All posts by csb10.top

Mike Brearley has warned of “a looming potential crisis” in international cricket as it struggles to compete with the growth of T20 leagues.Brearley, in his final meeting as chairman of the MCC World Cricket Committee, warned that players “from countries lacking the funds to pay their top players well” will see those players “choose these domestic tournaments ahead of making themselves available for their countries.”Suggesting the absence of AB de Villiers from the South Africa side for the Test series against England was a “wake-up call” for international cricket and that it “symbolizes the problems and tensions facing it,” Brearley stated the game “could soon reach a point of no return” and led calls for a “rethinking of the distribution model in international cricket.”The committee also urged the ICC to build on their “conceptual plans” for a Test Match Championship and suggested the possibility of a window for Test cricket in which no other formats would be authorised as a partial solution.The game is facing “if not a crisis, a looming potential crisis”, Brearley said. “And this crisis needs to be noticed and taken seriously.”For international cricket to flourish, competitive levels need to be close and teams need to be able to field their best players. The committee is worried that with the spread of privately owned T20 leagues and the rapid increase in remuneration, more players from counties lacking the funds to pay their top players well will choose these domestic tournaments ahead of making themselves available for their countries”The more this happens, the greater the threat to international cricket, not only to Test cricket, but also to ODI and T20s.”The committee is aware of the gradual encroachment of domestic T20 leagues into cricket’s schedule and the threat this poses to Test cricket. Whereas a few years ago ICC was willing to accept a window for the IPL, now the question is: do we need windows for Test cricket?”Brendon McCullum, who also sits on the committee, agreed the absence of de Villiers was “another red-flag moment” for Test cricket and warned of a “tipping point” for the game as a whole.”I don’t see T20 leagues as the devil, by any stretch,” McCullum said. “But it’s how we continue to make sure Test cricket continues as an important game at the same time. That’s where there’s probably a tipping point: what’s more important? These leagues or the international game?”The actual health of the game is outstanding but the perception in some parts of the world is that the entertainment of Test cricket is diminishing. So we’re trying to ensure there is context to every Test and we feel the Test Championship would bring that in and we encourage the ICC to continue to bring this to the table.”While the MCC World Cricket committee has no direct power, it does have influence. It has, over recent years, argued for a revision of the sport’s Laws which have largely been incorporated into the ICC Playing Regulations, while it has also argued with some success for a limit to bat sizes and an adaption of the DRS protocol.It is now urging the ICC to press on with plans to introduce a World Test League with a Championship Final every two years. While plans for such a tournament have been mooted for several years, the ICC has, to date, been able to realise them.”What we are trying to encourage the ICC to do is actually follow through this plan,” John Stephenson, the MCC Head of Cricket, said. “We’ve seen a couple of false starts with this. In 2013 there was supposed to be a World Test Championship and this year there was supposed to be one as well. We are hoping that in 2020/21, we’ll see this come to fruition.”Brendon McCullum called the absence of AB de Villiers from the series against England ‘another red-flag moment” for Test cricket’•Getty Images

“The hope is games have more context,” Brearley said. “We think this would encourage interest among players, spectators and broadcasters.”The committee concluded that “there must be efforts to reduce the earnings gap between playing Test cricket and gaining T20 contracts and between the earnings of Test cricketers in different countries.””The committee believes that the current distribution model will, in unchanged, see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer,” the statement read.”What the committee suggests may prove to be too idealistic. We are asking the richer countries to give up some funding in the long-term interest of cricket as a whole.”The Committee also renewed its calls for the inclusion of cricket in the Olympic Games and voiced their support for the ICC’s recommendation that national governing bodies should be able to experiment with trials to allow a fully participating replacement following a concussion injury without jeopardising first-class status.

ScorecardDurham’s hopes of escape rest largely on Paul Collingwood•Getty Images

Sussex consider themselves a Division One county temporarily marooned in Division Two. Yet memories of the glories of the mid-2000s, and their three titles in five years, are receding. The £10 million bequeathed by Spen Cama in 2001 has almost been exhausted, even if the improvements to the ground will ensure a lasting legacy. While finishing fourth in Division Two last season, and losing their opening two Championship games in 2017, Sussex’s cricket has borne less resemblance to their triumphs earlier this century than the barren times that came before.But to be at Hove in the last few days has been to be transported back to the age of all conquering Sussex-by-the-sea, the image undermined only by the sea mist that wafted across the ground on the third afternoon. Until the sepulchral skies compelled Sussex to bowl spin in the last portion of the day, their performance had been utterly ruthless.First, there were the runs: so greedy that they felt almost sadistic, more in the spirit of Steve Waugh’s Australia than the old caricature of jovial Sussex. With an overnight lead of 165, Sussex more than doubled it in spite of losing two early wickets.Michael Burgess, playing on trial during Ben Brown’s injury, was resourceful and energetic in his 76, seldom playing in the batsman’s V but placing the ball astutely and scampering between the wickets. Admirably as he played, altogether more memorable was the contribution of another 22-year-old, Jofra Archer.Archer’s reward for 153 runs in Sussex’s first two Championship games, second only to the absent Brown, was a double demotion down to No. 10. If he was affronted by the decision – and Archer doesn’t give the impression of being bothered by much – his ire was reserved for Durham’s attack.Arriving at the crease at 566 for 8 was not a situation that called for restraint, and Archer did not show it. In a little over an hour, he struck five sixes – all against spin, and all into the leg side – that gave notice of his power. Yet it was Archer’s other shots, most notably a dreamy leg-side flick off Paul Coughlin, taking a stride forward to clatter the ball through midwicket, that gave notice of the full scope of his batting talent. Regardless of his position this game, Archer is much more than a big-hitting tailender: if he is not a genuine allrounder, the sort not remotely flattered by batting at No. 7, just yet, he surely soon will be.When Archer was caught attempting his sixth six, it was the prelude to him bowling again, a sight that Durham can have enjoyed scarcely more than his batting. His early burst did not bring wickets, but it brought almost everything else: venomous bouncers, which whizzed through at head height, persistent away swing, and nous. Archer set up Cameron Steel, Durham’s No. 3, with a series of deliveries that moved away; only an inside edge saved Steel when Archer brought the ball back in.It mattered not. Vernon Philander, wicketless in his opening game for Sussex and then injured, bowled with the zest expected of a man ranked the world’s 11th best Test bowler, which has not always been true during his stints in county cricket. He needed only a single delivery to win his tussle with compatriot Stephen Cook, who was squared up by a ball that curved awa. Four overs later, Keaton Jennings’ off stump was dislodged by a delivery that went through his gate.When Philander was replaced, it brought Durham no relief. Now it was Chris Jordan’s chance to move the ball both ways down the slope, doing so with vim. Outswing accounted for Steel, brilliantly snaffled by Chris Nash at second slip, who had shelled two far simpler chances off Jordan in the first innings; Graham Clark was then lbw, cut open by a ball that angled in.If Sussex like to imagine their stop in Division Two is only fleeting, the same is emphatically true of Durham, only in Division Two because of administrative failings rather than performance on the pitch.But, on this evidence, even promotion in 2018 may prove onerous. At Hove, Durham have had the look of a patched-up side, betraying the impact of being ravaged by departures, England commitments and ill-fortune, compounded by a mid-match injury to Graham Onions.The qualities of their opening batsmen and bowlers are without question, notwithstanding Cook’s underwhelming start; so is the spirit, embodied in an excellent fielding performance impervious to Durham’s bleak position in the game. Whether, besides Paul Collingwood, three days short of his 41st birthday, there is enough high-calibre support is altogether more doubtful.Redoubtable as ever, Collingwood and Ryan Pringle withstood over 200 balls together unbroken, though the spin they faced was altogether less threatening than Sussex’s pace attack, with which they will be reacquainted in the morning. On hopes of Collingwood reprising the adhesiveness of England days past lie Durham’s slim chances of leaving England’s southernmost ground without a second Championship defeat of 2017.

Match facts

Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils
Mohali, April 30, 2017
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Head-to-head

This season: Delhi Daredevils handed Kings XI Punjab a 51-run drubbing in their first home game at Feroz Shah Kotla.Overall: In 19 games between these two teams, Kings XI have won 10 times. There are some caveats, however. Kings XI have lost to Daredevils four times in their last five matches but, in Mohali, they have lost only once in four games.

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab (sixth) : lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 26 runs, defeated Gujarat Lions by 26 runs, lost to Mumbai Indians by eight wickets
Delhi Daredevils (eighth): lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets, lost to Mumbai Indians by 14 runs, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 15 runs

In the news

Hashim Amla, who missed Kings XI’s last game with a hamstring injury, attended an optional training on Saturday and has “a chance to play on Sunday”, according to team-mate Shaun Marsh.Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan had to leave the field on Friday, clutching his hamstring, but at the post-match presentation, he said it didn’t “look that bad”.Marlon Samuels, Daredevils’ replacement for Quinton de Kock, has landed in the country but is yet to join the squad.West Indies allrounder Darren Sammy, who missed the first three weeks of this IPL due to injury, has joined the Kings XI squad and “is ready to play” the IPL again, having gone unsold at the auction last season.

The likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Martin Guptill/Hashim Amla, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Manan Vohra, 5 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Matt Henry 8 KC Cariappa, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 T Natarajan/ Ishant SharmaDelhi Daredevils: 1 Sanju Samson, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Chris Morris, 6 Corey Anderson/ Carlos Brathwaite 7 Ankit Bawne, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Zaheer Khan (capt), 11 Amit Mishra

Strategy punt

Kings XI could include New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry instead of Eoin Morgan or David Miller to beef up their bowling attack which has only taken 36 wickets in their eight games.Glenn Maxwell has made 55 runs in 29 balls against Amit Mishra, but the legspinner has dismissed him more than any other bowler in the IPL – four times. Expect this rivalry to take center stage early.

Stats that matter

• Kings XI have registered the worst economy rate – 11.43 – among all teams in the last five overs this season. Daredevils, on the contrary, have been the most economical at the death, having conceded at 8.15 runs per over.
• Daredevils’ inexperienced batting line-up have not been able to handle the pressure of a chase, losing all of their three matches batting second. Their classy fast bowlers are capable of handling pressure better; both their wins in the tournament have come while defending totals.
• Shaun Marsh has scored only 41 runs off the 36 balls he has faced from Zaheer Khan and has been dismissed twice by the Daredevils captain.
• Marlon Samuels, who has played only ten innings in the IPL till date – the last of them in 2013 for the defunct Pune Warriors franchise – has a highest score of 46. In the Pakistan Super League, he scored 81 runs in five innings at a strike-rate of 121, but did better in the Bangladesh Premier League, scoring 334 in eight innings at an average of 66.80.
• All the three Kings XI bowlers who have bowled three or more overs in the last five – Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel – have leaked runs at 10 or more per over. Their combined returns: 6 for 250 off the 21.3 overs they sent down.
• Pace has been the preferred weapon of choice in Mohali, yielding 358 wickets at an average of 26.29. Spin, on the other hand, has accounted for 139 wickets at an average of 30.80. In the first IPL match at the PCA Stadium this season, fast bowlers scalped nine wickets while spinners bagged three.

Andre Russell, the West Indies allrounder, faces the prospect of having his anti-doping ban extended to two years after the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) launched an appeal over the original sanction.In January, Russell was handed a one-year ban for breaking anti-doping whereabouts regulations three times in a 12-month period which, under the code, classed as a failed test.Russell’s lawyer confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the appeal will be heard with JADCO seeking the maximum two-year penalty. Currently his ban runs until January 30, 2018.When the one-year ban was handed down, JADCO found that Russell had failed to adhere to whereabouts requirements on January 1, July 1 and July 25, 2015. His defence was that because of his cricket commitments he had left it in the hands of his agent to complete the required paperwork but the JADCO legal counsel accused him of “gross negligence”.

Shubham Rohilla’s maiden List-A century, a 136-ball 118, set the base for Haryana‘s 53-run win over Assam in Delhi. Rohilla and his opening partner, Nitin Saini, led a strong batting performance with a 132-run partnership for the first wicket. Saini was dismissed for an 84-ball 54, after which rapid knocks from Chaitanya Bishnoi (42 off 37 balls), Shivam Chauhan (47 off 24 balls) and Rahul Tewatia (35 not out off 13 balls) took the side past 300. Chauhan and Tewatia added 41 runs for the fourth wicket off only 15 balls, after Rohilla had been dismissed, having struck 12 fours and a six in his innings.Assam struggled from the start in their chase, with few batsmen going on to convert their starts. The two who did so were captain Arun Karthik (60 off 63 balls) and No. 10 Pritam Das (65 not out off 43 balls). Das’ 77-run partnership for the tenth wicket with Arup Das was the best in Assam’s innings and whittled down the margin of defeat after they had been 176 for 9 in the 37th over.Fifties from Baroda opener Aditya Waghmode (92 off 82 balls) and Deepak Hooda (78 not out off 63 deliveries) steered the side to a five-wicket win over Odisha, as they chased down 282 with 22 balls to spare.Waghmode steered the chase early on, adding half-century stands for the first and second wickets with Kedar Devdhar and Krunal Pandya. Once Waghmode was dismissed, Hooda and Yusuf Pathan (38) gradually shut Odisha out of the game with a steady 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Hooda’s unbeaten knock included six fours and four sixes. Odisha’s 281 for 7 was built on a half-century from Govinda Poddar (77 off 86 balls), while Anurag Sarangi (37), Subhranshu Senapati (35) and Abhishek Yadav (40) also chipped in. Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh was the best bowler for Baroda with returns of 3 for 58.An unbeaten 69 from Gurkeerat Singh and a quickfire 46* off 24 balls from Manpreet Gony helped Punjab to a slim three-wicket win against Railways in Delhi. Punjab were struggling at 167 for 7 while chasing 247 before Gurkeerat and Gony joined forces in the 42nd over. They hammered 80 runs in only 47 balls to take Punjab home in the last over. The win was also highlighted by Yuvraj Singh’s run-a-ball 66 after Railways had removed the Punjab top order within 20 overs.Earlier, Railways came close to scoring 250 led by a half-century from captain Arindam Ghosh (83). Their biggest partnership was of 91 between Pratham Singh (41 off 100) and Ghosh for the third wicket, but regular wickets thereafter meant Railways could not put up a massive score to challenge the Punjab line-up.

A miserly spell of 3 for 6 in four overs from legspinner Shubham Agarwal helped Chhattisgarh eke out a six-run victory over Railways in Jaipur. Chhattisgarh have now won two matches out of four and sit in third place in the Central Zone group table. Railways were 93 for 3 in the 14th over after being set 127 to win, but could manage only 27 for 5 from the last 6.1 overs after Shubham removed set batsman Hemant Singh (24 off 31).Part-time offspinners Ashutosh Singh, who removed Mahesh Rawat for 27 off 21, and Sahil Gupta, who dismissed Karn Sharma, also played their parts. The duo conceded only three runs and took a wicket each from their respective solitary overs. Earlier, Shubham had top-scored for Chhattisgarh, scoring 36 off 32 balls after Amandeep Khare (31 off 19) – the only other batsman to go past 30 in the match – had been dismissed in the sixth over. Medium-pacer Amit Mishra took 3 for 16 as Railways restricted their opponents to 126.File photo – Piyush Chawla took 3 for 37 but couldn’t rescue his team with the bat as they folded for 135 in their chase•BCCI

Chandrakant Sakure picked up the wickets of Piyush Chawla (24 off 18) and Praveen Kumar (20 off 14) on debut as Madhya Pradesh defended 161 against Uttar Pradesh to remain unbeaten after three matches in the Inter-State T20 tournament. UP, who were bowled out for 58 against Railways on Thursday, slumped to 60 for 6 in 11.1 overs. Chawla and Kumar added 44 off 30 deliveries to keep UP alive before Sakure’s strike off successive deliveries proved to be decisive.Eklavya Dwivedi (33) was the only other batsman to come up with a contribution of note. Earlier in the game, MP overcame a batting wobble of their own to post 161 for 9.They were 69 for 4 when Naman Ojha was dismissed for 37. Sohraab Dhaliwal struck four fours and four sixes in his 25-ball 51 to give the innings momentum. Ankit Rajpoot was the pick of UP’s bowlers, with figures of 4 for 29. The loss was UP’s third in four matches.

India batsman M Vijay has been named in Tamil Nadu’s squad for their remaining matches in the south zone leg of the inter-state T20 tournament. This will mark Vijay’s return to competitive cricket after spending more than a month on the sidelines with a shoulder injury he sustained during India’s final Test against England in Chennai.His first match is expected to be against Goa at the IC-Guru Nanak College ground in Chennai on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu have one win and a loss in their two outings so far.Vijay, 32, replaced Dinesh Karthik, who will miss the rest of the tournament to attend his sister-in-law’s wedding. Tamil Nadu chairman of selectors S Sharath confirmed Vijay’s availability for the remaining matches.Vijay injured his shoulder while fielding in the fifth and final Test against England, and didn’t open the batting. He eventually came out to bat at No. 6 and made 29. On the third day of the Test, Vijay, along with R Ashwin, was included in Tamil Nadu’s squad for their Ranji Trophy quarter-final clash against Karnataka, but were subsequently withdrawn three days later.While Ashwin suffered from sports hernia, Vijay was deemed to not have recovered completely.Meanwhile, Karthik didn’t keep wicket during Tamil Nadu’s 72-run loss to Hyderabad on Monday and N Jagadeesan stood behind the stumps in his stead. “Yesterday Karthik had a collision with [Baba] Aparajith while taking a run [against Karnataka],” Tamil Nadu coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar told ESPNcricinfo. “He had a bit of a trouble in crouching and moving, so that’s the reason why he didn’t keep wicket.”After the Goa game, Tamil Nadu have a one-day break before they take on Andhra (February 2) and Kerala (February 3).

In a top-of-the-table, rain-affected clash, Titans secured their place in the final with a narrow win over Warriors, who will host Lions in the qualifier. The match was reduced to five overs a side and Titans prevailed thanks to Farhaan Behardien’s 55 not out off 15 balls – including a fifty from 14, the fastest in the competition’s history.Titans lost their openers Jonathan Vandiar and Heino Kuhn in the first seven balls but Behardien stole the show after that. He struck four fours and five sixes in an explosive knock, during which no bowler was spared. Jon-Jon Smuts’ solitary over cost 24, Sisanda Magala’s 27 and Kyle Abbott – playing his first game for his new franchise – was hit for 18. Behardien’s 50 came off 14 balls and he put on 73 runs for the third wicket with Heinrich Klaasen – who scored 17 off nine balls – to take Titans to a competitive five-over total.Warriors appeared up for it in the reply and racked up 19 runs off the first over and 29 off the first ten balls. Smuts was dismissed after that but Colin Ingram and Christiaan Jonker kept up with the rate. Warriors were 53 for 1 after thee overs, needing 28 off the last two.David Wiese conceded no boundaries in his over and dismissed Ingram to leave Warriors needing 22 of the final over. Malusi Siboto conceded just five runs off the first four balls to put the game beyond Warriors and Jonker’s 10 runs off the last two balls were in vain.File photo – Wayne Parnell’s effort went in vain•AFP

Lions booked their spot in Tuesday’s qualifier with a slender victory over Cobras – bolstered by the return of several international batsmen – on a scorching afternoon in Paarl. Legspinner Eddie Leie’s four wicket haul was crucial in the Lions’ defence of 139.Asked to bat first, Lions started well after openers Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks put on 45 inside six overs. The loss of Hendricks and Dwaine Pretorius in successive overs pegged Lions back, but a 61-run third-wicket stand between van der Dussen, who scored the innings’ only half-century, and Mangaliso Mosehle, set Lions up well at 109 for 3 in the 14th over.But Wayne Parnell and Tshepo Moreki carved their way through Lions’ middle-order and took 6 for 48 between them to leave Lions with a below-par total of 139 for 8. Of the Lions’ last six batsmen to visit the crease, only Temba Bavuma managed double figures.Cobras would have been confident of chasing down the total, especially with Hashim Amla and JP Duminy back in their XI, but they were the first two batsmen to be dismissed – Amla for 15 and Duminy for 3, both falling to Dwaine Pretorius – to leave Cobras needing contributions from their domestic regulars.Richard Levi stood man alone for the first half of the reply and plundered 41 runs off 33 balls but the rest were outspun by Leie and Bjorn Fortuin – they lost their last seven wickets for 47 runs and only Kieron Pollards’ run-a-ball 18 looked like it could do any damage.The win put Lions one point ahead of the Cobras and put them through to the qualifiers, where they will face Warriors on Tuesday, with the winner taking on Titans in Friday’s final.In a fixture that had no bearing on the playoffs, Knights secured their third-win of a disappointing campaign as they finished the season at the bottom. They beat the Dolphins, who won the same number of matches and ended above them by a point.Dolphins’ innings did not get going until the final over, in a game reduced to eight overs a side. They were 38 for 5 after seven overs with all of Cameron Delport, Morne van Wyk, Kevin Pietersen, Robbie Frylinck and Keshav Maharaj dismissed in single figures. Khaya Zondo hit three sixes in four balls off Corne Dry in the last over to give Dolphins something to defend.After two overs, they would have known it was not enough. Knights were 29 for 1 at the end of the second over, with David Miller and Patrick Kruger in no mood to hang around. Imran Tahir bowled a boundary-free third over but the Knights were in control after that and reached the total with two overs to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKyle Abbott started the damage on day four•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Take a bow, Kyle Abbott. Take a bow, Kagiso Rabada. Take a bow, Faf du Plessis and the entire South Africa squad. A month ago, this team arrived in Australia without its captain and best batsman, AB de Villiers, who is at home injured. They lost their best bowler, Dale Steyn, to a serious injury barely a day into the campaign. And yet they have not only beaten Australia in the series, they have crushed them. Humiliated them.When this series schedule was announced, South Africa were worried that it might be decided by a pink-ball, day-night Test in Adelaide. They need not have feared. In Hobart, they have destroyed Australia by an innings and 80 runs to follow their hefty victory in Perth, and thus have secured a third consecutive series win in Australia. This was a total annihilation, Australia failing even to take the Test to lunch on day four – with a whole day having been lost to rain.Australia faced only 558 deliveries in this Test, their fourth-lowest tally in a home Test loss, and their lowest since Don Bradman’s debut match in 1928. In the first innings they collapsed for 85; at stumps on day three it seemed like they might have found some fight, having reached 2 for 121. But they were about to fold again. From the moment Usman Khawaja edged Abbott behind for 64, Australia lost 8 for 32 in less than 20 overs.Australia have now lost their past five Tests and their past five ODIs. There will be recriminations and there will be consequences. It was hard to imagine Australia slipping further after the Perth Test, but when they travelled to Hobart they were in every way heading south. There are nine days until the Adelaide Test, and Australia will need every one of them. It is entirely possible significant changes will have been made by the next Test.On the fourth morning, Australia’s batsmen were completely unable to handle the swing, seam and bounce of Abbott and Rabada. In the first innings it was Vernon Philander who claimed a five-wicket haul, but in the second Abbott collected 6 for 77 and Rabada took 4 for 34. The fast bowlers have all stepped up in the most magnificent way since Steyn left the field in Perth with a serious shoulder injury.They bowled so tightly on day four that Australia added only 40 to their overnight total in 24.1 overs. Philander might not have taken a wicket, but the pressure he built should not be underestimated. Philander bowled 30 dot balls on the fourth morning before Australia finally got a run off him. Steven Smith took 40 minutes to score his first runs of the day. When the wickets started to come, with Khawaja the first to go on 64, they came quickly.Adam Voges was next, and it is now difficult to imagine him retaining his place for the Adelaide Test. In his past five Tests – against Sri Lanka and South Africa – he has averaged 14.8. In the five before that – against West Indies and New Zealand – he averaged 342. Forget chocolates to boiled lollies, he has gone from chocolates to Brussels sprouts. Here, a confused attempted leave lobbed off his gloves to slip off Abbott.The debutant Callum Ferguson also fell trying to leave the ball. In his case, it was a lack of bounce that caused the problem, as he tried to sway under what he thought was a Rabada bouncer, but which stayed lower, clipped his gloves and flew away to slip. Ferguson had made 1, and it was a miserable way to end his first Test, having been run out by a direct hit in the first innings for 3.If a lack of bounce did for Ferguson, Peter Nevill was brought undone by extra bounce, caught at slip when he fended a fierce Rabada bouncer on 6. Two balls later Rabada had Joe Mennie lbw for a duck, and any hope of late Australian resistance disappeared when Smith fell for 31 in Rabada’s next over, caught behind to a ball that moved away just slightly.Then it was just a matter of time. Mitchell Starc edged behind off Abbott and the result was confirmed when Nathan Lyon lobbed a catch to mid-on to give Abbott a six-wicket haul, and nine for the match. Australia had lost inside seven sessions of play, and South Africa had their third straight series win in Australia. And given their changing team, it is hard to imagine any has been sweeter than this.