James Anderson
Cape Town – Mitchell Swepson, Marcus Stoinis and Kurtis Patterson all starred as Australia A completed a 10-wicket win over South Africa A on the final day of their second four-day match in Townsville yesterday.
Swepson and Stoinis first shared seven wickets, both taking career-best figures in the process, as the tourists were dismissed for just 180 in their second innings, setting the hosts a victory target of 83.
Opener Patterson then struck an unbeaten 50 (48 balls, 8 fours), his second half century of the game after hitting 92 in the first innings, as the Australians raced to victory in 15 overs at the Tony Ireland Stadium.
Fellow opener Cameron Bancroft was not out on 32 as the home side followed their 197-run win in the first game with another comfortable triumph that clinched the two-match series 2-0. The final outcome on day four, though, was set up by South Africa’s disappointing batting show.
They had begun the day on 18/1 and got going well enough to reach 70/2 at one stage. Overnight pair, Dean Elgar and Omphile Ramela were first up, taking the total to 48, before the latter was dismissed for 25 by Scott Boland (2/36). Test opener, Elgar then fell for 35 when he edged the seam of Stoinis (3/27) to wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman.
Temba Bavuma (4) and Stiaan van Zyl (14) were next to go, before Wayne Parnell (22), Dane Vilas (36) and Andile Phehlukwayo (27) all got starts, but the spin of Swepson (4/33) mopped up the tail to set up what proved to be a simple chase.
The tour will continue with a one-day leg beginning on Saturday when the South Africans play a National Performance Squad in Townsville. The series also involves India A and Australia A and concludes on August 31.
Meanwhile, England paceman James Anderson has reclaimed the number-one ranking from India’s Ravichandran Ashwin in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers.
The rankings were updated following the conclusion of the Edgbaston Test which England won by 141 runs to take a 2-1 lead over Pakistan.
Anderson had entered the Edgbaston Test trailing Ashwin by one point, but he opened up a 12-point gap over the India spinner. This followed Anderson’s four wickets against third-ranked Pakistan, which earned him six points, as compared to Ashwin’s six wickets against eighth-ranked West Indies in the Jamaica Test which cost him six points.
This is the second time in less than six weeks that Anderson has topped the bowling table.
He had surged to the top of the chart for the first time in his career on 31 May after he took eight wickets in England’s nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Chester-le-Street.
But the competition at the top of the table is so tight that the number-one ranking has thrice changed hands from Yasir Shah to Ashwin and back to Anderson.
Australia’s Mitchell Starc, Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera and Chris Woakes of England are the other bowlers to make impressive gains in the latest rankings.— Sport24.