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Match facts

November 30, 2015
Start time 8.00pm local (1600 GMT)

Big Picture

By the time England complete their final match of this series they will have been in the UAE for 61 days. They will leave this trip with two series wins under their belts, both in the white-ball format as was the case on the previous visit in 2012. The one-day and T20 sides continue to play vibrant cricket, both victories in the shortest format coming with different combinations as England opt to give all their players a chance.The results have suggested there is an increasing pool of talent for the selectors to feel confident in: James Vince has slotted in very calmly at No. 3 and Liam Plunkett has responded impressively from his omission for the South Africa Test series. Sam Billings and Stephen Parry have also enhanced their chances of going to the World T20 in India.Pakistan, meanwhile, appear in something of a funk with their white-ball cricket although their performance in the second match in Dubai was an improvement. They do not seem certain whether to trust youth or experience. Their fielding has been poor – Umar Akmal’s boundary-parry catch to removing Billings was an exception – and the batting is hampering by uncertain running between the wickets.For some of the England squad there will be just a week at home before they depart for the Test series in South Africa, others including Vince will remain in the UAE for the England Lions series against Pakistan A. With the series against India remaining in limbo, Pakistan could be set for a longer break before heading to New Zealand early next year for a series of limited-overs matches.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLWWW
England WWWWW

In the spotlight

Depending on your point of view the Rafatullah Mohmand story is either a terrific tale of a player who never gave up or an indictment of Pakistan’s selectors who have opted for a 39-year-old instead of a younger player (as often in Pakistan cricket, there does not seem much middle ground in the debate). He has 39 runs in his two innings, nowhere near enough evidence to make a judgement either way – so is anyone really any the wiser on whether he should go to the World T20? He may get the final match of this series, on the other hand he may not.If you sat down a group of people who weren’t the England selectors and asked them to pick a 15-man squad for the World T20 it is unlikely you would have two of the same permutations (and even the selectors may all differ). Plenty of fringe players have thrown their hat into the ring in these two matches, among them Lancashire’s Stephen Parry who has impressed with his nous and confidence to give the ball a rip, and bowl it slowly. There were signs in the second match that Pakistan’s batsmen were setting themselves for the delivery he drags down, but England will probably want three spinners in the final World T20 squad and Parry has a great chance of being there.

Teams news

Pakistan may need an extra spin option in Sharjah which would open the way for Bilal Asif to have an outing. With the series lost they may feel inclined to make more changes: Aamer Yamin and Mohammad Irfan have not played in the first two matches.Pakistan (possible) 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Rafatullah Mohmand, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Bilal Asif, 9 Anwar Ali, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Wahab RiazEngland have given all their 15 a chance during the opening two contests so the combination for the final outing could be anything. One option is to allow everyone at least two matches which, barring injuries, could mean something like thisEngland (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 James Vince, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 David Willey, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Stephen Parry, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

The Sharjah surface has been the most abrasive seen across the three venues on this tour while the outfield has been on the slow side, which could bring the totals down a notch. With winter approaching it is cooling down a little in the Emirates, but there are no issues over the weather.

Stats and trivia

• England have played five previous three-match T20 series and have never secured a whitewash
• The most wickets for England in a bilateral T20 series is seven by Stuart Broad against New Zealand in 2013. Liam Plunkett currently has six in two matches. The most for any side in a series of up to three matches is nine by David Wiese against West Indies in January 2015.
• Shahid Afridi’s performance in Dubai of 3 for 15 and 24 off eight balls was just the third time in his 86-match career that he had taken at least three wickets and scored at least 20 runs in the same match

Quotes

“I was included in the squad last summer, but didn’t get the chance to play. So it’s nice to come out here and get an opportunity – I’m enjoying every minute of it. It’s been a steady start.”
Before this series, James Vince‘s one England cap was a rain-ruined game against Ireland where he didn’t bat“We were second in the world, but we are maybe lacking in fitness. It’s a fitness game. There are no excuses – we have to raise our game.”
Mushtaq Ahmed suggests Pakistan’s main problem is perhaps not with bat or ball

Three Englishmen, an Indian and a West Indian have been named as the Five Cricketers of the Year, cricket’s oldest accolade, in this year’s which is published today.Ian Bell, Ryan Sidebottom and Ottis Gibson were chosen for the award alongside India’s Zaheer Khan and the West Indian, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. All were chosen for their influence on the past English season, the traditional criteria for selection. Four of the five were picked for their achievements on the international stage, but Gibson’s nomination came for his outstanding performances for Durham last season.In the autumn of his career, Gibson led Durham’s attack magnificently to end the season with 80 wickets – only ten fewer than Mushtaq Ahmed and as one of two lone seamers in the top five wicket-takers in the Championship. His coup de grace came in July when he skittled Hampshire for 115, becoming the 79th player to take all ten wickets in an innings.Bell stood out as the England batsman who grew up, even if statistically he lacked the huge scores everyone continues to expect from him. It was in one-day cricket that he progressed the most, with an un-English strike-rate of 93. “It was hard to ignore the style,” Lawrence Booth wrote. “The confidence placedin him as a senior batsman helped bring out that diminutive, almost impish,aestheticism; his cover-drive won the team’s beauty contest hands down. Thecatches he has made at short leg, or at silly point when Monty Panesar hasbeen bowling, have long indicated a ball-sense of world-class standard.”From a burgeoning talent to one man’s renaissance: Sidebottom forced his way in and, such has success been, that he is now one of the first names on the team sheet. A late developer, Sidebottom finally took his first Test wicket six years after his made his Test debut in 2001. Now, as Simon Hughes writes,” he was now sure of his ability and trusted hismethods of fast-medium-pace and probing left-arm inswing from an impressive6ft 3in frame. They soon brought rewards. After the appalling waywardnessof Harmison and Co in early summer, his steadiness was immensely reassuring,and his duel with a struggling Tendulkar in the Trent Bridge Test was, for thepurist, one of the highlights of the summer”.Another left-armer stole the limelight from Sidebottom later in the summer, however. Zaheer took 18 wickets in the three Tests, including nine during India’s seven-wicket win at Trent Bridge, leading many to consider him the best left-armer India had ever possessed. His excellence was of little surprise to Worcestershire’s supporters, the club at which Zaheer honed his variations in 2006. “Playing for Worcestershire meant playing in different conditions, pitch and weather for five months. You had to innovate, use your thinking power,” he told Pradeep Vijayakar in his piece in the Almanack.Chanderpaul’s inclusion was perhaps the most expected of all. No other West Indian batsman showed his resilience, guts and skill against England. As Ian Bishop wrote, “that no other West Indian managed a score of more than 60 in the Tests speaks of the yawning gap between his skill, commitment and experience – and theirs”.Jacques Kallis was named as the Leading Cricketer in the World for 2007, while Kevin Pietersen adorned the front cover.

Virat Kohli is the highest-paid cricketer in the IPL, according to salary figures released by the league on Friday.While Kohli will cost his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 12.5 crore (approximately USD 1.89 million) from their salary purse, they will actually pay him Rs 15 crore (USD 2.26 million). MS Dhoni, for long believed to be the most expensive IPL cricketer, will be paid USD 1.89 million, which is equal to his purse deduction, by the Pune franchise. Pune secured Dhoni in a draft of players who were part of the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises.Apart from Royal Challengers, who are paying Kohli and Chris Gayle more than the purse deduction, Mumbai Indians are paying Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Ambati Rayudu more than the purse deduction they result in.However, contrary to the general perception that quite a few players used to get paid much more than the official purse deduction, quite a few have actually taken big cuts. Manan Vohra, retained by Kings XI Punjab, will get less than 10% of his Rs 4 crore (USD 600,000) purse deduction. Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and David Miller are among those getting paid less than the purse deduction they are responsible for.Each franchise is required to spend a minimum of Rs 40 crore (USD 6 million) but not more than Rs 66 crore (USD 9.96 million) on their squad. However, when the franchise retains players, the purse-deduction slots are what are considered for the purpose of calculation of what it can and should spend.Kings XI are thus keen on saving money; after negotiating the salary with Vohra, they can actually spend far less than USD 600,000 on him. However, they will still lose USD 600,000 from their purse ahead of the auction. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, don’t seem to mind spending extra.In the case of former Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals players, though, the new franchises didn’t have any room to negotiate. The BCCI had assured the players left without teams but drafted by the two new teams they would be paid the same amount as they were earning earlier. So while Ravindra Jadeja might take away Rs 9.5 crore (USD 1.43 million) from Rajkot’s purse, he will actually get only Rs 5.5 crore (USD 0.83 million).

Match facts

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Start time 20:00 local, (14:30 GMT)

The Big Picture

This could well be a game where both guests and hosts are likely to play the more traditional cricket than the hard-hitting stuff that has been evident so far. The Mumbai Indians and the Bangalore Royal Challengers both have batsmen who prefer finesse to powerplay. Mumbai not only represent the IPL’s richest franchise but also possess two batsmen – Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya – who have between them played more than 800 ODIs and piled up 28671 runs. However, Mumbai’s middle and lower order, apart from Shaun Pollock, comprise local and untried international talent. They will also miss the pace of Lasith Malinga, absent due to injury, and will have to rely on Dilhara Fernando and Pollock.

Watch out for …

Tendulkar who, if he recovers from his groin injury – indications are that he will – can inspire his team to take the fight to the opposition. As he showed during the two back-to-back finals in the CB Series, he can still make bowlers bow. Then there is the ferocity of the aging, but still dangerous, Jayasuriya, who could just provide the impetus in which this short format.

Team news

Tendulkar’s groin injury remains a concern and the final decision will be taken by the physio on Sunday morning. A squad of 27 was pruned to 17 but Mumbai will have to wait till the second game for the services of Dwayne Bravo, who arrives on Sunday. Fernando might partner Pollock with the new ball with a support cast of Abhishek Nayar and fast bowler Dhaval Kulkarni or the allrounder Musaveer Khote. But Harbhajan might prove to the thorn for Bangalore with his experience in playing the restrictive hand in ODIs as well as Twenty20 games in the past.Mumbai (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Saurabh Tiwary, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Abhishek Nayar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Dhaval Kulkarni/Musaveer KhoteAfter a classic faux pas in the opening game Bangalore are likely to open with Shivnarine Chanderpaul instead of Dravid and Wasim Jaffer, a pairing more suitable for the longer form of the game. Dravid confirmed Anil Kumble wouldn’t be available for the match, as he is still recovering from his groin injury. Ashley Noffke, the Australian fast bowler, will miss out after suffering a groin injury in the first game where he had figures of 1 for 40. That might allow B Akhil to hold on to his spot .Bangalore (likely) 1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Wasim Jaffer, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Cameron White, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 B Akhil, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Sunil Joshi

Stats and trivia

Brendon McCullum, New Zealand’s captain who is set to retire from international cricket next month, will give the annual MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s in June.McCullum has been widely praised for the way his side have played the game since he took charge at the start of 2013. An emphasis on team spirit, enjoyment and fairness coincided with one of the most successful periods in New Zealand’s history and saw the team feted at home – where rugby usually dominates – and around the world during their run to the 2015 World Cup final.The MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture was first delivered by Richie Benaud in 2001, with notable speakers including Desmond Tutu, Imran Khan, Kumar Sangakkara and Ian Botham. McCullum will become second New Zealander to deliver the address, after Martin Crowe in 2006.The MCC has also announced that McCullum will join its World Cricket Committee – a think tank that examines issues affecting the game, from the development of pink balls to Olympic participation – from October.”It was an honour to be asked to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture – especially given the stature of some previous speakers – so I was very pleased to accept the invitation,” McCullum said. “There are a number of important issues in world cricket at the moment that I am looking forward to addressing, and I hope it is an interesting evening for everyone watching. I’m also very pleased to be joining the World Cricket committee in October and being given the chance to discuss and have an impact on world cricket.”McCullum was handed the New Zealand captaincy in difficult circumstances, with his predecessor, Ross Taylor, unhappy at the way he was removed from the job. Taylor opted out of the subsequent tour of South Africa but, after two innings defeats – New Zealand were bowled out for 45 in Cape Town – McCullum quickly turned the team around, presiding over a two-year unbeaten run in Tests that was ended by Australia in December.His attacking style of captaincy was epitomised by continuing to stack men in the slips during ODIs and New Zealand were many neutrals’ favourites after reaching their first World Cup final – though they were heavily beaten by Australia at the MCG.In 2014, McCullum became the first New Zealander to score a Test triple-hundred, against India in Wellington, and last month he drew level with Adam Gilchrist as the only batsmen to hit 100 sixes in Tests. McCullum will sign off his 14-year international career with three ODIs and two Tests against Australia in February.MCC president Roger Knight said: “Brendon McCullum is one of the best cricketers of his generation and I’m sure will be a very engaging speaker, especially given his insight in to the modern game. He has embodied the play hard, play fair message of the MCC Spirit of Cricket throughout his playing career, especially in his captaincy, so is a perfect fit for this event.”We are delighted that MCC’s relationship with Brendon will continue after the lecture when he joins our World Cricket committee in October, and I’ve no doubt his experience will be a valuable asset to the group.”After the Spirit of Cricket lecture, which will take place on June 6, McCullum will join a panel of players for a question-and-answer session that will discuss topics arising from his speech and other issues affecting the game.

The Editors Guild of India has said the revised guidelines issued by the Indian Premier League on Tuesday are still harsh and will affect the freedom of newspapers.In a press release circulated to all its members and other media bodies, including the Indian Newspaper Society, and the Sport Journalists’ Federation of India, Guild secretary KS Sachidananda Murthy said the final terms of media accreditation for the IPL’s first season were unacceptable. He said the conditions would seriously influence the independence of editors, especially when it comes to the selection and use of photographs.Although the IPL formally withdrew some of the original contentious clauses, it maintained its hardline stand on websites – their representatives will not be allowed into the venue during matches and they will not have access to photographs.Murthy said the IPL’s demand that newspapers and news agencies must provide free of charge the photographs requested by the IPL for use and reproduction was unacceptable. While the Guild noted that there was some relaxation in the originally proposed terms and conditions, the blanket prohibition on the use of photographs taken by a newspaper or news agency, which are their exclusive property, for online use or syndication is unacceptable.The Guild felt the IPL should not be putting a quantitative limit on the number of photographs a newspaper or news agencies can uphold to its website, as it was clearly the domain of the editor to decide. In its new guidelines, the IPL allowed newspapers with their own web publication to upload six different pictures on their online photo galleries in addition to the pictures published in print.The original guidelines, published last week, had provoked widespread outrage, with the Editors Guild criticising the “prohibitive conditions”, which it said were “unprecedented and unacceptable to the Indian media.”

Marcus Trescothick has promised his “unconditional support” to his replacements having stepped down as captain of Somerset.Trescothick, now aged 40, was appointed captain in 2010 but, despite leading the side through some of the most enjoyable, competitive years in their history, the trophies remained elusive.Chris Rogers, recently signed as Somerset’s overseas player, will captain the side in the Championship, while Jim Allenby, Australian-born but England-qualified, will captain the side in the limited-overs formats. Trescothick, whose decision was described as “mutually agreed with the club”, will continue to play.Trescothick’s spell as captain will be remembered for its near misses; 2010 was especially painful as Somerset, who have never won the County Championship, finished runner-up in all three trophies. Despite finishing level on points with Nottinghamshire in the Championship, Somerset missed out by virtue of fewer victories. They also missed a final-ball run-out that would have won them the T20 final.They were runners-up in the T20 and 40-over competitions again in 2011 and in the Championship in 2012.But at a club where success has – rightly or wrongly – often been defined a little more in terms of enjoyment than silverware, Trescothick’s period in charge may be remembered as a golden age. And it is true that sell-out crowds – even Championship cricket still attracts decent audience numbers in Taunton – exciting cricket and the emergence of some fine homegrown players may be interpreted as more important than trophies.Not by everyone, though. The decision to appoint two Australian-born cricketers – and it is noticeable that James Hildreth, who might be seen as an archetypal Somerset cricketer, has been overlooked – speaks of a desire to inject a ruthlessness into the side that it has rarely displayed.The management wants regular international cricket at a ground whose charm was once exemplified by its dog track and scrumpy. The replacement of the old pavilion, charming but beyond its time, with a fine, new stand might be a metaphor for the club’s current state. Progress often brings casualties.”I have loved being captain of Somerset,” Trescothick said. “It has been a tremendous privilege and honour to lead this great club over many years.”But now is the right time for change. I will be giving Chris and Jim my unconditional support, as well as focusing on scoring as many runs as I can in the season ahead. I would like to thank all of the players, coaches and members for their support during my tenure.”Matt Maynard, the club’s director of cricket, said: “Marcus has made an unbelievable contribution to the club as its captain over many years. I know I will be joined by all of our members in thanking him for his unfailing commitment and dedication to leading the side.”Marcus will now have an opportunity to focus all of his energies on his batting and we hope that stepping down from the captaincy will extend his playing career in the seasons to come.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKieron Pollard struck five fours and three sixes during his unbeaten 37-ball 59•Caribbean Premier League

Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 59 and Robin Peterson’s 3 for 13 set up a 17-run win for defending champions Barbados Tridents over Jamaica Tallawahs at Sabina Park. More importantly, the victory – Tridents’ fifth of the season – helped them pull clear of Tallawahs by two points at the top of the table.Tridents chose to bat and put on an opening stand of 31 before Jerome Taylor dismissed Dilshan Munaweera in the fifth over. Tridents lost three wickets for 33 runs during the middle overs and fell to 64 for 4, but Pollard and Jason Holder led a recovery be adding 58 runs for the fifth wicket, taking the team past 120. Pollard struck five fours and three sixes for his fifty, the batsman’s second of the season. Andre Russell dismissed Holder and Navin Stewart in the 19th over to leave the visitors on 124 for 6, but the final over of Tridents’ innings yielded 22 runs, with Pollard slamming two sixes and a four. His blitz meant that Tallawahs needed 147 for the win.However, the hosts’ chase did not begin well, as Ravi Rampaul dismissed the tournament’s top run-getter Chris Gayle early to end an 18-run opening partnership. Peterson then spun Tallawahs into further trouble, picking up the wickets of Chris Lynn, Mahela Jayawardene and Jermaine Blackwood all in the fifth over to reduce the team to 36 for 4.Chadwick Walton and Nkrumah Bonner revived the chase with a 67-run stand for the fifth wicket, but with the fall of Walton’s wicket in the 16th over, Tallawahs chances of a win were dented. Holder then dismissed Andre Russell and Rusty Theron in the 18th over to all but seal the game.

Outspoken former South Africa coach Ray Jennings believes there are better candidates to captain the national side than Graeme Smith.Jennings has no issue with Smith the batsman, who recently posted a new world Test opening partnership with Neil McKenzie, but does have reservations when it comes to him leading the side. “Graeme Smith is a superb cricketer. He has presence and mental toughness,” he told The Wisden Cricketer. “From a captaincy point of view I believe there are one or two other guys who are able to lead the team better than he does.”When pressed to name his preferred candidates, Jennings replied: “Names aren’t really important to me. I believe there are better guys to do the job but that’s my opinion. As a batsman there’s no doubt I’ll have Graeme in my side. He’s a solid cricketer and a fighter.”When asked to comment on the recent high profile fall out between senior administrators about racial quotas, Jennings said: “South African cricket has to understand that they don’t need to put issues like this in the media. They could have had the fight behind closed doors and iron it out there. It has put me and a lot of cricketers in an awkward position.”I’m sad that coloured players in the team could have a stigma attached, where they feel they are underprivileged when that’s not the case. It’s not about having a 50-50 or 60-40 split between white and coloured players. In our country the sides are picked on their cricketing ability because the players of colour are good enough to play.”Jennings, who served a six-month stint as national coach, also said he would take up the post if it came around again, but only under his own terms. “I would definitely take it up again but there would be a few conditions. I would look at the combination of the side: how it gets picked. I would also look at my management staff and how I put that together.”In a terse media release, Cricket South Africa said Jennings claimed to have been “misquoted” in the article.

Michael Bevan has responded to another excellent Mark Ramprakash hundred byfiring a sweet half century of his own to afford Sussex a slight edge overMiddlesex after three days of the teams’ absorbing County Championshipfixture at Southgate.Bevan (57*) reached his milestone in smart time to lead the visitors to asecond innings mark of 118/3 by stumps, one which leaves them precisely 150runs short of victory in a contest in which they have always appeared tohave their noses slightly in front. Typically, it was the Australian’s eyefor spotting gaps in the field, and placing his shots into them with aminimum of fuss, which lay at the core of his innings. Although aninjudicious attempt from Toby Pierce (25) to loft a Phil Tufnell (2/39)delivery over mid wicket and a similarly ill-timed lapse in concentrationfrom Chris Adams (20) in pushing out an arm ball from the same bowler didnot help the cause, his efforts largely ensured that Sussex was back ontrack for success by the time that stumps were finally drawn.Just in case no-one had noticed the events of two days ago, it had earlierbeen Ramprakash (112) who had dominated the opening two sessions of theday’s play with a brilliantly crafted fiftieth first-class century. Rightnow – with another Test axing hanging over his head and his Middlesexbatting teammates seemingly doing precious little on the field to help easethe pain – he could have been forgiven for cutting a tragic figure. But,in again summoning the mental and physical resources to prove himself a cutabove his colleagues, he proved the very antithesis. It was a courageousdisplay and was full of character, no mean feat considering that he spentthe first half of it watching another succession of batsmen come and go atthe other end. It wasn’t until Richard Johnson (52) followed his lead, andbatted with unstinting application to contribute half of a priceless 104run stand for the eighth wicket, that the formidable right hander finallyattained the support that he deserved.