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The absence of transparent tender processes, the large number of complimentary tickets distributed, the presence of ineligible office bearers, and problems with vendor contracts were among the issues highlighted by the BCCI observer Ratnakar Shetty against the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), which hosted the one-off India-Bangladesh Test in February.The HCA had conducted elections on January 17 after deciding to comply with the Supreme Court-approved Lodha Committee recommendations, but was asked by the court to withhold the results because it was hearing a petition filed by the incumbent HCA secretary John Manoj.On February 6, three days before the Test against Bangladesh, the court asked the BCCI to appoint an observer to “monitor the conduct” of the fixture by the HCA office bearers. Shetty arrived in Hyderabad the following day and told the state association that all financial expenses would need his approval as per the court order.The HCA, however, had already issued tenders for various services needed during the Test, and though Shetty said the state officials had co-operated to make the match “successful”, there were several issues he had to bring to the court’s attention.At various places in his three-page report, which was submitted to the Hyderabad High Court on February 24, Shetty said he had been left speechless by the lack of accountability from the HCA administration.”It was observed that the tendering process followed by HCA is far from being transparent. Most contracts had one vendor bidding and in some cases no bids were called,” Shetty said. “There is one vendor by the name M/s. Sanjay Maintenance contracts by HCA aggregating to a payment of approximately Rs. 10,00,000 (10 lakhs) per month and yet the same vendor has been given separate contracts for the similar scope of work for match days.”The Interim President himself [Narender Goud] handpicked an agency for ticketing without any tender. One of the Joint Secretaries was involved with the award of contract for buses and cares for the teams and match officials. There was only one tender and quotations were called for use of vehicles for 24 hours – something which is unheard of.”Despite the Lodha Committee’s recommendations limiting the number of complimentary tickets issued, Shetty found that the HCA had distributed “more than 25% of tickets” as complimentary.”The total number of complimentary tickets issued by HCA was around 11,500 in a total capacity of 39,000 seats,” Shetty said in his report. “It was observed that the HCA office bearers and the executive committee members are more keen to protect their own vote banks by giving free tickets with buffet lunch to the members. Almost 50% of the catering bills are towards the members and officials (each club gets five passes in the main pavilion, with lunch). They are not interested in ensuring that the HCA makes profit during an international match. The total expenses for food alone was approximately to the tune of Rs. 75,00,000 (75 lakhs).”Another concern for Shetty was the involvement of ineligible state office bearers in the organisation of the match. The Supreme Court of India had stated that no office bearer who had finished nine years in the job waseligible to continue in the role.”However, Mr. Syed Moizuddin, the former Vice President who demitted office was actively involved in the tendering process and aware of contracts for the Test match,” Shetty reported.He also said there had been “absolutely no check” on the expenditure for catering. “Take for example, the Inspector of Police certified food bills for 2000 policemen every day of the Test Match. Even the Police Commissioner was surprised when I showed him the note.”

Match facts

January 15, 2017
Start time 1420 local (0320 GMT)David Warner made 156 in his last ODI innings at the MCG•Cricket Australia

Big picture

Barely an hour into the first ODI at the Gabba on Friday, Pakistan looked well placed to secure their first win over Australia in Australia in any format since 2005. In the 17th over, the hosts had stumbled to 5 for 78 – David Warner and Steven Smith had gone in the fifth over of the game. But Australia’s batting order is about as long as Billy Stanlake, and a remarkable rebuild was led by Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell. Australia’s 9 for 268 proved not only competitive but enough to set up a 92-run victory.It was an opportunity missed for Pakistan, who now head to the MCG on Sunday down 0-1 in the five-ODI series. Adding to their woes, they will be without their captain Azhar Ali, who has been ruled out* after sustaining a hamstring injury during the Brisbane game. Without Azhar and vice-captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who flew home for personal reasons ahead of the first match, Pakistan have announced Mohammad Hafeez will take over as their stand-in captain.

Form guide

Australia: WWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: LWWWW

In the spotlight

At the Gabba on Friday, Travis Head sent down 10 overs of his offspin for a miserly 28 runs – never before in his one-day career had he delivered his full allocation. In fact, Head has been such a part-timer at the level below that in 16 ODIs he has bowled far more overs than in the remainder of his 33 List A games combined. If Australia can continue to get value from Head with the ball, it will make him an especially attractive prospect across formats. At the Gabba he also moved up to open the batting for the first time in ODIs, and made a run-a-ball 39.Imad Wasim impressed at the Gabba, where his left-arm spin troubled Australia’s batsmen and he picked up 2 for 35 from his 10 overs. A valuable lower-order batsman with a first-class double-century to his name, he also chipped in with 29 in Pakistan’s ultimately unsuccessful chase, making him the second top scorer behind Babar Azam.

Team news

Josh Hazlewood was rested for the first ODI but is likely to come in for the second game, possibly for Billy Stanlake, who appeared physically troubled at times during his debut in Brisbane. Adam Zampa may also come into consideration, though with Travis Head having bowled 10 tight overs of spin at the Gabba and Glenn Maxwell also in the XI, the legspinner could be surplus to requirements.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Chris Lynn, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Josh Hazlewood.Azhar Ali’s hamstring injury has ruled him out of contention. With Shoaib Malik also ruled out, having failed to recover from the throat infection that kept him out in Brisbane, Asad Shafiq should take Azhar’s place, though Hafeez will most likely open in his stead.Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 2 Sharjeel Khan, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Mohammad Nawaz 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Hasan Ali.

Pitch and conditions

The drop-in pitches at the MCG can be a little two-paced, but big runs can still be on offer. In last month’s Chappell-Hadlee ODI at the venue, David Warner smashed 156, though no other batsman in the game passed 40. The forecast for Sunday is for a partly cloudy day and a top of 23C.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have won their past nine ODIs at the MCG, last losing there to Sri Lanka in March 2012
• At no ground has Mitchell Starc taken more ODI wickets than the MCG, where he has picked up 17 at 14.23
• In the first game at the Gabba, Matthew Wade became just the second Australian (James Faulkner was the other) to score an ODI hundred from outside the top six. The feat has been achieved only 14 times worldwide

*1045 GMT The preview was amended to reflect the news that Azhar Ali and Shoaib Malik had been ruled out

ScorecardFile photo – Angelo Mathews returned from injury to finish with figures of 2 for 25•Getty Images

Lahiru Kumara, Sri Lanka’s 19-year-old seamer, boosted his chances of playing the first Test in Port Elizabeth by claiming three wickets on day two of the practice match at Potchefstroom. Dushmantha Chameera, meanwhile, went wicketless and proved expensive, conceding 68 runs from his 10 overs. The Sri Lankans had the South African Invitation XI 285 for 8 by stumps. The visitors had made 373 in the first innings.Kumara may not have been in the likely XI for the Port Elizabeth match after taking only three wickets across two Tests in Zimbabwe. However, team management may consider him on the basis of form. Among his three wickets was the scalp of Leus du Plooy, who top scored for the Invitation XI with 142 off 159 deliveries. He also claimed the scalps of allrounders Jason Smith and Bjorn Fortuin, with the latter caught behind.Dinesh Chandimal wore the gloves for the Sri Lankans, having now sufficiently recovered from the broken hand he sustained in September. Chandimal took three catches and effected a stumping off Dilruwan Perera’s bowling.The seam attack appears Sri Lanka’s shakiest discipline heading into the Tests, and, among the other frontline quicks, only Nuwan Pradeep was able to take a wicket, removing the highly-rated Aiden Markram to end the day with figures of 1 for 37.Suranga Lakmal also went wicketless, but it is Chameera’s form Sri Lanka will be most concerned about, as he is the only bowler capable of consistently bowling at speeds in excess of 140 kph. Before Sri Lanka left the island, Chameera had made a modest return to competitive cricket, taking 2 for 76 in a first-class game, though that had been on a spin-friendly pitch.The visitors will be buoyed, however, by a successful return to bowling from Angelo Mathews. Having been laid low by multiple leg injuries in recent months, Mathews took 2 for 15 from his seven overs. Dilruwan Perera also took two scalps for 22, but is unlikely to play in Port Elizabeth over Rangana Herath.Earlier in the day, Dhananjaya de Silva had managed to add only five runs to his overnight score, as he and Upul Tharanga were dismissed by seamer Duanne Olivier.Sri Lanka remain 88 runs ahead in the innings, with Tuesday being the final day of play.

Sri Lanka women’s new head coach Hemantha Devapriya has not given up hopes of his team causing a few upsets in the four-match ODI series against England, despite injuries to four key players.Former captain and experienced all-rounder Shashikala Siriwardene is out with a knee injury, which was followed by a bout of flu. There are also injuries to left-arm medium-pacer Udeshika Prabodhani (shoulder), batsman Yasodara Mendis (finger) and hard hitting all-rounder, Eshani Lokusuriyage (ankle). But Devapriya, a former first-class wicketkeeper, was optimistic.”It’s a big task to beat a strong England side with all these injuries, but nevertheless it is a good series to identify who the good players are,” he said. “It is a good chance for the youngsters who have replaced the injured players to showcase their talent and a good opportunity to find what our current bench strength is.”Devapriya has been in the job for only two weeks, and said he didn’t have sufficient time to get to know the players well but has been able to instill a lot of confidence into them.”I told them that they need to be mentally tough and to believe in their ability,” Devapriya said. “I’ve found that they have underestimated themselves and they didn’t believe in their individual talent.”I told them that they are the best that’s why they have been selected. They have now started to believe in themselves and you can see that there is change of attitude in the dressing room. They have the potential and if they play to it, they will be able to surprise England.”There are a lot of areas that needs to be changed but those are long term goals which I hope to do after the series.”This is Devapriya’s second assignment as a coach at Sri Lanka’s top level. He had earlier handled the Sri Lanka men’s A team from 1998 to 2004 and before his present appointment had been coaching Premier club sides such as NCC, Bloomfield, CCC and Sri Lanka Army SC.His appointment followed a whitewash at the hands of Australia in September, a result that also instigated the appointment of Inoka Ranaweera as captain of the team instead of Chamari Atapattu.”The change was made to the captaincy to give Chamari more freedom to play her own game. We found that the captaincy weighed on her and she was not delivering with bat and ball to her full potential,” Devapriya said.Chief selector Vinothen John said the batting order would be shuffled, with Nipuni Hansika and Hasini Perera opening in place of the regulars Atapattu and Prasadani Weerakkody.”We have seen on many occasions Chamari and Prasadani laying a solid opening foundation but the middle order has not been consistent,” said John.”We thought of strengthening the middle order with Chamari and Prasadani batting at number 3 and 4 respectively while introducing a new pair of openers. We have tested this new combination during practices and it seems very positive. We cannot afford to lose more matches.”The series commences on Wednesday with the first ODI at the SSC. The last three matches of the series will be played for ICC Women’s Championship points. Sri Lanka lie at the bottom of the table in the Championship, and are out of contention for automatic qualification to next year’s World Cup.

Adelaide Oval’s carefully prepared day/night Test pitch has been tweaked as a result of last summer’s day three finish to offer less to bowlers – two millimetres less to be precise.The height of the grass on the surface was a major talking point in the aftermath of the inaugural floodlit Test, with Australia’s captain Steven Smith and his New Zealand counterpart Brendon McCullum both reasoning the experimental pink ball would be no worse off for more extensive use of the lawn mower.What would change, though, was the amount of seam movement on offer to the bowlers. Batsmen, administrators, broadcasters and sponsors would all prefer a match that lasts until the fourth evening at least, meaning the seamers who prospered last year will likely be the chief parties disappointed by the curator Damian Hough’s latest creation.”Preparation-wise still leaving a bit of grass on it,” he said. “We’re bringing the starting height down and the finished height will be down another 2mm from last year.”In review of last year, which was a good learning experience, leaving the grass on it assisted the quicks a little bit more. We were really happy with the game but feel a couple millimetres less will hopefully still keep it a good contest between bat and ball – that’s what we’re after.”It mightn’t nip around quite as much. You still think it will hoop around a bit at night with the ball but we thought maybe we’ll get that balance a bit better.”Hough’s work with Adelaide’s drop-in surfaces has evolved considerably since they were first installed for the summer of 2013-14. The surface then was prepared to be dry after the fashion of Adelaide’s original square, but a lack of the desired deterioration pushed Hough to take a different approach in which thatchy grass coverage could assist both pacemen and spinners throughout a match.”Our game plan with leaving the grass on is to leave a coarse thatchy grass, the ball will bite into for the quicks it should also do the same for the spinner,” Hough said. “We’ve ben doing that for two years now and the feedback has been the spinners have still been able to get purchase out of that grass and get a bit of turn.”The grass we leave on it, we’re not going to get a lot of breaking up. We haven’t had that for 3-4 years. We’re going down that path, don’t get that natural deterioration so we’ll get the grass to assist the ball biting in and moving around a little bit.”While Hough has been lauded about his work with drop-in surfaces, he admitted there was still much unknown about them, for wickets can take years of use to mature in their characteristics.”It’s still new. Is it the drop-in pitch that’s preventing the pitch from deteriorating or is it a brand new wicket area and brand new soil that needs time to mature? Who knows,” he said. “We’ve got different pitches that we’ve remade, or rebuilt some drop-in pitches with a different grass variety that is opening up. We’ll keep working on it and keep assessing it and adjusting as we see fit.”Where we’re at now, we’re really comfortable with the feedback from all the visiting players, coaches at Shield level has been really positive. We’re trying to produce a pitch with a really good contest from bat and ball.”

ScorecardFile photo: Jeffrey Vandersay picked up his ninth five-for in 29 first-class matches•AFP

Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay took 6 for 47 in the final innings to lead Sri Lanka A to victory in Dambulla. West Indies A were set a target of 333 but with no one even managing a fifty, the hosts wrapped up a 138-run victory, and with it the series 2-1.The chase had begun positively with Kieran Powell, who had briefly flirted with a career in baseball, back at the top of the order and kicking things off with a 41-ball 44. West Indies A were 124 for 3 – chugging along at a run-rate just under four – when Vandersay blitzed through their middle order to bowl them out for 194. He took two wickets in the 48th over, including that of captain and top-scorer Shamarh Brooks for 46, handed the opposition five of their six single-digit scores and completed his ninth five-for in 29 first-class matches.While the bowling they faced was good, West Indies A would rue the fact that they collapsed from reasonably strong positions. In the first innings they had Shimron Hetmyer – 94 off 91 balls, with 17 fours – and Brooks – 54 off 100 balls – doing well before they lost eight wickets for 104 runs to concede a lead of 75. In the second innings, West Indies lost seven wickets for 70 runs to concede the match.Another measure of where West Indies A lost the match lay in the number of partnerships over 50. There were eight overall – and they contributed only two of them.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka A had begun the game with an agenda-setting 133-run stand between openers Kusal Perera (69) and Sandun Weerakkody (79) in the first innings. It was key to building a total of 318.Then fast bowler Kasun Madushanka and left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan took three wickets each and left-arm seamer Lahiru Gamage chipped in with two of his own to bowl West Indies A out for 243. All three were picked in Sri Lanka’s Test squad to play against Zimbabwe in Harare next Saturday.Sri Lanka A swelled a lead of 75 to match-and-series-winning proportions in their second innings with Weerakkody smacking 48 off 36 balls and Asela Gunaratne collecting 69 off 126 balls. Rahkeem Cornwall was the only opposition they faced, the offspinner picking up 4 for 87 from 26 overs to finish with 23 wickets from three matches.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Quinton de Kock became the holder of South Africa’s second-highest individual score in ODI cricket with a career-best 178 as his side eased to a series opening victory over Australia. De Kock steered South Africa to the third-highest successful chase at SuperSport Park and ensured they drew first blood in a weekend of clashes against Australia. Sandwiched between ODIs on Friday and Sunday is a Rugby Championship fixture on Saturday. All the matches take place on the Highveld, de Kock’s stomping ground, and on Friday night, he owned it.None of the Australian bowlers were spared de Kock’s aggression. He took on pace and spin, anything on the pads or overpitched, the short ball and the wide ball. His was an innings that started with impeccable timing and placement and turned into belligerent bludgeoning, especially on the leg side. More than two-thirds of de Kock’s runs came in that area, including nine of his eleven sixes and he made Australia’s 294 appear utterly inadequate.On a fairly flat pitch and a fast outfield, Australia should have breached 300 and, given their start, could have been eyeing many more. Australia were 88 for 1 in the 13th over before Andile Phehlukwayo pulled them back. He took 3 for 16 in four overs and finished with a career-best 4 for 44 in just his second ODI to lead a seam attack whose experience trio of Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada all had off days.The South African seamers’ inconsistencies in length suited Australia’s almost-reckless approach. Five of their top six got starts but only George Bailey converted his. He scored a third half-century in four innings and shared in a 79-run seventh wicket stand with John Hastings, whose fifty was his first in international cricket, to take Australia close to 300 but not close enough to challenge South Africa.De Kock was authoritative from the start. He flicked a Hastings delivery on the legs into the stands and followed up with a flog through point to announce his intent. South Africa’s fifty came up inside seven overs and Rilee Rossouw, de Kock’s opening partner who filled in for an ill Hashim Amla, had only contributed 17 of those runs.Rossouw did not remain an understudy for too long. He plundered three boundaries off each of Mitchell Marsh and Scott Boland to catch up to de Kock and the pair were on 43 each, with the score on 87 after 10 overs.De Kock’s fifty came first, off 38 balls, with a pull off Travis Head. Rossouw’s followed in much quieter fashion, a single, but it came off the 36th ball. At 120 without loss after 15 overs, Australia were all but out of the contest and they had not even introduced their best bowler.Adam Zampa was brought on in the 18th over, after Rossouw and de Kock had destroyed Scott Boland’s figures by taking 18 runs off his fourth over, and had immediate success. Zampa’s first ball was a legbreak, Rossouw brought out the reverse sweep and was trapped in front.De Kock was on 82 when Rossouw was dismissed and had got there by playing the ball late and using deft, albeit powerful touches, but when Faf du Plessis joined him, he switched gears. He thumped a low full toss from Daniel Worrall to mid off, in a rare example of playing a shot down the ground instead of square, and then reached his hundred, off 74 balls, with an almighty pull over midwicket.Zampa came under attack as well and de Kock took three boundaries off his fourth over and three sixes off the first three balls of his sixth, With each one, there was a suspicion de Kock might emulate Herschelle Gibbs’ six sixes in an over. Gibbs was part of the commentary team, and looked on as de Kock went past his own highest score of 175 by drilling Marsh through the covers. Those were the last runs de Kock scored before holing out, 11 runs short of overtaking Gary Kirsten, who holds South Africa’s highest individual score of 188.It was left to Farhaan Behardien and David Miller to finish off after du Plessis and JP Duminy were dismissed cheaply. The wickets won’t matter much to South Africa after they won with 13.4 overs to spare.De Kock’s performance completely overshadowed Phehlukwayo, but he emerged as South Africa’s best bowler on the night. He broke through at a crucial time, when Aaron Finch flicked a short ball to fine leg where Wayne Parnell caught it low down.. Four deliveries later, Phehlukwayo had Steve Smith trapped lbw, missing an attempted glance. And three overs after that, had Marsh caught behind by a diving de Kock.Imran Tahir, the only other South African to concede at under six runs an over, had Travis Head stumped by a googly and Australia were five-down just over halfway in their innings and in danger of not batting out their overs. Bailey’s fifty was his third in four innings while Hastings’ was his first against a South African attack that, Phehlukwayo and Tahir aside, struggled for consistency.That may not be South Africa’s main concern ahead of the Sunday game though. Instead, they will be closely monitoring Steyn. Although he bowled his full complement of overs, Steyn left the field twice and was seen clutching the shoulder he broke last summer several times.

A USA Women’s development camp, which includes matches against a women’s Marylebone Cricket Club touring squad, will be held in Philadelphia between September 8 and 11, the ICC has announced. The matches will be the first for USA Women since they were humbled by a touring Pakistan side last November in Florida.The ICC also announced a new USA Women’s selection panel headed by chairman of selectors Ricardo Powell and fellow men’s national selector Barney Jones. Three new female selectors will join the panel for the first time: Patricia Whittaker, Julie Abbott and Joan Alexander-Serrano.Whittaker is a former West Indies Women’s Test cricketer who has spent more than 25 years in New York as a lawyer. In May, she was named to one of the four USA advisory panels formed by the ICC to implement its USA development strategy. Specifically, Whittaker was named to the 10-person Sustainable Foundation panel while Abbott, a former women’s county cricketer who now resides in Kansas City, Missouri, was named to the High Performance advisory panel.Alexander-Serrano was part of the 2011 USA Women’s World Cup Qualifier squad in Bangladesh at age 51 and recently participated in an ICC Combine trial in New York at age 55 alongside other women’s players, where she was one of the most impressive bowlers on display. However, her appointment to the selection panel indicates she has decided to shift focus to the administrative side of the game.The camp and matches against the MCC touring side will be held at some of the oldest cricket facilities in the USA, including Evansburg Cricket Field, Haverford College – which officially has the only varsity status college cricket team in America – and Merion Cricket Club. All three grounds use artificial pitches, but have well-maintained outfields.By far the best of the three is Merion CC, which has some of the best off-field facilities at any cricket ground in America. Founded in 1865, making it one of the oldest cricket clubs in America, Merion CC’s stately grounds and pavilion – also located in the Philadelphia suburb of Haverford – now host festival cricket events annually in the spring.A final squad for the USA Women’s development camp, including probables for the matches against the MCC, is likely to be announced later this week.

Sri Lanka Under-19 coach Roy Dias believes that experience will be vital heading into the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, and this has played a hand in the selection of the current U-19 squad that is playing a home series against South Africa U-19. Four players in the squad for the South Africa Youth Test series – Avishka Fernando, Shammu Ashan, Vishad Randika and Damitha Silva – participated in the 2016 U-19 World Cup but will not qualify for 2018 edition. Dias, however, said their experience was needed to help the younger players develop.”There are about four experienced guys; other than that the rest are all playing for the first time at Under-19 international level,” Dias said. “They are quite good; you have to expose them and give them more matches and see how they perform.”My idea is to prepare them for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, which is in New Zealand. Right now we are playing the Under-19 boys, but most of them are 17-plus and we need to give them the experience, which is going to be important. We are playing the experienced guys so that the juniors can learn from them as well.”The home series against South Africa, comprising three Youth Tests and as many Youth ODIs, is Dias’ first assignment following his appointment to the post in March. The Sri Lankan team has been impressive against a strong visiting side, and managed to draw all three Tests. The two teams will play a Youth ODI series between July 9 and 13, before the team departs for the England tour on July 17. In England, Sri Lanka are scheduled to play a tour match, two Youth Tests and three Youth ODIs.”Although it is an Under-19 series the cut-off date for players is March 31, 1996 so it is more or less an Under-20 side that England will be fielding,” Dias said. “Sri Lanka Cricket has given permission to play boys who will be 19-plus because we have to play good cricket. We can’t take a junior side and play an England team which is Under 20. It’s a good thing because some of the Under-19 boys who have finished with the Under-19 World Cup get another chance to play cricket.”Dias, who played 20 Tests and 58 ODIs between 1979 and 1987, took up a coaching role with the Sri Lanka senior team in 1998 before stints with Oman and Nepal. He also has experience coaching a junior side, having done so with Nepal.”I thought coaching the Under-19 boys was a good opportunity for me because I feel you have to start at the grassroot level,” he said “I have been doing that in other countries and when I showed interest Sri Lanka Cricket gave me the job, it’s a one-year contract, which is renewable.”Dias also felt the players were getting exposure through school cricket and stressed that the standards had not dropped.”These guys are playing quite a lot of cricket than we did,” he said. “We hardly played any cricket at all; we had about eight school matches for the season. These boys are getting more cricket and more exposure. I don’t think the standards have fallen. The side given to me is a good one and my job is to get them to the next level.”

File photo – Ish Sodhi finished with match figures of 6 for 52 as the New Zealanders put in a strong bowling performance•AFP

The New Zealanders allayed coach Mike Hesson’s fear that taking 20 wickets in Zimbabwean conditions would be tough as they bowled the A side out twice in two days to claim a resounding 259-run win in the three-day warm-up match. Not only did the New Zealanders’ attack manage to run through their opposition, but they also ensured they were not bowled out in either innings to sound a warning about the difficulties the hosts may face in the two-Tests series.After running through Zimbabwe A on the second day, the New Zealanders resumed their innings on 154 for 4 on the third morning. Captain Kane Williamson had his first outing with the side after joining them from a county stint and added 12 runs to his overnight score of 37 before retiring without reaching a milestone. Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell were give some time in the middle as the New Zealanders let their lower order face some bowling. After 11.5 overs of batting in the morning session they declared, setting Zimbabwe A an improbable 433 for victory.Zimbabwe A had a better start than in their first innings, in which they had slipped to 0 for 3, but they still had early stumbles. Nkosana Mpofu managed just 6 before becoming the first victim. Vusi Sibanda, who opened in place of his injured captain Tino Mawoyo, scored 37 but it was up to the Test middle order to resist for as long as possible. Sean Williams added to his first-innings fifty with 46, while Regis Chakabva contributed 48, but once they were dismissed Zimbabwe A fell away rapidly.Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner all finished with two wickets each, and a member of New Zealand’s support staff was on the field to grab a catch, as only one of Zimbabwe A’s bottom six batsmen got into double figures.Zimbabwe A’s worries are not limited to their poor showing, but extend to personnel as well. Opening batsman Mawoyo had to retire hurt on the second day, having faced just four balls, after being hit on the hand by Southee. Mawoyo did not bat in the second innings, which could put his participation in the Tests in doubt. Sibanda, who was dropped from the Test squad, may be in line for an emergency recall.