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USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter believes Sergino Dest's red card against Trinidad and Tobago was a "great moment for the team" as they can learn from it.

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Dest sent off against Trinidad & TobagoBerhalter says US can learn from incidentBarcelona man to miss Jamaica clashGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Barcelona man was sent off in the 39th minute of the US' 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago in the CONCACAF Nations League in November, with the full-back picking up two bookings in the space of 20 seconds. At the time, head coach Berhalter described the 23-year-old's actions as a "dumb mistake" but now he appears to have changed his tune.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT GREGG BERHALTER SAID

When asked if he had spoken with Dest about the incident, he replied: “Yep. To me, it’s a great moment for the team. It’s a great learning experience for the group, it’s a great moment for us to grow as a team.

“It’s not only his reaction that I think we need to talk about, but I think it’s everybody’s reaction. What do we do when things like this happen? How do we avoid getting derailed as the collective?

“For him [it’s about] how this moment can put the team in a difficult position. I think that’s a great learning experience for all of us as we go into Copa América, [CONCACAF] Nations League, and the World Cup.”

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

While Dest, who is suspended for his country's semi-final Nations League clash against Jamaica on March 21, was criticised at the time for his costly actions, Berhalter clearly values his talents and it seems he still has a future with the national team.

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WHAT NEXT?

If the USMNT win their semi-final match with Jamaica, they will either take on Panama or Mexico in the final of a tournament (March 24) they have won for the past two years. This may give them a boost ahead of the 2024 Copa America, which features 16 teams from the Americas such as Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and more, this summer.

One point separates Sunrisers Hyderabad from Royal Challengers Bangalore, and while defeat will not rule out either side’s progress into the playoffs, it will certainly complicate it

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy14-May-2015Match factsFriday, May 15, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:45

O’Brien: Sunrisers should consider Milind for Ishant

Big pictureOne point separates Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who both occupy the middle portion of an exceedingly amorphous table, and who both have two games left to play. Neither absolutely win two out of two to reach the playoffs, but life will become rather more complicated for the team that loses their meeting on Friday.Going by form, this is a hard-to-predict clash that promises excitement. Sunrisers are on a three-match winning streak, and Royal Challengers have won five of their last seven completed games. On paper, Royal Challengers possess the better of two menacing top orders and Sunrisers the better of two mediocre middle orders, and while Mitchell Starc is form bowler of the IPL and the most obvious wicket-taking threat from either side, Sunrisers perhaps possess the deeper bowling attack with more experience of the conditions in Hyderabad. Both teams prefer batting first.Given the stage of the season, the result of the game may well hinge on the bigger names. In a match full of them, who will step up and make the decisive intervention?Form guideSunrisers Hyderabad WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Royal Challengers Bangalore LWWLWWatch out forThe last three times Royal Challengers have batted first, they’ve posted totals of 200, 226 and 235. They’ve not been nearly as dangerous while chasing, though. They’ve lost two of their last three games while batting second, and the other one – a rain-shortened game against Kolkata Knight Riders – could have gone either way. Sunrisers, meanwhile, have batted first in their last three matches and won all of them, but have only won one match out of five while chasing. The toss, therefore, might play a vital role.Bangalore’s struggles while chasing have coincided with their top three getting out relatively early. The new-ball contest that pits Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Trent Boult/Dale Steyn against Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli could prove an important sub-plot in the narrative of the game.Stats and trivia Chris Gayle needs 13 runs to get to 400 runs for the season. If he does so, Royal Challengers will have three batsmen – AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli are the others – in the 400 club. At this point, no other team has more than one representative. Moises Henriques tops Sunrisers’ batting averages – with 219 runs at 43.80 – and also has their best economy rate – 6.57 – among bowlers who have sent down more than 10 overs.

It has been a while since an Australian captain has looked as serene during an Ashes Test as Michael Clarke did at the Adelaide Oval. During a period of England domination, uncomprehending exasperation of Ricky Ponting has been followed by the lurking fea

The Report by David Hopps at Adelaide Oval06-Dec-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:00

Polite Enquiries: The end for Flower?

It has been a while since an Australian captain has looked as serene during an Ashes Test as Michael Clarke did at the Adelaide Oval.During a period of England domination, the uncomprehending exasperation of Ricky Ponting has been followed by Clarke’s lurking fear that his own Ashes story could be debilitated by injury.Yet here Clarke was, the second day into the second Test, continuing his love affair with this ground with an unflustered century which with every graceful moment stated his intent to become the Australian captain who regained the Ashes. The blissful manner in which he dealt with the England attack, with his vice-captain Brad Haddin offering sterling support, will only quicken the belief in Australia that the balance is shifting irrevocably in their favour.That sensation also resides in the figure of Mitchell Johnson, only more violently. Nothing England contrived came close to his immediate threat. He sand-blasted Alastair Cook aside with his 10th delivery, every ball above 148kph until the kill was applied, the ball searing past Cook’s outside edge to strike off stump.Michael Carberry and Joe Root stabilised England for the rest of the 20 overs they had to survive, but they were distinctly fortunate to survive some high jinks in the final over. Root’s eagerness to see out the day drew him into an inexcusable off-side single which would have run out Carberry had Chris Rogers hit the stumps. Then Australia opted not to review the final ball of the day when replays showed Carberry would have been out lbw. Root had reason to be as relieved as Carberry.Australia had hammered home their authority by the time they declared 10 overs into the final session. Clarke reached 148 in five and three quarter hours when he became the first Test victim for Ben Stokes, seeking to work him through square leg and chipping a gentle catch to short midwicket off a leading edge.Clarke’s stand with Haddin was worth 200 in 51 overs, a new record for the sixth wicket for any team in Adelaide. Haddin fell for 118 to Stuart Broad in the third over after tea, his fourth Test century reaffirming in aggressive fashion that he has turned the back-to-back Ashes series into one of the most productive periods in his Test career. England had designs upon dismissing Australia, 5 for 273 at the close of the first day, for around 350, only to become increasingly bereft as they gave up another 297 runs in 68 overs. England conceded 12 sixes, five to Haddin, a tally assisted by Adelaide’s short square boundaries.Australia’s total was their highest in Ashes cricket since they amassed 674 for 6 declared against England in Cardiff in 2009, a match in which England also combined the spin of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar with little reward. England had fielded two spinners in Australia for the first time for 33 years, but the gamble demanded that they remained in touch in the first innings in the hope of dividends later in the game.By the time England followed up Clarke’s dismissal with more consolatory wickets, a victory to tie the series at 1-1 looked an increasingly unlikely proposition. Mitchell Johnson hoicked Swann’s offspin to mid-on and Stokes, occasionally revealing an ability to leave the right-hander off the pitch, had Peter Siddle caught at the wicket. But Ryan Harris deposited Swann for two successive slog sweeps into the members to keep Australian spirits high and after tea became the eighth Australian to pass 50 in a series that is not quite two Tests old. That statistic, above all, should trouble England.Michael Clarke brought up his sixth Test century at Adelaide at a higher average than even Don Bradman•PA PhotosClarke’s sixth Adelaide hundred in nine Tests, and his 26th of all, was his second in succession, following his century in Brisbane when Australia’s domination was assured. This one was a perfectly-constructed affair with the Test in the balance, made all the more noteworthy because of occasional suggestions that first his back and then his ankle were troubling him more than the England attack. When he was dismissed, his average in Adelaide Tests was 104.75, a standard that even The Don – Adelaide’s most revered figure – could not quite match.Virtually everything that could go wrong for England in the morning did as Clarke and Haddin batted through the morning session with commendable enterprise. Stokes missed out on a first Test wicket because of a no-ball and the list of half chances to elude England grew as they failed to press home their hard-won position of equality from the first day. They were in a rush to take wickets with the new ball 10 overs old at start of play, but their threat softened even before the Kookaburra ball did.England will reflect that the morning might have turned out differently. Clarke’s determination to dominate the left-arm spin of Panesar from the outset almost went awry as he skipped down the pitch to his first ball of the morning and spooned it over extra cover, marking his fifty with relief as the ball evaded Stokes. But by the time Panesar was withdrawn after four overs, the mood was set.England also had a glimmer of a chance to dismiss him when he was 91. Again Clarke’s foot movement was ambitious, this time to the offspin of Swann, and his glance thudded through the hands and into the ankle of Ian Bell at backward short leg. A tough catch missed, Bell, and the wicketkeeper Matt Prior, then failed to gather cleanly to pull off a run out as Clarke dived back into his crease and rose with the sense that fortune was favouring the brave.Haddin was an impressive accomplice, but he, too, had one or two moments which fell his way. James Anderson, with no swing to sustain him, looked listless, but when he produced a good bouncer to Haddin, on 30, the hook shot fell short of Panesar, who reacted cumbersomely at fine leg as the ball sailed out of the unfinished stand. It was barely a catch, although in keeping with the ground works, Panesar also seemed to be wearing concrete boots.Stokes imagined that his first Test wicket had come in his third over of the day when he produced an excellent delivery to have Haddin, on 51, caught at the wicket. He had already fielded congratulations from his team-mates for his first Test wicket when replays showed he had overstepped.Haddin could not resist a jokey congratulation to Stokes at the end of the over about his first Test wicket that wasn’t, and as Stokes’ manner suggested an appetite for continuing the conversation, the umpire Marais Erasmus intervened to calm the situation. As the afternoon wore on, the calm became increasingly hard for England to stomach; on a sunlit evening, as Johnson burned in, calm was something they could only dream of.

Sourav Ganguly has said India should have different captains for Tests and limited-overs matches in order to ease the workload on MS Dhoni

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2012Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has said India should have different captains for Tests and limited-overs matches in order to ease the workload on MS Dhoni, who is leading in all three formats as well as keeping wicket. Following India’s defeat against England at Eden Gardens, the first time they have lost back-to-back matches at home in 12 years, Ganguly said the selectors should follow the example of most countries in order to get the most out of Dhoni.”Every team in the world has gone with split captaincy. I am not saying the selectors should sack Dhoni and say, ‘You’re out’. I have always said there is too much burden on him. I think we are losing MS Dhoni as a player,” Ganguly told , an Indian news channel. “Captaincy and your ability as a player are interlinked, I think Dhoni is a much better one-day captain than he is a Test captain.”His performance in recent Tests has not been up to the mark, but that is because there is too much of a burden on him. I am a firm believer that his job has to be split – he needs a reprieve.”Ganguly said the selectors needed to “sit with Dhoni and ask him what form of cricket would he like to captain. I fear we may lose him as a player if we continue like this. He is a match-winner for India and he has done wonders for the team.”Responding to a statement about the selectors not naming a potential successor to Dhoni, in order to groom him, Ganguly said the captains who were successful for India did not develop through a such a system. “I was not groomed to be captain of India I just became captain, captain is something that comes by itself,” Ganguly said. “It is the same case with Dhoni. When Rahul Dravid decided to give up captaincy, and you know the captaincy was offered to Tendulkar and he refused to do it, the job went to Dhoni. I don’t agree with this thing that you have to groom someone to be captain.”In the ongoing Test series against England, Dhoni has scored only 92 runs in five innings, with a best of 52 in the first innings in Kolkata. England lead the four-Test series 2-1.

Sri Lanka Women held their nerves to beat West Indies Women by one wicket with two balls to spare. With the win, Sri Lanka have squared the three match ODI series, with a match remaining

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2012
ScorecardShemaine Campbelle’s half-century helped lift West Indies to 197•WICBSri Lanka Women held their nerves to beat West Indies Women by one wicket with two balls to spare. With the win, Sri Lanka have squared the three match ODI series, with a match remaining. Chamani Seneviratna was the star of the match with a quick 36 during the chase, following her two wickets during West Indies’ innings.The chase was held together by Yasoda Mendis’ gritty half-century – she was part of partnerships of 33 for the second wicket, 39 for the third wicket and 32 for the fourth. But with ten runs required with two wickets remaining, it was left up to Seneviratna to make sure that she finished the game.West Indies had set a good foundation for their middle order as opener Juliana Nero, who scored 45, led the team to 67 for 1. But Sri Lanka’s bowlers picked up regular wickets to reduce West Indies to 114 for 5. A half-century by Shemaine Campbelle and her 61-run partnership with Merissa Aguilleira lifted West Indies to 197.

India were expected to win it, and they did, but the manner in which victory was achieved was bound to be questioned.

Abhishek Purohit in Colombo20-Sep-2012In the end, India defeated Afghanistan by a comfortable margin. In the end, India had to answer questions about the performance of their bowlers and their openers, while Afghanistan basked in the satisfaction of having given a top team a bit of a fright. It was that kind of game for India. They were expected to win it, and they did, but the manner in which victory was achieved was bound to be questioned.Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag failed again, leaving run-scoring responsibilities chiefly to Virat Kohli. India’s middle order needed Afghanistan to drop four catches to be able to go past 150. Afghanistan then built a solid base to the chase at 52 for 1 in seven overs. India had to rely on part-timer Yuvraj Singh – it possibly is incorrect to call him part-timer anymore – to bring them back. Mohammad Nabi then carted Zaheer Khan for 16 runs in the 16th over to increase MS Dhoni’s stress levels before Afghanistan finally ran out of steam.Kohli said he didn’t think India could have lost the game at any stage but admitted they could have won by a bigger margin. He “hoped” the bowling issues were solely due to India coming up against a side that had nothing to lose and came hard at them.”You are always in doubt [that] if they start scoring in a few overs then things could slip away very quickly,” Kohli said. “I am hoping that against a bigger opposition we will turn out in a more positive way as far as our bowling is concerned. Be more aggressive, execute our plans properly and be more geared-up for stronger oppositions. I am hoping that we will put up a better bowling show.””In Twenty20, if your batting or bowling is not up to the mark then the poor run stretches to two-three games. You need one innings or one spell to change things. But I think we could have done better with the new ball. The wicket was good, there wasn’t much swing but I think we could have bowled in better areas and could have won the match with a bigger margin.”The worrying thing was that India needed three successive strikes from Yuvraj to dent Afghanistan’s chase. Kohli was asked whether the performance of frontline bowlers such as Zaheer Khan was a concern but said the malaise was largely restricted to bowling at the death.”Our initial bowling hasn’t been that bad. I think that we started well. Even against New Zealand [in the recent T20I in Chennai] we started well. If someone is getting hit in the last over you can’t just say that he is not bowling well at all. I think he [Zaheer] is bowling well with the new ball. I think our bowlers need to work a bit more on bowling in the death overs which has been a concern till now and I hope that we can pull our socks up and be ready for the stronger opposition and execute our plans much better than we did in this game.”All is not well on the batting front as well. MS Dhoni has maintained India rely a lot on starts provided by their top three batsman and at the moment, the first two are not weighing in. Kohli ruled out rotating the openers as a solution, and backed Gambhir and Sehwag.”I believe that in T20 if you play with a settled team composition then the team benefits. If you change the composition and it doesn’t work than it leaves a negative impact on the team especially in the batting department. In the bowling department you can experiment in T20. A batting order is set. If the top three score well then you can change the batting order lower down in the innings but changing the combination otherwise is not good. Besides, in T20 you don’t need an 80-90 run opening stand. You need a start of 40-45 runs. Only one match has been played so far and the kind of openers we have they are capable of giving us good start at a good pace when they click.”Despite the shortcomings, India did what they had to do. It helped that Afghanistan fluffed simple catches when they had the opportunity to put serious pressure on the India batsmen. Kohli said that was part of the game. “We ended up getting 160-odd and that is what the scoreboard shows. Catches do get dropped and you do get inside edges that pass by the stumps. It is part and parcel of the game. You can’t just say that had the catches been taken we would have lost the game. We have won the game and the scorecard shows that. We have to come out and play positively against England and put in a better performance.”

New USA board unveils a 100-day plan

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2012In November 2010 Don Lockerbie, the USA Cricket Association chief executive, was removed from office, a decision, so the story goes, made unilaterally by board president Gladstone Dainty.In the intervening 18 months the board has limped along without a replacement and aside from a unconvincing advertisement midway through the period little seems to have been done to find one.Now, a month after controversial elections returned the incumbent board almost to a man, USACA has finally broken cover and announced it is looking for a successor to Lockerbie.Unveiling a 100-day plan, USACA is going to appoint a committee charged with identifying candidates with a view to carrying out interviews within three months.Details of the plan and the recruitment process can be found here

Holders Hampshire survived a spirited Scotland challenge to win by five wickets and secure their second Yorkshire Bank 40 victory in three days.

05-May-2013Hampshire 194 for 5 (Dawson 51*) beat Scotland 192 for 7 (Mommsen 60*) by five wickets
ScorecardHolders Hampshire survived a spirited Scotland challenge to win by five wickets and secure their second Yorkshire Bank 40 victory in three days.After winning the toss and being put in to bat, Saltires openers Calum MacLeod and Freddie Coleman added 37 runs inside five overs. But the loss of MacLeod for 13, caught at short fine leg by Chris Wood off David Balcombe, sparked a mini collapse which slowed the Scots’ innings to a standstill.Coleman, after 27, was next to fall, Hamza Riazuddin striking in his first over to leave Scotland on 49 for 2. Matt Machan went soon after for 8, caught by Sean Ervine at midwicket to give Balcombe – playing his first list A game for Hampshire since 2009 – his second wicket of the day.Ervine became the second Hampshire bowler to strike in his first over, forcing Majid Haq to top-edge tamely to Liam Dawson at slip for just 5.Richie Berrington and skipper Preston Mommsen combined to briefly stem the loss of wickets, but their partnership ended when Berrington was stumped off the bowling of Danny Briggs for 19 to leave Scotland floundering on 88 for 5 in the 23rd over.Wicketkeeper Matthew Cross, on debut, added 43 with his captain, before holing out to James Vince off the bowling of Wood for 21. And Wood struck again a short while later, Briggs catching Moneeb Iqbal for a breezy 17 from 12 deliveries.A hard-hitting cameo from Gordon Goudie, 15 from five balls, helped Scotland add 33 runs in the last two overs, as the visitors ended on 192 for 7, skipper Mommsen top scoring with 60 not out.The total looked at least 20 runs light on an excellent batting track against an in-form Hampshire batting line-up, but the home side were soon in trouble. Michael Carberry edged Calvin Burnett behind in the third over, before opening partner Vince was caught by Haq off the bowling of Goudie.And when George Bailey was bowled by Gordon Drummond for 24, Hampshire looked in real danger at 61 for 3 in the 15th over. It got worse for Hampshire just two overs later when Ervine hit offspinner Machan straight to mid-on to leave the hosts 78 for 4, and falling behind the required run-rate.Captain Jimmy Adams steadied the ship in partnership with Liam Dawson, but when the former fell for 51, Hampshire hopes lay in the balance at 130 for 5.But the prospect of an embarrassing defeat was averted by Dawson, 54 from 62 balls, and keeper Adam Wheater, 35 from 32 balls, who batted without alarm to secure the win.

The PCB constitution has been amended to change the process of appointing the board’s chairman and alter the structure of its governing board

Umar Farooq25-Feb-2013Nomination committee and appointment of chairman

Clause 28: A nomination committee shall be formed at least three months to the expiry of tenure of the chairman or immediately upon the office of the chairman falling vacant for any reason whatsoever. The nomination committee may meet as many times as deemed necessary to considerate names of two or more individuals recommended by the Patron for the post of the chairman. The individual, in order to qualify for the recommendation for the office of chairman shall possess experience of management or administration.
Clause 29: The nomination committee, within one week from the date of receipt of nomination by the Patron, shall meet to discuss and evaluate the names of individuals for the office of chairman and unless unanimously rejected by it with reasons, recommend to the board of governors (BOG) one of the individual aforesaid for the post of chairman. In the event the nomination committee fails to take any decision in the said meeting, the name forwarded by Patron, at serial number one shall be deemed to have been recommended to the BOG. The chairman shall be appointed for a period of four years and shall be eligible for reappointment.
Clause 30: The BOG, unless it unanimously rejects the said nomination in a meeting to be held within one week of receipt of name from the nomination committee, shall formally endorse the appointment of the recommended nominee as the chairman. In the event the BOG fails to take decision in the said meeting, the nominee recommended by the nomination committee shall be deemed to be formally appointed.

The PCB constitution has been amended to change the process of appointing the board’s chairman and alter the structure of its governing board. The President of Pakistan, who is the patron of the PCB, still plays the central role in appointing the chairman and the incumbent Zaka Ashraf will hold office until the new constitution is implemented, which is likely to be before June 2013.According to the 22-page document, a copy of which was obtained by ESPNcricinfo, the President of Pakistan will recommend at least two chairman candidates to a four-member nomination committee, which will evaluate them and recommend one to the board of governors, which will have to endorse the appointment unanimously. The board chairman’s term has also been extended from three years to four.The four-member nomination committee will comprise two from the board of governors and two representatives appointed by the President of Pakistan. Previously, the President had the only say in appointing the chairman.The PCB has been criticised in the past because its constitution allowed the chairman near-dictatorial powers. The amended constitution maintains that status quo. The chairman can control and oversee income and expenditure in accordance with the budget approved by the board of governors.The composition of the board of governors was also restructured. The 14-member body will include five regional representativeselected on basis of rotation, five representatives of service organisations and departments, two non-voting former cricketers appointed on the recommendation of the chairman and two non-voting technocrats picked from a panel of threerecommended by the chairman in consultation with the President of Pakistan. The term of each member will be one year.The PCB is working to implement the new constitution in stages, to avoid any dysfunction in the system.In 2011, the ICC required that its member boards become autonomous and free of interference from governments by June 2013. Removal of government interference had also been one of the Woolf report recommendations approved by the ICC. The new constitution was produced as a result of the ICC directive and was approved on February 13, vetted by the Ministry of Law on the suggestion of the PCB and ICC feedback. However, in November 2012, ICC said it was reviewing its stance against government involvement in the administration of cricket.In Pakistan, the country’s President appoints the PCB chairman and must approve the appointment of the governing board members. The President also has the power to relieve the chairman of his post.The draft of the constitution was shared with the ICC before its finalisation and according to a PCB official most of the feedback from the ICC had been incorporated. “The ICC has worked closely with the PCB on this matter, including by reviewing the proposed constitutional provisions in respect of the appointment of the President and providing feedback to the PCB for further consideration by the Pakistan government,” an ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo.

Four of South Africa’s top five strolled to half-centuries against Pakistan A in Sharjah on a surface reminiscent of the ones they played the two Test series on in 2010 for its lifelessness

Firdose Moonda in Sharjah08-Oct-2013
Scorecard File photo – Hashim Amla and Alviro Petersen set the tone for the South Africans innings•AFPFour of South Africa’s top five strolled to half-centuries against Pakistan A in Sharjah on a surface reminiscent of the ones they played the two Test series on in 2010 for its lifelessness. JP Duminy threatened to extend that feat as he finished the first day on an unbeaten 49. The odd man out was captain Graeme Smith, who needed the match time the most, but was dismissed for 2.After Pakistan A put the South Africans in to bat, in conditions Umar Amin said he thought would be helpful because of early moisture, they were almost rewarded in the fifth over. Smith was dropped at first slip after prodding awkwardly at an Ehsan Adil delivery. It only took two overs more before the seamer was rewarded. He had Smith out lbw with South Africa on just 8.That was the only joy the Pakistan A attack had until much later in the day. Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla displayed Test-match temperament against a disciplined Pakistan pace attack. They collected runs leisurely – Petersen strong on the drive while Amla enjoyed the cut shot past point – and by lunch they had settled in nicely.The first hour of the middle session was profitable for both. They scored quickly against Pakistan’s spinners, who posed little threat early on, with both bringing up half-centuries before retiring.Jacques Kallis took over from where they left off and played with unusual aggressiveness upfront. His pinpoint straight drives did not seem to be the shots of a man who has not played any cricket since the IPL. AB de Villiers was more circumspect but soon found his stride as well, as the Pakistan attack grew more weary.The South African batsmen added 134 runs in the second session and did not lose a single wicket. Kallis and de Villiers returned after tea and seemed ready to bat out the day, but careless shots got the better of them. Kallis offered a simple return catch to Sohaib Maqsoob, which looked the stroke of a heat exhausted man, while de Villiers mistimed a pull to mid-wicket, where Umar Amin was ready to take the catch.That gave Usman Qadir, the son of Abdul who has acted as a mentor to South Africa’s legspinner, Imran Tahir, his first wicket in the match. The younger Qadir found significant turn as the afternoon wore on, although he, like the other spinners, was expensive.The South Africans will take confidence from the way their line-up dealt with the turn, with the lower middle-order also handling it with relative ease. JP Duminy continued to show how well he has recovered from time out of the game, and swept at will, while Faf du Plessis took his time to get in and played slowly, but with attention to detail.The teams have agreed an enforced declarations after 100 overs which will give Duminy and du Plessis, and perhaps Robin Peterson, just 10 overs more batting time. Then it will be the turn of the bowlers to see what impact they can make on a surface that is not offering much in the heat, which the South Africans are still adjusting to.