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PSL

Islamabad United’s tactic of bowling first backfired as defending champions Peshawar Zalmi mounted a strong total and let their bowlers run amok. It was a 33-year-old fast bowler, on PSL debut, who carved open the heart of Islamabad’s batting and helped his team banish memories of their defeat to Multan Sultans. Umaid Asif picked up two wickets each in his first two overs to remove Chadwick Walton, Luke Ronchi, Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed and reduce Islamabad to 25 for 4 in four overs. Their innings descended into a permanent freefall as wickets at regular intervals saw them finish 34 runs short.Umaid, who finished with 4 for 23, could have had a five-for had Tamim Iqbal held on to Faheem Ashraf’s catch at third man off the last ball of his spell. Peshawar’s catching otherwise was impeccable, with Mohammad Hafeez and Ibtisam Sheikh showing remarkable composure in latching onto swirlers to dismiss Asif Ali and Shadab Khan respectively. Ibtisam, the 19-year-old bespectacled legspinner, also produced a polished performance to return figures of 3 for 20. Faheem’s unbeaten 30-ball 54 was Islamabad’s lone bright spot on the evening.That Peshawar captain Darren Sammy and his bowlers could launch an all-out attack right from the outset was thanks to a cracking batting show led by Kamran Akmal. Akmal’s clear-the-leg-and-whack approach meant not only a rush of boundaries but also a disoriented Islamabad attack. His assault also helped Tamim Iqbal slip under the radar and knock the ball around as Peshawar scored 57 in the Powerplay. After Akmal was out in the eight over, with 46 of his 53 runs having come in boundaries, Sammy persisted with the aggressive route and promoted Dwayne Smith ahead of Mohammad Hafeez. Despite slowing down markedly after being 100 for 1 in 10 overs, Peshawar’s positivity eventually paid dividends. Comeback man Andre Russell had a forgettable night, finishing with figures of 1 for 37 from three overs before contributing only 11 with the bat.

Where the match was won

While the contributions of the Islamabad top order can’t be overstated, the game was swung irreversibly in their direction by the bowlers upfront. Peshawar, missing the services of their injured captain Misbah-ul-Haq, lost four wickets inside the Powerplay to score a meagre 38 runs, and in due course slumped to 73 for 8 to lose whatever grip they had on the match. Umaid’s penetrating bowling early on was as responsible for the slide as some poor shot selection that led to the departure of no less than three top-order batsmen.

The men that won it

Over the years, Akmal has acquired a notoriety for his inconsistency with the bat and gloves. Despite scoring a duck in the previous game, Akmal laid into the Islamabad bowling right from the start. The frontal attack caught the bowlers off guard and invariably set things up the rest of the batsmen. Umaid had exactly the same effect with the ball, as he collected scalps with regularity to rattle Islamabad.

Moment of the match

Russell made a belated appearance with the bat when he came in at No. 8. Not long after his arrival, Chris Jordan sent down a sharp bouncer that rushed Russell. Harried and having taken his eyes off the ball, Russell ducked and involuntarily thrust out his bat like a periscope. The ball caught the edge and flew over the slip cordon to the fence. At once, both Samit Patel at the non-striker’s end and Sammy cracked up even as Russell could only manage a faint smile.

Where they stand

The win takes Peshawar to third on the points table, while Islamabad are on fifth, ahead of Lahore Qalandars.

Riki Wessels might be regarded as one of the most dangerous batsmen in the NatWest Blast but that has failed to impress the movers and shakers of the IPL.Wessels is one of only three England-based players to fail to reach next weekend’s auction stage in Bengaluru with as many as 24 county cricketers trying to catch the eye of one of the franchises.As well as Wessels, Derbyshire’s batsman Wayne Madsen and Monty Panesar, who attempted an ambitious comeback despite plying his trade in the Minor Counties these days for Bedfordshire, have also been excluded.Wessels’ name has been trimmed out of the IPL long list despite being a major factor in Nottinghamshire’s progress to both limited-overs titles last season.He has been among the most successful Blast batsman in the past three seasons, his 559 runs last season coming at an average of 43 and his strike rate at a personal all-time high of 151.49.Such rejection is a familiar story for Wessels, 32, son of the former South Africa and Australia Test batsman, Kepler Wessels, a staider player altogether.Son Riki pronounced his England credentials after gaining British citizenship in the summer of 2016, having initially entered county cricket on a controversial Entrepreneur Visa, but he has failed to win international honours.England’s professional system would struggle to survive the loss of 24 players in the first six weeks of a season given over exclusively to Championship cricket, but more than half are expected to go unsold.Eight found IPL clubs in 2017, England’s largest representation, and their reputation in limited-overs cricket has advanced since with a semi-final finish in the Champions Trophy and eye-catching displays against Australia as they have taken a 2-0 lead in the post-Ashes ODI series.One England player who will be more frustrated than most will be David Willey. Willey has signalled that he may one day commit himself to a limited-overs future, but just at the time he needs to advertise his worth to IPL he has had to leave the Big Bash for England duties without managing to break into the final XI.England hopefuls: Moeen Ali , Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Tom Helm, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

ScorecardCalum MacLeod top-edges a hook for a boundary during his 58•Peter Della Penna

Calum MacLeod recorded the highest score by a Scotland batsman in 2014 and it led the team to their biggest victory in terms of runs. That symmetry persisted on Friday when he made the third-highest score by a Scotland batsman and it led the team to their third-biggest victory. PNG were on wrong side of these records and, on their home turf in Port Moresby, slipped to defeat by 101 runs.MacLeod’s innings featured three sixes and 15 fours. He was so comfortable that on a pitch where only four batsmen from either side made more than 30, he batted out 163 balls and maintained a strike-rate of 95. It was on the back of his knock that Scotland got to 278 for 9, though they could have got a lot more considering they were 240 for 2 in the 45th over.PNG seamers Alei Nao and Norman Vanua took six wickets between them. Their fightback didn’t extend to the batting though and were three down by the end of the 10th over. At 85 for 5 in the 21st, PNG’s chase seemed all but finished and even their effort to last their full quota didn’t come to pass as they were bowled out for 177 in the 44th over.Scotland used five bowlers, and all but one of them managed an economy rate of four or fewer. Alasdair Evans, Michael Leask and Stuart Whittingham picked up two wickets each.

Warning bells will be ringing once more in South Africa after Northamptonshire signed Ricardo Vasconcelos as a wicketkeeper batsman.While the 20-year-old was born in Johannesburg and has represented Boland and South Africa Under-19s, he will not be considered an overseas player as he has a Portuguese passport. It is understood that he had been of interest to other counties.He will arrive ahead of the start of the Championship season and offers reinforcement for a squad that lost wicketkeeper David Murphy at the end of last season – Murphy has decided to concentrate on a career in law – and is likely to be without Ben Duckett for the first few weeks of the season as he recovers from surgery on an injured finger. It may also be relevant that Northants could face quite a fight to retain the services of Duckett beyond the 2018 season.Northants will also be without Rory Kleinveldt, the former South Africa seamer who has been their overseas player since 2015, for the start of the season, though they expect him to return ahead of the Royal London Cup campaign.While the signing of Vasconcelos could reignite talk about the success (or otherwise) of county development systems, there may be more disquiet in South Africa. With several players on the fringes of selection for the national side having already chosen a future in county cricket – notably Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and Simon Harmer, with Morne Morkel expected to follow shortly – there will be concern that a young man good enough to represent a CSA Invitational XI as recently as December has committed himself to England for the foreseeable future. He has been obliged to renounce his right to represent South Africa as part of the deal, though such actions are reversible.The statistics from Vasconcelos’ early career are compelling. While South African domestic cricket is not as strong as it once was, the fact that he has scored two centuries and three half-centuries in his first 10 first-class games suggests he is a highly promising cricketer.”I am very excited to have the opportunity to represent Northants, it is a massive opportunity that I hope to grab with both hands,”Vasconcelos said. “I am looking forward to work with and learn from some of the more experienced players so that I can accelerate my growth as a player as quickly as possible. I am also eager to try and contribute as much as I can to the team’s success.”Northamptonshire’s head coach, David Ripley, added: “He’s a young, hungry cricketer who’s able to provide wicket-keeper cover and push the guys for batting spots. It’s great to have him on board.”

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 seasonDerbyshireIN: Ravi Rampaul (Surrey)
OUT: Tom Wood, Greg Cork, Tom Taylor (Leicestershire), Rob Hemmings, Shiv Thakor, Tom Milnes, Ben Cotton
OVERSEAS: Duanne Olivier (SA)DurhamIN: Will Smith (Hampshire), Nathan Rimmington
OUT: Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Lancashire), Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Aiden Markram (SA, April-May), Tom Latham (NZ, May-August), Axar Patel (Ind, Aug-Sep)EssexIN: Matt Coles (Kent), Feroze Kushi
OUT: Kishen Velani
OVERSEAS: Peter Siddle (Aus, April-May), Neil Wagner (NZ, May-July) Adam Zampa (Aus, T20)GlamorganIN:
OUT: Jacques Rudolph (retired), Will Bragg (retired)
OVERSEAS: Shaun Marsh (Aus)GloucestershireIN: Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)
OUT: Patrick Grieshaber, Brendon Gilmour, Phil Mustard
OVERSEAS: Dan Worrall (Aus, April-July)HampshireIN: Sam Northeast (Kent), Chris Sole
OUT: Will Smith (Durham), Michael Carberry (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Hashim Amla (SA, April-June), Dale Steyn (SA, part season)KentIN: Heino Kuhn (Kolpak), Harry Podmore (Middlesex), Ollie Robinson
OUT: Sam Northeast (Hampshire), Matt Coles (Essex), Adam Ball, Hugh Bernard, Charlie Hartley
OVERSEAS: Matt Henry (NZ)LancashireIN: Keaton Jennings (Durham), Graham Onions (Durham), Josh Bohannon, Liam Hurt
OUT: Kyle Jarvis (Zimbabwe), Luke Procter (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Joe Mennie (Aus)LeicestershireIN: Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire), Tom Taylor (Derbyshire)
OUT: Clint McKay, Will Fazackerley
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Abbas (Pak), Sohail Khan (Pak, April-May), Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire), Harry Podmore (Kent)
OVERSEAS: Ashton Agar (Aus, T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Brett Hutton (Notts), Luke Procter (Northants)
OUT: Azharullah, David Murphy (retired)
OVERSEAS: Doug Bracewell (NZ), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL, T20)NottinghamshireIN: Paul Coughlin (Durham), Chris Nash (Sussex)
OUT: Chris Read (retired), Brett Hutton (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Ross Taylor (NZ, April-June), Dan Christian (Aus, T20), Ish Sodhi (NZ, T20)SomersetIN: Fin Trenouth
OUT: Jim Allenby, Ryan Davies, Michael Leask
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft (Aus), Corey Anderson (NZ, T20)SurreyIN: Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson
OUT: Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Kumar Sangakkara (retired), Ravi Rampaul (Derbyshire)
OVERSEAS: Mitchell Marsh (Aus)SussexIN:
OUT: Steve Magoffin (Worcestershire), Chris Nash (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Ishant Sharma (Ind, April-May), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)WarwickshireIN: Dom Sibley (Surrey), Will Rhodes (Yorkshire)
OUT: Rikki Clarke (Surrey), Ateeq Javid (Leicestershire), William Porterfield
OVERSEAS: Colin De Grandhomme (NZ, T20)WorcestershireIN: Steve Magoffin (Sussex), Alex Milton
OUT:
OVERSEAS: Travis Head (Aus), Callum Ferguson (Aus, T20), Martin Guptill (NZ, T20)YorkshireIN:
OUT: Ryan Sidebottom (retired), Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)
OVERSEAS: Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Kane Williamson (NZ), Billy Stanlake (Aus, T20)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
That safe, warm, fuzzy, home-like feeling was back for India as their two most valuable Test batsmen in recent times reunited to keep others blissfully unaware of any dangers there might have been of the new ball, fresh bowlers or scoreboard pressure. That M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, now the second-most prolific second-wicket pair for India, would grind the Sri Lankan bowling was predictable, but it wasn’t as straightforward as expected. Sri Lanka tested India at the start of the first two sessions, their front three bowlers arguably fared better than they did in Kolkata, but Vijay and Pujara preyed successfully on the other two, forcing the main bowlers to come back for new spells sooner than they would have liked, and then milking them. Both got hundreds, and once Vijay got out, Virat Kohli drove home the advantage further with a quick unbeaten 54 before stumps.Dasun Shanaka and Dilruwan Perera released all the pressure built on the pair as the first 18 overs of the day went for just 36 runs. Dilruwan conceded 117 in his 21 overs, and despite a late comeback, Shanaka went at 3.3 an over. The two had bowled just nine of the first 54 overs, which meant Dinesh Chandimal had to ask Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath and Lahiru Gamage to keep coming back. The overs in the legs showed when Lakmal went for 21 in four overs in his mid-afternoon spell despite reverse swing on offer. By the time he took the second new ball, Lakmal had lost all sting and discipline.The loose balls were almost absent in the first hour of the day. In particular, Vijay, making a comeback into the Test side, had to endure a testing time. As openers do, he needed a little bit of luck going his way, but his discipline otherwise was good. Pujara, at the other end, hardly made an error.Forced to defend, defend and defend, Vijay looked to manufacture a shot. He was 19 off 60 when he skipped down to Herath, got an inside edge to offer a half chance at short leg and also a full chance for a run-out because he had stepped out too far. Wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who seemed to have left his station to attempt a rebound off the short leg’s body, could have completed the run-out had he stayed put. As it turned out, a direct hit was needed, and Sadeera Samarawickrama missed from short leg.In the next over, Vijay bat-padded a short-arm pull, but wide of short leg. Three overs later, Herath played with his inside and outside edges without creating a chance. Two overs later, Vijay fended at a short ball but the leading edge fell short of point. All this happened during a spell of four maiden overs, which was broken not with a rash stroke – as the Sri Lanka batsmen did on day one – but with a single to deepish mid-on.The introduction of Shanaka brought two cover-driven boundaries for Vijay. He began with a plum half-volley, which got dispatched too. Fifty runs came in the next 13 overs, which took India to lunch. False strokes almost went out of India’s game, and the field looked prone. There was another concerted effort from Sri Lanka after lunch but another 26-ball barren spell was broken calmly by singles from these calm batsmen.As the mileage grew in those legs, the intensity dipped, the run rate increased and the milestones began to arrive. After the tough start, Vijay scored 102 off the last 135 balls he faced even as Pujara maintained a more moderate acceleration. Vijay brought up his 10th hundred, Pujara his 14th, and the pair its 10th hundred and third double hundred together.Vijay provided Sri Lanka some respite when he top-edged a full toss he was sweeping to short fine leg, but the respite was momentary. While Pujara’s gradual acceleration continued, Kohli went faster than even Vijay had been. He even stole a bye with the ball in the wicketkeeper’s hand. In Test cricket. By stumps the two had added 96 in 22.3 overs with Kohli repaying the hard work done by those before him, through quick runs that should give India enough time to bowl Sri Lanka out the second time around.

Only 34 overs of play were possible on the final day in Chennai, as Tamil Nadu collected first-innings lead points against Tripura at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Tamil Nadu declared on their overnight score of 357 for 4 on the fourth morning, and attempted to force a result out of the game, but bad light meant that the game ended in a draw.The day started with Rahil Shah’s slow-left armers dismissingTripura openers Bishal Ghosh (3) and Udiyan Bose (12) in his first spell, to reduce the visitors to 21 for 2, still 78 runs behind Tamil Nadu’s first-innings lead. Bad light stopped play momentarily, before the players resumed play once again.Rajesh Banik (19) and Smit Patel (35*) then added 41 runs for the third wicket in 17.2 overs, before the former fell to Washington Sundar. No further wickets fell in the next 10.4 overs before bad light stopped play once again, following which the game never restarted. Tripura, who finished on 91 for 3, collected one point for the draw, while Tamil Nadu took home three.In Vadodara, Baroda survived a batting collapse to collect one point against Andhra, after fifties from Aditya Waghmode (56), Vishnu Solanki (68) and Swapnil Singh (50*) helped them avoid an outright loss. Baroda finished the day on 195 for 6, with five of their batsmen out for less than ten, as Andhra’s varied bowling attack chipped away with regular wickets. Baroda had recovered from an early wobble – where they were 10 for 2 in 6.2 overs – courtesy a 122-run third-wicket partnership between between Waghmode and Solanki as the game looked to finish in a tame draw, but three late wickets, all for the addition of no run, bought life into the game’s final stages.Andhra, in their first innings, finished on 554 all out, adding 49 runs to their overnight score of 505 for 9, with B Sumanth eventually out for 86. After that Baroda recovered from their early stutter, but were reduced from 132 for 2 to 136 for 6, as Andhra tried to press on for the win. Yusuf Pathan fell for a duck, and Ashwin Hebbar took two wickets to make for an interesting final session, but Swapnil Singh’s unbeaten fifty meant that the game finished as a draw.

ScorecardPTI

Medium-pacer Rajneesh Gurbani’s second five-wicket haul in two matches bowled out Kerala for 176 and handed Vidarbha a 70-run first-innings lead. Captain Faiz Fazal then made an unbeaten 51 – his fifth fifty-plus score of the season – to extend the lead to 147 at stumps on the third day in Surat.In reply to Vidarbha’s first-innings 246, Kerala kept losing wickets as allrounder Jalaj Saxena top-scored with 40. Resuming on 32 for 2, Jalaj and Rohan Prem stretched their overnight stand to 47 before legspinner Karn Sharma dismissed Prem for 29 in the 20th over. Jalaj and Sanju Samson then put on 44 for the fourth wicket to push the score beyond 100. Samson’s wicket, however, triggered a collapse as Kerala went from 115 for 3 to 176 all out. Gurbani cut through the middle and lower order to finish with 5 for 38 in 14 overs.Vidarbha began their second innings on a positive note with Fazal and Sanjay Ramaswamy adding a 53-run opening stand. The partnership ended when Jalaj had Ramaswamy caught behind in the 17th over. Akshay Wakhare, the nightwatchman, hung around with his captain to see Vidarbha through to stumps.

The BCCI has asked the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to take the final call on India playing their inaugural day-night Test in the two-match series at home against West Indies next season. Rajkot and Hyderabad will host the two Tests, which will be played this October.That is so far the only Test series India are scheduled to play during the 2018-19 home season before they depart for the four-Test series against Australia at the end of the year. Before that, India will play a one-off Test against Afghanistan from June 14-18 in Bengaluru.India’s international home season is scheduled to commence with the Asia Cup, which is likely to begin on September 18, subject to the Indian government giving permission to allow Pakistan to play.Along with the two Tests, West Indies will also play five ODIs and three T20Is in October-November. The BCCI’s tours, programmes and fixtures committee met on Saturday to finalise the venues for the next season and picked Mumbai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Indore and Guwahati as the five cities for the ODI series. The three T20s will be held in Kolkata, Chennai and Kanpur/Lucknow.With 2019 being a World Cup year, India are scheduled to play several limited-overs matches as part of their preparations. After their tour of Australia, India will travel to New Zealand to play five ODIs and three T20s (as per the ICC’s Future Tours Programme).On their return, India will wrap up the home season with another limited-overs series, against Australia, comprising five ODIs and two T20s. That series will be played in February-March before the IPL and will be India’s last international series before the World Cup begins in England on May 30. Mohali, Delhi, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Ranchi will host the ODIs against Australia while Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru will host the two T20s.At the meeting held in Mumbai on Saturday, the BCCI’s tours, programmes and fixtures committee was told by the board secretary Amitabh Choudhary that Cricket West Indies (CWI) had agreed to the BCCI’s proposal to play a day-night Test.Recently, Choudhary was pulled up by the CoA chairman Vinod Rai for showing a “cavalier attitude” in taking policy decisions. Rai said the issue of day-night Tests would be placed on hold untill further deliberations took place.Choudhary had tried to douse Rai’s criticism by stating that he was merely trying to find “remedies” to arrest the “diminishing” interest in Test cricket. Also, since India are the only big Test-playing nation to have not played Test cricket under lights, Choudhary said he had consulted the likes of India coach Ravi Shastri, who was open to the idea of being tried on an “experimental” basis against West Indies.In his suggestions to Choudhary, Shastri had pointed out that the Tests against “tier-II” countries like West Indies be held in tier-II cities (smaller centres) and the match start by noon.

It is less than a month since Steven Smith took over as Australia’s T20 captain and less than a week since he was leading the Test side back to the top of the ICC rankings in New Zealand. Now Smith is in South Africa, where Australia will play three T20s as part of their preparation for the World T20, which will see them head to India in less than a fortnight’s time.If all that is a bit much to process, it is just the start for Smith, who will have to learn rapidly on the job after replacing Aaron Finch. Smith has captained Australia just once previously in T20 – although he has led Sydney Sixers and Rajasthan Royals in the Big Bash and IPL respectively – and must quickly sort through pressing questions of selection and strategy as he looks to make the team challengers at a tournament they have never previously won.The decision by Australia’s selectors to make Smith captain in all three formats came after they had been whitewashed 3-0 at home to India, and followed an observation by Shane Watson – who stood in for the injured Finch, with Smith already in New Zealand, for the third T20 against India – that a lack of continuity had been hurting their chances.Smith, who has made a smooth ascent in Test and ODI cricket as Michael Clarke’s successor, is the man charged with getting Australia pulling in the right direction in time for the World T20 – a job complicated by having to try and settle on an ideal XI in South Africa, where conditions will differ markedly from those likely to be encountered in India. It may not be the ideal scenario but Smith was focused on getting as much out of the trip as possible after arriving in Durban.”For us it’s about playing some T20 cricket together, we haven’t played a great deal of T20 over the last couple of years so it’s a great opportunity for us to try and gel together as a unit before the World Cup,” Smith said. “Hopefully the South African curators can try and make the pitches a little bit slow and turning, I think that would benefit both sides, so we’ll wait and see what they come up with.”Smith only played in the first match against India and said the series defeat was “in the past”. Australia have included three players uncapped in T20 – wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa – in their 15-man squad and must try to settle on an ideal batting order, with Finch, Watson, Usman Khawaja and David Warner all competing to open.”It’s about moving forward and trying to get everything going in the right direction before the World Cup,” Smith said. “We’ve got a few options for guys that can open the batting, there’s about four guys vying for a spot there. The bowlers are working hard to get into the eleven but I think it will take a whole squad to win a World Cup.”Despite regular commissions in the IPL, Australia’s players have struggled to make an impact at T20’s global showpiece, with just one final appearance in five attempts, and Smith conceded that the game had moved on apace since he helped take the Sixers to the 2011-12 Big Bash title in his first taste of captaincy.”I think it’s changed a lot, guys have got so many different deliveries nowadays – slower-ball bouncers, wide yorkers, different kinds of slower balls, things like that. Guys are able to hit the ball 360 degrees, which is hard to stop. I just think the game has changed so much, it’s moving forward and that’s great.”One of those “hard to stop” guys is AB de Villiers, whose outlandish talents were to the fore in South Africa’s most recent T20, a nine-wicket win over England. De Villiers, now opening the batting in T20, crashed 71 off 29 balls and Smith suggested Australia would be trying to come up with a containment strategy for him.”It’s very difficult to do, he’s one of the most destructive – if not the most destructive – batsman in the world and he does hit the ball 360 degrees, so when he is going he’s very tough to stop,” Smith said. “We’re going to have a few plans in place for him that will hopefully work, but he’s a terrific player and very hard to stop.”South Africa have been on an upward surge in limited-overs cricket, winning five matches in a row against England. In contrast to Australia, they have recently tasted success over India – winning the T20 and ODI legs on last year’s tour – and they will be further boosted by the return of Dale Steyn from a shoulder problem. Australia, meanwhile, expect Finch, Watson, James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile to be available for the first match on Friday after recent injuries.”They’re a very good T20 team, they’ve got some class players that can take the game away from you very quickly,” Smith said. “So, for us, we want to win every series we play and I guess in the back of our minds we know there’s a World Cup not long away. But it’s about focusing on this series and trying to do what we can to win.”