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Poonam Raut, the India women’s team left-arm spinner, has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action. She was reported by on-field umpires Ulhas Gandhe and S Ravi, after India’s second Twenty20 match against England, which was played on Saturday in Mumbai.Raut had returned figures of 3 for 12 in four overs during India’s victory in that match, her first wickets in Twenty20s. She has been part of the Indian team for a year now, making her debut in the one-day World Cup in Australia last March.Raut’s bowling action will now be scrutinised further under the ICC process relating to women’s Tests, ODIs and T20Is. She will be required to submit to an independent analysis of her action by a member of the ICC panel of human movement specialists, appointed in consultation with the BCCI. This analysis must take place within 21 days from the report being received by the BCCI, and the report of the analysis should be filed with the ICC within 2 weeks of the analysis.If Raut is found to have bowled with an illegal action during the independent analysis then she will be suspended from bowling until she undertakes remedial action and reassessment. India’s next international engagement is the World Twenty20 which begins in May.

Fast bowler Charl Langeveldt has been added to South Africa’s ODI squad for the three-match series in India. Langeveldt’s inclusion adds further strength to a pace attack comprising four specialists – Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell – and two allrounders – Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel.”We do not believe that we have all our bases covered at the moment in the bowling department,” Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive and convenor of the national selection panel, said. “We have two major ICC tournaments coming up – first the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies and then next year’s ICC World Cup on the subcontinent – and it is important that we explore all our options.”Charl also brings much needed experience to our attack. He has played 64 matches while Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell have played only 67 matches between them. Johan Botha is the only other specialist bowler in the squad with 50 ODI appearances.”Langeveldt, who was part of the team that played England, had initially been omitted from the 15-man squad chosen by the selection panel headed by Mike Procter.ODI squad: Graeme Smith, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.

Cameron White has not given up bowling and says he would love the chance to do more of it. Until the past year White has been picked more for his spin than his power hitting and was even elevated to the Test team in India in 2008 as Australia’s preferred slow man.But his batting has been hot since the limited-overs tour of England and he scored a hundred and a half-century in the opening two games against Pakistan to show he deserves a spot in the upper half of the order. As he has provided more runs he has delivered fewer overs, and hasn’t been called by Ricky Ponting since he got three balls against Scotland in August. That was 21 ODIs ago.”I’ve done a little bit for Victoria, I’ve done a little bit in four-day cricket,” he said in the Australian. “I didn’t bowl at all in the Twenty20s and not much in one-day cricket. If I get in the position to get a bowl [for Australia] I would love to, but at this stage I am just working on it in the nets and we’ll see how it goes.”I understand my role the way I am going at the moment, we’ve got plenty of bowling options. I am ready to bowl if required, but it doesn’t seem as if I am needed.” In 49 ODIs he has 12 wickets at 28.75 and an economy rate of almost 6.5 runs an over.White’s hitting has been so strong over the past week that he has won comparisons with Andrew Symonds, whose exit last year gave White a chance to cement his spot. “Andrew’s a fantastic player and was a great player for a long time, I think it would be a bit unfair to compare me to Andrew,” he said. “I am just enjoying the role. I am playing naturally and freely at No.5 and when I get the chance toward the end of the innings it’s good to hit some fours and sixes.”

Mansoor Amjad, the 22-year-old Pakistani legspinner, has hopes of making a comeback to the national team for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in the West Indies next year. Amjad, who has played an ODI and Twenty20 each for his country, has recovered from a series of injuries and was confident of achieving his goal though a strong domestic season.”It’s every player’s dream to play for their country and I cherish the two games that I have played for Pakistan,” he told the website. “I took 3 for 3 in my only over in the Twenty20 international against Bangladesh and I took 1 for 44 versus Sri Lanka in Karachi in my only one-day international. I sincerely hope that I get another chance to show my ability on the international stage and the Twenty20 World Cup next April and May in the Caribbean is definitely a target”.Amjad has suffered a spate of injuries that hampered his domestic career, which he described as “a nightmare”, but said he was back to full fitness. “I’m feeling 100% fit after such a long time. It’s been such a frustrating time for me, having injury after injury,” he said. “I’ve had to miss so much cricket which has been very difficult for me. The worst injury was the one to my bowling hand where I damaged ligaments in my finger.”I made a few comebacks after the finger injury but the problem kept on recurring. After consulting the medical experts I was advised to take a break from cricket and only come back when I was fully fit”.In three four-day games for National Bank this season Amjad has taken ten wickets at 20.50 andwas banking on his recent form to win him a place in the national side. “I’m hoping that I can finish the Quaid-e-Azam tournament with a good performance in the final game against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and then perform well in the forthcoming domestic 50-over and Twenty20 tournaments,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to playing regularly for National Bank in the coming weeks and months and catching the eye of the selectors.”

Match facts

Friday, November 20, 2009
Start time 14.30 (12.30GMT)

Big picture

England and South Africa shared last week’s Twenty20 series 1-1, but that scoreline disguises the staggering gulf that emerged between the sides in the second of the two fixtures at Centurion. Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 85 from 45 balls in the first match had set English pulses racing, but two days later, his effort was put into stark context by Loots Bosman and Graeme Smith, whose world-record 170-run opening stand came from a ridiculously rapid 13 overs.South Africa duly won a farcically one-sided contest by 84 runs (and by 17 sixes to six), in a declaration of intent that has since been backed up by Mickey Arthur’s bellicose comments in the press. “No more Mr Nice Guys” is the message being sent out, and England’s South African middle-order of Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen can expect to bear the brunt of the new nasty edge.Pietersen, however, has seen it all before – nothing will ever compare to the reception he received on his first tour to South Africa in 2004-05, and on that occasion he responded with three centuries in five innings. Trott, meanwhile, has been one of England’s most consistent performers on the tour so far, most recently in the warm-up at Potchefstroom, where he made 78 from 89 balls to overcome South Africa A.England’s biggest concerns are all internal ones, with two players – Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad – already ruled out of the first two ODIs, and a host of key players, including Paul Collingwood and James Anderson, fighting for full fitness. Andrew Strauss, who missed the Twenty20s, returns to resume his rivalry with Smith, the man whom he refused a runner during an heroic but futile century in the Champions Trophy back in September.That match, incidentally, is a reminder of England’s improbable ODI record in recent fixtures against South Africa. With five wins and a washout in their last six encounters, they have a few bragging rights to fall back on, that Centurion debacle notwithstanding.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Andrew Strauss returns to England’s helm, and his steadying influence could be crucial•Getty Images

South Africa – WWLWL
England – LLWWW

Team news

Loots Bosman, who last week came within a six-hit of the second century in Twenty20 history, has not even been selected for the ODI squad, which can be taken either as an oversight or a show of South Africa’s strength in depth. Instead, Jacques Kallis is expected to partner Smith at the top of the order, with AB de Villiers handed a new slice of responsibility in the No. 3 slot. Ryan McLaren, who impressed on his ODI debut against Zimbabwe earlier this month, could be given his first cap against senior opponents.South Africa (from) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Charl Langeveldt, 12 Alviro Peterson.England fielded their only 11 fit players in the warm-up at Potchefstroom on Tuesday, and the extent of their concerns has been highlighted by the addition of two players to their squad – the paceman, Liam Plunkett, and the spinner, James Tredwell. Strauss’s return will provide some timely solidity, while Alastair Cook’s back problems could allow Joe Denly another chance at the top of the order. Paul Collingwood hopes to be fit to break Alec Stewart’s England record of 170 ODI caps.England (possible) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Joe Denly, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Luke Wright, 9 Tim Bresnan, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 James Anderson

Watch out for

South Africa’s strategists have been trying their damnedest to get a rise out of Andrew Strauss, but to no avail. England’s Captain Cool opted to keep a low profile during the Twenty20 series, but showed he was unaffected by his break from the action by contributing a vital half-century to the Potchefstroom run-chase. And no amount of jibes about his form, sportsmanship or the make-up of his side look likely to upset his equilibrium. At least, that’s what England dearly hope, at any rate. As has been proven throughout an eventful year, Strauss’s solidity is vital to their team dynamic. Jacques Kallis has been around, it would seem, since the dawn of time. He is about to embark on his fourth home series against England, having made his debut during Mike Atherton’s tour of 1995-96, but his promotion to opener shows how little he has wearied in that time. The advent of 20-over cricket has given his game a new lease of life, and persuaded him to break out of his often safety-first mindset, and unfurl the range of strokes for which he is renowned. Can he transfer that aggression to a full 50-over innings, or will he opt to drop anchor instead?

Stats and trivia

• Despite their recent 22-run victory in the Champions Trophy, England’s record in ODIs in South Africa is lamentable. In 18 fixtures prior to that one-off encounter, spanning three tours, England won just three matches and lost 13, with one tie and one no-result. In consecutive visits they lost 6-1 in 1995-96, 3-1 in 1999-2000, and 4-1 in 2004-05.
• In 2004-05, Pietersen racked up 454 runs in five innings, including three centuries, at an average of 151.33, and a strike-rate of 105.58.



Quotes

“I thought during the Twenty20 we were a little too friendly. There was ‘Hello Trotty’ and ‘How are you, Trotty?’. I saw one of our quick bowlers having lunch with him a couple of days before a game.”
“It’s a bit of a surprise that I’ve got to so many, but hopefully I can keep going for some time yet.”

The new decision review system is only a week old and already Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, is getting misty eyed, dreaming of the days when umpires made their judgments without technology. But Ricky Ponting is a big supporter, thinks it makes the game better and wants it to stay.Gayle sent both his lbw decisions to the third umpire at the Gabba – Ben Hilfenhaus hit his back leg each time – and they were so hard to argue against that it seemed like a waste of the two unsuccessful challenges a team is given each innings. During the match the ICC’s system achieved its aim of not letting any awful mistakes through, but after his side’s innings-and-65-run defeat Gayle said he would prefer no replays were involved.”I’m not a big fan of it,” he said after play. “I need your help, I hope you can change it for me.”It might be the winners writing the history, but Ponting felt everything worked well and the umpires did a great job. “It’s always going to be good for the game, whether or not every one is right is irrelevant I guess,” he said. “We end up getting more correct decisions made.”In the first innings Gayle was 31 when struck right in front by Hilfenhaus and the captain deliberated before using up the review. On Saturday West Indies were in the third over of their follow-on when Gayle called on it again, this time not playing a shot to an inswinger. It was slightly higher than in the first innings and similar to the height of Shane Watson’s lbw on the opening day. “It doesn’t matter what I think,” Gayle said, “the umpire’s decision still stands.”He would like the system to be unwound, something which is as unlikely as West Indies fighting back to take the series 2-1. “Technology is part of the game, sometimes there are mistakes even with the technology, that’s why I’m not a big fan of it,” Gayle said. “Might as well just go out there with two umpires in the middle, they either get it wrong or right.”Mitchell Johnson’s caught-behind in Australia’s innings appeared not out and Adrian Barath, who scored a brilliant 104 as West Indies were dismissed for 187 to end the game, was given out to an lbw that Hawk-Eye had brushing leg stump. In both instances the third umpire sent the call back to the on-field umpire, as per the conditions, due to no conclusive evidence that the original judgment needed to be overturned.”Without the system, that’s the decision they would have made anyway, so I think that is a good sign,” Ponting said. “You look at one like Mitch’s in our first innings, the decision was made that was out. It was probably inconclusive on the replays if it was out or not out, but you stick with the decision because that’s the way it would have been without the system anyway.”Gayle will still try to get the most out of the challenges in the remaining two games of the series and beyond. “We have to deal with it,” he said. “It’s there, use it. Hopefully it can be in our favour, maybe next time it will be in our favour.”

South Africa will take on Zimbabwe in a two-match ODI series in early November. It will be Zimbabwe’s first international visit to South Africa since 2005. The two teams last faced each other in an ODI more than two years ago, in August 2007. Zimbabwe have just concluded a 4-1 series win at home against Kenya, but were beaten 1-4 by Bangladesh before that.South Africa have had a good year in ODIs with series wins over Australia both home and away, but had a disappointing Champions Trophy where they were knocked out in the league phase.The two ODIs will be staged at Willowmore Park in Benoni and SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 8 and November 10 respectively.

The Champions League Twenty20 is only a week old and already a second IPL team is on the brink of elimination. The home crowd’s reaction at the Chinnaswamy Stadium said it all. Bangalore’s fans, who have perhaps been the most raucous in this tournament, realised the game was all but lost after the below-par batting effort. They grew quiet and started to trickle away even when Victoria had more than half the target to achieve.The Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch did offer turn but it wasn’t alarming, and nor was it slow and low like the surfaces in Delhi. Anil Kumble, the Bangalore captain, said 127 was simply not adequate on this track. “A score of 160-165 was par. It’s always tough when you have only 127 on board,” Kumble said. “We needed early wickets, probably three in the first six overs and not enough runs, but that didn’t happen. Credit to Victoria for playing well today.”Kumble, unlike some other captains, always makes it a point to come to the press conference even when the team loses and he was direct in his assessment. “We lost too many wickets too soon. Once Virat Kohli got out and [Ross] Taylor, who has been batting brilliantly, and Rahul followed, it got tough. Victoria’s bowlers also bowled exceptionally by applying pressure.”Bangalore were given a fast start by Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa but the innings started to go downhill after their 39-run partnership. Andrew McDonald, whose 4 for 21 were the best figures of the tournament, and Clint McKay bowled plenty of cutters and Jon Holland, the left-arm spinner, found enough turn to strangle the batsmen in the middle overs.McDonald said that things were falling in place for Victoria. “We have a couple of wins against IPL teams and are on top of the table,” he said. “Every game is important here. We had a disappointing loss against Wayamba but our batters are coming good on these surfaces and our bowlers bowl in a pack.”Bangalore, though on the cusp of elimination, have actually had only one bad game so far. In their earlier defeat, against Cape Cobras, they played well but were done in by a stunning knock from JP Duminy. Today’s poor batting effort came at a wrong time in this tough format.”We lose the first game of the tournament, then we qualify for the next round but the other team takes points,” Kumble said. “Yes it’s a tough format but that’s how it is. You only play two games, and it’s not easy when the other teams come in with points. This result didn’t help us in terms of runs scored.”Kumble tried to look ahead, saying the next fixture was a must-win against Delhi and that they had to win by a huge margin. That, of course, is easier said than done.

Adam Voges has been added to Australia’s squad for the seven one-day internationals against England as a replacement for Brad Haddin. Voges was already touring with the group as part of the Twenty20 squad and will now stay on for the ODIs, which begin on Friday.The wicketkeeper Tim Paine was already in the squad and will take the gloves for the whole series after Haddin had surgery on a fractured finger last week. However, the loss of Haddin also left Australia light on batsmen and Voges was the logical choice after making 72 in the ODI against Scotland.Although he was outscored in that match by the centurion David Hussey, Voges is, unlike Hussey, part of the squad for the Champions Trophy. As that tournament is being held straight after the England ODIs, the seven matches will give Voges a good opportunity to find his best form ahead of the Champions Trophy.”With Brad Haddin’s injury, the National Selection Panel has taken the opportunity to addAdam Voges to Australia’s squad for the seven one-day internationals against England,” the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said. “Adam will now stay with the squad for the remainder of the tour of England before travelling with the team to the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryAlex Obanda is bowled by Zameer Zahir for 36•Eddie Norfolk

Steve Tikolo’s century and a double strike at the top of Canada’s innings put Kenya in a strong position at the end of the first day’s play in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match in King City.The innings began on the wrong note for Kenya who, after electing to bat, lost both openers for 27. Tikolo took on the task of rebuilding the innings and had two good partnerships, 53 with Alex Obanda for the third wicket and 116 with Maurice Ouma for the fourth. Ouma fell lbw to an arm ball from left-arm spinner Sunil Dhaniram, and the batsman did not seem too happy with the decision. Tikolo ran out of partners after Ouma’s dismissal and couldn’t forge any meaningful stands with the lower order. Jimmy Kamande, however, chipped in with 26 to give Tikolo company towards the end of the innings.He was the ninth wicket to fall and Kenya were eventually bowled out for 317, with Tikolo scoring almost exactly half the runs. Canada deployed eight bowlers, primarily in an effort to remove Tikolo, and it was new-ball bowler Henry Osinde who stood out with three wickets, including that of Tikolo out caught behind.Canada had six overs to bat until stumps but got off to a poor start when opener Jimmy Hansra fell in the second ball of the innings, caught at second slip off Thomas Odoyo. Things got worse when his partner Rizwan Cheema was dismissed for six in the fifth over, to leave Canada at 14 for 2 at close.