Centurion Sachin Tendulkar, who earlier racked up his 17,000 ODI run, continues to lead India's quest of a hefty 351-run target in the fifth one-dayer. Track all the action from Hyderabad with our over-by-over commentary
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"It has been a long tour, I guess, and the guys have been away for a long time now and we've probably played a bit too much cricket but we will see how we go and I am sure the boys will go well in the next three matches and come home with a (series) win," he was quoted as saying by 'The Australian Associated Press' here.
Siddle played in the World Twenty20 Championship, the Ashes, a seven-match one-day series in England, the Champions Trophy, the Champions League Twenty20 for Victoria before being called up for the seven-match series in India.
The pacer said his injury, which he picked up during the fourth one-dayer in Mohali, was not all that serious and he would be fit for the home Test series against West Indies later this month.
"It's nothing bad. I just pulled up a little bit tight, with a bit of soreness, from the last match and they decided the best thing with the first Test coming up was just to come home and rest up and make sure I am 100 per cent fit and ready to go for that," Siddle said.
"There's no worries at all, just a bit of soreness, and the selectors and coaches thought it was the best thing to stay off for the rest of the game and come home and take it easy," he added.
Apart from Siddle, pace spearhead Brett Lee, all-rounders Moises Henriques and James Hopes and wicketkeeper Tim Paine have returned injured from India.
Vice-captain Michael Clarke, regular wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, paceman Nathan Bracken and batsman Callum Ferguson were not even there in the squad due to their respective injuries.
South African batsman AB de Villiers has moved to douse speculation of a hostile homecoming for Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott by insisting South African crowds will not turn on their one-time countrymen. Pietersen and Trott, both of whom played their junior cricket in South Africa before taking the Kolpak route, arrived in Bloemfontein this week with the England team ahead of a two and a half month tour expected to test both mettle and skill.
Pietersen was subjected to torrents of abuse from South African crowds on his maiden one-day tour with England five years ago, and Andy Flower, the England team director, has predicted Trott could face a similar grilling this summer. de Villiers, too, expected England's South African contingent to face their share of jeering from local spectators, but did not believe a line would be crossed.
"Like any other touring side they'll obviously get some boos and the normal kind of stuff," de Villiers told Cricinfo's Switch-Hit podcast. "I don't think they'll get a bad reception. Obviously because they're South Africans who went over there and did pretty well, the guys will react a little bit more towards KP and Jonathan Trott, but I don't think in a bad way. The crowd obviously want us to win, but I don't think it will be too bad.
"Obviously there are a few South Africans involved (in the England squad). I would like to give credit to them - obviously they've made a big decision in their careers to go over there. Well done to all the South Africans who have come through there. It will be interesting to play against them now. When you walk across the boundary rope it's England against South Africa and that's all that matters."
de Villiers was in sublime form during his most recent Test assignment - a six-game home-and-away series against Australia, during which he scored 600 runs at an average of 75. The right-hander was one of the few South African batsmen to consistently repel the hard-charging Mitchell Johnson, and went far towards ending the fledgling career of Bryce McGain, Australia's great wrist-spinning hope, with a brutal innings of 163 in his last outing at Newlands.
Having watched the Ashes series with interest, de Villiers predicts South Africa's batsmen will face a tough challenge from England's youthful fast-bowling line-up. Familiar names such as Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison may not feature in England's touring party, but de Villiers believes the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad could thrive in the pacier conditions of South Africa.
"England beating Australia is a little bit of added pressure on us, but we've got the team, the talent and the potential to handle that," he said. "I think they've got a very talented bowling line-up. Losing a guy like Flintoff was a big loss, but they had quite a few youngsters put their hand up in the Ashes. Anderson and Broad have done extremely well.
"I rate (Harmison) as a class bowler and it's disappointing not to see him in the squad, but some of the youngsters have put their hands up and it makes sense that they are in the squad above Harmison. Anderson and Broad had amazing (Ashes) series and it will be interesting to see them over here with a bit of swing in these kind of conditions in South Africa it's going to be a big challenge for our batters."
South Africa's poor showing before their home fans at the Champions Trophy tournament had provided added incentive for a strong showing against England, de Villiers added. "Obviously it was very disappointing over here in South Africa to let ourselves down," he said. "We played some very, very poor cricket. We know where we went wrong but we'll definitely assess on Friday when we get together before our game against Zimbabwe. We've got a point to prove now."
England in South Africa 2009-10
Who needs the captaincy when you are in this kind of form? Shahid Afridi's supposed desire to lead Pakistan in ODIs and his rift with captain Younis Khan has dominated the chat in Pakistan since the Champions Trophy, and his all-round performance tonight to dismantle New Zealand - along with the captain's duck - will do nothing to quell further talk. But why burden yourself with leadership hassles when you can turn in the kind of man-mountain performance Afridi did, first resuscitating Pakistan from a disastrous start with the bat and then nearly taking a hat-trick as his side romped home to a 138-run win at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Afridi's day had begun halfway through Pakistan's innings, when having won the toss, they were making a mess of things. Shane Bond had bowled an opening five-over spell of refreshingly attacking intent, of real cunning, occasional pace and much guile. Each ball he bowled, it seemed, was geared only to take wickets, not save runs. With the rest of Bond's colleagues chipping in, Afridi turned up to find his side limping around at 75 for 4.
Much like a magician he turned it into an ominous 287 for 9 with his innings opening up the floodgates for his lower order, in particular Kamran Akmal, who plundered New Zealand relentlessly at the death. In all, 137 runs came in the last 15 overs and 206 off the last 25, and Afridi was the culprit.
It was a calm hand by his standards, pretty brutal by any other, and the kind of innings Twenty20 has brought out of him. In its entirety it was mature, particularly in the realisation that he need not go at it helter-skelter from the off and that if his forearms are somehow aligned to his brain then mountains can be moved.
Indeed there was never a miscue or hoick to begin, just urgent nudges and grunted pushes to revive Pakistan's comatose run-rate. Once Khalid Latif, drafted in as opener, pulled a boundary for nearly 12 overs in the 29th, he freed Afridi's mind. Soon Afridi was dancing out to hoist three sixes in two overs of spin from Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum.
The flurry of boundaries is an Afridi trait, but once out of the way he reverted - pleasingly - to taking well-placed singles and doubles, managing the occasional boundary. Shane Bond was muscled over long-off for one such, to bring up his fifty off 37 balls, which was still sedate for him. He went soon after biffing a couple more, but not before, with a tranquil Latif, having revived Pakistan. Latif looked as threatening as a butterfly, without being as pretty, but he stuck around for what was a valuable fifty. And he was at his most effective when Afridi was going for it, simply because he ensured that Afridi got much of the strike.
Akmal, relieved of opening and for Afridi's ballast, gleefully looted runs over the death, putting on 86 with Abdul Razzaq in just over seven overs - driving, scything and squeezing a parade of sixes and fours en route to a stunning 43-ball 67.
With the momentum, Pakistan's pacemen worked their way through the top order, crippling the chase at the very off. Umar Gul may have been the main beneficiary in terms of wickets, but Mohammad Aamer's opening spell - much older than the 17-year-old body and mind that produced it - was the key. At whippy pace, he gnawed away at both Brendon McCullum and Aaron Redmond over after over, regularly beating them for pace and inward movement and ultimately setting the tone of who was to boss the chase.
Inevitably, though, Afridi had to have the final word. Daniel Vettori and Aaron Redmond had gamely kept New Zealand within a sniff, though Redmond's ponderous fifty - unlike Latif's earlier - did not have anyone going crazy enough around it. After an indifferent, hurried first spell, Afridi got the pesky Vettori to drag on an attempted sweep, and with his next ball trapped Nathan McCullum. Another umpire might have even given the hat-trick - incorrect as it may have been - but denying Afridi in this kind of mood took some standing. New Zealand found it beyond them.
After a pasting in the first game in Mirpur, Bangladesh have regrouped well to take a 2-1 lead but the manner in which they achieved that crucial last win left their captain Shakib Al Hasan thoroughly frustrated. Their batting hasn't been dominant apart from the second game, when Shakib led from the front with his fourth ODI century. Luckily for the hosts the bowlers have compensated for that by relentlessly chipping away at the wickets and not allowing any decisive top-order partnerships to develop.
Much of that success has been due to their phalanx of spinners who, with their various styles, have exposed the chinks in the opposition's batting order. Zimbabwe's batting is thin in terms of form and numbers; there have been no significant scores bar Hamilton Masakadza - who went past 1000 runs in the calendar year with his eighth 50-plus ODI score in 2009 - and Elton Chigumbura. The bowlers have compensated for that to an extent, not allowing any massive scores, but the lack of top-order partnerships have told.
Zimbabwe have their backs to the wall and need to win the next two. The scenario is somewhat similar to this year's home series against Bangladesh, which they conceded 3-1 after winning the third ODI to boost hope. Their last bilateral series win against Test-match opposition came against Bangladesh at home in 2006, by a 3-2 margin. Zimbabwe lost 11 of their 12 ODIs in 2008 and have won 13 of 23 matches in 2009. Even in series defeats to Sri Lanka and New Zealand over the past year they fought in periods, very nearly pulling off an upset or two on bowler-friendly tracks. They need to recapture that intensity now.
Bangladesh have held the upper hand against their opponents in the last couple of years but the head-to-head record still stands about equal at 22-23 in favour of the home side.
Form Guide (most recent first)
Bangladesh -W WLWW
Zimbabwe - LLWWW
Watch Out For
Like Bangladesh, the batting will be the worry for Zimbabwe as well. Chamu Chibhabha has failed to go past 40 in his last 11 innings since his 51 against Ireland in Nairobi in October 2008, and a match-winning score seems due from one of Zimbabwe's premier batsmen.
Nazmul Hossain performed well in the last game, taking 3 for 13 from 4.1 overs. He was the sole fast bowler in the XI then and struck once at the top and twice to snuff out the tail. Bangladesh are heavily reliant on spin and so the pressure is on a young fast bowler like Nazmul, who would probably not have been playing had Mashrafe Mortaza been fit. He would want to reduce his economy rate of 5.51 and make as much of an impact before the slow bowlers are brought on to bowl.
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