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Andrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph both hit half-centuries as Yorkshire Carnegie raced to a crushing nine-wicket win over Leicestershire Foxes in their Friends Provident t20 clash at Grace Road

20-Jun-2010

ScorecardAndrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph both hit half-centuries as Yorkshire Carnegie raced to a crushing nine-wicket win over Leicestershire Foxes in their Friends Provident t20 clash at Grace Road.Having restricted the Foxes to 148 for 8, Yorkshire knocked off the runs with 17 balls to spare to claim their third win in the competition and send the Foxes to their fourth defeat and their third in a row at home.Yorkshire captain Gale hammered an unbeaten 65 off 42 balls, while South African Rudolph slammed 53 off 37 balls, with two sixes and four other boundaries. They took the game beyond the Foxes’ reach with an opening stand of 103 in 12 overs, setting the tempo by scoring 64 off the six overs of power play.It was a blistering exhibition of stroke play against some mediocre bowling from the home side. Rudolph, having already hit left-arm spinner Claude Henderson for a six, repeated the dose to reach his fifty off 34 balls before finally falling to a leg-side stumping by Paul Nixon off the bowling of James Benning.But that brought in Herschelle Gibbs, who joined Gale in another free-scoring partnership that took Yorkshire to victory with time to spare. Gale, having reached fifty off 34 balls with seven boundaries, hit the winning runs with a cut to the boundary off Wayne White, while Gibbs contributed a quickfire 29 that included a trademark six off Jigar Naik plus four other boundaries.It was a comfortable victory for Yorkshire, who had bowled tidily after the Foxes had won the toss.Only Brad Hodge, with 43 which was his best score of the competition so far, and James Taylor, who hit a sparkling 60 off 42 balls, provided any real resistance as the Foxes lost four wickets in the final two overs of the innings, scoring just eight runs.Tino Best claimed 2for 26, and Richard Pyrah took 2 for 19 as the Yorkshire attack kept a firm grip on the match. There was also an impressive four overs from Tim Bresnan, who finished with one for 21 to confirm his readiness to join up with the England one-day squad for the forthcoming series with Australia.The only black mark for Yorkshire was a three-point penalty imposed on bowler Steven Patterson who had to be taken out of the attack in his final over after being no-balled twice for head-high bouncers.

Leading up to their respective tours of England, Bangladesh remain a struggling outfit with their incompetent batting, giving Pakistan an excellent opportunity to end a nine-match losing streak

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya20-Jun-2010

Match Facts

Monday, June 21, 2010

Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)
Imran Farhat has a chance to secure that opening slot•AFP

The Big Picture

For a tournament whose worthiness has been questioned, two back-to-back dead rubbers are a potentially damaging prospect. But despite the sparse crowds and complaints about the floodlights, this Asia Cup has thrown up a considerable amount of entertainment, offered largely by the contender knocked out after two close defeats. While Bangladesh continue to provide further ammunition to their critics with dispiriting performances, Pakistan, recovering from another period of adversity, have fought hard. Shahid Afridi lit up the opener with a stunning century against Sri Lanka, and the nail-biter against India on Saturday reaffirmed the rivalry as among cricket’s most exhilarating. For the time being, they have comfortably shrugged off questions over team unity and focused on issues on the field.Leading up to their respective tours of England, Bangladesh remain a struggling outfit with their incompetent batting, giving Pakistan an excellent opportunity to end a nine-match losing streak.

Form guide (most recent first)

Pakistan: LLLLL
Bangladesh: LLLLL

Watch out for…

Mohammad Ashraful will again be under scrutiny. His reputation, talent and ability have been his saving grace in times of repeated failure, and with the squad for the ODIs in England yet to be announced, a place in the side is far from guaranteed. Imran Farhat played his first ODI in three-and-a-half years, opening against India, and was part of a solid opening stand with Salman Butt. A stylish left-hand batsman with plenty of flair and flourish, Farhat will be hoping to stave off competition from the rest, including Kamran Akmal, to make that opening slot his own on the tour of England.

Team news

Bangladesh have the untested batsman and wicketkeeper Jahurul Islam in their squad, and could consider handing him a debut in place of Naeem Islam.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Jahurul Islam, 8 Mahmudullah, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11Syed Rasel.Afridi said Shoaib Akhtar will be rested against Bangladesh, which means Mohammad Asif is likely to take his place. If Pakistan choose to rest Saeed Ajmal, left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman could be given a chance.Pakistan: 1 Salman Butt, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Mohammad Aamer, 10 Mohammad Asif, 11 Saeed Ajmal/ Abdur Rehman.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh and Pakistan have lost all their ODIs in 2010. Bangladesh have lost 12, Pakistan 7.
• Tamim Iqbal is currently No.10 in the list of top run-getters in ODIs this year, with 437 runs at 36.41.
  

  Quotes

  “There is some tough cricket coming up, we will be playing Test cricket after a while, the problems of the past are not there anymore, and we are playing as a unit, let’s see how it goes.”
  “There is lack of footwork and poor decision making. Mohammad Ashraful is out of form. We need our middle order to support Tamim Iqbal and our fast bowlers should do the job and support Shakib Al Hasan.”

Fortunes ebbed and flowed on the third day with India sneaking ahead by the close. The hosts undermined a blistering knock by Virender Sehwag with early wickets before Suresh Raina and VVS Laxman launched an Indian recovery

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya05-Aug-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Amit Mishra frustrated the Sri Lankan bowlers with 40 to help India gain a slender lead•Cameraworx/Live Images

Fortunes ebbed and flowed on the third day with India sneaking ahead by the close. The hosts undermined a blistering knock by Virender Sehwag with early wickets before Suresh Raina and VVS Laxman launched a recovery. Their departure, in quick succession, saw spirited batting from India’s lower order to scale Sri Lanka’s first-innings total, and Sehwag’s double-strike just before stumps set up a fascinating face-off over the next two days amid encouraging conditions for the bowlers.The game was on even terms when Sri Lanka began their second innings but their attempts to set India a sizable target had to stand the test of a track offering some turn and extra bounce. The left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was introduced as early as the seventh over and Tharanga Paranavitana and Tillakaratne Dilshan set about trying to unsettle him immediately, playing the pull, the sweep and even charging out. Paranavitana swung and missed and survived a close shave when he played one just wide of short leg.MS Dhoni opted for the offspinner at the other end, and Sehwag made an immediate impact. He slipped in a quicker one on a length to which Paranavitana erred by playing back and edged to Dhoni. Dilshan was fortunate to survive an lbw shout off an arm ball by Ojha but was caught superbly the next over by M Vijay at forward short leg, as he inside-edged a turning delivery from Sehwag. The two wickets underscored the importance of India’s lower-order resistance where the last three wickets accumulated 86 runs.Abhimanyu Mithun has shone down the order in each of the three Tests, and Amit Mishra joined him in a stand that tilted the scales after Sri Lanka had clawed back with three quick wickets. The intention in the previous two games was to purely block but their approach this innings was infused with a bit of urgency. Mithun played some powerful drives while Mishra stepped out and even used the paddle to improvise. Lasith Malinga gave them a hard time with a barrage of short deliveries that struck their fingers, but they were determined enough to preserve their wickets, taking the bottom hand off and fending wide of the close-in fielder.The foundation for the lead, however, was provided by a fighting stand between Raina and Laxman, who batted positively to narrow the deficit at a steady rate. The tempo of India’s innings, though not as frenetic as when Sehwag was blazing away, was healthy enough to ensure their bowlers had a fair go at the hosts in the second innings.Raina batted with determination and helped India rebuild – just as he had in friendlier conditions on his way to a debut century at the SSC. Though a touch vulnerable against Suraj Randiv, who got the ball to spit and troubled him with deceptive turn, Raina avoided getting bogged down, working the singles with Laxman who was a little more composed at the other end. Raina defended assuredly, met the length deliveries with a forward stride and improvised with minimal risk. He pulled, swept and drove Ajantha Mendis, and picked Dilshan for boundaries through the leg side. He looked far more at ease after lunch, slashing Malinga for consecutive boundaries, bringing up his fifty and charging out to Randiv to launch him over extra cover.Laxman picked Malinga’s deceptive slower ones early and dealt well with deliveries that were pitched short. He cut and pulled Randiv for boundaries early in his innings, punched Chanaka Welegedara through the covers and inflicted the same treatment on Malinga. Laxman was on the lookout for scoring opportunities, often opening the face to deliveries flung just outside off and reached his half-century, guiding Malinga past the keeper.However, the pair were separated when Mendis attacked from round the wicket. He found plenty of turn with his legspin from that angle, getting the ball to grip. Laxman’s dabs outside off produced a couple of edges, the second of which was snapped by Mahela Jayawardene. Raina was done in by the bounce of a carrom ball that he punched straight to short midwicket. Malinga soon snared MS Dhoni, who gloved an attempted pull before the tail stepped up.A combination of some attacking bowling and reckless batting had given Sri Lanka a couple of early breakthroughs. India suffered a setback with the departure of Sachin Tendulkar in the first over of the day, and Sehwag’s ill-conceived attempt to loft Randiv over cover – shortly after reaching his century – landed safely in the palms of Welegedara. Those two wickets had marked the first change of fortunes on an eventful day, but Sehwag ensured he compensated before stumps by turning the game India’s way.

Sri Lanka Under-19 took a 2-1 lead in their five-match one-day series against England Under-19 as opener Ramith Rambukwella’s industrious half-century set up an 11-run win in the fourth match at Canterbury

Cricinfo staff13-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Sri Lanka Under-19 took a 2-1 lead in their five-match one-day series against England Under-19 as opener Ramith Rambukwella’s industrious half-century set up an 11-run win in the fourth match at Canterbury. Set 222 to win, all but one of England’s top-order batsman got off to starts but none could push on, and the hosts were eventually bowled out for 210 after 49 overs.Sri Lankan captain Chathura Peiris opted to bat first at the St. Lawrence Ground but his side were soon in trouble, losing Rumesh Buddika and Bhanuka Rajapaksa inside the first seven overs to slip to 28 for 2. The visitors fought back through a 94-run partnership for the third wicket between Rambukwella (68) and Kithuruwan Vithanage (45) to reach 122 in the 29th over before Rambukwella was dismissed by England captain Paul Best.Although none of the lower order were able to make a significant contribution Sri Lanka managed to post 221 before being bowled out with five balls remaining. Left-arm seamer David Payne led the way for England with 3 for 46, and Best put in yet another good performance to pick up an economical 2 for 35 and take his series wicket tally to six.Openers Joe Root and Jack Manuel got England off to a decent start with a partnership of 36 but wickets then fell at regular intervals and the hosts soon got behind the required run rate. Luke Wells top scored with 47 but when he was caught behind off Lahiru Jayarathne England still needed 40 to win from 30 balls with three wickets in hand. The target proved too much for the lower order batsmen and England were bowled out for 210.

Veteran Dominic Cork and youngster Liam Dawson rescued Hampshire with a 62-run unbeaten stand for the seventh wicket as Warwickshire’s bowlers caused problems

13-Sep-2010
ScorecardVeteran Dominic Cork and youngster Liam Dawson rescued Hampshire with a 62-run unbeaten stand for the seventh wicket as Warwickshire’s bowlers caused problems for the home side on a rain-shortened first day at the Rose Bowl as the visitors battled for Division one survival.Dawson and Cork’s dogged resistance came after Hampshire had been reduced to a paltry 85 for six – largely thanks to a three-wicket burst from former England international batsman Darren Maddy, who took 3 for 25.Openers Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams had got Hampshire off to a slow but steady start and they had reached 29 before Chris Woakes had Carberry caught by Rikki Clarke. Adams fell just two runs later when Maddy – exploiting cloudy conditions ideal for swing bowling – trapped him lbw plumb in front.Australian Phillip Hughes and Dawson combined briefly to steady the innings, but in bowler-friendly conditions every other ball looked capable of breaching their defences. Hughes was next to depart when Maddy, bowling at probably half the pace of some of England’s pace attack who troubled Hughes so much last summer, clean-bowled him with another well-directed cutter.Better was to follow for Maddy just two balls later when Hampshire hot prospect James Vince departed, snared by a neat catch from Ian Bell. Despite the chaos around him in front of a sparse home crowd, Dawson remained a picture of calmness at the non-striker’s end as the wickets tumbled.But while he coped admirably as Chris Woakes, Andrew Miller, Clarke and Maddy found extravagant movement, boundaries remained in short supply and he was forced to deal predominantly in scampered singles.Sean Ervine was the next Hampshire batsman to give Dawson temporary company, working his way to a 21-ball 15 before Maddy was once again in the action, taking a good catch off Clarke’s bowling. With Warwickshire smelling blood as Michael Bates’ dismissal to Keith Barker’s left-arm swing left Hampshire six down and still shy of 100 runs on the board, veteran Cork stepped to the crease.He not only provided a sturdy presence but showed the increasingly cautious Dawson that quick runs could be made, finding the boundary with a regularity beyond his team-mates.With Cork blasting his way to 41 from just 38 balls and seemingly set to bludgeon his way to a quick-fire half-century, the rain – which had threatened to settle in for the afternoon – finally arrived, bringing a close to proceedings.

Kenya will host United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a four-match ODI series in the coastal city of Mombasa beginning this Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2010Kenya will host United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a four-match ODI series in the coastal city of Mombasa beginning this Sunday.Kenya are hoping to visit UAE early next year for a series of warm-up one-day fixtures to prepare for the World Cup which begins in February next year in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The UAE team arrives in Mombasa on Friday ahead of the first match on Sunday at Mombasa Sports Club and will be led by Mohammed Tauqir during the eight-day tour.The teams last met in the ICC World Twent20 qualifying tournament earlier this year when UAE sprung a surprise to win by 15 runs.UAE squad Mohammed Tauqir (captain), Arshad Ali, Saqib Ali, Amjad Javed, Ahmed Raza, Shadeep Silva, Amjad Ali, Salman Farooq, Qasim Zubair, Shoaib Sarwar, Arfan Haider, Tahir Javaid Butt, Swapnil Patil, Rohan Mustafa

The consortium that won the bid for the Kochi IPL franchise has asked the BCCI for more time to sort out their internal disputes

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2010The consortium that won the bid for the Kochi IPL franchise has asked the BCCI for more time to sort out their internal disputes. The Indian board had originally given the consortium 10 days to work things out beginning October 10. At the end of that period, though, the two factions in the consortium wrote to the board asking for an extension.”We consortium partners are very close to resolving our internal differences and would like the BCCI to give us some more time and have also sought this,” Satyajitsinh Gaekwad, the head of Rendezvous Sports, told .  “We have not defaulted on any payment to the BCCI and just want some more time.”Meanwhile the IPL governing council will meet on Wednesday in Nagpur to decide the fate of the franchise. “The only point on the agenda is Kochi,” one of the BCCI officials said on the content of the short notice sent to the panel.Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is reportedly assisting the franchise in an advisory capacity, something the board said it was not aware of, but will consider at the governing council meeting tomorrow. “We were never informed because this issue was never there,” BCCI vice-President Rajiv Shukla said. “For the first time we are coming to know about this. We will discuss the issue in the meeting tomorrow.”Gavaskar was a member of the governing council for the IPL’s first three years. He declined to continue on the committee this year after the board decided to stop paying the committee members.The Kochi franchise has been controversial from its very inception in March. Rendezvous Sports World, a consortium of five companies, became the tenth IPL franchise after a successful bid of US$333.33m, but almost immediately ran into trouble over the composition of its ownership, after the discovery of a few “secret partners” in the consortium. A new agreement was then signed by both the parties but fresh controversy broke when Lalit Modi, the then IPL chairman, made the ownership details public on his Twitter feed.Six months after the auction Kochi has still failed to resolve its various internal disputes, which revolve around the distribution of shares in the consortium. The investors are unhappy with the promoters, who do not want to give up the rights to lead the franchise. Despite several lengthy meetings over the past few days, the two factions remain at loggerheads.

Daniel Vettori said he was “happy” with the performance but stressed that New Zealand were neither “satisfied” nor “content” with the 0-0 scoreline going into the final Test

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2010Daniel Vettori said he was “happy” with the performance after his side batted through a potentially testing morning session to ensure the series remained level, but stressed that New Zealand were neither “satisfied” nor “content” with the 0-0 scoreline going into the final Test in Nagpur. Mark Greatbatch, the New Zealand coach, had said in anger in the aftermath of the Bangladesh debacle that he would settle for two draws in India but Vettori said that was never the plan.”It was never our intention to come here and draw. If you get into that frame of mind you take a backward step straightaway,” Vettori said. “So we’ve come here to win a Test series and at times we’ve put ourselves in those positions. We still want to push, try and put ourselves in winning positions because not many New Zealand teams have come over here and won. It would be such an amazing achievement for us, for this side.”New Zealand began the final day in Hyderabad 115 runs ahead and with six wickets in hand. All that stood between them and the safety of a draw was the first hour and the threat of the second new ball. Kane Williamson began aggressively, scoring three fours in the first over from Sreesanth, while Brendon McCullum continued his solidity from the fourth evening. The Indian challenge died when Zaheer Khan left the field after bowling three overs to prevent a groin injury from getting worse.”The previous mornings, when it swung around a little bit, the new ball’s been the most difficult time,” Vettori said. “We wanted to get through that first hour, hour-and-a-half, and see where we were at. Brendon and Kane played so well, so positively. But the fact that India were down a bowler probably made it quite difficult for them.”MS Dhoni, the India captain, laid a lot of the blame for India’s inability to force a win on the pitch and Vettori, while not as scathing, agreed it was difficult track to take 20 wickets on. “The wicket had a little bit of pace in it, I think the thing that you want is for it to deteriorate and I think it stayed relatively similar,” Vettori said. “The footmarks didn’t come up and that didn’t allow the spinners to really get into play.”New Zealand were forced to save the game on the final day but on the third, they were well placed to limit India’s lead and surge ahead with a strong second-innings performance. Their chances of taking the upper hand, however, slipped away as Harbhajan Singh swung his way to a century and added 105 with Sreesanth for the last wicket. Vettori said that that period, during which Harbhajan became the series top-run-scorer, was possibly the only disappointment for New Zealand in the Test.”If we look back on it, that’s always going to be the disappointing aspect of the Test,” Vettori said. “To fight so hard before that partnership, I think we had 200 for 7 on the day and Harbhajan played so well and so aggressively and took the game to us and really put us on the back foot. If we manage to get through the Indian middle-order again, we’ve got to be ready for Harbhajan and go pretty hard at him because he’s played so well in these two Test matches.”

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has described the rain-hit, three-Test series against the West Indies as probably the worst Test series of his life

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Pallakele05-Dec-2010Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has described the rain-hit, three-Test series against the West Indies as probably the worst Test series of his life. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Sangakkara said after persistent rain washed out the fifth and final day of the third Test at Pallakele. The series was drawn 0-0 with the first and second Tests also ending in draws due to bad weather.”It’s pretty frustrating and it’s tough. I haven’t seen rain like this in a long time. It was pretty frustrating to sit in the dressing room and watch the rain.”Sangakkara called for cricket officials to analyse weather patterns properly before hosting Test matches. “It is tough these days because the weather’s all topsy-turvy. It would have been nice to see if we had alternative venues as well to see if one failed and the weather was not great and preparations were not great we could have gone somewhere else.”But the reports I hear is that it is raining everywhere. I don’t know how feasible that would have been. But it’s always nice to have something as a back up.”The positives for the home side, despite the disappointing series which saw them fall from third to fifth in the ICC Test rankings, were the bowling of spinners Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis, and the batting of opener Tharanga Paranavitana.”Rangana again proved as the most experienced bowler he can do the job whenever it was required,” Sangakkara said. “He bowled against all left-handers and that’s the major reason why we brought him back. He did a fantastic job for us.”It’s heartening to see Ajantha Mendis has come back very strongly in this Test series and Tharanga Paranavitana keeps growing as a solid opener for us. I hope he continues in that vein and keeps fighting for those runs. Those three were the biggest positives we had.”

Baroda captain Pinal Shah has defended his decision to bowl on a dry, grassless Moti Bagh wicket on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final, saying he expected some moisture to help the seamers

Abhishek Purohit at Moti Bagh11-Jan-2011Baroda captain Pinal Shah has defended his decision to bowl on a dry, grassless Moti Bagh wicket that played low and slow on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final, saying he expected some moisture to help the seamers. Rajasthan adopted an extremely cautious approach, but were strongly placed at 198 for 3, and would have been in an even better position were it not for captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s late dismissal.”It looked to be a batting wicket. Earlier we were going to play only two seamers. But in the morning, we felt there was some moisture around despite the grass having been removed,” Pinal said. “That’s why we played an extra allrounder in Abhijit Karambelkar. They have some batsmen who score big, like Aakash Chopra, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Ashok Menaria, and we thought if we could get them in the morning, it would be great for us.”Mukesh Narula, the Baroda coach, told ESPNcricinfo that it was a last minute decision to bowl and explained it was a combination of the conditions and a wariness of Rajasthan’s batting that dictated the choice. “The first thing I noticed this [Tuesday] morning was that there was dew around, and we felt that we could utilise it,” he said. “Also, Rajasthan’s batting has been in good form, and we thought there was a chance they could chase down whatever we would manage to put up.” Having played three seamers, Baroda would have certainly wanted a better return from them than the 46 wicketless overs they bowled. “I think our fast bowlers could have done a much better job today,” Narula said.Rajasthan were pleasantly surprised by Baroda’s decision, as they themselves would have batted first. “I guess the only reason they didn’t bat was because they might have been wary of our seam attack of Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar,” Aakash Chopra, the Rajasthan opener, said. “I can’t think of any other reason, as they had removed all the grass from the wicket, which was very dry.”Kanitkar’s wicket towards the end evened things out slightly on a dreary first day, but the Rajasthan captain was satisfied with his side’s approach. “I should not have got out. But I am happy with the way we played,” he said. “It was not an easy wicket to bat on as the ball was keeping low and not coming on. And once they knew we were well set, they stopped attacking, and started bowling to defensive fields.”Rajasthan are eyeing a score of at least 400 now, after the steady start, and Kanitkar felt that despite losing himself and Chopra, they had the batting line-up to pile on the runs. “Ideally, I would be really happy with 550, but a minimum of 400 is needed,” Kanitkar said. “Most of our batsmen have been among the runs. And we are playing the finals, so everyone should be ready to do the job.”Contrary to Baroda’s choice to play an extra seamer, the dry nature of the surface prompted Rajasthan to leave out steady third seamer Sumit Mathur in favour of offspinner Madhur Khatri. “Sumit has bowled his heart out throughout the season. I feel very bad that he could not play this game. But that is what the wicket was demanding,” Kanitkar said.While both sides have gone in with two specialist spinners, Chopra felt the Rajasthan new-ball duo of Pankaj and Chahar could still be dangerous on this track. “Pankaj is six-foot plus, and from that height, on a wicket that is keeping low at times, it [the bounce] can become very uncertain for a batsman,” he said. “And Chahar does not depend on the wicket; he generates a lot of swing in the air.”Baroda are hoping they can get something out of the wicket tomorrow morning. “The first session is important,” Narula said. “If we can get a few wickets, we are right back in the game as they have gone very slowly till now.”