a one-year ban for a doping-code violation.De Grandhomme, a medium-pace bowler and a lower-order batsman, made his debut for New Zealand in February 2012. In seamer-friendly conditions, he is capable of generating enough lateral movement to trouble the batsman despite his leisurely pace of 120 kph. He took 6 for 41 in his first Test against Pakistan in November last year. Making him a value addition is his batting strike-rate in all T20 cricket – a whopping 171 after 91 innings.Considering a relaid Eden Gardens pitch afforded surprising assistance to the fast bowlers in its first international match, Knight Riders appear to be stocking up on pace bowling options. They already have Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile, both known for generating swing and seam.Despite the reinforcement, Knight Riders would feel Russell’s absence. He was an important part of their title-winning run in 2014 and was Man of the Tournament in 2015.”We are not on the back foot,” the allrounder Yusuf Pathan said. “Russell was an important cog in our wheel not only on-field, but in the dressing room also. He is a great character to have. There are situations when players miss out. He will be missed in the dressing room. But we have to look ahead and work with what we have.”Captain Gautam Gambhir echoed similar sentiments. “Either we can see Russell’s absence as a challenge or look at it as an opportunity in bold letters,” he told . “I as an individual, and KKR as a group, are looking it as an opportunity.”Knight Riders begin their IPL campaign on April 7 against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot