All posts by n8rngtd.top

The Ranji Trophy quarter-final between Jharkhand and Mumbai is likely to be shifted out of Bangalore, in keeping with the BCCI’s attempt to ensure none of the World T20 venues are “fatigued” ahead of the tournament

Arun Venugopal30-Dec-2015The Ranji Trophy quarter-final match between Jharkhand and Mumbai is likely to be shifted out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in keeping with the BCCI’s attempts to ensure none of the World T20 venues are “fatigued” ahead of the tournament.While none of the other six World T20 venues has been allotted a Ranji Trophy knockout game, the KSCA has requested the BCCI to move the quarter-final out of Bangalore. KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel said it was done with a view to give the curators enough time to prepare the pitch ahead of the World T20.”We are going to give rest to our wickets,” Patel told ESPNcricinfo. “There is also the junior team which wants to have a camp here. We don’t have enough time to prepare the wickets for the World Cup, so we have requested the board. We are waiting for the board to respond.”While the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore is slated to host three Super 10 matches, none of the other venues for the Ranji knockouts – Visakhapatnam, Valsad, Mumbai (Brabourne Stadium), Vadodara, Cuttack and Pune – has been allotted any World T20 games. The Chinnaswamy Stadium had also played host to ten matches in the Vijay Hazare domestic 50-over competition recently, including two quarter-finals, a semi-final and the final.A BCCI source said the board was keen to make sure the pitches didn’t suffer from the after-effects of a long cricketing season. “The World T20 begins after a whole season of cricket,” the source said. “The idea is to rest the pitches and let them recover from fatigue so that they are ready for Twenty20 cricket. The BCCI is very keen to make sure the pitches are fresh and ready when the World T20 begins. That is why centres that are not hosting the World T20 have been given the Ranji knockouts, like Pune for example.”On the nature of pitches for the World T20, the source said the BCCI was intent on preparing pitches that were “conducive for T20 cricket.” “It should allow for runs to be scored with good bounce and carry,” the source said. “That is the specific instruction from the BCCI.” It is understood that there have been elaborate discussions on the pitches and overall ground conditions, and preparations are expected to go on for the next two months.Patel, while indicating that the match between Jharkhand and Mumbai would be televised, said the KSCA hadn’t offered any suggestions of an alternative venue. The BCCI source, however said, Mysore was the likely replacement. Alur, another venue in Karnataka, hosted a number of matches in the Vijay Hazare domestic 50-over competition recently, but Mysore is considered better equipped to handle the logistical challenges involved in broadcasting a game.

There was a wobble in the run chase when Lilly Mills but in the end it was a comfortable win

AAP28-Oct-2022Adelaide Strikers recovered from a mini-innings stumble to beat Perth Scorchers by six wickets and exact some revenge for their loss to the Scorchers in last season’s WBBL final.Strikers were cruising at 0 for 51 at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Friday. But young Scorchers spinner Lilly Mills struck with three wickets, including the prized scalp of Strikers captain Tahlia McGrath for a duck, in 11 balls to put Scorchers back in the contest.But a nerveless unbeaten 47 from opener Katie Mack guided Adelaide to an important win with nine balls remaining.Strikers’ fourth victory of the tournament lifts them to second on the ladder, overtaking Scorchers.Mack received solid support from Madeline Penna (32 not out), with the pair putting on an unbeaten 52-run stand for the fifth wicket to close out the match.Earlier, Strikers never allowed Scorchers to build their innings with quick Darcie Brown (2-18) and spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington (2-13) on fire with the ball.Australia star Beth Mooney (34) was the pick of Scorchers’ batters, while Amy Edgar hit an unbeaten 27.Strikers are next in action on Wednesday for a clash with Melbourne Stars, while Scorchers face a short turnaround before their match against Brisbane Heat on Saturday evening.

Pakistan represents the majority of the additional names in the draft and includes Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq and Khushdil Shah

Andrew McGlashan24-Aug-2022Ross Taylor, Mohammad Hasnain and Will Smeed are among the final batch of players confirmed for the BBL draft on Sunday taking the total of number of registered players to 332.Hasnain, who is eligible for retention having played with Sydney Thunder last season, is one of two more players in the final group, which were received shortly before the nominations closed on Sunday. Fellow Pakistani Fakhar Zaman is the other having played one game for Brisbane Heat in the 2021-22 edition.Hasnain had his bowling action reported during last year’s competition but has since been cleared to resume bowling.Pakistan represents the majority of the additional names in the draft and includes Test opening pair Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq as well as middle-order white-ball hitter Khushdil Shah.Taylor, who is now retired from international cricket, could be an interesting option if a team is looking for an experienced batter as he does not have any conflicting deals at the moment.Smeed is the highly-rated young English batter who has a strike-rate of 146.23 from 52 T20 matches and he recently became the first player to hit a century in the men’s Hundred. He has already gained global interest and has an ILT20 deal with MI Emirates in January.Off the 332 players lined up for the draft, 28 are eligible for retention by clubs they played for last season. The first 12 players are part of the platinum list, which was announced on Monday, with the rest following in gold, silver and bronze categories.A maximum of 24 players will be signed during the draft with clubs needing to pick a minimum of two and maximum of three names.

A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group A matches on October 23, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Haryana’s seamers played a containing role, allowing the spinners to trigger Karnataka’s collapse in Mysore

Haryana took control of their fixture against Karnataka in Mysore after the defending champions were bowled out for 221 to concede a 110-run lead. Rahul Dewan and Nitin Saini then saw off nine overs late in the day as Haryana ended the day at 27 without loss, ahead by 137, to take pole position, one from where they can entertain thoughts of forcing their first outright win of the season.KL Rahul top-scored with 63 to steady Karnataka after the early loss of Robin Uthappa, but his run-out soon after lunch triggered a slide. Jayant Yadav, who struck his second first-class century on Thursday, broke Karnataka’s back in the middle. He had the vital strikes of the well-set R Samarth (30) and Karun Nair (28), before part-time offspinner Rahul Dagar ran through the tail by picking up three wickets in an over as Karnataka’s innings came to a grinding halt in 75.4 overs.CM Gautam, the vice-captain, tried to resurrect the innings but regular loss of wickets at the other end prevented Karnataka’s late quest towards parity. Vinay Kumar, the captain, resisted for 65 deliveries and made 34 during the course of a 67-run stand for the seventh wicket, the highest of Karnataka’s innings. Earlier in the day, HS Sharath, who picked up a hat-trick on Thursday, picked up his first five-wicket haul of the season, finish with figures of 5 for 48.
ScorecardA lower-order collapse undid all the good work done by Sudip Chatterjee (116) and Wriddhiman Saha (72) as Bengal collapsed from 286 for 4 to 357 all out at Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi then overcame a top-order wobble before Nitish Rana (30*) and Milind Kumar (20*) repaired the early damage, with the unbroken third-wicket stand of 54 taking them to 100 for 3 at stumps.Bengal looked set for a bigger score than they eventually finished with as they lost both set batsmen – Chatterjee (116) and Saha (72) – in the first half hour to hand Delhi the advantage. But Ashok Dinda dismissed Gautam Gambhir early to give Bengal an opening. Pragyan Ojha then got into the act to dismiss the in-form Unmukt Chand. Before long, Delhi were in trouble at 56 for 3, and in dire need of a partnership, which Rana and Milind came up with.
ScorecardAnother lackluster batting performance from Vidarbha resulted in them conceding a 52-run lead to current table toppers Assam in Nagpur. As many as 12 wickets fell in the day, with spin accounting for 10 of them. Swarupam Purkayastha, the highest wicket-taker last season among the slow bowlers, led Assam’s dominance with four scalps.Vidarbha briefly challenged Assam when Wasim Jaffer (40) and Ganesh Satish (67) kept the bowlers at bay, but a lower-order implosion resulted in Vidarbha losing their last six wickets for 53 runs. Assam then lost the openers in their second dig to end the day at 36 for 2, the overall lead standing at 88 with two full days to play.Rajasthan v Maharashtra – Maharashtra’s slide tightens contest for first-innings points

Chris Cairns has been compared to disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong for bringing shame on the cricket world

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2015Chris Cairns has been compared to disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong for bringing shame on the cricket world. Summing up the prosecution case against Cairns at Southwark Crown Court, Sasha Wass, QC, said that the evidence he was involved in match-fixing was “overwhelming”.Cairns has been on trial for the past five weeks, during which time a number of former team-mates have come forward to give evidence against him. He denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice relating to his 2012 libel case against Lalit Modi.Wass said the testimony of nine witnesses should be considered the “building bricks creating a wall of evidence” against Cairns. She warned the jury that attempts would be made by the defence to undermine the claims of Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum, among others.Vincent has accused Cairns of ordering him to fix matches at the Indian Cricket League (ICL), while McCullum told of approaches made by his childhood “idol”. Vincent’s ex-wife Ellie Riley also testified against Cairns, saying he was confident he would not be caught because “everyone was doing it in India”.Wass said Cairns had not provided a “single, credible reason” to question their motives. Vincent’s confession to Riley about his involvement in fixing in 2008 undermined the idea that the story of Cairns’ involvement had been concocted “late in the day”, she said.”It’s unlikely he would have cooked up this plan to stitch up Chris Cairns in 2008 and spent five years working out how to bring his downfall,” Wass said of Vincent.She added: “Why Ellie Riley would lie? She has no great love for her ex husband.”Wass also referred to evidence given by McCullum, as well as Cairns’ former New Zealand team-mates Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills and Chris Harris, and Australia batsman Ricky Ponting, suggesting none of them had reason to lie. McCullum interrupted his preparation for a Test match against Australia to appear in court in London.”The defence say Mr McCullum is lying,” she said. “But not a single reason has been put forward why a man, at the height of his career, would come to the Southwark Crown Court to falsely incriminate a man he held in such high regard.”She rejected the idea that the ICC wanted Cairns as a “scalp” in the fight against match-fixing, comparing the case to that involving Armstrong and saying his actions had tarnished the sport.”Why would anyone, let alone the governing body of cricket, want the scalp of an innocent man,” she asked. “The last thing [the ICC] would want to do is bring accusations against an innocent man who has captained his country, represented New Zealand for 17 years.”On the other hand, the ICC would want to bring a cheat who corrupted others to justice.”The jury heard that Cairns had shown “arrogance beyond belief” in taking Modi to court. Wass said that he and Andrew Fitch-Holland, who denies perverting the course of justice, “should be ashamed of themselves” and that both were “guilty of the charges laid”.She added that the amount of indirect evidence against Cairns was “unanswerable”.”He has made a mockery of the game of cricket, the fans, the game,” she said. “We know not only that he cheated, he encouraged others to cheat.”We say the evidence against Chris Cairns in respect of match-fixing is overwhelming.”Cairns’ defence barrister, Orlando Pownall, QC, is expected to present his closing arguments on Monday. The trial continues.

A consummate team effort took Zimbabwe past PNG, while Bas de Leede starred with bat and ball as Netherlands swept USA aside

Peter Della Penna15-Jul-2022Tournament hosts Zimbabwe and reigning tournament champions Netherlands continued their undefeated runs at the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo, both sides winning their respective semifinals on Friday to clinch the final two available berths at the T20 World Cup in Australia this October. It will be Zimbabwe’s sixth trip to the T20 World Cup and their first since 2016, while Netherlands make their fifth appearance in the T20 World Cup.Zimbabwe and Netherlands will face off on Sunday in the final of the T20 World Cup Qualifier to determine the final group assignments for the opening round in Australia. The winner of the final will spend the opening round in Hobart in Group B, with Ireland, Scotland and West Indies. The loser of the final will head to Geelong, where they will be paired against Namibia, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.Zimbabwe’s 27-run victory over Papua New Guinea at Queen’s Sports Club was a consummate team effort as they compiled a first-innings total of 199 after choosing to bat first, despite nobody making more than Wessly Madhevere’s 42 off 29 balls. But the rest of the top six batters scored at least 22, including 38 off 30 from captain Craig Ervine.PNG’s reply got off to a disastrous start when Lega Siaka was run out by Sean Williams off the first ball of the chase and they slipped to 34 for 3 inside of five overs. But Tony Ura’s superlative tournament continued with a 22-ball half-century to keep PNG in the hunt for a second straight trip to the T20 World Cup. However, he slowed down considerably afterward before a heave across the line resulted in him being bowled by Williams for 66 off 35 balls making the score 139 for 5 after 15. PNG needed 61 off the final 30 balls, but with Ura gone lacked the firepower to get within striking distance before eventually ending on 172 for 8.File photo – Bas de Leede picked up two wickets, took a catch, effected a run-out, and scored an unbeaten 67-ball 91•Getty Images

Bas de Leede put in an all-time great performance in the annals of Dutch cricket history to see the Netherlands past USA by seven wickets with an over to spare in their semifinal at Bulawayo Athletic Club. USA were 51 for 0 after five overs after choosing to bat, but de Leede’s spell of medium-pace helped turn the tide as he took 2 for 23 in three overs while also taking a catch and effecting a run-out to help bowl USA out for 138 in 19.4 overs.Paul van Meekeren made the first breakthrough to end USA’s opening stand by getting Steven Taylor to chip a full ball to Max O’Dowd at midwicket for 26 off the first ball of the sixth over. USA captain Monank Patel then fell to a half-tracker from legspinner Shariz Ahmad, picking out Logan van Been at deep midwicket for 32 off 15 balls to make it 68 for 2. It opened the door for de Leede to pounce with a tremendous athletic diving effort off his own bowling to bounce out the dangerous Gajanand Singh for a second-ball duck, then later cleaned up Marty Kain with a slower-ball yorker for a golden duck. Nisarg Patel tried to stretch out the USA innings with 28 off 23 balls at No. 8 before de Leede ran him out with a sharp relay from deep midwicket to deny a second run.USA held a brief glimmer of hope in the first over of the Dutch reply when Saurabh Netravalkar induced a chipped catch by Stephan Myburgh to extra-cover for a third-ball duck. de Leede entered at No. 3 and, after negotiating a tricky next few overs, opened up against Netravalkar in the fifth, driving him inside-out over-extra cover for six. He cleared the rope twice more off Rusty Theron in the following over to take the Netherlands to 53 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.Netherlands suffered two more hiccups just after, when Max O’Dowd fell for 16 in the seventh over, driving a low return catch to Nisarg’s left-arm spin before Tom Cooper flicked Cameron Stevenson’s medium-pace to Jaskaran Malhotra at deep midwicket to make it 62 for 3 after eight. But captain Scott Edwards arrived and rotated the strike well to keep the required run rate comfortable. De Leede brought up his fifty off 33 balls with a single in the 10th.The pair finally put the game out of USA’s reach by attacking the part-time legspin of Aaron Jones in the 12th over. A day after Jones conceded 26 runs off the final over of the first innings to Zimbabwe, including three sixes to Sikandar Raza, USA captain Monank tossed him the ball only to see Edwards sweep him repeatedly in a 12-run over that took the required run rate under a run a ball for the rest of the chase. A single off the final ball of the 19th by de Leede secured victory.

Sam Hain was instrumental in Birmingham ending a run of three straight defeats and keeping alive their hopes of a quarter-final place in the NatWest Blast

ECB Reporters Network17-Jul-2016
ScorecardSam Hain continued his excellent limited-overs form•Getty Images

Birmingham put their NatWest t20 Blast campaign back on track after three straight defeats with a 28-run victory over Leicestershire at Edgbaston.The Bears’ 186 for four was built on an opening stand of 125 inside 13 overs by Sam Hain, who scored 79 off 52 deliveries, and Ian Bell, who made a 35-ball 57.While those two were together the Bears looked set to total over 200 but the Foxes, led by Clint McKay’s one for 16 off four overs, fought back well to leave a target around par on a good batting pitch.But though a string of Foxes batsmen got a start, none played the decisive innings the team needed as they fell short on 158 for nine.A Bears attack including Keith Barker for the first time in the competition this season kept taking wickets at important times to reassert their
qualification bid and extinguish the Foxes’.After the visitors won the toss, Hain and Bell began in measured fashion, with the latter still to score after two overs, before accelerating past 60 in the sixth over.The century partnership arrived in the 12th over, both openers having taken advantage of a short boundary to clear the ropes on the off-side.Hain was first to his half-century, from 36 balls, Bell’s following from 32, but the latter’s dismissal after striking four fours and four sixes in his 57, edging Rob Taylor behind, signalled a sharp drop in momentum.Bell’s wicket was quickly followed by that of Matt Wade, on his home debut, as the Australian fell lbw to his countryman McKay for five.When Hain sought another six – his third of the innings to go with nine fours – off Cameron Delport but found only the hands of Ben Raine at deep extra-cover, three wickets had fallen for 26 runs in 18 balls.Laurie Evans perished in similar fashion to Hain and although Rikki Clarke (24 not out) landed a couple of hefty blows, a skilful final over from McKay sent the Foxes into the mid-innings break in perky mood.The Foxes reply started briskly with Mark Cosgrove and Mark Pettini adding 36 in 27 balls before the latter pulled Oliver Hannon-Dalby to Jeetan Patel at deep mid-wicket.Delport’s 18-ball 20 included an audacious reverse-swept six off Josh Poysden but the South African perished attempting a repeat off Ateeq Javid.As the required run-rate rose, greater risks had to be taken. Cosgrove (42 from 29 balls) hoisted Patel to long off, Lewis Hill charged the same bowler, missed, and was adroitly stumped by Wade and when Farhaan Behardien lifted Clarke to long-off all that remained in the Foxes’ locker was some futile swishing.

Croft paces chase after bowlers share wickets in one-sided contest at Grace Road

ECB Reporters Network07-Jun-2022Lancashire 139 for 3 (Croft 45) beat Leicestershire 135 (Hill 50) by seven wicketsUnbeaten North Group leaders Lancashire Lightning made it five wins from six as they defeated Leicestershire Foxes, who have lost all three home Vitality Blast fixtures, yet won three from four on the road.The Foxes opted to make first use of what looked a good batting surface but were bowled out for just 135, failing to complete their 20 overs despite 50 from Lewis Hill. The Lightning spinners held sway, sharing six wickets and conceding only 73 runs in 11 overs.The visitors cruised past their target in the 18th overs to win by seven wickets with 23 balls to spare, veteran all-rounder Steven Croft top-scoring with 45 off 46 balls.The combination of competitively priced tickets and away wins over Yorkshire, Birmingham Bears and Worcestershire by the Foxes attracted a full house of around 5,000 to the Uptonsteel County Ground but it was an unrewarding night for most of them.A wet ball after a couple of hefty showers during the Lightning innings did not help matters for the Foxes bowlers, although against a batting line-up as strong as Lancashire’s they would have struggled to defend such a low total even in perfect conditions.Leading wicket-taker Naveen-ul-Haq removed Keaton Jennings via a caught-behind off an inside edge on to pad and ended an 81-partnership between Croft and Phil Salt (38 off 34) when the latter skied one to deep square leg.Croft, who looked nailed on for his first half-century of the season, was run out after a suicidal call for a second run by skipper Dane Vilas, but with only 36 more needed from 46 balls the outcome was never in serious doubt.Tim David, who lost his off stump to Ben Mike in swinging at a free hit on 19, won the contest with a six over wide long-on off Naveen, finishing with 24 off 17 balls.The only negatives for Lancashire were injuries to Liam Livingstone (knee niggle) and Luke Wood (tight quad), although they will hope neither is serious with their next match against Yorkshire at Headingley on Wednesday.Hamish Rutherford’s disappointing debut season for the Foxes continued with a second-ball duck as he punched Richard Gleeson straight to the fielder at short third man, leaving the New Zealand opener with just 51 runs from seven innings.Otherwise, it was a satisfactory powerplay for Leicestershire Foxes, for whom Hill was profitably innovative. Arron Lilley’s first scoring shot against his former county went back over off-spinner Livingstone’s head for six.Hill ramped a six as Gleeson’s second over went for 14 compared with three off his first as the Foxes posted 54 for two from six, Scott Steel the other casualty when he hit straight to mid-off. Hill and Lilley added 41 and the Foxes looked well set at 78 for two before the latter was caught at long-on in the 11th.But Lightning’s spinners successfully applied the brake and claimed five wickets as the Foxes stumbled to 125 for seven, two for Matt Parkinson, who removed Rehan Ahmed via a catch at long-on after the youngster had clubbed him over cover for six, two for left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, who dismissed Rishi Patel and Mike in consecutive overs, and one for David, who held a low return catch moments after Hill had completed his first half-century of the season.Callum Parkinson was leg before to a Danny Lamb slower ball, Naveen run out by a direct hit from cover and Colin Ackermann was caught at mid-wicket for 25 as the Foxes innings ended after one ball of the 20th over.

A second day of rain prevented England U-19s’ bowlers from making significant headway in their efforts to force victory

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2016
ScorecardJosh Coughlin took two wickets on a shortened day•Getty Images

A second day of rain prevented England U-19s’ bowlers from making significant headway in their efforts to force victory. The Sri Lankans lost four wickets in a truncated day’s play – leaving a draw looking the likeliest result.Sri Lanka had started day three at Fenner’s on 96 for 2 with Charith Asalanka and Avishka Fernando looking to build on yesterday’s steady start at the crease.George Bartlett, who had complained of a knock to his hand during the warm-up, dropped a chance on 110 for 2, but quickly redeemed himself holding onto a low catch at short midwicket to dismiss Asalanka for 81 which included 12 boundaries.Durham pace bowler Josh Coughlin also made his first impact on the game dismissing Fernando for 45 giving George Hankins at second slip an easy catch.The afternoon session was lost to rain but after play resumed at 5pm Amar Virdi took his second wicket of the match – dismissing Shammu Ashan on 51.Sri Lankan keeper Navindu Vithanage was dispatched in the next over – Coughlin’s second wicket of the day – being caught one handed by an outstretched Pope.But bad light then intervened, forcing the players from the field again.Sri Lanka will resume tomorrow on 235 for 6.

Captain Faf du Plessis was quite clear in his assessment that South Africa fell at least 10 runs short of a defendable total against West Indies at Nagpur

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur 25-Mar-2016It was an over sent from the heavens. Three googlies from Imran Tahir and nearly three wickets.Marlon Samuels looked to drive the first one through the covers. The ball turned into him and forced him to hit it straighter, and in the air. Tahir got his left hand to the ball but couldn’t wrap his fingers around it.Andre Russell looked to slog the second beyond wide long-on, but ended up hitting it squarer than intended and deep midwicket ran a few steps to his left to take a simple catch. Darren Sammy simply didn’t pick the last one. It hung deliciously over his eyeline, dipped wickedly, and turned through the gap between front pad and airy cover drive to hit the top of middle stump.Two wickets taken, only one run conceded and West Indies were 100 for 6 after 17 overs. The over might have turned the match South Africa’s way had West Indies been chasing 140. But they were only chasing 123 and still only needed a perfectly gettable 23 off the last three overs.After the match, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was quite clear in his assessment that his side fell at least 10 runs short of a defendable total.”The batting today was the difference between us winning and losing,” he said. “We needed to get to 130-135 to have a par score. I thought we were 10 runs short, definitely.”On the eve of the match, du Plessis had counted adaptability and “being smart in decision-making” among the strengths of his batting side. He had hoped these qualities would make the difference against a West Indies batting unit reliant on power hitting, given the large outfield and the expectation that the pitch would provide turn.The pitch met du Plessis’ expectations: it was slow, low and offered a fair degree of turn, though not to the extent seen during the India-New Zealand match on March 15. West Indies’ batting proved to be as reliant on big hitting as du Plessis had noted and, as a consequence, was not at its best with the ball not coming on to the bat.But before they could expose West Indies’ frailties with the bat, South Africa had failed to demonstrate the adaptability and smart decision-making du Plessis had spoken of. After the match, he conceded that they had been “frantic” at the start of their innings, when they lost their three most experienced batsmen to what he called “soft” dismissals: Hashim Amla to a run out, du Plessis himself to a spooned catch taken at mid-off, and AB de Villiers to a shot played across the line. Rilee Rossouw also slashed a wide delivery straight to point.”Obviously batting first, the thinking was that it wasn’t going to be the same wicket as Mumbai, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to look at that. But those decisions you make when you’re batting, we didn’t make them tonight,” du Plessis said. “The run-out, caught at mid-off, and Rilee – our first three wickets for me were all soft wickets. AB’s wicket was also a soft wicket.”They didn’t bowl us out tonight. We were put in situations where we needed to be smarter and we weren’t. If you don’t do those things you’re not going to bat as well as you can. We went into this game thinking that West Indies is a power hitting team and we rely on being smart. Ten or 15 runs more, I think we could have won the game. They don’t rely on touch, on getting ones and twos, whereas this ground is spot on for that. That’s where we lost the game.”Du Plessis said Quinton de Kock and David Wiese – who added 50 for the sixth wicket – showed South Africa how they could have played on the Nagpur surface, but only after the top order had already collapsed.Hashim Amla’s run out was the first of several soft dismissals according to South Africa captain Faf du Plessis•IDI/Getty Images

“I thought we were very frantic there, up front,” du Plessis said. “Obviously you never want to start your innings with a run out, that just puts you back, puts it all, puts everything in a bit of a negative mode, because you’re giving the opposition a wicket, but to lose three or four wickets so quickly, that broke our momentum in the innings, and that was the difference between us [scoring 122 and] getting to 140.”The guys batted beautifully in the middle, David Wiese once again as a guy that’s coming in today, had a great game, and I can’t fault the bowlers today. Obviously there’s been a lot of pressure and a lot of stuff said about our bowling unit over the last two weeks or so, but they fought really hard today.”Especially in a big game like today, you want your big players to stand up, and myself, Hashim and AB, one of us needed to anchor the innings and be there. Quinton played an amazing innings, a mature innings, that’s something he hasn’t done a lot. Normally he plays his aggressive game and he’s very free. Today the shoe was on the other foot and he adapted brilliantly. And he showed the rest of the batting unit what it is like to adapt on that wicket.”Despite all this, South Africa’s bowlers kept them in the game till the last over. Tahir took those two wickets in the 17th and Wiese, mixing up his pace brilliantly, conceded only three runs in the 18th over. It took a slash and a thick edge past the keeper from Marlon Samuels, which streaked to the third man boundary in the 19th off Chris Morris, to bring the equation down to 10 off eight balls.Du Plessis said the edged four made him think “oh my word, it’s not meant to be for us today”, but he was quick to add that West Indies had earned their luck by staying “half a step” ahead of South Africa right through the game.”We’re not playing close to how good we are or can be, and that’s frustrating,” du Plessis said. “We want to be better, and unfortunately we’re not producing the goods on the day. As I said, you need a bit of luck but also you make your own luck, and I feel if you win those small moments in the game, generally the luck goes your way.”That’s why it didn’t go our way tonight, because we were just half a step behind West Indies all the time. But they’re playing great cricket and that’s why it’s going for them. They’re a confident team and things will fall their way, because you almost earn that luck, and they deserve it.”The win put West Indies through to the semi-finals and left South Africa hanging from edge of the precipice. They will need Sri Lanka to beat England, and then need to beat Sri Lanka themselves, to have any chance of progressing. It was not the situation du Plessis had expected his team to be in at this stage of the competition.”[I’m] disappointed, because I had strong hopes of winning the tournament, and now we’re hoping for other performances to go our way,” he said. “We’ll obviously be rooting for some opposition to try and do us a favour, but if it doesn’t happen like that, there’s no excuses.”