Major changes for South Africa as Kirsten takes charge

Johannesburg, June 6 (AFP): Gary Kirsten will take charge of the South African cricket team in August, heading an almost completely new leadership group.
Kirsten's appointment as team director and head coach was announced by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday.
He will have two new lieutenants in assistant coach Russell Domingo and bowling coach Allan Donald and a new one-day and Twenty20 captain in AB de Villiers.
Graeme Smith will remain captain of the Test team, the only post that remains with the previous incumbent.
De Villiers will be vice-captain of the Test team and Hashim Amla will be vice-captain of the limited overs sides.
Kirsten will officially start a two-year contract on August 1 after what he described as a necessary "cooling off period" after his three-year stint as coach of India, which culminated in World Cup glory in April.
Domingo will also start work on August 1 but former fast bowling great Donald will start work immediately and travel with the South Africa A team to Zimbabwe this month.
Kirsten, 43, who played in 101 Tests for South Africa, said being appointed to coach his native country was a "major honour" but set no specific goals.
But CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said one reason why there had been an exhaustive process to find the new coach was a lack of consistency in the South African team's results and its failure to land a major global event such as the World Cup.
South African cricket was "a very different environment" from that in India, said Kirsten.
"It is important to get back into understanding the South African cricket environment and I am looking forward to working with the captains and the players."
Kirsten said consultants would be used from time to time to assist the full-time coaches.
He said Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning coach who shared much of the credit with Kirsten for India's success, would work with the South African team, although not on a full-time basis.
The new appointments mean the end of long-time assistant coach Vincent Barnes' role with the team.
The appointment of De Villiers and Amla mean there will be no leadership role for Johan Botha, who captained the Twenty20 team after Smith gave up that role last year.
And senior player Jacques Kallis, who has frequently acted as vice-captain or stand-in captain, will be free to concentrate on his role with Kirsten describing him as "one of the greatest players of all time".
De Villiers said he was looking forward to the challenge of captaincy.
He admitted that South Africa's defeat by New Zealand at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup had been disappointing.
"We have that history of not performing well in big events. We went down when the pressure was on again. That is definitely something I'd like to work on."

Cook sets up victory shot against Sri Lanka

London, June 6 (AFP): England gave themselves a chance to win their Test series against Sri Lanka with a match to spare after losing skipper Andrew Strauss for a duck at Lord's here on Monday.
The hosts, at stumps on the fourth day of the second Test, were 149 for two in their second innings - a lead of 156 - with Alastair Cook 61 not out.
Cook, under skies brightened by the Lord's floodlights, helped England recover from none for one after the exit of Strauss and together with Jonathan Trott (58) put on 117 for the second wicket.
Kevin Pietersen, despite coming in when Rangana Herath was on - left-arm spinners, including Herath, have removed him 19 times in Tests - was unbeaten on 15.
England had dismissed Sri Lanka for just 82 inside 25 overs to force an improbable innings and 14-run win in the similarly rain-interrupted first Test in Cardiff.
But here they still have 98 overs left on Tuesday's final day in which to achieve a win that would put them 2-0 up in this three-match series.
And the time remaining means a Sri Lanka victory can't be ruled out completely either.
Sri Lanka, after rain washed out all of Monday's morning session, made 479 in reply to England's first innings 486 - a deficit of just seven runs.
Strauss was then plumb lbw to left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara off the second ball of the innings, the skipper wasting a review before walking back to the Pavilion.
The in-form Trott, sometimes criticised for slow-scoring, prospered against an under-powered Sri Lanka seam attack to score a 66-ball fifty, completed when he punched Dilhara Fernando through the covers for his eighth four.
Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara, captaining the side as Tillakaratne Dilshan was off the field following the finger injury he'd suffered making a Sri Lankan Lord's Test-best 193 on Sunday, then opted for spin.
And it took Herath just four balls to bowl Trott, playing over the top of a dipping delivery.
Trott's exit meant Pietersen had to face Herath immediately but he played out the over with two forward defensive shots.
Cook then drove Fernando through the covers for a sixth four to go to an 86-ball fifty.
An even bigger roar came after Pietersen, advancing confidently down the pitch, drove Herath straight back over the bowler's head for the first four of his innings.
Earlier, Sri Lanka lost two wickets - Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera - for no runs in three balls to be 409 for six.
But wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene (no relation), who made 112 in the first innings in Cardiff, hit back with a stylish 40 featuring a six and five fours and put on 57 with Herath in a lively seventh-wicket stand.
England's pace attack, wayward on Sunday in the absence of injured Ashes spearhead James Anderson, showed signs of early improvement Monday.
But a huge total of 58 extras, including 23 byes, most of which could not be blamed on wicketkeeper Matt Prior, was evidence of a lack of accuracy.
Steven Finn, recalled in place of Anderson, took four for 108 while off-spinner Graeme Swann polished off the tail with three for eight in 16 balls.

Rohit stars as India ease to victory over Windies

Port of Spain, June 6 (AFP): Rohit Sharma led the way with an unbeaten 68, and Shikhar Dhawan scored 51 to propel India to a facile four-wicket victory over West Indies in the first One-day International on Monday.

Sharma struck three fours and one six from 75 balls, and Dhawan hit the same number of boundaries from 76 deliveries, as India, chasing 215 for victory, reached their target with 31 balls remaining.

Harbhajan Singh hit the winning runs with a six over deep square leg off West Indies captain Darren Sammy.

India take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which continues on Wednesday at the same venue.

"It was a pleasing victory for us," said India captain Suresh Raina.

"Our bowlers did a good job for us, and this was followed by Rohit and Shikhar."

"It was a bit shaky for us when he started our chase because the pitch was not all that good for free-scoring batting, but we rotated the strike very well, especially Rohit, and we got the job done very well."

India's spinners, led by Harbhajan, took their cue from Pakistan before them, and restricted West Indies to 214 for nine from their allocation of 50 overs.

Harbhajan collected three for 32 from 10 overs, and led the five spin bowling options employed by the Indians, collecting five wickets, and conceding 125 runs from a collective 31 overs.

Ramnaresh Sarwan hit the top score of 56 from 94 deliveries, and Marlon Samuels made 55 from 75 balls in a third wicket stand of 82 that gave the innings some backbone, after West Indies, electing to bat, went into a tailspin on 59 for three in the 19th over.

Similarly, India were wobbling on 61 for three in the 16th over, after their batsmen found scoring difficult on the slow Queen's Park Oval pitch.

Dhawan added 43 with Sharma for the fourth wicket before he was caught at deep mid-wicket off leg-spinner Anthony Martin in the 26th over.

But it was a stand of 80 between Sharma and Raina that put India firmly on track for victory.

Raina, whose 43 from 50 balls included four boundaries, was caught at long-on off Martin in the 41st over, and Yusuf Pathan made 10 then gave Ravi Rampaul a return catch before Harbhajan took India over the finish line.

"We bowled well, but we did not score enough runs to be able to keep the pressure on them," said Sammy.

Earlier, Praveen Kumar struck an early blow, when he had Lendl Simmons caught at mid-off for six in the seventh over, and Munaf Patel had left-hander Darren Bravo caught at slip for four in the next over, leaving West Indies 28 for two.

Harbhajan set West Indies back further, when Kirk Edwards was caught at slip off a top-edged pulled whip.

India met defiance, when Samuels joined Sarwan, and they revived West Indies, but the spin bowling remained a danger, and the hosts batsmen were never in full control.

Patel made the breakthrough, when Sarwan glanced a leg-side delivery, and was caught behind, triggering a collapse that saw West Indies lose their next five wickets for 37 inside the last 10 overs.

This is the first ODI series for India, since they won the World Cup on home soil two months ago.