South Africa beat NZ in first ODI – Cricket News Roundup – February 25, 2012 – Part 1
A well constructed century from skipper AB de Villiers guided South Africa to a comprehensive 6-wicket victory against New Zealand in the first ODI, played at Wellington.
The Kiwi opted to bat first but struggled in the initial phases, before Brendon McCullum (56) and Kane Williamson (55) steadied the innings. However, the Proteas’ bowling attack kept things tight in the death overs to restrict their opponents on 253.
In reply, the tourist lost three early wickets but de Villiers anchored the innings with an unbeaten run-a-ball 106 - finding appreciable support from JP Duminy (46) and Faf du Plessis (66*) as they reached the target in the 46th over.
Pakistani skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq, has lashed at the media for their negative approach after the team suffered an embarrassing 4-0 loss in the ODI leg against England.
With speculation growing over his leadership capabilities, Misbah criticized the media for focusing on unnecessary subjects rather than discussing ground realities. He further hoped of performing well in the next T20 games following his team’s 8-run win the first game.
“…When we perform badly we should talk about that, we should talk about weak areas in the team. People in the media make comments based on furthering their own agendas, not ground realities. This needs to stop; the media should think positively,” claimed a vibrant Misbah.
Indian skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has come out and publically cleared the air over the alleged unrest in the dressing room, claiming that all is well in the Indian camp.
Reports in the week have surfaced regarding a rift between Dhoni and vice-captain, Virender Sehwag over the controversial rotational policy where the senior players (the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag) in the team will be used sparingly in order to groom youth for the future.
However, Dhoni has come out and cleared the whole situation, while further adding that the dressing room is united as ever. "It's always been there. It's not this series or the previous one. It's been perfect. It's talk of the dressing room, we try and take positives out of it," said the Men In Blue skipper.
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