Spectators deserve a better pitch

The pitch in Antigua, which will be used for the third time, is doing the spectator few favours but all the players can do is take their chance. Ravi Bopara did that two days ago, winning a game he may not have done in the past

Young guns need to step up for WI and England

Cricket's governing bodies are a curious bunch. Try to take a soft drink into a game in many places and you can be refused entry; wear a branded top in some places and you face the prospect of being accused of ambush marketing. During the 2007 World Cup, a fellow had his lunch taken from him because the baguette he carried was deemed to be a weapon.

But when it comes to the really important thing - the product that is the game of cricket - they, at best, do nothing.

Dull pitches represent a greater threat to the future of the game than drugs, spot-fixing, ambush marketing or websites seeking to celebrate and propagate cricket. Dull pitches will result in dull matches that risk losing the interest of spectators and failing to attract the next generation of supporters. And that was, of course, the original point of limited-overs cricket.

So it should come as a disappointment to learn that West Indies and England will contest the deciding ODI of their series in Antigua on the same begrudging surface that hosted the first two games. The same surface that yielded just nine fours in West Indies' innings in the second ODI. The same surface where part-time spinners have proved so effective in stifling the scoring. The same surface where where strokeplay and pace are punished and where patience and accumulation are rewarded. Where anti-cricket thrives. ODI cricket was not meant to be this way.

It is no coincidence and should be no surprise that attendances have declined in the Caribbean since such pitches became the norm. This ground has only been filled once. And that was when Kenny Rogers took his love to town.

There is, in this case at least, some mitigation. The conditions here are expected to be similar to those in Bangladesh where, in a couple of weeks, these two sides will be starting their World T20 campaign. But it is a shame that spectators have been asked to sit through - and pay for - a training session in desultory cricket.

That is not to say that both this sides are not desperate to win. They are like two old heavyweights slugging it out on the undercard; battling not so much for glory as to sustain an ebbing career. They craze confidence and momentum after chastening months and, quite rightly, see each other as opposition ripe for the taking. This has not been a high-quality series.

But both sides could be strengthened for this game. Marlon Samuels is not 100% but will be considered for selection by West Indies in the place of the horribly out of sorts Kirk Edwards, while Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan have now trained for three days in succession and are close to a return. Luke Wright looks most vulnerable. In a series typified by weak batting, all three would be welcome.

One man who can already take some confidence from this series is Ravi Bopara. His match-winning partnership with Stuart Broad in the second game might not, in the grand scheme of things, be remembered as one of the great innings - he scored 38 in 59 balls, after all - but in the context of his England career, it might prove quietly significant.

As things stand, the defining moment of Bopara's career is the Champions Trophy final. With England on course for victory - they required 20 to win from 14 balls - Bopara, the last experienced batsman, pulled a long-hop from Ishant Sharma to square-leg. England lost by five runs and their long wait for that first global ODI trophy remains. It is a memory that might bother the whole team for the rest of their lives.

It is an uncomfortably accurate summation of Bopara's career, too, which has to date promised rather more than it has delivered. And certainly the memory of it bothers Bopara.

"We came so close in the Champions Trophy," he said. "We had a chance to win a global competition. That would have been amazing for the team. For all of us, really. Not winning was heartbreaking. It's right up there with the worst disappointment I've had.

"When you're out there, you don't think back. You don't think 'this is what happened in the Champions Trophy'. You just play the situation. You play the ball. But every now and then I'll be sitting watching TV and I'll think about the Champions Trophy final and think 'maybe I could have done this or that'."

He appears to have learned from the experience.

"When we needed three to win the other day, Darren Sammy came on as the top bowlers had bowled out," Bopara said. "He bowled me a short ball and I took the single and got up the other end, looked at square leg and thought 'You know what, I could easily have hit that straight at him.' If I'd just pulled it, it would have felt nice coming straight out of the middle of the bat, you think, alright that's going for four, but it goes straight to the bloke. That could easily have happened again.

Such episodes bode well for England. If Bopara, who says he has "never been more hungry" to return to Test cricket, can find the composure to complement his talent, he could yet win many games for England. Perhaps in all formats.

"I feel stronger and tougher," he said. "I don't question myself as much as I used to. I went through that that period when things weren't right with my life and I took my eye off the ball. I had a lot of time to think about what I want to do and why I'm here and why I started playing cricket. I realised that the most important thing in my life apart from my family is cricket. Finishing my career saying I've played 13 Tests and 100 ODIs; that doesn't satisfy me."

Winning this ODI series may not satisfy these teams, either. But it will provide something of a foundation stone at the start of a long rebuilding process.

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Warner thrives on sledges

Throughout their long and legendary careers, it was a common dictate of bowlers and fielders not to sledge Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. In the case of Tendulkar, the verbals seemed to have no effect. In the case of Lara, they often served to rouse him to feats of batsmanship that may not have been seen had the opposition kept their mouths shut.

David Warner is still a long way from emulating either man in terms of run-making, but he too can be added to the 'do not sledge' ledger. Following the ball-tampering allegation he raised on Australian radio, Warner was not only fined by the ICC but warned by South Africa's captain Graeme Smith to expect a hot reception at Newlands. His response has been definitive, twin centuries in a dominant Australian display to cap the finest series of his career thus far.

While tempering some of his earlier excesses of quote-ability, Warner was frank in expressing his delight in making himself a target, then backing his ability to fight off his assailants, no matter how riled they may be. So much does Warner thrive on confrontation that he admitted to looking to start one if it was not already there.

"You don't always want to play like that but when there is a little bit of pressure on I do find another gear," he said. "It does help me sometimes but I think the other thing is that when I get out there and they start giving me a little bit of banter I love that I am in the contest then.

"If they are not going to talk to me when I am out there I will try to niggle them, I will try and say something when I bat. I've ventured away from that because now I have given ammo out in the media or in previous games. I love it when they come at me it is a challenge.

"Sometimes I think when I do deliver something in the media I probably do say it in a way where it does get misunderstood. But I've been brought up to be honest, I'm always going to continue to be honest and not cross that line. I've got to keep working on my ability to do that, and not give you guys ammo to write things."

It will never be forgotten that Warner made his start via Twenty20, having been held out of the New South Wales Sheffield Shield team long after his talent was apparent. On the advice of Virender Sehwag and the initiative of Greg Chappell, Warner was pushed towards longer form priorities in 2011, and after periods of adaptation and indiscipline is now taking up the lofty perch Sehwag had imagined for him.

"It goes back to that conversation I had with Virender Sehwag. He said to me I'd be a better Test cricketer than shorter format because all the fielders were in close," Warner recalled. "If you're going to take on fast bowling and the best bowling in the world you have to try and score runs and with my game I look to attack first before I'm defending and that's the way I've always played my cricket and that's how I will always play my cricket."

"I do feel respected, and the other thing is they know if they miss their mark that I'm going to start going after them as well. I've still got to be careful and respect the bowler in the conditions that we face. With the conditions that we've had here, the wickets have probably been batter friendly, but I've known my game and trusted my game [so] I can go after the bowlers."

Asked whether he could now consider himself the world's best opening batsman, Warner smiled, but for now allowed modesty to rule his ego. "I'll let you answer that question," he said. "I'm just elated that I'm in good form, I'm probably playing the best cricket I have in my career so far. It's fantastic to feel like you know when you go out there you can take on the world's best as I have so far. It's an amazing feeling but it'll be even better if we win this game."

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We still have hope - Domingo

It was only 16 months ago but Russell Domingo seemed a lot younger in November 2012. His voice had a little more song in it and he smiled a bit more when he was put up to address the media on the fourth day of the second Test between South Africa and Australia.

Then, South Africa were 77 for 4 after being set a target of 430 and Domingo admitted they were down and out. "We know that 350 on the last day with four wickets down is probably out of the window," he said then. He was right but he also wasn't expecting South Africa to bat out 98 overs like they did.

That they did is why today, despite tired eyes, with a tone that was less melodious and more of a frown, Domingo brought a message that was like a dark cloud. It had a silver lining. "I think there is still hope," he said. "We're hoping AB can score the slowest 40 in the history of the game. We've got Faf who has done it before. And JP is off the back of a 100. There's still hope."

It's probably a slimmer hope now than it was then because back in November 2012, Australia were a bowler down after James Pattinson had suffered a side strain. Now, he is fit and they are only half a bowler short because Ryan Harris may need to protect his knee. Then, the track was flat and there was no reverse swing. Now, it's a little up and down and the movement is there to be exploited. But then, South Africa did not know whether they could bat out a day. Now, they do.

"We've managed to get ourselves out of holes like this before," Domingo said. Twice, they have done it before. South Africa drew both in Adelaide and at the Wanderers against India. They have proved bowling them out is not always that easy and with enough resolve, they can put up a stubborn resistance.

What could end up being the major difference is that then, South Africa were not facing a future without their leader. Now they are. It may also be why Domingo looks like he has aged more than he would have liked. "It's an emotional space," he said of the South African change-room now, given Graeme Smith's imminent retirement. "Everybody in that team started their career with Graeme as the captain."

Smith told his team-mates and Domingo the news after the third day's play. It came unexpectedly but firmly. "When a player of that decision makes like that, he doesn't do it overnight. He would have thought about it. You cant change a person's mind once he has made his decision," Domingo said. "I might have heard a rumour that it was due to happen soon but I didn't ask about it."

Whether there is more to Smith's timing than meets the eye may only be uncovered in a few days' time. For now, Domingo and Smith have to concentrate on salvaging the series. Domingo can't look too far ahead but thinks he has the players who can make up for Smith's absence and step up when needed.

"When guys like Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock retired, people thought who is going to come next and up popped Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander," he said. "We've always got some depth and some good players. It's time for Hashim Amla, Dale, Morne, Vernon and AB de Villiers to become icon players. They learnt their trade under the Smiths and Kallis and now they need to impart knowledge."

The only batsman from that list who can still do that in this match is de Villiers, who incidentally was also batting overnight in Adelaide. He has the nightwatchman at one end and du Plessis still to come. With those resources in the bank, Domingo sees the current situation as 70-30 in Australia's favour.

If South Africa can bat to lunch with only another wicket lost, he thinks that will shift the balance to 60-40. If they get to tea and still have five men in the hut, that equation, according to Domingo, will become 50-50. It's a number's game for Domingo who admitted, somewhat wearily, they can only hope to save the match and and not break new ground.

"We'll always want to win but we'll take a draw right now and run very quickly," he said. "I wouldn't have taken a draw at the start of the series because it was an opportunity to make history."

Having never won a series against Australia at home since readmission, now it is just an opportunity for South Africa not to repeat history.

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'We tell Afridi, give yourself 20-25 balls' - Misbah

Having won Pakistan their previous match against India, Shahid Afridi walked in with Pakistan in an even more difficult situation against Bangladesh. With 52 balls remaining, Pakistan needed 102 runs to win. He proceeded to clout 59 off 25 balls, sending seven sixes soaring over the ropes. In between those big hits off the spinners, he kept his head about him, and was prepared to take singles and wait for the loose balls against the seam bowlers.

"I think that's the message given to Shahid Afridi, that at least he should give himself 20-25 balls," Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan's captain, said after his team's three-wicket win. "Just make sure that you play 25-30 balls. We know that when he plays 20-25 balls, he can score 50. I think that's what he's doing, and I'm really happy with the way he's playing."

Afridi's controlled aggression was in some ways reminiscent of how he had batted on the road to Pakistan winning the 2009 World T20 title in England. With another edition of that tournament mere days away, Misbah said Afridi's form boded well for Pakistan's prospects.

"I think that's the biggest plus for us, the way Shahid Afridi is playing, not only in this [Asia Cup] final, but also T20 World Cup is coming, so he's the main player, and the kind of form he is in, the kind of confidence, it's good for the Pakistan team."

Misbah said Pakistan could look to use him in a flexible role during the World T20. "He is always used in T20 whenever such a situation comes, he is promoted, and depending on the start his number changes," Misbah said. "I think, the kind of form he is in, Pakistan can use him anywhere in the order."

Pakistan's chase wasn't all about Afridi, of course. Ahmed Shehzad's century and his opening stand of 97 with Mohammad Hafeez laid a solid platform before Fawad Alam, returning to the ODI side after three-and-a-half years, guided the team through the closing stages in the company of Afridi and Umar Akmal. While most of the questions at the press conference were about Afridi's whirwind innings, Misbah kept drawing attention to the other batsmen's contributions.

"I think so," he said, when asked if Afridi's innings was one of the best he had seen. "Not only Shahid Afridi, but also the way Fawad Alam and Ahmed Shehzad played. After his 50, the way he picked up the run rate, it was almost 10 an over and he brought it down to 8, and then well supported by Fawad Alam, and the start of Hafeez was also crucial, and Shahid Afridi. I think all of them I think played much-needed knocks, and in the end Umar Akmal finished it well. In the end it was a great combination of all these batsmen who really won us the game."

With their successful chase of a 327-run target, Pakistan had shrugged a particularly clingy monkey off their backs. They had failed in their last 12 pursuits of 250-plus targets, the most recent instance coming in their opening match of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka, where they lost wickets in a heap to let go of a dominant position.

Asked what the team talk had been like following that defeat, Misbah said the team management, particularly their chief cricket consultant Zaheer Abbas, had stressed on the need for the batsmen to stay at the crease till the end.

"I think the message was very clear, even by the great Zaheer Abbas, that the kind of ability we have in our dressing room, especially our batsmen, if our batsmen play 50 overs, we can just chase any target," Misbah said. "That was the message even today when we started chasing, that we need to play 50 overs. The batsmen need to play 50 overs, so that was the task given by the management and me also, and we did it and it proved right at the end and we chased the target."

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'We showed a lot of character' - Kohli

'Proud of our boys today' - Kohli

With three overs remaining, Pakistan needed 17 runs to win, with four wickets in hand. Three of India's frontline bowlers had one over left of their 10-over quotas. Virat Kohli decided to bowl out his two seamers first and leave R Ashwin to bowl the last over of the match. The strategy nearly worked; India took three wickets in five balls in the last two overs, and left Pakistan's last-wicket pair nine runs to get from four balls.

Two sixes from Shahid Afridi won Pakistan the match, but Kohli said he was proud of how India fought, and didn't think he had gone wrong in leaving Ashwin to bowl the last over.

"Not at all," he said, after the match. "I knew that if I put the seamers in before and Ashwin comes to bowl, they will go for it. Wickets is all we wanted. If Afridi and Umar Gul had just played singles they would have won easily. I took that risk of putting the seamers in and making them hit the ball.

"We almost pulled it off as well in the end. Those last two sixes were not quite off the middle of the bat. One side was a small boundary, but that's how it goes. We almost pulled it off and I'm really proud of the way the team showed character in the field and with the bowling as well - 245 against a team like Pakistan and on that wicket with the dew is not easy to defend, but I think the guys showed a lot of character."

Kohli said India had done particularly well to run Pakistan so close considering the experience gap between the sides.

"If you compare the experience of our team with their team, it's massive, it's huge," Kohli said. "And in international cricket it really counts a lot. You can get away with it in Twenty20, but in the 50-over format you need to show a lot of character and that's exactly what the boys did.

"If you see the kind of batsmen they had and our bowlers with the inexperience they had, still to put up that kind of fight… I mean you see Amit Mishra, he gave only 28 runs in 10 overs, took two wickets, bowled brilliantly against the likes of Misbah, Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi. So I think it was a commendable effort and I'm really, really proud of the way the guys fought it out."

Kohli praised the efforts of Amit Mishra, who came into the side for the first time in the tournament and took 2 for 28 in his 10 overs. Kohli hinted the legspinner might start featuring more frequently in the team's plans.

"Well that's one thing you can say now," he said, when asked if Mishra should have come off the bench sooner. "If he went for 70 in 10 I don't think you would have asked me that question. But I've always been really impressed by Amit Mishra. He's an attacking bowler, which I like as well. He always likes to make the batsman take on that extra fielder inside the circle.

"The way he bowled with such a small target to defend I think it was brilliant on his part. The amount of character he showed, he certainly put his hand up. In the future as well, if we want to play with three spinners or we want to go with the same kind of bowling attack, he would certainly be one of our priorities. He's brilliant with the ball, turns it on any sort of wicket and today he showed what he could do. I'm really, really happy for him."

After seeing how the spinners had controlled the ball better than the pace bowlers when dew started playing a part against Sri Lanka, Kohli decided he would select Mishra as a third spinner against Pakistan.

"Well the last game, the way it panned out… even with the dew, if you can get the wicket to dry out, and these wickets are pretty dry, so if the bowler can bowl three deliveries in an over on an area, it's much better for the spinner. He has more of a wicket-taking chance compared to the fast bowlers. With dew coming in at the end, the fast bowlers tend to go for plenty of runs. That was the idea in the last game itself.

"Rohit Sharma had contained them [Sri Lanka] pretty nicely and there I made a decision that we should go with three spinners. These guys have a lot of right-handers in the squad as well and Mishra turns the ball, so I wanted that attacking bowler in the bowling line-up and it almost paid off for us. I think he and Ashwin were the difference in the game today. The way they controlled that situation was magnificent."

As had been the case in their previous match against Sri Lanka, India missed chances on the field, with a missed stumping from Dinesh Karthik proving particularly costly. Kohli repeated what he had said after the Sri Lanka game - India would have to play smarter cricket.

"We are making mistakes regularly, which we need to correct because they are costing us in international cricket," he said. "If we make three or four crucial errors in each game, it's quite costly in the end. That is one thing we have to learn from and improve on because there's quite a bit of inexperience in batting and bowling. People learn from mistakes and I hope in the coming games we don't repeat these mistakes and play more smartly at crucial times."

India still have a chance of reaching the final, but they will probably need other matches to end in upsets. Kohli said he was not going to worry about other results.

"Well, I've personally stopped putting my money on the games that are left in the tournament," he said. "In Australia [2011-12 tri-series] as well, we were watching another game, and Sri Lanka almost beat Australia and we could have made the finals, but that didn't happen. Last time in Asia Cup as well we were hoping Sri Lanka beats Pakistan or Bangladesh, either of the two, but that didn't happen. All we can do is put up a strong performance in our game, try and get a bonus point, and then see. We'll know by March 4 what happens. We're just looking to improve our cricket and correct our mistakes."

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Karthik lets it slip again

Dinesh Karthik has missed two important stumpings in two matches, and has lost his wicket at times when he could have helped India towards stronger totals

Before bowling the fourth ball of his eighth over against Pakistan, R Ashwin waved to his fielders at deep backward square leg and deep midwicket. With a sweep of his right arm, Ashwin indicated he wanted both of them to move a few steps to their right.

Ashwin, bowling around the wicket, had clearly set his field for the sweep. It was obvious to anyone watching that he was going to shift to a leg-stump line. Sohaib Maqsood knew this, and it looked like he wanted to upset Ashwin's calculations when he tried to squirt the next ball - quick, full, on leg stump - down the ground in a slightly inside-out manner. Ashwin moved alertly to his left and stopped the ball.

Next ball, Maqsood jumped down the track. He had started too early, though, and Ashwin sent down a carrom ball wide of leg stump. Maqsood tried to flick, missed, and was stranded yards down the pitch. Behind him, the ball bounced off Dinesh Karthik's gloves.

The field change should have alerted Karthik that he might soon need to collect the ball down the leg side. He should not have been surprised by the carrom ball either. Ashwin had taken his first wicket with that delivery, bowling Sharjeel Khan through the gate.

With the match situation thrown in the mix, Karthik's error looked even more glaring. Chasing 246, Pakistan were 168 for 4 in the 38th over. The partnership between Maqsood and Mohammad Hafeez had just gone past 50. They added another 32 and took Pakistan to 200 before Ashwin dismissed Hafeez. Pakistan won by one wicket, in the last over, and it took two sixes in two balls from Shahid Afridi to get them home.   

In India's previous match, Karthik had missed a stumping when Kumar Sangakkara was on 30. He went on to make 103 and win the match for Sri Lanka. It was one of a series of errors the fielders made, and Virat Kohli, India's captain, spoke after the game of the need to play smarter cricket.

A part of his concern had been directed at India's batting too. Against Sri Lanka, they had slumped from 175 for 3 to 215 for 7, and Karthik had played one of the needless shots that had brought them to that situation.

Against Pakistan, Karthik walked in to bat with India on 103 for 4 in the 24th over, having lost Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in the span of five overs. This was a big test for India's new middle order. For a while, it looked as though they were passing it, with Ambati Rayudu busy at one end and Karthik hanging in at the other.

Their partnership had just crossed 50 when Karthik moved to sweep Hafeez from outside off stump. The ball landed well short of sweeping length, and Karthik changed his stroke to an uncertain lap. The ball bounced a little extra, took the top-edge, and nestled into the hands of short fine leg.

It was a soft dismissal, and it came at a bad time for India. Yes, it was the batting Powerplay, after India had already lost four wickets. Their priority at that stage must have been to reach the 40-over mark without losing another. Karthik was out for a 46-ball 23.

India's squad at the Asia Cup is full of inexperienced players, and a large part of this inexperience is concentrated in the middle order. Karthik isn't inexperienced. He made his international debut nearly a decade ago. He has played 70 ODIs, and 23 Tests for good measure.

Karthik has had the misfortune of being a wicketkeeper-batsman in the MS Dhoni era, and it's meant he has seldom had a long run in the side. But the selectors have valued his talent enough to pick him as a specialist batsman in 47 ODIs and seven Tests. They have valued it so much that he has batted in the top five in 42 of his one-day innings, and has opened the batting 20 times.

Despite this, Karthik has an average of 27.48, a strike-rate of 73.15, seven half-centuries and a highest score of 79. It's fair to say he has rarely grabbed his chances.

From September 2009 to August 2010, he made double-digit scores in 17 straight ODI innings but only made two half-centuries. All but two of those 17 innings came as opener or at No. 3. He was dropped after scoring 9, 0 and 0 in the three innings that followed, and didn't play an ODI for nearly three years.

Karthik returned to the side for the Champions Trophy last year, on the back of some heavy scoring in first-class cricket and in the IPL. He showed ominous form in the warm-up games, scoring two hundreds, but reverted to type when the competitive games began. Replacing Yuvraj Singh, he scored two half-centuries in 12 innings over the course of three ODI tournaments, and was dropped once again.

Dhoni's side strain gave Karthik another opportunity, but he has let it slip in the most literal way possible, in two successive matches. As Afridi's match-winning six soared into the Mirpur sky, Dhoni's IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings, pressed the send button on a tweet.  

"Do you think we missed Dhoni today as a captain / keeper / finisher? #missuMahi," it said.

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Bopara and Parry give cause for optimism

When you've been in the slump England have endured any win is gratefully received. Some their batting raised more concerns, but the bowler, fielding and Ravi Bopara's calmness impressed

Croft: A dismal West Indies batting performance

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't without fortune and it wasn't convincing but, like a starving man presented with week-old bread, England are in no position to quibble over the style of any victory.

Going into this game, England had lost 16 of their last 19 games in all formats against Test-playing opposition. They had lost seven of their last nine ODIs and five in a row across the limited-overs formats. They were desperate for a win to inject some confidence into a squad that has, so far, crept tentatively into a new era.

Defeat would have had damaging consequences. Not only would it have sealed the result of the series, but it would have increased the pressure on Ashley Giles, in particular, and risked the morale of the squad just ahead of the World T20.

As Stuart Broad, the captain, admitted afterwards: "We've probably fallen short in the real pressure scenarios in the past year. It would have been a huge setback to lose today, having done some great things. It would have been like slamming your head against a brick wall really.

"We just needed the top order to play us through and take responsibility. We didn't manage to do that, and we had a Champions Trophy final-type wobble in the middle. But we got over the line, and that's the most important thing.

"I would have been hugely disappointed sat here 2-0 down after some of the cricket we've played. On Friday, we played 75% of the cricket, and lost the game.

"To get over the line should give the changing-room a huge amount of confidence and belief - because we've not won two games in a row since July."

Even if the result had gone the other way - and but for an umpiring decision that went against Dwayne Bravo it might have done - there would have been some encouraging aspects to the performance. England's bowling, with their four spinners accounting for eight of West Indies' wickets, was much improved from the first game, while their fielding, already showing the influence of Paul Collingwood, was a key difference between the sides.

The close proximity of the fielders to the bat in the circle - England usually have them on the edge, thereby regularly surrendering quick singles - was classic Collingwood and noticeably increased the pressure on the West Indies batsmen.

Stephen Parry, a veteran of just six first-class games at the age of 28, went some way to justifying his surprise selection with three wickets on a debut that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award. He is not a spinner that is particularly pleasing on the eye and offers little of the traditional skills of flight or dip but, much in the manner that Michael Yardy fulfilled a valuable role for England in the World T20 of 2010, he has something to offer in the shorter formats.

He was admirably composed and, in taking the important wicket of Lendl Simmons the ball after having been hit for six, holding the following delivery back just a fraction and inviting a repeat of the stroke, he demonstrated pleasing confidence and nerve. He will not always find the conditions so helpful or the batsmen so obliging, but the unfazed character bodes well.

But perhaps it was the composure shown by Ravi Bopara that was most heartening. Bopara's talent has never been in question and, in his 101 ODIs, he has shown glimpses of quality that have made his inability to deliver more consistently all the more maddening. All too often, notably in the Champions Trophy final and in the ODI in Adelaide in January, he has appeared to freeze under pressure.

Here, however, he was calmness personified. While Broad was more than a little fortunate - he could have been caught three times before he made 6 and was reprieved on review before he had scored - Bopara knew there was no hurry and did not play a false stroke in the eighth-wicket partnership that took his side to victory. Again, there will be bigger moments in bigger games, but this was an unbeaten 38 worth far more than some of his half-centuries thrashed with the pressure off.

Broad's captaincy is intriguing, too. He appeared noticeably more aggressive than Alastair Cook might have been, utilising two legs slips at one stage and again opening the bowling with a spinner. Indeed, England utilised two part-time spinners in the Powerplay.

Still, victory should not mask the fragility of England's batting for the second game in succession. Bearing in mind the trial against spin anticipated in Bangladesh, their struggles against Sunil Narine, in particular, are a worry. Luke Wright has been horribly exposed in this series and the manner of Jos Buttler's dismissal, desperately uncomfortable trying to evade a bouncer, will have fast bowlers the world over taking notice. He will face many quicker bowlers on many quicker wickets.

It is a situation that does nothing to vindicate the management's decision to dispense with the services of Kevin Pietersen, but it would be disingenuous to suggest that is the only problem. Eoin Morgan has also been sorely missed, while Ian Bell and Cook will return to the first choice ODI side.

It is worth noting, too, that since the ODI series in January, England's No. 3 batsman - a combination of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Wright - have scored just 91 runs between them in 13 innings; a run of scores that reads: 3, 2, 15, 70, 0, 1 and 0. Suffice it to say, Jonathan Trott has not been effectively replaced.

While the tired pitch - slow, low and, in many ways, utterly unsuited to promoting limited-overs cricket as a form of entertainment - resulted in some desultory cricket - there were only nine fours in the entire West Indies innings - it did provide a good example of what to expect in Bangladesh.

It will be encouraging for them, then, that both Morgan and Alex Hales were able to return to the nets during the game and might play in the deciding game on Wednesday.

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Zimbabwe Cricket mismanaged $6m ICC loan

A protest over salaries by Zimbabwe's cricketers has again brought to the fore Zimbabwe Cricket's financial problems, which have continued despite at least US $9 million being loaned by the ICC to the board. ESPNcricinfo can reveal that one reason for the financial mess is that ZC's top leadership apparently used a $6 million loan from the ICC to enrich a bank on whose board they sit and ignored a key condition of the loan.

The issue also raises an apparent conflict of interest: ZC chairman Peter Chingoka, vice-chairman Wilson Manase and former managing director Ozias Bvute all sit on the board of Metbank, one of Zimbabwe's leading banks. While Chingoka is a non-executive director on the Metbank board, Manase is chairman of the board and Bvute is a major shareholder in the institution.

ZC said the main purpose for the ICC loan was to service the current facilities with local banks so that it could borrow again but the plan was upset by the status of the financial market. Chingoka also said it was "wrong and malicious" to allege loss of money when Metbank themselves were owed the most amount of money. The ICC, meanwhile, has declined to respond to specific questions.

Recent effects of that debt have been public knowledge: last September, ZC called off a proposed visit by Sri Lanka on financial grounds and the current domestic season was delayed by two months after players went on strike over unpaid wages. That matter raised its head again in negotiations over payments for the upcoming World Twenty20, which have been deadlocked but due to resume on March 3.

ESPNcricinfo has learnt that from 2009, ZC took out US dollar loans from Metbank at interest rates of more than 20% - and possibly as high as 24% - despite knowing the ICC could arrange loans at international interest rates far below those that Metbank was offering.

In December 2011, after learning of ZC's high-interest loans from Metbank, the ICC loaned the cricket board $6 million with one rider: the money should be used to immediately retire ZC's existing debt. Instead ZC deposited the money in a non-interest-bearing account with Metbank for more than five months. Metbank would have benefited from the interest accruing on their high-interest loan to ZC, as well as from having ZC's money in the non-interest-bearing account available to loan to third parties. ZC would, by the same deal, have lost out twice.

The ICC loan was received by ZC on December 14, 2011; on January 18, 2012, ZC repaid $75,000 to Premier Bank, and another $50,000 to the same institution on March 15. It then repaid $1,758,211 to Interfin Bank on April 23, 2012 and $829,167 to FBC Bank on May 3.

It was not until May 25 that $3,287,623 was repaid to Metbank. With that amount sitting in a non-interest-bearing account for five months and 11 days, Metbank could have earned in the region of $300,000 by loaning it out to third parties at an interest rate of 20%. ZC would have paid around the same amount in interest on its loan from Metbank, which was attracting interest of more than 20 %over that time period. Metbank could therefore have benefited by more than $600,000 from the two effects.

The knock-on effect of those decisions was that ZC's debt spiral continued, to the extent that the board had to seek a second ICC loan last month, worth $3m, so that it could pay the money owed to its contracted players, umpires, scorers and other employees. It was also able to announce its squad for the World Twenty20 after receiving an extended deadline from the ICC, and domestic cricket resumed last weekend.

The ICC knew about these indiscretions since at least March 2013, but did not take any action against the individuals involved. However, its latest loan came with the condition that ZC move its principal accounts away from Metbank, which it has now done. Media reports suggest the ICC is preparing to pay off ZC's debts to Metbank; that money will then be deducted from ZC's annual benefits from the ICC, which could amount to $25m over the next three years.

The malaise in Zimbabwe Cricket's finances has been a feature of the last decade. When Bvute took over the organisation's reins following Vince Hogg's resignation in 2004, ZC was $10 million in the black. The 2012 audit of their accounts shows net liabilities of $14,267,152, and total liabilities of $19,081,421.

The exact cost of the financial mismanagement to ZC is difficult to calculate because it is unclear how much they owed Metbank when the $6m loan from the ICC was granted. Media reports in Zimbabwe estimated a further $15 million will be needed to erase the cricket board's bad debt to Metbank.

It is also not clear whether ZC explained the conflict of interests involving Chingoka, Manase and Bvute when that loan was agreed upon, although the ICC should have been aware of it since the trio are listed as directors on the Metbank website and the facts are also stated in ZC's annual audits. The ICC would not have known that Bvute was a major shareholder unless it had been informed as such by ZC.

Asked to explain the reason for the delay in paying off the loan, Chingoka told ESPNcricinfo: "Zimbabwe Cricket postponed utilisation of the ICC loan proceeds. Given the unstable financial market situation then, there was a risk that utilisation of the ICC loan proceeds was likely to result in ZC's bankers failing to finance the renewed bank facilities. Zimbabwe Cricket's main purpose for the loan was to service the current facilities with local banks so that ZC could borrow again. However, as a result of the status of the financial market then, such an initiative was no longer achievable. Meanwhile, temporary extension for the other bank facilities had been sought on the understanding that payment for the facilities will be done once the liquidity situation improved. So it is wrong and malicious to allege loss of money when Metropolitan Bank themselves were owed the most amount of money."

Chingoka did not, however, answer questions on why ZC borrowed money from Metbank when it could have borrowed from the ICC at lower interest rates, or why ZC did not deposit the ICC loan into an interest-bearing account.

He did answer a question on the potential conflict of interest involving its top officials. "Non-executive directors (including Chingoka and Manase) at ZC guide the organisation's strategy and policy whilst operational issues e.g. relationships with banks, are for the management of the organisation." Bvute was managing director of ZC until June 2012.

Asked about the misuse of the ICC loan, an ICC spokesman said only that the organisation does not comment on financial matters relating to its Full Members. A further request for comment on the latest $3m loan, and the prospect of ZC being bailed out of its debt, received the same response.

Were the ICC to pay off the debt to Metbank, it would likely be helping to bail out the bank as well as the cricket board. Metbank has faced mounting liquidity issues over the past five months, which came to a head towards the end of last year when many customers were unable to access the money in their accounts. According to one newspaper report in January, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been monitoring Metbank under the Troubled and Insolvent Bank policy since November 2013. The report said that ZC's outstanding debt to Metbank was $15m, and that this large exposure was a prime reason for the Reserve Bank's concern over Metbank.

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Warner, Clarke get tough

David Warner and Michael Clarke produced arguably two of their finest knocks to lift Australia into a commanding position in Cape Town

When pondering how David Warner might respond to a raft of South African sledging expected to come his way in this match due to his howled down allegation of ball tampering, Michael Clarke offered his opening batsman the inelegant but appropriate sobriquet of "tough bugger".

On the critically important opening day of the Newlands Test, Warner lived up to Clarke's choice of words with arguably his finest Test hundred, but no more so than the captain himself, who carved out an innings of enormous courage and presence.

There had been many reasons entering into this match for both Warner and Clarke to be distracted, even agitated. Warner had earned the rebukes of teammates, opponents and officials alike for his broadcast suggestion of sharp practice on the part of AB de Villiers.

It was certainly provocative and formally deemed disrespectful, drawing an ICC sanction and the sorts of headlines that have followed his career a little too often. The South Africans had plenty of reason to pour on the vitriol once Warner strode to the wicket.

Clarke's problems were of a different and deeper nature. In order to overcome his immediate difficulty - a lack of runs over his past 11 innings - Clarke had to surmount a longer term foible, namely the spectre of short-pitched bowling and its capacity to expose the lack of flexibility in his back.

The man to deliver such bowling was Morne Morkel, a man with no rival as the fastest and tallest exponent of the bouncer in world cricket. Add to this the chance to defeat top-ranked South Africa at home, and the occasion weighed heavily.

Fortunately for Clarke and Warner, the captain performed ably in his first duty of the day, winning one of the more important tosses of his life. Centurion and Port Elizabeth had well and truly established Australia's preference for making the running by batting first, particularly on a pitch not given to early life. Taking first strike in Cape Town on another late-season surface promising little in the way of sideways movement allowed the fast-scoring method preached by the coach Darren Lehmann to place pressure on South Africa, even as they carried plenty of momentum from St George's Park.

Irrespective of the prevailing conditions, the runs still had to be scored, and in the early overs Warner once again too the initiative from the hosts with some help from Chris Rogers. They raised a half-century stand inside 10 overs, prompting Graeme Smith to disperse his catching men and post sweepers to the boundary in search of greater control over the scoring rate. To some degree he achieved this, but he also allowed Warner the room to feel more or less impervious to dismissal, given so many options for turning over the strike.

Across the series, Warner has repeatedly forced Smith's fielders back, to the point that his latter phases of centuries at Centurion and Newlands have been played out in the manner of mid-innings ODI batting. Very little onus has been placed on Warner to split the field or avoid the clutches of slips or gully, allowing him to throttle back into a gear of comfort while still scoring rapidly. Ten boundaries in Warner's century were the minimum to be expected from a powerful opener on a fast outfield, but a strike rate of near enough to a run-a-ball showed how Warner had hemmed in Smith, rather than the other way round.

"He puts pressure on the opposition so quickly," Shane Warne said of Warner. "Duminy was bowling in the 10th over so very early you've got a part-time spinner bowling. It just puts pressure on the opposition captain by how fast he scores and the way he scores. I saw maturity in his batting when Graeme Smith had point back and he got a couple of singles, Smith brought point up and he hit two fours past him. It wasn't like he was just about smashing the ball, he was quite clever about it.

"One of the hardest things as a bowler is if you go through all your plans and say 'we've just got to stop this guy scoring for a while' and when he manipulates the field it is a really tough spot to be in as captain. Someone like a Darren Lehmann when you used to bowl against him he'd manipulate the field very well. Smithy ended up just being defensive about stopping runs, then Davey can just knock it around. He can do that to a captain because he's such a good player."

If Warner was in command of his game, then Clarke was on bended knee beseeching his to comply with his fervent wishes for a score. His early play was scratchy, and when Morkel chose to go around the wicket, Clarke found himself with no escape. Not limber enough to duck or sway easily, nor swivel to hook in the manner of Ian Chappell, Clarke was instead battered after the fashion of Steve Waugh. Neck, jaw, body and fingers all took fearsome blows, the icepacks piling high in Australia's dressing room to greet Clarke whenever he returned.

But Morkel was unable to follow up these raining blows by coaxing an outside edge or a miscue, Clarke's determination underlined by the perfunctory wave he offered the physio Alex Kountouris and doctor Peter Brukner when they jogged onto the field at the end of the over when Morkel felled him. Warne called it batting in the "over my dead body" category, and there was scarcely a better way to describe it. Clarke stood firm, untroubled by how ugly he looked, and with Dale Steyn absent due to a hamstring complaint he was able to endure.

By stumps Clarke was on the outskirts of a century to rank with any in his career, his unbeaten status a fitting capstone on one of the best Australian first innings, first day performances of Ricky Ponting's prime period. Every partnership had been worth at least 50, meaning even the likes of Rogers and Alex Doolan had played some part. But it was Clarke and Warner who deserved the chief plaudits, two "tough buggers" setting aside their earlier travails to set Australia on the path towards the sort of victory that would echo down the years.

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Spirited Pakistan fall in final hurdle

Having at least one subcontinent team in the final of the Under-19 World Cup was what the tournament organisers would have hoped for. It was perhaps fitting that Pakistan was one of those teams, given that the turnout is always bigger when Pakistan and India play in these parts.

A Pakistan win would have brought massive cheer to the several expectant fans who showed up in Dubai, but the team failed to deliver. It might have been stage fright on an important day such as this, but the players got a taste of playing in front of large numbers, by U-19 World Cup standards.

Sami Aslam, the captain, has been a part of two World Cups and has endured heartbreaks in both. In 2012, it was a quarter-final exit in a low-scoring thriller against India, a match which was in Pakistan's hands till India's tenth-wicket pair stole the show.

In 2014, they were bundled out for 131 in the final - just one short of their senior team's score in the 1999 World Cup final - and the results were similar. They made South Africa sweat in the beginning but couldn't sustain the intensity. Rather than look for excuses, Aslam gave due credit to the opposition and acknowledged the work put in by his own team getting to the final.

"We had played very good cricket coming to the final," Aslam said. "But South Africa bowled well in the final, and two or three of our batsmen played some poor shots."

Pakistan had only dropped one match in the tournament, against India, and had to fight tooth and nail in the semi-final to get to the summit clash. Their batting problems from the semi-final resurfaced in the final, with their top order stumbling to South Africa's four-man seam attack.

The team had a huddle before going out to defend 131 and Aslam said the message was to focus on the positives.

"The manager spoke to us and said that there is nothing to be disappointed," Aslam said. "We had played well and he motivated all of us. Today, we could not play that well."

Pakistan struggled against the South African duo of Justin Dill and Corbin Bosch, two bowlers of similar pace, and were floundering at 72 for 7 at one stage. Aslam said their accurate lines and lengths changed the match.

Pakistan's biggest takeaway from the tournament is Imam-ul-Haq, the opening batsman who finished the second highest run-getter in the tournament with 382 runs and forged a formidable opening stand with Aslam.

Pakistan's journey is all the more special considering that they don't get to face bowlers of international quality back home, because many teams have refused to tour the country since 2009. Therefore, their foreign tours assume greater significance than for most teams. In the lead-up, Pakistan had played tournaments in England, UAE and a short home series against Afghanistan and had won all barring the Asia Cup.

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