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New Zealand will wait until the end of the Dunedin Test before making a call on Ross Taylor’s availability for the rest of the series. Taylor was diagnosed with a low grade tear in the right calf on Friday morning, after he underwent scans, but returned to bat, although he appeared restricted in his movements.Taylor was helped off the field when he was on 8 on the second day and received treatment overnight. New Zealand Cricket confirmed he would bat if required in this match and, with the hosts into the lead with nine wickets down, he returned to the crease to resume his innings but admitted he did not have high hopes for a long stint in the middle, because of his inability to run.”I wouldn’t say the confidence is that high. When I was walking out to the middle I was hoping I wouldn’t get timed out,” Taylor told New Zealand after the day’s play.Despite his injury, Taylor started with a single off Keshav Maharaj and then faced six more deliveries from Morne Morkel, the first of which he slogged over the leg side for a six. “It was more of a fluke than anything, I couldn’t put any weight on it so I had to get forward and Morne worked out that he just had to bowl short,” Taylor said.Taylor was not asked whether he hoped to play any further part in the series but the indications are that he will face at least some time out of the game. At the end of the second day’s play Trent Boult said Taylor did “not look good,” but the man himself is not giving anything away. “It’s just a small tear so it was nice to contribute in some sort of way and get a lead but I am obviously still frustrated.”Taylor is New Zealand’s second-highest Test century-maker on 16, one behind his mentor Martin Crowe. Earlier this season he became their leading century-maker in ODIs, but has lost his place in the T20 side.If this Test goes the duration, there are only three days before the second Test starts in Wellington on March 16, which gives New Zealand six days to name a replacement if necessary. One man they cannot turn to is Martin Guptill, who will need six weeks of rehabilitation on his hamstring ahead of the Champions Trophy. Colin Munro, Neil Broom and Dean Brownlie are believed to be in contention for a call-up if needed.

Sayan Ghosh’s 3 for 25 and Pragyan Ojha’s 2 for 29 helped Bengal restrict Odisha to 121 after setting them 146 to win at the Eden Gardens. Odisha’s debutant Subhranshu Senapati (41 off 42) was their only batsman from the top six who got into double figures as they were reduced to 39 for 5 in the ninth over of their chase. Earlier, Bengal were reduced to 67 for 5 in 12th over after being put in, thanks to medium-pacers Basant Mohanty (2-39) and Deepak Behera (2-16) who took the first four wickets between them. Of Bengal’s top four, only Shreevats Goswami (33 off 31) got past 10. It took efforts from Pramod Chandila (32 off 32) and Writtick Chatterjee (33 off 22) – who were both dismissed by Paresh Patel (2-18) – to lift Bengal to 145.File photo – Abu Nechim played a supporting role with 2 for 10 as Assam bowled Tripura out for 85•AFP

Pritam Das, the medium-pacer, finished with his first five-wicket haul in T20s to help Assam skittle Tripura for 85 and set-up a seven-wicket win in Kolkata. Assam now have two wins in three matches in the Inter-State T20 tournament.Tripura, sent in to bat, were tottering at 36 for 5 in the 10th over. Manisankar Mura Singh, the captain, waged a lone battle to top score with 32, before Tripura lost their last five wickets for nine runs. Rishav Das got Assam off to a flier, striking four boundaries in his 21 before they lost two wickets in successive overs. Murasingh, who dismissed Rishav, had his second when he bowled Arun Karthik. But Sibsankar Roy’s 35 not out ensured Assam suffered no further hiccups as they won with 41 balls to spare.

Angelo Mathews’ hamstring injury will keep him out of the forthcoming T20 series in Australia, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. A stand-in captain is expected to be named on Tuesday, when the selectors decide on the squad.Mathews has been in Sri Lanka since he sustained the injury during his match-winning innings in the second T20 against South Africa. Dinesh Chandimal took the reins in the final T20 of that series, before Upul Tharanga assumed interim leadership of the ODI side.Sri Lanka’s selectors now face a minor dilemma about who should take over the side in Mathews’ stead, as both Chandimal and Tharanga do not necessarily make the T20 XI on present form. Chandimal made scores of 6 not out, 22 and 5 in the three T20s against South Africa, and Tharanga only played the last of those matches, hitting 20 off 11 balls. Barring the tour game in December, neither batsman has hit a fifty in any format in the ongoing tour.”The selection meeting on Tuesday will decide the squad and the captain who will lead in the three matches,” a board statement said. “The team will arrive in Canberra on Monday the 13th.”Sri Lanka are expected to play a practice T20 in Canberra on February 15, before flying to Melbourne on 17th for the first of three T20Is.

Match facts

January 20, 2017
Start time 1800 local (1600 GMT)South Africa’s T20 squad has a new look to it – just four members of their World T20 campaign have been included for the Sri Lanka series•Gallo Images/Getty Images

Big Picture

In a year with no World T20, it would be easy to forget the shortest format exists at international level, but South Africa and Sri Lanka are doing their bit to keep it alive and kicking. The three-match whirlwind series takes place in five days and will feature an almost entirely new-look South African outfit. Only four members of the squad that played in the World T20 last March, 10 months ago, have been included in the 13-man group for the first two matches as South Africa look to the future.They have assembled the best players from the last two seasons’ domestic T20 competition, and given an opportunity to veterans like Heino Kuhn, who has played professional cricket for more than a decade, and rookies like Lungi Ngidi, who at 20 has already featured in two franchise T20 finals. Of particular interest will be Jon-Jon Smuts, who may make a case as a long-term opening option and Theunis de Bruyn, whose star is rising in all formats.Sri Lanka’s squad has a more familiar hue but with one superstar omission. Lasith Malinga has failed to regain fitness after a bout of dengue fever and had to make himself unavailable for the South Africa tour, leaving Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep to carry the seam-bowling responsibilities along with recalled players, Nuwan Kulasekara and Isuru Udana.With only one new batsmen in their ranks, Thikshila de Silva, Sri Lanka will look to their line-up to do a better job than they managed in the Tests even though their form in shorter formats has not been particularly promising. Still, such an inexperienced host side may present Sri Lanka with their best chance to enjoy some success.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WLWLL
Sri Lanka: LLLLL

In the spotlight

David Miller is in the unusual position of being South Africa’s most experienced batsman. Captain Farhaan Behardien confirmed that Miller will bat higher than his usual No.6 spot, perhaps at No.4 where he scored a century for the Knights earlier in the season, in order to give him the best chance of facing as many balls as possible. Behardien said if Miller faces between 50 and 60 balls, he is almost guaranteed a hundred because of his strike rate. No pressure, then.Sri Lanka will look to their captain Angelo Mathews to spark a revival•Associated Press

Angelo Mathews was under fire for his tactics in the Test series, particularly in the way he used his bowlers, including himself. The limited-overs contests will be a chance for him to redeem himself. Mathews is much more respected as a short-format bowler and will likely take the new ball in a bid to strike upfront. He will have the opportunity to set the tone and, having failed to do that in the longer formats, will know his performance over the next few weeks could be important to his survival as captain.

Team news

South Africa could field as many as six new caps in a completely new-look XI which should see the T20 competition’s leading run-scorer Jon-Jon Smuts open the batting with veteran Heino Kuhn. David Miller, who will bat up the order through the series, and Farhaan Behardien will provide middle-order experience around Theunis de Bruyn and Reeza Hendricks. Mangaliso Mosehle will keep wicket, while Wayne Parnell and Andile Phehlulwayo make the allrounder contingent. Dane Paterson will compete with Lungi Ngidi for a place while Imran Tahir could edge out Aaron Phangiso as the sole spinner.South Africa: 1 Jon-Jon Smuts, 2 Heino Kuhn, 3 Theunis de Bruyn, 4 David Miller, 5 Farhaan Behardien (capt), 6 Reeza Hendricks, 7 Mangaliso Mosehle (wk), 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Andile Phehlukwayo, 10 Dane Paterson, 11 Imran TahirSri Lanka will need a new opener to partner Danushka Gunathilaka and may turn to one of their youngsters Kusal Mendis or Dhananjaya de Silva to do the job. Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal will hope to turn a disappointing tour around, while Thikshila may make his debut. Two specialist spinners and two seamers, in addition to captain Angelo Mathews, could make up the Sri Lankan attack.Sri Lanka: 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Kusal Mendis/Dhananjaya de Silva, 3 Angelo Mathews (capt), 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Niroshan Dickwella, 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Thikshila de Silva, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

Centurion is known for its spicy surface but in limited-overs matches it tends to favour batsmen a little more. This season, though, it has been a touch slower and seen some lower-scoring contests in the domestic T20 competition. Still, at altitude, the ball is set to travel. Tickets have been sold out for the spectacle. A perfect summer’s evening is forecast, with temperatures cooling down from 31 degrees and no afternoon thundershowers lurking.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa and Sri Lanka have never a played a T20 in South Africa before. They have faced each other six times, of which South Africa have won four matches and lost two.
• The last time South Africa and Sri Lanka met in a T20 was at the World T20 – which was also when South Africa last played in the format – and South Africa chased 121 to win comfortably by eight wickets with 14 balls to spare.

Quotes

“As a captain I try to be very lighthearted. The players need to make their own decisions, bring their own flair in the change-room. When they do that, that’s when they can perform at their best and not feel restricted to any sort of structure or anything.”

Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan allrounder, can resume bowling in international cricket after his action was found to be legal.Hafeez, an offspinner, had been suspended from bowling for 12 months in July 2015 after he was reported during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka, the second time within 24 months he had been reported. Although he was eligible for a re-test during the tour of England a knee injury had hampered his chances to prepare so it was delayed.He spent over a month undergoing rehabilitation before deciding to take the official ICC assessment. Beforehand he underwent informal testing in PCB’s biomechanics lab at LUMS University in Lahore to make sure his flex was within allowable 15-degree limit.On November 17, Hafeez underwent the reassessment at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane where it was revealed that the amount of elbow extension for all his offspin deliveries was within the level of tolerance.Hafeez has always believed that his bowling is an integral part to what he can bring to a team, although the Pakistan selectors have continued to consider him a batsman first with the offspin as a useful addition.He was dropped after the third Test against England, at Edgbaston, and has not featured in the recent series against West Indies and New Zealand. He is not part of the Test squad for Australia but now that his bowling has been cleared he could come into contention for the limited-overs leg in January.The umpires are still able to report Hafeez if they believe he is displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal action from the reassessment. To assist the umpires, they will be provided with images and video footage of the bowler’s remodelled legal bowling action.

The knockout matches of the Ranji Trophy have been rescheduled to accommodate the two league fixtures in Delhi which were postponed due to pollution and smog. The quarter-finals, initially scheduled to begin on December 17, will now be held from December 24 to 28.The semi-finals were moved from December 27 to January 3, while the final, originally set to be played from January 7, will now take place from January 12 to 16. The BCCI also announced that the Irani Cup, to be played between the Ranji winners and Rest of India, will be held from January 22 to 26.The two postponed league matches – the Group A clash between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C fixture between Hyderabad and Tripura – will now be played from December 15 to 18 in Visakhapatnam and Kolkata respectively.Both the fifth-round games, originally scheduled to be played at Feroz Shah Kotla and the Karnail Singh Stadium respectively, were called off without a ball being bowled. The players had complained of burning eyes on the opening day, and play was called off on the second afternoon after there was no improvement in the air quality. The smog was believed to be an after-effect of Diwali fireworks, as well as the burning of paddy stubble in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.The BCCI had then announced that the matches would be played after the league phase, and shifted games out of Delhi in the next round. The Group B fixture between Assam and Odisha, originally scheduled at the Karnail Singh Stadium, was shifted to Hyderabad, while the Hyderabad-Services game in Group C was moved from Feroz Shah Kotla to Mumbai.

ScorecardCameron Boyce picked up his second four-for in List A cricket•Getty Images

Cameron Boyce’s four wickets for his new state helped Tasmania corner New South Wales for a 15-run victory in the Matador Cup match at Hurstville Oval.Having moved from Queensland to Tasmania in search of greater opportunities, Boyce reaped rewards from an even Tigers bowling display that consigned the Blues to defeat after they had earlier looked well placed to reel in a target of 243.The opener Daniel Hughes and the acting captain Moises Henriques lifted the hosts to 2 for 148 in the 34th over. However Hughes’ dismissal by Xavier Doherty brought greater pressure to bear, and the NSW middle order was unable to cope with a mounting run-rate requirement, nor a succession of tidy spells by the Tigers’ bowlers.Apart from Boyce’s incisiveness, Jackson Bird and Hamish Kingston both conceded fewer than four runs an over to help constrain the Blues. Boyce’s wickets included that of the talented Nic Maddinson, and also the wicketkeeper Peter Nevill via a return catch.Tasmania’s innings had been sustained by a series of handy scores, the most of substantial of which was a fluent 67 from Alex Doolan. Kingston and Simon Milenko, another former Queenslander, provided valuable momentum late in the innings to help build a defensible total.