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A near total batting failure has cost Andover top spot in the ECB Southern Electric Premier League. They crashed to 114 all out and a 73-run defeat by Portsmouth in their first full session of all-day `time’ cricket.Facing Portsmouth’s 187 all out – a total built around a splendid 80 by South African youngster Warren Swann – Andover sank to 58-9 before last wicket pair Lee Wateridge and Matt Hooper doubled the score.Disappointed Andover skipper Roger Miller had no excuses – only praise for Portsmouth’s performance."We thought we had got Swann early on, but to his credit Warren batted really well, with some smashing straight drives."When we batted, Naqeeb Ali Mohamed and Lee Savident bowled a very good line, and got the ball into the right areas. Portsmouth defended their total really well and our batting just fell to pieces against Raj (Maru) and Pete Hayward."Thanks to Lee and Matt at the end, our total reached some credibility," Miller said.Ironically, Andover fired the early shots, with Richard Taylor (3-41) sending three of Portsmouth’s "big guns" – Geoff Pike, Matt Keech and Lee Savident – back to the pavilion to have Maru’s men rocking at 35-3.Swann’s innings, supported by some useful contributions from the lower order, wrested the initiative away from Andover. Hampshire Under-17 prospect Michael Barnes (23), who later snapped up three victims despite suffering a painful blow on his left index finger, provided the initial support.But it was the tall Johannesburg teenager, recommended to Portsmouth by Hampshire coach Jimmy Cook, who played the match winning innings.Hitting two sixes and seven fours in an accomplished 80, Swann piloted Portsmouth into a winning position. Fellow South African Gareth Tate took 3-63 with his off-spin, but a useful late rally involving Ben Nolan and Pete Hayward saw Portsmouth reach 187 all out in 50.4 overs.It all went horribly wrong for Andover after that.Hampshire Under-19 pace bowler Naqeeb Ali Mohamed (2-21) ripped out the Miller brothers and Savident removed Martin Docis at the start of a near immaculate 12-over spell, which cost just 15 runs.Andover’s middle-order caved in against Maru’s flight and guile – the former Hampshire left-arm spinner taking 4-35 and bowling in tandem with Hayward, who helped himself to 3-18.The six-week long leaders were eyeing a Premier Division 1 lowest total at 58-9, but Wateridge (41 not out), with a series of powerful back-foot cover shots, and the teenage Hooper (25) spared their blushes.It appeared for a while as if the tenth-wicket pair might deny Portsmouth victory, but Hayward eventually ended the 56-run partnership when the left-handed Hooper provided Barnes with a third victim.

The club versus country debate is usually associated with football, where the former often takes precedence over the latter. In cricket, this issue is fairly new but already there are signs that it could become a talking point.The Sydney Sixers have lit the flames after captain Brad Haddin spoke about the role of the three young quick bowlers in his team. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood the men in question and all three are no doubt of what they have to do. “Their job is to go out and bowl fast,” Haddin said.”The work rate side of things is (Sixers coach) Corey [Richards] and the physiotherapists department. My job is to manage the team in the field and my job is to tell them to go out there and bowl fast.”Richards is more sensitive to the potential dangers of asking the trio to leave it all out there. With injury concerns a real risk, especially among bowlers under the age of 23, according to South African team doctor Mohammed Moosajee, Richards will have to combine motivating them to perform to their best with monitoring so that they do not over-exert themselves.”It’s a fine line. They’ve obviously got a big workload, both prior to this tournament and afterwards with the Test matches. It is a juggling act,” he said. “Managing them is important but from our point of view we are here to win a competition and to get them performing as best as they can over the next couple of weeks.”Cummins is the main worry, having been injured soon after he made his debut in South Africa. At that stage, Cummins had sustained a heel injury, common in young bowlers whose bodies are still developing. His recovery period took longer than expected because he also picked up a stress fracture. When he eventually made his comeback to the national team in a one-day series against England in June, he was forced to exit it early after straining his side.He is unlikely to play international cricket until the third Test against South Africa in Perth late November which gives him plenty of time – time that the Australian administration hopes can be used to play Shield cricket. With niggles in his history, the national management will be anxious that he does not pick up another one to interrupt their plans for his preparation.To that end, bowling coach Ali de Winter will be in South Africa to keep an eye on the bowlers and make sure they are not overstretching themselves. Richards does not think they will be. “The workloads are not something new; they’ve been going on for a long time. Injuries happen, with the amount of cricket they play it could happen at any time. And we feel we’ve got the quicks in a pretty good position,” he said.Sydney do not hide that they will rely on the fast men in this tournament, especially given the bouncy tracks in South Africa and that Cummins will be their spearhead. “We’ve got three guys who can really push that rate and go up high into the mid-140s. And one of them, Pat, can push it into the 150s, and it’s a different ball game there,” Haddin said. “We’re actually lucky that in Australian cricket at the moment, we’ve got a crop of quicks that are pushing the speed gun up to where we like it.”Although the pace bowlers will in the spotlight, there are two other important components to their bowling attack that Haddin is careful to make mention of: the role of spin and the form of Shane Watson. “If you look at the way T20 has gone, no matter what conditions, spinners have played a big part in successful T20 sides,” he said.”And Watto, well in the last month he has played a different brand of cricket to anyone else really.” Watson was named Man of the Series at the World T20 for his all-round role for Australia and is thought to be one of the players to watch at this event.Haddin does not want to focus too much on the Watson, though. “If we are going to do well as a team, we can’t have the focus on one individual.” That sharing of responsibility could ensure that the likes of Cummins are not made to do so much that they hurt themselves.

England’s return to the historic P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, 19 years after SriLanka’s inaugural Test Match, is proving to be a gainful one. Yesterdaythere was Nasser Hussain shaking off the shackles of poor form, the temperedclass of Vaughan and further confirmation of Craig White’s growing statureas a batsman. Then, today, we witnessed a disciplined bowling performance insapping heat and an encouraging signs that Robert Croft can play aninfluential role in the Test series.That is not say that England have had it all their own way in this four-daygame against a Sri Lankan board President’s XI. Indeed, the match isintriguingly poised after a gleaming century by Tillakaratne Dilshan.England eventually dismissed the Sri Lankans for 265 and will start theirsecond innings tomorrow with a lead of 64Robert Croft’s bowling figures of three for 77 from 19 overs may not havebeen his most economical performance ever and he admits that he “still needsto elimate the one bad ball an over”, but his action is looking morecomfortable with each over he bowls. For a man who, in the words of Hussain,”has spent the last four months sitting on his backside back home”, he isadapting well to Sri Lankan conditions.Having been dropped from the Test side last summer and after a public showof petulance, in which he openly considered making himself unavailable forEngland, he buckled down to work on his action with Tom Cartwright in anattempt to rediscover the form that brought him success when he first playedfor England in 1996/7.The hours spent in the Cardiff indoor nets appear to have paid off. He hasshortened his delivery stride, slowed his pace and as a result the ball isonce again dipping in the air and gripping the pitch.”I have been spinning the ball hard and there is a fair amount of variablebounce in the pitches. It’s a building process for me but I think I am goingin the right direction,” he said afterwards. He realises though that it’sgoing to far from easy against Sri Lanka’s fleet footed batsmen. “Thebatsmen in these parts of the world are very quick on their feet. You haveto vary the pace of the delivery and put fielders in different positionsbecause of some of the unconventional shots that are played.”He will never spin the ball like Muralitharan and Saqlain Mustaq, but on thebiscuit-dry surfaces of Sri Lanka he has an important role to play withAshley Giles. He took three crucial middle-order wickets today. First he hadthe gangly Michael Vandort snapped up at short leg with his very firstdelivery. Then, in his second spell, he trapped both Chamara Silva andPrassana Jayawardene lbw with successive deliveries.Croft’s double strike left the President’s XI on 143 for six and Englandwould have had high hopes of securing a sizeable first innings lead.Tillakaratne Dilshan came into this match, however, with a point to prove. Hedid little wrong in South Africa with the national side, but became thescapegoat for the top order’s failures and was dropped for the one-day squadfor New Zealand.Nevertheless, he remains the most technically accomplished batsman of SriLanka’s young crop of reserves and went a long way towards booking his berthfor the First Test Match in Galle with his hundred today. He came to thecrease at the fall of the second wicket, batted for 250 minutes in all forhis 121 and rescued an innings that could have gone into freefall.Dilshan’s footwork against the spin of Giles and Croft was simplybreathtaking. Dancers would have marvelled at the speed with which he movedinto position and the balance that he then retained for the stroke. He hitsixteen crisp boundaries in all and, a missed run out apart, hisinnings was unblemished.Take away the innings of Dilshan and the performance of the Sri Lankans wasdecidedly average. Three players – Jehan Mubarak, Michael Vandort andChamara Silva – threatened to play major innings, but all failed to go on tomake a half century. Fortunately for them, Thilan Samaraweera supportedDilshan stoically and the pair added 93 runs for the seventh wicket.A largely satisfactory day, in which the bowlers had stuck manfully to their tasks throughout, was suddenly being threatened. Then, Craig White had Samaraweera caught by a sprawling Croft at square leg and Gough, bowling with impressive speed in such draining conditions, brushed the glove of Dilshan as the right hander tried to glance down the leg side. Michael Vaughan chipped in with the wickets of Ravindra Puspakumara and Sujeewa de Silva and the Sri Lankan’s had slumped from 236 for six to 265 all out.

Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, said a lack of match practice will not be an obstacle to success in the World Twenty20, ahead of their first match – the tournament opener against Sri Lanka in Hambantota. Zimbabwe have not played any international cricket since their tour of New Zealand in February, but Taylor said practice matches among the Zimbabwe squad and an unofficial tri-series against South Africa and Bangladesh had been adequate preparation.”I don’t think a lack of matches will hinder us,” Taylor said. “We have enough players back home to choose from and have played some competitive matches amongst us. Our training camp was really good. We had good success against South Africa and Bangladesh in an unofficial tri-series in Harare two months ago. So no excuses, we’re all in good form. Obviously a bigger stage now, and it’s time to come out and perform.”Zimbabwe defeated a South Africa XI that included Richard Levi, Hashim Amla and Lonwabo Tsotsobe among others, to win the tri-series in Harare in June. The hosts won four out of five matches in the tournament, defeating both other teams twice. However, they lost both their World Twenty20 warm up matches, going down to Ireland by 54 runs and to Bangladesh by five wickets.”It’s not ideal, but we were trying out different combinations, so we didn’t have our strongest side out there. We were outplayed by Ireland and Bangladesh, but our first game is what’s important and we’ve prepared well for that. There’re no excuses.”Taylor said that although Zimbabwe were glad to be playing Sri Lanka in a venue less familiar to the home side than the grounds in Colombo and Pallekele, the conditions would take his own side some getting used to as well.”We know Sri Lanka probably rather be at the R Premadasa Stadium or in Pallekele,” he said. “This is new for all three teams [South Africa, being the third team]. We don’t know what really to expect. We know we’re on a really big field, and with the wind blowing, and we’re not really used to that. It will make it tough to score in certain areas.””Looking at the wicket it doesn’t look like it will turn a lot. But we have three spinners who will bowl well even on wickets that don’t turn a lot. Sri Lanka will have very good spinners too, but it’s not just down to spin. You have to control 90% of the game to come out on top.”Taylor said Zimbabwe had also prepared specifically for Lasith Malinga’s bowling, and were confident of defusing the threat he posed. “We’ve talked about [Malinga] a lot. He’s a threat to anyone, really, but he’s only human. He can have a good day or a bad day. He’s someone we’ve monitored closely and tried to replicate certain aspects of his bowling in practice sessions. We’ve all faced him before so he’s not too unfamiliar.”

Paul Collingwood, captain of county champions Durham and the former England batsman, will lead Scotland through the World Cup qualifiers after being named as new joint head coach.Collingwood had been assistant to Pete Steindl, who has been silently removed after failing to achieve qualification to the World Twenty20 finals in Bangladesh. Scotland lost in the play-offs to the Netherlands.Remarkably, in an announcement of breathtaking disingenuousness, Steindl’s name was absent from a Cricket Scotland statement, but he has been replaced after six years in office on the brink of his team leaving for a World Cup qualifier in New Zealand.A brief statement, on the Cricket Scotland website read: “Paul Collingwood will lead the Scotland coaching team at the forthcoming World Cup Qualifying event in New Zealand, in conjunction with performance development manager Craig Wright.”The team will be managed by Euan McIntyre together with performance analyst/fielding coach Toby Bailey, strength and conditioning coach Simon Smith and physiotherapist Mhairi MacPhail.”All were part of the Scotland coaching and support team at the recent tournament in the United Arab Emirates, with Collingwood and Wright stepping up from their assistant coaching roles to lead the team.”Neither Collingwood nor Wright has previously taken charge of a senior cricket team, and their commision will last roughly a month as they attempt to rouse Scotland’s spirits.Their failure to reach the finals of World Twenty20 was harder to bear as three sides of similar pedigree – United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Hong Kong – all qualified, furthering the notion that while other countries improve, Scottish cricket is in the doldrums.Scotland must face all those three sides in the World Cup qualifiers, inviting the belief that something must change overnight if they are to have any prospect of qualifying from Group A. Collingwood has now been tasked with creating that miracle.Kyle Coetzer, Scotland’s captain, said: “There are three good teams there in Hong Kong, Nepal and the UAE, that we recently played against at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 and that qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 2014 while we didn’t, so recent form suggests it will be tough for us early on.Once the group stages are competed, only the top two teams – the finalists after the Super Six stage – will qualify for the World Cup proper.

Allrounder Tim Bresnan has been added to England’s Ashes squad and could play in the second Test in Adelaide, which starts on December 5.Bresnan, 28, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back in August and missed the final Test of the Ashes in England. While he arrived in Australia with the Test squad, his on-going involvement was always dependent on him proving his fitness ahead of the second Test.Having taken four wickets in the England Performance Programmes’ match against Queensland Second XI last week and undergone a thorough fitness test afterwards, he has now officially been added to the squad. He has also been bowling at full pace in the nets for a couple of weeks.Chris Tremlett filled the third fast bowler’s spot normally taken by Bresnan in Brisbane but produced a modest performance. With England also keen to strengthen the batting after a dismal performance in the first Test and the loss of Jonathan Trott, Bresnan, a far better batsman than Tremlett, could be set for an almost immediate return. Both Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin all but bowled themselves out of contention with disappointing performances in Alice Springs.It appears that Gary Ballance will benefit from Trott’s departure and win the chance to bat at No. 6 in Adelaide, with Joe Root or Ian Bell set to move to No. 3. Root, despite an unconvincing performance in Alice Springs, appears the more likely choice, with the England camp reluctant to weaken a strength by moving Bell from the No. 5 position from which he largely defined the previous series in England.

Match facts

Friday, November 1, 2013
Start time 1500 local (1100GMT)Shahid Afridi’s search for consistency will be crucial to Pakistan’s fortunes in the series•Associated Press

Big Picture

On a day when 701 runs were scored in the India-Australia ODI in Nagpur, fans of the 50-over format were reminded of the drama of a low-scoring thriller, as South Africa nudged out Pakistan by one run in a tense game. However, if AB de Villiers has his way, it’s unlikely there will be any more tight matches in the series.De Villiers hoped the win would act as a catalyst for South Africa, creating more consistent one-day form for a team that has struggled to hit the high notes they find with ease in the longer format. “You need a win like this sometimes to turn things around,” de Villiers said, while admitting he does not know why the batting line-up continues to fail. “We are not getting partnerships going; not playing well together as a batting unit. I believe we will get there.”Graeme Smith’s return has added some stability but South Africa’s middle order is still shaky. Technique, although something that cannot be altered overnight, in the UAE conditions and against a crafty spin attack is still being exposed even as the bowlers continue to save the team blushes.Pakistan are in the same state. Their bowling attack is capable of putting the team in positions of advantage that their batsmen continually squander. They will have to find a way to play their former countryman Imran Tahir and keep runs flowing while the South Africa seamers are in operation.For now, it remains a contest that resembles a bowl-off between two aggressive attacks feasting on two limp line-ups. In a game ruled by batsmen, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, although both teams would prefer to score more runs.

Form guide

Pakistan LWWLW (last five completed games most recent first)
South Africa WLLWL

In the spotlight

A few Pakistan fans joked that because Shahid Afridi had a sensational showing with the ball in the first match, he could be relied on to taper off for the rest of the series. It’s a theory he will want to prove wrong. Afridi did not take a single wicket against South Africa earlier this year and has not made a significant contribution with the bat since his innings of 76 against West Indies in July. He will search for some consistency as Pakistan hope to come back in the series.Faf du Plessis has now gone 10 innings without scoring an ODI half-century and appears the most vulnerable middle-order batsman against Pakistan spinners. He has had a long rope, playing in all but two ODIs since he was selected in January 2011, but with an average of 27.19, his reputation can no longer be the main ground for his selection. Du Plessis needed a big performance in the first ODI to keep his place, but the lack of a suitable middle-order replacement means he is likely to have the rest of the series to turn his form around.

Team news

After their middle order crumbled, Pakistan may consider shuffling personnel. Asad Shafiq and uncapped Sohaib Maqsood will put pressure on Umar Amin for his place but the more pressing concerns are in the wicket-keeping department. AB de Villiers has admitted that Pakistan’s tail starts with Umar Akmal, and the hosts may consider replacing Akmal with Sarfraz Ahmed. An attack that dismissed the opposition for under 200 needs little tinkering with, but Abdur Rehman is on hand should Pakistan opt for another spinner.Pakistan (likely) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Amin/Asad Shafiq/Sohaib Maqsood, 6 Umar Akmal/Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad IrfanColin Ingram is leading the run charts in South Africa’s domestic one-day competition but, with three ducks in his last three ODIs, his form isn’t extending to the international stage. Hashim Amla is still waiting for the birth of his second child so South Africa may have no option but to bring Quinton de Kock in, although they may leave the glovework to de Villiers. Tahir’s impressive showing in Sharjah is likely to keep Robin Peterson out again and Vernon Philander will also have to await his turn.South Africa (likely) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Quinton de Kock, 3 JP Duminy, 4 Faf du Plessis, 5 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 11 Imran Tahir

Stats and trivia

• South Africa and Pakistan have played two five-match ODI series since 2010-11. Both series have followed exactly the same pattern where South Africa have won the first, third and deciding matches, while Pakistan have won the second and fourth.
• The one run difference between the two teams is the smallest margin of victory (in runs) this year. South Africa were also involved in two matches that ended with a one-wicket margin – both against New Zealand.
• Misbah-ul-Haq is 102 runs behind George Bailey on the list of leading ODI run-scorers in 2013. With 41 wickets, Saeed Ajmal is two wickets behind Ravindra Jadeja on the list of leading wicket-takers in ODIs this year.

Quotes

“It’s really tough to get ten wickets in the game, so that’s why the totals are really close together. Back home, you get lower scores, guys really running through batting line-ups.”
“If we keep recalling what happened in the last match it will be difficult. We must forget that and all our players should play the next match as a new game.”

Sri Lanka’s makeshift Twenty20 tournament was confirmed only two days before it began and was followed by the board’s public spat with Kumar Sangakkara, but Kandurata Maroons captain Lahiru Thirimanne believes Sri Lanka now sends the strongest ever side to represent the country at the Champions League.Four members of Sri Lanka’s frontline Twenty20 side, which has remained atop the world rankings for almost a year, will also play for Kandurata in India. In addition to Thirimanne and Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis and Nuwan Kulasekara are in the squad, along with Rangana Herath, who is not always in the Twenty20 XI, but has bowled crucial spells for Sri Lanka in the shortest format.Kandurata’s supporting cast includes sometime Sri Lanka players and domestic stalwarts Thilina Kandamby and Kaushal Lokuarachchi, as well as earmarked youngsters like allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya and fast bowler Vimukthi Perara.”I think this is the best team Sri Lanka have sent,” Thirimanne said. “We’ve got some very experienced players – the likes of Sangakkara, Kulasekara, Upul Tharanga and Ajantha Mendis. Whether you look at our bowling or batting, we have a lot of ability and the side is well balanced. We’re very happy that we have players like Sangakkara and Herath, who are among the best in the world at the moment.”Spin bowling shapes as a particular strength for Kandurata, who have two slow-bowling allrounders in their ranks in Jayasuriya and Milinda Siriwardene, in addition to Mendis and Herath. Although Mendis’ statistics make plain his decline in the longer formats, he still averages 12.84 and has a strike-rate of 12.6 in Twenty20 internationals, where his variety has remained effective.”We will have a big advantage with the quality of spinners that we have. They will be playing in helpful conditions in India and maybe some of the teams aren’t very comfortable against spin – we’re playing the New Zealand side in the qualifiers. That said we’ll still have to play very well as a team to go through.”Because the Super Fours tournament, through which Kandurata qualified, was only one week in length, the team has only played four matches, but neither Thirimanne nor the coach Chaminda Vaas anticipated a weakness in the side’s lack of cohesion.”We’ve only played four matches, but we played really well in that tournament, and we’ve also trained very hard in the last few weeks,” Vaas said. “We’ve got a very balanced team. The batting is balanced and we’ve got good fast bowlers as well as spinners. We’ve got the best possible combination to do well in the tournament.”

On Wednesday, Nigel Hilliard, the Essex chairman, said that the prospects of Monty Panesar remaining an Essex cricketer next year will be dependent on how well he fits into the dressing-room for the remainder of the season.Given that he has been in the middle for most of his first few days at Colchester, bowling no fewer than 54 overs, he has hardly had time to converse with his new colleagues. Yet, according to James Foster, his captain, the signs are highly auspicious.”I had been with him on an England Lions tour and I knew him to be a quality guy,” Foster said. “Monty has fitted in really well. He keeps himself to himself but he has shown great exuberance around the dressing-room and enjoys a bit of banter. It has helped that he has known other players from the past – he has played a lot of cricket with Ravi Bopara and against Gautam Gambhir.””I don’t know what has been agreed between Essex and Sussex and have no idea if he will be back next season – that is down to the powers-that-be – but there is no question he has gone down well. I thought his bowling was excellent on a good batting pitch which did not offer anything in the way of spin. His control was relentless. It does not look as if the pitch is going to break up, either.”The perception from the boundary was that Panesar was firing the ball in at the batsmen, striving for containment and maidens rather than enticing them into trying to hit against such turn as there was or over the top. Not so, felt Foster. “There was plenty of variation and he mixed his pace up nicely. The only way a spinner could get a lot out of this pitch was through control. He was bowling against good, in-form batters. That was what I, as a wicketkeeper, found to be exceptional.”Foster said the club had had to move smartly when they knew Panesar was being released by Sussex and was amused that Northamptonshire had arrived at Colchester at the start of this week anticipating that the England spinner would be turning out against Essex. “Monty could make the difference between us gaining promotion and remaining in the second division,” he said. “In theory, pitches take spin at this time of year and that is why we went for him. I am not sure whether he will play in our remaining one-dayers.”Panesar is staying in a Colchester hotel this week and will then move into the Chelmsford area. Foster said that as part of the agreement over his release from Sussex, he was not be permitted to join a Division One club – in other words, he would not be allowed to play against them for the remainder of the season. The Essex captain was unaware that Sussex had prevented him from speaking to the media during the Colchester festival.There was no play on the third day to test whether or not there would be anything in the pitch to encourage the spinners on both sides. The presence of Panesar has been well received by Essex members and supporters, but inevitably there has been the odd grumble over the wages that will be paid to him between now and the end of the season. He will remain on the same salary he was receiving from Sussex. After that, the club will be competing in a free market.

Daniel Vettori, the former New Zealand captain, has said that Northern Districts legspinner Ish Sodhi was one of the most promising bowlers he had seen. Sodhi was named in New Zealand’s Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh on Friday.”He’s probably one of the most talented bowlers I’ve ever seen,” Vettori told . “His skill level is incredibly high. I think there’s something special about him. I’ve been trying to spread the message to our guys for a while. He loves bowling and has really worked hard on not becoming one-dimensional. He’s the sort of guy who loves cricket and just wants to bowl and bowl. He’s got a fantastic attitude.”Sodhi and Vettori go some way back. Sodhi had been invited to bowl at Vettori during an Auckland playing trial and then they became team-mates. He currently plies his trade with Northern Districts. He was also part of New Zealand’s Under-19 team that made the semi-finals of the 2012 World Cup in Queensland.Sodhi is presently in India as part of the New Zealand A squad after taking 20 wickets in 10 matches during the first-class season at home. He took two wickets in the first unofficial Test in Visakhapatnam but was wicketless in the second, although he made a career-best score of 57.”In the last game I didn’t get a wicket but got through 24 overs and felt really good,” he said. “I guess it was all about the process than the outcome in that game. I’m going to try and live in the moment. I’m going to learn but I want to contribute to the side, and hopefully win a game.”