In his first innings since July 2016, AB de Villiers helped himself to an unbeaten 134 off 103 for Northerns in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2017In his first innings since July 2016, AB de Villiers helped himself to an unbeaten 134 off 103 for Northerns in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge. The knock comes as he prepares for a likely South Africa return in the third T20I against Sri Lanka in Cape Town.At the end of a week where de Villiers’ plans for his international future have been a major topic, he was finally able to return to run-scoring after overcoming the elbow injury he picked up at last year’s CPL.Even taking into account the lower standard of his comeback match, it was a notable return for de Villiers given his lack of cricket. Batting at No. 3, he was given the maximum chance for a lengthy innings when opener Jonathan Vandiar was lbw first ball of Northerns’ chase.De Villiers proceeded to reach a century off 87 deliveries – his second fifty needing 37 balls – and finished the match with consecutive sixes. In total he struck 19 fours and three sixes in just over two hours in the middle.The final T20I against Sri Lanka had been earmarked for de Villiers’ return ahead of the one-day series and the limited-overs leg of the New Zealand tour. He has already made himself unavailable for Test cricket for most of 2017, suggesting a comeback will come at home against India late in the year should that series be confirmed.Morne Morkel, who has been out of action as long as de Villiers with a back injury, was also due to play in the game but doubt was cast on his availability when he showed some symptoms of the same issue last week. Morkel did not play the match and there is continued uncertainty over when he will make his return.

The 18-year-old Afghanistan legspinner was thrilled after his selection at the IPL auction, where Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for INR 4 crore (USD 595,000 approx)

Firdose Moonda20-Feb-20173:31

‘Afghanistan players weren’t bought for emotion’

Rashid Khan was at opposite ends of the cricketing spectrum – and then somewhere in-between – as the IPL auction played out this morning. Physically, he was in Harare with not much to do on a rest day between ODIs against Zimbabwe. Mentally, he was in Bangalore: he was one of the five Afghanistan players listed in the IPL 2017 auction and he had doubts about whether he would attract any bids. Emotionally, he was at home in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, where he last saw his parents and six brothers three months ago, and where all eyes were on India.”My parents woke up early to watch the auction. I was still sleeping when they called me and told me to get up and watch because I was coming up,” Rashid told ESPNcricinfo. “So I started to also watch it from here in Zimbabwe and I was really surprised, really happy and really excited when I saw what was happening. I couldn’t believe it actually, it happened very quickly.”After an eager back-and-forth between Mumbai Indians and defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rashid was bought for INR 4 crore (USD 595,000 approx) by Sunrisers, who also acquired his team-mate Mohammad Nabi. The pair will join Kane Williamson, David Warner and Mustafizur Rahman, among others, in the franchise squad and for Rashid, it’s undoubtedly the biggest deal of his young cricketing career. He is only 18 and has been playing international cricket for less than 18 months and has already landed one of the most lucrative contracts going around.Rashid decided to enter the IPL auction on the advice of his agency, Insignia Sports, who also brokered his participation in the 2016-17 Bangladesh Premier League last year. He played for Comilla Victorians, in a squad that also included Jason Holder, Marlon Samuels, Ahmed Shehzad and Nuwan Kulasekara, and finished 11th on the overall wicket-takers’ list with 13 scalps at 14.92.He hoped the BPL performance and his recent returns at the Desert T20 Challenge – where he took nine wickets in the tournament at an average of 6.55 – would tempt an IPL team into buying him, despite a wealth of spin talent in India which saw even the world’s top-ranked T20 bowler, Imran Tahir, go unsold.”What makes me different is that I am a bit quicker for a legspinner,” Rashid said. “That is something that just came to me naturally, not something that I copied from anyone.”Apart from his speed, Rashid also relishes big occasions. At the Asia Cup last year, he was Afghanistan’s highest wicket-taker and the second-highest wicket-taker for his team at the World T20 after Nabi. His performances have been so standout he has squeezed long-term frontliner Samiullah Shenwari out of the starting XI.Rashid admitted he enjoys tough situations. “I love pressure. Mentally, I get myself ready for pressure. That’s how I like to play,” he said. “Maybe it’s because I grew up playing with my brothers all the time and five of them are older than me but I also think it’s the experience of playing a lot of cricket in a short space of time.”Since October 2015, Rashid has played in six ODI series and six T20 series, as Afghanistan seek to make themselves more visible on the global stage. Rashid and Nabi’s IPL signings will aid that cause immeasurably.Having been chosen over some Bangladesh and Sri Lanka stars, the pair’s selection is the biggest indication of the strides Afghanistan are making, and Rashid hopes it does not stop here.”Our main target is to play Test cricket and all the guys are working very hard to get there,” he said. “If we can get there, you can’t imagine how good it would feel.”For now, he is happy to concentrate on the shortest format. “In short formats, the more you enjoy it, the better you will do, and I am enjoying it a lot.”Understandably, Rashid has not made any plans for his new income just yet. He will only see his family after the tournament – Afghanistan travel from Zimbabwe to Greater Noida in Delhi for their series against Ireland and then it will be time for the IPL – and he expects there will be a clamour in his hometown to share in his glory. “Whenever I go home they have a celebration for me so I’m sure this time, they will do it as well.”

Half-centuries from Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad and Muhammad Usman underpinned UAE’s 82-run victory over Papua New Guinea in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Muhammad Usman struck six fours and a six•Peter Della Penna

Half-centuries from Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad and Muhammad Usman underpinned UAE’s 82-run victory over Papua New Guinea in Abu Dhabi. Mohammad Naveed and captain Rohan Mustafa, meanwhile, made cameos as UAE ran up 292 for 5. Spinners Ahmed Raza and Imran Haider then claimed combined figures of 7 for 79 to dismiss PNG for 210.PNG, though, had started positively in their chase with Tony Ura and Vani Morea adding 82 for the first wicket. Legspinner Haider then claimed three wickets in three overs to jolt PNG. Raza, the left-arm spinner, smothered the middle order further with the lone source of resistance coming from Sese Bau who contributed with 42 off 51 balls. The last five wickets tumbled for six runs as PNG were bowled out in 47.3 overs.Having been inserted, UAE lost Mohammed Qasim early to Chad Soper, but a string of fifty stands from the middle order shaped the innings. Shabber was circumspect, making 50 off 96 balls while Shahzad, Usman and Naveed went at better than a run a ball as UAE threatened the 300 mark. Seamer Alei Nao picked up 2 for 47 on ODI debut.

A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches played on April 27, 2017

Mohammad Isam27-Apr-2017Prime Bank Cricket Club joined Gazi Group Cricketers at the top of the Dhaka Premier League points table after crushing Victoria Sporting Club by 130 runs at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar. Victoria are one of two teams who are still without a win in the league so far.
Mehedi Maruf’s third List-A century propped up Prime Bank to 283 after they elected to bat. He struck 12 boundaries and two sixes in his 103-ball 101. He added three 50-plus stands with fellow opener Nahidul Islam, their new Indian recruit Abhimanyu Easwaran and Zakir Hasan for the first, second and third wicket stands respectively, before falling in the 34th over.Victoria captain Monir Hossain took three wickets while Moinul Islam, Islamul Ahsan and Rubel Mia took two each. Victoria’s 284-chase didn’t take off, though. They lasted just 33.5 overs, with Shafiul Hayat’s 42 being the highest in the team’s 153 all out. Ariful Haque took three wickets while Al-Amin finished with two.Brothers Union took only three hours and 27 minutes to dismantle Partex Sporting Club and romp to a seven-wicket win at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar. It was their first win of the season, while Partex slumped to their fourth defeat in a row.Batting first, Brothers Union took only 30.5 overs to dismiss Partex for 102, with Sazzadul Haque, the No. 8 batsman, top-scoring with 42. Left-arm spinner Nihaduzzaman took four wickets while Nayeem Hasan and Kazi Kamrul Islam, who turned himself into a left-arm spinner from being a left-arm quick midway through his career, took two wickets each.Brothers Union then took only 17.5 overs to complete the win. Farhad Hossain remained unbeaten on 35 off 36 balls with two fours and three sixes.Mohammedan Sporting Club went back to winning ways by beating Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity by four wickets inFatullah.Batting first, Khelaghar were bowled out for 189 runs in 45.4 overs, with Robiul Islam Robi and Amit Majumder scoring a bulk of the runs . Robiul struck seven fours and a six in his 73-ball 63 while Majumder made 53 off 62 balls. Enamul Haque jnr took three wickets while there was two each for Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mohammad Azim and Taijul Islam.Mohammedan finished up the chase in 44.5 overs with captain Raqibul Hasan anchoring a faltering chase with an unbeaten 76. They had slipped to 94 for five in the 21st over but Raqibul struck six fours and three sixes in his 92-ball innings, and shared a crucial 64-run unbroken seventh-wicket stand with Taijul – who contributed 14 important runs – to take his team to victory. Robiul took three wickets.

When England and New Zealand last met in one-day cricket in 2015, the runs flowed in record-breaking fashion.Given fine weather, this could be a humdinger.

Andrew McGlashan in Cardiff05-Jun-2017As lakes formed on the Cardiff outfield, it felt more like January than June. At one point a duck made itself at home on the edge of the covers.The weather is threatening to have a decisive say in the group stages of the Champions Trophy. It is a case of crossing fingers and hoping there is enough cricket between the showers tomorrow. The tournament could also do with a match that remains a contest, ideally for close to 100 overs.There have been some impressive individual performances so far – the classy centuries from Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Hashim Amla and Tamim Iqbal; the fielding display from South Africa and Imran Tahir’s match-seizing spell – and some hard-fought periods of play, but ultimately the results have been one-sided.England’s chase against Bangladesh was a canter; Sri Lanka capitulated to South Africa; Pakistan were woeful even by their recent standards against India, while Australia’s attack would have been too good for Bangladesh, but for a farcical denouement in the puddles.There’s no given that this match between against England and New Zealand will break the mould, but there is a decent chance if the weather allows. When they previously met on these shores two years ago, England emerged with an engrossing 3-2 victory, in which a then-record volume of runs was scored for a five-match series.That, of course, came shortly after England’s dismal World Cup campaign, a regular reference point when analysing the rise of a crop of players who have since taken the 50-over game by storm. At the time of that series against New Zealand in 2015, it was impossible to say whether England would be able to sustain the dynamism of their play. Many a false dawn has been seen in English one-day cricket down the years. Subsequent events have emphatically proved that his one really was worthy of a dawn chorus.The fortunes of the two teams during that last World Cup could not have been further apart – most especially during their group-stage encounter in Wellington when England were skittled for 123 and New Zealand hurtled to the target with 226 balls to spare. There could be five England faces remaining from that day if Steven Finn – who was clattered for an eye-watering 49 off two overs, largely by Brendon McCullum – is recalled after replacing Chris Woakes.New Zealand need a win to retain any realistic hope of qualification•Getty Images/ICC

“It was sort of men against boys,” Eoin Morgan, who was also captain that day, recalled. “But I think it’s completely different now, two years down the line. I think the dominant factor in New Zealand was that they had that confidence at the time and the confidence within the group, whereas we didn’t have it.”Would things have turned out differently if New Zealand hadn’t been England’s first major opponents after that calamitous World Cup? With McCullum still at the helm, they were only going to approach the game one way – England had no option but to respond. It may not be insignificant, either, that McCullum and Morgan are very close friends.”I think they’ve contributed to it as a whole,” Morgan said. “I think the way New Zealand went about playing their cricket was probably closer to the way we go about it. We have very similar characteristics and values as a side and it’s probably the easiest to relate to out of those four teams that made the latter stages [of the 2015 World Cup].”Two years on from the beginning of the transformation, England can now be the first side to book their place in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with victory in Cardiff. A New Zealand win, or a share of the points, keeps things very interesting indeed.As the rain fell, New Zealand could be forgiven a hint of déjà vu. Four years ago, their Champions Trophy campaign was all but ended when England beat them in a rain-affected match on this ground. Given the water under the bridge since that game, it is something of a quirk that they will line up with the same top four on Tuesday: Martin Guptill, Luke Ronchi, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor.Another defeat this time would again leave them needing favours from their Antipodean neighbours (or from the heavens in that same contest). If that was the case, there may be a few pangs of regret among the New Zealanders that they were the ones to inspire England’s transformation. Whatever the result, though, the tournament could do with these two teams going hammer and tongs again.

Zimbabwe will begin their first bilateral tour of Sri Lanka since 2002 by playing the first two of five ODIs in Galle, a venue that has not hosted ODI cricket since 2000

Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Jun-2017ODI cricket is set to return to Galle after a 17-year hiatus, with the first two of Zimbabwe’s five ODIs to be played there on June 30 and July 2. This is Zimbabwe’s first bilateral tour of Sri Lanka since a two-ODI, three-Test tour took place in December 2001-January 2002.

Zimbabwe tour schedule

June 30: 1st ODI, Galle
July 2: 2nd ODI, Galle
July 6: 3rd ODI, Hambantota
July 8: 4th ODI, Hambantota
July 10: 5th ODI, Hambantota
July 14-18: Only Test, Colombo (RPS)

A total of seven ODIs have been played in Galle, but none since July 6, 2000 when Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 37 runs during a tri-series that also included Pakistan.Hambantota Stadium, which has not seen international cricket itself for two years, will host the three remaining one-dayers. A one-off Test to follow the ODIs is scheduled in Colombo at the R Premadasa Stadium (Khettarama) – also an unusual venue for that format, which normally only hosts limited-overs matches. The last Test played at the R Premadasa Stadium was the second Test against Bangladesh in March 2013 when Rangana Herath 12 for 157 in a seven-wicket win.Although Galle had fallen out of favour as an ODI venue because it has no floodlights, and also due to limited capacity, SLC has seen it a fitting venue for the lower-profile Zimbabwe games partly perhaps for financial reasons. Day-night matches are costlier to host – and in this case, the size of the venue may translate to a marketing advantage. Earlier in the year, in hosting an ODI at the SSC, the board CEO said that smaller venues looked livelier on television, for matches at which fewer spectators were expected at the ground.That logic, however, does not hold for the hosting of the Test at Khettarama, which is the highest-capacity stadium in the country.The Zimbabwe tour spans from June 30 to July 18 and features no T20 internationals.India are expected to arrive for a three Test tour later in July. The scheduling of that tour is still being finalised.

The Australia batsman has injured his left shoulder three times in the last two years, and feels it is functioning at only 50% currently

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2017Australia batsman Chris Lynn will have surgery on his troublesome left shoulder on Monday, according to a report in the . As a consequence, he is likely to be out of action till the end of the year, the paper reported, missing the T20 leagues in the West Indies and Bangladesh, and Australia’s proposed ODI tour of India in September-October.”I have been battling through each tournament and umming and arr-ing at training but the time has come to get it done,” Lynn told the paper. “I was getting sorer and sorer after training. I am pretty confident I will be back for the Big Bash.”I was supposed to play in the Caribbean Premier League on Wednesday so I have had to give them the bad news. I will cost myself a bit [having to sacrifice the T20 contracts], but physically and mentally it will mean a lot to get it done.”Lynn injured the same shoulder for the third time in less than two years during this year’s IPL, and missed a month of that tournament and later Australia’s Champions Trophy campaign as a result. He said he was not sure if surgery could fix all the issues he has had with the shoulder, but would be grateful to have any significant improvement.”They are pretty confident they can get it right but there is obviously no certainty,” he said. “If you hurt something once you are never going to be 100% but I would like to be somewhere near 100%. Right now it is about 50% and declining. If I can get it up to around 90% I would be real happy with that.”It is so frustrating. You get a roll on but it ends up being two steps forward and three steps back. It is a big decision but the right decision.”

Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond took Essex’s attack for 207 to leave Kent scenting a quarter-final place courtesy of a last-night victory

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2017Joe Denly shared a record opening stand•Getty Images

Kent’s opening pair of Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond compiled a world-record T20 opening partnership of 207 on a night when records tumbled and Kent moved closer to qualifying for the NatWest Blast knockout stages.Denly led the carnage with 127 from 66 balls, including 11 fours and seven sixes, beating his own Kent record score of 116. The stand with Bell-Drummond, who was unbeaten at the end on 80, was the third highest for any wicket in the history of the competition.It also beat the 163, a Kent record for any wicket at the time, the same two batsmen put on earlier in the season against Surrey at the Oval.However, they were run close by Essex, for whom Varun Chopra hit a career-best T20 114, his second of the season. His 58-ball innings included nine sixes and six fours. When he was out in the 18th over, Essex were 29 runs short with two overs to go, and they finished 11 runs adrift.Kent now know that a third victory in a row on Friday night against Surrey at Canterbury will take them through to the last eight. Essex also require a win at Hove against Sussex to stand any chance of making the top four in the ultra-tight south group.For Essex, only Mohammad Amir, who finally removed Denly in the penultimate over, returned decent bowling figures – his four overs cost a comparatively parsimonious 20. Of Essex’s seven bowlers, only Ravi Bopara went for less than 10 an over. Calum Haggett conceded just 18 in his four overs in Essex’s reply, crucial in keeping Kent competitive in the field.The start of play was delayed for 20 minutes while the air ambulance landed on the outfield to attend to a steward who had suffered a suspected heart attack.Put in, Denly started as he meant to go on, contributing 37 of Kent’s first fifty runs including sixes over cow and long-leg off Jamie Porter and Paul Walter respectively. The former Middlesex opener reached the 23rd T20 half-century of his career from the 27th ball he faced.Denly’s third six came from a free hit after an inadvertent beamer from Walter, the ball being lost as it sailed out of the ground over midwicket. A fourth cleared the ropes in the same vicinity in an over that went for 22 runs and took Kent into three figures in 12 overs.Bell-Drummond had played second fiddle to his older partner, but a six off Simon Harmer took him to 37 and past the previous first-wicket partnership record of 119 for Kent against Essex in the format.A swept four off Ryan ten Doeschate took Bell-Drummond to his fifty from 35 balls, and he had a second six to his name in the same over for good measure.Denly reached his second century of the campaign with a boundary past mid-off. It had taken him 54 balls and contained 10 fours and a fifth six the ball before, hit straight off Zaidi. Another six took Denly to the highest of his three T20 centuries.There was drama when the world record was broken: it looked at first as if Denly had gone on 119 to a catch on the long-leg boundary by Callum Taylor. But the fielder admitted he trod on the rope and Denly was not only reprieved, but credited with his seventh six.He was finally out in the 19th over when he went for another big hit against Amir and was caught behind by James Foster. Kent lost a second wicket in the final over when Sam Billings was caught behind to give Walter his 15th wicket of the season, but at a personal cost of 65 runs on the night.Essex went off like an express train in reply. By the end of the Powerplay overs, they were 94 without loss and Chopra had reached his half-century from 19 balls. Mitchell Claydon felt the force in the sixth over when Chopra hit him for three successive sixes followed by three fours to move Essex from 64 to 94 in six balls.Chopra had already hammered two sixes before that in the previous over from Claydon, whose first two overs went for 46. Sixes number six and seven came off successive balls from Imran Qayyum over long leg and then straighter.Having put on 118 for the first wicket in nine overs, Dan Lawrence departed for a 22-ball 41, with one six, bowled by Calum Haggett. But at the halfway point, Essex needed 95 from 10 overs; incredibly, they were 34 runs ahead of the Kent total at the same stage of their innings.They lost Bopara on 138, caught sweeping at Qayyum at short fine leg, as the brakes were applied to the Essex charge. Only 37 runs were scored in the six middle overs from the ninth to 14th and the pressure got to Zaidi who holed out to deep square leg in Darren Stevens’s first over.A straight six off Neesham, his eighth, took Chopra to his century from 52 balls with six fours. With 39 needed off 18 balls, Chopra carted Neesham for six over midwicket before exiting two balls later, caught in the covers.Ten Doeschate chipped a six over square leg off the last ball of the 19th over to leave Essex needing 16 from the last six balls. The captain went to the second ball, caught at deep cover by Qayyum, and Adam Milne tied up Paul Walter and James Foster in the final four balls..

Graham Onions, Durham’s veteran quick bowler, has become the latest senior player to announce his departure from Chester-le-Street after a 13-year career

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-20171:24

‘It’s been an emotional few weeks’ – Onions

Graham Onions, Durham’s veteran quick bowler, has become the latest senior player to announce his departure from Chester-le-Street, meaning that this week’s final County Championship match of the season, against Worcestershire at New Road, will be his 139th and final appearance for a club he has represented with distinction since 2004.Onions, who played nine Tests and four ODIs for England between 2009 and 2012, was unable to agree terms over the second year of a two-year deal and joins a mass exodus of players that already includes the top-order batsmen, Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, who left for Surrey last season, and the T20 captain, Paul Coughlin, who is headed for Nottinghamshire. Keaton Jennings, the one-day captain and recent England opener, is also expected to move to Notts, albeit that depends on their promotion to Division One of the County Championship.It is not yet confirmed where Onions, 35, is headed for the 2018 season, although both Lancashire and Kent are thought to be possible destinations for one of county cricket’s most reliable performers.The move is another body-blow for a club that has been left reeling since its enforced relegation from the top flight of the Championship last season, and subsequent points deduction, as punishment for requiring a financial bail-out from the ECB. Last week, Ian Botham, the club president, warned that the drain of so many senior players would have a devastating long-term effect on Durham’s ability to uphold the standards of an academy that has produced several of the most talented England players of the past decade..”We need senior players in the dressing room and, at the moment, I’m losing them left right and centre” said Botham. “I feel very sorry for the coaching staff and academy, because they aren’t seeing their achievements come to fruition.”Onions, who was one of those academy graduates, has taken a club-record 522 first-class wickets for Durham in a career that has encompassed three County Championship titles between 2008 and 2013. His career-best figures of 9 for 67 came against Nottinghamshire in 2012, en route to a season’s haul of 72 wickets. He went one better in 2013, when he was named the PCA’s County Championship bowler of the season for his role in Durham’s third title in six years.Durham had been understandably keen to retain the services of their senior bowler, who was out of contract at the end of this season. Although they were able to agree financial terms for the 2018 season only, talks broke down over the offer of a two-year extension – the second year had been conditional on Onions avoiding serious injury in year one, having missed a month earlier this summer with a back problem.A further stumbling block came with the long-term planning for Onions’ post-playing career. While Durham had been keen to support him in pursuing a coaching career once he hangs up his boots, they were unable to give any guarantees about a place on the county coaching staff.”At such an important point in his career DCCC understand Graham’s desire to maximise his security,” said the club in a statement. “Graham has played a huge part in the history of Durham County Cricket Club since making his first-class debut in 2004. He was part of the County Championship winning side in 2008, 2009 and 2013 and helped Durham win the Royal London One Day Cup in 2014.”DCCC are extremely proud of Graham’s development that saw him play Test cricket for England and recently become Durham’s leading first-class wicket-taker. The club would like to thank Graham for his exceptional service and wish him well for the future.”Onions said: “It has been the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I genuinely love Durham County Cricket Club and hoped to finish my career here.”Unfortunately, we were unable to agree on the length of contract and there doesn’t appear to be any guaranteed opportunities for a coaching role in the future.”So, with a heavy heart I have to leave Durham to ensure a securer future for my family. I would like to thank the club and the members for your support over the last 15 years.”I hope I will be remembered for wearing the Durham badge with pride and always giving 100%. Durham will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope to return one day”.

A CSA Invitation XI headlined by internationals AB de Villiers and JP Duminy comfortably chased 256 against the touring Bangladesh side, who were bolstered by the arrival of Shakib Al Hasan

Firdose Moonda12-Oct-2017AB de Villiers scored 43 off 50 balls•Getty Images

A CSA Invitation XI headlined by internationals AB de Villiers and JP Duminy comfortably chased 256 against the touring Bangladesh side, who were bolstered by the arrival of Shakib Al Hasan. Though Shakib’s importance to the Bangladesh team was underlined when he top-scored with a 67-ball 68, it was not enough to trouble the South African batsmen on their own turf.Bangladesh showed their strongest sign of being more willing to front up when ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bat in Bloemfontein. Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim had made the opposite call on batsmen-friendly surfaces in both Tests and his reasoning was almost justified when Bangladesh slumped to 63 for 4 in the 15th over in this match.The wounds from Test performance still seemed raw as the Bangladesh openers were dismissed by experienced Dolphins campaigner Robbie Frylinck. No. 3 Liton Das was caught behind off medium-pacer Malusi Siboto for 8 and Mushfiqur, who has not suffered further complications from the blow he took to the head on Sunday, fell to left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso for 22. Shakib and Mahmudullah put on 57 for the fifth wicket before Shakib and Sabbir Rahman shared a sixth-wicket stand of 76 and Bangladesh were back on track.Just when Shakib could have started to push on, he also fell to Phangiso, who only played in the match because Keshav Maharaj was rested. Sabbir went on to score 52 but Bangladesh did not have much more to offer. Their last four wickets fell for 36 runs, they were dismissed with 11 balls remaining in their innings and the CSA XI only needed to score at 5.1 runs an over to win.New Test opener Aiden Markram and national Under-19 player Matthew Breetzke started much quicker than that. Their opening stand was worth 147 inside 26 overs, with Markram blazing a 68-ball 82 to make a case for inclusion in the limited-overs’ sides, and Breetzke proving his potential with a patient 71. Nasir Hossain separated the pair when he caught Markram off his own bowling, bringing CSA XI captain JP Duminy to the crease.When Breetzke was bowled five overs later and de Villiers walked out, Bangladesh were bowling to a pair they will see a lot of in the next two weeks but they did not manage to strike any fear into them. Duminy and de Villiers were together for 64 balls and scored 62 runs between them before Duminy was stumped. De Villiers went on to score 43, his highest score in three innings this summer before he was caught behind. He has only played one first-class game this season, for Titans against Warriors and scored 5 and 32 and is now available across all formats for the national side.Bangladesh will not have to worry about facing de Villiers in whites but have much bigger problems on their hands. Apart from not being able to post enough runs to challenge their opposition, they have also yet to bowl them out once on this tour.