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Match facts

June 17, 2017
Start time 10:45 local (09:45 GMT)Con de Lange and Malcolm Waller, who played huge roles for their respective teams in the first ODI, once again figure to be crucial to their teams’ success•Peter Della Penna

Big Picture

The far north of the UK is a place where chilly, damp weather is a common occurrence round the year. Regardless of what Zimbabwe may have read about Edinburgh beforehand, not much would have prepared them for the cold shower they experienced on Thursday in the form of a loss to Scotland in the maiden ODI between the two countries.Losing a pair of home series to Afghanistan is one thing, with the consensus being that Afghanistan’s on-field quality has outstripped their administrative status as an Associate – a view further cemented by Afghanistan drawing the ODI series on their first visit to the West Indies earlier this month. As much as Scotland have improved their on-field product in recent years under coach Grant Bradburn, the bare fact was that they’d never beaten a Full Member in 23 attempts prior to Thursday. But, by the end of the day, Zimbabwe found themselves on the wrong side of history.Less than two days after that wake-up call, Zimbabwe have a chance to save face and level the series. Scotland are currently third in the WCL Championship, three points behind Netherlands, and if Zimbabwe are swept 2-0 in Edinburgh, the prospect of three one-dayers next week in Amsterdam becomes even more daunting.Scotland, on the other hand, have a chance to create a double-dose of history. “Securing a maiden ODI win over a Full Member” has been checked off the to-do list. They have the pen in hand waiting to mark off the next item on their summer agenda: “securing a maiden ODI win over a Full Member.”

Form guide

Scotland: WLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)Zimbabwe: LLWWL

In the spotlight

South Africa-born Con de Lange first came to Scotland in 2003 as an overseas pro for Ferguslie CC in Paisley. After marrying a local girl and putting down roots in his adopted homeland, he made his Scotland debut in 2015 and has since become one of their most reliable talents. Named vice-captain in January, he turned in his maiden ODI five-for in the win on Thursday and will look to restrict Zimbabwe once again.Malcolm Waller’s last four scores, playing for Rhinos in Zimbabwe’s domestic competition Pro50 Championship, prior to the Scotland tour were 52, 49, 57 and 113. His 92 off 62 balls in the first ODI was his fifth ODI half-century, and he came within inches of making it a match-winning maiden ton before being snuffed out by a controversial catch. Scotland had few answers for containing him in the first match, and he may be a handful once again in the middle order.

Team news

Somerset’s Josh Davey has been released from the county for the second ODI, and he won’t be making the trip up north just to sit on the bench. Though Chris Sole is the youngest and least experienced of Scotland’s medium-pace unit, his opening five-over spell of 1 for 10 was exceptional. But Sole looked rattled by Waller, conceding 0 for 30 in three overs later in the innings. Safyaan Sharif was also expensive, finishing with 1 for 69, making them the most likely candidates to make way for Davey, with Alasdair Evans staying to take the new ball.Scotland (probable): 1 Kyle Coetzer (capt), 2 Matthew Cross (wk), 3 Calum MacLeod, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Preston Mommsen, 6 Craig Wallace, 7 Michael Leask, 8 Josh Davey, 9 Con de Lange, 10 Chris Sole/Safyaan Sharif, 11 Alasdair EvansChris Mpofu, who was Zimbabwe’s leading wicket-taker in the five-match series against Afghanistan, was a surprising omission in the first ODI. Richard Ngarava struggled badly, both with the new ball and at the death, to finish with 1 for 96 – the joint second-worst figures for a Zimbabwe bowler in ODIs. A direct swap for the two is most likely on the bowling front, while Chamu Chibhabha might also get a look in after another ODI failure for Ryan Burl.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Solomon Mire, 3 Chamu Chibhabha, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Malcolm Waller, 8 PJ Moor (wk), 9 Graeme Cremer (capt), 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Chris Mpofu

Pitch and conditions

Unlike the on-and-off rain on Thursday that resulted in Zimbabwe’s chase being reduced to 43 overs, Saturday is forecast to be one of the clearest and hottest days of the late spring and early summer in Edinburgh with a high of 24 degrees centigrade and no rain in the area. Expect another flat, bat-first pitch with a 300-plus target in mind.

Stats and trivia

• Con de Lange’s 5 for 60 was just the sixth five-wicket haul in Scotland’s ODI history and the first since Josh Davey’s 6 for 28 against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi just before the 2015 World Cup.
• Scotland’s 317 for 6 in the first ODI was the fifth time they scored 300 or more in an ODI innings, and their second-highest total against a Full Member, one short of the 318 for 8 they made in a World Cup loss to Bangladesh.
• Zimbabwe’s overall record against Associates in ODIs is 49-20-1 after the loss to Scotland. But since that lone tie, against Ireland in the 2007 World Cup, it has been much less dominant at 25-17. That includes 11 losses to Afghanistan, three to Ireland and two to Kenya.

Quotes

“This is what we’ve been waiting to do for a little while. We’ve taken a little bit longer than other teams have, but we’ve now got a strong squad of players and we hope that we could still keep on challenging and maybe play some of the other Test-ranked teams.”
“They do play good shots and we knew we were going to be up against it, especially in their home conditions, our first game. But we’ve got to jump around. We’ve got to be ready for the next game and make sure that we finish on top.”

Sri Lanka batsman Chamara Kapugedera has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy with an injury to his right knee, which was sustained during training on Wednesday. He has been replaced with opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka, who was on stand-by in England.”Kapugedara [had] a heavy pounding on the right knee when he landed on it awkwardly during a fielding drill this morning, and radiographic investigation has revealed a meniscal tear coupled with an acute tendon injury,” a board release said. “Tournament and SLC Medical experts have recommended a supervised convalescence of two weeks, followed by a review of the injury.”Though Gunathilaka, who is likely to play the match against India on Thursday, is officially replacing Kapugedara, he will effectively be taking the place of Upul Tharanga at the top of the order. Kapugedara’s middle order position, meanwhile, will be assumed by Angelo Mathews, who is set to play his first ODI since August last year.Kapugedara was out first ball in Sri Lanka’s tournament opener against South Africa, but had been in some form in the approach to the tournament.

ScorecardPaul Collingwood was a whizz with the ball at 41•Getty Images

Paul Collingwood led from the front as Durham restricted Gloucestershire to 266 for 7 before bad light ended play 19 overs early on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship match at Bristol.Approaching his 41st birthday next month, the visiting captain transformed the morning session by taking two wickets with his medium pace after the hosts had reached 97 for 1 and then claimed three slip catches. Chris Rushworth and Keaton Jennings weighed in with two wickets apiece.Chris Dent (59), Will Tavare (61), Phil Mustard (38) and Jack Taylor (41 not out) all batted well for Gloucestershire, who could feel satisfied with their efforts after Collingwood exercised his right to field first without a toss.The day began with overcast conditions and the home side looked to be facing a stiff test when Cameron Bancroft, who never looked comfortable, was bowled by a delivery from Rushworth that appeared to keep a bit low.Soon the sun broke through and batting became more straightforward. Dent and Tavare put together a second-wicket stand of 83 with few alarms and Gloucestershire looked set to lunch well.But Collingwood had other ideas. Having had Dent dropped twice in his second over, the former England all-rounder forced the left-hander to feather a catch through to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynton in his third. Dent had faced 85 balls and hit 9 fours.In the same over Collingwood pinned Graeme van Buuren lbw for a duck and, without making best use of the new ball, Durham had their opponents 97 for 3 at the break.The afternoon session began well for Gloucestershire, with Tavare and George Hankins taking the total to 156 before 20-year-old Hankins, who had progressed to 27, hung his bat out to a shortish delivery from Brydon Carse and edged to Collingwood at first slip.Tavare, who has begun the season in fine form, moved to his half-century off 121 balls, with five fours, and was doing an excellent job anchoring the innings until, with the total on 187, he was caught behind, rocking back to try and leave a ball from Rushworth.Mustard looked in good nick against his old county and produced some fine strokes. It was a surprise when he pushed forward to Jennings and edged a simple catch to Collingwood, having struck seven boundaries.That was the final ball of Jennings’ third over. He was on a hat-trick when with the first delivery of his fourth he induced another edge to Collingwood, this time to dismiss Craig Miles for a duck.At 255 for 7 in the 75th over, Gloucestershire were in danger of failing to capitalise on a solid base. Only two more overs were possible before the umpires decided conditions had become too murky.Taylor was unbeaten, having shared a stand of 64 with Mustard, playing with typical flourish. He will shoulder responsibility for adding to his side’s two batting points tomorrow.

Tom Latham needs to “go back to basics” to try and escape his lean run of form, according to New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan, after making a “poor decision” in the second innings in Wellington.Latham is set to retain his place in the squad for the final Test against South Africa in a season which has nose-dived for him since the one-day series against Australia – which coincided with him being given the wicketkeeping gloves. He has made scores of 10, 8 and 6 in the two Tests which follow his one-day run of 4, 7, 0, 0, 2 and 0 after a productive earlier part of the summer which included career-bests in both ODIs (137 v Bangladesh) and Tests (177 v Bangladesh).His overall Test record remains solid, with an average of 38.64, and his average opening the innings is the fifth highest among New Zealand batsman to have done it in 20 Tests.He was dismissed twice by Morne Morkel in Wellington. In the first innings, he edged a good delivery, angled across him, to slip but in the second tried to drive ball and gave a catch to gully.”Tom’s obviously going through a tough patch but we know what a quality player he is, and has been for a number of years,” McMillan said. “He’s got six test hundreds and bats in perhaps the toughest position in the order, and has done well for a long period for us.”It’s about him getting back to basics. One of his decisions was poor, to drive when it wasn’t full enough to drive, and he acknowledged that. We need to get him back to making those good decisions and everything else will flow from there.”The knock-on effect of having an opener bereft of confidence against a high-quality attack is regularly exposing the No. 3 early in an innings. However, McMillan believes New Zealand have “the best in the world” in captain Kane Williamson.”I think he’s the best No. 3 in the world,” McMillan said. “The reality is that when you bat at No. 3 you can be an opener, new-ball bowlers are fresh in difficult conditions. Kane is very mentally strong around that, it’s a position he enjoys so I don’t see any point at all in tweaking that.”The longest he has been able to wait to bat this season is 16.1 overs when Latham and Jeet Raval added 54 against Bangladesh in Wellington. While Raval has enhanced his reputation against South Africa with two half-centuries, the hope that a return to red-ball cricket would revive Latham after his one-day struggles has yet to come to fruition.’When you bat at No. 3 you can be an opener, new-ball bowlers are fresh in difficult conditions. Kane is mentally strong around that’ – Craig McMillan•Getty Images

In Dunedin, Williamson strode out in the sixth over. In Wellington, the seventh and fifth. In the first Test, he scored one of the finest hundreds of his career – which lifted him to No. 2 in the Test rankings – but at the Basin Reserve completed his lowest return when he has batted twice in a Test. It was one game, for one of New Zealand’s finest batsmen, but could not have come at a more inopportune moment with Ross Taylor missing.Taylor may return for Hamilton, although it sounded unlikely on Sunday with McMillan saying he would not be rushed if not fully fit, but there is no thought being given to trying to allow Williamson some breathing space in the batting order.Williamson’s record at No. 3 certainly stands up to scrutiny. He has played 90 of his 109 innings at No. 3 since 2011, and has scored 4346 runs at 53.65: he is the ninth-most prolific No. 3 of all time.Despite New Zealand’s rapid slide to defeat, there were some encouraging signs that the batting burden does not always have to sit on Williamson and Taylor. Henry Nicholls scored a maiden Test century and then Raval made a gutsy 80 when he fought through a period of rapid short-pitched bowling from Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada.”I thought it was a really good hundred. He’s been building to that for a while,” McMillan said. “We’ve known he’s had that short of performance in him. He’s works really hard, has a lot of strong traits, and I thought that was the best we’ve seen him bat in terms of decision making, showing good intent. That’s really encouraging. There were a couple of positives, I know a lot of the talk is around the negatives and that’s understandable after a day like yesterday, but I thought Jeet Raval played really well too.”

It’s only March but Ross Taylor has come up with a resolution for next year – or maybe just next season – already. “I think I am going to start [keeping count of] how many games I can play without getting injured,” Taylor joked during a stint on the , SkyTV’s daily tea-time interview slot, during the fourth day’s play between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton. “Calf, hammies, side-strains, fingers, bones. It’s just disappointing that it’s South Africa I have missed a few times.”Taylor has missed some part of the last three series against South Africa, the first in the aftermath of the captaincy debacle in 2012-13, the second a limited-overs series in 2015 following surgery after a groin injury sustained in Zimbabwe, and now the last two Tests in this series, after tearing a calf in the first.Although Taylor admitted that not having to front up to “Morkel and Rabada is probably not a bad thing,” he said he would like to play as much as he can in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, which is being touted as the swansong of his career. His most recent injury has served to spur him on to ensure he gets there. “I just need motivation when things aren’t going well, when you get a bit tired of day-in, day-out cricket, just a nice little reminder to say why you play this game. Hopefully I can get through that.”For now, Taylor has declared himself 85-90% fit and should be available to play the Champions Trophy and the triangular tournament in Ireland, also featuring Bangladesh, which precedes the ICC event. New Zealand will be without their IPL players for that tri-series, which will make Taylor’s presence even more important and he hopes he can play a role in mentoring some of the younger players. “You want to expose young players to get the depth in the squad that we are comfortable with,” he said. “[So] we have 20 players at any time that can be very competitive against any side in the world.”One thing he may not be teaching them is to copy his signature celebration of sticking his tongue out on reaching a century. “I did it when I was youngster growing up – I got a cheeky hundred, I was dropped a couple of times and then I got a cheeky hundred so I did it. When my daughter was growing up, she was 2 or 3, she said, ‘Daddy, can you get a hundred for me and poke your tongue out?’ So that’s what I do now,” he said.Taylor has had the chance to do that in two ODIs and a Test this summer, which is not his best tally but has contributed to what he regards as an overall period of good progress for the team. “It has been a great summer,” he said. “Regardless of what happens [in this Test], it has been a successful summer. We retained the Chappell-Hadlee and got some convincing results against Pakistan and Bangladesh. We could finish off the summer really well with a Test victory here and we’ve seen some young players coming through and some veterans stepping up.”The highlight, though, has been the way Kane Williamson has stepped up to the captaincy. Since taking on the job in July last year, Williamson has scored 1079 runs at an average of 59.94 which includes four Test hundreds. He has also become the fastest New Zealander to 5,000 runs and equalled Martin Crowe’s century haul, and Taylor believes there’s no limit to what he can achieve.”He is only 26. He is in fantastic form and he scored a great hundred here. Add into it how the team played in Wellington, going into a must-win match and having to step up at a crucial time, to get a century here – every one starts talking about how many he is going to get,” Taylor said. “He could go down as our best batsman.”

Adam Voges has indicated that his days as an international cricketer are over. A day before he is scheduled to lead the Prime Minister’s XI against the visiting Sri Lankans in Canberra, Voges said it would be his last game against an international team.”This will be it for me,” Voges said. “I’m certainly looking forward to getting out there and playing this game. I’ve had an amazing couple of years with Australia with the Test team and I’ve loved every minute of it.”I see this as a last opportunity to play against an international team and I’m certainly looking forward to that.”Voges, 37, has not played a Test match since suffering a concussion during Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in November. Having failed in the first two Tests against South Africa, this game served as a chance to score runs and keep himself in the reckoning for the third Test. Peter Handscomb took Voges’ spot at No. 5, scored a half-century on Test debut, and has established himself as a first-choice member of Australia’s line-up.Voges, who won his Baggy Green in 2015, aged 35, became the oldest debut centurion when he scored an unbeaten 130 against West Indies in Dominica. He struggled through the Ashes tour of England that followed but kept his place in the side and went on to enjoy a storming 2015-16 season that fetched him a century against New Zealand at the WACA, an unbeaten 269 against West Indies in Hobart and another double-hundred in Wellington.His batting average, after the tour of New Zealand, stood at 95.50 after 15 Tests. It fell to 61.87 after sub-par series against Sri Lanka away and South Africa at home, but he ends his career, nonetheless, with the second-highest average – behind only Don Bradman – among all batsmen with a minimum of 20 Tests.Voges’ stint in the Test side was the second half of a two-part international career. Between February 2007 and November 2013, he played 38 limited-overs games, scoring 870 ODI runs at 45.78 and 139 T20I runs at 46.33.

Sussex have confirmed the signing of South Africa allrounder David Wiese on a three-year Kolpak deal as he becomes the latest player to end his international career.Wiese, whose move follows the recent high-profile signings by Hampshire of Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw, will join the county in June, which leaves him a window to play in the IPL should he secure another deal having been released by Royal Challengers Bangalore. He previously played for Sussex in 2016 when he took six wickets in four T20 Blast matches – albeit with an economy above 10 an over – made one Royal London Cup appearance and claimed 19 wickets at 24.00 in six Championship outings.When Cricket South Africa named their T20 squad to face Sri Lanka later on Monday, they confirmed Wiese had been an original selection but was withdrawn after confirming his Kolpak move.”I would like to thank Cricket South Africa for giving me the opportunity of fulfilling my lifelong dream of representing my country in the sport I love,” Wiese said. “I am very excited to be joining Sussex on a long-term deal. I thoroughly enjoyed my stint with the club last year and it made my decision so much easier when offered to return. Sussex is an extremely ambitious club and I look forward to being part of their future.”Wiese made 26 limited-overs appearances for South Africa – he has a career-best of 5 for 23 in T20Is – without ever being seen as a regular. He has played at the IPL and CPL and remains an important part of the Titans’ team but, at 31, and with the amount of young talent coming through, an international future was unlikely. He will join batsman Stiaan van Zyl, who signed for Sussex in November, at Hove.”We are thrilled to have David joining us at Sussex,” Mark Davis, the head coach, said. “He is an extremely accomplished all-round cricketer who is effective in all formats and will bring great experience and skill to our group.”He will add significantly to our white-ball team with his bowling and powerful batting at the death and has already shown his potential last season in the longer format. His experience will be invaluable to our young developing team.”Vernon Philander will also have a spell with the club as an overseas player before South Africa’s tour of England.

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Imtiaz Ahmed has died in Lahore, five days short of his 89th birthday. He was Pakistan’s oldest living Test cricketer and had been suffering from a chest infection.Imtiaz played 41 Tests for Pakistan between 1952 and 1962, and captained in four of those matches towards the end of his career. He made 2079 runs at an average of 29, and took 77 catches and effected 16 stumpings. His career-best score of 209 came against New Zealand in Lahore in 1955.He was an integral member of Pakistan’s first official Test side, led by Abdul Hafeez Kardar to India. He played the first three Tests as a batsman but took over the gloves from Hanif Mohammad in the fourth Test in Chennai, and kept wicket for the rest of his international career until his last appearance at The Oval in 1962.Imtiaz’s first-class career ran from 1944-45 to 1972-73, having made his debut as a 16-year-old for Northern India before partition. He played 180 games, scored 10391 runs with a best score of 300 not out, took 322 catches, and effected 82 stumpings.In 1960, Imtiaz received the presidential pride of performance award, and later in life he was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz for his services to the Pakistan Air force; he retired as a wing commander after 27 years spent mainly in administrative roles.After has playing career, Imtiaz had served as a Pakistan selector for 13 years and was the head of the selection committee between 1976 and 1978. He then took up a coaching role and spent nearly a decade developing Under-19 cricketers. His last assignment was with the department that handles women’s cricket in Pakistan, where he served as an advisor for three years from 2005 to 2008.

ScorecardCameron Bancroft finished the day on 88 not out (file photo)•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Western Australia opener Cameron Bancroft returned to form with an unbeaten 88 on the second day against Queensland in Townsville. The Warriors finished the day on 3 for 186, with Hilton Cartwright on 26 and Bancroft within sight of his first first-class century in nine months – a period during which he has played Sheffield Shield, county cricket and for Australia A.The morning began with the Bulls on 6 for 327 and they lost their last four wickets for 95 runs, with allrounder Jack Wildermuth adding only 4 to his overnight score before he was lbw to Simon Mackin for 93. Michael Neser managed 68 and there was some support from the lower order as the total was pushed along to 422.Bancroft and Jon Wells put on 85 for the first wicket before Wells was stumped by Chris Hartley off Mitch Swepson for 46, and Michael Klinger then fell to Swepson for 9. Axed Test allrounder Mitchell Marsh failed to grab his opportunity at the crease, caught behind off Neser for 14, before Cartwright joined Bancroft for the rest of the day.The Warriors will also be without fast bowler Jason Behrendorff for the rest of the match after he was diagnosed a stress fracture in his left fibula. Behrendorff bowled only 12 overs in the Queensland first innings.