Du Plessis' third century puts South Africa in final

South Africa 271 for 6 (du Plessis 121, Duminy 51) beat Zimbabwe 208 (Taylor 79, Duminy 3-35) by 63 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

South Africa secured their place in the triangular series final against Australia thanks to a third century in the competition from Faf du Plessis, which formed the spine of a target too tall for Zimbabwe to chase. Du Plessis shared a 103-run stand with JP Duminy for the fifth wicket and led the final assault which helped South Africa take 61 runs off the last five overs to put a place in the final beyond Zimbabwe's reach.

The hosts had to reach the score in 25.2 overs to earn a bonus point and improve their run-rate enough to leapfrog South Africa but at a required run-rate of 10.83 to the over that was always going to be a tough ask. Zimbabwe have only managed over 200 once in the five ODIs they played before this one and, although they crossed the mark again this time, their batting let them down again. Aside from a welcome return to form for Brendan Taylor, who scored his first-half century in six innings, no one else managed to stay at the crease for longer than 41 minutes or score more than 29 runs.

This was the last of five ODIs played between South Africa and Zimbabwe over the past three weeks and it was a microcosm of all of them. Zimbabwe were disciplined in the field, after Elton Chigumbura asked South Africa to bat first. Their spinners enforced a stranglehold which kept South Africa quiet for most of the first 45 overs of their innings but, because they lacked the incisiveness to keep taking wickets, one batsman anchored and set up for a final assault. Du Plessis was that that man.

As soon as the score moved beyond 220, Zimbabwe's chances of winning, not in the overs they needed to get to the final, but overall, were dimmed. Their opening partnership remains brittle, their middle-order soft and their tail brave but inadequate even against a South African attack that was a man short.

After a collapse against Australia in their previous match, South Africa chose to bulk up the batting by adding Rilee Rossouw to the XI and had to bench a bowler. Imran Tahir missed out to leave South Africa with just one specialist spinner in Aaron Phangiso. Had Zimbabwe found a partnership as stubborn as the du Plessis-Duminy one, South Africa may have been found wanting but poor shot selection and wavering temperament continue to stunt their progress.

They can look to South Africa's approach as inspiration. When the openers were dismissed in the first eight overs, there was no panic despite the inexperienced player at No.4. Rossouw had two first-ball ducks to his name before this and Zimbabwe could have got through him and into the middle order but he showed more composure this time, particularly against spin.

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India are No.1 ranked ODI side

Zimbabwe's win coupled with England's losses propel India to the top.

India have risen to No. 1 in the ODI rankings, while Australia toppled to fourth place after their defeat to Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Elton Chigumbura lifting his No. 10-ranked team to only their second success against Australia - the first in 31 years - has meant South Africa and Sri Lanka have leapfrogged the free-falling Australia, who were joint-No. 1 with India ahead of that match. India had equalled Australia's points tally following their victoryat Trent Bridge, in the third ODI against England on August 30.

However, the situation at the top remains quite fluid. India will retain their place at No. 1 if they beat England in the remaining two matches of the Royal London ODI series and Australia beat South Africa at least once over the coming week - either on Tuesday or, if they make the final, on Saturday. South Africa will move to the top if they win their two remaining league games and the subsequent final, even if India win the fourth and fifth ODIs.

Australia, too, have a chance at reclaiming No. 1 if they beat South Africa in their remaining league stage game and again in the final. Concurrently, though, India would have to lose at least one of their two ODIs to England.

India had been the No. 1 side when they visited New Zealand in January, but lost the top rank after failing to win a match there.

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Australia seal place in final with bonus-point win

Australia 282 for 7 (Marsh 86*, Hughes 85) beat South Africa 220 (Du Plessis 126, Marsh 2-23) by 62 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mitchell Marsh almost single-handedly took Australia into the tri-series final, first by plundering 86 off 51 balls, including 21 off a single Dale Steyn over, and then with two wickets to dent South Africa's chase. The bonus-point victory has guaranteed Australia spot in Saturday's showdown but put South Africa's in some danger. If they lose to Zimbabwe by a massive margin, so much so that the hosts gain a bonus point and improve the net run-rate, South Africa could be on an early flight home.

Marsh's blitz injected life into an Australian innings that was solid at the start but became stuck through the middle periods against a stranglehold of spin. He shared in a 71-run stand with Brad Haddin for the sixth wicket, which included taking 60 runs off five overs from the 44th over, as South Africa struggled for a death-bowling option. Those runs ultimately proved the difference between the two sides on a scruffy, sluggish surface on which run-scoring was laboured.

Less than a week after they gunned down a target of 328 against Australia, South Africa stumbled in search of a significantly smaller target. Only Faf du Plessis had some measure of what was required and only he managed a score more than 24. Du Plessis' second ODI century came six days after his first, but in much more trying circumstances because he lacked support.

South Africa's middle-order was untested thus far but in their first stern examination were exposed against pace and pressure, as they have been in the past. JP Duminy, David Miller and to a lesser extend Ryan McLaren left South Africa's long tail with too much to do and threw the spotlight on whether they were a batsman light or whether their bowling was what them down.

For nine-tenths of their time in the field, South Africa operated with discipline, from the opening passages where JP Duminy shared the new ball with Steyn, during the Phillip Hughes-Steven Smith stand of 85 for the second wicket and through the batting Powerplay in which they conceded only 20 runs and took two wickets.

South Africa's specialist spinners, Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso, gave away just 81 runs in 20 overs and contributed to a boundary drought that had the rope being breached just once in 10 overs. They limited Hughes and Smith to collecting runs judiciously rather than freely and only Hughes' sprightly start ensured his half-century was achieved at almost a run a ball, off 51 deliveries. They also snaffled three wickets to leave Australia in danger of a posting a total below 250.

But Marsh changed that when he switched from spectator to instigator as the innings neared its end. He tested the water when he drove Steyn through the covers for four and charged Tahir for six. What followed had not been done in ODI cricket before today. Marsh hit Steyn back over his head for six three times off three deliveries.

In a single over, Marsh's took his own score went from 29 to 50, off just 37 balls, which forced de Villiers to look elsewhere for a death bowler. McLaren offered little better. He missed the yorker on too many occasions and then relied on a short ball. Marsh punished all of it to give Australia a score they would have thought defendable, especially after they removed both South African openers inside ten overs of the reply.

Despite that, du Plessis stirred memories of last Wednesday's effort when he flat-batted Marsh over his head twice but those would have dimmed somewhat when de Villiers swept Nathan Lyon to backward square leg. With Duminy and du Plessis at the crease, South Africa had their best chance at recovery but Australia squeezed, allowing them to score at only four runs to the over. Duminy soon pulled one straight to fine leg and David Miller's defenses were shattered by a fiery Johnson short ball and his own lack of footwork to leave South Africa 101 for 5.

Du Plessis found some assistance from McLaren, who stayed with him for 12.2 overs and contributed 24 runs in a stand of 73. Du Plessis was the senior partner, slamming Mitchell Starc for six twice and lofting Lyon inside-out over cover to reach touching distance of his century. McLaren holed out before du Plessis could get to the milestone, which he reached off 94 balls in the next over.

By then South Africa's challenge was all but over, barring any fireworks from Steyn. He was run out, du Plessis trod on his own stumps and Johnson and Maxwell shared last rites to bowl South Africa out in 44 overs and pick Australia up after their defeat to Zimbabwe in the best way possible.

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Rahane hundred caps crushing win

4th ODI in Birmingham: Ajinkya Rahane struck his maiden one-day hundred and Shikhar Dhawan finished on 97 not out as India raced to a nine-wicket win with almost 30 overs to spare.

Rahane Maiden Century

India 212 for 1 (Rahane 106, Dhawan 97*) beat England 206 (Moeen 67, Shami 3-28, Bhuvneshwar 2-14) by nine wickets

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

As India marched to one their most comprehensive victories against England, a third no-contest in as many matches giving them the series, about the only similarity between the teams was the blue of their shirts. India, the reigning world champions in this format, will need little introduction as one of the favourites for the 2015 World Cup in six months' time. England are struggling to find an XI to compete at home, let along challenge in Australia and New Zealand.

MS Dhoni has captained with an easy panache since the return to limited-overs cricket and he again marshalled an impressive display after inserting England on a fresh morning in Birmingham. This was Dhoni's 91st victory as India ODI captain, breaking the record of Mohammad Azharuddin. Only one batsman had him momentarily ruffled, as Moeen Ali produced the first England half-century of the series, but it was a bit like a fart competing with thunder, to borrow Graham Gooch's phrase.

Having been set a modest target, India's batsmen set about exposing it as indecent. Ajinkya Rahanemade his maiden ODI hundred during a stand of 183 with Shikhar Dhawan, a record opening partnership for India in England. Dhawan's unbeaten 97 was his first fifty of the tour, a flurry of blows helping to end the contest with almost 20 overs remaining.

Although the pitch flattened out, England's attack was made to look horribly blunt. India's openers tip-toed through the first four overs, scoring the same number of runs, before Rahane struck four sumptuous fours off James Anderson; Dhawan rattled three more from Chris Woakes' first over, taking them to 57 from ten. It was a clear case of the fours being with India.

And the sixes, too, both openers reaching their half-centuries by clearing the ropes. They hit four apiece, the most dismissive a front-foot pull from Rahane off Steven Finn. The sight of England's fastest bowler being treated so disdainfully by India's most diminutive batsman was one of a number of instructive passages. The video analysis will make painful viewing for Alastair Cook and Peter Moores.

If England were to take anything from their display, it would have been Moeen's batting. Moeen was brought in for his fifth ODI to fill the allrounder slot, with England keen for a more thorough examination of his credentials as a limited-overs spinner ahead of the World Cup. He proceeded to bat with greater dash and security than any of his team-mates during an innings of 67 off 50 balls.

After Joe Root departed attempting a reverse sweep that might have made Mike Gatting wince to leave England five down, Moeen struck the ball with a languid intensity, hitting three sixes - the only sixes of the innings. Such was his dominance, albeit brief in the context of the match, that Moeen clouted 43 out of a 50-run stand with Jos Buttler, nominally England's power hitter. His efforts lifted England to the bare respectability of 200 but the target scarcely gave much opportunity for his bowling to impress.

It was debatable whether India had found a new way to win or England a new way to lose. This time, the glissando of wickets came at the top and bottom of the innings, as England ended the Powerplay on 25 for 3 and then lost 4 for 12 in the final five overs. In between, India's spinners largely remained a lurking threat, although the way R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina threw a blanket over the middle overs was proof that England had not suddenly discovered their pipe and slippers when it came to playing slow bowling.

Root has struggled to transfer his puckish energy into one-day cricket this summer but he at least did a job in repelling India's early broadside during an 80-run stand with Eoin Morgan. The pair managed to see off ten overs of spin before Morgan, having narrowly flicked wide of leg slip, picked out Suresh Raina in that position for a simple catch to give Jadeja his 32nd wicket against England - a tally he would increase to 33 in 17 ODIs.

England's approach tends to revolve around the proverbial best-laid plans but things went awry even before the toss, as they were forced to bring in Gary Ballance for Ian Bell, who was hit on the toe in the nets. Bell was later revealed to have a "small fracture" and will be assessed before the final ODI, at Headingley on Friday. That enforced change was the third from the XI at Trent Bridge, with Moeen and Harry Gurney also coming in for Ben Stokes and James Tredwell.

India, meanwhile, included the debutant Dhawal Kulkarni, who kissed the ball before his first delivery in international cricket, only to see it treated rather more roughly by Alex Hales spanking a half-volley for four. That was about as encouraging as it got, as England stumbled, bleary-eyed in the Birmingham sunshine.

India's fielders were certainly in the wide awake club, Raina and Rahane setting a fine example as Cook managed just a single from his first 15 balls, repeatedly thwarted trying to hit through the off side. After opening partnerships of 54 and 82, England this time lost Cook and Hales in the fifth over, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar located the moisture in the pitch that his captain had spied at the toss. In the previous two matches, this had been the one area where India had allowed England some respite.

The breakthrough did not require any outstanding India out-cricket, however, as Bhuvneshwar snaked his first ball to Hales past the inside edge and on to the stumps. It was a femme fatale of a delivery, curving back in seductively and leaving Hales dumbstruck as he looked for his favoured cover drive. Bhuvneshwar had already bowled 12 deliveries at Cook without conceding a run and he gilded his figures further by picking up the England captain, Raina intercepting a thick-edged chop at gully to end another laboured stay at the crease.

After Dhoni's travails in the Tests, both as captain and wicketkeeper, the extent of his comfort in limited-overs cricket was displayed by an instinctive, near run-out of Root, deflecting the ball with one glove down on to stumps behind him. Such was the hold he currently exerts over England, he could get away without asking Bhuvneshwar (8-3-14-2) to bowl a second spell. The batsmen then ran amok in approved style. It was fitting that such an assured display confirmed him as India's most successful ODI captain.

ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Zimbabwe prove potential with shock win over Australia

Zimbabwe Beat Australia

 CAPE TOWN: When Zimbabwe’s players trudged off the Bulawayo pitch after back to back defeats by Afghanistan in July, few could have believed that a month later they would produce a shock victory over Australia.

Sunday’s stunning three-wicket win at Harare Sports Club could breath new life into Zimbabwean cricket, showing the possibilities that exist within the team despite the country’s cricket history of rolling from crisis to crisis.

Player strikes over unpaid salaries, accusations of corruption within the Zimbabwe Cricket board, the constant changing of coaches and the shrinking of the domestic game from five franchises to four amid desperate cost-cutting have all grabbed recent headlines.

But now, finally, there is a positive to fill the back pages and coming as it did just a few days after Zimbabwe had run South Africa uncomfortably close in a losing effort, suggests they are beginning to find some consistency in performance.

“The guys worked very hard for this and supporters were behind us throughout. Today we showed some improvement and we just have to keep working,” captain Elton Chigumbura said at the presentation ceremony on Sunday.

It was a sentiment shared by off-spinner John Nyumbu, new to the side but bowling like a seasoned veteran.

"After all the talks about the role of the coach [Stephan Mangongo] and all that, this win tops everything,” he said. “We bowled differently, we all have different roles and we executed them well."

The scenes of jubilation after the game spoke volumes for what the win meant for not just the players, but the supporters who had filled the Harare Sports Club to capacity.

The celebrations provided ample evidence of the passion for the game in the troubled country.

Zimbabwe’s 50-over victories against major cricketing nations have not been that rare – since 2010 they have beaten India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and now Australia.

It could have been more if the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) calendar had allowed them greater opportunity to play.

None of the players that took to the field on Sunday were born the last time Zimbabwe defeated Australia in the opening game of the 1983 World Cup, their first ever one-day international.

With the right support from the country's cricket authorities and the ICC, Zimbabwe can develop further and grow as a team.

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